نَحنُ للأَيَّامِ غُنْمٌ ونَفَلْ

تَرحَلُ الأحداثُ عنَّا أو تَحُلّْ

We are the days' spoils and surplus

Events move away from us or settle

نَقبَلُ الضَّيْمَ مِنَ الدَّهْرِ وهَلْ

للَّذي نأباهُ بالدَّهْرِ قِبَلْ

We accept the injustice of fate, no matter what

We refuse what we dislike in fate, no matter what

وإذا ما زَلَّتِ النَّعْلُ بِنا

فمِنَ الأيَّامِ لا منَّا الزَّلَلْ

And if our sandal slips from under us

It’s the days’ doing, not ours the stumbling

نُوَبٌ قُلْنا لِعادٍ قبلَنا

إنَّ مِن ذاتِ العِمادِ المُرتَحَلْ

We say missteps to a nation before us

That the pillar itself is bound to crumble

فانثَنَوا عن ذلك الشُّربِ الذي

صار عَلاً لسِواهُم ونَهَلْ

So they desisted from that addiction

Which had become haughty to others and withdrawn

بعدَما غَصَّتْ بأسيافِهِمُ

كُثُبُ السَّهْلِ وأوعارُ الجَبَلْ

After their swords had swarmed

The plains’ hills and the mountains’ crevices

ورَمَتْ طَسْماً فُقلْ في غَرَضٍ

تَتحَدَّاهُ يداها بشُعَلْ

And it threw spears recklessly, so say to the one

Whose hands challenge it with flames

وأظَلَّتْ صاحبَ الحَضْرِ فما

بَرِحَتْ حتى غدا تحتَ الأَظَل

And it shaded the city’s lord, it did not

Budge until the next day under shade

وأرى الأملاكَ من أُسرَتِنا

قَصَدَتْ مُلْكهُمُ حتّى اضمَحَلّ

And I see the kings among our wives

Heading to their realm until they wither

أَلبَسَتْ قَوماً سِواهُم حَلْيَهُم

ثم بَزَّتْهُ فراحُوا بالعَطَلْ

It dressed other people in their finest garments

Then stripped them, so they were left in rags

فكأَنَّ الدَّهرَ لم يَجْمَعْ لَهُمْ

رَغَدَ العَيْشِ وإرغامَ الدُّوَلْ

So it is as if fate did not grant them

The joy of living and subduing regimes

فاسأَلِ الحِيرَةَ عن جَبَّارِها

حينَ يَوماه حياةٌ وأجَلْ

Ask Ḥīrah about its tyrants

When each day they live is a term and an end

يَرتَدي ظِلَّ السَّديَرْينِ فإنْ

شَبَّتِ الحربُ ارتدى ظِلَّ الأَسَلْ

He wears the shadow of the two armories, and if

War sparked, he wears the shadow of weapons

والمَنايا الحُمْرُ في ساحَتِه

ماثلاتٌ بين وَمْضٍ وزَجَلْ

And red deaths in his field

Looming between a twinkle and battle

وسَلِ الإيوانَ عن أربابِه

كيفَ جَدَّتُ لَهُمُ تلكَ الرِّحَلْ

And ask the palace about its lords

How strict their packing for travel had become

نَفَلَتْهُم عن فَضاءٍ واسعٍ

يَسرَحُ الطَّرْفُ به حتى يَمَلّ

It dismissed them from a vast space

In which the gaze roams until it tires

وجِنانٍ ذُلِّلَتْ أثمارُها

بينَ أمواهٍ نَميراتٍ وظِلّ

And tamed gardens whose fruits

Were between sprinkled and shaded streams

نحنُ أغراضُ خُطوبٍ إن رَمَتْ

حَيَّرَتْ في دِقَّةِ الرَّمْيِ ثُعَلْ

We are the objects of hardships, if they aimed

They missed in the precision of shooting

وإذا ما اختلفَتْ أسهُمُها

فأَصابَتْ بَطَلَ القومِ بِطَلْ

And if their arrows differed

And hit the hero of the people by chance

يا بني فَهْدٍ هو الدهرُ الذي

نالَ من عِزِّكُمُ ما لم يَنَلْ

O clan of Fahd, it is fate which

Took from your glory what it did not take

أشرَقَتْ أيَّامُكُمْ ثمَّ دَجَتْ

وسجَى ظِلُّكُمُ ثم انتقَلْ

Your days shone then darkened

And your shadow stretched then moved

نَقَضَ الدَّهْرُ بكم أوتارَه

من ملوكٍ ذَلَّلُوا الدَّهْرَ فذَلّ

Fate broke its strings with you

Of kings who tamed fate, so it tamed

أين أَيديكُم إذا الخطبُ عَرَا

وأياديكم إذا الجَدْبُ شَمَلْ

Where are your hands when war looms

And where are your hands when drought takes over

وَدّعَتْ دُنياكُمُ بَهجَتَها

واستوَى الأربابُ فيها والخَوَلْ

Your life bid its bliss farewell

And the lords became equal to the slaves in it

ولو أنَّ العِزَّ أثوَى دَهْرَه

في قَبيلٍ لَثَوى فيكم وحَلّ

Had glory found home for its age

It would have dwelled in you and settled

وعَسى الأيّامُ تَرتاحُ لكُمْ

فيَعودَ الهَمُّ بِالعَوْدِ جَذِلْ

And perhaps days will settle for you

So worry returns sparingly

فلَكَمْ مُشْفٍ على الحَتْفِ نَجا

ومَريضٍ قد رَأيناه أبلّ

For how many recovering from wounds survived

And how many sick we saw heal

هل أرى أيديَكُمْ مبسوطةً

بينَ حاَليْنِ سَماحٍ وقُبَلْ

Will I see your hands spread out

Between two states, generosity and acceptance

والعَطايا الغُرُّ تَنْهَلُّ على

آملي جُودِكُمُ أو تَستَهِلّ

And plentiful gifts pour

Onto those hopeful of your generosity or begging

بعدَما وَدَّعتُها مُقْلِعَةً

مِثْلَما وَدَّعَ ذو الشَّيْبِ الغَزَلْ

After I bid it farewell disgusted

Like those with white hair bidding youth farewell

وهَلِ الناسُ الأخيرونَ إذا

جَرَتِ الأقدارُ إلاّ كالأُوَلْ

Are latter people when

The fates occur any different than the former

وضَحَتْ آثارهُمْ ثم عَفَتْ

وبدا سَعدُهُمُ ثمَّ أَفَلْ

Their ruins appeared then vanished

And their fortune shone then declined