أقولُ وصرفُ الدهرِ يَحْرُقُ نابَهُ

عليَّ ويستولي عليَّ فواقِرُهْ

I say, and the days of my life burn their fuel against me,

And their embers overcome me,

وقد صَرَدتْ في جانبيَّ نِبالُهُ

وأولعَ بي أنيابُهُ وأظافِرُهْ

Its arrows have pierced my sides,

Its fangs and claws are obsessed with me,

خُذيني وجُرِّيني جَعارِ وأبْشِري

بلحمِ امريءٍ لم يُشهدِ اليومَ ناصِرُهْ

Take me and drag me away, O hyena, and be glad

At the flesh of a man who today has no helper,

فبعدَ ابنِ فضلِ اللّه طأطأ منكبي

يدُ الدهرِ مدلولاً عليَّ فواقِرُهْ

After the son of Fadlullah, days bowed my neck down,

The hand of time violently against me its embers,

وأَثَّرَ في عُودي النُيوبَ وطالَما

تمنَّعَ واستعصَى عليها مكاسِرُهْ

And the wolves have left their marks on my lute, and long ago,

It resisted and refused to be broken by them

وأسلمني للنائباتِ بِعَادُهُ

كما أَسلمَ العظمَ المَهيضَ جبائِرُهْ

And habit has left me to tribulations,

As bones left to be crushed by their breakers,

وراعَ جَنانِي نبأةُ الخطبِ بعدَهْ

ويا رُبَّما هانتْ عليَّ زماجِرُهْ

And the tidings of misfortune have pastured my soul after him,

Though at times I disdained its deterrents,

لقد حازَ نُعماهُ رجالٌ صفَتْ لهمْ

أصائلُ عيشٍ أرمضتهُ هواجرُهْ

Indeed, men gained his bounties, graced for them,

The roots of a life whose flame their departure has extinguished,

أظلَّهمُ منه سَحابٌ تَفَرَّقَتْ

صواعقُه فيه وفيهم مواطِرُهْ

A cloud shadowed them of which in it and them

Its thunderbolts were dispersed and its showers were poured,

جزتهُمْ جوازي الشَرِّ عن حَسَناتِهِ

ودارتْ عليه بالمَنونِ دوائِرُهْ

And the evils rewarded them for his good deeds,

And days circulated upon him with misfortune its circles,

ومن يجحدِ النُّعْمى التي هو ربُّها

فإني على العِلّاتِ ما عِشْتُ شاكِرُهْ

And whoever denies the bounty of which he is its lord,

For as long as I live, I will thank its causes,

لقد كنتُ في غيطاءَ ممطولةِ الذُّرَى

يَبيتُ عليها النجمُ وهي تُسامرُهْ

I used to be in a wasteland with prolonged branched grasses,

Where the star spends the night and converses with it,

فلمّا رماهُ الدهرُ أصبحتُ بعدَهُ

بمُستنّ سيلِ الذُّلّ تطغَى زواجِرُهْ

But after the days cast him away, I became after him

In a place of abundant humiliation overflowing its banks,