تَأوَّبَنِي طَارِقُ الْهَمِّ نَصْبَا

وَأَبْدَلَ سِلْمَي للدَّهْرِ حَرْباً

The plunderer of worries has made me his victim

And turned my peace with fate into war

ونارٍ عَلَى شَرَفٍ أَوقِدَتْ

فَشَاهَدْتُ مَوقِدَهَا حِينَ شَبَّا

Fires lit on heights whose kindling

I witnessed as they raged in youth

فَلِلَّه مَا خَبَّأَ الدَّهْرُ لِي

أَفِي كُلِّ قُطْرٍ عَدُوٌّ مَخَبَّا

So what fate has hidden for me

Is there a lurking foe in every land?

وَثَوْبَ ظَلاَمٍ تَدَرَّعْتُهُ

أَهُبَّ لَهُ يَقِظاً حِينَ هَبَّا

I've donned the cloak of darkness

To which I woke and let blow in the wind

فَأَنْبَتَ مَزْعىً عَلَى دِمْنَةِ

أُرَاقِبُ مِنْ عَطْفَةِ الدَّهْرِ وَثْبَا

It sprouted my misery on my abode

While I watch fate pounce from its side

وَقَالُوا حَلِيمٌ وَلَمْ أَسْتَطِعْ

لِرَايَةِ سَطْوٍ عَلَى الذَّنْبِ نَصْبا

They called me forbearing when I couldn't

Raise the flag of tyranny over sin

أَأُشْهِرُ سَيْفِي عَلَى نَابِحٍ

وَأَفْرِسُ للِثَّأْرِ قِرْداً وَكَلْباً

Should I unsheathe my sword against barker

And chase monkey and dog for revenge?

إذَا لأرْتَوَى مِنْ دَمٍ خَدُّهُ

وَلاَ سَارَ بِالعَدْلِ شَرْقاً وغَرْبَا

Its maw is never sated by blood

Nor has it marched east or west in justice

وكَمْ قَدْ وَطئْتُ عَلَى فِتْنَةٍ

وَثُرْتُ بأُخْرَى فَقَضَّيْتُ نَحْبَا

How often have I trod over strife

And met another so I was brought low

أَخَالُ إِذَا دَهَمَتْنِي الْخُطُ

وب وَفِي كُلِّ عُضْوٍ بِجِسْمِي قَلْبَا

I imagine when disasters beset me

In each limb of my body is a heart

وَمِنْ حَادِثٍ دُسْتُ أَمْثَالَهُ

وَأَتْبَعْتُ نَكْبَ مَعانِيهِ نَكْبَا

The likes of which I have probed

And followed their meanings’ decline

أَرَى مُسْتَكِيناً لأَقْرَانِهِ

إِذاً لاَ اسَغْتُ مِنَ الْمَاءِ عَذْبَا

I see one who envies his peers

So from the water I do not taste the sweet