أقوَت عهودُهم فأين ذمامي

وخلت قلوبهمُ فأين مقامي

Their covenants lie desolate—what, then, of my pledged honor?

Their hearts stand empty—where, then, is my place?

وثنوا أعنَّتهم بغير موفِّقٍ

فغدوتُ مشغولاً بجذبِ زمام

They turned their reins away, with no success,

and I became absorbed in tugging at the rein.

بتروا السلام بسيف غدرٍ فانثنى

رجعُ السلام وَفاً بغير سلام

They severed peace with treachery’s sword, and so

peace’s echo turned back, repaid with no greeting.

قد كنت أحسب ودَّهم كمودتي

شتّان بين ذِمامهم وذمامي

I once supposed their love to be like mine—

how vast the gulf between their pledge and mine!

حاولت قربهم فنادى بعدُهم

الهجرُ أعذب من وصال لئام

I sought their nearness, but their distance cried:

“Estrangement is sweeter than the company of knaves.”

إن الكرام وإن تناءت دارهم

عني فإن القلب دار كرام

The noble, though their dwelling lies far off

from me—the heart remains the noble people’s home.

يا نائمين عن العهود وعندهم

أنَّ الوفا ضربٌ من الأحلام

O you who sleep unmindful of your covenants, holding

that keeping faith is merely one kind of dream!

هل تَقتضي الأثمار غصناً ذاوياً

أم هل يرويهنَّ حرُّ أُوام

Can fruit be expected from a withered bough,

or can the burning heat of thirst give it drink?

قولوا لمن قد نام عن عهدي فقد

أمسيت سهراناً وعهديَ نامِ

Tell him who slept through his pledge to me: now

I pass the evening wakeful, while my pledge sleeps.

غادرتُهم والغدر ملء جَنانهم

فكأنهم صرعى بغير مُدام

I left them with treachery filling their hearts,

as though they lay felled, though no wine had touched them.

إن كَلَّموا كَلَموا فؤادَ محبِّهم

أو سلَّموا ثَلَموا بغير كلام

If they speak, they wound the heart of one who loves them;

and if they greet, they make a breach without a word.

إني على الحالين معْهم موجعٌ

راشوا سهامَ كَلامهم لكِلامي

In either state, I suffer pain among them:

they feathered the arrows of their words for my wounds.

الدهر قدَّمهم وهم لم يعلموا

أن العثار يكون في الإقدام

Time advanced them, though they did not know

that stumbling lies within the act of pressing forward.

تمت سعودهمُ فإن تمامَها

فيهم وبَدءُ النقص عند تمام

Their fortunes have attained their fullness—yet that fullness

contains the start of loss, for loss begins at fullness.

ظنوا حسامَ الحكم فيهم فيصلاً

فنبا وكان الفضل في الإحكام

They thought the sword of rule among them decisive,

but its edge turned; true merit lay in mastery.

إن العصا بيد الحكيم بحزمِه

أمضى له من ذابلٍ وحسام

A staff in a wise man’s hand, through his resolve,

serves him better than a supple spear or sword.

هذي عصا داودَ أكبرُ شاهدٍ

في قتله جالوت ذا الصمصام

In David’s staff there is the greatest proof:

with it he slew Goliath, lord of the keen sword.

فلذاك لا أخشاهمُ فسيوفهم

بإزاء عدل اللَه ذاتُ كَهام

Therefore I do not fear them, for their swords,

set against God’s justice, are blunt.

كم رُمتُ إنسَهم لأحظى بالمنى

فيهم فكان الموت دون مرامي

How often I sought their company, hoping to win my wishes

among them—but death stood between me and my aims.

إن خاتلوا أو خادعوا أو نافقوا

فكأنهم بومٌ بذيلِ ظلام

Whether they practice guile, deceive, or play the hypocrite,

they are like owls beneath the hem of darkness.

يُعميهمُ الحقُّ الصراحُ بشمسه

هذا جزاء المبصر المتعامي

Plain truth, with its sun, blinds them:

such is the recompense of one who sees yet feigns blindness.

فاصبر على المتكبرين تجدْهمُ

يتوشحون غداً بثوب ملام

So bear patiently with the arrogant; you will find them

tomorrow mantled in a robe of blame.

رَبِّ اَستميحُك طاعةً وتواضعاً

عن كبريائي قبل يوم حِمامي

Lord, I beg Your pardon, obedient and humble,

for my pride, before the day of my death.