أَلا يا لَقَومي لِلنَّوائِبِ والدَّهرِ

ولِلمَرءِ يُردي نَفسَهُ وَهوَ لا يَدري

Alas, O my people, for adversity and time,

Oh my people, behold the calamities and Time, and how man destroys himself while unaware.

And for a man who brings ruin upon himself unknowing,

Oh, would that I knew of Umm Ma'mar, regarding the separation and abandonment we have met.

أَلا لَيتَ شِعري إِلى أُمِّ مَعمَرٍ

عَلى ما لَقينا مِن تَناءٍ وَمِن هَجرِ

Alas, would that I knew, to the mother of Ma'mar,

Agonies the heart endures in longing for her, and her memory arising when least expected.

What we have encountered of severance and estrangement,

O heart, no lover has loved as you have; O love for her, nothing entices as you entice.

تَباريحُ يَلقاها الفؤَادُ صَبابَةً

إِلَيها وَذِكراها عَلى حينِ لا ذِكرِ

My heart meets tribulations with patience,

Yet she holds no reward nor gratitude for the one whose heart is captivated by her.

Toward her, though she is not remembered at times of remembrance,

I saw the man of this world, though he seems settled, as a traveler carried along while unaware.

فَيا قَلبُ لَم يأَلَف كإِلفِكَ آلِفُ

وَيا حُبَّها لَم يُغرِ شَيءٌ كَما تُغري

So my heart, none has loved as you have loved,

And how many righteous men the earth has swallowed, concealing them within a shimmering wasteland.

And her love, nothing has deluded like it has deluded,

Neither the mighty are feared for their majesty, nor are the lost left alone for their poverty.

وَما عِندَها لِلمُستَهامِ فؤادُهُ

بِها إِن أَلَمَّت مِن جَزاءٍ وَمِن شُكرِ

And she has no reward for the one whose heart,

So when I saw that it is but a strike of the sword, or else closing one's eyes to unavenged wrong,

Is afflicted with her, whether of recompense or gratitude,

I resolved upon a course that brings my father no shame, nor causes my grave to be cursed.

رأَيتُ أَخا الدُنيا وإِن كانَ خافِساً

أَخا سَفَرٍ يُسرى بِهِ وَهوَ لا يَدري

I saw the brother of worldly life though he be ignoble,

We were attacked so we attacked, and our arrow met the death of a soul as written in destiny.

A brother of ease afforded him though he knows not,

And you are the Commander of the Faithful; we have no refuge beyond you, nor way to turn from you.

وَلِلأَرضِ كَم مِن صالِحٍ قَد تَلمَّأَت

عَليهِ فَوارَتهُ بِلَمَّاعَةٍ قَفرِ

And how many righteous were ruined in the land,

If the toll be in our wealth, we are not distressed by it; and if it be patience, then for patience we endure.

It overflowed them with smoothly sliding ruin,

And if it be death—may you be bereft!—we shall endure the slaughter, for in wars we are masters of endurance.

فَلا ذا جَلالٍ هِبنَهُ لِجَلالِهِ

وَلا ذا ضَياعٍ هُنَّ يُترَكنَ لِلفَقرِ

So none of glory was saved by his glory,

How many a disaster there is, that if its slightest touch fell upon Time, the misfortunes of Time would bow before it.

And none of loss were left forlorn for poverty,

فَلَمَّا رأَيتُ أَنَّما هيَ ضَربَةٌ

مِنَ السَيفِ أَو إِغضاءُ عَينٍ عَلى وِترِ

When I saw that it was but a blow,

From the sword or aversion of an eye upon a lute string,

عَمَدتُ لِأَمرٍ لا يُعيرُ والدي

خزايتَهُ وَلا يُسَبُّ بِهِ قَبري

I set about a matter which does not shame my father

When revealed or for which my grave is blamed,

رُمينا فَرامَينا فَصادَفَ سَهمُنا

مَنيَّةَ نَفسٍ في كِتابٍ وَفي قَدرِ

We shot and so we shot and so our arrow

Struck the appointed death of a soul in a book and decree,

وأَنتَ أَميرُ المؤمِنينَ فَما لَنا

وَراءَكَ مِن مَعديً وَلا عَنكَ مِن قَصرِ

And you, O Commander of the Faithful, we have,

No refuge beyond you nor any might beside yours,

فإِن تَكُ في أَموالِنا لا نَضِق بِها

ذِراعاً وإِن صَبرٌ فَنَصبِرُ لِلصَّبرِ

If you begrudge us our wealth we extend not a cubit,

And if patience, then we patiently endure patience,

وإِن يَكُ قَتلٌ لا أَبالَكَ نَصطَبِر

عَلى القَتلِ إِنّا في الحُروبِ أُلو صَبرِ

And if it be killing, you care not, we endure

Killing, for in wars we are wont to patience,

وَكَم نَكبَةٍ لَو أنَّ أَدنى مُرورِها

عَلى الدَهرِ ذَلَّت عِندَها نوَبُ الدَهرِ

And how many calamities, if the least of them,

Passed over time, would humble the highs of time.