بَلَغتُ مِن لَذَّةِ الدُّنيَا ذُرَى أرَبِي

فِي لَذَّة العَيش وَالسُّلطَانِ وَالنشَبِ

I reached, in worldly pleasure, the summit of my desire—

in easeful living, authority, and wealth.

فَأذهَبَت دُوَلُ الأيامِ مَنزلَتِي

وَزَادَ فَقديَ اللذَّات فِي كَرَبِي

But the turns of the days swept away my station,

and losing those pleasures deepened my anguish.

وَكَانَ مَالِي لِهَذَا كلِّه تَبَعاً

بَل صَارَ عَوناً لأعدَائِي عَلَى طَلَب

My wealth had followed upon all of this;

indeed, it became an aid to my enemies in pursuing me.

لَكِن رَجَعتُ وَقَد جَدَّ الزَّمَانُ إلَى

كَنز مِنَ العِلم وَالأخلاَق والأدَب

Yet I returned, once Time grew earnest, to

a treasure of knowledge, character, and letters.

فَأعجَزَ الدَّهرَ أن يؤذَى بِوَاحِدَة

مِنهَا وَأقصَرَ عَنِّي وَاهِيَ السبَب

Thus I made Time powerless to harm a single one

of them; its feeble means fell short of reaching me.

لاَ أختَشِي تَضَعُ الأيامُ مَنزلَتِي

مَدَى الزَّمَان وَعِندي أغلَبُ الطَلب

I do not fear that the days may lower my station,

so long as I possess the highest of all things sought.

لاَ يَستَطِيعونَ عَزلِي عَن ولاَيَتِهَا

إذ كل وَال لَهم بِالعَزل فِي العُقَب

They cannot depose me from its dominion,

for every governor among them is deposed in the end.

هَذَا بِلاَ كلفَة مِنِّي وَلاَ حَرَس

وَلاَ عَديدٍ وَلاَ إنفاق مُكتَسَبِ

And this costs me no hardship and requires no guards,

no troops, and no wealth expended to acquire it.

وَكَم أخ لِيَ مصف غَير مضطَربٍ

لأنَّ مَا فِيه آخَى غَيرُ مضطَرب

How many a sincere, unwavering brother I have,

because that in him which I befriend never wavers.

وَكل مَن كَانَ فِي دُنيَايَ يَصحَبنِي

نَادَيتُهُ حِينَ خَانَتنِي فَلَم يُجِب

Yet everyone who accompanied me in my worldly days—

I called to him when fortune betrayed me, but he did not answer.

كَلاَمُ مَن جَرَّبَ الأمرَين وَانفَتَحَت

له المَذاهِبُ من جِدّ وَمن لَعِب

These are the words of one who has experienced both conditions,

and for whom every path opened, in earnestness and in play.

أنَا ابنُ مَن دَبَّرَ الدنيَا بِخَاتَمِه

عِشرينَ عَاماً وَعَشرٌ بَعدُ لَم يَرب

I am the son of one who governed the world with his signet

for twenty years, then ten more—no further.

وَإنَّ مَنزلَتِي فِي العِلم مَنزلَةٌ

فِي المُلك خَطُّ كَخَطّ الصَّادق النسَب

And the station I possess in knowledge is a station

equivalent in kingship to the portion of one of proven lineage.

مَازَلتُ أدخِرُهُ دَهري وَأنفِقُهُ

كَفِعلِه في اللجَين المَحض وَالذَّهضب

All my life I have stored it up and spent it

as he did pure silver and gold.

وَإننِي لَبَخِيلٌ بِالسلاَم إذَا

بَخِلتُ بِالعِلم مِن لَفظِي وَمن كُتُبِي

Indeed, I would be stingy even with a greeting if

I withheld knowledge from my speech or from my books.

لَوَاستَطَعتُ مَنَحتُ الناسَ كُلَّهُمُ

مَا قَد تَجَمعُ فِي حَفظِي وَفي كَسَبِي

If I could, I would grant to all humanity

everything amassed in my memory and acquired through my striving.

أأبذُلُ المَالَ يُفنِي البَذلُ حَاصِلَهُ

وَلَستُ أبدلُ مَا يَنمِي عَلَى النهَب

Should I give away wealth, whose store is exhausted by giving,

yet not give what grows the more it is taken?

وَكَيفَ أستُرُ مُعلِي رُتبَتِي أبَداً

وَمَن يُخَلِّدُ ذِكري آخِرَ الحِقب

How could I ever conceal what continually raises my rank,

what preserves my memory to the end of the ages,

وَمَن يُكَثِّرُ لِي أهلِي وَيَجعَلُنِي

صَديقَ مَن شئِتُ مِن عُجمٍ وَمن عَرَب

what multiplies my family and makes me

the friend of whomever I wish, non-Arab or Arab—

أنِيسُ رُوحِي إذَا ما الدَّهرُ أوحَشَنِي

وَنُورُ عَقلِي وَجَالِي غُمةَ النكَب

the companion of my spirit when Time makes me lonely,

the light of my mind and the clearer of affliction's gloom?

سَائِل بِأيّ عُلُوم العَالَمِينَ تَجِد

عِندي يَنَابِيعَ ذاكَ العِلم من كُتُب

Ask about any of the sciences of all the world: you will find

with me the wellsprings of that knowledge, drawn from books.

لاَ أنثَنِي لِسِوَى البُرهَان أسألُهث

وَلاَ إلَى مَقَال البَاحِث اللجِبِ

I do not turn aside to ask anything but proof,

nor toward the assertion of a clamorous disputant.

لَكِن إذَا أشكَلَت دُنيَا مُعَضّلَةٌ

قَابَلتُهَا بِسَنَا ذَِهنِي وَحَسبُكَ بِي

But when some difficult worldly problem becomes obscure,

I meet it with the radiance of my mind—and I suffice.

مِن فِكرَتِي لِيَ عَينٌ لاَ تَغِيضُ وَمِن

مَاضِي لِسَانِي مَا يَمضِي مَضَى الشُّهُبِ

From my thought I have a spring that never runs dry, and from

my keen tongue, words that speed onward like meteors.

فَإن أضَفتُ إلَى ذَا الحَظّ مِن عَمَلِي

شَيئاً أفُوزُ بِهِ فِي يَومِ مُنقَلَبِ

If I add to this portion of mine some deed

by which I triumph on the Day of Return,

فَقَد حَصُلتُ عَلَى الآمَالِ أجمَعِهَا

وَخَابَ مَن فِي سِوَى ذَا كَانَ ذا تَعَبِ

then I have attained every hope together,

while whoever toils for anything besides this is disappointed.