سَقى رَصَدُ الاشراطِ ساكنَ حفرةٍ

بفارسَ مردودٍ عليها الرَّدائِدُ

The watcher of fate waters a grave's pit

With a knight returned to it, overlapped by winding sheets,

ولا زال يُجدي قبرَه وهو معدِمٌ

كما كان يُجدي كفَّه وهو واحدُ

And he still maintains his grave while he is perishing,

As he used to maintain his palm while he was alone,

عليلٌ أَسَرَّ اليأسُ منه طبيبَه

وغيبَ عنه رهطُه والعوائدُ

Ill, despair has defeated his doctor,

And his friends and visitors have been absent from him.

خليليَّ ما بعدَ الغرامِ تجلدٌ

ولا بعد فيضِ الدمعِ للدمعِ ذائِدُ

My intimate, after passion there is no endurance,

Nor after the outpouring of tears is there a repeller of tears.

أَقِلاَّ فانَّ العيشَ مالٌ وصحةٌ

اذا عُدِمَا لَمْ يحمَدِ العَيشَ حامِدُ

Take it easy, for life is money and health,

If they are missing, no praiser praises life.

ولا تأمنا لُبسَ السَّقامِ أَمنتما

جريرتَه فالسقم للموتِ رَائِدُ

Do not feel secure from wearing disease's clothes,

Its friendship, for disease is the guide of death.

هما الطالبانِ المدركانِ كلاهما

غَزِيٌّ على قَبضِ النفوسِ مسانِدُ

They are both seekers, comprehending each together,

A raider upon grasping the souls, supported.

أَلم تألما أَنَّ الديارَ تنكرتْ

وأوحشَ منها ربعُها والمَعَاهِدُ

Are you not pained that the dwellings have become unrecognizable

And their outskirts and covenants more desolate?

وانَّ أَثافيها على الهجرِ والقِلى

سَلمنَ ولم يَسلم من الحيِّ ناشدُ

That their good-byes have made peace with separation and scantiness,

While the living have not made peace with the wailing mourner.

أَيادي سَبا طارتْ بهم غربةُ النوى

فهم بين آفاقِ البلادِ بَدَائِدُ

The hands of fate have flown with the estrangement of intimacy,

So they are between the horizons of countries, scattered,

فقبرٌ بشيرازَ يهيلُ تُرابُهُ

وقبرٌ بجيٍّ فوقه التُربُ لا بدُ

Thus a grave in Shiraz, its soil sinks down,

And a grave in Jayy, over it the soil will not go away.

وبالرملِ من غربي دجلة ماجدٌ

أربَّ عليه الواكفُ المتعاهدُ

And in the sand west of the Tigris lies Majid,

Upon him the frequent visitor who makes covenants.

رأَيتُ أَبا الريانِ لم تحمِ نفسَه

من الدهرِ زَبُّوناتُهُ والمكائدُ

I saw Abu al-Rayyan, his soul did not protect itself

From time's deceits and plots.

تَدَيَّرَ بالزوراءِ داراً مزارُها

قريبٌ ولكن نفعُها متباعدُ

He circled around Zurraa with a house of pilgrimage,

Nearby, but its benefit is remote.

فتى بليتْ أَوصالُه وعظامُه

وما بليتْ آثارُه والمحامدُ

A youth whose limbs and bones are worn out,

Yet his traces and praises are not worn out.

مجاورَ حيِّ من لؤي بنِ غالبٍ

قبورهم للزائرينَ مساجدُ

A neighbor of the alive from Lu'ay ibn Ghalib,

Their graves are mosques for visitors.

رَبَا تُربها الزاكي ورشَّحَ نبتُه

ورنَّح منه غصنُه المتعائدُ

Maybe its pure soil will be watered and its vegetation will thrive,

And its leaning branch will become accustomed to return.

اذا أَقلعتْ خرساءُ واهية الكُلى

حَدَاهَا حَبيٌّ جلجلتْهُ الرواعدُ

When the mute camel passes by the weary ruins,

It is restrained by a loving friend who has been struck by lightning.

ألا ليتَ شِعري ما يريدُ بنسله

وثروته هذا الدبا المُسَافِدُ

Oh, I wish I knew what this deluded hyena wants

With his progeny and wealth.

يَهَابُ الفتَى فقدانَ ما هو واجدٌ

ولو لم يجد ما هابَ ما هو فاقدُ

The young man fears losing what he already has,

And had he not found it, he would not have feared losing it.

أَرى المرءَ فيما يبتغيه كأَنما

مداولةُ الأيامِ فيهِ مَبَاردُ

I see people in what they seek as if

The taking turns of days with them is a polo mallet.

اذا ما قضى يوماً من الدهرِ حاجةً

طوى طرفاً من عمره وهو جَاهدُ

When the days fulfill a desire,

He folds up a part of his life while he is struggling.

تعلةَ لاهٍ ما تعمَّدَ كونه

فَيُجزَى فساداً بالذي هو عامدُ

The mistake of an oblivious one, he deliberately commits it,

So he is rewarded with corruption for what he purposely does.

ويصطدِمُ الجمعانِ والنقع ثائرٌ

فيسلم مقدامٌ ويهلكُ حائدُ

And the two groups clash while the melee rages,

So the valiant survives and the deviator perishes.

ومن لم يمت بالسيفِ ماتَ بغيرهِ

تنوعتِ الأسبابُ والداءُ واحِدُ

Whoever does not die by the sword dies by other than it.

The causes vary while the malady is one.

وفتكَ الليالي يا ابن حمدٍ صروفها

ولا عادِ من مكروهها لكَ عائدُ

The killings of nights, O Ibn Hamd, their circumstances vary

And none of their hated things returns to you.

ولا قطرت من ماءِ جفنكَ قطرةٌ

على هالكٍ الا ولبّكَ شاهدُ

Not a tear has dropped from your eyelid

Over a perished one unless your heart was a witness.

وكيفَ تُرى مستخذياً لمصيبةٍ

يعزيكَ فيها خاذلٌ أَو مساعدُ

How do you expect to be consoled for a tragedy

In which a deserter or a helper consoles you?

وعن مثلها عزيتَ بالأمسِ صاحباً

فهل أَنتَ فيما قلتَ بالأمسِ زاهدُ

And about its like you consoled a companion yesterday,

So are you regarding what you said yesterday as ascetic?

أَقيموا لها يا آل حمدٍ ظهوركُم

وان قيلَ انَّ العمَّ والخالَ والدُ

Take a stance for it, O family of Hamd,

Even if it is said that the paternal uncle, uncle, and grandfather will do.

وصبراً على رَيبِ الزمانِ فانَما

لكم خُلقتْ أَهوالُه والشدائِدُ

And be patient with the suspicion of time, for only

Its horrors and difficulties were created for you.