طَلَبُ الأَمنِ في الزَّمانِ عَسِيرُ
وَحَديثُ المُنى خِداعٌ وَزورُ
Seeking security in these times is hard,
And talk of wishes is deceit and fraud.
تَبدهُ الحازِمَ الخُطوبُ فَإِن قَد
دَرَ أَبدَت ما أَغفَلَ التَّقديرُ
Misfortunes expose the wise, for if fate
Has opened, it reveals what destiny ignored.
وَإِذا قَتَّرَ البَخيلُ فَلِلأَي
يامِ في طَيِّ عُمرِهِ تَبذيرُ
When the miser is stingy with his days
Squandering his life, it is extravagance uncured.
لا تَظُنَّ الفَقيدَ أَفرَدَهُ البَي
نُ فَقَد أَعجَلَ المُقيمَ المَسيرُ
Think not the lost one was singled out by separation;
No, he who stayed hastened the traveler assured.
سَل بِغَمدانَ أَينَ قاطِنُهُ سَي
فٌ وَقُل لِلنُّعمانِ أَينَ السَّديرُ
Ask the abodes of Sulayf where their dwellers are,
And say to the gardens of Numan, where are your walls secured?
عَدَلَ الدَّهرُ فيهِمُ قِسمَةَ الجو
رِ فَلا عامِرٌ وَلا مَعمورُ
Fate was impartial in assigning their ruin-
No prosperous one remains, no populated place endured.
يا سَوادَ الهُموم صِرتَ عَلى الأَي
يامِ لَمّا ضاقَت عَلَيكَ الصُّدورُ
O darkness of sorrows, you've persisted through days
When hearts could not contain you, all chests were obscure.
إِنَّ في جانِبِ المُقَطَّمِ مَهجو
راً وَمِن أَجلِهِ تُزارُ القُبورُ
In the tomb of the departed there is ample anguish,
And for it the graves are visited, tears outpoured.
وَمُقيماً عَلَى المَعَرَّةِ تَطوي
هِ اللَّيالي وَذِكرُهُ مَنشُورُ
A resident at Ma'arra, nights fold him in,
His mention circulated, his glory demurred.
وَضَريحَينِ بِالعَواصِمِ مَبذو
لينَ وَالصَّبرُ عَنهُما مَحظورُ
Two shrines in the great cities, neglected,
Patience over them forbidden, condolence assured.
وَغَريباً بِالدَّيرِ بانَ لَهُ العَي
شُ وَغاضَ النَّدى وَماتَ السُّرورُ
A stranger in a monastery who saw his livelihood dwindle,
Joy diminished, bliss died, hopes immured.
صارِمٌ فُلَّتِ النَّوائِبُ حَدَّي
هِ وَغُصنٌ تَحتَ الثَّرى مَهصورُ
A sword whose sharp edges misfortunes have blunted
And a branch beneath the earth concealed, obscured.
عُصبَة كُنتُ أَدَّعي فيهم الود
دَ وَصَبري لُؤمٌ عَلَيهِم كَثيرُ
A band in whom I pretended affection-
My patience with them was much, though cruel and immatured.
وَحَياتي عُذرٌ فَهَل لِوَقائي
أَجَلٌ عاجِلٌ وَعُمرٌ قَصِيرُ
My life is an excuse, but does my remaining
Have a near term, a short life, an ephemeral duration?
أَيُّها الظّاعِنونَ لا زالَ لِلغَي
ثِ رَواحٌ عَلَيكُمُ وَبُكورُ
O neglectful ones, the phantom still has
Apparitions toward you and dawns assured.
لَستُ أَرضى بِالدَّمعِ فيكُم فَهَل يَم
لِكُ رِيَّ البُحورِ إِلَّا البُحورُ
I am not pleased with tears shed over you. Does
Any but the seas own abundant waters immured?
قَد رَأَينا دِيارَكُم وَعَلَيها
أَثَرٌ مِن عُفاتِكُم مَهجورُ
We saw your dwellings and the vestiges
Of your virtues upon them, abandoned, demurred.
وَسَأَلنا أَطلالَها فَأَجابَت
وَمِنَ الصَّمتِ واعِظ وَنَذيرُ
We asked their ruins, and they replied,
Though silent, preachers, warners well assured.
عَرَصات كَأَنَّهُنَّ لَيالٍ
فارَقَتها عِندَ الكَمالِ البُدورُ
Dwellings as if they were nights
That lost their full moons at perfection, obscured.
تُفهِمُ الغافِلينَ كَيفَ يَحولُ الد
دَهرُ عَن عَهدِهِ وَكَيفَ يَجورُ
They make the heedless understand how time shifts
From its epochs and comes to tyranny and injustice demurred.
بانَ ذُلُّ الأَسى عَلَيها فَلِلغَي
ثِ بُكاءٌ وَلِلنَّسيمِ زَفِيرُ
The misery upon them wept, and for the phantom there is weeping,
And for the breeze, a sigh sincere, mournful, obsured.
ذَكَّرَتنا عُهودَكُم بَعدَما طا
لَت لَيالٍ مِن بَعدِها وَشُهورُ
They reminded us of your days after nights elapsed,
And months followed them, distant and obscured.
عَجَباً كَيفَ لَم تَمُت في مَغاني
ها أَسىً ما القُلوبُ إِلَّا صُخورُ
How strange that in their pleasures they did not die,
When only stony hearts remain assured.
يا دِيارَ الأَحبابِ غَيَّرَكِ الدَّه
رُ فَكانَت بَعدَ الأُمورِ أُمورُ
O dwellings of loved ones, time has changed you
And after matters, other matters recurred.
أَينَ أَيّامُنا بِظِلِّكِ وَالشَّم
لُ جَميعٌ وَالعَيشُ غَضٌّ نَضيرُ
Where are our days in your shade when
All were fellows and life was tender, preserved?
نَشوَة أَعقَبَت خُماراً مِنَ الهَم
مِ وَلَكِن قَد يفرقُ المَخمورُ
Rapture followed by grief's stupor
But it can disperse the intoxicated obscured.
وَزَمان مَضى فَما عُرِفَ الأَو
وَلُ إِلَّا بِما جَناهُ الأَخيرُ
A past time whose first is not known
Save by what the last has reaped assured.
يا نُجومَ العُلى غربتُم وَما في ال
لَيلِ مِن بَعدِكُم نُجومٌ تَفورُ
O lofty stars, you have set, and in the night after you
No blazing stars remain obscure.
طالَ عَمّا عَهِدتُموهُ وَلَم يَج
رِ عَلى رَسمِهِ الصَّباحُ المُنيرُ
The morn has not kept to what you knew,
No trace of it on its pattern demurred.
وَعَفا الجودُ فَالكَريمُ بَخيلٌ
في المُلِمّاتِ وَالغَنِيُّ فَقيرُ
Generosity is gone, the generous are stingy
In adversity, the wealthy destitute and immured.
وَتَساوى الوَرى فَلَم يَبقَ مَشكو
رٌ عَلَى مِنَّةٍ وَلا مَعذورُ
The people are equal, none remain
Indebted for a favor, excused or demurred.
لا يُجاوِرُكُمُ الصَّعيدُ بِسوء
فَهوَ لِلنّازِلينَ بِئسَ المجيرُ
The ground will not abuse you in your burial
For it is a miserable lodging for those interred.
وَسَقاكُم مِنَ السَّحابِ صَناعُ ال
كَفِّ يُسدي في رَوضِكُم وَيُنيرُ
The rainmakers have watered you from clouds
That confer on your meadows and make them endure.
كُلُّ غَنّاء يُقطِعُ الغَيثُ عَنها
وَلَها أَعيُنٌ مِنَ النُّورِ حُورُ
Every singer the rain cuts off
Has eyes of light, radiant, assured.
عارِض مُغضِبٌ عَلى المَحلِ لا يَخ
طُرُ إِلَّا وَسَيفُهُ مَشهورُ
A censurer irritates the abode, draws his sword,
Does not consider, though prominent, demurred.
أَشرَقَت فيهِ لِلشَّقيقِ خُدودٌ
وَأَضاءَت مِنَ الأَقاحي ثُغورُ
In it the daystar's cheeks shine
And the horizons of the dawns glow obscured.
ينقلُ الماء خَطوهُ فَتُرَجِّي
هِ النُّعامى كَما يُرَجّي الحَسيرُ
He carries water as the ostrich carries it,
As the captive looks forward to ransom assured.
عَمَّ مَعروفُهُ فَفي كُلِّ وادٍ
مِن أَياديهِ رَوضَةٌ وَغَديرُ
His goodness encompasses so every valley
Has by his hands a meadow and lake immured.
وَعَلى العَزمِ أَن يَجودَ عَلَيكُم
واهِبٌ بِالنَّوالِ مِنكُم جَديرُ
Resolved to be generous to you, conferring bounty,
A grantor from you worthy, excelling, matured.
ما أَرى الشِّعرَ كافِياً في مَراثي
كُم وَلَكِن قَد يَنفُثُ المَصدورُ
I do not see verse as enough for your elegy
But the breast pours out what it has endured.
وَإِذا ما أَطَلتُ فيهِ وَلَم يُش
فِ غَليلاً فَكُلُّهُ تَقصيرُ
If I prolong it without alleviating anguish,
All is inadequate, truncated, demurred.
