خليليَّ ما لِلعَيش لَيسَ بطيّبِ

وَما لي فيهِ امرداً مِثلُ اشيَبِ

My friend, life has no sweetness

And I have no desire for it like an old man.

تمرُّ اللَيالي بي طِوالاً من الاسى

كأَنَّ طِوالاً من قَناً قد مَررنَ بي

The nights pass me by, long with sorrow,

As if a long line of spears has passed by me.

وأحتَقر اللذات حتىّ كانَّني

تَضلَّعتُ منها منذُ ما لَم ازَل صبي

I belittle pleasures until it was as if

I was saturated with them since I was a boy.

ارى هَذِهِ الدنيا فتُخدَشُ مقلَتي

كأَنَّ شِعاعَ الشمس تبلُ مُذَرِّبِ

I see this world and it irritates my eyelid,

Like the rays of sun hitting a sleepy eye.

نَعَم انما الدنيا بعيني خبيرها

قَذىً وهيَ كحلٌ ذُرَّ في مقلة الغبي

Yes, this world to my experienced eye

Is just specks, while to the foolish it is kohl.

أَلَم تَرَ ما فيها من العجب الَّذي

تجيئُك منهُ كل يومٍ باعجبِ

Have you not seen the wonders in it

That bring you something more amazing every day?

تحجَّبُ فيها الشمس عن اعين المَهى

وَقَد رقَبتها عينُ حرباءِ تَنضُبِ

The sun is veiled from the eyes of the fascinated,

While to the sharp-eyed hyena its neck is exposed.

وَتُغمَر في لُجِّ البحار زَعانِفٌ

وَقَد فاتَ منها قطرةٌ كلَّ مِخلَبِ

Fins are submerged in the depths of the seas,

While every claw has missed just a drop.

لحى اللَه دنياك الَّتي جُلُّ ما بها

طِلاءُ جَمالٍ فوقَ قبحٍ محجَّبِ

May God ugly your world, which is mostly just

A beautiful façade over hidden ugliness.

فانى يَطيب العيشِ فيها لمن يَرى

بِعينَيهِ ذاك القبحَ غيرَ منقَّبِ

So how can life in it be sweet to one who sees

That ugliness with unblinking eyes?

واقبَحُ ما فيها أَمانٍ تَرومُها

فَتَغدو وقاها اللَه أَمنَعَ مطلبِ

The ugliest thing in it is the safety you seek from it

That in the morning, God protect you, is the hardest thing to attain.

ثَرى الشيءَ مَبذولاً فان رمتَهُ غدا

واقرب من لقياهُ عنقاءُ مُغربِ

You see something offered so if you seek it, it disappears,

And the closest thing to finding it is the far horizon.

كانك منها تَبتَغي سلبَهُ وقد

احبَّتهُ حبَّ المستهام المعذَّبِ

It is as if you want to rob it, and it has fallen

In love with its captor, tortured with passion.

يَمُرُّ بفيها ثمَّ ان رمتَهُ حلا

لها شأنَ طفلٍ جاهِلٍ متقلّبِ

It passes by so if you seek it, it dissolves,

Having the nature of an ignorant, fickle child.

فاقربُ دانٍ منك كُلُّ مبغضٍ

وابعدُ نآءٍ عنك كُلُّ محبَّبِ

The closest companion to you is every hater

And the furthest intimacy from you is every beloved.

وَبي غُصَّةٌ لَيسَ الزَمان يُسيغُها

اذا نَشِبَت في حلقِه بعضَ منشَبِ

I have a choking grief that time does not soothe

When it lodges in its throat like an arrowhead.

وَما غُصَّتي الّا الَّتي تُعجز الإِسا

فَلَم أَكُ أَشجى بالشَراب المطيَّبِ

My grief is only that which brings despair to consolation,

For I have not been one to be consoled by sweet drink.

فَيا غصَّةً بين الزُلال وَبينها

مَهامِه يُعيي طيرَها بعضُ مشرَبِ

Oh choking grief between clarity and it,

Its concerns exhaust a bird from any drinking place.

اذا حدَّثتني النَفسُ عنها إِخالها

تحدِّثني بالمَستحيل المغيَّبِ

When my soul speaks to me of it, deceiving me,

It speaks to me of the impossible, the unreal.

وان انا بالسِلوان حدَّثتُها فَما

حديثي لديها غير جَهلٍ مركَّبِ

And if I speak to it gently, then my words to it

Are nothing but ignorance compounded.

فَواحَيرتا وَالدهر يَعبَثُ بالفَتى

وَيُركبهُ في الامر احشَنَ مركَبِ

So I am confused, as fate toys with the young man

And places him in the most rugged circumstance.

يحسن في عينيهِ ما لن يَنالَهُ

وَما دونهُ حدُّ الحُسام المشطَّبِ

Beautiful in his eyes is what he will never attain,

While what is beneath it is the limit of polished swords.

فَلا هوَ سالٍ لا ولا هوَ نائِلٌ

فقل ما تشا في حالهِ وتعجبِ

So he is neither asking nor attaining,

So say what you will of his state and be amazed.

وَلكنَّ هَذا الخَلقَ سنَّ لِنفسِهِ

شَرائعَ لم يُنزِل بها اللَه من نَبي

But these people have legislated for themselves

Laws not sent down upon them by God through any prophet.

شَرائعَ تَفريقٍ لما اللَهُ جامِعٌ

وَما ثَمَّ من داعٍ ولا من مسبِّبِ

Laws of separation, while God is unified,

And there is no caller nor causer but Him.

لَقَد فرَّقوا بين الجواهر لاسمها

كَما لَو فَرَقنا بين غربٍ وَمَغرِبِ

They have separated the essences based on their names,

As if we separated west from east.

وإِن تلكُمُ الّا أَسامٍ عجيبَةٌ

دعوتم بها انتم مع الجَدّ والابِ

Those are only marvelous names,

Which you have called while serious or playing.

فوارغُ لم يُنزِل بها اللَهُ آيةً

وَلَو أَوَّلوها في الكتاب المكتَّبِ

Empty, with no verses sent down about them by God,

Even if you interpret them in the Holy Book.

كُراتٌ من العاج ابتَدرتم لصِبغها

بشتىَّ من الالوانِ فِعلَ المرغبِّ

Balls of ivory which you have hastened to dye

With various colors, the work of the desirer.

وَجئتم تَقولونَ اتَّقوا ما بأَحمرٍ

صَبغنا وأُموا ما صَبَغنا باصهبِ

And you come saying, "Beware what we have dyed red,

And believe what we have dyed green."

وايّاكُم ان تجمعوا بين هَذِهِ

وَهذي ومن يقرُب لهاتيكيُذنِبِ

And beware that you do not join this one

With that one, for whoever does has sinned.

وَما ثمَّ بُرهانٌ فكُلُّ كُراتِكم

من العاج إِن تُغفَل وان تتخضَّبِ

There is no proof, for all your balls of ivory,

Whether ignored or colored, are the same.

وان كانَ فَرقٌ بينهنَّ فربما

رديئتها ذات الطِلآءِ المذهَّبِ

And if there is a difference between them, maybe

The ugliest is the one with more beautiful dye.