المَنايا قَواطِعُ الآجالِ
فلماذا الغُرور بالآمالِ
Death's strokes sever lifespans,
Why then be deluded by hopes?
أَفَلا يَهتَدي اللّبيبُ بفكرٍ
في اِنتِقالِ الزّمانِ والأحوالِ
Should not the wise be guided by thought
Of the flux of time and circumstance?
ثمّ هلّا يرَى بعينِ اِعتبارٍ
حادثاتِ الأيّام ثمَّ اللَّيالي
Should he not see with the eye of insight
The events of days and nights?
لَيسَتِ الدّنيا غَيرَ دارِ فَناءٍ
أَمرُها صائِرٌ لِحالِ الزّوالِ
The world is but an abode of passing,
Its state inclined to decline.
زادَ فيها الغُرور في كلّ وَقتٍ
طمَعٌ كائنٌ بصدرِ الرجالِ
In every age, illusion multiplies in it,
Greed lodged in men's breasts.
غرَّ فيها من تبدّى جَهولاً
وهي عندي غَرّارةُ الجُهّالِ
Deceived herein is the ignorant one,
And to me it is the deceiver of fools.
لا تُساوي مِنَ البَعوضِ جَناحاً
لَيسَ أَدنى مِنها لَدى المُتَعالي
It is not worth a gnat's wing
To the elevated soul.
كَم مَليكٍ فَوقَ الترابِ طَريحٍ
ما فَدَتهُ جَواهِرٌ ولآلي
How many a king lies beneath dust
Whom gems and finery could not save!
كَم عَظيمٍ تَحتَ الثّرى قَد تَوارى
مِثلَ شَمسٍ لَدى طلوعِ الهِلالِ
How many a mighty one disappeared beneath the soil
Like the moon at the rising of the new crescent!
كَم أُناسٍ مِثلَ الشّموسِ أَضاؤوا
وهَوَوْا للمغيبِ وقتَ الزّوالِ
How many people shone like suns
Then set into the darkness of sunset!
لَيسَ تُبقي يَدُ المَنايا شَريفاً
لا تُبالي بِأَخذِهِ لا تُبالي
Death's hand spares no noble one;
It cares not whom it seizes.
لَيسَ مِنها لِحادثٍ مِن نَجاةٍ
إذ بكفَّيْها سائرُ الآجالِ
No event here escapes it,
For all lifespans are in its grasp.
كُلُّ وَقتٍ أَظفارُها مُنْشَباتٌ
لِاِفتِراسِ الأَشرافِ وَالأَنذالِ
At every moment its claws are embedded
In catching the eminent and the lowly.
لَيتَها تُمهِلُ الكِرامَ زَماناً
أَيُّ ضُرٍّ بِذلِك الإِمهالِ
Would that it grant the generous time,
What harm in that respite?
لَيتَها أَمهَلت فَريدَ زَمانٍ
كانَ فيهِ مِمَّن عَرا عَن مِثالِ
Would that it had given more time to the paragon of an age,
Unique among the ideal.
فَهوَ بَحرُ العُلومِ حَبرٌ لَبيبٌ
فاضِلٌ كامِلٌ حَليفُ جَمالِ
He was an ocean of knowledge, a perceptive sage,
Accomplished, perfect, handsome's compatriot.
الأَديبُ الغزّيُّ نَسْلُ كِرامٍ
حَيثُ كانوا عَلى المُلوكِ مَوالي
The poet of Ghazza, scion of nobles,
Ever loyal to kings.
مُذْ تَرَقَّى في الدّينِ أَعلى كَمالٍ
فَلَهُ الدّينُ قالَ أَنتَ كَمالي
Since he attained the height of faith's perfection,
Faith said: you are my perfection.
وَلِذا سمّاهُ الكمالُ اِفتِخاراً
وكسَاهُ بهَيْبةٍ وجَلالِ
So Perfection named him Pride out of esteem
And clothed him in awe and majesty.
مُذ دَعاهُ داعي المَنايا وَلَبّى
بادرَ السّيرَ غِبَّ شَدِّ الرّحالِ
When death's caller summoned him, he sped
To journey hard and fast.
وَتَولَّى إِلى الجِنانِ شَهيداً
إِذْ رَماهُ طاعونُهُ بِالنّبالِ
He turned toward the Gardens a martyr,
Struck down by its plague with arrows.
قُطِعَتْ يُمنى طاعِنٍ طَعَنَتْه
وَشِمالٌ لَو طَعنه بِالشّمالِ
The right hand of a piercing assailant pierced him,
While a left, had it struck, would have pierced.
لَيتَ شَيئاً يَفديهِ مِن أَسْرِ مَوتٍ
كُنتُ مِمَّن يَفديهِ في كُلِّ غالِ
Would that something could ransom him from death's bond!
I would be among those who ransom him, whatever the price.
كانَ مِن أَهلِهِ شموسٌ وبَدرٌ
ثمَّ نَجمٌ حَلّوا بُروجَ المَعالي
Among his family were suns, full moons,
Then a star high in the climax of grandeur.
قَد تَولَّوا وَذِكرُهم دامَ فينا
لَيسَ يَفنى عَلى مَمرِّ اللَّيالي
They turned away, but their memory remains with us,
It does not fade with the passage of nights.
وَعَليهِ غاروا وَغارَ عَلَيهم
وَاِستحبّوا اِقتِرانَهم بِالكَمالِ
They wept for him and he for them,
And they preferred conjunction with perfection.
فَعَليهِ مِنَ الكريمِ رِضاهُ
يَتَوالى دَوماً بِغَيرِ اِنفِصالِ
May he be pleased with the generous one,
In unceasing succession forever!
