أبَي الزّمان سوى ما يكره الشّرفُ

والدّهرُ صَبٌّ بإسخاطِ العُلا كَلفُ

Time refused everything but what honor loathes,

And fate pours to anger the exalted ruthlessly.

لو كان شخصٌ تفوت الحزنَ مهجتُهُ

لكنتَ ذاك ولكنْ ليس تنتصفُ

If there was someone sorrow could not reach his soul,

You would be that one, but none can be consoled.

إذا بَقِيتَ فمن يعدوك مُحتَسبٌ

في الشّمسِ ما أشرقت عن كوكبٍ خَلَفُ

If you remain, who would count you as devout?

The sun never rose behind any planet left behind.

إذا تيقَّنتِ الأرواحُ بِعْثَتَها

إلى الحِمامِ فماذا ينفع الأسفُ

When souls are certain of their resurrection,

What good is sorrow anymore?

وَكيف تُخطِي سهامُ الموت مُفْلِتَةً

مَنْ نَحرُهُمْ لحنِيّاتِ الرّدى هدفُ

How can death's arrows miss their mark

When they aim for the necks of ruin's singers?

يسعى الفتى وخيولُ الموت تطلبه

وإنْ نوى وقفةً فالموتُ ما يقفُ

The youth strives while death's horses pursue him,

And if he pauses but a moment, death does not.

نَلقى من الدّهر ما يُدمِي محاجرَنا

وما لنا عن هوَى رؤياه مُنْصَرَفُ

We face blows of fate that make us weep,

Yet we cannot avert the desire for its vision.

أفعالُنا للرَّزايا فيه مُنكِرةٌ

ونطقُنا باِرتحالٍ عنه معترِفُ

Our deeds deny the calamities within it,

While our words confess to departing from it.

إِنْ لم توفِّ لياليه مكارهَها

فقد تقدّم في أرزائها سَلَفُ

If its nights do not fulfill their afflictions,

Much has preceded of its pain.

كلُّ المواطن من كفّ الرّدى كَثَبٌ

وكلُّ أرضٍ على هول الرّدى شَرَفُ

Every dwelling is gripped by the hand of doom,

And every land overlooks the horror of fate.

لا دَرَّ دَرُّ اللّيالِي أخذُها فُرَصٌ

ومنعُها غُصَصٌ بل جودها سَرَفُ

The nights' downpours are seized by opportunities,

Denied by distress, though their rain poured heavily.

إذا حزنتَ فقلبُ المجد مكتئبٌ

وإنْ قُذِيتَ ففي وجه الضُّحى سَدَفُ

If you grieve, the heart of glory is saddened,

And if you are helmeted, the face of dawn loses its brightness.

ولو علمتَ ببسطِ الدّهرِ قبضتَهُ

إلى فِنائِك ما طالتْ له كَتِفُ

Had you known the grasping of fate's outpouring,

You would not have longed for its end.

لكنّه سارقٌ يُخفِي زيارتَه

وليس من سطوةِ السّرّاقِ مُنتَصَفُ

But it is a thief hiding its visit;

No fairness is expected from the tyranny of thieves.

إنْ كل أطلق فيك الدّهرُ منطقَه

فقد دعاك لسانٌ حشوُهُ كَفَفُ

If fate ever unleashed its speech at you,

It was a tongue whose filler was palms.

أو كان ألْهَبَ في مَغناك سابقَهُ

فقد ثناه برجلٍ ملؤُها حَنَفُ

Or it had provoked your ear with its forerunner,

It was a foot filled with deviation.

يُهدِي العزاءَ إلى المفقودِ مُفتَقِدٌ

مؤزَّرٌ بثيابِ الموتِ مُلتحفُ

A mourner who wraps himself in death's clothes

Directs condolences to the bereft.

ويصرف الهمَّ عن قلبٍ أطاف به

مَن قلبُهُ لنواصي الهمّ مكتنفُ

One whose heart is held by the reins of anxiety

Turns worries away from a heart encircled by them.

إنّ الّتي أضرمتْ أحشاءَنا جَزَعاً

تلقاك منها غداً في الجنّةِ الزُّلفُ

She who lit our souls aflame with anguish

Will meet you in the gardens of proximity tomorrow.

ولن يُذكّرك المُسلون موعظةً

وأنت تعلم منها فوق ما وصفوا

The counselors will not remind you of advice

While you know more than their descriptions.