ما زرتَ إلّا خداعاً أيّها السّاري
ثمّ اِنقَضيتَ وما قضّيتُ أوطاري
You only visited to deceive, O fleeting one,
Then you vanished before my wishes were fulfilled.
أَنّى يَزور عَلى الظّلماءِ مِنْ شَحَطٍ
مَنْ كانَ صُبْحاً وَقُرباً غيرَ زَوَّارِ
How can one who was a morning and nearby visitor
Visit those in darkness, away from the frequented paths?
وَلَيسَ يَنفَعُ مَن يُضحِي بمَجْدَبَةٍ
أَنْ باتَ ما بَينَ جنّاتٍ وأنهارِ
It is futile for one who sacrificed with a blade
To sleep between gardens and rivers.
قَد زارَني قَبلكَ الشّيبُ المُلِمُّ ضحىً
فما هَشِشْتُ له ما بين زوّاري
Old age with its hardships visited me at dawn before you,
Yet I did not become frail between my visitors.
وكنتُ أعذرُ نفسي قبل زَوْرتِهِ
فَالآنَ ضاقَتْ عَلى اللّذّاتِ أعذارِي
I used to excuse myself before his visit,
But now pleasures have become too constricted for my excuses.
لَوامِع لَم تكنْ للغيث جاذبةً
وأنجُمٌ لم تُنِرْ للمُدْلِجِ السَّاري
Radiant stars unmoved by rain,
Luminous stars giving no light to the fading twinkler.
لا مرحباً ببياضٍ لم يكن وَضَحاً
لغُرّةِ الصُّبحِ أو لمعاً لنُوّارِ
No welcome to a whiteness that was not brilliant
At the morn’s flush or did not shine for the lamplighters.
أبَعْدَ أنْ سَمَقَتْ في العزِّ أبنيتِي
وجالتِ الأرضَ آثاري وأخباري
After my buildings reached glory,
My traces and tales roamed the land.
ونِلتُ ما ذِيدَ عنه كلُّ مُلتَمِسٍ
عفواً وطامَنْ عنه كلُّ جبّارِ
And I attained what every ambitious person was denied,
Unconditionally, while every tyrant despaired of it.
وداس بي أُفُقَ الجوزاء مُنتعلاً
ما شِيد من فضل أقداري وأخطاري
The horizon of Gemini trampled me arrogantly,
Destroying my superiority, my perils and my concerns.
يَروم شَأوي وقد عزّ اللّحاقُ به
طمّاعةٌ مِن قَصيرِ الخطو عثّارِ
He aspires to rival me, though joining me is remote,
A greediness from one with faltering steps and scattered traces.
أَضَلَّهُ اللّؤمُ عن ذمِّي وجنّبهُ
خُمولُهُ وَقْعَ أنيابي وأظفاري
Meanness distracted him from blaming me and prevented him
From the strikes of my fangs and claws.
وَقَد عَجَمْتُم أنابيبي فلم تجدوا
فيهنّ إلّا صَليباً غيرَ خَوّارِ
You tied up my water springs but found in them
Nothing but crosses, without murmuring waters.
وَما نَهَضتمْ بأعباءٍ نهضتُ بها
ولا أحطتمْ بأطرافي وأقطاري
You did not take on burdens I took on,
Nor encompassed my edges and far reaches.
وَلا ضرَبتمْ ونَقْعُ الحَربِ مُلتبِسٌ
في فَيلقٍ كَزُهاءِ اللّيل جرّارِ
You did not fight when the strikes of war were underway
Among regiments swift as the darkness of night.
لا يبعدِ اللَّهُ أقواماً مضوا سَلَفاً
كانوا على نَبَواتِ الدّهرِ أنصاري
May God not distance people who passed on before,
Who supported my prophecies through the ages.
شموسُ دَجني ومقْباسِي على غَسَقٍ
وفي الحَنادِسِ أنواري وأقماري
My shining suns in the darkness,
My lights and moons in the lamps.
قومٌ إذا نزلوا داراً على عَجَلٍ
كانوا نزولاً مع النّعمى على الدّارِ
A people, when they quickly descended on a house,
Were like the blind descending on a home.
وإن أهَبْتُ بهمْ في يومِ معركةٍ
جاؤوا ولم يمطُلوا عنها بأعذارِ
And if I rallied them on a battle day,
They came without delaying with excuses.
لا يَرهبونَ سِوى إيلامِ لائمةٍ
وَلا يَخافونَ إلّا جانبَ العارِ
They fear only the blame of a critic,
And dread only the side of disgrace.
كَأنّهمْ وُلدوا في الحَربِ وَاِرتَضعوا
بسائلٍ من نجيع الطّعن موّارِ
As if they were born in war and suckled
On the swords’ dripping blood.
لا يعرفُ المالَ إلّا حين يجعلُهُ
سداً لثلْمٍ وإغناءً لإفقارِ
They know money only when it dams a breach
Or enriches poverty.
جِفانُهُ كجوابِي الماءِ فاهقةٌ
وخُلْقُهُ كزلالٍ بينها جارِ
Their palms are calloused from striking with the sword,
While their manners are gentle waters flowing by them.
كَم قَد بلغتُ بهمْ في مطلبٍ أَرَبِي
وكم أحذتُ بهمْ من معشرٍ ثاري
How often have I achieved a lofty goal through them,
And how often have I checked a hostile tribe!
وكم جَرَرْتُ حقوفي بعد ما شَحَطَتْ
بنصرهم من لَهاةِ الضّيغمِ الضّاري
How often I have dragged my rights after they were debased
By the vile, vicious, perfidious beast.
المُطعمين على خَصْبٍ ومَسْغَبَةٍ
والمنعمين على عُسرٍ وإيسارِ
Who live in prosperity and luxury,
And in ease or hardship.
طاحوا وما طاح حزني بعدهمْ ونأَوْا
عنّي وما نزحوا من بين أفكاري
They fell, but my sorrow for them did not fall.
They parted from me, but they did not depart from my thoughts.
رُزِئتُهُم فيدِي من بعدهم صَفِرتْ
من النّفيس وقلبي من هوىً عارِ
I spurned them, so my hand after them was emptied
Of the precious, while my heart was emptied of passions.
وَلَم يَفتهمْ وقَد حازوا الكمال على
كلّ الخَلائق إلّا طولُ أَعمارِ
They did not lack, after attaining perfection
Above all creation, except for length of life.
وَقَد مَررنا بدارٍ بعدهمْ خَشَعَتْ
بعدَ اِعتِلاءٍ وأقْوَتْ بعد أعمارِ
And we passed by an abode after them that was humbled,
Though once lofty, now weakened by time.
