ما للخيالِ ببطن مَرٍّ يطرقُ

أنّى وليس له هنالك مَطْرَقُ

Why does the phantom call at Batn Marr?

How could it, when it has no path of entry there?

زار الهجودَ وَلم يَنَلْهُ ولا اِهتدى

منّا إليه مُسهَّدٌ ومؤرَّقُ

It visited slumber, yet neither reached it nor found its way

To any of us who lay sleepless and wakeful.

لو كان حقّاً زار في وَضَحِ الضُّحى

فالزَّوْرُ وَهْناً كاذبٌ لا يصدقُ

Had it been real, it would have visited in the clear light of morning;

A visit made in the frailty of night is false and cannot speak true.

زرتَ الّذين توهّموها زَوْرَةً

ومضيتَ لمّا خفتَ أن يتحققوا

You visited those who imagined it a visit,

Then slipped away for fear they might discover the truth.

وقرُبتَ قرباً عاد وهو تبعُّدٌ

ووصلتَ وصلاً آب وهو تفرُّقُ

You drew so near that nearness itself became distance,

And joined us in a union that was itself separation.

وَخَدعتَ إلّا أنَّ كلَّ خديعةٍ

رَوَّتْ صدى كَلِفٍ يُحبّ ويعشِقُ

You deceived us—yet every deception of yours

Watered the thirst of one enthralled, who loves and adores.

ما كان عندي والرّقادُ مجانبٌ

لجفونِ عيني أنّ طَيْفَكَ يطرُقُ

I never thought, while sleep kept far away

From my eyelids, that your apparition would call.

كَيفَ اِهتَدى والبعدُ منّا واسعٌ

لرحالنا هذا العَناقُ الضيّقُ

How did it find the way, when the distance between us is vast,

And this narrow embrace lies around our encampment?

أم كيف طاف مُسَلَّمٌ بمكلَّمٍ

أم كيف عاج على الأسير المطلقُ

How could one unharmed circle a wounded man?

How could one unfettered turn aside to a captive?

ومُجَدَّلٍ بيد الكَلالِ كأنّه

في الرِّيِّ يُصبح بالمُدامِ ويَغبُقُ

To one cast down by the hand of exhaustion, as though

At Rayy he drank wine morning and evening;

أمسى موسّده وقد سكن الكرى

في مُقلتيه ساعدٌ أو مِرْفَقُ

He passed the night pillowed, when sleep had settled

Within his eyes, upon an arm or elbow.

وإذا ترفّعت الحدوجُ فقل لما

واراه عنّا الوَشْيُ والإستبرقُ

And when the curtained litters rise to leave, ask what

The brocade and embroidered silk have hidden from us.

حتّى متى عطشانُكمْ لا يرتوي

من مائكمْ ومريضُكمْ لا يُفرقُ

How long must your thirsty one remain unquenched

By your water, and your sick one find no cure?

لم تعرفوا شوقاً فلم تأووا لمن

يُضحِي ويُمسِي نحوكم يتشوّقُ

You have never known longing, and so have shown no tenderness

To one who morning and evening yearns toward you.

أقسمتُ بالبيتِ العتيق تزورهُ

بالشّاحطين من الرّجال الأينُقُ

I swear by the Ancient House, which the camels visit

Bearing men who have journeyed from far away.

لمّا أتوه خائفين تشبّثوا

بستاره ليجُيرهم وتعلّقوا

When they reached it in fear, they clutched

Its curtains, clinging there for sanctuary.

والقومُ في وادي مِنىً فمجرّدٌ

أو لابسٌ ومُلَبِّدٌ ومُحَلِّقُ

The people are in Mina’s valley: some stripped bare,

Some clothed, some with hair matted, and some shaven.

والبُدنُ يُهرَق ثَمَّ من أوداجها

ما لم يكن لولا العبادةُ يُهرَقُ

The sacrificial camels pour from their jugulars there

Blood that, but for worship, would never be poured.

والموقِفَين ومن تراه فيهما

يرنو إلى عفو الإله ويرمُقُ

And by the two standing places, and all whom you see within them

Gazing and looking toward God’s forgiveness.

لبسوا الهجير محرّقين جلودهمْ

من خوف نارٍ في الجحيم تُحرِّقُ

They have clothed themselves in scorching noon, their skins burning

For fear of a fire in Hell that burns.

إنّ الّذين أعدّهمْ من عنصري

وبهمْ إذا فاخرتُ يوماً أعلقُ

Those whom I reckon as sprung from my own stock—

When I boast, it is through them that I rise.

شَجعوا فمِنْسَرُهمْ يروّع جَحْفَلاً

ووحيدُهمْ يومَ الكريهةِ فَيْلَقُ

They are brave: their raiding troop terrifies a mighty army,

And on the day of battle, one man among them is a host.

ولهمْ إذا جمدتْ أكفٌّ في ندىً

أو في وغىً أيد هناك تَدَفَّقُ

When hands grow frozen in generosity, theirs

Flow there—just as their hands pour forth in battle.

قلْ للّذين تطامحوا أنْ يفخروا

بمفاخرٍ ببنائهمْ لا تَعْلِقُ

Tell those who aspire to boast

Of glories to which their ancestry cannot reach:

غُضّوا اللِّحاظَ فقد عَلَتْ تَلْعاتِكمْ

في مفخرٍ منّا الجبالُ الشُّهَّقُ

Lower your eyes; above your uplands have risen

From our glory towering mountains.

وإذا تسابقت الجيادُ إلى مدىً

أو غايةٍ أخذ الرّهانَ السُّبِّقُ

When horses race toward a distant mark

Or goal, ours seize the prize and precedence.

ولنا وليس لكم سوى الثَّمْدِ الّذي

لم يروِ ظمآناً بُحورٌ فُهَّقُ

Ours are the brimming seas; yours is only the scant pool

That cannot slake a single thirsty man.

كم ذا نكصتمْ عن طلابِ فضيلةٍ

أنا من جوانبها أخُبُّ وأَعنِقُ

How often have you recoiled from the pursuit of excellence

While I galloped and sped along its every side.

وفررتُمُ ووقفتُ في ملمومةٍ

فيها القنا بيد الطّعانِ تُدَقَّقُ

You fled, while I stood firm within a dense battle mass

Where spears are splintered in the hands of charging warriors.

وخرستُمُ ونطقتُ في النّادي الّذي

يُعطَى المقادَةَ فيه مَن هو أنطقُ

You fell silent, while I spoke in the assembly

Where leadership is granted to the most eloquent.

ورُزقتُ لمّا أن سعيتُ إلى العُلا

فاِسعوا كما أنّي سعيتُ لتُرزقوا

I was rewarded when I strove toward eminence;

Strive as I strove, then, that you too may be rewarded.

وفريتُ لمّا أنْ خلقتُ فما لكمْ

والفَريُ ناءٍ عنكُمُ أن تخلقوا

I achieved great deeds because I was fashioned for them—what is wrong with you?

Since achievement lies far from you, go fashion it yourselves.

والنّاسُ في الدنيا إذا جرّبتَهمْ

إِمّا هباءٌ أو سرابٌ يبرقُ

The people of this world, when you have tested them,

Are either drifting dust or a glittering mirage:

إمّا صديقٌ كالعدوِّ تقاعداً

عن نصرتي أو فالعدوّ المُحْنَقُ

Either a friend who, by withholding help, is like an enemy,

Or else an enemy burning with rancor.

لا مَخبَرٌ يُرضِي القلوبَ ولا لهمْ

مرأَى به ترضى النّواظرُ يُونِقُ

No report of them contents the heart, nor have they

A sight whose beauty delights and charms the eyes.

في كلِّ يومٍ لِي ديارُ أخوَّةٍ

تخلو وشملُ مودّةٍ يتفرّقُ

Each day I have dwellings of brotherhood

That empty, while the gathered bond of affection breaks apart.

والقلبُ منّي بالكروبِ مُقَلْقَلٌ

والجلدُ منّي بالنّيوبِ مُمَزَّقُ

My heart is shaken by afflictions,

And my skin is torn by calamity’s fangs.

وعَرِيتُ من ورق الإخاءِ وطالما

كانت غصوني بالأخوّةِ تورقُ

I have been stripped of the leaves of fellowship, though long

My branches used to flourish with brotherhood.

فاليوم ما لِي من خليلٍ أرتَضي

منه الإِخاءَ ولا صديقٌ يصدقُ

Today I have no intimate whose fellowship

I approve, nor any friend who proves true.

أعطاهُمُ زمنٌ مضى فتجمّعوا

واِبتزّهمْ زمنٌ أتى فتفرّقوا

A bygone age bestowed them, and they gathered;

Another age seized them away, and they dispersed.

فلقد قطعتُ العمرَ في قومٍ لهمْ

في كلّ مكرُمةٍ جبينٌ مشرقُ

I have spent my life among a people whose

Brow shines in every noble quality.

وعليهمُ من كلّ ما زان الفتى

في العين أو في القلب منّا رَوْنَقُ

Upon them rests every grace by which a young man is crowned,

A splendor in the eye and a radiance in the heart.

ما فيهمُ إلّا مُحَلّىً بالعُلا

ومَسَوَّرٌ ومتوّجٌ ومطوَّقُ

Among them every man is adorned with eminence,

Braceleted, crowned, and collared with honor.

وتراهُمُ سامين في طرقِ العُلا

فإذا رأوْ سُبْلَ العضيهة أطرقوا

You see them rising along the paths of glory;

But when they see the paths of slander, they lower their heads.

فالآن والسّبعون تعطِفُ صَعْدَتِي

وتُرِثُّ مِنّي ما تشاءُ وتُخلِقُ

Now seventy years bend down my upward course

And wear away from me whatever they will, making it threadbare.

وتألّقتْ لِي لِمَّةٌ كان الهوى

كلّ الهوى إنْ لم تكنْ تتألّقُ

My locks have begun to gleam—the passion was

All passion, if they had not begun to gleam.

واِسودّ منّي كلُّ ما هو أبيضٌ

بالرّغمِ لمّا اِبيضّ منّي المَفْرقُ

Everything white in me has darkened

Against my will, now that the hair at my parting has turned white.

طوّحتُ بين معاشرٍ ما فيهمُ

خُلُقٌ ولا خَلْقٌ يُحَبُّ ويومَقُ

I have been cast among people in whom there is

Neither character nor form that can be loved or cherished.

من دونهمْ أبداً لكلّ فضيلةٍ

سَترٌ وبابٌ للكريمةِ مغلقُ

Between them and every excellence there stands forever

A curtain, and against every noble deed a locked door.

فالظّنّ فيهمْ للجميل مكذِّبٌ

والظّنّ فيهمْ للقبيح مصدّقُ

Concerning them, suspicion disbelieves whatever is beautiful,

While suspicion readily believes whatever is ugly.

فَإِلامَ يرمينِي بسهمٍ صائبٍ

مَن ليس لِي منهم إليه مفوِّقُ

Why, then, should one of them strike me with a sure arrow

When none possesses an arrow readied against me?

فَعلى الّذين مَضوا وعينِي بعدهمْ

تجري وقَلبي نحوهم يتشوّقُ

Upon those who have passed away—while my eyes after them

Still flow and my heart still yearns—

منّي التحيّةُ غدوةً وعشيّةً

ووكيفُ منخرقِ العَزالِي مُغْدقُ

From me be greetings morning and evening,

And a lavish downpour from the burst mouths of the clouds.

وعلى مساكنهمْ وإنْ سكنوا الثّرى ال

أَرَجُ الذكيُّ أو النّسيمُ الأعبقُ

And over their dwellings, though they inhabit the earth beneath,

Be sweet fragrance, or the most redolent breeze.