لا تقطعنّ رجاءَ العيش بالعِللِ
فالعمرُ أقصر أوقاتاً من الشُّغُلِ
Do not cut off the hope of living because of illnesses,
For life is shorter than preoccupations,
وما السّرورُ على خَلْقٍ بمتّئدٍ
وما النّعيم على الدّنيا بمتّصلِ
And happiness is not for a creature with a continuous feast,
And bliss in this world is not perpetual.
قضى الزّمانُ بان يبتزّ نِحلَتَه
ما يُبرِم الصّبحُ تُعريه يدُ الطَّفَلِ
Time has decided to snatch away its gifts.
What the morning constructs, a child's hand may undo.
أقول إذا لامني في الحبّ جاهله
لو كنتَ لاقيتَ ما ألقاه لم تَقُلِ
When an ignorant criticizes me in love, I say:
If you had suffered what I suffered, you would not speak.
خفّضْ عليك فإِنّي غيرُ منعطفٍ
على ملامٍ ولا مُصغٍ إلى عَذَلِ
Lower your eyes from me, for I do not turn
Towards blame or lend an ear to rebuke.
إذا نزعت هوىً في ثوب غِرّتِه
فإنّ سرَّ الصِّبا في خمرةِ الغَزَلِ
When I put on the garment of love's madness,
The secret of youth lies in the wine of flirtation.
وشافعُ الحبّ لا تنفكّ طاعتُه
أدنى إلى النّفس من همٍّ إِلى جَذَلِ
The advocate of love, his obedience cannot be broken,
He is closer to the self than anxiety is to matching.
لا تأنسنّ بلين الصّعبِ في كَلَفٍ
فاللّيثُ يصبو ويعلو منكِبَ البَطَلِ
Do not be deceived by the softness of the difficult in strain,
The lion drinks and rises above the hero's shoulder.
ولا يغرّنْك حلمٌ في مواطنه
فالدّهر يُغضِي ويقضِي أعضل العُقَلِ
And do not let yourself be fooled by patience in its places,
Time gets angry and judges the most reasonable of minds.
وكيف يُدني منَ التّشمير في حَدَثٍ
مَن داؤه في ظهور الخيلِ والإبلِ
And how can one who mounts to confront an event
When his sickness lies in horses and camels, approach wrapping?
أدنى شعارَيْه درعٌ في تفضّلِه
وكفُّه منبتُ العَسّالةِ الذُّبُلِ
The lowest of his banners is a coat in his nobility,
And his palm is the rising place of dried honey.
يرضى النِّجادَ بديلاً من تمائمه
وأحمرَ النَّقْعِ من مُحمرّةِ الحُلَلِ
He is satisfied with amulets instead of his turban,
And red leather instead of a red skullcap.
وَلا وسادَ له إلّا جوارحُه
ولا يمُهِّد إلّا جَلْدَةَ السُّبُلِ
He has no pillow except his organs,
And prepares nothing but the skin of weeping.
ما يَعجِمُ الخطبُ لِي عوداً على خَوَرٍ
ولا يكشّفُ منّي القلبُ عن وَهَلِ
Wedding songs do not appeal to me after delight,
Nor does my heart reveal to me any anxiety.
وَلا اِمتطيتُ صنيعاً ذُمَّ راكبه
ولا أدار لساني القولَ في خَطَلِ
I have not ridden a horse whose rider is blamed,
Nor has my tongue turned speech into stuttering.
هيهاتَ أَرهب مِن هَذا الورى أَحداً
وقد رأيت شمولَ العجز والفَشَلِ
Alas! I do not intimidate anyone in this world,
And I have seen the inclusion of inadequacy and failure.
إِنَّ الرّجالَ وإنْ راعتْك كثرتُهمْ
إذا خبرتَهمُ لم تُلفِ من رجلِ
Men, however many they are, if you know them,
You will not find even one man among them.
مَن لم تكن غايةَ العلياء بغيتُه
فلن أُلابِسَهُ إلّا على دَخَلِ
Whoever’s supreme goal has not been my goal,
I will not dress him except in rags.
للَّه يومٌ أتاني وهو مبتسمٌ
لقيتُ فيه نفوسَ القومِ بالأجلِ
By God, one day he came to me, smiling,
On it I met the souls of the people in death.
على حصانٍ حصينٌ مَنْ تَجلَّله
كأنّه قَد تعلّى ذروةَ الجبَلِ
On a steadfast horse ―one who wore it―
As if he had climbed to the top of a mountain.
رَحْبِ الجبين قصيرِ الظّهر من سَعَةٍ
كأنّ راكبه منه على الكَفَلِ
Broad forehead, short from breadth in the back,
As if its rider were riding on its shoulder.
لمّا طلعتُ بصدق العزمِ مشتملاً
رأى الكماة بوجهي مالئ المُقَلِ
When I set out with sincere determination, preparing myself,
The archers saw my face filling the eyelids.
وغُرّةُ الشّمسِ بالقَسْطالِ في كِلَلٍ
وبالبصائر خدُّ الأرضِ في خَجَلِ
And the cheek of the ground was embarrassed and abashed
By the blush of the sun with stars in crescents.
قل للنّوائب إمّا كنتَ مخبرَها
بيني وبينك قرعُ البيضِ والأَسَلِ
Say to misfortunes, whether you were their informant or not:
Between you and me lies the clashing of whites and blacks.
في فتيةٍ عشقوا الحربَ العَوانَ فما
يزورُ عشقَهمُ شيءٌ سوى المَلَلِ
Among some young men who loved violent war,
Nothing visits their love except boredom.
لا يَرهبونَ المَنايا أنْ تلمّ بهمْ
ولا يخافون يوماً جرعةَ الثُكُلِ
They do not fear that death will befall them,
Nor are they afraid one day of the bitterness of bereavement.
إليكِ عنِّيَ أخلاقَ اللّئامِ فما
يُجيد سمعي إلى نجواكِ من مَيَلِ
I convey to you the morals of villains,
My hearing is not inclined to your whispers.
مَن شاءَ أَن يتحامَى الهُونُ حوزتَه
يكنْ بوفدِ الأماني غيرَ محتفلِ
Whoever desires that humiliation should miss his capture,
Let him not be occupied with the caravan of wishes.
لا يقنُصُ الدّهرُ قلبي في حبائله
ولا يَميل اِعتِزامي في صِبا أملِ
Time does not hunt my heart in its coils,
Nor does my determination lean in the patience of hope.
لا زلتِ يا أعينَ الحسَّاد مُطرَفةً
دوني ويا قلبَهمْ لا زلتَ في خَزَلِ
You two, eyes of the envious! You are still winking at me,
While their hearts, you are still in fragmentation.
من يحسدِ المجدَ غَصّانٌ بحسرتِهِ
وعاشقُ المجد لا يُلفى على مَلَلِ
Whoever envies glory, branches are withering in their envy,
While the lover of glory is not met with boredom.
لا تنظرنّ اِمرءاً من غير حاسده
فليس يُدرك صدقاً ناظرُ الحُوَلِ
Do not look at a person without his envier,
For no onlooker with strabismus perceives truthfully.
