جَهِلتُ وَما أَلقى عَليماً وَإِنَّما

مَرِهتُ وَأَعيا أَن أَمُرَّ بِكاحِلِ

I was ignorant, though I met no teacher, and I recoiled,

Finding it hard to pass my days daubed in kohl.

فَسِرتُ وَقَد أَجدَبتُ أَرتادُ مَرتَعاً

فَلَم تَطَإِ الوَجناءُ بي ظَهرَ ماحِلِ

So I set out, my pastures now all barren wastes;

No resting place afforded shade to my camel's back.

وَخُيِّلَ لي أَنّي أُقيمُ وَإِنَّما

أَسيرُ وَإِن لَم أَحتَقِب زادَ راحِلِ

I fancied that I stayed, while all the time

I journeyed on, unmindful that my camel strode ahead.

فَقُلتُ وَقَد خَلَّفتُ خَمسينَ حِجَّةً

وَرائي لَقَد أَعجَلتُ طَيَّ المَراحِلِ

I said, when fifty-three pilgrimages had passed,

"How soon this camel's pace has brought me to my stage's end."

أَبوءُ بِعِبءِ السُقمِ بَينَ حُشاشَةٍ

تَجودُ وَجِسمٍ قَد تَفَرَّقَ ناحِلِ

I suffer from disease's weary load

While bounty flows from one whose body is a swarm of bees dispersed.

وَأَسبَحُ في بَحرِ الشَكاةِ لَعَلَّني

سَأَعلَقُ يَوماً مِن نَجاةٍ بِساحِلِ

I swim in seas of shrouded gloom, and maybe I

Shall one day clutch and cling to safety's shore.