يا ربِّ ما أطولَ البلاءَ وما
أكثرَ في أن بُليتُ لُوَّامي
O Lord, how long this affliction—and how
numerous, now that I am afflicted, are those who blame me!
يلومني الناسُ أنْ حُرِمْتُ وما
ألزمني اللَّهُ غيرَ إحرامي
People blame me because I have been deprived, though
God has imposed upon me nothing but my deprivation.
كم بكَّتوني وعيَّروا أدبي
لمّا جفاني مَحلُّ إعظامي
How often they rebuked me and disparaged my conduct
because the seat of my honor had shunned me.
قالوا ألا شُغْلَ يجتبيك له
وقد رأوْا غُلَّتي وتَحْوامي
They said, “Is there no work that would claim you for itself?”
though they had seen my burning thirst and restless circling.
فقلتُ لا تَعْجَبوا لأُفْهِمَكُمْ
وقد يمَسُّ القلوبَ إفهامي
I said, “Do not marvel; let me make you understand,
for my explanation may yet touch hearts.”
أجلَّني قاسمٌ وأكْرمني
أكْرمَهُ من أراهُ إكرامي
Qasim exalted me and honored me;
may he whom I see as the source of my honor honor him.
همَّ بشغلي بمَعْملٍ فرأى
أنَّ أطْرافي تُجِمُّ آثامي
He intended to set me to some work, then saw
that my limbs were heaping up my sins,
وأنَّ دأْبِي يَجُرُّ لي تَعباً
يُكثِرُ بعدَ الصحاح أسقامي
and that my ceaseless toil brought weariness upon me,
multiplying my ailments after intervals of health.
فصانَ عُمري عَنْ أن يُقَسِّمَهُ
بين ذنوبي وبينَ آلامي
So he spared my lifetime from being divided
between my sins and my pains.
صافي العطايا يظلُّ يمنع إخ
ساري من أن ينوبَ إغنامي
Pure in his gifts, he continually keeps my loss
from taking the place of my gain.
يدرُّ رزْقِي عليَّ في دَعَةٍ
مُنَفِّلي مالهُ وأيَّامي
He makes my sustenance flow to me in ease,
bestowing on me his wealth—and my own days besides.
فالنفس في عيشةٍ مُغفَّلةٍ
تَمُرُّ لي كالشهورِ أعوامي
Thus the soul enjoys a life free from care;
my years pass for me like months.
أنفِقُ من مالهِ ومن عُمري
فيما ترى شَهوتي وإغرامي
I spend from his wealth and from my lifetime
wherever, as you see, desire and passion lead me.
سامية في مآربي هممي
نافذة في هواي أحكامي
Lofty in my aims are my aspirations;
my judgments take effect in all that I desire—
في غيرِ عيبٍ يعيبُ مَنزِلتي
وغير ريب يُريبُ إسلامي
with no fault to blemish my standing
and no doubt to trouble my Islam.
يا آل وهب حماةَ حَوزَتِنا
نكَّبَ عنكُم بسهمهِ الرَّامي
O House of Wahb, defenders of our domain—
may the archer turn his arrow aside from you!
كم أجلِبُ العذرَ من مذاقتِه
لكن وتستشعرون إتْهامي
How often I summon excuses from my taste of it,
yet you sense my accusation.
أضحى اجتهادي لِنَفْيِ عيبِكُمُ
مثل اجتهادي لنفي إعدامي
My striving to deny any fault in you has become
like my striving to deny my own deprivation.
