يا ليلُ مَا تصنعُ النَّفْسُ التي سَكَنتْ

هذا الوجودَ ومن أعدائها القَدَرُ

O night, what can the soul do, that dwelled

O Night, what shall the soul do, having made its home

In this existence, with destiny as its foe,

In this existence, where Fate stands as its foe?

ترضى وتَسْكُتُ هذا غيرُ محتَمَلٍ

إِذاً فهل ترفُضُ الدُّنيا وتنتحرُ

Content and silent - this is unbearable!

To accept and stay silent—this cannot be borne,

Will it then reject the world and commit suicide?

Should it then reject the world and seek its own end?

وذا جنونٌ لَعَمْري كُلُّهُ جَزَعٌ

باكٍ ورأيٌ مريضٌ كُلُّه خَوَرُ

Madness, by my life! All of this is but grief -

Yet that is madness, by my life, born of sheer panic,

Weeping, with sickly thoughts - all in vain.

A weeping surrender, a sickly thought fraught with frailty.

فإنّما الموت ضَرْبُ من حبائِلِهِ

لا يُفلتُ الخلقُ مَا عاشوا فما النَّظرُ

For death is but one of its snares,

For death is merely one of his many snares;

From which no being escapes, for all their sight.

No creature escapes while they live—so why look there?

هذا هو اللغْزُ عَمَّاهُ وعَقَّدَهُ

على الخليقةِ وَحْشٌ فاتكٌ حَذِرُ

This is the puzzle, which it obscured and complicated

This is the riddle—obscured and knotted tight,

For creation - a fierce, cautious beast.

Bound upon creation by a beast, lethal and wary.

قَدْ كبَّلَ القَدَرُ الضَّاري فرائِسَهْ

فما استطاعوا له دفعاً ولا حزَروا

Destiny bound its harmful horses,

Predatory Fate has shackled his prey,

So they cannot resist it, nor take precautions.

Powerless to repel him, unable to foresee him.

وخاطَ أعينَهم كي لا تُشاهِدَهُ

عينٌ فتعلمَ مَا يأتي وما يَذَرُ

It blinded their eyes, lest they witness it,

He stitched their eyes shut, lest they perceive him,

An eye that knows what comes and goes.

Lest any eye discern what comes and what departs.

وحاطَهُمْ بفنونٍ من حَبائِلِهِ

فما لَهُمْ أبداً من بطشِه وَزرُ

It surrounded them with its cunning snares,

He encircled them with the art of his traps,

So they are forever helpless against its grip.

So they find no shelter ever from his assault.

لا الموت يُنْقِذُهُمْ من هولِ صولَتِهِ

ولا الحياةُ تَساوى النّاسُ والحَجَرُ

Neither death saves them from its terrible onslaught,

Neither death can save them from his terrifying might,

Nor does life make people and stone equal.

Nor life; for mankind and stone are made equal.

حارَ المساكينُ وارتاعوا وأعْجَزَهم

أن يحذَروه وهلْ يُجديهمُ الحَذَرُ

The wretches were confounded and horrified, powerless

The wretched souls were bewildered, terrified, unable

To beware it - does wariness avail them?

To guard against him—and what use is their guard?

وهُمْ يعيشونَ في دنيا مشيَّدةٍ

منَ الخطوب وكونٍ كلَّه خَطرُ

They live in a world built from perils,

While they dwell in a world erected

A universe, all of it a danger.

Upon calamities, in a universe fraught with peril.

وكيف يحذرُ أعمَى مُدْلِجٌ تَعِبٌ

هولَ الظَّلامِ ولا عَزمٌ ولا بَصَرُ

How can a weary, sightless blind man beware

How can a blind, weary night-traveler take heed

The horror of darkness, without will or sight?

Of the darkness's horror, with neither will nor sight?

قَدْ أيقنوا أنَّهُ لا شيءَ يُنقِذُهُمْ

فاستسلموا لِسُكونِ الرُّعْبِ وانتظروا

They are certain that nothing can save them,

They realized with certainty that nothing saves them,

So they surrendered to the stillness of terror and waited.

So they surrendered to the silence of terror and waited.

ولو رأوه لسارتْ كي تحارِبَه

من الوَرَى زُمَرٌ في إثرِها زُمَرُ

If only they saw it, armies would march to fight it,

Yet had they seen him, there would march to war

One host after another raging troops.

Legions of mankind, troop following troop.

وثارتِ الجنّ والأملاكَ ناقمةً

والبحرُ والبَرُّ والأفلاكُ والعُصرُ

The jinn and angels would rise in anger,

The Jinn and Angels would rise in vengeance,

As would the land, the sea, the cosmos and time.

The sea, the land, the heavens, and the ages.

لكنّهُ قوّةٌ تُملي إرادتَها

سِرًّا فَنَعْنو لها قهراً ونأتمرُ

But it is a power that imposes its will

But he is a force that dictates his will

In secret - so we obey it by force and acquiesce.

In secret, so we bow perforce and obey.

حقيقةٌ مرّةٌ يا ليلُ مُبْغَضَةٌ

كالموتِ لكنْ إليها الوِرْدُ والصَّدَرُ

A bitter truth, O night, detestable

A bitter truth, O Night, a loathed reality,

As death, but to it belong the breast and heart.

Like death itself, yet to it we come and go.

تَنَهَّدَ اللَّيْلُ حتَّى قلتُ قَدْ نُثِرَتْ

تِلكَ النُّجومُ وماتَ الجنُّ والبَشَرُ

The night sighed, until I said: scattered

The Night sighed, until I thought the stars

Are those stars, and dead are the jinn and mankind.

Were scattered, and death took Jinn and men.

وعادَ للصَّمتِ يُصغي في كآبته

كالفيلسوف إلى الدنيا ويفتكرُ

And it returned to silence, listening somberly

He returned to silence, listening in his gloom,

Like a philosopher, pondering the world.

Like a philosopher contemplating the world.

وقَهْقَهَ القَدَرُ الجبَّارُ سُخْريةً

بالكائناتِ تَضاحَكْ أَيُّها القَدَرُ

The Almighty destiny laughed mockingly

Then mighty Fate thundered with laughter in mockery

At creatures - O destiny, you laugh!

At all beings—laugh on, O Fate!

تمشي إلى العَدَمِ المحتومِ باكيةً

طوائفُ الخَلْقِ والأشكالُ والصُّوَرُ

Weeping throngs of creation and forms and images

They walk weeping toward the inevitable void,

Walk to inevitable oblivion.

The multitudes of creation, the shapes, and the forms.

وأنت فوقَ الأسى والموت مبتسمٌ

ترنو إلى الكون يُبْنَى ثمَّ يندَثِرُ

While you smile above grief and death,

While you stand above sorrow and death, smiling,

Gazing at the universe, built up then ruined.

Gazing at a universe built up, then swept away.