أَلا حَبَّذا صُحبَةَ المَكتَبِ
وَأَحبِب بِأَيّامِهِ أَحبِبِ
Oh, how good is the company of books!
Love their days, oh love!
وَيا حَبَّذا صِبيَةٌ يَمرَحو
نَ عِنانُ الحَياةِ عَلَيهِم صَبي
Oh, how delightful are the young children playing,
While the reins of life are loosened for them
كَأَنَّهُمو بَسَماتُ الحَيا
ةِ وَأَنفاسُ رَيحانَها الطَيِّبِ
As though they are the smiles of life
And breezes of its sweet-scented basil
يُراحُ وَيُغدى بِهِم كَالقَطي
عِ عَلى مَشرِقِ الشَمسِ وَالمَغرِبِ
They set out and return with it like travelers
At sunrise and sunset
إِلى مَرتَعٍ أَلِفوا غَيرَهُ
وَراعٍ غَريبِ العَصا أَجنَبي
To a pasture they are used to, not a strange one,
With a foreign shepherd, a stranger
وَمُستَقبَلٍ مِن قُيودِ الحَيا
ةِ شَديدٍ عَلى النَفسِ مُستَصعَبِ
And a future of life’s harsh restraints
Difficult for the soul and hard to endure
فِراخٌ بِأَيكٍ فَمِن ناهِضٍ
يَروضُ الجَناحَ وَمِن أَزغَبِ
Chicks with a mother hen, including one rising up
To train its wing and one still too young
مَقاعِدُهُم مِن جَناحِ الزَما
نِ وَما عَلِموا خَطَرَ المَركَبِ
Their seats are on the wing of time
And they know not the danger of the ship
عَصافيرُ عِندَ تَهَجّي الدُرو
سِ مِهارٌ عَرابيدُ في المَلعَبِ
Sparrows at the start of class, skilled
Arabs in the playground
خَلِيّونَ مِن تَبِعاتِ الحَيا
ةِ عَلى الأُمِّ يَلقونَها وَالأَبِ
Free of life’s worries and burdens
Which they leave to their mother and father
جُنونُ الحَداثَةِ مِن حَولِهِم
تَضيقُ بِهِ سَعَةُ المَذهَبِ
The madness of modernity closes in around them
Cramping the breadth of doctrine
عَدا فَاِستَبَدَّ بِعَقلِ الصَبِيّ
وَأَعدى المُؤَدِّبَ حَتّى صَبى
Except when it dominated the child’s mind
And exceeded even the teacher's reigns such that he poured out
لَهُم جَرَسٌ مُطرِبٌ في السَرا
حِ وَلَيسَ إِذا جَدَّ بِالمُطرِبِ
They have a delightful bell that rings at school
But it is not delightful when compelled by force
تَوارَت بِهِ ساعَةٌ لِلزَما
نِ عَلى الناسِ دائِرَةُ العَقرَبِ
When an hour passes with it for the people
The wheel of compulsion revolves
تَشولُ بِإِبرَتِها لِلشَبا
بِ وَتَقذِفُ بِالسُمِّ في الشُيَّبِ
Brandishing its whip at the youth
And throwing poison into grey hair
يَدُقُّ بِمِطرَقَتَيها القَضا
ءَ وَتَجري المَقاديرُ في اللَولَبِ
Beating out its verdict with its two hammers
As fate spins in its cycle
وَتِلكَ الأَواعي بِأَيمانِهِم
حَقائِبُ فيها الغَدُ المُختَبي
And those tools in their hands
Are bags in which the hidden future lies
فَفيها الَّذي إِن يُقِم لا يُعَدَّ
مِنَ الناسِ أَو يَمضِ لا يُحسَبِ
In them is he who if he succeeds is not considered one of the people
Or if he fails is not counted
وَفيها اللِواءُ وَفيها المَنا
رُ وَفيها التَبيعُ وَفيها النَبي
In them are the banners, and in them the pulpits,
And in them the sale, and in them the prophets,
وَفيها المُؤَخَّرُ خَلفَ الزِحا
مِ وَفيها المُقَدَّمُ في المَوكِبِ
And in them the laggers behind the procession,
And in them the leaders in the parade
جَميلٌ عَلَيهِم قَشيبُ الثِيا
بِ وَما لَم يُجَمَّل وَلَم يَقشِبِ
Fine upon them is the dress of youth
Before it is marred and made rigid
كَساهُم بَنانُ الصِبا حُلَّةً
أَعَزَّ مِن المِخمَلِ المُذهَبِ
It clothed them in a garment
More precious than embroidered velvet
وَأَبهى مِنَ الوَردِ تَحتَ النَدى
إِذا رَفَّ في فَرعِهِ الأَهدَبِ
And more radiant than roses beneath the dew
When the tender branches wave
وَأَطهَرَ مِن ذَيلِها لَم يَلُمّ
مِنَ الناسِ ماشٍ وَلَم يَسحَبِ
And purer than its trail that none touched, neither passerby nor pulled
A flock herded by a shepherd of the valleys,
قَطيعٌ يُزَجّيهِ راعٍ مِنَ الدَه
رِ لَيسَ بِلَينٍ وَلا صُلَّبِ
Neither too gentle nor too firm
Its slopes roared with affluence
أَهابَت هِرواتُهُ بِالرِفا
قِ وَنادَت عَلى الحُيَّدِ الهُرَّبِ
And it called out on the barren ridge
He marshalled his flocks arbitrarily
وَصَرَّفَ قُطعانَهُ فَاِستَبَدّ
وَلَم يَخشَ شَيئاً وَلَم يَرهَبِ
Fearing nothing and dreading naught
He let graze whoever he wished the fresh grass
أَرادَ لِمَن شاءَ رَعيَ الجَدي
بِ وَأَنزَلَ مَن شاءَ بِالمُخصِبِ
And let descend wherever he liked to the fertile land
He watered those yearning for drink at his watering place
وَرَوّى عَلى رِيِّها الناهلا
تِ وَرَدَّ الظِماءَ فَلَم تَشرَبِ
But the thirsty were not sated
He surrendered some necks to the executioner’s blade
وَأَلقى رِقاباً إِلى الضارِبي
نَ وَضَنَّ بِأُخرى فَلَم تُضرَبِ
And protected others, so they were not struck
He cares not for the pleasure of the cheerful
وَلَيسَ يُبالي رِضا المُستَري
حِ وَلا ضَجَرَ الناقِمِ المُتعَبِ
Nor the frustration of the complaining weary
He remains not with the present
وَلَيسَ بِمُبقٍ عَلى الحاضِري
نَ وَلَيسَ بِباكٍ عَلى الغُيَّبِ
Nor cries over the departed
Oh woe for them! Do they feel life?
فَيا وَيحَهُم هَل أَحَسّوا الحَيا
ةَ لَقَد لَعِبوا وَهيَ لَم تَلعَبِ
They played, while it played not
It tries them out, though they know not
تُجَرِّبُ فيهِم وَما يَعلَمو
نَ كَتَجرُبَةِ الطِبِّ في الأَرنَبِ
Like medical trials on a rabbit
It fed them a lethal poison that flowed through origins
سَقَتهُم بِسُمٍّ جَرى في الأُصو
لِ وَرَوّى الفُروعَ وَلَم يَنضُبِ
And watered branches, but was not exhausted
Time revolved, so the young grew up past school days
وَدارَ الزَمانُ فَدالَ الصِبا
وَشَبَّ الصِغارُ عَنِ المَكتَبِ
And the youth labored and struggled through difficulty upon difficulty
The gentle days of their beginnings returned
وَجَدَّ الطِلابُ وَكَدَّ الشَبا
بُ وَأَوغَلَ في الصَعبِ فَالأَصعَبِ
As years of steady toil
Those seeking knowledge there were tortured by it
وَعادَت نَواعِمُ أَيّامِهِ
سِنينَ مِنَ الدَأَبِ المُنصِبِ
And choked on its sweetest spring
Life’s desires tossed them about, and love of fame and profit,
وَعُذِّبَ بِالعِلمِ طُلّابُهُ
وَغَصّوا بِمَنهَلِهِ الأَعذَبِ
And a father’s pride in the son he begot
And his boasting over one not his own son
رَمَتهُم بِهِ شَهَواتُ الحَيا
ةِ وَحُبُّ النَباهَةِ وَالمَكسَبِ
And a reason far from the goals of ambition
Like the highest mountain peak and ship’s captain
وَزَهو الأُبُوَّةِ مِن مُنجِبٍ
يُفاخِرُ مَن لَيسَ بِالمُنجِبِ
And desperate longing for what the minds of forebears never attained or sought
It passed like a star, appearing from one horizon
وَعَقلٌ بَعيدُ مَرامي الطِما
حِ كَبيرُ اللُبانَةِ وَالمَأرَبِ
Traversing eras to the next horizon
Ancient in brilliance like the sun at noon
وَلوعُ الرَجاءِ بِما لَم تَنَل
عُقولُ الأَوالي وَلَم تَطلُبِ
Yet new like its kindling lamp
Hippocrates is like Ibn Sina the leader
تَنَقَّلَ كَالنَجمِ مِن غَيهَبٍ
يَجوبُ العُصورَ إِلى عَيهَبِ
And Homer like Abu al-Tayyib
All of them stones in the building
قَديمُ الشُعاعِ كَشَمسِ النَها
رِ جَديدٌ كَمِصباحِها المُلهِبِ
And trees of the fertile, succeeding crop
It joins them in the shade of tranquility
أَبُقراطُ مِثلُ اِبنِ سينا الرَئي
سِ وَهوميرُ مِثلُ أَبي الطَيِّبِ
And in the bosom of kinship most near
And it breaks in them the arrogance of wealth
وَكُلُّهُمو حَجَرٌ في البِنا
ءِ وَغَرسٌ مِنَ المُثمِرِ المُعقِبِ
And the conceit of birth and position
Unblemished houses like chastity
تُؤَلِفُهُم في ظِلالِ الرَخا
ءِ وَفي كَنَفِ النَسَبِ الأَقرَبِ
Though not veiled or hidden away
Their opulence approaches that of Mecca
وَتَكسِرُ فيهِم غُرورَ الثَرا
ءِ وَزَهوَ الوِلادَةِ وَالمَنصِبِ
And in purity that of Medina
When you see them thronging there
بُيوتٌ مُنَزَّهَةٌ كَالعَتي
قِ وَإِن لَم تُسَتَّر وَلَم تُحجَبِ
Like bees at the apiary
You see civilization in its fortress
يُداني ثَراها ثَرى مَكَّةٍ
وَيَقرُبُ في الطُهرِ مِن يَثرِبِ
There and in its triumphant army
They pass you in procession by procession
إِذا ما رَأَيتَهُمو عِندَها
يَموجونَ كَالنَحلِ عِندَ الرُبى
And you ask about the standard of each procession
Let fortune show in the morn who it chooses
رَأَيتَ الحَضارَةَ في حُصنِها
هُناكَ وَفي جُندِها الأَغلَبِ
For you cannot tell who it will single out
It adorned the earth with the genius
وَتَعرِضُهُم مَوكِباً مَوكِباً
وَتَسأَلُ عَن عَلَمِ المَوكِبِ
Taking the place of the planets in the sky
Yet the claw of time scratched the cheek
دَعِ الحَظَّ يَطلَع بِهِ في غَدٍ
فَإِنَّكَ لَم تَدرِ مَن يَجتَبي
And blinked at their dazzling splendor
Modernity possessed the mind of the youth
لَقَد زَيَّنَ الأَرضَ بِالعَبقَرِيِّ
مُحَلّي السَماواتِ بِالكَوكَبِ
Even if defiance ran through his grey hair
Grey hair proceeded smoldering in the heads
وَخَدَّشَ ظُفرُ الزَمانِ الوُجو
هَ وَغَيَّضَ مِن بِشرِها المُعجِبِ
Like fire proceeding on kindling ground
A conflagration surrounding the thread of life
وَغالَ الحَداثَةَ شَرخُ الشَبا
بِ وَلَو شِيَتِ المُردُ في الشُيَّبِ
I wondered how oblivious they were to it
For whom does the fire show in his house
سَرى الشَيبُ مُتَّئِداً في الرُؤو
سِ سُرى النارِ في المَوضِعِ المُعشِبِ
And crop—does it make them tremble?
They turned away after book knowledge
حَريقٌ أَحاطَ بِخَيطِ الحَيا
ةِ تَعَجَّبتُ كَيفَ عَلَيهِم غَبي
To a gate of knowledge that was not written down
A life in which a man raids
وَمَن تُظهِرِ النارُ في دارِهِ
وَفي زَرعِهِ مِنهُمو يَرعَبِ
Armed with fang and claw
The son of the wealthy came to poverty
قَدِ اِنصَرَفوا بَعدَ عِلمِ الكِتا
بِ لِبابٍ مِنَ العِلمِ لَم يُكتَبِ
And the child of the destitute found wealth
The one indulged lost his health
حَياةٌ يُغامِرُ فيها اِمرُؤٌ
تَسَلَّحَ بِالنابِ وَالمِخلَبِ
While the sickly one recovered, did not perish
How many a father met life in the pursuit of education
وَصارَ إِلى الفاقَةِ اِبنُ الغَنِيّ
وَلاقى الغِنى وَلَدُ المُترَبِ
But did not beget!
Friends disappeared as though they never existed
وَقَد ذَهَبَ المُمتَلي صِحَّةً
وَصَحَّ السَقيمُ فَلَم يَذهَبِ
Though you had a pact with them and kept company
Until they perished group by group
وَكَم مُنجِبٍ في تَلَقِّ الدُرو
سِ تَلَقّى الحَياةَ فَلَم يُنجِبِ
Like mirages do over the desert
وَغابَ الرِفاقُ كَأَن لَم يَكُن
بِهِم لَكَ عَهدٌ وَلَم تَصحَبِ
إِلى أَن فَنوا ثَلَّةً ثَلَّةً
فَناءَ السَرابِ عَلى السَبسَبِ
