لِنَفسِكَ لُم لا عُذرَ قَد نفذ العُذرُ

بذا حكم المَقدور إِذ قُضيَ الأَمرُ

Blame yourself—there is no excuse; all excuse is spent.

Thus has destiny ruled, once the matter was decreed.

لَقَد لفظتني كُلَّ أَرضٍ وَبَلدَةٍ

وَما لفظتني عَن مَواطنها مِصرُ

Every land and every town has cast me out,

yet Egypt would not cast me forth from its abodes.

لَعمري لَقَد طَوَّفَت في طَلَبِ العُلى

وَحالَفَني بَرٌّ وَحالَفَني بَحرُ

By my life, I roamed far in pursuit of high glory;

land befriended me, and sea befriended me.

فَشَرَّقَت حَتّى لَم أَجِد لي مَشرِقاً

وَغرَّبت حَتّى قيلَ هَذا هوَ الخضرُ

I journeyed east until I found no east remaining,

and west until they said, “This is al-Khidr.”

أَروم جُسَيمات الأُمورِ وَإِنَّما

قُصارايَ أَن أَبقى إِذا أَبقى الدَهرُ

I aspire to the gravest of undertakings, though

my utmost hope is merely to endure as long as Time endures.

وَلَو كُنتُ أَرضى بِالكَثيرِ وَجَدتُهُ

وَلَكِنَّ في نَفسي أَمورٌ لَها أَمرُ

Had I been content with abundance, I would have found it,

but within my soul are ambitions that command.

ظَلَلتُ بِمصر في السُجونِ مُخَلَّداً

وَإِنّي لَسيفٌ جفنه فَوقه سِترُ

I remain in Egypt, immured forever in prisons,

though I am a sword with its sheath bound fast upon it.

فَقدت أَخلّائي الَّذينَ عَهِدتُهُم

وَجانبني مَن كانَ لي عِندَهُ وَفرُ

I have lost the intimate friends I once knew,

and whoever once had plenty at hand now shuns me.

وَأَعظَمُ ما بي يا مُحَمَّدُ أَنَّنا

بِأَرضٍ وَفيما بَينَنا البُعدُ وَالهَجرُ

What pains me most, Muhammad, is that we are

in one land, yet distance and estrangement lie between us.

وَما ليَ مِن ذَنبٍ إِلَيكَ أَجترَمتُهُ

فَقُل لي مَع الأُخوانِ غَيَّرَكَ الدَهرُ

I committed no offense against you,

so tell me: has Time changed you along with the other brothers?

تأَمَّل أَبا عَبدِ الإِلَهِ مَقالَتي

فَإِنَّ الصَديقَ الحُرَّ يَعتِبه الحُرُّ

Reflect, Abu Abd al-Ilah, upon my words:

a free man may reproach the free man who is his friend.

أَتَذكُرُ إِذ كُنّا لَدى الدَهر رتعاً

وَمصر وَأَرض الشامِ إِذ عَيشُنا نضرُ

Do you remember when we grazed freely in Time’s pasture,

in Egypt and the land of Syria, when our life was lush?

فَمالك تَجفوني مَع الدَهرِ إِذ عَتى

أَكُلُّ زَمانٍ هَكَذا عَيشُهُ مُرُّ

Why, then, do you shun me as Time grows cruel?

Must every age have a life this bitter?

فَلا سائِلٌ عَنّي فأعذر صاحِباً

وَلا لَكَ في تَركِ السُؤالِ بِنا عُذرُ

No one asks after me—so I excuse a friend;

but you have no excuse for ceasing to ask after us.

فَإِن أَحرم الأُخوانِ وَالزَورِ مِنهُمُ

فَإِنّي امرؤٌ مِن شيمَتي في الأَسى الصَبرُ

Though I am deprived of my brothers and their visits,

I am a man whose nature in sorrow is patience.

عَتِبتُكَ عتب الذاكِرِ الودّ إِذ غَدا

أَسيراً وَمَحبوساً وَقَد نالَهُ ضُرُّ

I reproached you as one mindful of affection reproaches, when he became

a captive and prisoner overtaken by harm.

فَلَو كُنتُ في أَسرِ الزَمانِ أَقالَني

وَلَكِنَّني في أَسرِ قَومٍ بِهِم كِبرُ

Had I been captive to Time, it might have released me;

but I am captive to a people filled with pride.

إِذا جَنَّني لَيلى وَهاجَت بَلابِلي

وَعاوَدني هَمّي تَجَدَّد لي فِكرُ

Whenever night enfolds me and my anxieties stir,

and care returns to me, thought is renewed.

عَليلٌ وَما دائي سِوى الضَيم مِنهُمُ

فَهَل مِن خَلاصٍ إِذ مَدى الغايَة القَبرُ

I am ill, and my only illness is the wrong they do me;

is there any release before the final limit—the grave?

فَلَو أَبصَرتَ عَيناكَ ما بيَ مِنَ الأَسى

بَكيت بِما يَنضى بِهِ الإِبل السَفَرُ

If your eyes could see the sorrow within me,

you would weep as travel wears the camels lean.

عَلى أَنَّني لا أَستَكين لِنَكبَةٍ

وَلا واضِعٌ جَنبي وَإِن مَسَّني فَقرُ

Yet I do not submit to calamity,

nor lay down my side, though poverty touches me.

جَنيتُ عَلى نَفسي بِسَعيي إِلَيهِمُ

وَحَظّيَ من أَوفى مَواثيقهم غَدرُ

I wronged myself by going to them,

and my portion of their firmest covenants was betrayal.

وَما ليَ مِن ذَنبٍ سِوى الشِعرِ إِنَّني

لَأَعلَمُ أَنَّ الذَنبَ في نَكبَتي الشِعرُ

I have no crime except poetry; indeed,

I know that poetry is the crime behind my ruin.

لَعَلَّ اللَياليَ مُنصفات أَخا أَسىً

بِأَحشائِهِ مِن فَرطِ حَسرَتِهِ جَمرُ

Perhaps the nights will deal justly with a sorrowing man,

whose entrails hold embers from the excess of his grief;

أَسيرُ لَدى قَومٍ بِغَيرِ جَنايَةٍ

إِلّا في سَبيل اللَهِ ما صنعَ الدَهرُ

a captive among a people, though guilty of no offense

except what Time has wrought in the way of God.

لَقَد ضاقَت الدُنيا عَليَّ كَأَنَّها

لِما قَدَّرَ الرَحمَنُ في مُقلَتي فِترُ

The world has narrowed around me, as though

by the Merciful’s decree it were a mere handspan in my sight.

وَفي النَفسِ حاجاتٌ وَدونَ مَرامِها

قُيودٌ وَحُرّاسٌ لَهُم حولنا زجرُ

The soul has needs, but short of their attainment stand

chains and guards, shouting rebukes around us.

فَكُن سائِلاً عَنّي فَإِنّي هالِكٌ

وَما لَهمُ عِندي عَلى حالَةٍ وِترُ

Then ask after me—for I am perishing;

they have no grievance or blood-claim against me, whatever my condition.

حَذرتُ زَماناً ثُمَّ أَوقَعَني القَضا

وَهَل حذر يُنجي إِذا نَفذ العُمرُ

I guarded against Time, then fate ensnared me;

can caution save anyone when life’s term is spent?

وَأَنتَ أَخي في كُلِّ حالٍ وَإِنَّما

عَتَبتُك هَذا العَتبُ إِذ نفث الصَدرُ

You are my brother in every condition; I only

reproached you so because my breast had to breathe out its grief.

أَكُلُّ غَريبٍ هَكَذا هوَ هالِكٌ

بِمِصرَ وَلَم يَشفَع لَهُ شافِعٌ حُرُّ

Does every stranger perish like this

in Egypt, with no free intercessor to plead for him?

فَلَو أَنَّني في بَلدَةٍ غَيرَ هَذِهِ

إِذاً لَفَداني المالُ والأُسُل السُمرُ

Had I been in a town other than this one,

wealth and the dusky spear-shafts would have ransomed me.

وَما نالَني ضَيمٌ وَلا لانَ جانِبي

وَلا نالَني ضَرٌّ وَلا مَسَّني عُسرُ

Oppression has not broken me, nor has my side grown soft;

no harm has overcome me, nor hardship touched me.

أَبيتُ لَها يَقظانَ بَينَ وَساوِسٍ

أُراعي نُجوم اللَيلِ ما طلعَ الفَجرُ

For its sake I spend the night wakeful among whispering fears,

watching the stars of night until dawn rises.

إِذا كانَ نَفسي مِن أَجَلِّ ذَخيرَتي

وَأَتلَفتُها لَم يَبقَ لي بَعدَها ذُخرُ

If my own life is my most precious treasure,

and I squander it, no treasure remains for me afterward.

فَإِن عِشتُ أَبدَيتُ الَّذي في ضَمائِري

وَإِن مِتُّ إِنَّ المُلتَقى لَهوَ الحَشرُ

If I live, I will disclose what lies within my heart;

and if I die, the true meeting is at the Resurrection.