ألا تبا لدنيا نرتجيها
لقد خابت وخاب المجتديها
Alas for this world we desire,
It has failed and failed those who aspired to it.
متى انتبهت وقد رقدت خداعا
فلم تحمل بيقظتها نبيها
When have I become aware after being deceived by its slumber,
That my awareness did not lead to any wisdom.
سل الأيام ما فعلت بكسرى
وقيصر والصور وساكنيها
Ask the days what they did to Chosroes,
Caesar and statues and their inhabitants.
أما امتدعتهم للموت طرّا
فلم تدع الحليم ولا السفيها
Did it not invite them to death smoothly?
It did not spare the wise or the foolish.
دنت نحو الدني بسهم خطب
فأصمته ووادهت الوجيها
It approached the lords with misfortunes,
Silencing them and humiliating the honorable.
أما لو بيعت الدنيا بفلس
أنفت لعال أن يشتريها
If this world was sold for a penny,
The exalted would refuse to buy it.
لقد وأدت بنيها واستباحت
حمى الباني لها والمبتنيها
It killed its own children and violated
The sanctuary of its builder and inhabitants.
يقينا قلت ما فيها كأني
حكيت مقالها عنها بفيها
Surely I said, there is nothing in it, as if
I spoke of it directly from its mouth.
ومما هالنا شمس أهالت
عليها الترب أيدي دافنيها
And what shocked us is a sun that shone upon it
With the dust of hands burying it.
قضت فتجلت الحور ابتهاجا
وزينت الجنان لتجتليها
It passed away and the maids rejoiced
And adorned the gardens to shine in it.
ولا والله لم تكتب عليها
سوى الحسنى أنامل كاتبيها
By God, nothing was written for it
Except good deeds by the hands of its writers.
أحالت حالها غير الليالي
وآيتست الأواسي عائديها
It changed its conditions other than the nights
And the pillows returned their users.
فيا أرض افخري ما شئت عجبا
بها وتخايلي عجبا وتيها
So O earth, boast as much as you wish of wonder
About it, and imagine wonder and stray.
فقد سكنتك أعرف ذات خدر
بإسداء العوارف فاعرفيها
For the best of creatures of veils has inhabited you
Bestow the gnostics so recognize it.
فلو قدرت تسير بنات نعش
بنعش كن بعض الحامليها
If biers could walk in procession with biers
Some would be carrying them.
لقد أودى العفاف غداة أودت
وصار اليأس آية معتفيها
Chastity died when she died
And despair became a sign of her devotees.
سقى جدثا أقامت فيه خود
مة مثل جود يدي أبيها
It quenched the thirst of a grave she stayed in
Like the generosity of her father's hand.
