يَا قَبْرَ حِفْنِي أَجِبْنِي
مَاذَا صَنَعْتَ بِحِفْنِي؟
O grave, bury me, answer me
What have you done with my corpse?
مَاذَا صَنَعْتَ بِعِلْمٍ؟
وَمَا صَنَعْتَ بِفَنِّ؟
What have you done with knowledge?
And what have you done with art?
وَمَا صَنَعْتَ بِفِكْرٍ
مَاضِي الشَّبَاةِ وَذِهْنِ؟
And what have you done with the thought
Of my exuberant youth and mind?
طَوَيْتَ خَيْرَ مَثَابٍ
لِلطَّائِفِينَ وَرُكْنِ!
You have folded the best reward
For the circumambulators and the corner!
فِي كُلِّ يَوْمٍ رِثَاءٌ
لِصَاحِبٍ أَوْ لِخِدْنِ
Every day there is an elegy
For a friend or an edifice
حَتَّى لَقَدْ كَادَ شِعْرِي
يَبْكِي لِضَعْفِي وَوَهْنِي
That my poetry almost
Cries for my weakness and frailty
فَإِنَّمَا أَنَا مِنْهُ
وَإِنَّمَا هُوَ مِنِّي
It is but a part of me
And I am but a part of it
الْوَزْنُ مِنْ نَبْضِ قَلْبِي
وَالْبَحْرُ مِنْ مَاءِ جَفْنِي
The meter is from the pulse of my heart
And the verse from the water of my eyelids
رَحَا الْمَنَايَا رُوَيْدًا
خَلَطْتِ طِحْنًا بِطِحْنِ!
O death, go slowly,
You have mixed flour with flour!
وَإِنَّمَا النَّاسُ ظَعْنٌ
يَسِيرُ فِي إِثْرِ ظَعْنِ
People are but bleating sheep
Going after other bleating sheep
فَمَا حَدِيدٌ بِبَاقٍ
وَلَا حِذَارٌ بِمُغْنِي
So neither iron remains
Nor caution of use
وَكُلُّ عَقْلٍ مُضِيءٍ
إِلَى خُمُودٍ وَأَفْنِ
And every shining mind
Fades out and withers away
يَكَادُ إِنْ مَالَ غُصْنٌ
يَشْكُو الزَّمَانَ لِغُصْنِ
Were a branch to incline
Complaining of time to another branch
تَعْسًا لَهُ، كَمْ نُعَزِّي
حِينًا، وَحِينًا نُهَنِّي!
Woe to it! We sometimes console
And sometimes congratulate!
مِنِ اجْتِمَاعٍ لِعُرْسٍ
إِلَى اجْتِمَاعٍ لِدَفْنِ
From a wedding gathering
To a funeral gathering
وَالْمَرْءُ يُحْيِي الْأَمَانِي
وَالدَّهْرُ يُبْلِي وَيُفْنِي
One nourishes hopes
While time ruins and destroys
فَكَمْ تَمَنَّيْتُ لَكِنْ
مَاذَا أَفَادَ التَّمَنِّي؟
How I wished, but
What did wishing avail?
دَعْنِي أُقَلِّبُ طَرْفِي
فِي ظُلْمَةِ اللَّيْلِ دَعْنِي
Let me turn my eyes
In the darkness of night, let me
حَيْرَانَ أَضْرِبُ كَفِّي
أَسًى وَأَقْرَعُ سِنِّي
Confused, clapping my palms
Sorrowing and shaving my years
قَدْ خَانَنِي الدَّهْرُ يَوْمًا
يَا لَيْتَهُ لَمْ يَخُنِّي!
Time has once betrayed me
Would that it had not betrayed me!
أَكُلَّمَا مَرَّ نَعْشٌ
أَوْ طَافَ نَعْيٌ بِأُذْنِي
Whenever a bier passed by
Or news buzzed in my ear
طَارَ الْفُؤَادُ، فَلَوْلَا
بَقِيَّةٌ، نَدَّ عَنِّي
My heart would fly away
Had there been no remainder to restrain me
لَوْلَا التُّقَى لَمْ أَجِدْهُ
بِجَانِبِي أَوْ يَجِدْنِي
Were it not for piety, I would not have found it
Beside me or find me
قَالُوا: أَجَدْتَ الْمَرَاثِي
فَقُلْتُ: إِنَّ، وَإِنِّي
They said you found elegy
I said yes, and
دُمُوعُ عَيْنِي قَرِيضِي
وَزَفْرَةُ الْوَجْدِ لَحْنِي
The tears of my eyes are my rhymes
And the sigh of passion is my tune
عَلِّي أُدَاوِي حَزِينًا
فَالْحُزْنُ يُمْحَى بِحُزْنِ
Teach me to treat a saddened one
For grief is erased by grief
أَوْ يَشْتَفِي بِبُكَاءٍ
مَنْ شَأْنُهُ مِثْلُ شَأْنِي
Or quenched by shedding tears
For one whose plight is like mine
أَيْنَ النُّبُوغُ تَوَارَى؟
يَا قَبْرَ حِفْنِي أَجِبْنِي
Where has the genius gone?
O grave, bury me, answer me
أَكُلَّمَا لَاحَ بَدْرٌ
رَمَتْهُ رِيحٌ بِدَجْنِ؟
Does every rising moon
Get shot by a wind to decay?
وَخَلَّفَ الْأَرْضَ حَيْرَى
سَهْلٌ يَمُوجُ بِحَزْنِ
Leaving the earth distraught
A plain billowing with sorrow
وَرُبَّ زَهْرٍ شَذَاهُ
يُزْرِي بِأَرْوَاحِ عَدْنِ
While many a fragrant flower
Blooms with the spirits of Eden
كَأَنَّمَا مَنَحَتْهُ
أَلْوَانَهَا ذَاتُ حُسْنِ
As if its hues were bestowed
By the essence of beauty
جَمَالُهُ الْغَضُّ أَغْرَى
أَغْصَانَهُ بِالتَّثَنِّي
Its green charm has bent
Its branches with supple grace
غَذَّتْهُ أَطْبَاءُ طَلٍّ
حِينًا، وَأَثْدَاءُ مُزْنِ
Nurtured by the rain of dawn at times
And the clouds of drizzle at times
تَسْرِي بِهِ الرِّيحُ رِفْقًا
فِي خَشْيَةٍ وَتَأَنِّي
The breeze blows by gently
In fear and softness
كَأَنَّهَا فَمُ أُمٍّ
يَمُرُّ فِي وَجْنَةِ ابْنِ
As if it were a mother's mouth
Passing by the cheek of her son
النَّحْلُ تَرْشُفُ مِنْهُ
رَحِيقَهُ وَتُغَنِّي
The bees sipping its nectar
And buzzing in tune
تَجْنِي وَلَمْ تَدْرِ يَوْمًا
أَنَّ الرَّدَى سَوْفَ يَجْنِي
Reaping without ever knowing
That decay will someday reap it
طَغَتْ عَلَيْهِ سَمُومٌ
حَرَّى كَأَنْفَاسِ جِنِّ
Poisons have overwhelmed it
Hot like the breaths of jinn
فَغَادَرَتْهُ رُكَامًا
أَجَفَّ مِنْ عُودِ تِبْنِ
Leaving it debris
Drier than tinder
وَالدَّهْرُ أَحْرَى رَفِيقٍ
بِأَنْ يَخُونَ وَيُخْنِي
While time, the companion, is prone
To betray and cheat me
يَا قَبْرَ حِفْنِي أَجِبْنِي
وَارْحَمْ بَقِيَّةَ سِنِّي
O grave, bury me, answer me
And have mercy on my remaining years
قَدْ رَاعَنِي مِنْكَ صَمْتٌ
بِحَقِّهِ لَا تَرُعْنِي
Your silence has frightened me
Do not, by your right, frighten me
فَفِيكَ أَمْضَى جَنَانًا
مِنْ كُلِّ فُصْحٍ وَلُسْنِ
For in you I have spent serene times
Of every eloquence and expression
وَفِيكَ شِعْرٌ نَقِيٌّ
مِنْ كُلِّ وَقْصٍ وَخَبْنِ
In you is poetry, pure
Of every storytelling and allurement
كَأَنَّهُ بَسَمَاتٌ
لِلْوَصْلِ بَعْدَ التَّجَنِّي
As if it were smiles
Reuniting after separation
أَوْ نَفْحَةٌ مِنْ «جَمِيلٍ»
طَافَتْ بِأَحْلَامِ «بُثْنِ»
Or a whiff from ‘Jamil'
Floating around the dreams of ‘Buthaina'
أَوْ رَغْوَةٌ مِنْ سُلَافٍ
تَفِيضُ مِنْ رَأْسِ دَنِّ
Or the foam from honey
Pouring from the top of the jar
كَمْ نُكْتَةٍ فِيهِ كَادَتْ
تَخْفَى عَلَى كُلِّ ظَنِّ!
What subtle humor it contains
Nearly hidden from all guesses!
مِصْرِيَّةٍ جَالَ فِيهَا
ذَوْقُ الْأَدِيبِ الْمِفَنِّ
Egyptian, excelling
In the taste of the refined connoisseur
لَوْ كُنْتَ تَعْرِفُ حِفْنِي
لَقُلْتَ: زِدْنِي وَزِدْنِي!
Had you known my corpse
You would have said: Give me more, give me more!
نَحْوٌ يَصُكُّ الْكِسَائِي
وَيَزْدَرِي بِابْنِ جِنِّي
Grammar that makes Kisa'i split
And looks down on Ibn Jinni
وَإِنْ أُثِيرَ جِدَالٌ
رَأَيْتَهُ خَيْرَ قِرْنِ
And if a debate were stirred
You would have seen him the best of his time
الْعِلْمُ أَمْضَى سِلَاحٍ
لَهُ وَأَوْقَى مِجَنِّ
Knowledge is his sharpest weapon
And his surest shield
قَدْ كَانَ ضَخْمًا جَسِيمًا
يَبْدُو كَشَامِخِ حِصْنِ
He used to be huge, bulky
Appearing like an erect fortress
اللَّحْمُ رِخْوٌ بَدِينٌ
لَهُ نُعُومَةُ قُطْنِ
Flesh soft and plump
With the softness of cotton
وَالصَّدْرُ رَحْبٌ فَسِيحٌ
مَا جَاشَ يَوْمًا بِضِغْنِ
And a chest spacious and serene
That never swelled with anger
فِي وَجْهِهِ الْجَهْمِ حُسْنٌ
مِنْ رُوحِهِ الْمُسْتَكِنِّ
In his frowning face is a beauty
From his tranquil soul
قَدْ زَارَنِي ذَاتَ يَوْمٍ
فِي وَقْتِ قَيْظٍ وَكِنِّ
He once visited me
On a hot and muggy day
فَكَانَ أُنْسًا تَدَانَتْ
بِهِ الْمُنَى بَعْدَ ضَنِّ
Bringing comfort by which
Sorrow abated after distress
فَاضَ الْحَدِيثُ زُلَالًا
عَذْبًا وَمَا قَالَ قَطْنِي
The talk overflowed, fresh
Sweet, and he never belittled me
فُكَاهَةٌ مِنْ لَدُنْهُ
وَنُكْتَةٌ مِنْ لَدُنِّي
Wit from him
And anecdote from me
فِي الْأُذْنِ قَهْوَةُ كَرْمٍ
وَالْكَفِّ قَهْوَةُ بُنِّ
In the ear coffee of generosity
And in the palm coffee beans
أَرْوِي وَيَرْوِي الْقَوَافِي
كَالدُّرِّ وَزْنًا بِوَزْنِ
I quench and he quenches poetic meters
Like pearls, measure for measure
يَا مَجْلِسًا عَادَ وَجْدًا
يُذْكِي الْفُؤَادَ وَيُضْنِي
O a gathering that restored fervor
And kindled the heart and delighted it
ضَاعَ الصِّبَا وَرَجَعْنَا
مِنْهُ بِصَفْقَةِ غَبْنِ
Youth is gone and we returned from it
With a losing deal
حِفْنِي، سَلَامٌ وَنُورٌ
لِقَلْبِكَ الْمُطْمَئِنِّ
My comrade, peace and light
To your tranquil heart
فَارَقْتَ أَهْلًا وَسَكْنًا
لِخَيْرِ أَهْلٍ وَسَكْنِ
You left family and home
For the best family and home
تَثْنِي إِلَيْكَ الْقَوَافِي
أَعْنَاقَهَا حِينَ تُثْنِي
The rhymes bend their necks to you
When bending them to rhyme
