أَوثَقَ ما كانَ بَأيّامِهِ
خانَتهُ وَالأَيّامُ خَوّانَه
The closest of what was in his days
Betrayed him, and time betrayed its confidant
ما رَعَتِ الأَيّامُ أَيّامَهُ
وَلا اِتَّقى المَقدورُ سُلطانَه
Time did not heed his days
Nor did fate fear his authority
إِن قُلتَ مَن كانَ وَما وَصفُهُ
فَكُلُّ شَيءٍ حَسَنٍ كانَه
If you say who he was and describe him
Everything good described him
ماتَ وَماتَ الناسُ مِن بَعدِهِ
وَما أَماتَ الشُكرُ إِحسانَه
He died and after him people died
Gratitude did not make his kindness die
وَعُمرُ نوحٍ لَم يَكُن عُمرَهُ
بَلِ النَدى غَمَّرَ طوفانَه
Noah’s lifetime was not his lifetime
Rather, the deluge flooded his ship
غَمِّض عَنِ الدُنيا وَعَن أَهلِها
عَينَكَ إِن لَم تَرَ إِنسانَه
Turn your eyes away from this world and its people
If you do not see its humaneness in it
أَبقَيتَ أَطرافَ غِنى كُلُّ مَن
أَبصَرها رَجَّعَ أَلحانَه
You kept the edges of sufficient wealth, everyone
Who saw them went back to their tunes
فَقَضَّبَت أَحداثُها دَوحَهُ
وَقَصَفَت مِن بَعدُ أَغصانَه
Its events have stripped it bare
And after that broke its branches
دُنياهُ يا دُنياهُ ما أَنتِ في
ظُلمِكِ ذا الإِنسانَ إِنسانَه
Oh his world, oh his world, how you are not
In your injustice, human to this human
وَزالَ إِمكانُ فَتىً واسِعٌ
لِلحَقِّ ما اِستَوسَعَ إِمكانَه
The ability of an honorable man has declined
To the truth - his ability did not expand
إِن أَبكِهِ طَرفي عَلى خيفَةٍ
يَأمُرُ بِالكِتمانِ أَجفانَه
If my eyes shed tears over a nightmare
My eyelids command to conceal
وَلَيتَهُ أَعلَنَ أَشجانَه
فَيَحمِلُ الإِعلانُ أَشجانَه
And I wish he had revealed his sorrows
So that disclosure carries his sorrows
وَكُنتُ في كِتمانِ حُبّي لَهُ
كَمُؤمِنٍ يَكتُمُ إيمانَه
And I was, in keeping my love for him
Like a believer hiding his faith
مَن جَعَلَ الدَهرَ لِباساً لَهُ
فَكَيفَ يَستَغرِبُ أَلوانَه
He who made time his garment
How then would he be surprised by its colors?
