هَذا عَلى كِبرِياءٍ في مَطامِعِها

نَفسٌ عَلى فَقرِها تَستَرخِصُ الغالي

This one is haughty in her ambitions

A soul trying to extract the precious from her poverty

فَلا عَدَمتُ يَميناً مِنهُ مُغرِقَةً

في يَمِّ مَعروفِها فِرعَونَ آمالي

So I did not lack a right hand drowning

In the sea of its favors, the pharaohs of my hopes

قَلبٌ تَراكَمَتِ الأَوجالُ وَاِزدَحَمَت

فيهِ فَأَوجالُهُ مِنهُ بِأَوجالِ

A heart in which sorrows accumulated and crowded

So that its sorrows are more than its sorrows

فَقُل لِهَمٍّ جَديدٍ جاءَ يَسكُنُهُ

إِنّي نَصيحُكَ فَاِطلُب مَوضِعاً خالي

So say to a new worry that came to inhabit it

I advise you, seek an empty place

وَلِلهُمومِ كُنوزٌ فيهِ مُقفَلَةٌ

مِنَ السُكوتِ عَلى الشَكوى بِأَقفالِ

And worries have treasures locked in it

With silence over complaining with locks

فَلَو رَآهُ سُرورٌ كانَ يُنكِرُهُ

وَالهَمُّ لَو قَد يَراهُ قالَ هَذا لي

If happiness saw it, it would deny it

And if worry saw it, it would say this is mine

أَعمالُ دَهرٍ إِذا أَنكَرتُ سُنَّتَها

عَرَفتُ مِنها بِما عوقِبتُ آمالي

The acts of fate, when I denied its ways

I recognized from it what hopes were punished

إِلى مَتى أَنا في حالٍ إذا سَأَلَت

عَنها الصَديقَ الأَعادي قالَ في حالِ

How long will I be in a state, if

The friend and enemy asked about it, he would say in ruin

أَخلالُهُم بي كَثيرٌ لَستُ أَذكُرُهُ

وَيَذكُرونَ وَما أَخلَلتُ إِخلالي

Their disloyalty to me is much, I do not mention it

And they mention what disloyalty I have not committed

لا ماءُ وادٍ وَلا نارٌ عَلى شَرَفٍ

إِلى الَّذي جَمَعَ الصادي إِلى الصالي

No valley water, no fire on the verge

To the one who brought the lost to the found

وَرُبَّما نِلتُ حاجاتٍ بِأَيسَرِها

يَكفيكَ نارَ الهَجيرِ الظِلُّ في الضالِ

And I may attain needs with the easiest of them

The heat of embers is enough for you, the shade in the lost

لا قُلتُ مالي وَإِن أَثَرَت يَدي أَبَداً

يُشيرُ بِالنَفى ما يا قائِلاً مالي

I did not say I have nothing and if my hand has traced

Indicating denial, I have nothing

قِيامَتي الهَمُّ إِنَّ الهَمَّ يُشبِهُها

وَنَفثَةُ النَفخِ فيها شَرُّ زِلزالِ

My resurrection is worry, worries resemble it

And the blast of the blow therein is the worst earthquake

وَالأَرضُ أَثقالُها الزِلزالُ يُخرِجُها

وَلَستُ أُخرِجُ في شَكوايَ أَثقالي

And the earth, its weights are the earthquake that brings them out

And I do not bring out in my complaint my weights

قالوا اِنقِباضٌ عَنِ الخِلّانِ يوحِشُهُم

وَما أَرى حافِلاً مِنكُم بِإِذلالي

They said, withdrawal from boon companions saddens them

And I do not see a crowd of you by my humiliation

قِف بِالخَواطِرِ في الكُتبِ الَّتي حَمَلَت

ذِكرَ الكِرامِ فَفيها أَيُّ أَطلالِ

Stop at the ideas in books that carried

Mention of generous ones, so in it, which ruins

وَصُن مَنازِلَهُم مِن هَطلِ دامِعَةٍ

وَخَلِّها لِتِلالِ المَنزِلِ البالي

And protect their dwellings from the downpour of a weeping woman

And spare it for the ruins of the afflicted house

إِنَّ الدِيارَ الَّتي تُبكى بِمُتَّقِدٍ

غَيرُ الدِيارِ الَّتي تَبكي بِهَطّالِ

That the houses that are wept with burning

Are not the houses that cry with downpour