سَكَنتُ إِلى الدُنيا فَلَمّا عَرَفتُها
تَمَنَّيتُ أَنّي لَستُ فيها بِساكِنِ
I felt at ease in this world, but when I came to know it,
I wished I were not dwelling in it.
وَما فَتِئَت تَرمي الفَتى عَن قُسِيَّها
بِكُلِّ الرَزايا مِن جَميعِ الأَماكِنِ
It has never ceased to shoot at a young man from its bows
every kind of calamity, from every direction.
وَما سَمَحَت لّزائِراتِ بِأَمنِها
وَلا لِلمَواكي في أَقاصي المَواكِنِ
It has granted no safety to its visitors,
nor to the mourners in the farthest dwellings.
رَكَنّا إِلَيها إِذ رَكَونا أُمورَها
فَقُل في سَفاهٍ لِلرَواكي الرَواكِنِ
We leaned toward it when we trusted its affairs;
speak, then, of the folly of those who lean on it and settle.
فَأَينَ الشُموسُ اليَعرُبِيّاتُ قَبلَنا
بِها كُنَّ فَاِسأَل عَن مَآلِ البَهاكِنِ
Where are the Arab suns who came before us?
They once lived here; ask what became of those splendid women.
زَكَنَّ المَنايا أَن زَكَونَ فَنِعمَةٌ
مِنَ اللَهِ دامَت لِلزَواكي الزَواكِنِ
They foresaw death; that they flourished was a blessing
from God, enduring for the flourishing, discerning women.
جُمِعنا بِقُدرٍ وَاِفتَرَقنا بِمِثلِهِ
وَتِلكَ قُبورٌ بُدِّلَت مِن مَساكِنِ
We were brought together by fate and parted by the same;
those graves have replaced our dwellings.
نَفَتنا قُوىً لا مُضرَباتٌ لِسالِمٍ
بَلابِلَ وَلا مُستَدرَكاتٌ بِلَكِنِ
Powers drove us away, beyond the anxieties they strike in one who is safe,
and beyond anything that can be set right with a ‘but.’
Sol 6