يا نَفسُ آهِ لِمَتجَرٍ مُتَنَزِّرِ
جَرَّبتُهُ فَرَجَعتُ عَينَ المُخسَرِ
O soul—alas for so paltry a trade!
I tried it and returned the very image of the loser.
أَعلى اِبنِ أُدٍّ يَفتَرونَ كَما اِفتَرَت
قِدَماً عَلى النَمروزِ شَأنَ الأَنسُرِ
Do they forge lies against Ibn Udd, as once they forged
against Nimrod, long ago, the tale of the eagles?
سِرٌّ سَيُعلَنُ وَالحَياةُ مُعارَةٌ
وَلِتُقضِيَنَّ بِها دُيونُ المُعسِرِ
A secret will be disclosed, while life is only on loan,
and through it the insolvent man’s debts shall surely be paid.
كَخَبيءِ نِعمَ وَبِئسَ يَخبَأُ فيهِما
وَيَكونَ ذاكَ عَلى اِشتِراطِ مُفَسِّرِ
Like what lies hidden in niʿma and biʾsa, concealed within the two,
according to the condition laid down by an interpreter.
أَنا في إِسارِ الدَهرِ لَستُ بِمُطَلَّقٍ
أَبَداً فَأَسرِ أَخا الطَلاقَةِ أَو سِرِ
I am a captive of Time; I shall never be released.
So take the free-spirited man captive—or move on.
وَالعَيشُ جِسرٌ نالَ مَن هُوَ جاسِرٌ
أَو كادَ فيهِ وَخابَ مَن لَم يَجسُرِ
Life is a bridge: the daring man gains his end,
or nearly does upon it; he who does not dare is thwarted.
وَإِذا قَرَنتَ بِلامِ مِلكٍ مُضمَراً
فُتِحَت بِهِ فَكَأَنَّها لَم تُكسَرِ
When you join a hidden pronoun to a possessive lām,
it takes fatḥa through it, as though it had never taken kasra.
وَكَأَنَّ مَن بَلَغَ العُلا لَم يَنخَفِض
وَكَأَنَّ مَن فَقَدَ الغِنى لَم يوسِرِ
As though whoever reached the heights had never descended,
and whoever lost wealth had never prospered.
وَيَدُلُّني أَنَّ المَماتَ فَضيلَةٌ
كَونُ التَريقِ إِلَيهِ غَيرَ مُيَسَّرِ
What tells me that death is a virtue
is that the road to it is not made easy.
لَولا نَفاسَتُهُ لَسُهِّلَ نَهجُهُ
كَأَذى الضَعيفِ عَلى اللَئيمِ المَكسِرِ
Were it not so precious, its path would have been smoothed,
as harming the weak comes easily to the ignoble brute.
آلَيتُ لَو رُزِقَ العَديمُ فَطانَةً
لَنَفى الهُمومَ وَباتَ غَيرَ مُحَسَّرِ
I swear: if the destitute were endowed with discernment,
he would forget his cares and pass the night unwearied.
وَلَئِن يُعَدَّ هَمامَةً خَيرٌ لَهُ
مِن أَن يُضافَ إِلى ذَواتِ المَنسَرِ
To be counted high-hearted would be better for him
than to be numbered among the taloned kind.
وَإِذا المُعَلّى عادَ أَكثَرَ مُغَرَّماً
فَاِقنَع بِفَذِّكَ مِن قِداحِ المَيسَرِ
And if al-Muʿallā comes back most burdened with loss,
then be content with your fadhdh among the arrows of maysir.
