أَتَرى السَحابَ إِذا سَرَت عُشراؤُهُ
يُمرى عَلى قَبرٍ بِبابِلَ ماؤُهُ
Do you see the clouds when their evening first appears,
Shedding their water on a grave in Babylon?
يا حادِيَيهِ قِفا بِبُزلِ مَطيَّهِ
فَإِلى ثَرى ذا القَبرِ كانَ حُداؤُهُ
O rider, rein in the camel's pace beside that tomb -
For to this dust belonged the cure of his deep pain.
يَسقي هَوىً لِلقَلبِ فيهِ وَمَعهَداً
رَقَّت مَنابِتُهُ وَرَقَّ هَواؤُهُ
It waters a passion in his heart that has revived,
Though its roots once softened and its winds turned kind.
قَد كانَ عاقَدَني الصَفاءَ فَلَم أَزُل
عَنهُ وَما بَقّى عَلَيَّ صَفاؤُهُ
He had bound me in kindness, and still I never left,
Nor lost the gentleness that was his way.
وَلَقَد حَفِظتُ لَهُ فَأَينَ حِفاظُهُ
وَلَقَد وَفَيتُ لَهُ فَأَينَ وَفاؤُهُ
I kept faith with him, so where is his faith to me?
I was loyal to him, so where is his loyalty?
أَوعى الدُعاءَ فَلَم يُجِبهُ قَطيعَةً
أَم ضَلَّ عَنهُ مِنَ البِعادِ دُعاؤُهُ
Did he forget my prayers, or were they lost to him
Amid the distance, and never reached his ears?
هَيهاتَ أَصبَحَ سَمعُهُ وَعِيانُهُ
في التُربِ قَد حَجَبَتهُما أَقذاؤُهُ
Alas, now his hearing and sight are under dust -
Veiled by its fog and darkness evermore.
يُمسي وَلينُ مِهادِهِ حَصباؤُهُ
فيهِ وَمُؤنِسُ لَيلِهِ ظَلماؤُهُ
By night, pebbles make his resting place uneven;
By day, its gloom is his companion.
قَد قُلِّبَت أَعيانُهُ وَتَنَكَّرَت
أَعلامُهُ وَتَكَسَّفَت أَضواؤُهُ
His features are all changed, his signs effaced,
His lights obscured, their gleam gone dim.
مُغفٍ وَلَيسَ لِلَذَّةٍ إِغفاؤُهُ
مُغضٍ وَلَيسَ لِفِكرَةٍ إِغضاؤُهُ
Insensible though joy was his to claim;
Unheedful though in thought he took delight.
وَجهٌ كَلَمحِ البَرقِ غاضَ وَميضُهُ
قَلبٌ كَصَدرِ العَضبِ فُلَّ مَضاؤُهُ
A face like lightning's flash, once bright then vanished;
A heart like smoldering ashes, quick to flame.
حَكَمَ البِلى فيهِ فَلَو يَلقى بِهِ
أَعداؤُهُ لَرَثى لَهُ أَعداؤُهُ
Time ruined him till if his foes had known,
Even his foes would now lament his fall.
إِنَّ الَّذي كانَ النَعيمُ ظِلالَهُ
أَمسى يُطَنَّبُ بِالعَراءِ خِباؤُهُ
That one whose joy was but the shade of might
Is now abandoned 'neath the naked sky.
قَد خَفَّ عَن ذاكَ الرَواقِ حُضورُهُ
أَبَداً وَعَن ذاكَ الحِمى ضَوضاؤُهُ
Gone from his palace is his stately air,
And from his guard his clamor and parade.
كانَت سَوابِقُهُ طِرازَ فِنائِهِ
يَجلو جَمالَ رَواؤُهُنَّ رَواؤُهُ
The models of the tasks that were his pride
Were like the sheen those labors would display.
وَرِماحُهُ سُفَراؤُهُ وَسُيوفُهُ
خُفَراؤُهُ وَجِيادُهُ نُدَماؤُهُ
His lances were his envoys, swords his guards,
His steeds his boon companions, mounts of war.
ما زالَ يَغدو وَالرِكابُ حُداؤُهُ
بَينَ الصَوارِمِ وَالعَجاجِ رِداؤُهُ
Still he would ride out, girded by lances' points
And the unyielding mail those blades would breach.
اُنظُر إِلى هَذا الأَنامِ بِعِبرَةٍ
لا يُعجِبَنَّكَ خَلقُهُ وَبَهاؤُهُ
Look to these mortal throngs and be admonished -
Do not be fooled by fleeting pomp or show.
بَيناهُ كَالوَرَقِ النَضيرِ تَقَصَّفَت
أَغصانُهُ وَتَسَلَّبَت شَجَراؤُهُ
See them like withered leaves when branches slough,
As their limbs fail and trunks grow cracked and dry.
أَنّى تَحاماهُ المَنونُ وَإِنَّما
خُلِقَت مَراعِيَ لِلرَدى خَضراؤُهُ
What saves them from the strokes of death, when life
Blossoms but briefly, while decay spreads long?
أَم كَيفَ تَأمُلُ فَلتَةً أَجسادُهُ
مِن ذا الزَمانِ وَحَشوُها أَدواؤُهُ
Or how hope for relief when in their bodies
Only disease and suffering make their home?
لا تَعجَبَنَّ فَما العَجيبُ فَناؤُهُ
بِيَدِ المَنونِ بَلِ العَجيبُ بَقاؤُهُ
Do not be shocked at their decline - natural,
Not odd, their fall, but strange, that they survive.
إِنّا لَنَعجَبُ كَيفَ حُمَّ حِمامُهُ
عَن صِحَّةٍ وَيَغيبُ عَنّا داؤُهُ
We're shocked he stayed well, vanished without ailment,
As fate decreed and sealed his overthrow.
مَن طاحَ في سُبُلِ الرَدى آباؤُهُ
فَليَسلُكَنَّ طَريقَهُ أَبناؤُهُ
They who tread the path their fathers walked
Will see their sons tread the same way again.
وَمُؤَمَّرٍ نَزَلوا بِهِ في سوقَةٍ
لا شَكلُهُ فيهِم وَلا قُرَناؤُهُ
Marked men, they're singled out among the crowd -
Among their throngs, outcasts without compare.
قَد كانَ يَفرَقُ ظِلَّهُ أَقرانُهُ
وَيَغُضُّ دونَ جَلالِهِ أَكفاؤُهُ
Once he would eclipse the radiance of peers,
Dimming the brilliance other lords displayed.
وَمُحَجَّبٍ ضُرِبَت عَلَيهِ مَهابَةٌ
يُغشي العُيونَ بَهاؤُهُ وَضِياؤُهُ
Veiled in awe, a dread unknown, resplendent,
His glorious air suffused, outshone all else.
نادَتهُ مِن خَلفِ الحِجابِ مَنيَّةٌ
أَمَمٌ فَكانَ جَوابَها حَوباؤُهُ
Then death called from behind the veil - he heard,
Responded: here I am - and met his end.
شُقَّت إِلَيهِ سُيوفُهُ وَرِماحُهُ
وَأُميتَ عَنهُ عَبيدُهُ وَإِماؤُهُ
Swords and lances turned away, slaves and servants
Perished, of no more use to him or joy.
لَم يُغنِهِ مَن كانَ وَدَّ لَوَ اَنَّهُ
قَبلَ المَنونِ مِنَ المَنونِ فِداؤُهُ
If one who loved him had, before death came,
Offered himself to ransom life from death,
حَرَمٌ عَلَيهِ الذُلُّ إِلّا أَنَّهُ
أَبَداً لَيَشهَدُ بِالجَلالِ بِناؤُهُ
No use - though dishonor was denied him, ever
Would his great works attest to majesty.
مُتَخَشِّعٌ بَعدَ الأَنيسِ جَنابُهُ
مُتَضائِلٌ بَعدَ القَطينِ فِناؤُهُ
Humbled past familiarity, declining
After greatness fades, its height no more.
عُريانُ تَطرُدُ كُلُّ ريحٍ تُربَهُ
وَتُطيعُ أَوَّلَ أَمرِها حَصباؤُهُ
Bare the winds pound him and every gust
Obeys the first, flinging up pebbles and debris.
وَلَقَد مَرَرتُ بِبَرزَخٍ فَسَأَلتُهُ
أَينَ الأُلى ضَمَّتهُمُ أَرجاؤُهُ
I passed by death's isthmus and asked of it:
Where are they, the friends its expanse concealed?
مِثلِ المَطيِّ بَوارِكاً أَجداثُهُ
تُسفى عَلى جَنَباتِها بَوغاؤُهُ
Like an untethered steed, its saddlebags
Sway and spill their contents back and forth.
نادَيتُهُ فَخَفي عَلَيَّ جَوابُهُ
بِالقَولِ إِلّا ما زَقَت أَصداؤُهُ
I called out but my words were met with silence -
Just an echo mocking what I cried.
مِن ناظِرٍ مَطروفَةٍ أَلحاظُهُ
أَو خاطِرٍ مَطلولَةٍ سَوداؤُهُ
From a watcher's scornful look, thoughts drifting
Dark, a sufferer's groans, a hater's bile.
أَو واجِدٍ مَكظومَةٍ زَفَراتُهُ
أَو حاقِدٍ مَنسيَّةٍ شَحناؤُهُ
Prone, stretched out, their bodies listless, as if
Wine had drained their strength and left their limbs to fail,
وَمُسَنَّدينَ عَلى الجُنوبِ كَأَنَّهُم
شَربٌ تَخاذَلَ بِالطِلا أَعضاؤُهُ
Under dust with no remorse or pity, 'til
On judgment day entombed again in grave-pits.
تَحتَ الصَعيدِ لِغَيرِ إِشفاقٍ إِلى
يَومِ المَعادِ تَضُمُّهُم أَحشاؤُهُ
The earth that gave them birth has consumed them -
Prey devoured by a beast's relentless jaws.
أَكَلَتهُمُ الأَرضُ الَّتي وَلَدَتهُمُ
أَكلَ الضَروسِ حَلَت لَهُ أَكلاؤُهُ
Greetings lively garden, softly exhaling!
Dawn diffusing gentle light in colors pure.
حَيّاكَ مُعتَلِجُ النَسيمِ وَلا يَزَل
سَحَراً تُفاوِحُ نَورُهُ أَصباؤُهُ
Lovely doe-eyed girls flutter past trailing
Tresses' scent - allure to catch their prey.
يَمري عَلَيكَ مِنَ النُعامى خِلفَه
مِن عارِضٍ مُتَبَزِّلٍ أَنداؤُهُ
Their smooth skin gave you freshest morning dew,
The Pleiades delivered you night rain.
فَسَقاكَ ما حَمَلَ الزُلالَ سِجالُهُ
وَنَحاكَ ما جَرَّ الزُحوفَ لِواؤُهُ
But to avoid the shameless ways of yore,
I'd shed their lifeblood on your tomb and mourn.
لَولا اِتِّقاءُ الجاهِليَّةِ سُقتُهُ
ذَوداً تَمورُ عَلى ثَراكَ دِماؤُهُ
And every night beneath the sword preserve
Some rebel's neck whose cries persist prolong.
وَأَطَرتُ تَحتَ السَيفِ كُلَّ عَشيَّةٍ
عُرقوبَ مُغتَبِطٍ يَطولُ رُغاؤُهُ
But I will leave their slaughtered bodies' stink
To my tears' flood, keening grief and song.
لَكِن سَيَخلُفُ عَقرَها وَدِماءَها
أَبَدَ اللَيالي مَدمَعي وَبُكاؤُهُ
My sense of shame restrains me - if decorum
Let weeping eyes maintain their modest gaze!
أَقني الحَياءَ تَجَمُّلاً لَو أَنَّهُ
يَبقى مَعَ الدَمعِ اللَجوجِ حَياؤُهُ
When the year cycle brings your day anew,
I return, as the well return to health.
وَإِذا أَعادَ الحَولُ يَومَكَ عادَني
مِثلَ السَليمِ يَعودُهُ آناؤُهُ
A home in my heart no cure can heal -
No remedy avails or brings relief.
دارٌ بِقَلبي لا يَعودُ طَبيبُهُ
يَأساً إِلَيَّ وَلا يُصابُ دَواؤُهُ
Go - time does not stand still, and fate decreed
Its course for you and sealed your destiny.
فَاِذهَب فَلا بَقِيَ الزَمانُ وَقَد هَوى
بِكَ صَرفُهُ وَقَضى عَلَيكَ قَضاؤُهُ
