ما أَسرَعَ الأَيّامَ في طَيَّنا
تَمضي عَلينا ثُمَّ تَمضي بِنا
How swift the days in our abode do go,
Passing by us and with us in tow,
في كُلَّ يَومٍ أَمَلٌ قَد نَأى
مَرامُهُ عَن أَجَلٍ قَد دَنا
Each day, a hope grows ever more remote,
Its goal far from the fate foretold.
أَنذَرَنا الدَهرُ وَما نَرعَوي
كَأَنَّما الدَهرُ سِوانا عَنى
Time warned us but we paid no heed,
As if it wished upon us harm and need,
تَعاشِياً وَالمَوتُ في جِدِّهِ
ما أَوضَحَ الأَمرَ وَما أَبيَنا
By evening, death is at its work ahead,
Making the matter clear, no more in read.
وَالناسُ كَالأَجمالِ قَد قُرَّبَت
تَنتَظِرُ الحَيَّ لِأَن يَظعَنا
People are like camels led to stall,
Waiting for their slaughter, that is all,
تَدنو إِلى الشِعبِ وَمِن خَلفِها
مُغامِرٌ يَطرُدُها بِالقَنا
Drawn towards the cliff behind which looms
A rider driving them to their dooms.
إِنَّ الأُلى شادَوا مَبانيهِمُ
تَهَدُّموا قَبلَ اِنهِدامِ البُنى
The arrogant their edifices raised,
Toppled before their very walls did raze.
لا مُعدِمٌ يَحميهِ إِعدامُهُ
وَلا يَقي نَفسَ الغَنِيِّ الغِنى
No destroyer can his own destruction stall,
Nor can wealth preserve the rich through all.
كَيفَ دِفاعُ المَرءِ أَحداثَها
فَرداً وَأَقرانُ اللَيالي ثِنى
How can one man alone life’s events parry
When nights in pairs yet days solitary.
حَطَّ رِجالٌ وَرَكِبنا الذُرى
وَعُقبَةُ السَيرِ لِمَن بَعدَنا
Great men have gone and we now bear the load,
A journey’s uphill for those who trod.
كَم مِن حَبيبٍ هانَ مِن فَقدِهِ
ما كُنتُ أَن أَحسَبَهُ هَيَّنا
Many a dear one, from their loss I’ve pined,
I’d not thought their love could be so maligned.
أَنفَقتُ دَمعَ العَينِ مِن بَعدِهِ
وَقَلَّ دَمعُ العَينِ أَن يُخزَنا
My tears flowed freely once they went away,
Few tears remain within my eyes to stay.
كُنتُ أُوَقَيهِ فَأَسكَنتُهُ
بَعدَ اللَيانِ المَنزِلَ الأَخشَنا
I sheltered them but then made reside,
After hardships, in graves, side by side.
دَفَنتُهُ وَالحُزنُ مِن بَعدِهِ
يَأبى عَلى الأَيّامِ أَن يُدفَنا
Grief remains, refusing to be interred,
After their loss, by days that blurred.
يا أَرضُ ناشَدتُكِ أَن تَحفَظي
تِلكَ الوُجوهَ الغُرَّ وَالأَعيُنا
Oh earth, I beg you keep protected,
Those pale faces, eyes now neglected.
يا ذُلَّ ما عِندَكِ مِن أَوجُهٍ
كُنَّ كِراماً أَبَداً عِندَنا
Oh how humble, lying in your hold,
Were once noble souls, brave and bold.
وَالحازِمُ الرَأيِ الَّذي يَغتَدي
مُستَقلِعاً يُنذِرُ مُستَوطِنا
The prudent one who quits his abode,
Warning those settled along the road,
لا يَأمَنُ الدَهرَ عَلى غِرَّةٍ
وَعَزَّ لَيثُ الغابِ أَن يُؤمَنا
Trusts not time’s trickery and its guile,
A jungle’s lion can never be beguiled.
كَأَنَّما يَجفُلُ مِن غارَةٍ
مُلتَفِتاً يَحذَرُ أَن يُطعَنا
He whirls around, wary of mortal gash,
Like one evading a sudden ambush.
أُخَيَّ جَبراً لَكَ مِن عَثرَةٍ
لا بُدَّ لِلعاثِرُ أَن يوهَنا
O brother, we must corrections make,
The fallen at times are prone to mistake.
إِنَّ الَّتي آذَتكَ مِن ثِقلِها
هَلُمَّها نَحمِلُها بَينَنا
That which has burdened you, let us divide,
And between us the heavy load stride.
ساقَيتُكَ الحُلوَ فَلا بِدعَةً
إِن أَنا طاعَمتُكَ مُرَّ الجَنى
I fed you bitterness, but let not that vex,
For I’d also served you sweet honey in flex.
سَلَبتَ ما أَعجَزَنا رَدُّهُ
في قُوَّةِ السالِبِ عُذرٌ لَنا
You've seized what we cannot reclaim,
The victor's strength excuses our shame.
جِنايَةُ الدَهرِ لَهُ عادَةٌ
فَما لَنا نَعجَبُ لَمّا جَنى
Time’s tyranny follows a pattern on repeat,
Why then, wonder at the pain we meet?
مَن كانَ حِرمانُ المُنى دَأبَهُ
فَالفَضلُ إِن بَلَّغَ بَعضَ المُنى
Who always faces denial of dreams,
Then favor it is if some are redeemed.
كَم غارِسٍ أَمَّلَ في غَرسِهِ
فَأَعجَلَ المِقدارُ أَن يُجتَنى
Many a planter envisioned his yield,
But fate hurried that his crop be felled.
ما الثَلمُ في حَدِّكَ نَقصاً لَهُ
قَد يُثلَمُ العَضبُ وَقَد يُقتَنى
No flaw exists in your limits, not one dent,
Branches may break, yet the roots are not spent.
يَأبى لَكَ الحُزنُ أَصيلَ الحِجى
وَيَقتَضيكَ الرُزءُ أَن تَحزَنا
Grief refuses your calm, though that’s what you need,
Misfortune impels you sadness to heed.
وَالأَجرُفي الأولى وَإِن أَقلَقَت
وَرُبَّما نَستَقبِحُ الإِحسَنا
Reward lies in the first, though it shook you apart,
We may sometimes spurn a good deed at the start.
ذا الخُلُقِ الأَعلى فَخُذ نَهجَه
وَاِترُك إِلَيهِ الخُلُقَ الأَدوَنا
So emulate the best of mannerism,
And leave inferior etiquette the chasm.
أَبا عَلَيٍّ هَل لِأَمثالِها
غَيرُكَ إِن خَطبُ زَمانٍ عَنى
Abu Ali, who but you is left,
When times are difficult and problems cleft.
فَاِنهَض بِها إِنَّكَ مِن مَعشَرٍ
إِن جُشِّموا الأَمرَ أَبانوا الغِنى
Take charge, your clan, when events worsen,
Has ever dispelled the gloom and proven its worth.
وَاِصبِر عَلى ضَرّائِها إِنَّما
نُغالِبُ القِرنَ إِذا أَمكَنا
Be patient with its troubles, we only prevail,
Over difficulties when we do not curtail.
