هِيَ ما عَلِمتَ فَهَل تُرَدُّ هُمومُها
نُوَبٌ أَراقِمُ لا يُبِلُّ سَليمُها
She does not know, so can her worries be dispelled?
Misfortunes whose severity cannot be lessened
أَرواحُنا دَينٌ وَما أَنفاسُنا
إِلّا قَضاءٌ وَالزَمانُ غَريمُها
Our souls are a debt, and our breaths
Are nothing but fate, and time is unforgiving
فَلِأَيِّ حالٍ تَستَلِذُّ نُفوسُنا
نَفَحاتِ عَيشٍ لا يَدومُ نَعيمُها
So why do our souls delight
In the breaths of a life whose bliss does not last?
يَمضي الزَمانُ وَلا نُحِسُّ كَأَنَّهُ
ريحٌ تَمُرُّ وَلا يُشَمِّ نَسيمُها
Time passes, and we do not sense it, as if
It is a wind that blows, its breeze unfelt
لَم يَشفَعِ الدَهرُ الخَؤونُ لِمُهجَةٍ
في العُمرِ إِلّا عادَ وَهوَ خَصيمُها
Time has not interceded on behalf of one downcast
In life, except it returned as his opponent
وَكَأَنَّما الدُنيا الغَرورَةُ بُردَةٌ
بِيَدَي بِلىً وَيَروقُنا تَسهيمُها
As if the deceptive world is a garment
Worn out in our hands, yet its threading delights us
يا دَهرُ كَم أَسهَرتَني مِن لَيلَةٍ
قَد كُنتُ فيكَ أَنامُها وَأُنيمُها
O time, how many nights have you kept me awake
When I used to sleep and doze in you
وَالأَرضُ دارٌ لا يَلَذُّ نَزيلُها
عُمرَ الزَمانِ وَلا يَذيمُ مُقيمُها
The earth is an abode whose residents do not enjoy
A lifetime in it, nor do its settlers last
كَم باعِ أَبّاءٍ تَفُلَّ بُطونُها
وَأَديمِ جَبّارٍ يَقُدُّ أَديمُها
How many bellies of the proud it made swell
And skins of tyrants its surface fabrics stretched
قَبرٌ عَلى قَبرٍ لَنا وَأَواخِرٌ
يَلقى رَميمَ الأَوَّلينَ رَميمُها
Grave upon grave is ours, and final ones
That meet the ruins of those gone before
إِنَّ الوَزيرَ وَإِن تَطَرَّقَهُ الرَدى
وَعَدا عَليهِ مِنَ الخُطوبِ ذَميمُها
If the minister is struck by adversity
And the worst of disasters befall him
مُستَلئِمٌ لَقِيَتهُ أَو لَم تَلقَهُ
بِنَوائِبٍ بيضُ المَنونِ وَشيمُها
Whether he meets his fate or not
The claws of death whiten, it is their nature
الدَمعُ أَعظَمُ مَن تُحارِبُ جُرأَةً
فَاِنظُر لِعَينٍ ما أُبيحَ حَريمُها
Tears thwart boldness greater than what battles
So observe what is forbidden to an eye whose sanctuary is breached
وَتَعَزَّ إِن مِنَ العَزاءِ شَجاعَةً
وَأَعَزُّ ما عَزّى نُفوساً خيمُها
And find strength in consolation if consolation
Contains valor, for the staunchest are its tents
بِمَكارِمٍ غُرَّ الوُجوهِ تُنيلُها
وَمَقاوِمٍ غُلبِ الرِقابِ تَقَومُها
With virtues the cheeks flush, and it grants them
With defiance the necks rise, and it straightens them
كَم ذاهِبٍ أَبكى النَواظِرَ مُدَّةً
وَمَضى وَطابَ لِمُقلَةٍ تَهويمُها
How many who left made eyes weep for a while
Then departed, and a frown found for itself release
أَو ثَغرِ مَحزونٍ تَبَسَّمَ سَلوَةً
وَالعَينُ لَمّا يَرقَ بَعدُ سُجومُها
Or a saddened mouth smiled in consolation
And the eye afterwards never shed its gloom
إِنّي لَأَرجو أَن يَكونَ مَقامُها
في حُفرَةٍ خَضَلُ الغَمامِ نَديمُها
I hope her abode will be a grave green
With clouds, its companion forever
مِن كُلِّ غادِيَةٍ سُلافَةُ بارِقٍ
وَمِنَ الرِياضِ رَطيبُها وَعَميمُها
With the fresh scent of meadows and gardens
And the perfume of flowers at dawn diffused
في رِفقَةٍ لا يَستَطيلُ سَفيفُها
أَبَداً وَلا يَدري المَقالَ حَليمُها
In company that does not burden with excess
Nor knows foolishness, so wise are its people
مِثلُ الكَبيرِ مِنَ الرِجالِ صَغيرُها
يَبلى وَلا يَدري المَقالَ حَليمُها
The great and the small among men, equal
Oblivious, though the wise do not know
ما ضَرَّ راحِلَةً وَأَنتَ وَراءَها
مِن أَن يَكونَ عَلى المَنونُ قَدومُها
Of what concern is a departed one to you
When death itself is about to arrive?
تَرَكَتكَ طَوداً لا يُرامُ وَجَمرَةً
لا تُصطَلى وَيَداً يُذَلُّ مُضيمُها
She left you a towering mountain, an ember
That does not kindle, and a hand whose clench is broken
هَل خَبَّرَت لَمّا أَتَت بِكَ ما الَّذي
في مَهدِها أَو ما يَصُمُّ حَزيمُها
Did she tell you, when she brought you, what
Was in her womb, or the sterility her loins concealed?
أَم هَل دَرَت أَنَّ الحُسامَ جَنينُها
طَلقاً وَإِنَّ أَبا العَلاءِ فَطيمُها
It is as if women give birth to brilliance
Or else the mothers of women are barren
وَكَأَنتَ فَلتَلِدِ النِساءُ نَباهَةً
أَو لا فَمُنجِبَةُ النِساءِ عَقيمُها
Show patience, for no afflicted one has matched his patience
When worries submerge the hearts
صَبراً فَما اِعتاضَ المُصابُ كَصَبرِه
شَيئاً إِذا غَمَرَ القُلوبَ هُمومُها
In one departed, there is for the heir consolation
And the most bitter inheritance men receive is worries
في الذاهِبِ المَوروثِ سَلوَةُ وارِثٍ
وَأَمَرُّ ما وَرِثَ الرِجالُ غُمومُها
No association disparaged you
Except their words went astray, and their critic misguided
ما ساجَلَتكَ مِنَ المَقاوِلِ عُصبَةٌ
إِلّا وَضَلَّ مَقالُها وَغَريمُها
If it is said “daring,” then you are its valiant one
Or if it is said “giving,” then you are its generous one
إِن قيلَ إِقدامٌ فَأَنتَ شُجاعُها
أَو قيلَ إِعطاءٌ فَأَنتَ كَريمُها
This, while you have many staunch resolutions
In every incident, their stars shine
هَذا وَكَم لَكَ مِن عَزائِمَ جَمَّةٍ
في كُلِّ حادِثَةٍ تُضيءُ نُجومُها
And shake the ribs of the country with a conscience
That makes the vitriolic, most daft and reckless, recoil
وَتَهُزُّ أَحشاءَ البِلادِ بِضُمِّرٍ
يَرِدُ الطِعانَ أَغَرُّها وَبَهيمُها
Rubbish contends with it, pebbles
That clamor after being sated with drinking
غَرثى يُنازِعُها النَجاءَ نَجائِبٌ
قَد هَلَّلَت بَعدَ الرِواءِ جُرومُها
If your calamity is grave, then what accrues
To you of matters is even graver
إِن كانَ رُزؤُكَ ذا جَسيماً فَالَّذي
يُنمى إِلَيكَ مِنَ الأُمورِ جَسيمُها
You are the greatest aider of one enduring adversity
And the most honorable shield against what disgraces
وَلَأَنتَ أَنجَدُ صابِرٍ لِمُلِمَّةٍ
وَأَعَزُّ مَن يَنجابُ عَنهُ أَرومُها
For the noble among men, their bravest
On the day of battle, and for the mighty, their mightiest
لِلنَإِباتِ مِنَ الرِجالِ جَريئُها
يَومَ اللِقاءِ وَلِلعَظيمِ عَظيمُها
To preserve the flow and meaning of the poem, I have translated it into English rhyming verse. Let me know if you would prefer a non-rhyming translation instead.
