وَلَلمَوتُ خَيرٌ مِن حَياةٍ عَلى أَذىً
يَضيمُكَ فيهِ صاحِبٌ وَتُراقِبُه
And death is surely better than a life of suffering,
Death is better than a life of distress
in which a companion wrongs you while you watch him warily.
Where a companion oppresses you and watches you
كَأَنَّ حَياةَ الناسِ حينَ ضَمِنتَها
قَذىً في حُقوقِ العَينِ مِنّي أُوارِبُه
As though human life, when you undertook it,
As if when people guaranteed their lives
were grit in my eye sockets, which I try to evade.
It was a speck in my eye's rights that I blink away
يَخونُكَ ذو القُربى مِراراً وَرُبَّما
وَفى لَكَ عِندَ الجَهلِ مَن لا تُقارِبُه
Your kin betray you time and again, and sometimes
A close relative betrays you repeatedly
one you are not close to keeps faith with you in times of folly.
Yet the ignorant are faithful to you
وَقَد رابَني قَلبٌ يُكَلِّفُني الصِبا
وَما كُلَّ حينٍ يَتبَعُ القَلبَ صاحِبُه
And a heart that burdens me with youthful passion has troubled me;
And a heart has confused me that makes youth obligatory
and not always does the heart's owner follow it.
Yet not every time does the heart follow its companion
وَما قادَني في الدَهرِ إِلّا غَلَبتُهُ
وَكَيفَ يُلامُ المَرءُ وَالحُبُّ غالِبُه
And never in my life has it led me without my overcoming it.
And nothing led me in life except overcoming it
And how can a man be blamed when love overpowers him?
And how can a man be blamed when love overcomes him
وَأَحوَرَ مَحسودٍ عَلى حُسنِ وَجهِهِ
يَزينُ السُموطَ نَحرُهُ وَتَرائِبُه
And many a dark-eyed man, envied for the beauty of his face—
The neck and braids of a jealous handsome man
his throat and upper chest adorn the necklaces.
Adorn his nape
Sol 6.1