أَلا بَكَرَت تَلومُ بِغَيرِ قَدرِ
فَقَد أَحفَيتِني وَدَخَلتِ سِتري
Alas! Why do you blame me undeservedly?
You have wronged me and pierced my veil.
فَإِن لَم تَترُكي عَذلي سَفاهاً
تَلُمكِ عَلَيَّ نَفسُكِ أَيَّ عَصرِ
If you do not stop rebuking me foolishly,
Your own soul will blame you in time.
أَسَرَّكِ أَن يَكونَ الدَهرُ سَدّى
عَلَيَّ بِشَرِّهِ يَغدو وَيَسري
It pleases you that fate remains
Set against me with its ills, night and day.
وَإِن لا تُرزَئي نَفساً وَمالاً
يَضُرُّكِ هُلكُهُ في طولِ عُمري
If you do not care for yourself or wealth,
Its loss will harm you through my long life.
لَقَد كَذَبَتكِ نَفسُكِ فَاِكذِبيها
فَإِن جَزَعاً وَإِن إِجمالَ صَبرِ
Your own soul has lied to you, so lie to it,
Whether with stoicism or feigned patience.
فَإِنَّ الرُزءَ يَومَ وَقَفتُ أَدعو
فَلَم يَسمَع مُعاوِيَةُ بنُ عَمروِ
For I was shamed when I stood pleading
And Muawiya ibn ‘Amr did not hear me.
رَأَيتُ مَكانَهُ فَعَطَفتُ زَوراً
وَأَيُّ مَكانِ زَورٍ يا اِبنَ بَكرِ
I saw where he had been and turned aside,
What place to turn aside to, O son of Bakr!
عَلى إِرَمٍ وَأَحجارٍ وَصيرٍ
وَأَغصانٍ مِنَ السَلَماتِ سُمرِ
To a barren waste of stones and brush
And branches of oleander, somber,
وَبُنيانُ القُبورِ أَتى عَلَيها
طَوالُ الدَهرِ مِن سَنَةٍ وَشَهرِ
While the structure of the tombs there
Had wasted with the years and months.
وَلَو أَسمَعتَهُ لَأَتى حِثيثاً
سَريعَ السَعيِ أَو لَأَتاكَ يَجري
Had you heard me, you would have come hastening,
Running swiftly or rushing to me.
بِشِكَّةِ حازِمٍ لا عَيبَ فيهِ
إِذا لَبِسَ الكُماةُ جُلودَ نَمرِ
With the firm step of one without fault,
When warriors don leopard skins.
فَإِمّا تُمسِ في جَدَثٍ مُقيماً
بِمَسهَكَةٍ مِنَ الأَرواحِ قَفرِ
Now you lie in a burrow serenely,
Inhabited by spirits of the wastes.
فَرُبَّتَ غارَةٍ أَوضَعتَ فيها
كَسَحِّ الهاجِري جَرَيمَ تَمرِ
Many a night raid have you led
Like the creeping of a hyena at date stones.
وَعَزَّ عَلَيَّ هُلكُكَ يا بنَ عَمروٍ
وَما لي عَنكَ مِن عَزمٍ وَصَبرِ
And your death was hard for me, O son of ‘Amr!
I have no firmness or patience for it.
