إِنّي عَرَفتُ مِنَ الإِنسانِ ما كانا
فَلَستُ أَحمَدُ بَعدَ اليَومِ إِنسانا
I have known mankind as never before,
I have come to know the truth of man for what it is, / So after this day, I shall praise no human being.
So I shall not again think well of man.
I tested him when strong: he was a lion, fierce to manage, / And when weak, a serpent lurking in the dust.
بَلَوتُهُ وَهوَ مُشتَدُّ القِوى أَسَداً
صَعبِ المِراسِ وَعِندَ الضَعفِ ثُعبانا
I tested him when he was mighty and a lion,
He became so accustomed to evil that if his hand / Inadvertently reached for good, he would spend the night in regret.
Difficult to handle and a serpent when weak.
Fear him when he is powerful, and fear him when powerless, / For tyranny and treachery exist whether he prevails or submits.
تَعَوَّدَ الشَرَّ حَتّى لَو نَبَت يَدُهُ
عَنهُ إِلى الخَيرِ سَهواً باتَ حَسرانا
He grew accustomed to evil till, if he did
Murder is a heinous, unforgivable sin, / Yet man, at times, finds reasons to forgive the slaughter.
Good by chance, he repented having done so.
He made lawful for himself the killing of grazing beasts, / And birds too—yet murder is murder wherever it is found.
خِفهُ قَديراً وَخَفهُ لا اِقتِدارَ لَهُ
فَالظُلمُ وَالغَدرُ إِمّا عَزَّ أَو هانا
I feared him when able and despised him when helpless,
He gave the desert wolf a taste of his betrayal, / So the beast remains, through all its days, watchful and awake.
So wrong and treachery were his valor or shame.
He scared the birds away until they do not touch down near him, / Except as fleeting dreams visit a heavy sleeper.
القَتلُ ذَنبٌ شَنيعٌ غَيرُ مُغتَفَرٍ
وَالقَتلُ يَغفُرَهُ الإِنسانُ أَحيانا
Killing is a heinous sin beyond forgiveness,
His joy lies in the weeping of the multitude for his sake, / And his sorrow is to witness another’s eyes filled with delight.
Yet killing man forgives at times.
As if Glory were a god that cannot be moved to mercy / Unless souls are offered up to it as a sacrifice.
أَحَلَّ قَتلَ نُفوسِ السائِماتِ لَهُ
وَالطَيرُ وَالقَتلُ قَتلٌ حَيثَما كانا
He made lawful the slaughter of blameless souls,
It is he who robbed the world of its cheerful smile, / And went about filling it with anxiety and grief.
While killing birds or beasts is killing anywhere.
Do not choose him for a friend, even if you burden him with favors; / He will turn against you, even while offering you thanks.
أَذاقَ ذِئبَ الفَلا مِن غَدرِهِ طُرُفاً
فَلا يَزالُ مَدى الأَيّامِ يَقظانا
He made the wolf taste his guile and treachery
They said, "The descendant of clay has ascended." I replied to them, / "Now, indeed, the misery of the world is complete."
So that he remains sleepless all his days.
For iron, when it softens, becomes a blade, / So be on your guard against him when he turns soft.
وَنَفَّرَ الطَيرَ حَتّى ما تُلِمُّ بِهِ
إِلّا كَما اِعتادَتِ الأَحلامُ وَسنانا
He frightened the birds that they never alight
Man is a beast, but the beauty of his outward form / Made the one who named him 'human' forget his calamities.
Save as customary in dreams and sleep.
He waged war on religion, fearing its restraints, / As if between mankind and faith there lies an ancient feud.
سُرورُهُ في بُكاءِ الأَكثَرينَ لَهُ
وَحُزنُهُ أَن تَرى عَيناهُ جَذلانا
His joy is in the weeping of the majority,
He sought to demolish what the Merciful had built, / Yet what the Merciful built was never a mere structure of stone.
And his grief that his eyes see no abjectness.
I am seized by wonder at his strange affair: / Does he increase in ingratitude whenever he increases in knowledge?
كَأَنَّما المَجدُ رَبٌّ لَيسَ يَعطِفُهُ
إِلّا إِذا قَدَّمَ الأَرواحَ قُربانا
As if glory is a Lord appeased only
And whenever the world yields to him and he holds its reins, / He yields to sin in absolute tyranny.
By offering souls and lives as sacrifice.
He hopes for perfection from the world, but how can he / Attain perfection from the world when he has no faith?
هُوَ الَّذي سَلَبَ الدُنيا بَشاشَتَها
وَراحَ يَملَءُها هَمّاً وَأَحزانا
He who robbed the world of happiness
If a man dons every garment the earth provides, / Yet shuns the garment of faith, he returns naked.
And filled it with anxiety and sorrow.
Faith is the life which, if it departs a body, / Leaves the corpse more alive in feeling than the man.
لا تَصطَفيهِ وَإِن أَثقَلَتهُ مِنَناً
يَعدو عَلَيكَ وَإِن أَولاكَ شُكرانا
Do not choose him even if he loads you with favours,
It is the light that erases darkness, so whoever / Is not guided by its brilliance remains forever lost.
He will trespass against you though you thank him.
It is the clear spring, sweet to approach; whoever / Does not drink from it remains thirsty for all time.
قالوا تَرقّى سَليلُ الطينِ قُلتُ لَهُم
الآنَ تَمَّ شَقاءُ العالَمِ الآنا
They said man had progressed, I told them
The squanderer is not the one who wastes his wealth, / The true squanderer is the one who fails to preserve his faith.
The misfortune of the world was now complete.
The blind man is not he who ends his day without sight; / For I see, among those with eyes, the truly blind.
إِنَّ الحَديدَ إِذا ما لانَ صارَ مُدىً
فَكُن عَلى حَذَرٍ مِنهُ إِذا لانا
When iron becomes pliant it yields,
So beware of it when it yields.
وَالمَرءُ وَحشٌ وَلَكِن حُسنُ صورَتِهِ
أَنسى بَلاياهُ مَن سَمّاهُ إِنسانا
Man is a wild beast though his shapely form
Makes forget his afflictions those who name him man.
قَد حارَبَ الدينَ خَوفاً مِن زَواجِرِهِ
كَأَنَّ بَينَ الوَرى وَالدينِ عُدوانا
He fought religion fearing its restrictions
As if religion and world were in conflict.
وَرامَ يَهدِمُ ما الرَحمَنُ شَيَّدَهُ
وَلَيسَ ما شَيَّدَ الرَحمَنُ بُنيانا
He wanted to destroy what Ar-Rahman had erected
Though nothing Ar-Rahman erects can be destroyed.
إِنّي لَيَأخُذُني مِن أَمرِهِ عَجَبٌ
أَكُلَّما زادَ عِلماً زادَ كُفرانا
I am filled with wonder at his way;
The more his knowledge, the more his unbelief grew.
وَكُلَّما اِنقادَتِ الدُنيا وَصارَ لَهُ
زِمامُها اِنقادَ لِلآثامِ طُغيانا
The more the world submitted to him
And he held its reins, the more tyrannical he grew.
يَرجو الكَمالَ مِنَ الدُنيا وَكَيفَ لَهُ
نَيلُ الكَمالِ مِنَ الدُنيا وَما دانا
He hopes for perfection from the world, but how
Can he attain perfection from it, base as it is?
إِذا اِرتَدى المَرءُ ما في الأَرضِ مِن بُرُدٍ
وَعافَ لِلدينِ بُرداً عادَ عُريانا
If a man puts on all the wool in the world,
Yet abandons religion's raiment, he is naked.
هُوَ الحَياةُ الَّتي ما غادَرَت جَسداً
إِلّا اِغتَدى امَيتُ أَحيا مِنهُ وِجدانا
It is the life which, when it leaves a body,
Allows the living to plunder the dead.
وَهوَ الضِياءُ الَّذي يَمحو الظَلامَ فَمَن
لا يَهتَدي بِسَناهُ ظَلَّ حَيرانا
It is the light wiping out darkness, so he who
Is not guided by its splendor remains in maze.
وَالمَنهَلُ الرائِقُ العَذبُ الوُرودِ فَمَن
لا يَستَقي مِنهُ دامَ الدَهرَ عَطشانا
The fresh, sweet spring from which to drink,
So he who draws not from it lives thirsty forever.
لَيسَ المُبَذِّرُ مَن يَقلي دَراهِمَهُ
إِنَّ المُبَذِّرَ مَن لِلدينِ ما صانا
Not he who spends his coins is a squanderer,
But he who gives no heed to Faith squanders.
لَيسَ الكَفيفُ الَّذي أَمسى بِلا بَصَرٍ
إِنّي أَرى مِن ذَوي الأَبصارِ عُميانا
Not he who lost his sight is the blind,
For I see among those with sight many blind.
