سَئِمَت نَفسي الحَياةَ مَعَ الناسِ

وَمَلَّت حَتّى مِنَ الأَحبابِ

My soul grew weary of life with people

My soul has grown weary of life among people,

And was bored even of loved ones

And has tired even of the beloveds,

وَتَمَشَّت فيها المَلالَةُ حَتّى

ضَجِرَت مِن طَعامِهِم وَالشَرابِ

Boredom penetrated it to the extent

And ennui has crept through it until

That it was fed up with their food and drink

It grew sick of their food and their drink,

وَمِنَ الكَذِبِ لابِساً بُردَةَ الصِدقِ

وَهَذا مُسَربَلاً بِالكِذابِ

Of lies wearing the robe of truth

And of the lie wearing the cloak of truth,

While this one was cloaked in lies

And of the truth shrouded in falsehood,

وَمِنَ القُبحِ في نِقابٍ جَميلٍ

وَمِنَ الحُسنِ تَحتَ أَلفِ نِقابِ

Of ugliness in a beautiful veil

And of ugliness beneath a beautiful veil,

And beauty under a thousand veils

And of beauty hidden under a thousand veils,

وَمِنَ العابِدينَ كُلَّ إِلَهٍ

وَمِنَ الكافِرينَ بِالأَربابِ

Of worshippers, each worshipping a god

And of those who worship every passing god,

And unbelievers in false gods

And of those who disbelieve in the divine,

وَمِنَ الواقِفينَ كَالأَنصابِ

وَمِنَ الساجِدينَ لِلأَنصابِ

Of those standing still like idols

And of those standing still like idols,

And those bowing to idols

And of those prostrating before idols,

وَمِنَ الراكِبينَ خَيلَ المَعالي

وَمِنَ الراكِبينَ خَيلَ التَصابي

Of riders of the steeds of glory

And of those riding the steed of ambition,

And riders racing on lively horses

And of those riding the steed of youthful folly,

وَالأُلى يَصمُتونَ صَمتَ الأَفاعِ

وَالأُلى يَهزِجونَ هَزجَ الذُبابِ

Some were silent like still lambs

And those who keep silent with the silence of vipers,

While others buzzed like flies

And those who drone with the buzzing of flies.

صَغُرَت حِكمَةُ الشُيوخِ لَدَيها

وَاِستَخَفَّت بِكُلِّ ما لِلشَبابِ

In it wisdom of elders seemed trivial

The wisdom of elders has diminished in its eyes,

And careless of all that’s for the youth

And it has come to scorn all the concerns of youth.

قالَتِ اِخرُج مِنَ المَدينَةِ لِلقَفرِ

فَفيهِ النَجاةُ مِن أَوصابي

It said, “Leave the city for the wilderness

It said: "Leave the city for the wilderness,"

For in it lies salvation from my woes

"For therein lies salvation from my ailments,"

وَليَكُ اللَيلُ راهِبي وَشُموعي الـ

ـشُهبُ وَالأَرضُ كُلُّها مِحرابي

Let the night be my monk and meteors my

"Let the night be my monk, and my candles"

Candles, and all the land my prayer niche

"The shooting stars, and the whole earth my sanctuary,"

وَكِتابي الفَضاءُ أَقرَأُ فيهِ

سُوَراً ما قَرَأتُها في كِتابِ

My book the sky in which I read

"And the cosmos my book, wherein I read"

Chapters I never read in any book

"Verses I have never read in any tome,"

وَصَلاتي الَّذي تَقولُ السَواقي

وَغِنائي صَوتُ الصَبا في الغابِ

My prayers what the streams murmur

"And my prayer is what the brooks murmur,"

And my hymns the breeze’s voice in the forest

"And my hymn is the voice of the zephyr in the woods,"

وَكُؤوسي الأَوراقُ أَلقَت عَلَيها

الشَمسُ ذَوبَ النُضارِ عِندَ الغِيابِ

My cups are leaves on which the sun

"And my goblets are the leaves upon which"

Poured molten radiance at sunset

"The sun has poured molten gold at twilight,"

وَرَحيقي ما سالَ مِن مُقلَةِ الفَجرِ

عَلى العُشبِ كَاللُجَينِ المُذابِ

And my wine what dripped from the eyelid of dawn

"And my wine is what flows from the eye of dawn"

On the grass like melted gum

"Upon the grass like molten silver,"

وَلتُكَحِّل يَدُ المَساءِ جُفوني

وَلتُعانِق أَحلامُهُ أَهدابي

Let the hand of evening kohl my eyes

"Let the hand of evening darken my eyelids with kohl,"

And its dreams embrace my eyelids

"And let its dreams embrace my lashes,"

وَليُقَبِّل فَمُ الصَباحِ جَبيني

وَليُعَطِّر أَريجُهُ جِلبابي

Let the mouth of morning kiss my forehead

"Let the mouth of morning kiss my brow,"

And its breeze perfume my robe

"And let its fragrance perfume my robe,"

وَلأَكُن كَالغُرابِ رِزقِيَ في الحَقـ

ـلِ وَفي السَفحِ مَجثَمي وَاِضطِرابي

Let me be like the crow taking sustenance

"Let me be like the crow, finding provision in the field,"

In the wasteland, while in the valley is my turmoil and fluttering

"And on the mountain slopes my perch and my wandering,"

ساعَةٌ في الخَلاءِ خَيرٌ مِنَ الأَعـ

ـوامِ تُقضى في القَصرِ وَالأَحقابِ

An hour in solitude is better than years

"An hour of solitude is better than years"

Spent in palaces and encampments

"Spent in palaces and endless ages."

يا لَنَفسي فَإِنَّها فَتَنَتني

بِالحَديثِ المُنَمَّقِ الخَلّابِ

Oh my soul, it has seduced me

Oh, how my soul has beguiled me

With its elegant and flirtatious talk

With such embellished, captivating speech,

فَإِذا بي أُقلى القُصورَ وَسُكنا

ها وَأَهلَ القُصورِ ذاتِ القِبابِ

So here I am, avoiding palaces

Until I came to loathe palaces and their dwelling,

And the people of palaces with domes

And the inhabitants of those domed castles,

فَهَجَرتُ العُمرانَ تَنفُضُ كَفّي

عَن رِدائي غُبارَهُ وَإِهابي

I shunned settlements, shaking my hands

So I forsook civilization, my hand shaking off

To rid my cloak of their dust and burdens

Its dust from my cloak and from my skin,

وَتَرَكتُ الحِمى وَسِرتُ وَإِيّا

ها وَقَد ذَهَّبَ الأَصيلُ الرَوابي

I left the protected grounds and wandered

I left the inhabited land and walked, my soul and I,

While the graceful steed went riderless

While the late sun gilded the hills,

نَهتَدي بِالضُحى فَإِن عَسعَسَ اللَي

لُ جَعَلنا الدَليلَ ضَوءَ الشِهابِ

Guided by the glow of dawn, for if the night

Guided by the daylight, and when the night fell,

Darkens, we take the shooting star as guide

We took the starlight as our guide.

وَقَضَينا في الغابِ وَقتاً جَميلاً

في جِوارِ الغُدرانِ وَالأَعشابِ

And spent a beautiful time in the forest

We spent a beautiful time in the forest,

Near the wild roses and plants

Beside the pools and the grass,

تارَةً في مَلاءَةٍ مِن شُعاعٍ

تارَةً في مَلاءَةٍ مِن ضَبابِ

At times in the glow of sunlight

Sometimes wrapped in a cloak of sunbeams,

At others in the glow of mist

Sometimes in a cloak of mist,

تارَةً كَالنَسيمِ نَمرَحُ في الوا

دي وَطَوراً كَالجَدوَلِ المُنسابِ

Like a breeze I frolic in the valley

At times like the breeze we frolic in the valley,

And like a flowing stream at times on the slopes

And at times like the flowing stream,

في سُفوحِ الهِضابِ وَالظِلُّ فيها

وَمَعَ النورِ وَهوَ فَوقَ الهِضابِ

In the shade on the hills, and the light above

On the slopes of the hills while the shade rests there,

The hills and over the slopes

And with the light when it crowns the heights.

إِنَّما نَفسي الَّتي مَلَتِ العُمـ

ـرانَ مَلَّت في الغابِ صَمتَ الغابِ

Only my soul that got bored of settlements

Yet my soul, which had wearied of civilization,

Got bored in the forest of the silence of the forest

Soon wearied of the silence of the woods;

فَأَنا فيهِ مُستَقِلٌّ طَليقٌ

وَكَأَنّي أَدُبُّ في سِردابِ

So here I am independent, free

For though I am therein free and unbounded,

As if roaming around in a basement

It feels as though I crawl within a crypt.

عَلَّمَتني الحَياةُ في القَفرِ أَنّي

أَينَما كُنتُ ساكِناً في التُرابِ

Life in the wasteland taught me

Life in the wilderness has taught me this:

Wherever I reside, it is in the dust

That wherever I be, I am but a dweller in dust,

وَسَأَبقى ما دُمتُ في قَفَصِ الصَلـ

ـصالِ عَبدَ المُنى أَسيرَ الرَغابِ

And I will remain as long as I am

And I shall remain, so long as I am in this cage of clay,

In the cage of separation, a prisoner of desires

A slave to wishes, a prisoner of desires.

خِلتُ أَنِّي في القَفرِ أَصبَحتُ وَحدي

فَإِذا الناسُ كُلُّهُم في ثِيابي

I imagined I was alone in the wasteland

I imagined that in the wild I had become alone,

But all the people were in my clothes

But lo, all of humanity is hidden within my robes.