قالَ الغُراب وَقَد رَأى كَلَفَ الوَرى
وَهَيامَهُم بِالبُلبُلِ الصَدّاحِ
The raven said, when he saw people's toil
The crow spoke, having seen the people’s infatuation,
And their frenzy for the chatty nightingale:
And their desperate passion for the chanting nightingale:
لِمَ لا تَهيمُ بِيَ المَسامِعُ مِثلَهُ
ما الفَرقُ بَينَ جَناحِه وَجَناحي
"Why do not ears crave my voice like his?
"Why do hearing ears not adore me as they do him?
What's the difference between his wing and mine?
What difference lies between his wing and mine?
إِنّي أَشَدُّ قِوى وَأَمضى مِخلَباً
فَعَلامَ نامَ الناسُ عَنِ اِمتِداحي
I am stronger, my talons sharper by far,
I am mightier in strength and sharper of claw,
Why do people sleep through my eulogies?
So why have people neglected to sing my praise?"
أَمُفَرِّقَ الأَحبابِ عَن أَحبابِهِم
وَكُكَدِّرَ اللَذات وَالأَفراحِ
Do friends split lovers from their loves
O scatterer of lovers from their beloveds,
And poison joy and all delight?
O disturber of pleasures and of joys,
كَم في السَوائِلِ مِن شَبيهٍ بِالطَلا
فَعَلامَ لَيسَ لَها مُقامُ الراحِ
How many clear waters resemble poison -
How many liquids bear likeness to golden wine,
Why are they not as desired as pleasure?
Yet why do they not hold the station of the vintage?
لَيسَ الحُظوظُ مِنَ الجُسوم وَشَكلِها
السُرُّ كُلُّ السِرِّ في الأَرواحِ
Luck depends not on bodies and their shapes;
Fortunes arise not from bodies nor their forms;
The essence of all secrets dwells in the soul.
The secret—the entire secret—resides in the souls.
وَالصَوتُ مِن نِعَمِ السَماء وَلَم تَكُن
تَرضى السَما عَنِ الصَدّاحِ
And song is a gift of heaven, though heaven
The voice is a blessing from Heaven, yet Heaven
Was never pleased by the raven's caw."
Was not pleased with the clamorous crier.
حَكَمَ القَضاءُ فَإِن نَقِمتَ عَلى القَضا
فَاِضرِب بِعُنقِكَ مُديَةَ الجَرّاحِ
Fate's judgement cannot be revoked - lament
Fate has issued its ruling; so if you resent the decree,
And strike your neck as the victim of fate.
Then strike your neck against the surgeon’s blade.
