وَتينَةٍ غَضَّةِ الأَفنانِ باسِقَةٍ

قالَت لِأَترابِها وَالصَيفُ يَحتَضِرُ

A lofty palm tree with tender foliage

And a fig tree, tender of branch and lofty in stature,

Said to her companions as summer was ending

Spoke to her companions as the summer was drawing to its close:

بِئسَ القَضاءُ الَّذي في الأَرضِ أَوجَدَني

عِندي الجَمال وَغَيري عِندَهُ النَظَرُ

How wretched is the fate that brought me into being on this earth

"Wretched is the decree that brought me into existence on this earth;

I have beauty while others have the gaze

I possess the beauty, while others possess the pleasure of looking.

لَأَحبِسَنَّ عَلى نَفسي عَوارِفَها

فَلا يَبينُ لَها في غَيرِها أَثَرُ

I will withhold my charms from myself

I will surely withhold my rich favors for myself alone,

So no trace of me shows in another

So that no trace of them shall be seen by any other.

كَم ذا أُكَلِّفُ نَفسي فَوقَ طاقَتِها

وَلَيسَ لي بَل لِغَيري الفَيء وَالثَمَرُ

How much do I task myself beyond my capacity

How much must I burden myself beyond my capacity,

While the profit and fruit belong not to me but to another

When neither the shade nor the fruit is for me, but for others?

لِذي الجَناح وَذي الأَظفارِ بي وَطَرٌ

وَلَيسَ في العَيشِ لي فيما أَرى وَطَرُ

The winged and clawed have access to me

The winged ones and the clawed ones have a desire for me,

Yet in life I see for myself no access

Yet in this life, I see no desire fulfilled for myself.

إِنّي مُفَصِلَةٌ ظِلّي عَلى جَسَدي

فَلا يَكونُ بِهِ طول وَلا قِصَرُ

I am but a shadow split off from my body

I am tailoring my shadow to fit exactly over my body,

Having neither length nor shortness with it

So there shall be no extra length to it, nor shortness.

وَلَستُ مُثمِرَةً إِلّا عَلى ثِقَةٍ

إِن لَيسَ يَطرُقُني طَير وَلا بَشَرُ

And I only bear fruit based on a supposition

And I will not bear fruit unless I am certain

That no bird or mortal can reach me

That neither bird nor human will approach me."

عادَ الرَبيعُ إِلى الدُنيا بِمَوكِبِهِ

فَاِزَّينَت وَاِكتَسَت بِالسُندُس وَالشَجَرُ

Spring has returned to the world with its procession

Spring returned to the world with its grand procession,

So it has adorned itself with silk and trees

And the trees adorned and clothed themselves in green silk.

وَظَلَّتِ التينَةُ الحَمقاءُ عارِيَةً

كَأَنَّها وَتَدٌ في الأَرضِ أَو حَجَرُ

While the foolish palm tree remained bare

But the foolish fig tree remained stark naked,

As if she were a peg in the ground or a stone

As though she were a stake driven into the ground, or a stone.

وَلَم يُطِق صاحِبُ البُستانِ رُؤيَتَها

فَاِجتَثَّها فَهَوَت في النارِ تَستَعِرُ

The owner of the orchard could not bear the sight of her

The master of the orchard could not bear the sight of her,

So he uprooted her and she fell into the fire, aflame

So he uprooted her, and she fell into the fire, blazing.

مَن لَيسَ يَسخو بِما تَسخو الحَياةُ بِهِ

فَإِنَّهُ أَحمَقٌ بِالحِرصِ يَنتَحِرُ

Whoever does not give freely as life gives

Whoever is not generous with what life has generously given,

Is foolish in greed to destroy himself

Is a fool who, through greed, brings about his own destruction.