غَلِطَ القائِلُ إِنّا خالِدونَ

كُلُّنا بَعدَ الرَدى هَيُّ اِبنُ بَي

The one who said we are immortal was wrong

Wrong is the one who says we are immortal,

After decay, we are all gone

We are all, after death, nothing born of nothing.

لَو عَرَفنا ما الَّذي قَبلَ الوُجود

لَعَرَفنا ما الَّذي بَعدَ الفَناء

If we knew what was before existence

If we knew what came before existence,

We'd know what's after annihilation

We would know what comes after annihilation.

نَحنُ لَو كُنّا كَما قالوا نَعود

لَم تَخَف أَنفُسُنا رَيبَ القَضاء

If we were, as they claim, to return

If we were to return, as they claim,

Our souls wouldn't fear the decree of fate

Our souls would not fear the uncertainty of fate.

إِنَّما القَولُ بِأَنّا لِلخُلود

فِكرَةٌ أَوجَدَها حُبُّ البَقاء

Saying we're eternal

The assertion that we are meant for eternity

Is an idea born of the love of permanence

Is but an idea born of the love of survival.

نَعشَقُ البُقيا لِأَنّا زائِلون

وَالأَماني حَيَّةٌ في كُلِّ حَي

We love survival because we fade

We cherish remaining because we are fleeting,

And hopes live in every living being

And hopes are alive in every living thing.

زَعَموا الأَرواحَ تَبقى سَرمَدا

خَدعونا نَحنُ وَالشَمعُ سَواء

They claimed souls last forever

They claimed that souls endure eternally;

Deceiving us and the candle alike

They deceived us; we and the candle are alike.

يَلبَثُ النورُ بِها مُتَّقِدا

فَإِذا ما اِحتَرَقَت بادَ الضِياء

Light lingers in it, kindled

The light remains within it, burning bright,

But when it's burnt out, radiance fades

But once it burns out, the radiance perishes.

أَينَ كانَ النورُ أَنّى وُجِدا

كَيفَ وَلّى عِندَما زالَ البِناء

Where was the light, how did it exist

Where was the light? From whence was it found?

How did it disappear when the structure fell?

How did it flee when the structure dissolved?

شَمعَتي فيها لِطُلّابِ اليَقين

أَيَةٌ تَدفَعُ عَنهُم كُلَّ غَي

My two candles are a sign for seekers of certainty

In my candle, for those seeking certainty,

A lesson that drives away their confusion

Is a sign that wards off all delusion.

لَيسَتِ الروحُ سِوى هَذا الجَسَد

مَعَهُ جاءَت وَمَعَهُ تَرجِعُ

The soul is only this body

The soul is nothing but this body;

With it she came, with it she returns

With it, it came, and with it, it returns.

لَم تَكُن مَوجودَةً قَبلَ وُجِد

وَلِهَذا حينَ يَمضي تَتبَعُ

She didn't exist before it existed

It did not exist before he existed,

And so when it goes, she follows

And thus, when he passes, it follows.

فَمَنِ الزورِ المُوَشّى وَالفَنَد

قَولَنا الأَرواحُ لَيسَت تُصرَعُ

So lies and nonsense

It is embellished falsehood and folly

Are our claims souls cannot die

To say that souls are not destroyed.

تَلبَثُ الأَفياءُ ما دامَ الغُصون

فَإِذا ما ذَهَبَت لا يَبقَ في

Passion remains while branches thrive

Shadows remain only as long as the boughs,

When they're gone, nothing remains in them

But when they depart, no shadow remains.

لَو تَكونُ الروحُ ما لا يَضمَحِل

جَزِعنا كُلَّما جِسمٌ هَمَد

If the soul cannot decay

If the soul were something that does not decay,

We'd grieve whenever a body perishes

Why would we panic whenever a body lies still?

لَو تَكونُ الروحُ جِسماً مُستَقِل

لَرَآها مَن يَرى هَذا الجَسَد

If the soul were an independent being

If the soul were an independent entity,

Whoever can see this body could see it

Whoever sees this body would see it too.

كُلُّ ما في الأَرضِ مِن عَينٍ وَظِل

سَوفَ يَنحَلُّ كَما اِنحَلَّ الزَبَد

All that on earth, of essence and shadow

All that is on earth, of essence and shadow,

Will dissolve as the foam disintegrated

Will dissolve just as foam dissolves.

وَلَئِن صَحَّ بِأَنّا مُنشَرون

جازَ أَن يَعقُبَ ذاكَ النَشرَ طَي

And if true we'll be resurrected

And even if it were true that we are resurrected,

It's possible that resurrection will be followed by death

It is possible that a folding follows that unfolding.

لَيتَ مَن قالوا بِأَنّا كَالزُهور

خَبَّرونا اينَ تَمضي الرائِحَه

If only those who likened us to flowers

I wish those who said we are like flowers

Would tell us where the scent goes

Would tell us where the fragrance goes.

أَتُرى تَبقى كَأَلحانِ الدُهور

أَم تَلاشى مِثلَ صَوتِ النائِحَه

Does it last like songs of ages?

Do you think it remains like the melodies of the ages,

Or fade like cries of mourning?

Or does it vanish like the wailing woman's cry?

لَيتَ شِعري أَيُّ خُلدٍ لِلبُذورُ

بَعدَ أَن تُلقى بِنارٍ لافِحَه

I wonder what eternity seeds have

I wish I knew what eternity awaits the seeds

When cast into raging fires

After they are cast into a scorching fire.

قُل لِمَن يَخبِطُ في لَيلِ الظُنون

لَيسَ بَعدَ المَوتِ لِلظامِءِ رِي

Say to those lost in the night of conjectures

Say to him who stumbles in the night of conjecture:

There's no quenching thirst after death

There is no quenching for the thirsty after death.

مِثلَما يَذهَبُ لَونُ الوَرَقَه

عِندَما تَيبَسُ في الأَرضِ الأُصول

As color leaves the leaf

Just as the color of the leaf departs

When its roots wither in the earth

When the roots wither within the earth,

مِثلَما يُفقَدُ نورُ الهَدَقَه

حينَ أَقضي هَكَذا نَفسي تَزول

As pupils lose their light

Just as the light of the pupil is lost—

When this life of mine expires

When I die, so too does my soul vanish.

كَتَلاشي الشَمعَةِ المُحتَرِقَه

تَتَلاشى بَينَ ضِحكٍ وَعَويل

It will fade like a burning candle

Like the fading of a burning candle,

Vanishing between laughs and wails

It fades away between laughter and wailing.

أَنا بَعدَ المَوتِ شَيئاً لا أَكون

حَيثُ أَنّي لَم أَكُن مِن قَبلُ شَيء

After death, I'll be nothing

After death, I become nothing,

Since I wasn't anything before

Since I was nothing before.

إيهِ أَبناءَ الثَرى نَسلَ القُرود

عَلِّلوا أَنفُسَكُم بِالتُرَّهات

Hey children of the earth, race of apes

Go on, sons of dust, offspring of apes,

Justify yourselves with nonsense

Distract yourselves with superstitions.

اِلبِسوا في صَحوِكُم ثَوبَ الجُمود

وَاِحلَموا في نَومِكُم بِالمُعجِزات

Cloak your consciousness with rigidity

Wear the robe of stagnation in your waking hours,

And dream miracles in your sleep

And dream in your sleep of miracles.

فَسَيَأتي زَمَنٌ غَيرُ بَعيد

تَتَهادى بَينَكُم فيهِ أَياه

For a time unlike the present will come

For a time not far off will come,

When truths will crumble around you

When a sign shall sway gently among you,

وَيَحِلُّ اللَهُ في ماءٍ وَطين

فَيَراهُ الشَيخُ و الشابُ الأَحيَء

And God will dissolve in water and clay

And God shall settle in water and clay,

To be seen by the living young and old

And the elder and the living youth shall see Him.