كَم بَينَ طَيّاتِ العُصورِ الخالِيَه

عِظَةٍ لِأَبناءِ الدُهورِ الآتِيَه

How many lessons for the coming generations

How many lessons lie hidden within the folds of bygone eras,

Lie hidden in the folds of bygone ages,

Serving as a sermon for the children of ages to come.

عِبَرُ اللَيالي كَاللَيالي جَمَّةٌ

لَكِنَّما النُزرُ القُلوبُ الواعِيَه

Nights pass like nights in their monotony,

The lessons of the nights are as plentiful as the nights themselves,

Yet only enlightened souls perceive the gems.

Yet those with hearts that truly heed are scarce indeed.

الدَهرُ يُفنينا وَنَحسَبُ أَنَّهُ

يُفني بِنا أَيّامَهُ وَلَيالِيَه

Time destroys us though we fancy

Time annihilates us, while we reckon that it is we

That it is we who are passing its days and nights away.

Who are consuming its days and its nights.

فَإِذا مَشى فينا الفَناءُ فَراعَنا

خَلَقَ الخَيالُ لَنا الحَياةَ الثانِيَه

When decay falls upon us we awake

When annihilation walks among us, it startles us,

To the phantom of a second life imagination has created.

For imagination had created for us a second life.

إِنَّ الحَياةَ قَصيدَةٌ أَبياتُها

أَعمارُنا وَالمَوتُ فيها القافِيَه

Life is a poem whose rhyming

Truly, life is a poem; its verses

Couplets are our lives, and death is its refrain.

Are our lifespans, and death within it is the rhyme.

كَم تَعشَقُ الدُنيا وَتُنكِرُ صَدَّها

أَنَسَيتَ أَنَّ الخُلفَ طَبعُ الغانِيَه

How you love this life, denying

How much you adore the world while denying its rejection,

That loss is the law of the verse;

Have you forgotten that betrayal is the nature of a beauty?

وَتَوَدُّ لَو يَبقى عَلَيكَ نَعيمُها

أَجَهِلتَ أَنَّ عَلَيكَ رَدَّ الغانِيَه

You wish that its pleasures would stay with you

You wish for its bliss to remain yours forever,

Though you know the turn of the verse is loss and decay.

Are you ignorant that you must face the beauty's refusal?

خَلِّ الغُرورَ بِما لَدَيكَ فَإِنَّما

دُنياكَ زائِلَةٌ وَنَفسُكَ فانِيَه

Leave off your pride in what you own;

Abandon vanity regarding what you possess, for truly

Your life and your soul are but guests here.

Your world is fleeting, and your soul is mortal.

إِنَّ الأُلى وَطِأَت نِعالُهُمُ السُهى

وَطِأَت جِباهَهُمُ نِعالُ الماشِيَه

The high and mighty have been brought low

Those whose sandals once trod upon the high stars,

And the feet of the humble mounted high.

Their foreheads were eventually trodden by the hooves of cattle.

لَو أَنَّ حَيّاً خالِدٌ فَوقَ الثَرى

ما ماتَ هَرونٌ وَزالَ مُعاوِيَه

If one alive were above decay

If any living being were immortal upon the dust,

Neither Hārūn nor Muʿāwiyah would have died;

Harun would not have died, nor would Muawiyah have passed away.

أَو كانَ عِزٌّ دائِماً ما أَصبَحَت

بَغدادُ في عَدَدِ الطُلولِ البالِيَه

The glory of Baghdad would have remained

Or if glory were everlasting, Baghdad would not have become

Ever repulsing the armies that attacked her.

Counted among the number of worn-out ruins.

أَخنَت عَلَيها الحادِثاتُ فَدورُها

خِرَبٌ تُعاوِدُها الرِياحُ السافِيَه

Misfortunes have blown over her till her dwellings

Calamities betrayed her, so her mansions became

Lie open ruins bare for the sweeping winds.

Desolate ruins revisited by the dust-scattering winds.

يَأوي إِلَيها البومُ غَيرَ مُرَوَّعٍ

مِن كُلِّ نَعّابٍ أَحَمِّ الذافِيَه

The owl takes shelter undisturbed in her −

The owl takes shelter there, unalarmed

Target for every stone the mischievous boys hurl.

By every croaking raven with pitch-black feathers.

نَزَلَ القَضاءُ فَما حَماها سورُها

وَلَطالَما رَدَّ الجُيوشَ الغازِيَه

Fate descended and her walls could not protect her

Fate descended, and her wall did not protect her,

Though long they had turned back the hostile invader

Though often it had repelled invading armies.

وَاِجتاحَ مُجتاحُ العُروشِ مُلوكَها

فَكَأَنَّهُم أَعجازُ نَخلٍ خاوِيَه

And the Caliphs she sheltered were like date palms

The Destroyer of Thrones swept away her kings,

Whose crowns are only withered, leafless trunks.

Leaving them like the hollow trunks of fallen palm trees.

أَينَ القُصورُ الشاهِقاتُ وَأَهلُها

بادَ الجَميعُ فَما لَهُم مِن باقِيَه

Where are the high-aspiring palaces and their folk −

Where are the towering palaces and their inhabitants?

All have vanished and left no trace behind.

All have perished; not a remnant of them remains.

دَرَسَت مَعالِمُها وَغَيَّرَها البِلى

وَلَقَد تُرى حِلَلُ المَحاسِنِ كاسِيَه

Time has altered them as writing is blotted

Her landmarks are erased, and decay has altered her,

Out of parchment when the ink fades and disappears.

And indeed, the robes of beauty are seen turning into rags.

أَيّامَ لا دَوحُ المَعارِفِ ذابِلٌ

ذاوٍ وَلا دورُ الصِناعَةِ خالِيَه

Yet their terraces can be seen like women whose veils

Days when the great tree of knowledge was not withered

Have slipped and hang negligently round them.

Nor shriveled, and the houses of industry were not empty.

أَيّامَ لا لُغَةُ الكِتابِ غَريبَةٌ

فيها وَلا هِمَمُ الأَعارِبِ وانِيَه

Days when the torches of knowledge are not extinguished,

Days when the language of the Book was not strange

When its forums and schools are not left empty;

Within her, nor were the ambitions of the Arabs weak.

أَيّامَ كانَ العِلمُ يَغبِطُ أَهلَهُ

أَهلُ الثَراءِ ذَوُ البُرودِ الضافِيَه

Days when the Book's idioms are still eloquent

Days when knowledge was the envy of its people,

And Bedouin hearts have not lost their ardour.

And the wealthy wore ample, flowing robes.

أَيّامَ كانَ لِكُلِّ حُسنٍ شاعِرٌ

كَلِفٌ بِهِ وَلِكُلِّ شِعرٍ راوِيَه

Days when the scholar envies not the wealthy

Days when every beauty had a poet

Nor warm furs in winter the scantily clothed.

Infatuated with it, and every poem had a reciter.

أَيّامَ دِجلَةُ مُطمَإِنٌّ هادِئٌ

جَذلانُ يَهزَءُ بِالبُحورِ الطامِيَه

Days when every beauty has one who woos it

Days when the Tigris was reassured and calm,

And every poem flows from the eager poet's lips.

Joyful, mocking the swelling seas.

النيلُ خادِمُهُ الأَمينُ وَعَبدَهُ

نَهرُ الفُراتِ وَكُلُّ عَينٍ جارِيَه

Days when Tigris, Euphrates, and every brook

The Nile was its faithful servant, and its slave

Course calmly to the sea that gulps them greedily −

Was the Euphrates river and every flowing spring.

تَهوى الكَواكِبُ أَنَّها حَصبائُهُ

أَو أَنَّها شَجَرٌ عَلَيهِ حانِيَه

The Nile a faithful slave pouring its water

The stars wished they were mere pebbles in its bed,

While stars vie to quench their luminous thirst.

Or that they were trees leaning over its banks.

وَتَوَدُّ كُلُّ سَحابَةٍ مَرَّت بِهِ

لَو أَنَّهُ سُحُبٌ عَلَيها هامِيَه

Clouds imagine themselves pearls strung together

And every cloud that passed it by wished

Or trees with their fruit weighing down the branches.

That the river was a cloud pouring down upon it.

وَتَرى الغَزالَةُ طَيفَها عِندَ الضُحى

في سَطحِهِ فَتَبيتُ عَطشى راوِيَه

The gazelle in the sun at dawn sees her image

The sun sees its specter at mid-morning

Mirrored in the limpid water and lingers to drink.

On the river's surface, spending the night thirsty yet quenched.

أَيّامَ كانَ الشَرقُ مَرهوبَ الحِمى

يَكسو الجَلالُ سُهولَهُ وَرَوابِيَه

Days when the East is held in awe,

Days when the sanctuary of the East was feared,

Its plains and hills clothed in majesty;

And majesty clothed its plains and its hills.

أَيّامَ تَحسُدُها العَواصِمُ مِثلَما

حَسَدَ العَواطِلُ أُختَهُنَّ الحالِيَه

Days that other capitals envy

Days which the capitals envied, just as

Just as the ancients envied their predecessors.

Women without jewelry envy their adorned sister.

وَلَطالَما كانَت تُعَزُّ بِعِزِّها

مِصرٌ وَيَحمي ذِكرَها أَنطاكِيَه

When Egypt boasted of its splendour

And often Egypt was strengthened by her strength,

And Syria's fame was guarded by Antioch.

And Antioch protected her renown.

أَيّامَ هَرونٌ يُديرُ شُؤونَها

يا عَصرَ هَرونِ عَلَيكَ سَلامِيَه

Days of Hārūn when he governed affairs

Days when Harun managed her affairs;

− Hail to that epoch of yours, Harun!

O age of Harun, upon you is my peace.

مَلِكٌ أَدالَ مِنَ الجَهالَةِ عِلمُهُ

وَأَذَلَّ صارِمُهُ المُلوكَ العاتِيَه

A leader who led ignorance away from his people

A king whose knowledge triumphed over ignorance,

And broke the sword of the tyrant in their defence.

And whose sharp sword humbled arrogant kings.

وَمَشَت تُطَوِّفُ في البِلادِ هِباتُهُ

تَغشى حَواضِرَها وَتَغشى البادِيَه

His generosity traveled to every region

His gifts walked, roaming through the lands,

Covering deserts and settled communities.

Covering her cities and covering the desert.

مَلَأَ البِلادَ عَوارِفاً وَمَعارِفاً

وَالأَرضَ عَدلاً وَالنُفوسَ رَفاهِيَه

He filled the lands with learning and noble deeds,

He filled the lands with favors and knowledge,

Bringing justice, security, and ease.

The earth with justice, and souls with prosperity.

فَتَحَضَّرَ البادونَ في أَيّامِهِ

وَاِستَأنَسَت حَتّى الوُحوشُ الضارِيَه

So the Bedouins became civilized

The nomads became civilized in his days,

And even the beasts shed their wildness.

And even the predatory beasts became tame.

وَتَسَربَلَت بَغدادُ ثَوبَ مَهابَةٍ

لَيسَت تَراهُ أَو تَراهُ ثانِيَه

And Baghdad was robed in majestic splendour,

Baghdad was robed in a gown of awe,

None seeing the like of it before or since.

Which she does not see now, nor will she see again.

هاتيكَ أَيّامٌ تَلاشَت مِثلَما

تَمحو مِنَ الرِقِّ الحُروفَ الماحِيَه

But those days have vanished, passing away

Those are days that have vanished, just as

Like writing on a slate erased by a swipe.

The eraser wipes letters from the parchment.

لَم يَبقَ إِلّا ذِكرُها يا حُسنَها

ذِكرى تَهَشُّ لَها العِظامُ البالِيَه

Only their memory lives on, O their beauty!

Nothing remains but her memory—oh, her beauty!

A yearning that pierces the bones of the ruined.

A memory at which decaying bones rejoice.

لَو أَنَّ هَذا الدَهرَ سِفرٌ كُنتَ يا

عَصرَ الحَضارَةِ مَتنَهُ وَالحاشِيَه

If the ages were a journey, your era,

If this Time were a written book, you would be,

O Age of Enlightenment, would be its provision.

O Age of Civilization, its text and its margins.

عَصرٌ لَئِن جاءَ البَشيرُ بِعودِهِ

فَلَأَخلَعَنَّ عَلى البَشيرِ شَبابِيَه

Should the harbinger herald its return

An age—if the bringer of good news announced its return,

I would doff my years as garments outworn.

I would cast off my youth upon that messenger.

إيهٍ أَبا المَأمونِ ذِكرُكَ آبِدٌ

في الأَرضِ مِثلُ الشامِخاتِ الراسِيَه

Alas for al-Má'mūn, immortal your memory

Take heed, O Father of Ma'mun, your memory is eternal

Fixed on earth like mountains solid and high.

In the earth, like the towering, anchored mountains.

باقٍ عَلى مَرِّ العُصورِ بَقائَها

وَكَذاكَ ذِكرُ ذَوي النُفوسِ السامِيَه

It lasts through the ages like those of the noble

Remaining through the passage of ages as they remain,

If no ideal remains for us to embody.

And likewise is the memory of those with lofty souls.

إِن لَم يَكُن لَكَ مِن مِثالٍ بَينَنا

فَلِأَنَّ روحَكَ كُلَّ حينٍ دانِيَه

Your spirit dwells with us, kindly and generous,

If there is no likeness of you among us now,

A bright star, a sun declining at close of day.

It is because your spirit is close at every moment.

هِيَ في الخَمائِلِ زَهرَةٌ فَيّاحَةٌ

هِيَ في الكَواكِبِ شَمسُها المُتَلاِيَه

How strange that you died though still living!

It is a fragrant flower in the gardens,

How came you to rest in the all-effacing tomb!

It is the shimmering sun among the stars.

إِنّي لَأَعجَبُ كَيفَ مُتَّ وَفي الوَرى

حَيٌّ وَكَيفَ طَوَتكَ هَذي الطاوِيَه

Time overthrows what you constructed

I marvel at how you died, yet among the people

Yet time fears not the hand raised to admonish!

You are alive, and how this folding earth enfolded you.

وَمِنَ الزَمانِ يَهُدُّ ما شَيَّدتَهُ

وَيحَ الزَمانِ أَما تَهيبَ بانِيَه

My soul pours its complaint out to you

And that Time destroys what you built;

For you are the refuge of every troubled soul.

Woe to Time! Did it not fear its own builder?

تَشكو إِلَيكَ اليَومَ نَفسي شَجوَها

فَلَأَنتَ مُفزِعُ كُلِّ نَفسٍ شاكِيَه

Do you know your home has been changed

My soul complains to you today of its sorrow,

And voices of mourning replace the glad song?

For you are the refuge of every complaining soul.

أَتُراكَ تَعلَمُ أَنَّ دارَكَ بُدِّلَت

مِن صَوتِ إِحَقٍ بِصَوتِ الناعِيَه

Do you know that what you established

Do you know that your abode has been exchanged,

Negligent souls have dissipated and scattered?

From the voice of chanting to the voice of the mourning woman?

أَتُراكَ تَعلَمُ أَنَّ ما أَثَّلتَهُ

قَد ضَيَّعَتهُ الأَنفُسُ المُتَلاهِيَه

Alas for the East after you! Truly it

Do you know that what you established

Has sunk into weakness, tottering on the brink.

Has been wasted by souls lost in amusement?

يا وَيحَ هَذا الشَرقِ بَعدَكَ إِنَّهُ

لِلضَعفِ باتَ عَلى شَفيرِ الهاوِيَه

Once disdaining the stars, it is now content

O woe to this East after you, for truly

If its people enjoy security and well being.

Due to weakness, it has spent the night on the brink of the abyss.

ما كانَ يَقنَعُ بِالنُجومِ وَسائِداً

وَاليَومَ يَقنَعُ أَهلَهُ بِالعافِيَه

Plunging blindly into ignorance, as though

It was not content with the stars as a pillow,

Bewitched, bitten by the daughter of the crafty.

Yet today its people are content merely with survival.

مُستَرسِلونَ إِلى الذُهولِ كَأَنَّما

سُحِروا أَوِ اِصطُرِعوا بِبِنتِ الخابِيَه

Surrendering to destiny, as though seized

Drifting into stupor as if

Unresisting by fate and the victor subduing.

They were bewitched or struck down by the daughter of the wine-jar.

مُستَسلِمونَ إِلى القَضاءِ كَأَنَّما

أُخِذوا وَلَمّا يُؤخَذوا بِالغاشِيَه

To attain the noble is to gain the ideal;

Surrendering to Fate as if

For them the noble is but the tyrant or his lackey!

They were seized, yet not seized, by the Overwhelming Event.

المَجدُ إِدراكُ النَفيسِ وَعِندَهُم

ما المَجدُ إِلّا شادِنٌ أَو شادِيَه

They love life for life's sake alone

Glory is the attainment of the precious, but to them,

While true living is to have a high aim and purpose.

Glory is nothing but a singing girl or a female singer.

يَهوى الحَياةَ الناسُ طَوعُ نُفوسِهِم

وَهُمُ يُريدونَ الحَياةَ كَما هِيا

Their souls have grown small so their leader fears

People love life, obeying the whims of their souls,

The coward as much as the despot overbearing.

And they want life to remain exactly as it is.

صَغُرَت نُفوسُهُمُ فَباتَ عَزيزُهُم

يَخشى الجَبانَ كَما يَخافُ الطاغِيَه

Silently they bear humiliation like beasts

Their souls have become small, so their mighty one

On whom not even threats have effect.

Fears the coward just as he fears the tyrant.

حَمَلوا المَغارِمَ ساكِتينَ كَأَنَّما

كَبُرَت عَلى أَحناكِهِم لا الناهِيَه

Never has the world heard of a people like them −

They bore penalties in silence, as if

They died in life's midst, not in death's.

The command 'No' was too great for their jaws.

لَم تَسمَعِ الدُنيا بِقَومٍ قَبلَهُم

ماتوا وَما بَرِحوا الدِيارَ الفانِيَه

Had they sought to defend their glorious past

The world has never heard of a people before them

They would be the epitome of peoples risen high.

Who died yet did not leave their perishable homes.

اللَهَ لَو حَرَصوا عَلى أَمجادِهِم

فَلَتِلكَ عُنوانُ الشُعوبِ الراقِيَه

But the rabble took over all they had,

By God, had they guarded their glories,

Even their swords, their lamps, and their pans.

Those would be the title of rising nations.

مَلَكَ العُلوجُ أُمورَهُم وَمَتاعَهُم

حَتّى سَوامُهُمُ وَحَتّى الآنِيَه

Shameful that the Arabs now dread their ancestors

Barbarians have possessed their affairs and their goods,

As their slaves turned masters now make free.

Even their grazing livestock and their vessels.

وَخَجلَةَ العَرَبِيِّ مِن أَجدادِهِ

صارَت عَبيدُهُمُ الطَغامُ مَُوالِيَه

Sons of the Caliphs, heirs of past grandeur,

O the shame of the Arab before his ancestors,

Unsheath your swords, joust in the Spanish arena!

Their slaves and the rabble have become their masters.

أَبَني الغَطارِقَةِ الجَبابِرَةِ الأُلى

وَطِؤوا اللُوارَ وَدَوَّخوا إِسبانِيَه

In your history lies a truthful lesson

O sons of the noble chiefs, the mighty ones who

If you would question it−no other source as valid.

Trod upon the Loire and subdued Spain,

مِن حَولِكُم وَأَمامَكُم تارِخُهُم

فَاِستَخبِروهُ فَذاكَ أَصدَقُ راوِيَه

They led armies on every plain grown narrow

Around you and before you is their history;

They besieged citadels, assaulting high towers.

Ask it for news, for it is the most truthful narrator.

قادوا الجُيوشَ فَكُلُّ سَهلٍ ضَيِّقٌ

وَرَنوا المَعاقِلَ فَهيَ أَرضٌ داحِيَه

Thrones toppled as monarchs fled in terror

They led armies so that every plain became narrow,

And lofty palaces crashed to the ground.

And they gazed at fortresses until the earth seemed flat.

وَسَطَوا فَأَسقَطَتِ العُروشُِ مُلوكَها

رُعباً وَأَجفَلَتِ الصُروحُ العالِيَه

High astride the stars they rode without cease

They attacked, and thrones dropped their kings

While around the stars' eyes watched, staring in fear.

In terror, and the high citadels fled in fear.

وَمَشَوا عَلى هامِ النُجومِ فَلَم تَزَل

في اللَيلِ مِن وَجَلٍ تُحَدِّقُ ساهِيَه

Their steeds stirred the dust clouds to raging storms

They walked upon the heads of the stars, which remained

As the comets bolted in fright, swift spurring.

In the night staring in distraction out of dread.

وَرَدَت خُيولُهُمُ المَجَرَّةَ شُزَّباً

وَالشُهبُ مِن حَولِ المَجَرَّةِ صادِيَه

Time granted dominion into their hands

Their horses arrived lean at the Milky Way,

Though time itself has no respect for the mighty.

And the shooting stars around the Milky Way were thirsty.

أَعطاهُمُ صَرفُ الزَمانِ زِمامَهُ

أَمِنوا وَما أَمِنَ الزَمانُ دَواهِيَه

I do not rouse you to emulate their conquests

The vicissitudes of Time gave them its reins;

But to keep inviolate what remains of their heritage.

They were safe, but Time was not safe from their cunning.

لا أَستَفِزُّكُم لِمِثلِ فُتوحِهِم

لَكِن إِلى حِفظِ البَقايا الباقِيَه

Are your glorious ancestors' honours now lost

I do not provoke you to attempt their conquests,

As nomads' cattle trample them underfoot?

But rather to preserve the remnants that remain.

أَتَذَلُّ آنافَ المُلوكِ جُدودُكُ

وَتَسومُكُم خَسفاً رُعاةُ الماشِيَه

How long will you bear degradation as though

Are the noses of your kingly ancestors to be humbled,

Lulled in comfort, while shame is a fire blazing!

While shepherds of cattle impose humiliation upon you?

كَم تَصبِرونَ عَلى الهَوانِ كَأَنَّكُم

في غَبطَةٍ وَالذُلُّ نارٌ حامِيَه

O men, do you not realize your worth

How long will you endure disgrace as if you are

If you do not rise up you will be an extinct race!

In bliss, when humiliation is a scorching fire?

يا لِلرِجالِ أَما عَلِمتُم طَنَّكُم

إِن لَم تَثوروا أُمَّةٌ مُتَلاشِيَه

Land of Peace, a poet sends you greetings

O men! Do you not know that your silence,

Though tears of blood, not words, match your calamity.

If you do not revolt, marks a vanishing nation?

دارَ السَلامِ تَحِيَّةٌ مِن شاعِرٍ

حَسَدَت مَدامِعُهُ عَلَيكِ قَوافِيَه

The stream of his tears spilt for you − if only

O Abode of Peace (Baghdad), a greeting from a poet

In times past he had wept at their misfortunes!

Whose tear ducts envied his rhymes over you.

فَأَراقَ ماءَ شُؤونِهِ وَلَو أَنَّهُ

في الغادِياتِ أَراقَ ماءَ الغادِيَه

He shed the water of his tear-glands, and if he

Had your glory been regained by weeping

Had shed the water of the rain-clouds during the morning rains,

لَو كانَ مَجدُكَ مُستَرَدّاً بِالبُكا

قَطَرَت مَحاجِرُهُ الدِماءَ القانِيَه

His eyelids' blood would have poured in torrents.

If your glory could be reclaimed by weeping,

To you every grieving soul turns in sorrow

His eyes would have dripped dark red blood.

فَعَلَيكِ تَذهَبُ كُلُّ نَفسٍ حَسرَةً

وَلِمِثلِ خَطبِكِ تُستَعارُ الباكِيَه

And for your afflictions the sad are called to mourn.

For upon you, every soul departs in regret,

And for a calamity like yours, the hired mourner is sought.