لَيسَ يَدري الهَمَّ غَيرَ المُبتَلي
طالَ جُنحُ اللَيلِ أَو لَم يَطُلِ
None knows sorrow save the afflicted,
whether the wing of night grows long or short.
ما لِهَذا النَجمِ مِثلِيَ في الثَرى
طائِرَ النَومِ شَديدَ الوَجَلِ
Why is this star like me upon the earth,
sleep having flown, and filled with dread?
أَتُراهُ يَتَّقي طارِأَةً
أَم بِهِ أَنّي غَريبُ المَنزِلِ
Does it fear some sudden calamity,
or does it sense that I am a stranger in this place?
كُلَّما طالَعتُ خَطباً جَلَلاً
جاءَني الدَهرُ بِخَطبٍ جَلَلِ
Whenever I contemplate a grave misfortune,
Fate delivers to me yet another grave misfortune.
أَشتَكي اللَيلَ وَلَو وَدَّعتُهُ
بِتُّ مِن هَمّي بِلَيلٍ أَليَلِ
I complain of the night, yet were I to bid it farewell,
my cares would plunge me into a night far darker still.
يا بَناتِ الأُفقِ ما لِلصَبِّ مِن
مُسعِدٍ في الناسِ هَل فيكُنَّ لي
O daughters of the horizon, the lovelorn has no
comforter among men; is there one among you for me?
لا عَرَفتُنَّ الرَزايا إِنَّها
شَيَّبَت رَأسي وَلَم أَكتَهِلِ
May you never know calamities, for truly they
have turned my hair grey before I have reached my prime.
سَهَدَت سُهدي الدَراري إِنَّما
شَدَّ ما بَينَ المُعَنّى وَالخَلي
The shining stars have shared my vigil;
vast is the distance between the sufferer and the carefree.
لَيتَ شِعري ما الَّذي أَعجَبَها
فَهيَ لا تَنفَكُّ تَرنو مِن عَلِ
I wish I knew what so fascinates them,
that they never cease gazing down from on high.
أَنا لا أَغبِطُها خالِدَةً
وَلَقَد أَحسُدُها لَم تَعقِلِ
I do not envy them their immortality,
yet I envy them their lack of reason.
كُلَّما راجَعتُ أَحلامَ الصِبى
قُلتُ يا لَيتَ الصِبى لَم يَزَلِ
Whenever I revisit the dreams of youth,
I say: "Would that youth had never passed away!"
أَيُّها القَلبُ الَّذي في أَضلُعي
إِنَّما اللَذَّةُ جَهلاً فَاِجهَلِ
O heart that beats within my ribs,
true pleasure lies in ignorance, so remain ignorant.
تَجمُلُ الرِقَّةُ في العَضبِ فَإِن
كُنتَ تَهواها فَكُن كَالمِنصَلِ
Refinement is beautiful in a sharp sword;
if you desire such grace, then be like the blade.
هِيَ في الغيدِ الغَواني قُوَّةٌ
وَهيَ ضَعفٌ في فُؤادِ الرَجُلِ
In fair maidens, tenderness is a strength,
but in the heart of a man, it is a weakness.
لا يَغُرَّ الحُسنُ ذا الحُسنِ فَقَد
يَصرَعُ البُلبُلَ صَوتُ البُلبُلِ
Let not beauty deceive the beautiful, for
the song of the nightingale often undoes the nightingale.
تُقتَلُ الشاةُ وَلا ذَنبَ لَها
هِيَ لَولا ضَعفُها لَم تُقتَلِ
The sheep is slaughtered though it has no sin;
were it not for its weakness, it would not be slain.
إِن تَكُن في الوَحشِ كُن لَيثَ الثَرى
أَو تَكُن في الطَيرِ كُن كَالأَجدَلِ
If you must be among beasts, be a lion of the earth;
if among birds, then be like the hawk.
أَو تَكُن في الناسِ كُن أَقواهُمُ
لَيسَتِ العَلياءُ حَظَّ الوُكَّلِ
Or if you be among men, be the strongest of them;
glory is not the lot of the helpless.
ما لِقَومي لا وَهيَ حَبلُهُمُ
قَنِعوا مِن دَهرِهِم بِالوَشَلِ
What ails my people? Their cord is not yet frayed,
yet they content themselves with a mere trickle from life.
أَنا مِن أَمرِهِمُ في شُغُلٍ
وَهُمُ عَن أَمرِهِمُ في شُغُلِ
I am preoccupied with their plight,
while they are distracted from their own affairs.
كُلَّما فَكَّرتُ في حاضِرِنا
عاقَني عاقَني اليَأسُ عَنِ المُستَقبَلِ
Whenever I reflect upon our present state,
despair bars me—bars me—from looking to the future.
نَحنُ في الجَهلِ عَبيدٌ لِلهَوى
وَمَعَ العِلمِ عَبيدُ الدُوَلِ
In ignorance, we are slaves to passion;
and with knowledge, we become slaves to nations.
نَعشَقُ الشَمسَ وَنَخشى حَرَّها
ما صَعِدنا وَهيَ لَمّا تَنزِلِ
We adore the sun yet fear its heat;
we have not ascended, nor has the sun descended to us.
قَد مَشى الغَربُ عَلى هامِ السُهى
وَمَشَينا في الحَضيضِ الأَسفَلِ
The West has walked upon the crests of the stars,
while we have walked in the lowest abyss.
سَجَّلَ العارَ عَلَينا مَعشَرٌ
سَجَّلوا المَرأَةَ بَينَ الهَمَلِ
Shame has been recorded against us by a people
who have listed women among the neglected chattel.
فَهيَ إِمّا سِلعَةٌ حامِلَةٌ
سِلَعاً أَو آلَةٌ في مَعمَلِ
She is either a commodity bearing
other commodities, or a machine within a factory.
أَرسَلوها تَزرَعُ الأَرضَ خَطا
وَتُباري كُلَّ بَيتٍ مِثلِ
They sent her to sow the earth with her steps,
vying in toil with every beast of burden.
تَتَهاداها المَوامي وَالرُبى
فَهيَ كَالدينارِ بَينَ الأَنمُلِ
The wastelands and the hills pass her back and forth,
as a dinar is passed between fingertips.
لا تُبالي القَيظَ يَشوي حَرُّهُ
لا وَلا تَحذَرُ بَردَ الشَمأَلِ
She heeds not the scorching heat of summer,
nor does she dread the biting cold of the north wind.
وَلَها في كُلِّ بابٍ وَقفَةٌ
كَاِمرِءِ القَيسِ حِيالَ الطَلَلِ
At every door she has a station,
standing like Imru' al-Qais before the weeping ruins.
تَتَّقي قَولَ اِغرُبي خَشَيتَها
قَولَةَ القائِلِ يا هَذي اِدخُلي
She dreads the command "Begone!" as much as she fears
the speaker saying, "O you, come inside."
فَهيَ كَالعُصفورِ وافى صادِياً
فَرأى الصَيّادَ عِندَ المَنهَلِ
She is like a sparrow arriving parched with thirst,
only to see the hunter waiting at the spring.
كامِناً فَاِنصاعَ يُدنيهِ الظَما
ثُمَّ يُقصيهِ اِتِّقاءُ الأَجَلُ
The hunter lurks; thirst drives the bird near,
then the dread of death drives it away again.
وَلَكَم طافَت بِهِ آمِلَةً
وَاِنثَنَت تَقطَعُ خَيطَ الأَمَلِ
How often she circled, full of hope,
then turned back, snapping the thread of hope.
وَلَكَم مَدَّت إِلى الرَفدِ يَداً
خُلِقَت في مِثلِها لِلقُبَلِ
How often has she stretched out a hand for charity,
a hand created only to be kissed.
ما بِها لا كانَ شَرّاً ما بِها
ما لَها مِن أَمرِها في خَبَلِ
What ails her—may no evil befall her!
She has no say in her plight, lost in confusion.
سائِلوها أَو سَلو عَن حالِها
إِن جَهِلتُم كُلَّ طِفلٍ مُحُِلِ
Ask her, or ask of her condition,
if you are ignorant of the state of every destitute child.
في سَبيلِ المالِ أَو عُشّاقِهِ
تَكدَحُ المَرأَةُ كَدحَ الإِبِلِ
For the sake of money or those who crave it,
the woman toils as camels toil.
ما تَراها وَهيَ لا حَولَ لَها
تَحتَ عِبءٍ فادِحٍ كَالجَبَلِ
Do you not see her, helpless and weak,
beneath a burden as crushing as a mountain?
شُدَّتِ الأَمراسُ في ساعِدِها
مَن رَأى الأَمراسَ حَولَ الجَدوَلِ
Ropes are tightened around her forearm—
who has ever seen ropes bind a flowing brook?
جَشَّموها كُلَّ أَمرٍ مُعضِلٍ
وَهِيَ لَم تُخلَق لِغَيرِ المَنزِلِ
They forced upon her every grueling task,
though she was created only for the sanctity of the home.
فَإِذا فارَقَتِ الدارُ ضُحىً
لَم تَعُد إِلّا قُبَيلَ الطَفَلِ
If she leaves the house in the morning light,
she returns not until the sun begins to set.
أَلِفَت ما عَوَّدوها مِثلَما
تَألَفُ الظَبيَةُ طَعمَ الحَنظَلِ
She has grown used to their abuse,
just as the gazelle accepts the taste of bitter gourd.
بِنتَ سورِيّا الَّتي أَبكي بِها
هِمَّةَ اللَيثِ وَروحَ الحَمَلِ
O daughter of Syria, for whom I weep,
possessing the lion’s resolve and the lamb’s spirit.
ما أَطاعوا فيكِ أَحكامَ النُهى
لا وَلا قَولَ الكتابِ المُنزَلِ
Regarding you, they obeyed neither the laws of reason,
nor the words of the Revealed Book.
قَد أَضاعوكِ وَما ضَيَّعتِهِم
فَأَضاعوا كُلَّ أُمٍّ مُشبِلِ
They have wasted you, though you did not fail them,
and in doing so, they have wasted every nurturing mother.
