مِن أَينَ جِئتَ وَكَيفَ عَجتَ بِبابي
يا مَوكِبَ الأَجيالِ وَالأَحقابِ
From where have you come, and how did you turn towards my door,
O procession of generations and epochs?
أَمِنَ القُبورِ فَكَيفَ مَن حَلّوا بِها
أَهُناكَ ذو أَلَمٍ وَذو تَطرابِ
Is it from the graves? If so, how fare those who settled there?
Is there still one suffering pain, and another in delight?
وَلَهُم صَباباتٌ لَنا أَم غودِروا
في بَلقَعٍ ما فيهِ غَيرُ خَرابِ
Do they harbor yearnings like ours, or have they been abandoned
In a wasteland containing nothing but ruin?
أَمرَرتَ بِالأَعشابِ في تِلكَ الرُبى
وَذَكَرتَ أَنَّكَ كُنتَ في الأَعشابِ
Did you pass over the grass upon those hills,
And remember that you were once within the grass?
حَولَ الصُخورِ النائِماتِ عَلى الثَرى
وَعَلى حَواشي الجَدوَلِ المُنسابِ
Around the rocks sleeping upon the soil,
And along the margins of the flowing stream?
وَعَلى ما تَصعَدُ كَالسَحابَةِ في الفَضا
وَإِلى التُرابِ مَصيرُ كُلِّ سَحابِ
And upon what do you rise like a cloud in the vastness,
When the destiny of every cloud is but to return to dust?
لَمّا طَلَعتَ عَلى الشُعاعِ مُوَزِّعاً
مُتَرَجرِجاً كَخَواطِرِ المُرتابِ
When you appeared upon the sunbeam, scattered about,
Quivering like the thoughts of the skeptic,
وَذَهَبتَ في عَرضِ الفَضاءِ كَخَيمَةٍ
رُفِعَت بِلا عُمُد وَلا أَطنابِ
And you drifted across the breadth of space like a tent,
Raised without pillars and without ropes.
قالَ الصَحابُ لِيَ اِستَتِر وَتَراكَضوا
لِلذُعرِ يَعتَصِمونَ بِالأَبوابِ
My companions told me, "Take cover," and they scrambled,
In panic, seeking refuge behind the doors.
وَهَبِ اِتَّقَيتُكَ بِالحِجابِ فَإِنَّني
لا بُدَّ خالِعَه وَأَنتَ حِجابي
And suppose I shielded myself from you with a veil, for surely I
Must inevitably cast it off, while you become my covering.
كَم سارِحٍ في غابَةٍ عِندَ الضُحى
جاءَ المَساءُ فَكانَ بَعضَ الغابِ
How many roam a forest in the morning light,
Only for evening to come and find them part of the forest.
وَمُصفِقٍ لِلخَمرِ في أَكوابِهِ
طَرَبا وَطَيفُ المَوتِ في الأَكوابِ
And one applauding the wine within his cups,
In delight, while the specter of death lies in the cups.
أَنا لَو رَأَيتُ بِكَ القَذى مَحضَ القَذى
لَسَتَرتُ وَجهي عَنكَ مِثلُ صِحابي
If I saw in you only dust and mere impurity,
I would have covered my face from you like my companions.
لَكِن شَهِدتُ شَبيبَة وَكُهولَةً
وَمُنىن وَأَحلاماً بِغَيرِ حِسابِ
But in you I witnessed youth and old age,
And desires and dreams beyond all counting.
وَالشارِبينَ بِكُلِّ كَأس وَالأُلى
عاشوا عَلى ظَمَإٍ لِكُلِّ شَرابِ
And those who drank from every cup, and those who
Lived in thirst for every draught.
وَالضارِبينَ بِكُلِّ سَيفٍ في الوَغى
وَالخانِعينَ لِكُلِّ ذي قِرضابِ
And those striking with every sword in the fray,
And those submitting to every wielder of a blade.
وَالصارِفينَ العُمرَ في سوقِ الهَوى
وَالصارِفينَ العُمرَ في المِحرابِ
And those spending their lives in the marketplace of passion,
And those spending their lives within the prayer niche.
وَالغيدَ بَينَ جَميلَة وَدَميمَةٍ
وَالعاشِقَينِ الصَب وَالمُتَصابي
And the young women, both the beautiful and the plain,
And the lovers: the truly lovestruck and the pretender to youth.
وَالعَبدَ في أَغلالِه وَحِبالِهِ
وَالمُلكَ في الديباج وَالأَطيابِ
And the slave in his shackles and his bonds,
And the king in his brocade and perfumes.
وَآبوا جَميعاً في طَريقٍ واحِدٍ
الخاسِرَ المَسبِيِّ مِثلَ السابي
They all returned along a single path,
The defeated captive equal to the captor.
فَضَحِكتُ مِن حِرصي عَلى مَلِكِ الصِبا
وَعَجِبتُ كَيفَ مَضى عَلَيهِ شَبابي
So I laughed at my grasping for the sovereignty of youth,
And marveled at how my prime was spent upon it.
وَوَقَعتَ أَنتَ عَلى تُرابِ ضاحِكٍ
لَمّا وَقَعتَ عَلَيَّ في جِلبابي
And you fell upon a laughing dust,
When you settled upon me in my robe.
وَكَذاكَ أَشواقُ التُرابِ مَآلَها
وَلَئِن تَقادَمَ عَهدُها لِتُرابِ
And thus, the longings of the dust—their final end,
Though their age be long, is but to return to dust.
