شُهورِ العامِ أَجمَلُها رَبيعٌ
وَأَبغَضَها إِلى الدُنيا جُمادى
The most beautiful month of the year is Spring,
And the most loathed by the world is Jumada.
وَخَيرُ المالِ ما أَمسى زَكاةً
وَخَيرُ الناسِ مَن نَفَّعَ العِبادا
The best of wealth is that which ends as charity,
And the best of people is he who benefits mankind.
بِرَبِّكَ قُل لَنا وَخَلاكَ ذَمٌّ
أَعيسى كانَ يَذَّخِرُ العَتادا
By God, tell us—and may you be spared from blame—
Did Jesus ever hoard supplies or stores?
تَنَبَّه أَيُّها الراعي تَنَبَّه
فَمَن حَفِظَ الوَرى حَفِظَ العِبادا
Be alert, O Shepherd, be alert;
For he who guards the flock protects the subjects.
خِرافُكَ بَينَ أَشداقِ الضَواري
وَمِثلُكَ مَن حَمى وَوَقّى النِقادا
Your lambs are caught between the jaws of beasts,
While one like you should be the one to defend and shield.
تَبَدَّلَ أَمنُهُم رُعُبا وَخَوفاً
وَصارَت نارُ أَكثَرِهِم رَمادا
Their safety has transformed into terror and dread,
And the hearth-fires of most have turned to cold ash.
لَقَد أَكَلَ الجَرادُ الأَرضَ حَتّى
تَمَنّوا أَنَّهُم صاروا جَرادا
The locusts have devoured the land so thoroughly
That the people wished they themselves were locusts.
فَما لَكَ لا تَجودُ لَهُم بِشَيءٍ
وَقَد رَقَّ العَدُوُّ لَهُم وَجادا
What ails you, that you grant them nothing at all,
When even the enemy has softened towards them and given freely?
وَمالَكَ لا تُجيبُ لَهُم نِداءً
كَأَنَّ سِواكَ لا أَنتَ المُنادى
And why do you not answer any cry of theirs,
As though someone else, not you, were the one being called?
وَرَبَّتَ ساهِرٍ في بَعلَبَكِّ
يُشاطِرُ جَفنُهُ النَجمَ السَهادا
And oh, how many a sleepless man in Baalbek,
Whose eyelids share their vigil with the stars.
يَزيدُ اللَيلُ كُربَتَهُ اِشتِداداً
وَفَرطُ الهَمِّ لَيلَتَهُ سَوادا
The night only increases the intensity of his distress,
And the burden of care deepens the blackness of his night.
إِذا مالَ النُعاسُ بِأَخدَعَيهِ
ثَنى الذُعرُ الكَرى عَنه وَذادا
If drowsiness weighs down upon his neck,
Terror turns slumber away and drives it back.
بِهِ الداءانِ مِن سَغَب وَخَوفٍ
فَما ذاقَ الطَعام وَلا الرُقادا
He suffers two afflictions: starvation and fear,
So he has tasted neither sustenance nor sleep.
تَطوفُ بِهِ أُصَيبِيَةٌ صِغارٌ
كَأَنَّ وُجوهَهُم طُلِيَت جِسادا
Little children circle around him,
Their faces looking as if painted with saffron pale.
جِياعٌ كُلَّما صاحوا وَناحوا
تَوَهَّمَ أَنَّ بَعضَ الأَرضِ مادا
Famished; and whenever they cry out and wail,
He imagines that the very earth is swaying underfoot.
إِذا ما اِستَصرَخوه وَضاقَ ذَرعاً
نَبا عَنهُم وَما جَهِلَ المُرادا
When they scream to him for help and his strength fails,
He recoils from them, though he knows well what they need.
وَلَكِن لَم يَدَع بُؤسَ اللَيالي
طَريفاً في يَدَيه وَلا تِلادا
Yet the misery of these nights has left him
With neither new gains nor inherited wealth in his hands.
وَلَو تَرَكَ الزَمانُ لَهُ فُؤاداً
لَما تَرَكَت لَهُ البَلوى فُؤادا
And had Time left him with a heart intact,
The calamity would not have allowed that heart to remain.
أَتَفتَرِشُ الحَرير وَتَرتَديهِ
وَيَفتَرِشُ الجَنادِل وَالقَتادا
Do you make your bed of silk and dress in it,
While he sleeps upon stones and thorny tragacanth?
وَيَطلُبُ مِن نَباتِ الأَرضِ قوتاً
وَتَأبى غَيرَ لَحمِ الطَيرِ زادا
And he seeks sustenance from the weeds of the earth,
While you refuse anything but the meat of fowl for your meal?
وَتَهجَعُ هانِئً جَذلاً قَريراً
وَقَد هَجَرَ الكَرى وَجَفا الوِسادا
You slumber blissfully, joyfully, and content,
While he has abandoned sleep and shunned the pillow.
عَجيبٌ أَن تَكونَ كَذا ضَنيناً
وَلَم تُبصِر بِنا إِلّا جَوادا
It is strange that you should be so miserly,
When you have seen nothing from us but generosity.
أَما تَخشى مَقالَةَ ذي لِسانِ
أَماتَ الناسَ كَي يُحيِ الجَمادا
Do you not fear the words of an eloquent tongue:
"He killed the living to give life to lifeless wealth"?
لِذاتُكَ هَمُّهُم نَفعُ البَرايا
وَهَمُّكَ أَن تَكيد وَأَن تُكادا
Your pleasures are your sole focus, while their concern is the good of all;
Your only care is to plot and to be plotted against.
نَزَلتَ بِنا فَأَنزَلناكَ سَهلاً
وَزِدناكَ النُضارَ المُستَفادا
You came down among us, and we gave you a warm welcome,
And we heaped upon you our hard-earned gold.
فَكانَ حَزَأُنا أَن قُمتَ فينا
تُعَلِّمُنا القَطيعَة وَالبُعادا
Yet our reward was that you stood among us
Teaching us estrangement and alienation.
فَلَمّا ثارَ ثائِرُ كُلِّ حُرٍّ
رَجِعتَ اليَومَ تَمتَدِحُ الحِيادا
And when the fury of every free man erupted,
You returned today to sing the praises of neutrality.
أَتَدفَعُ بِالغَوِيِّ إِلى التَمادي
وَتَعجَبُ بَعدَ ذَلِكَ إِن تَمادى
Do you goad the misguided into going too far,
And then feign surprise when he actually does?
سَكَتَّ فَقامَ في الأَذهانِ شَكٌّ
وَقُلتَ فَأَصبَحَ الشَكُّ اِعتِقَدا
You remained silent, and doubt arose in our minds;
Then you spoke, and that doubt turned into conviction.
تَجَهَّمتَ القَريضَ فَفاضَ عَتَباً
وَإِن أَحرَجتَهُ فاضَ اِنتِقادا
You frowned upon poetry, so it overflowed with reproach,
And if you constrain it, it overflows with stinging critique.
وَلَولا أَن أَثَرتَ الخُلفَ فينا
وَدِدنا لَو مَخَضناكَ الوِدادا
Had you not stirred up discord among us,
We would have wished to offer you our purest affection.
