صحَّ من دهرِنا وفاةُ الحَياءِ

فليَطُلْ منكما بُكَاءُ الوَفاءِ

Morality died in our time, so let your loyalty weep long

And build with the patience you made a home of weeping loyalty

ولْيَبن ما عقدتُماه من الصبـ

ـرِ بأَن تَحْلُلا وِكَاءَ البُكَاءِ

We made tears pouring and halting despicable

And assumed they were like vapor

وأَهِيَنا الدُّمُوعَ سَكْباً وعَطْلاً

وهَبا أَنهن مِثْلُ الهَباءِ

And grant sleep to every one crying out

"Who will lend the worries away, even for a fee?"

وامْنحا النَّوْمَ كلَّ صبٍّ ينادي

من يُعيرُ الكَرَى ولَوْ بالكِرَاءِ

My eyes are not yours, experiencing any burden

Of my troubles, no.

ليست العينُ منكما لي بِعَيْنٍ

أَو تعاني حَمْلاً لبَعْضِ عنَائي

Time cast me with sorrows that silenced

the tongues of all orators about it

قد رماني الزَّمانُ منه بخطبٍ

أُفْحِمَتْ عنه أَلْسُنُ الخُطَباءِ

And afflicted me with what I was consoled by

For my steadfastness to it and beauty of my consolation

ودهاني بما أُعزَّى فيه

عن ثباتِي له وحُسْنِ عَزائي

It made the singing appear to my hearing as wailing

And wailing appear to me like singing

صار منه يرى الغِنَاءَ نُواحاً

مسْمَعِي والنواحَ مِثْلَ الغِنَاءِ

It showed me my elegant condition has clearly declined

In my eyes of its radiance

وأَرَانِي حَالِي الأَنِيقةَ قد قلَّ

بعينيَّ ما بها من بهاءِ

And destined for me by the length of my life my sobbing

Since it destined the loss of my hopes for me

وقضى لي بطولِ عُمْري نَحيبي

مذ قَضى نَحْبَه لديَّ رجائي

The steeds of worries settled in my heart

Having no shame for staying overlong

وأَناخت ركائبُ الهمِّ في قَلْـ

ـبي ولم تَحْتَشِمْ لطول الثَّواءِ

Then they refused to leave my abode

And my courtyard, save after my demise

ثم آلت أَلاَّ تُفارِقَ رَبْعِي

وفِنائي إِلا عقِيبَ فَنائِي

They came upon a spring pouring from the eye

And a fire kindling in the entrails

صادَفَتْ منهلاً يَصُبُّ من العين

وناراً تُشبُّ في الأَحْشَاءِ

Thousands, if they left it, its eyelid

Would water the ground with bloody rain

وأَلُوفاً لو فارقتْه لأَرْوَى

جفْنُه الأَرضَ من سماءِ الدِّماءِ

And if it complains of the absence of joy

Then what might it say of blessings!

وإِذا كان يشتكي فُرْقَةَ البَلْ

وى فماذا يقولُ في النَّعْمَاءِ

What excuse is there for our time, when it stained me

With an affliction that pained my thoughts

أَيُّ عذرٍ لدهرنا إِذْ دَهَاني

بِمُصَابٍ أَلَمَّ فِيهِ دَهَائِي

And showed me tribulation that befell me from it

That if it slipped away, would remove my tribulation

وأَرانِي البلاءَ قد حلَّ منه

بالَّتي لو تَزَلْ تُزِيلُ بلائي

She who was my existence and my existence her

And she from whose affections were my affections

والتي بعضُ جُودِها لِي وُجُودِي

والتي من حِبائِها حَوْبَائِي

I had become certain, since she was a source for me

That I was prolific in excelling talents

قَدْ تَيقَّنْتُ مُذُ غَدَتْ لِيَ أَصلاً

أَنَّني مُثْمِرٌ فُنَونَ العلاءِ

One is excused by people when she is a mother to him

If he transgresses against fathers

يعذُر الناس من تكونُ له أُمّاً

إِذا ما ازْدَهَى على الآباءِ

They see right that children are attributed

Not to men, but to women

ويَرَوْنَ الصوابَ أَن تنسب الأَو

لادُ لا للرجال بلْ للنِّساءِ

She who presented for her good deeds

Requiring the planting of hope's seeds

هي من قدّمت لهَا حسناتٍ

تقتضي غَرْسَها رجاءَ الحِباءِ

She wearied the scribe of the right hand, so how much

He neglected to record, exhausted of strength

أَتعبتْ كاتِبَ اليمينِ فكم أَغْـ

ـفَل إِثْبَاتَها من الإِعْيَاءِ

Spending a lifetime acquiring rewards

For an outcome, not seeking glory's spread

تُنْفِقُ العُمْر في اكتسابِ ثوابٍ

لمآبٍ لا لاقْتِنَاءِ ثناءِ

She saw the buyer of excellence as cheap

Even if it were at the greatest prices

وترى مُشْتَري العلاءِ رخيصاً

ولَو أَنَّ العُلا بأَغلى الغلاءِ

She left behind conversations that would suffice one

From publishing volumes of song

ولقد خلَّفت أَحاديثَ تُغْني الـ

ـأَنْفَ عن نَشْرِ رَوضةٍ غنَّاءِ

With piety and intelligence in decency

And generosity along with munificence

خَفَرٌ مع ديانةٍ وذكاءٌ

في زاكةٍ وعفةٌ مَعْ سخاءِ

How often I wished nearing of death for a time

Yearning for concealment and hiding

كم تمنت قُرْبَ المنيةِ دَهْراً

رغبة في الخباءِ والإِختباءِ

She wanted the veil of earth - would that I knew

Who called the earth to such richness!

وأَرادت حجبَ الثَّرى ليتَ شِعْرِي

مَنْ دَعَا للثَّرى بهذَا الثَّرَاءِ

My knowledge of the excellence it held

Concluded for me spreading the excuse of destiny

إِن عِلمِي بِمَا حوَتهُ من المجْـ

ـدِ قَضَى لِي بِبَسْطِ عُذْرِ القَضاءِ

Except I cannot dismiss the emotion

Nor resign from my confusion

غيرَ أَنِّي لا أَستقِل من الوَجْـ

ـدِ ولاَ أَسْتَقِيلُ مِنْ بُرَحائي

If composure refused the heart

It declined excellence upon my refusal

وإِذا أَعْرَضَ التصبُّرُ للقلـ

ـب أَبَى منَّةً عليَّ إِبَائِي

When the steeds of my tears slowed

My moan urged them on, importunate

وإِذا أَبْطأَتْ ركائُب دمْعِي

فأَنيني في حَثِّها كالْحُداءِ

Would that they had with death restored my life

When I did not restore it with any of my remainder

ليتَها بالوَفاةِ أَعْدَتْ حَيَاتِي

حينَ لمْ أُعْدِها بِنزْرَ بَقَائِي

I had hoped to spend my wealth upon her

Yet my tears for her became like redemption

كنتُ أَرجُو إِنفَاقَ مالِي عليْها

فغَدتْ أَدْمُعِي لها كالفِدَاءِ

O she within my heart! My soul yearns

For you, O long sorrow and trouble of mine

لهْف نفسي عليكِ يا مَا بقلبي

منكِ يا طُولَ حسْرَتِي وعَنائِي

Would that I knew if you know, my daughter

Among all people is scant of quenching

ليتَ شِعْرِي هل تعلمينَ بأَنَّ ابـ

ـنَكِ بينَ الورَى قليلُ الرُّوَاءِ

Moaning and crying constantly, diseased and grieved

And a sick sense of justice, evil tidings

ذو نحيبٍ قاضٍ وحُزْنٍ غَريمٍ

وسَقَام عَدْلٍ وبِشْر مُرَائِي

A heart not quieted from it by frowning or smiling

Distracted by grave concerns, devoid of joy

وفؤادٍ ما بيْن هَاءٍ وميم

لم يَكُفَّا عنهُ بمِيمٍ وهَاءِ

Ever pouring bloody tears remembering a pure

Grace though I summoned the Pleiades in my elegy

شغلت قلبَه همومٌ عظامٌ

وخَلاَ سرُّه من السَّرَّاءِ

So among the dead he is truly counted

And metaphorically reckoned among the living

ليس ينفكُّ ساكباً عبرةً حمـ

ـراءَ في ذكرِ مِنَّةٍ بيْضاءِ

Patience swore an oath to the heart

That there is no meeting until the meeting

فهْوَ في الميِّتين يُحْسَبَ حَقّاً

وَمَجازاً يُعَدُّ في الأَحْيَاءَ

So I believed that what had rusted in the breast

What of it remained from burnishing

حلفَ الصبْرُ للفؤادِ يميناً

أَنَّهُ لاَ لِقاءَ حتَّى اللِّقاءِ

I was tormented between ample despair

And narrow hope of hopes

فَتَحَقَّتْتُ أَنَّ مَا أَصْدَأَ الصـ

ـد من القلبِ مالَهُ مِن جِلاءِ

My evenings are my mornings

And my mornings are my darkened evenings

وتعذَّبتُ بينَ يأْسٍ فَسِيحٍ

ورَجَاءٍ مُضَيقِ الأَرْجَاءِ

My friend for his abandonment is as my enemy

And my enemy has become of my friends

فمسائِي من السُّهَادِ صَباحي

وصبَاحي من السَّوَادِ مَسَائِي

All who are devoid of bliss know

The inevitable meeting with misery

وصدِيقي لِعذْلهِ كعَدُوِّي

وَعَدُوِّي قد صار مِن أَصدقائي

I was in a garden and expelled from it

As the Giver reclaimed His gift

كلُّ مَنْ فارق النَّعيم عليمٌ

أَن لاَبُدّ مِنْ لِقَاءِ الشَّقاءِ

Do you see me having obeyed Satan

In the eating with Adam and Eve?

كنتُ في جنةٍ فأُخرجتُ منها

واستعادَ العطاءَ ربُّ العَطاءِ

Nothing but silence and unwilling patience

In matters that exhausted the minds of sages

أَتُرَاني أَطعتُ إِبليسَ في الأَكْ

لَةِ معَ آدمٍ ومعْ حواءِ

My anger at fate is ignorance

It is like me, struck by calamities

ليسَ إِلاَّ السكوتُ والصبْرُ كُرْهاً

في أُمورٍ أَعْيَتْ علَى العُقَلاءِ

Time has afflicted it since her loss

With little splendor or illumination

إِنَّ غَيْظِي عَلَى الزمانِ لَجَهْلٌ

هُوَ مثلِي يُصابُ بالأَزْرَاءِ

You are to me more majestic than any composition

Even if I gathered the Pleiades in my elegy

قد دَهَاهُ من فقدِها ما غَدا منه

قليلَ البهَا قليلَ الضِّياءِ

In my conscience is what my poetry cannot expose

No, even if I were the most eloquent poet

أَنتِ عِنْدِي أَجَلُّ مِنْ كُلِّ تأَبيـ

ـنٍ ولو صُغْتُ بالثُّريَّا رثائي

What excuse for leaving myself when my eyes

Oh how ugly my harshness and aloofness!

في ضَمِيري ما ليسَ يُبْرِزُ شِعْري

لا ولو كنتُ أَشْعَر الشُّعَراءِ

If I call your grave in yearning

Then by my right do not disappoint my call

أَيّ عُذْرٍ في تركِ نفسي وقدْ عَيَّـ

ـتْ أَيَا قُبْح قَسْوَتِي وجَفَائِي

Does the grave realize what it contains

And hides of that brilliance and radiance?

وإِذا ما دعوتُ قبرَكِ شوقاً

فبحقِّي أَلاَّ تُخيبي نِدَائي

For so long the dazzling light appeared from it

And I saw only frowning in my frowns

هل دَرَى القبرُ ما حُواهُ وما أَخـ

ـفاهُ من ذلِكَ السَّنى والسَّنَاءِ

So keep safe O tomb the full moon

For whom you became as if the sky

فلكمْ شَفَّ باهرُ النورِ منْهُ

فرأَيتُ الإِغضاءَ في إِغْضَائِي

And be gentle with her, for you bestow

A complete blessing to the Most High

فاحتفظْ أَيُّهَا الضريحُ ببدر

صرتَ من أَجْلهِ كمثلِ السَّمَاءِ

To me, for what you held of purity

You match a mosque in Quba

وترفَّقْ بهِ فإِنكَ تُسْدِي

مِنَّةً جَمَّةً إِلَى الْعَلْياءِ

For you are my pilgrimage, estrangement

And for she in you are my praise, eulogy and prayers

أَنتَ عنْدِي لما حويتَ من الطُّهْـ

ـرِ يُحَاكيكَ مسجدٌ بِقُبَاءِ

And greetings from me, for Him is hostility with hostility

Yet from Him is seen the killing of the arrogant

لَكَ حَجِّي وهِجْرتي ولمنْ فيـ

ـكَ ثنائي ومدْحَتي ودُعائِي

Remember me on the Day of Resurrection, O mother

Lest I be counted among the wretched

وسلامٌ مني لَهُ النَّدُّ نِدٌّ

وتُرى مِنهُ كبوةٌ لِلْكبَاءِ

Intercede for me, for my Garden is beneath your feet

Without doubt or controversy

أُذْكُريني يومَ القيامة يا أُمّ

لِئلاَّ أُعَدَّ في الأَشْقِياءِ

Soon, undoubtedly, will come to you about me

With my arrival to you the delegation of delight

واشفعِي لي فجنَّتي تحتَ أَقدا

مِكِ من غيرِ شُبْهةٍ وامْتِرَاءِ

May Allah hasten my comfort from my life

It is in time my greatest affliction

فقريباً لاَ شكَّ يأْتيك عَنِّي

بقدُومِي عليكِ وفدُ الهَنَاءِ

If life is like malady

Then death is as remedy

عجّل الله راحتي مِنْ حَيَاتِي

إِنَّها في الزَّمانِ أَعظمُ دَائِي

وإِذا ما الحياةُ كانَتْ كمثل الدا

ءِ كانَ المماتُ مثلَ الدَّوَاءِ