بُوسَى اللَّيَالي عَقِيْبَةُ النِّعَم
وَكُلُّ مَا غِبْطَةٍ إِلَى نَدَمِ
The misery of nights is the aftermath of blessings.
The nights kiss the heels of blessings,
And every joy ends in regret.
And all delight leads to regret.
مَنْ سَاوَرَتْهُ الخُطُوبُ أَقْصَدَهُ
الحَتْفُ وَمَنْ أَغْفَلَتْهُ لَمْ يَرِمِ
Whoever is assailed by calamities is struck down by
He who is tested by afflictions,
death; whoever they overlook has not departed.
Death claims him; he who is heedless does not aspire.
وَكُلُّ مَا صِحَّةٍ إِلَى سَقَمٍ
وَكُلُّ مَاجِدَّةٍ إِلَى هِرَمِ
And all health ends in sickness.
All health leads to illness,
And all youth ends in decrepitude.
All vigor leads to frailty.
وَلِلْمَنَايَا عَيْنٌ مُوَكَّلَةٌ
بِالْحَيِّ لَمْ تَغْتَمِضْ وَلَمْ تَنَمِ
And death has an eye charged
Death has an eye assigned
with watching the living; it has neither closed nor slept.
To the living that does not sleep or nod.
وَأَيُّ عُذْرٍ لِمُقْلَةٍ بَعْدَ
الطَّاوُوسُ عَنْهَا إِنْ لَمْ تَفِضْ بِدَمِ
And what excuse has an eye, after
What excuse remains for an archer
the peacock has gone from its sight, if it does not overflow with blood?
If, after the peacock, she fails to shoot an arrow?
رُزِئْتُهُ رَوْضَةً تَرِفُّ وَلَمْ
أَسْمَعْ بِرَوْضٍ يَسْعَى عَلَى قَدَمِ
I lost him—a fluttering garden—and never
I imagined it a garden of luxury never hearing
have I heard of a garden that walks on foot.
Of a garden that ambled on one foot.
جَثْلُ الدُّنَابِي كَأَنَّ سُنْدُسَةً
سُنَّتْ عَلَيْهِ مَوْشِيَّةَ العَلَمِ
Thick in tail-feathers, as though a cloth of fine silk
The mane of the zebras appears as if
were draped over him, its border embroidered.
The banners of glory were draped over it.
مُتَوَّجَاً خِلْقَةً حَبَاهُ بِهَا
ذُو الفِطَرِ المُعْجِزَاتِ وَالحِكَمِ
Crowned by nature—a gift bestowed on him
Crowned with a creation endowed to him
by the Lord of wondrous creations and wisdom.
By the Originator of miracles and wisdom.
كَأَنَّهُ يَزْدَجِرْدُ مُنْتَصِبَاً
يَبْنِي فَيُعْلِي مَآثِرَ العَجَمِ
As though he were Yazdegerd standing tall,
As if it prances erect
building and raising high the glories of the Persians.
Building and elevating the glories of the non-Arabs.
تَطْبِقُ أَجْفَانُهُ وَتَحْسِرُ عَنْ
فَصَّيْنِ يُسْتَصْبَحَانِ فِي الظُّلَمِ
His eyelids close and draw back from
Its eyelids close and reveal
two gems used as lamps in the darkness.
Two china cups in the darkness.
أَدَلَّ بِالْحُسْنِ فَاسْتَذَالَ لَهُ
ذَيْلاَ مِنَ الكِبْرِ غَيْرَ مُحْتَشِمِ
He gloried in his beauty and so let trail for its sake
It flirts with beauty so that
a tail, out of pride, unashamed.
Its tail might follow without modesty.
ثُمَّ مَشَى مِشْيَةَ العَرُوسِ فَمَنْ
مُسْتَطْرِفٍ مُعْجَبٍ وَمُبْتَسِمِ
Then he walked with a bride's gait: some
Then it walked with the gait of a bride, captivating
found him charming, some admired, and some smiled.
The onlooker, pleasing and smiling.
زَيْنُ صُحُونِ الدِّيَارِ عُوِّضَ مِنْ
فَسِيْحِهَا ضِيْقَ وَهْدَةَ الرَّجَمِ
The ornament of the houses' courtyards was given, instead of
The adornment of the dwellings was compensated for
their expanse, the narrow hollow of a stone-marked grave.
Their spaciousness by the narrowness of the enclosure.
وَلِلرَّدَى هِمَّةٌ يَغُولُ بِهَا
كُلَّ نَفِيْسٍ وَكُلَّ ذِي هِمَمِ
And death has a resolve with which it destroys
Ruin has an ambition that plunders
every precious thing and everyone with lofty aims.
All things precious and all things aspiring.
كَأَنَّمَا الَّلازِوَرْدَ لَمَّعَةُ
وَنُقِّطَ الَّلازِوَرْدُ بِالْعَنَمِ
As though his sheen were lapis lazuli,
As if what was illuminated by the jacinth
and the lapis lazuli were dotted with crimson ʿanam.
Was speckled with drops of dew.
مَا أَحْسَنَ الصَّبْرَ فِي البَلاَءِ وَمَا
أَجْمَلَهُ عِصْمَةً لَمُعْتَصِمِ
How fine is patience in affliction, and how
How excellent is patience in affliction and how
beautiful it is as a safeguard for one who holds fast to it!
Beautiful is its preservation for one steadfast.
Sol 6.1