يَئسْتُ منَ الْحَيَاةِ وَكَانَ يَأْسي

يُريحُ النَّفْسَ لَوْ سَكَتَ الضَّميرُ

I despair of life, yet my despair

Would give my soul relief, if conscience fell silent;

وَلَكنِّي أُسَامُ عَذَابَ فكْري

وَذلكَ في الْحسَاب هُوَ العَسيرُ

But I suffer the torment of my thoughts,

And that is the greatest agony.

فَقَدْتُ هَنَاءَتي وَسُكُونَ بَالي

وَفَارَقَني نَعيمي وَالسُّرُورُ

I have lost my joy and peace of mind,

My bliss and delight have left me.

وَصِرْتُ إِلى هَوَانٍ بَعْدَ عِزٍّ

فَيَا حُزني وَيَا بئْسَ المَصيرُ

From glory I have sunk into degradation -

Oh, my sorrow! Evil is my fate.

خَفرْتُ ذِمَامَ زَوْجي وَهْيَ أَوفَى

مُحَصَّنة بهَا تُزهَى الخُدُورُ

I betrayed my virtuous wife, though she

Was my protection, and homes were made honourable through her.

وَخُنْتُ وَليَّ نِعْمَتنَا فَذَنْبي

إِلَيْهِ بقَدْر نعْمَتِهِ كَبيرُ

I was ungrateful to my patron - my sin against him

Is as great as his generosity to me was.

وَليًّ كَانَ بَعَدَ أَبي كَفيلي

عَقَقْتُ جَميلَهُ وَلي الثَبُورُ

After my father, he was my guardian,

But I repaid his kindness with ingratitude - may I be ruined!

غُرِرْتُ فَمَا ارْتَوَيْتُ فَنَالَ منِّي

اشَدَّ مَنَالَهُ ذَاكَ الغُرُورُ

I was tempted and found no satisfaction;

Seduction took its strongest hold on me.

وَحَاقَ بِيَ الشَّقَاءُ فَلَسْتُ أَلْقَى

سِوَاهُ حَيْثُ أَمْكُثُ أَوْ أَسِيرُ

Misfortune clings to me wherever I stay or go;

I find only it, nothing else.

تبَدَّلَ عَاجِلاً مَا كانَ حُسْنِي

فحُسْنِي الْيَوْمَ مِسْكِينٌ حَقِير

My beauty changed quickly into ugliness,

So my beauty today is miserable and despised.

تنَابذُهُ الْبُيُوتُ بِكُلِّ حَيِّ

وَخيْرٌ مِنْهُ مَنْ تَحْوِي الْقبورُ

Homes reject me in every neighbourhood,

And better than me is he who lies in the grave.

تَعَالوْا يَا بَنِي أُمي اشْهَدونِي

فمَا بَعْدَ الذِي أَلْقى نكِيرُ

Come, my mother's sons, and witness me -

After this, what disgrace can I suffer?

جُنِنتُ بِحبِّ فَاجِرَةٍ فهَذا

مِنَ الآثَارِ مَأْثرَك الفجورُ

I was crazed with passion for an immoral woman, and this

Was the trace left by your immorality.

أَبَحْت لَهَا دَمِي وَجَفوْتُ أَهْلِي

فكان الصَّدُّ مِنْهَا وَالنُّفورُ

I squandered my blood on her and neglected my family,

So I received only rejection and aversion from her.

وَجَدْتُ بَحْرَ مَالِي لمْ يَرُعنِي

قَلِيلٌ ضَاعَ مِنْهُ وَلاَ كثِيرُ

I found a sea of wealth, but it did not restrain me -

Little was lost from it, and not much.

فَلَمَّا اسْتنْزَفَتْ وَفْرِي أَرَتْنِي

خَبِيئَةَ نَفْسِهَا تِلْكَ الكُفُورُ

When she had drained my abundance, she showed me

The hidden baseness of her ungrateful soul.

بَدَا لِي قُبحٌ مَا سَترَتْ حُلاَهَا

فرُحْتُ وَلَيْسَ فِي عَيْنِيَّ نورُ

I saw the ugliness she had concealed with her beauty,

And I rejoiced, though my eyes had no light.

كَرِيهاً مُبْعَداً وَالْبَابُ بَابِي

كَمَا يُقْصَى وَقَدْ كُرِهَ الأَجِيرُ

Hateful, banished, with the door barred against me,

As a hired hand is dismissed once found distasteful.

أَأَحْيَا بَعْدَ أَنْ رُضَّت حَصَاتِي

وَعَمَّت مَا يحِيْطُ بِي الشُّرُورُ

Can I live after my worries are gone

And ills surround me on all sides?

وَيُرضِيني أَزَمَّ الْعَيْشِ أَني

إِذَنْ فِي غَيْرِ مَحْمِدَةٍ صَبُورُ

Will it satisfy me to endure the bitterness of life

If I show patience without praise?

إِذَا أَحْجَمْتُ وَالإِقْدَامُ حَقِّي

وَهَانَ عَلَى كرَامَتِيَ الْعَسِيرُ

When I hesitate though boldness is my right,

And the difficult path seems a disgrace to my dignity,

فَقَدْ أَبْقَى الْجَبَانُ النَّذْلُ مِنِّي

وَقَدْ هَلَكَ الْفَتَى الْحُرُّ الْجَسُورُ

The cowardly villain remains in me

While the brave, noble man is destroyed.