مَاذَا يُريدُ الشِّعْرُ مِنِّي

أَخْنَى عَلَيْهِ عُلُوُّ سِنِّي

What does poetry want from me

Now that I lament my advanced age

هَلْ كَانَ مَا ذَهَبَتْ بِهِ ال

أَيَّامُ مِنْ أَدَبِي وَفَنِّي

Did the days take with them

My literary taste and art

أَحْسَنْت ظَنِّي واللَّيَا

لِي لَمْ تُوَافِقْ حُسْنَ ظَنِّي

I wished well but days

Did not fulfill my wish

وَرَجَعْتُ مِنْ سُوقٍ عرَضْ

تُ بِضَاعَتِي فِيهَا بِغَبْنِ

I returned from a market where

I offered my goods at a loss

أَفَكَانَ ذَلِكَ ذَنْبَهَا

أَمْ كَانَ ذَنْبِي لا تَسَلْنِي

Was that the market's fault

Or my fault, do not ask me

خَمَدَتْ بِيَ النَّارُ الَّتِي

رَفَعَتْ بِعَيْنِ العَصْرِ شَأْنِي

The fire that raised my status

In the eyes of the era has dimmed in me

هِيَ شُعْلَةٌ كَانَتْ تُثِ

يرُ قَرِيحَتِي وَتُنِيرُ ذِهْنِي

It was a flame that stirred

My talent and enlightened my mind

أَيَّامَ لِي طَرَبٌ وَقَلْ

بِي مَوْقِعُ المُرِنِّ

Days when I had fervor and

My heart leapt at verse

لا تَنْدُبَنِّي لِلعَظَا

ئِمِ بَعْدَهَا لا تَنْدُبَنِّي

Do not blame me for the calamities

After that, do not blame me

يَا مَنْ يُحَمِّلُنِي تَكَا

لِيفَ الشَّبَابِ ارْفُقْ بِوَهْنِي

O you who burden me with

The costs of youth, be gentle with my weakness

زَمَنِي تَوَلَّى وَالأُولَى

عَمَرُوهُ مِنْ صَحْبِي فَدَعْنِي

My time has passed and it was better

For it to spend my company, so leave me

وَلَّى الرَّبِيعُ وَجَفَّ عُو

دِي وَانقَضَى عَهْدُ التَّغَنِي

Spring has gone and my return is over

And the era of singing has ended

وَعَدِمْتُ لَذَّاتِ الرُّؤى

وَعَدِمْتُ لَذَّاتِ التَّمَنِّي

I lost the pleasures of visions

And the pleasures of wishing

إِنِّي خَتَمْتُ العَيْشَ فِي

وَادِي المخِيلَةِ أَوْ كَأَنِّي

I have finished living

In the valley of imaginations, or as if I did

فَإذَا بَدَتْ لَكَ هِمَّةٌ

مِنْ دَائِبٍ يَشْقَى وَيَبْنِي

So if an effort occurs to you

From a hard worker who suffers and builds

فَعَذِيرُهُ خَوْفُ التَّشْبِيهِ

بِالرَّحَى مِنْ غَيْرِ طِحْنِ

His excuse is fear of resemblance

To a mill without grinding

وَيَكُدُّ كَدَّ النَّحْلِ وَهْ

يَ لِغَيْرِهَا تَسْعَى وَتَجْنِي

He struggles like the struggle of bees

Which strive and reap for others

أَرْضَى بِأَنْ تُقْضَى مُنىً

لِلآخَرينَ وَإِنْ عَدَتْنِي

I am content that others' wishes

Be fulfilled even if I am denied

أًُخْلِي مَكَانِي لِلَّذِي

يَسْمُو إِلَيْهِ بِغَيْرِ حُزْنِ

I make way for those

Who aspire without sorrow

وَلَقَدْ أَهَشُّ لِمَنْ يُطَا

ولُنِي وَإِنْ يَكُ تَحْتَ ضِبْنِي

And I surely quiver to those

Who blame me even if they are beneath me

إَِنَّ الحَقِيقَةَ حِينَ نَبْ

لُغُهَا لَتَكْفِينَا وَتُغْنِي

The truth is that when

We attain it, it suffices us and enriches us

فِيهَا الجَلالُ بِكُلِّ مَعْنَ

اهُ وَفِيهَا كُلُّ حُسْنِ

In it is all glory in every

Sense and in it is all beauty

تَتَشَابَهُ التَّرِكَاتُ فِي

أَنَّا نُعِدُّ لَهَا وَنَقْنِي

Inheritances are similar in

That we prepare for them and harvest

فَإذَا تَوَلَّيْنَا فَهَلْ

أَسْمَاؤُنَا مِنَّا سَتُغْنِي

So when we are gone, will

Our names suffice us

إِنْ نَبْقَ وَالأَرْوَاحُ قَدْ

ذَهَبَتْ فَمَا الأَسْمَاءُ تَعْنِي

If we remain while spirits have

Gone, what do names mean

لَوْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي الذِّكْرِ لِل

أَعْقَابِ نَفْعٌ لَمْ يَشُقْنِي

Had there been no benefit to progeny

In remembrance, it would not have pained me

أَمَّا الجَزَاءُ فَإِنَّي اسْ

تَوْْفَيْتُ مِنْهُ فَوْقَ وَزْنِي

As for reward, I have already

Received beyond my worth

فِي الحَاضِرِ اسْتسْلَفْتُ مَا

سَيَقُولُهُ التَّالُونَ عَنِّي

In the present I borrowed what

Reciters will say about me