تنْهَشُني الأَثامُ نَهْشَ الذَّئابْ
وتَنْثَني عنَّي جياعاَ غِضابْ!
Sins tear at me as wolves tear their prey,
Then turn from me still hungry, still enraged!
يا نفس قد أَوْرَدْتني مَوْرِداً
ذَهابُه يُصِدُ دُوني الإِيابْ!
O soul, you have brought me to a watering place
Whose course bars my return!
حاوَلتُ أَنْ أَرْجِعَ لكنَّني
وَجَدْتُني أَشْتاقُ عَذْبَ الشَّرابْ!
I tried to turn back, but found myself
Still longing for the sweetness of the drink!
فكيف لي يا نفسُ أَنْ أَرعَوِي؟!
كيف.. وأَنتِ الغَيُّ. أَنْتِ العَابْ؟!
How, O soul, can I come to my senses?
How—when you are error itself, when you are all play?
ظَمِئْتُ للماء فأَدْنَيْتِني
لا لِلفُرات العَذْبِ. بل للسَّرابْ
I thirsted for water, and you drew me near—
Not to the sweet Euphrates, but to a mirage.
يا لَيْتَني عاصَيْتُ داعي الهوى
حتى ولو أَدْمتْ جُنُوبي الحِرابْ!
Would that I had defied desire’s call,
Even had spears bloodied both my sides!
مضى شبابي واغِلاً في الخَنى
وخَيْرُ ما نَمْلِكُ.. نحن .. الشَّبابْ!
My youth passed, steeped deeply in depravity,
Though youth is the finest thing we possess!
وها أنا اليَوْمُ بِشَيْخوُخةٍ
وانِيةٍ تَسْلُكُ تِلْكَ الشَّعابْ!
And here I am today, sunk in old age,
Feeble, making its way through those ravines!
متى أَراني عائداً لِلْهُدى
ما أَشْتَهي الكَأْسَ. وحُلْوَ الكِعابْ؟!
When shall I see myself returning to guidance,
No longer craving wine and lovely maidens?
أرى رِفاقي بعد ما أَمْعَنُوا
في اللَّهْو عادُوا خُشَّعاً للصَّوابْ!
I see my companions, after going far
In revelry, return humbly to the right path!
فهل أنا وَحْدي الذي يَجْتَوي
رَشادَهُ.. مُسْتَهْدِفاً لِلْعِقابْ؟!
Am I alone the one who loathes
His own right guidance, exposing himself to punishment?
وهل أنا الغاوِي الذي يَسْتوي
بِدَرْكِهِ المُظْلِم.. دُونَ الصِحاب؟!
Am I the errant one who settles
In his dark abyss, apart from his companions?
أمامَه الأخْرى .. ويا وَيْلَتا
من سوء ما سَطَّرهُ في الكِتابْ!
Before him lies the hereafter—alas for me!—
And the evil his hand recorded in the Book.
يا وَيْلهُ وهو الذَّكِيُّ الذي
يَعرفُ ما يَلْقاهُ يَوْمَ الحِسابْ!
Woe to him, intelligent though he is,
Knowing what awaits him on the Day of Reckoning!
كيف تَوارى عَقْلُهُ في القَذى؟!
كيف تَوارى حِسُّهُ في التُرابْ!
How did his reason vanish amid the filth?
How was his sensibility buried in the dust?
فَكّرَ في الرُّشْدِ.. ولكنَّهُ
عاصاهُ.. ما أَوْحَشَ سُودَ الرِّحابْ!
He considered rectitude—but then
Defied it. How desolate those black expanses are!
آثَرَ مِن ضَغْطِ الهوى قِشْرَهُ
واختارَهُ دُون كريم اللُّبابْ!
Under desire’s pressure he preferred the husk,
Choosing it over the noble kernel!
فَيا لهُ مِن بُلْبُلٍ عاثِرٍ
بَدَّلَ بالشَّدْوِ نعِيقَ الغُرابْ!
What a stumbling nightingale he became,
Exchanging melodious song for a raven’s caw!
كانَ بِرَوْضِ مُونِقٍ حافِل
بالثَّمَر الحالي .. بما يُسْتطابْ!
Once he dwelt in a flourishing, delightful garden,
Rich in ripe fruit and all that pleases;
من زَهْرٍ يَنْفَحُ عِطْراً.. ومِن
جَداوِل تَحْلو كماءِ السَّحابْ!
In flowers breathing fragrance, and in
Streams as sweet as rainwater!
كانِ له شِعْرُ بَديعُ الرُّؤى
مُحَلِّقِ ..مُسْتَشْرِفٍ كالشَّهابْ!
His poetry held visions of rare beauty,
Soaring and aspiring like a meteor!
يُضيءُ بالشِّعْر جميعَ الصُّوى
فَيُرْشدُ السَّاري. ويَشْفي المصابْ!
Through poetry he lit every landmark,
Guiding the night traveler and healing the afflicted!
يُجلُّهُ الرَّبْعُ.. ويَعْلو بِهِ..
لأّنهُ يَرْفَع عَنْه الحَجابْ!
His people honored him and rose through him,
Because he lifted the veil from them;
لأَِنَّه يُسْدِي إليه المُنَى
تَخْطُرُ بالحِلْيِ وغالي الثَّيابْ!
Because he bestowed upon them hopes
That paraded in jewels and costly robes!
مُهَنْدسِاً كانتْ له حِكْمةُ
تُعِيدُ للْعُمْرانِ .. بعد الخَرابْ!
As an architect, he possessed a wisdom
That restored civilization after ruin!
كأَنَّما يَغْرفُ مِن عَلْيًم..
دُرَّا يُحَلِّي زَيْنَباً والرَّباتْ!
It was as though he drew from knowledge
Pearls to adorn Zaynab and Rabab!
وتَقْتَنِيهِ النَّاسُ ذُخْراً لهم
لأَنَّه يَحْمِلُ فَصْلَ الخِطابْ!
People treasured what he made as a precious store,
For it bore the decisive word!
فَما لَهُ يَهوي إلى حفرة
لَيْس بِها إلاَّ طَنِينُ الذُبابْ!
Why, then, does he plunge into a pit
Where nothing lives but the buzzing of flies?
مُظْلِمَة.. مُفْضِيَةٌ للِردَّى
كالقَبْرِ ..يالَ الخِزْي . يالَ التَّبابْ!
Dark, leading onward into death,
Like a grave—what disgrace, what perdition!
ماضِيةِ يَسْتَصْرِخُ مِن حاضِرِ
هُداهُ.. والحاضِرُ يُخْفي الجَواب!
A past cries out to the present
For its guidance, while the present conceals the answer!
لأَِنه اسْتَلًم في شِقْوَةٍ
بِسَطْوَةِ أَلْوَتْ به فاسْتَجابْ!
For in his misery he surrendered
To a force that bent him, and he yielded!
يَرْحَمْهُ الله.. وكم أَنْقَدَتْ
رَحْمَتُه. كم أَخْصَبَتْ من يَبابْ!
May God have mercy on him—how often
Has His mercy rescued and made wastelands bloom!
كم أَكْرمَتْ مِن خاسِرِ آبِقٍ
فطابت العُقْبى. وطابَ المتابْ!
How many a ruined fugitive has it honored,
Till his end was fair and his repentance fair!
لقد رَأىِ بَعْد العَمى نَيْزكاً
يُضيءُ. فاسْتَأَنس بَعد اغْتِرابْ!
After blindness, he beheld a meteor
Shining, and found companionship after estrangement!
قال.. لَعَلَّ النَّجمَ مِنَ بَعْدِهِ
يَأْتي. ويَأتي البَدْرُ بَعْد الغِيابْ!
He said: Perhaps a star will follow it,
And after absence, the full moon too will come!
فَيَرْجعُ الطَّيْرُ إلى رَوْضِهِ
مُغَرِّداَ بعد طَويل النُّعابْ!
Then the bird will return to its garden,
Singing again after its long cawing!
