بيض وسود وأخيار وأشرار

كم تحتوين على الأضداد يا دار!

Whites and blacks and good and evil,

Whites and blacks, the virtuous and the wicked,

How much contraries you contain, O world!

How many opposites you contain, O world!

العرش والفرش والأحداث بينهما

خير وشر فإقلال وإكثار

The throne and the floor and the events between them,

The Throne and the earth, and the events betwixt them,

Good and evil, scarcity and abundance.

Good and evil, then scarcity and abundance.

والليل والصبح والإنسان عندهما

نعسان مستيقظ والماء والنار

And the night and the morning and humankind with them

Night and morning, and man between them,

Sleepy, awake, and water and fire.

Drowsy then awake, amidst water and fire.

والأنجم الزهر: هذا النجم مرتفع

زاهي الضياء وهذا النجم منهار

And the stars like flowers: this elevated star

And the radiant stars: this one ascending,

Shining brightly, and this faded star.

Glorious in light, and that one collapsing.

تبدو على الأفق أشتاتا ويجمعها

في سيرها فلك في الأفق دوار

They appear scattered on the horizon, united

They appear scattered upon the horizon, yet are gathered

In their orbit by a revolving sphere in the sky.

In their course by an orbit revolving in the sky.

قد قيل في كوكب المريخ أبنية

مشيدات وجنات وأنهار

It is said that on the planet Mars there are

It is said that upon the planet Mars are edifices,

Built structures, gardens, and rivers.

Lofty constructions, gardens, and rivers.

وقيل في البحر آكام وأودية

كما على البر أنجاد وأغوار

And it is said that in the sea there are dunes and valleys

And it is said within the sea are hills and valleys,

As on land there are waves and depths.

Just as upon the land are highlands and lowlands.

أتى على الميز حين وهو منتشر

فاش إلى أن تأتت منه اضرار

The flood overflowed when it was spreading

A time passed over discrimination while it was widespread,

Until damages came from it.

Rampant until harms arose from it.

كم ذا أرى المثل دون المثل محتفلا

به لتقضى به حاج وأوطار؟

How much do I see the like under the like celebrated

How often do I see one equal celebrated over another,

By it, to fulfill every need and goal?

That through him needs and desires might be fulfilled?

إن كان للميز مقدار يحد به

فإن أحداثنا للميز مقدار

If the flood has a measure to limit it,

If discrimination has a magnitude by which it is limited,

Then our events have a measure for the flood.

Then our very events are the measure of that discrimination.

ما المسك والقار الا مائع لزج

أحوى فكيف تنافى المسك والقار؟!

What are musk and amber but viscous liquids

Musk and tar are but viscous fluids,

That differ? So how can musk and amber be opposed?

Dark in hue; how then are musk and tar opposed?

وكيف صحت من الانسان تفرقة

بين الحصا واللئالي وهي أحجار؟!

And how can humans distinguish

And how can a distinction made by man be valid

Between pebbles, rocks and gems when they are stones?

Between pebbles and pearls, when both are stones?!

يا دار هل فيك من هاد ليرشدني

فإنني مستريب فيك محتار

O world, is there a guide in you to guide me?

O world, is there within you a guide to show me the way?

For I am doubtful and confused in you.

For I am suspicious of you, bewildered.

همي تقسم أشطارا ولن تجدى

من همه مثل همي فيك أشطار

My worries divide into parts, and will be of no use.

My anxiety is divided into fragments, and you will not find

No one with worries like mine has parts in you.

Anyone whose care is fragmented like mine within you.

يعروه خفض ورفع في تنقله

كأنه كلا يذروه إعصار

They toss him down and lift him in his movement

It is afflicted by lows and highs in its shifting,

As if a whirlwind does not stop tossing him about.

As if it were dry herbage scattered by a hurricane.

(أعمى المعرة) أهدى فيك تبصرة

لو لم تشط به في الدين أنظار

The blind poet would gain insight in you

The Blind One of Ma'arra offered the truest insight into you,

If religious opinions did not blind him about you.

Had not his views on religion strayed too far.

قد كان عنك مشيحا وجه همته

حرا وقدما تجافت عنك أخرار

He turned away his purpose from you

He turned the face of his ambition away from you,

Free, though feet turned away from you limping.

A free spirit; and often have free spirits shunned you of old.

كفته شهوة أكل اللحم أرغفة

بسيطة وكفته الستر أطمار

His desire for eating meat satisfied him with

Simple loaves sufficed him against the lust for flesh,

Simple loaves, and his clothing satisfied him with rags.

And tattered rags sufficed to cover him.

وعاش فيك حصورا غير متخذ

زوجا وبعض من الأزواج اصار

He lived in you in isolation, not taking

He lived within you chaste, never taking

A wife, though some take wives.

A wife; and truly, some wives are a heavy burden.

ولم يزل فيك للذات مجتنبا

حتى استوى منك إقبال وإدبار

And he did not cease to avoid selfishness in you

He ceased not to shun pleasures within you,

Until he was balanced in coming and going from you.

Until your approach and your retreat became alike to him.

مضى بمبدئه السامي الغريب ولم

يكن لمبدئه في الناس أنصار

He went on his strange, noble principle but

He passed on with his lofty, alien creed,

He had no supporters for his principle among people.

And for his creed there were no champions among men.

وعنصر الناس فخار ألم به

كسر وما التام بعد الكسر فخار

And people's nature is pottery - it hurts him

The essence of man is pottery afflicted by a fracture,

When broken, and what is complete is no longer pottery after being broken.

And pottery never becomes whole again after breaking.

ياكم أجاد هزار الصبح من نغم

ولم يصخ لهزار الصبح ديار

O how the joking of dawn excelled in melody

How beautifully the morning nightingale trilled his melodies,

But the dwellings did not applaud the joking of dawn!

Yet no dweller listened to the nightingale of the dawn.

وواصل الحزن بوم الليل ملتزما

(غاقا) فحفته أسماع وأبصار

And sadness, adhering by night, went on

While the night-owl persisted in sorrow, clinging

Crying, so sights and hearings ignored it.

To its croak, and ears and eyes gathered 'round it.

وجار سوء ثوى أرضي فضايقني

فيها ومن دونه حجب وأستار!

And an evil neighbor dwelt in the land, so he bothered me there,

A neighbor of ill will settled on my land and harried me there,

And without him there were veils and curtains!

Even though veils and curtains stood between us!

فما وعى قط صوتي وهو مرتفع

وما رأى قط دمعي وهو مدرار

He never heeded my voice when it was raised

He never heeded my voice, though it was raised high,

Or saw my flowing tears when they poured.

Nor did he see my tears, though they flowed in torrents.

قلت له احفظ جواري وارع منزلتي

أولا فبارح دياري أيها الجار

I said to him, "Guard my neighborhood and respect my status,

I said to him: "Respect my neighbor-rights and honor my station,

Or leave my dwellings, O neighbor!"

Or else depart from my dwelling, O neighbor."

وخل سوء توخاني لأخلفه

في ذبح شاء عجاف وهي إيثار

And leave off your evil thinking of me, and I will reward him

"Abandon the ill will you bore me, and I shall exchange it

By slaughtering an emaciated sheep, which is generosity.

For the slaughter of lean sheep, a sacrifice of generosity."

قال ابتدرها على اسم الله قلت له

دعني فما أنا يا ابن اللؤم جزار

He said, "Slaughter it in God's name." I said to him,

He said, "Begin it in God's name!" I replied to him:

"Leave me, O wicked man, I am no butcher."

"Let me be, for I am no butcher, O son of wickedness."

ومسرف منكر للبعث قلت له

هيهات يجديك يوم البعث إنكار

And a denier of the resurrection, I said to him,

And to a profligate who denies the Resurrection, I said:

"Far from benefiting you is your denial on the day of resurrection."

"Alas, your denial shall not avail you on the Day of Rising."

أأنت تنكر حالا تستحيل إلى

حال وخلقك رأي العين أطوار

What! Do you now deny a state that will transform

"Do you deny that one state transforms into another,

Into a state, when your creation has seen phases?

When your own creation is visibly formed in stages?"

تبارك الله هذا الكون معترف

بأن صانعه رحمان قهار

Blessed is God, this universe acknowledges

Blessed be God! This universe acknowledges

That its Maker is Merciful and Powerful.

That its Maker is the Merciful, the Compeller.

قامت بحكمته الأرواح خاضعة

له فهل في ذوي الأرواح مختار؟

By His wisdom spirits stand submissive

By His wisdom spirits stand in submission to Him;

To Him, so is there a choice among the spirited?

Is there, among those with souls, any with free will?

مات الأئمة أهل العلم لا بليت

أوصالهم ولهم في الكون آثار

The imams, the learned, died but no affliction

The Imams, the men of knowledge, have died, yet their limbs have not decayed,

Struck their limbs, and they have traces in the universe.

For they have lasting traces within the universe.

هم خلفوا العلم تذكارا لأنفسهم

وما يؤثر في السالين تذكار

They left knowledge as a memento of themselves,

They left knowledge behind as a remembrance of themselves,

And nothing benefits the questioners like a memento.

Though remembrance moves not the oblivious.

قد أفعموا الكتب أخبارا وما لبثوا

أن أصبحوا وهم في الكتب أخبار

They filled books with news, and it was not long

They filled the books with accounts, and tarried not long

Before they became news in books.

Before they themselves became accounts within the books.