هل للحقائق في الحياة وجود

كادت على عقلي الشكوك تسود

Do truths in life exist

Do truths have any existence in this life? Doubts have nearly laid claim to my mind.

Doubts in my mind almost conquered

There is no definitive truth in life, save for conventions and binding chains.

ما في الحياة حقيقة محدودة

إلا اصطلاحات بها وقيود

No limited reality in life

They call to knowledge while being ignorance, and extol faith while being denial.

Except conventions with restrictions

Like tambourines ringing captivatingly in the ears, yet they are merely skins upon palms.

تدعو إلى العرفان وهي جهالة

وتشيد بالإيمان وهي جحود

Calling for gnosis yet being ignorance

Whenever I am on the verge of clarifying a matter, barriers of doubt are erected against it.

And praising faith yet being denial

Undoubtedly, the secret of the universe is a subtlety; words cannot contain it, for they are rigid.

مثل الدفوف على المسامع رنة

خلابة، وعلى الأكف جلود

Like drums on ears a charming tune

A world whose rugged paths twist around the blind; who is there to guide and lead the sightless?

And on palms just skins

The darknesses of your mother, O fetus, are dense and manifold, yet your mother, O fetus, is fertile.

أو كلما أو شكت أجلو مبحثا

ضربت عليه من الشكوك سدود

Or whenever I complained, an issue arises

Have patience with the night of life and its length, until a pillar of morning light breaks through.

I hit it with doubts like dams

He who dies has surely begun anew, so fear not; death is a world, and graves are but cradles.

لا ريب سر الكون وهو لطيفة

لا يحتويه اللفظ وهو جمود

No doubt, the secret of the universe is subtle

O Death, you have granted the son of Adam rest; beyond your bounty, there is no greater gift for man.

Words cannot contain it for it is rigid

In the grave lie sweet lodging and supreme honor, and a shade that is lush and extended.

دنيا على الأعمى التوت أوعارها

من يرشد الأعمى بها ويقود؟

A world to the blind its hazards are concealed

People are purer by nature within the graves, even if they be crumbling bones and worms there.

Who can guide the blind in it and lead?

How often did they reckon their immortality above the dust, out of greed, yet there is no eternity above the dust.

ظلمات أمك يا جنين كثيفة

شتى وأمك يا جنين ولود

Thick darkness, oh embryo, is your mother

Their faculties are their undoing, and their gifts are gifts of a mind that is buried alive.

As is your mother, oh embryo, a childbearer

The governing shepherds have grown weary of the mind of one whose nature, like a camel, is to stray.

صبرا على ليل الحياة وطوله

حتى يشق من الصباح عمود

Be patient with the long night of life

Do not wreak havoc, woe unto you, O son of Adam, for life consists of sacred limits and boundaries.

Till a pillar of dawn breaks through

Do you know for whom you toil within it, or are you ungrateful to God therein?

من مات لا ريب استهل فلا تخف

الموت دنيا واللحود مهود

Who died, no doubt started so fear not

Striving better quenches the soul; so ask him who attained his desires: was it but drinking from a mirage?

Death is worldly and the burial prepared

Endeavors vary; the efforts of men are like their skins—some clearly white, others black.

يا موت خولت ابن آدم راحة

ما بعد جودك لابن آدم جود

Oh death, you granted the son of Adam comfort

Woe is me for my heart, struck by calamities, though a blooming world and happiness had promised otherwise.

After your grace no goodness for the son of Adam

Do not rely on good fortunes, for their nature is like that of fickle beauties: boredom and rejection.

في القبر نزل طيب وكرامة

كبرى وظل وارف ممدود

In the grave he descended with scent and great honor

How many a man mourns his lost paradise in regret, and his youth is that paradise lost.

And ample shade and extended

The gardens of his youth have withered and dried; not a single branch survives from those bowers.

والناس أطهر في القبورجبلة

ولو انهم رمم هناك ودود

And people are purer in graves in character

O Time, you hastened to pluck my youth before it bloomed, before a single cluster could bear fruit.

If they were tolerant here and friendly

Do not oppose and deny my claim; my head and my graying temples stand as witnesses against you.

كم قدروا فوق التراب خلودهم

طمعا وما فوق التراب خلود

How much they valued their eternity over dust

As if this worry you bring is Hell itself, and this gray hair is the fuel you feed it.

Yearning, yet over dust no eternity

I grieve for my strivings in the shadow of youth, in days when effort did not exhaust my strength.

ملكاتهم هلكاتهتم. وهباتهم

هباتهم بالعقل وهو مؤود

Their possessions ruined them. And their grants

Days when I sipped honeyed hopes, and walked proudly in desires that were cool and refreshing.

Were with reason which is fleeting

Fortune was abundant, instinct fertile, life was pure, and Time was a friend.

ضاق الرعاة السائسون بعقل من

في طبعه مثل البعير ندود

The leading shepherds were distraught by one

So peace be upon you, O era of youth—a fragrant greeting that outlasts the passing of ages.

Whose nature is like the camel, stubborn

In the cup remains a trace of you, holding sweetness and a solace I still struggle to defend.

لا تعث ويحك يا ابن آدم مفسدا

إن الحياة محارم وحدود

Do not corrupt, woe to you, oh son of Adam

I would not have chosen to ward off the hand of harm, were it not for high ambitions and noble goals.

Life has sanctities and boundaries

And a trust for God I undertook to carry, though my body is shattered and crushed by its weight.

تدرى إلى من أنت فيها كادح؟

أم أنت فيها للإله كنود؟

Do you know who you toil for?

A great legacy, an eternal treasure, and a lush pasture when I seek to roam.

Or are you for God like an ostrich?

My homeland against which they plotted; its proof of innocence is like Joseph's torn shirt.

السعي أروى للنفوس، فقل لمن

ورد المنى أعلى السراب ورود؟

Toil is the most fulfilling for souls. So say, who

Let them not feel safe from the downpour of torment; Pharaoh and Thamud were mightier than they.

Reached their purpose at the highest mirage?

I have sworn: no challenger duels with calamity without being turned back on his heels in defeat.

والسعي شتى فالعباد جهودهم

كجلودهم بيض تبين وسود

And toil is diverse, so people's efforts

O heart, why do you not cease your beating? O eye, why do you pour forth tears so generously?

Are like their skins, some white and some black

God is the truest of those who promise, and many a promise of victory for the patient has He fulfilled.

ويحي على قلبي دهته قوارع

وعدته دنيا نضرة وسعود

Woe to the one whose heart was seized by calamities

So perhaps the days of misfortune will end, and perhaps the days of joy will return.

And whose promise was a delighted, happy world

لا تركنن إلى السعود فطبعها

كالغانيات تبرم وصدود

Do not be inclined to happiness for its nature

Is like singing girls, it frowns and distances

كم فاقد فردوسه متحسر

وشبابه فردوسه المفقود

How many lost their paradise in regret

And their youth was their paradise they lost

ذوت الخمائل من صباه وصوحت

لم ينج من تلك الخمائل عود

The loves of his youth faded and the one wailed

No remnant remained of those loves

يا دهر عاجلت الصبا بالقطف لم

يزهر، ولم يثمر به عنقود

Oh time, you hastened to pluck the youth before

It bloomed, and it did not fruit a cluster

لا تنكر الدعوى علي معارضا

رأسي عليك وعارضاي شهود

Do not deny my claim, objector

My head is witnessing against you and my objections are proofs

فكأن هذا الهم منك جهنم

وكأن هذا الشيب منك وقود

It is as if this worry is your hell

And as if this gray hair is your fuel

أسفى على مسعاي في ظل الصبا

أيام لم تنهك قواي جهود

I grieve for my hearing in the shade of youth

Days that did not erode my strength

أيام أرتشف المنى معسولة

وأميس في الرغبات وهي برود

Days I sipped sweet wishes

And I prosperous in desires as they were cold

الحظ واف والغريزة خصبة

والعيش صاف والزمان ودود

Luck was faithful and instincts fertile

And life pure and times friendly

فعليك يا عهد الشباب تحية

فيحاء ما تلت العهود عهود

So upon you, oh era of youth, greetings

Shyness, covenants did not repeat covenants

في الكأس فضل منك فيه لذاذة

وتعلة ما زلت عنه أذود

In the cup, favor from you is its delight

And my excuse, since I ceased warding it off

ما كنت أوثر أن أذود يد الأذى

لولا مطامح للعلا وقصود

I did not prefer to ward off harm’s hand

If not for ambitions of rising and purposes

وأمانة لله قمت بحملها

جسمي بها متحطم مهدود

And a trust in God I carried

My body with it shattered and prone

وأثارة عظمى وكنز خالد

ومحلة غيداء حين أرود

And great influence and eternal treasure

And a sublime stance when I repose

وطني الذي هموا به ودليله

كدليل يوسف ثوبه المقدود

My country which they conspired against and its guide

Like Joseph’s shirt, flung and torn

لا يأمنوا صب العذاب عليهمو

فرعون أعتى منهم وثمود

They do not feel safe from pouring torment upon them

Pharaoh was fiercer than them and Thamud

آليت ما للحادثات مبارز

إلا على أعقابه مردود

I harnessed what incidents had to confront

Except after it vanquished and countered

يا قلب مالك لا تعتم خافقا

يا طرف مالك بالدموع تجود

Oh heart, why do you grieve pulsating

Oh eye, why do you shed tears

الله أوفى الواعدين وكم خلت

منه بنصر الصابرين وعود

God is the most faithful of promisers and how many

Promises of supporting the patient passed

فلعل أيام المشائم تنتهي

ولعل أيام السعود تعود

Perhaps the inauspicious days will end

And perhaps the days of prosperity will return