مَتَى نرجو الثَباتَ مِنَ الزَّمانِ

وشَطراهُ كأَفراسِ الرِهانِ

When may we hope for constancy from Time,

when its two halves are like racehorses in a wager?

يُطارِدُنا بلا قَدَمٍ ويغزُو

بلا سَيف يُسَلُّ ولا سِنانِ

It pursues us without feet, and invades

without a sword being drawn or a spearhead.

يقودُ الجَيشَ والساعاتُ فِيهِ

هِيَ الأَعوانُ للحربِ العَوانِ

It leads an army, and within it the hours

are the auxiliaries of a raging war.

إذا رُمتُ الفِرارَ بهِ فإِنِّي

فَرَرْتُ منَ الطِّعانِ إلى الطِّعانِ

If I seek to flee from it, then I

have fled from spear-thrusts into spear-thrusts.

عَرَفنا الدَّهرَ في الحالَينِ قِدْماً

فهانَ بهِ علينا كلَّ شانِ

Long have we known Fate in both its states,

and through it every matter has grown light to us.

يمرُّ عليَّ يومُ البُؤسِ فيهِ

كما قد مرَّ يومُ المِهرَجانِ

A day of misery passes over me in it,

just as a day of festival has passed.

فِراقٌ واجتماعٌ كُلَّ أَينٍ

ونَوْحٌ وابتِسامٌ كلَّ آنِ

Parting and meeting, in every place;

wailing and smiling, at every moment.

وما هذا ولا هذا بباقٍ

ولكنْ كلُّ ما في الأرضِ فانِ

Neither this nor that endures:

everything upon the earth must perish.

بِعَيني مَن تَرَى في البُعدِ عيني

وأَحسَبُهُ على بُعدٍ يَراني

Before my eyes is one my eye sees far away,

and I imagine that, distant though he is, he sees me.

دنا منِّي فأَنْأَتْهُ اللَيالي

نأَى عَنّي فأَدنَتْهُ الأَماني

He drew near to me, but the nights drove him far;

he went far from me, but hopes brought him near.

حبيبٌ لا يَلِيقُ اللَومُ فيهِ

نَعَمْ لكنْ تلِيقُ بهِ التَّهاني

A beloved whom blame does not befit—

yes, but felicitations do befit him.

وما كُلُّ الأَحِبَّةِ أَهلُ لَومٍ

ولا كُلُّ الهَوى شَرَكُ الهَوَانِ

Not every beloved deserves reproach,

nor is every love a snare of humiliation.

هُوَ البَدرُ المُنيرُ بَغَى أُفُولاً

فمالَ الصُبحُ نحوَ المَغرِبانِ

He is the radiant full moon, bent on setting,

so dawn inclined toward the two wests.

رَجَوْنا عَوْدَهُ والشَّهرُ ثانٍ

فلم يَسمَحْ بهِ والعامُ ثانِ

We hoped for his return when a second month came,

but it did not grant him, though a second year came.

تُذكِّرُنِيهِ لائِحةُ الدَراري

إذا سَطَعَت ورائِحةُ الجِنانِ

The gleam of the stars reminds me of him

whenever they blaze, as does the fragrance of gardens.

وأنِصبُ شَخصَهُ غَرَضاً لعيني

فتَرميهِ بَمدمَعِها الجُمانِ

I set his figure before my eye as a target,

and from its tear duct it shoots pearls at him.

على تلكَ الدِيارِ لَنا سَلامٌ

نُرَدِدُهُ مع البَرقِ اليماني

To those dwellings, a greeting from us,

which we repeat with the lightning out of Yemen.

وهل يَشفِي السَلامُ غليلَ شَوقٍ

لِصَبٍّ ليس يُشفى بالعيانِ

Can a greeting heal the burning thirst of longing

in one so lovesick that even sight cannot cure him?