حتى م تبكي العين طال البكاء

أما لحزن بت فيه انقضاء

Until the eye ceases to weep, weeping continues

As if the sadness in which it ends has no end

قد خنتني يا دهر قد خنتني

ما كنت أحجوك قليل الوفاء

O time, you have betrayed me, you have betrayed me

I did not think you were so little loyal

إن أبد مالي يعيني سرده

أو أخفه يزدد بهذا الخفاء

If enumerating my possessions could help me

Or hiding them would lessen this concealment

ماتت أماني ولما أمت

أحيا إذن للياس لا للرجاء

My hopes have died and when they died

I lived for despair, not for hope

أصبحت آبى كل ما أرتجي

هيهات ما مثل الاباء الرضا

I have become reluctant towards all I desire

Alas! There is no satisfaction like acceptance

كيف أعزي القلب عما مضى

ويل لقلب ما له من عزاء

How can I console my heart for what has passed?

Woe to a heart that has no consolation

ما زلت أدعو للهدى معشراً

ضلوا فلما يجد طول الدعاء

I continued to call a group to guidance

But they went astray, so my long call was fruitless

ضاع ندائي حين ناديتهم

لو لم أضع ما ضاع ذاك النداء

My call was lost when I called them

If I had not wasted it, that call would not have been lost

هذي رسوم قد محاها البلى

وذي رسوم قد علاها العفاء

These are ruins that decay has erased

And these are ruins that time has covered

فحيثما تسع تجد مأثماً

باك ومبكي وآبي البكاء

Wherever you go you will find a sinner

Crying, weeping, and reluctant to weep

ليس صباح بصباح لهم

ولا مساء لهم بالمساء

They have no morning after morning

Nor an evening after evening

في ذمة الله رجال قضوا

طال بهم تحت القبور الثواء

There are men in God's care who have passed away

Long has the ground been their shelter

لا التاج ذاك التاج من بعدهم

ولا بهاء الملك ذاك البهاء

Neither that crown after them

Nor the splendor of that kingdom, that splendor

تشقي جراغان بسجينها

ويجتلي بيعته من يشاء

Princes tear their prisons apart

And He lets whom He wills inherit His land

يا رب هذي كعبة شيدت

ركناً وهذا خاتم الأنبياء

O Lord, this is the Ka'ba I erected

As a pillar, and this is the seal of the prophets

اساءني بينهما ظالمي

وقد كفى بينهما أن أساء

My oppressors have wronged me between them

And it was enough evil to wrong me between them

أعدم قوماً بت أرثيهم

والهفي ماذا يفيد الرتاء

I lost a people whose loss I mourn

But what does my wailing accomplish?

كانوا غيوثي حين لا غيث لي

كانوا نمائي حين ما لي نماء

They were my succor when I had no succor

They were my growth when I had no growth

أقول والطلم بآفاته

يحتث للملك مطايا الفناء

I say, and tyranny with its calamities

Saddles for the king the steeds of mortality

لا ييأس المكروب من فرجة

ولا عليل أبداً من شفاء

The anguished should not despair of relief

Nor the sick ever of healing

العدل سلطان شديد القوى

ينصره الله بجند القضاء

Justice is a strong sultan

God supports it with the troops of destiny