ذهبت عنك يا حزين الهموم

فاسلُ ما اسطعت فاللطيف قديم

Cares have left you, O sorrowful one.

So find solace as you can: the Gentle One is eternal.

أو فباك الأيام وابك مع الأيّا

م حتى تنسى وأنت العليم

Or join the days in weeping, and weep with the days

Until you forget, knowledgeable though you are.

أيها الذاهب الغداة مع الأو

هام تسعى وراءها وتهيم

O you who set out in the morning with illusions,

Pursuing them and wandering lost.

ذهب الأمس والذي أنت فيه

ذاهب والغد المرجى مقيم

Yesterday is gone, and the day you are in

Is passing; the hoped-for morrow abides.

فاهف ما شئت نحوه وامض ما شئ

ت إليه وناجه وافن فيه

So yearn toward it as you wish, and go as you wish

To it; commune with it, and lose yourself in it.

فهو غيب وأنت تأنس بالغي

ذب وتشقى وأنت من عارفيه

For it is unseen, and you find comfort in the unseen [reading uncertain],

And suffer, though you are among those who know it.

لك ما للذين راحوا فآبا

ؤك منهم في الحق والتمويه

Yours is the lot of the departed, for your forefathers

Are among them, in truth and in pretence.

ولك اللّذ لمن همو أنت فيهم

من نسيّ وجاهل ونبيه

And yours is what belongs to those among whom you live:

The forgetful, the ignorant, and the discerning.

لك ما للذين راحوا وما أن

ت قديما إلا وأنت جديدا

Yours is the lot of the departed, and you are never

Old without also being new.

أنت كالخلق فكرة ومثالا

مبدئا في تأمل أو معيدا

You are like all creation, in thought and in image,

Whether originating or repeating in contemplation.

أت كالناس ما وصلت حبا

لك إن قائدا لهم أو مقودا

You are like other people, however far your cords reach,

Whether leading them or being led.

لم تكن ذات لحظة رب شيء

فأفِق تشهد الربيب المريدا

Not for a single moment were you master of anything.

So awaken and behold the rebellious fosterling.