أبِي يعصِبُ الغاوون ما في عِيابهم

أبِي يعصِبُ الغاوون ما في عِيابهم

ويَلْطَخُنِي بالشرِّ مَن هو مُلْطَخُ

ويَلْطَخُنِي بالشرِّ مَن هو مُلْطَخُ

Do the wayward pin upon me what is in their bags,

My father berates the unruly though they've done no wrong,

and does one who is himself stained smear me with evil?

And stains me with guilt though I am free of stain.

ولو شئتُ أضحى بين دارِي وبينهمْ

ولو شئتُ أضحى بين دارِي وبينهمْ

بساطٌ بعيدٌ لِلمطايا وَبرزخُ

بساطٌ بعيدٌ لِلمطايا وَبرزخُ

And if I wished, between my home and them would lie

Were it my choice, a great desert would lie between us,

a vast expanse for mounts to cross, and a barrier.

A vast plain for mounts, an unbridgeable domain.

كأنّي مقيمٌ بين قومٍ أذلّةٍ

كأنّي مقيمٌ بين قومٍ أذلّةٍ

أَميمُ رزاياً بالجنادل يُشدَخُ

أَميمُ رزاياً بالجنادل يُشدَخُ

It is as though I dwell among an abject people,

I dwell as though among the wretched and the outcast;

wounded in the head by calamities, crushed with boulders.

My soul is galled, my heart is wrung with pain.

ولِي مُهجةٌ لم يبقَ إلّا طُلولُها

ولِي مُهجةٌ لم يبقَ إلّا طُلولُها

تُرشُّ بأنواعِ الهمومِ وتُرضَخُ

تُرشُّ بأنواعِ الهمومِ وتُرضَخُ

And I have a heart of which only the ruins remain,

Once high of spirit, now naught remains within me,

sprinkled with sorrows of every kind, and crushed.

Save ruins pelted by sorrows like driving rain.

إذا قلتُ يوماً قد مضى ما يريبها

إذا قلتُ يوماً قد مضى ما يريبها

تَراسخَ بِي ما لم يكنْ قبلُ يَرسُخُ

تَراسخَ بِي ما لم يكنْ قبلُ يَرسُخُ

If one day I say, "What troubles it has passed,"

When I say the past is done, beyond retrieving,

what had not taken root before takes firm root in me.

What was unfixed comes hurtling back again.

ويشمَخُ قومٌ ناقصون عن العُلا

ويشمَخُ قومٌ ناقصون عن العُلا

وكم بيننا أنْ كنتُ بالفضل أشمَخُ

وكم بيننا أنْ كنتُ بالفضل أشمَخُ

And people who fall short of eminence hold their heads high;

While men of meager worth aspire to heights,

yet what a gulf between us, for I have stood tall through merit!

How far above their reach have I attained!

فقلْ للّذي يبغِي لِحاقِي غباوةً

فقلْ للّذي يبغِي لِحاقِي غباوةً

أفي غير فحمٍ أنتَ دهرَك تنفُخُ

أفي غير فحمٍ أنتَ دهرَك تنفُخُ

So say to the one who foolishly seeks to catch up with me:

Say to those who envy me my greatness blindly:

Do you spend your life blowing on something other than charcoal?

Will you awaken fire by blowing at cold ash?

وَما أَنتَ إلّا يَرْمَع الدَّوِّ كارعٌ

وَما أَنتَ إلّا يَرْمَع الدَّوِّ كارعٌ

وَإلّا فغرثانٌ ولا نارَ يطبُخُ

وَإلّا فغرثانٌ ولا نارَ يطبُخُ

And you are merely one drinking the desert's pebbles,

You are but patchwork, make-believe and empty show,

or else a famished man who cooks without a fire.

No glowing coal, no fire your breath could fan.