أبَي الزّمان سوى ما يكره الشّرفُ

أبَي الزّمان سوى ما يكره الشّرفُ

والدّهرُ صَبٌّ بإسخاطِ العُلا كَلفُ

والدّهرُ صَبٌّ بإسخاطِ العُلا كَلفُ

Time has refused all but what honor loathes.

Time refused everything but what honor loathes,

And time is enamored of angering greatness, obsessed.

And fate pours to anger the exalted ruthlessly.

لو كان شخصٌ تفوت الحزنَ مهجتُهُ

لو كان شخصٌ تفوت الحزنَ مهجتُهُ

لكنتَ ذاك ولكنْ ليس تنتصفُ

لكنتَ ذاك ولكنْ ليس تنتصفُ

If there were a person whose lifeblood could elude sorrow,

If there was someone sorrow could not reach his soul,

you would be that one—but you gain no redress.

You would be that one, but none can be consoled.

إذا بَقِيتَ فمن يعدوك مُحتَسبٌ

إذا بَقِيتَ فمن يعدوك مُحتَسبٌ

في الشّمسِ ما أشرقت عن كوكبٍ خَلَفُ

في الشّمسِ ما أشرقت عن كوكبٍ خَلَفُ

If you survive, anyone lost besides you is mourned with resignation;

If you remain, who would count you as devout?

in the sun, so long as it shines, there is a replacement for any star.

The sun never rose behind any planet left behind.

إذا تيقَّنتِ الأرواحُ بِعْثَتَها

إذا تيقَّنتِ الأرواحُ بِعْثَتَها

إلى الحِمامِ فماذا ينفع الأسفُ

إلى الحِمامِ فماذا ينفع الأسفُ

When souls are certain they are being sent

When souls are certain of their resurrection,

to death, what good does sorrow do?

What good is sorrow anymore?

وَكيف تُخطِي سهامُ الموت مُفْلِتَةً

وَكيف تُخطِي سهامُ الموت مُفْلِتَةً

مَنْ نَحرُهُمْ لحنِيّاتِ الرّدى هدفُ

مَنْ نَحرُهُمْ لحنِيّاتِ الرّدى هدفُ

And how can death's arrows miss, letting escape

How can death's arrows miss their mark

those whose throats are targets for the bows of doom?

When they aim for the necks of ruin's singers?

يسعى الفتى وخيولُ الموت تطلبه

يسعى الفتى وخيولُ الموت تطلبه

وإنْ نوى وقفةً فالموتُ ما يقفُ

وإنْ نوى وقفةً فالموتُ ما يقفُ

The young man hastens, while death's horses pursue him;

The youth strives while death's horses pursue him,

and if he intends to halt, death does not halt.

And if he pauses but a moment, death does not.

نَلقى من الدّهر ما يُدمِي محاجرَنا

نَلقى من الدّهر ما يُدمِي محاجرَنا

وما لنا عن هوَى رؤياه مُنْصَرَفُ

وما لنا عن هوَى رؤياه مُنْصَرَفُ

We meet with things from time that make our eye sockets bleed,

We face blows of fate that make us weep,

yet we cannot turn away from our longing to behold it.

Yet we cannot avert the desire for its vision.

أفعالُنا للرَّزايا فيه مُنكِرةٌ

أفعالُنا للرَّزايا فيه مُنكِرةٌ

ونطقُنا باِرتحالٍ عنه معترِفُ

ونطقُنا باِرتحالٍ عنه معترِفُ

Our deeds deny the calamities within it,

Our deeds deny the calamities within it,

while our speech acknowledges departure from it.

While our words confess to departing from it.

إِنْ لم توفِّ لياليه مكارهَها

إِنْ لم توفِّ لياليه مكارهَها

فقد تقدّم في أرزائها سَلَفُ

فقد تقدّم في أرزائها سَلَفُ

If its nights have not dealt their afflictions in full,

If its nights do not fulfill their afflictions,

others have already gone before amid their calamities.

Much has preceded of its pain.

كلُّ المواطن من كفّ الرّدى كَثَبٌ

كلُّ المواطن من كفّ الرّدى كَثَبٌ

وكلُّ أرضٍ على هول الرّدى شَرَفُ

وكلُّ أرضٍ على هول الرّدى شَرَفُ

All places lie close to the hand of doom,

Every dwelling is gripped by the hand of doom,

and every land is a height overlooking doom's terror.

And every land overlooks the horror of fate.

لا دَرَّ دَرُّ اللّيالِي أخذُها فُرَصٌ

لا دَرَّ دَرُّ اللّيالِي أخذُها فُرَصٌ

ومنعُها غُصَصٌ بل جودها سَرَفُ

ومنعُها غُصَصٌ بل جودها سَرَفُ

May no bounty flow from the nights! Their taking seizes its chances,

The nights' downpours are seized by opportunities,

and their withholding is choking grief—nay, their generosity is excess.

Denied by distress, though their rain poured heavily.

إذا حزنتَ فقلبُ المجد مكتئبٌ

إذا حزنتَ فقلبُ المجد مكتئبٌ

وإنْ قُذِيتَ ففي وجه الضُّحى سَدَفُ

وإنْ قُذِيتَ ففي وجه الضُّحى سَدَفُ

If you grieve, the heart of glory is dejected,

If you grieve, the heart of glory is saddened,

and if a mote troubles your eye, darkness veils the face of morning.

And if you are helmeted, the face of dawn loses its brightness.

ولو علمتَ ببسطِ الدّهرِ قبضتَهُ

ولو علمتَ ببسطِ الدّهرِ قبضتَهُ

إلى فِنائِك ما طالتْ له كَتِفُ

إلى فِنائِك ما طالتْ له كَتِفُ

And had you known that time was stretching out its fist

Had you known the grasping of fate's outpouring,

toward your courtyard, its shoulder would not have stretched so far.

You would not have longed for its end.

لكنّه سارقٌ يُخفِي زيارتَه

لكنّه سارقٌ يُخفِي زيارتَه

وليس من سطوةِ السّرّاقِ مُنتَصَفُ

وليس من سطوةِ السّرّاقِ مُنتَصَفُ

But it is a thief that conceals its visit,

But it is a thief hiding its visit;

and there is no redress against the onslaught of thieves.

No fairness is expected from the tyranny of thieves.

إنْ كل أطلق فيك الدّهرُ منطقَه

إنْ كل أطلق فيك الدّهرُ منطقَه

فقد دعاك لسانٌ حشوُهُ كَفَفُ

فقد دعاك لسانٌ حشوُهُ كَفَفُ

If time has unleashed all its speech against you,

If fate ever unleashed its speech at you,

then a tongue filled with impediments has addressed you.

It was a tongue whose filler was palms.

أو كان ألْهَبَ في مَغناك سابقَهُ

أو كان ألْهَبَ في مَغناك سابقَهُ

فقد ثناه برجلٍ ملؤُها حَنَفُ

فقد ثناه برجلٍ ملؤُها حَنَفُ

Or if it has spurred its racing steed within your dwelling,

Or it had provoked your ear with its forerunner,

then it has turned it back with a leg full of crookedness.

It was a foot filled with deviation.

يُهدِي العزاءَ إلى المفقودِ مُفتَقِدٌ

يُهدِي العزاءَ إلى المفقودِ مُفتَقِدٌ

مؤزَّرٌ بثيابِ الموتِ مُلتحفُ

مؤزَّرٌ بثيابِ الموتِ مُلتحفُ

A bereaved one offers consolation to the lost one,

A mourner who wraps himself in death's clothes

girded and cloaked in the garments of death.

Directs condolences to the bereft.

ويصرف الهمَّ عن قلبٍ أطاف به

ويصرف الهمَّ عن قلبٍ أطاف به

مَن قلبُهُ لنواصي الهمّ مكتنفُ

مَن قلبُهُ لنواصي الهمّ مكتنفُ

And sorrow is turned from a heart it has encircled

One whose heart is held by the reins of anxiety

by one whose own heart encompasses sorrow's forelocks.

Turns worries away from a heart encircled by them.

إنّ الّتي أضرمتْ أحشاءَنا جَزَعاً

إنّ الّتي أضرمتْ أحشاءَنا جَزَعاً

تلقاك منها غداً في الجنّةِ الزُّلفُ

تلقاك منها غداً في الجنّةِ الزُّلفُ

Indeed, she who set our entrails ablaze with anguish—

She who lit our souls aflame with anguish

her nearness will greet you tomorrow in Paradise.

Will meet you in the gardens of proximity tomorrow.

ولن يُذكّرك المُسلون موعظةً

ولن يُذكّرك المُسلون موعظةً

وأنت تعلم منها فوق ما وصفوا

وأنت تعلم منها فوق ما وصفوا

Nor will those who console you remind you of a lesson,

The counselors will not remind you of advice

when you know more of it than they have described.

While you know more than their descriptions.