1. مَن ذا الّذي يَنجو من الآجالِ

    في هابطٍ من أرضهِ أو عالِ

    Who is it that escapes life's appointed ends,

    in a low part of his land or a high one?

  2. ومَنِ المعرّجُ عن صُروفِ نوائبٍ

    يُجرَرْنَ فيه أو حُتوفِ ليالِ

    And who can turn aside from the vicissitudes of calamities

    drawn through his life, or the deaths the nights bring?

  3. يا قربَ بين إقامةٍ وترحُّلٍ

    والصّبحُ صبحُ العيش والآصالِ

    O how short the gap between staying and departing,

    and dawn—life's dawn—and its evenings!

  4. وإذا اللّيالي قوّضَتْ ما تبتَني

    فكأنّها ما بلّغتْ آمالي

    And when the nights dismantle what they build,

    it is as though they never fulfilled my hopes.

  5. ما لي أُعلَّلُ كلَّ يومٍ بالمنى

    وأُساقُ من عِدٍّ إلى أوشالِ

    Why am I consoled each day with hopes,

    and driven from an unfailing spring to scant trickles?

  6. ويغرّني الإكثارُ من نَشَبٍ وما ال

    إكثارُ إلّا أوَّلُ الإقلالِ

    And amassing possessions beguiles me, yet

    abundance is only the beginning of scarcity.

  7. قطّعْ حبالك من فتىً عصفتْ به

    هوجُ المنون فقد قطعتُ حبالي

    Sever your cords from a young man buffeted

    by death's raging winds; for I have severed my cords.

  8. كم من أخٍ عُرِّيتُ منه بالرَّدى

    فَعططتُ قلبي منه لا سِرْبالي

    How many a brother have I been stripped of by death,

    so that I tore my heart for him, not my robe.

  9. ووصلتُه حيّاً ولمّا أن أتتْ

    رُسُل الحِمامِ إليه مات وِصالي

    And I kept close to him in life; but when there came

    death's messengers to him, my bond with him died.

  10. جزعي رخيصٌ يوم فاجَأَ فقدُه

    قلباً به صبّاً وصبرِيَ غالِ

    My anguish was cheap the day his loss startled

    a heart enamored of him, while my patience was dear.

  11. ونبذته في حفرةٍ مسدودة ال

    أعماق عن رِيحَي صَباً وشمالِ

    And I cast him into a pit, sealed in its

    depths against the east and north winds.

  12. وكأنّه لمّا مضى بمسرّتي

    عَجِلاً أتاني من مَطيفِ خيالي

    And it was as though, when he departed with my joy,

    in haste, he had come to me from a passing vision of my fancy.

  13. حتّى متى أَنَا في إِسارِ غَرورةٍ

    وَرْهاءَ تُسحرني بكلّ مُحالِ

    How long shall I be captive to a deceiver,

    a foolish one who bewitches me with every impossibility?

  14. ما لي بها إلّا الشّجى وعلى الصّدى

    وقدِ اِستَطال عليَّ غيرُ الآلِ

    I have nothing through her but sorrow, and I am athirst,

    while those outside the family lord it over me,

  15. بخلائقٍ مملولةٍ مذمومةٍ

    عُوجٍ ولكنْ ما لهنّ ملالي

    with wearisome, blameworthy ways,

    crooked—yet they never weary of me.

  16. أوَ ما رأيتَ وقد رأيتَ معاشراً

    سَكَنوا كما اِقتَرحوا قِلالَ معالِ

    Have you not seen—and you have indeed seen—companies of men

    who dwelt, as they wished, on the summits of eminence?

  17. حكّوا بهامِهِمُ السّماءَ وجرّروا

    في الخافقين فواضلَ الأذيالِ

    They scraped the sky with their heads and trailed

    their robes' ample hems across east and west.

  18. وتحلّقوا شرفاً وعزّاً باهراً

    والموتُ حطّهُمُ من الأجبالِ

    And they soared in honor and dazzling might,

    yet death brought them down from the mountains.

  19. من كلّ مهضوم الحَشا سبطِ الشّوى

    كَرَماً وممتدِّ القناةِ طوالِ

    Each slender-waisted, with hands freely extended

    in generosity, long of spear-shaft and tall;

  20. دخّالِ كلِّ كريهةٍ ولّاجِها

    جوّابِ كلِّ عظيمةٍ جوّالِ

    plunging into every ordeal, pressing deep into it,

    traversing every great trial, ever roaming;

  21. متهجّمٍ إذْ لاتَ حين تهجّمٍ

    واليومُ مُثْرٍ من قنىً ونصالِ

    charging when it was no time to charge,

    while the day was rich in spears and blades.

  22. وإذا هُمُ سُئِلوا ندىً وجدوا وقد

    سَبقوا إليه قبل كلّ سؤالِ

    And when asked for bounty, they were found already to have

    hastened to it before any request.

  23. طلعوا على أُفقِ النّدى في ساعةٍ

    لا طالعٌ فيها طلوعَ هلالِ

    They rose upon the horizon of generosity at an hour

    when no one rose there as a crescent rises.

  24. يا نازحاً عنّي على ضَنّي به

    خذ ما تشاء اليومَ مِن إِعْوالِي

    O you far from me, though I grudged letting you go,

    take what you wish today of my wailing.

  25. قد كنتُ ذا ثِقْلٍ ولكنْ زادني

    فيك الرّدى ثِقْلاً عل أثقالي

    I already bore a burden, but I was given

    by death, through you, a burden atop my burdens.

  26. يا لَيتني ما إنْ تخذتُك صاحباً

    وأُحيلَ ودٌّ بيننا بِتَقالِ

    Would that I had never taken you as a companion,

    and that the love between us had been changed to mutual aversion!

  27. فارقتني وأُخِذْتَ قسراً من يدي

    من غير أنْ خطر الفراقُ ببالي

    You left me and were taken by force from my hand,

    without parting ever having crossed my mind.

  28. مَن ذا قضى من شملنا بتبدّدٍ

    ورمى اِجتماعاً بيننا بزِيالِ

    Who decreed the scattering of our union,

    and struck our togetherness with separation?

  29. إن يَسلُ عنك الجاهلون محاسناً

    عرّسْنَ فيك فلستُ عنك بسالِ

    If those ignorant of your virtues forget you—

    virtues that dwelt in you—I am not one to forget you.

  30. أو لَمْ تَرُعهم بالفراق فإنّني

    مذ بِنتَ ممتلئٌ من الأَوجالِ

    Or if your parting did not frighten them, I,

    since you departed, have been filled with fears.

  31. إنْ تدنُ منّي وُصلةً وقرابةً

    فَلأَنتَ في قلبي من الحُلّالِ

    If you draw near to me in bond and kinship,

    you are surely among those dwelling in my heart.

  32. وأجلُّ من قُرباك بالنسب الّذي

    لا حمدَ فيه قرابةُ الأفعالِ

    And greater than your kinship by lineage, which

    earns no praise, is kinship in deeds.

  33. فدعِ التّناسبَ بالشّعوب فما له

    جدوىً تَفِي بتناسب الأحوالِ

    So leave kinship by tribal lineage aside: it has no

    benefit to match affinity in character.

  34. ما ضرّ خِلّي أن يكون مفارقاً

    في عنصري وخلاله كخِلالي

    Why should it harm my friend to differ from me

    in origin, when his traits are like mine?

  35. وإذا خليلي لم أُطِقْ فعلاً به

    يكفي الرّدى زوَّدتُه أقوالي

    And when I could perform no deed for my friend

    to ward off death, I provisioned him with my words.

  36. وسقى الإلهُ حفيرةً أُسْكِنْتَها

    ما شئتَ من سحٍّ ومن هطّالِ

    And may God water the little grave in which you were laid

    with all the torrents and downpours you desire.

  37. وأتَتْكَ عفواً كلُّ وَطْفاءِ الكُلى

    ملأى من اللّمَعانِ والجَلْجالِ

    And may every cloud with thick-fringed flanks come to you unbidden,

    full of lightning flashes and thunderous rumbling.

  38. وإذا مَضتْ عَجْلى اِستَنابتْ غيرها

    كيلا تضرّ بذلك الإعجالِ

    And if it passes in haste, may it appoint another in its stead,

    lest it cause harm by that haste.

  39. وَإِذا اِنقلبتَ إلى الجِنانِ فإنّما

    ذاك التفرّقُ غايةُ الإقبالِ

    And when you return to the Gardens, surely

    that separation is the height of good fortune.

  40. ولقيتَ من عفو الإلهِ وصفحهِ

    فوقَ الّذي ترجو بغير مِطالِ

    And may you receive God's pardon and forgiveness

    beyond what you hope for, without delay.

  41. وإذا نجوتَ السّوءَ في يومٍ به

    كان الجزاءُ فإنّ كعبَك عالِ

    And if you escape evil on the day when

    recompense is given, then your standing is high.