بَصُرتُ بِشَيبَةٍ وَخَطَت نَصيلي
فَقُلتُ لَهُ تَأَهَّب لِلرَحيلِ
A gray hair opened my eyes as it streaked my forelock;
I noticed a gray hair streaking my locks;
then I told it, “Prepare for departure.”
So I said to it: Make ready for departure.
وَلا يَهُنِ القَليلُ عَلَيكَ مِنها
فَما في الشَيبِ وَيحَكَ مِن قَليلِ
Do not deem even a little of it insignificant:
And let not a little of it seem trivial to you;
in gray hair—alas for you—nothing is slight.
For nothing in gray hair—woe to you!—is little.
وَكَم قَد أَبصَرَت عَيناكَ مُزناً
أَصابَكَ طَلُّها قَبلَ الهُمولِ
How many a raincloud your eyes have seen,
And how often your eyes have seen rain clouds
its drizzle reaching you before the downpour.
Whose drizzle reached you before the downpour.
وَكَم عايَنتَ خَيطَ الصُبحِ يَجلو
سَوادَ اللَيلِ كَالسَيفِ الصَقيلِ
How often you have watched the thread of dawn clear
And how often you have seen dawn's thread dispel
the night’s blackness like a polished sword.
The blackness of night, like a polished sword.
وَلا تَحقِر بِنُذرِ الشَيبِ وَاِعلَم
بِأَنَّ القَطرَ يَبعَثُ بِالسُيولِ
Do not belittle gray hair’s warnings, and know
And do not belittle gray hair's warnings; know
that raindrops can unleash floods.
That raindrops bring on torrents.
فَكَم مِمَّن مَفارِقُهُ ثَغامٌ
وَأَنجُمُهُ عَلى فَلَكِ الأُفولِ
How many a man, his temples white as thagham,
For many a man whose hair-partings are white thagham
his stars wheeling in the sphere of setting,
And whose stars are in the sphere of setting
تَعَوَّضَ مِن ذِراعِ الخَطوِ فِتراً
وَمِن عَضبٍ بِمَفلولِ كَليلِ
has traded a cubit-long stride for a mere span,
Has traded a cubit's stride for a finger-span,
and a keen blade for one blunted and dull.
And a keen sword for one nicked and blunt.
فَكَيفَ بِمِثلِهِ لِمَهاةِ رَملٍ
كَأَنَّ وِصالَها نَومُ العَليلِ
How could a man like him suit a gazelle of the sands,
How, then, could one like him woo an oryx of the sands?
when union with her is like a sick man’s sleep?
Union with her is like the sleep of the ailing.
تَطَلُّبُ غَيرِ ما في الطَبعِ صَعبٌ
عَلَيكَ فَدَع طِلابَ المُستَحيلِ
Seeking what lies outside nature is hard
Seeking what lies outside one's nature is hard
for you—so abandon pursuit of the impossible.
For you; so abandon the pursuit of the impossible.
وَلازِم قَرعَ بابِ الرَبِّ دَأباً
فَإِنَّ لُزومَهُ سَبَبُ الدُخولِ
Keep knocking at the Lord’s door, tirelessly;
And keep knocking at the Lord's door unceasingly,
for persistence there is the means of entry.
For staying at it is the means of entry.
فَما مِن مُخلِصٍ لِلَّهِ إِلّا
عَلى أَعمالِهِ أَثَرُ القُبولِ
There is no one sincere to God but that
For no one sincerely devoted to God is without
his deeds bear the mark of acceptance.
The mark of acceptance upon his deeds.
Sol 6.1