ما أَميَلَ النَفسَ إِلى الباطِلِ
وَأَهوَنَ الدُنيا عَلى العاقِلِ
How prone the soul is to falsehood,
and how trifling this world is to the wise!
تُرضي الفَتى في عاجِلٍ شَهوَةٌ
لَو خَسِرَ الجَنَّةَ في الآجِلِ
A desire gratifies a young man here and now,
even if he loses Paradise in the hereafter.
يَبيعُ ما يَبقى بِما يَنقَضي
فِعلُ السَفيهِ الأَحمَقِ الجاهِلِ
He sells what endures for what passes away—
the act of a foolish, witless, ignorant man.
يا مَن رَأى لي واصِلاً مُرشِداً
وَإِنَّني أَكلَفُ بِالواصِلِ
Who has seen for me a guide who has attained?
And indeed, I am passionately devoted to one who has attained.
يا مَن رَأى لي عالِماً عامِلاً
فَأَلزَمُ الخِدمَةَ لِلعامِلِ
Who has seen for me a scholar who acts on his knowledge?
Then I devote myself to serving the one who acts.
أَم مَن رَأى عالِماً ساكِتاً
وَعَقلُهُ في عالَمٍ جائِلِ
Or who has seen a silent scholar,
whose mind roams through a world?
يَسرَحُ في زَهرِ رِياضِ النُهى
لَيسَت كَرَوضِ ماحِلٍ ذابِلِ
It roams among the blossoms in the gardens of reason,
which are not like a parched, withered garden.
يا رُبَّ قَلبٍ كَجَناحٍ هَفَت
قَد غابَ في بَحرٍ بِلا ساحِلِ
Ah, many a heart, fluttering like a wing,
has vanished into a sea without a shore.
يُصَرِّفُ الخَطرَةَ مَذعورَةً
مِمّا يَرى مِن مَنظَرٍ هائِلِ
It turns a terrified thought this way and that,
at the dreadful spectacle it sees.
آهٍ لِسِرٍّ صُنتُهُ لَم أَجِد
خَلفاً لَهُ قَطُّ بِمُستاهِلِ
Ah, for a secret I have guarded! I have not found
a worthy heir to it, ever.
هَل يَقُظٌ يَسأَلُني عَلَّني
أَكشِفُهُ لِليَقُظِ السائِلِ
Is there someone wakeful to ask me, that I might
reveal it to the wakeful questioner?
قَد يَرحَلُ المَرءُ لِمَطلوبِهِ
وَالسَبَبُ المَطلوبُ في الراحِلِ
A man may journey in pursuit of what he seeks,
yet the means he seeks are within the traveler.
لَو شُغِلَ المَرءُ بِتَركيبِهِ
كانَ بِهِ في شُغُلٍ شاغِلِ
If a man were absorbed in his own composition,
he would be wholly occupied with it,
وَعايَنَ الحِكمَةَ مَجموعَةً
ماثِلَةً في هَيكَلٍ ماثِلِ
and would behold wisdom gathered together,
manifest in a body standing before him.
يا أَيُّها الغافِلُ عَن نَفسِهِ
وَيكَ أُفُق مِن سِنَةِ الغافِلِ
O you who are heedless of yourself,
woe to you! Awake from the heedless one's slumber.
وَانظُر إِلى الطاعَةِ مَشهورَةً
في الفَلَكِ الصاعِدِ وَالنازِلِ
And look at obedience, plainly displayed,
in the heavenly sphere, rising and descending.
وَالحَظ بِعَينَيكَ أَديمَ السَما
مِن طالِعٍ فيها وَمِن آفِلِ
And observe with your own eyes the face of the sky,
with bodies rising in it and bodies setting.
كُلٌّ عَلى مَسلَكِهِ لا يُرى
عَن ذَلِكَ المَسلَكِ بِالمائِلِ
Each follows its course; none is seen
deviating from that course.
لَو دَبَّرَت أَنفُسَها لَم تَغِب
وَاِطَّلَعَ الناقِصُ كَالكامِلِ
If they governed themselves, they would not set,
and the incomplete would rise like the complete.
وَاِنظُر إِلى المُزنَةِ مَشحونَةً
مُثقَلَةَ الكاهِلِ كَالبازِلِ
And look at the rain cloud, laden,
weighed down at the withers like a full-grown camel.
تَحِنُّ مِن شَوقٍ إِلى وَقفَةٍ
أَو خَطرَةٍ بِالبَلَدِ الماحِلِ
It moans with longing for a halt,
or a passing visit to the parched land.
يا لَكَ بُستانَ عُقولٍ بَدا
لِعَينِ قَلبِ المُؤمِنِ العاقِلِ
Ah, what a garden for minds has appeared
to the heart's eye of the wise believer!
فَسِرُّ هَذا الشَأنِ لا يَنجَلي
إِلّا لِعَبدٍ مُخلِصٍ فاضِلِ
For the secret of this matter is not unveiled
except to a sincere, virtuous servant.
Sol 6.1