خلا جيبي ففارقني رفاقي

بما في الجيب يقترب الرفاق

My pocket emptied, so my companions deserted me.

Companions draw near for what is in the pocket.

أحباء ولا مال فهذا

وحق الحب حال لا يطاق

Friends but no money—this,

by love's sanctity, is an unbearable state.

زمانك حشوه غدر ولؤم

وإخوان شريعتهم نفاق

Your times are stuffed with treachery and baseness,

and brothers whose law is hypocrisy.

إذا اثريت كانوا كل يوم

ضيوفك والمكان لهم رحيب

When you grow rich, each day they are

your guests, with ample room for them.

وإن أجديت طاروا عنك لطفا

فما للطير عيش في الجدوب

But if you fall into want, they lightly fly away from you,

for birds find no livelihood in barren lands.

وأدبني الزمان وما أراني

بهذي الحال أدبني الزمان

And time has schooled me, yet I do not find myself

schooled by time in this plight.

لقد أصبحت مما قد جنيتم

أرى ماء المدامع من شرابي

Through the wrongs you have done, I have come

to see the water of tears as part of my drink.

سقاني الدهر كأس الحزن صرفا

فكنتم في زماني من صحابي

Time gave me sorrow's cup to drink, unmixed,

and in my time you were among my companions.

زمان أنتمو فيه زمان

قريب العهد من لمح السراب

A time with you in it is a time

not far removed from the gleam of a mirage.

ولولا صبوة مني لهنتم

وكان الهجر معسول الرضاب

Were it not for my infatuation, you would have meant little,

and parting would have had honey-sweet lips.

سأنسى كيف أنسى لست أدرى

ففي النسيان أكواب العذاب

I shall forget—but how can I forget? I do not know.

For in forgetting are cups of torment.

وشاب الرأس من وجدى وحبي

فأخفيت الذوائب بالخضاب

And my head grew gray from my longing and my love,

so I concealed my tresses with dye.

وعدت فلم أجد للشيب عذرا

فإني راغما ولي شبابي

And I returned, but found no excuse for gray hair,

for, against my will, my youth has fled.

قصائد في البلاغ تقول إني

فتى في حبه الطاغي جهول

Poems in Al-Balagh say that I am

a young man, foolish in his overwhelming love.

وما ذنبي وأحمالي ثقال

بهن بكى لأحمالي العذول

And what is my fault, when my burdens are so heavy

that even my reproacher wept over my burdens?

شقينا في محبتنا أجيبوا

فما لي في الشكاية ما أقول

We have suffered in our love—answer!

For I have nothing to say in complaint.

لعل اللَه يدركني بلطف

ومن روض المعارف أستقيل

Perhaps God will come to my aid with kindness,

and I shall resign from the garden of learning.

وزارتنا بغت ظلما علينا

فليس بها صديق أو خليل

Our ministry has unjustly oppressed us,

so within it there is neither friend nor intimate companion.

زكى في وزارته غريب

فلا تستنكروا شكوى الغريب

Zaki is a stranger in his own ministry;

so do not be surprised by the stranger's complaint.