أنظرهما في الظلام قد نجَما

أنظرهما في الظلام قد نجَما

كَما رَنا في الدُجُنَّةِ الأَسَدُ

كَما رَنا في الدُجُنَّةِ الأَسَدُ

I see them both shining forth in the darkness,

I see them shining in the dark

as the lion gazed in the gloom.

As the lion growled in its den

يفتحُ عينيهِ ثمَّ يطبقهُما

يفتحُ عينيهِ ثمَّ يطبقهُما

فِعلُ اِمرئ في جُفونِهِ رَمَدُ

فِعلُ اِمرئ في جُفونِهِ رَمَدُ

He opens his eyes, then closes them,

Opening its eyes then closing them

like a man whose eyelids are inflamed.

A man's deeds are like dust in his eyelids

فاِبتزَّهُ الدهرُ نورَ واحدةٍ

فاِبتزَّهُ الدهرُ نورَ واحدةٍ

وَهَل نَجا مِن صُروفِهِ أَحَدُ

وَهَل نَجا مِن صُروفِهِ أَحَدُ

Then time robbed him of the light of one eye—

Fate snatched away a single light

and has anyone escaped its vicissitudes?

Did anyone escape its twists and turns?