إِليك نفثة مصدور بعثت بها

إِليك نفثة مصدور بعثت بها

والقلب والصدر مثلوج ومُنْفَسِحُ

والقلب والصدر مثلوج ومُنْفَسِحُ

To you I sent a sigh from a burdened breast,

To you I send a breath I exhaled

And heart and breast were cooled and opened wide.

With a heart and chest snow-covered and expansive

لا تعجل اللوم فيها وارعَ زهرتها

لا تعجل اللوم فيها وارعَ زهرتها

فربما كان للآداب مقترح

فربما كان للآداب مقترح

Do not hasten to blame it; tend its flower,

Do not hasten to blame it, be gentle with its blossom

For it may offer literature something new.

Perhaps it suggests a meaning more refined

والشعر أسْنى كلام نجتليه وفي

والشعر أسْنى كلام نجتليه وفي

بعض الأحاديين من أغراضه الملح

بعض الأحاديين من أغراضه الملح

And poetry is the noblest speech we behold; among

Poetry is the finest speech we string together

Some individuals, witticisms figure among its themes.

Though some petty minds miss its piquant salt

والآن أشعرت إني كنت في سِنَةٍ

والآن أشعرت إني كنت في سِنَةٍ

من الكرى فإِذا بالعِير قد نزحوا

من الكرى فإِذا بالعِير قد نزحوا

And now I was made aware that I had been in a doze

Now I feel I have reached an age

Of slumber—when, behold, the caravan had departed.

Of disillusion, as the caravan departs

وفيهم لي أُطروش سمعت به

وفيهم لي أُطروش سمعت به

وافى من الغرب في أحقابه كلح

وافى من الغرب في أحقابه كلح

Among them I had a deaf fellow, whom I had heard of;

Among them is a friend I heard of

He arrived from the west, his years marked by grimness.

Who came from the West, across the dunes

كأنما سدّ ياجوج تخيل لي

كأنما سدّ ياجوج تخيل لي

بأنه منه في الآذان مطرح

بأنه منه في الآذان مطرح

It seemed to me as though Gog’s barrier

I imagined him a wall holding back Gog and Magog

Had been cast into his ears.

Plugging my ears - his voice barely audible

تخذته حاجباً في الباب يحرسه

تخذته حاجباً في الباب يحرسه

وسمعه مرتج ما كاد ينفتح

وسمعه مرتج ما كاد ينفتح

I made him a doorkeeper at the door, to guard it,

I appointed him my chamberlain, guarding the door

And his hearing was bolted shut, scarcely opening.

His muffled voice can scarcely pass through