أما لغراب البين ينحل مقتضى

اغتراب فيبدي شؤم صدح الصدادح

Is not the raven of parting credited with the import

of estrangement, revealing ill omen in the songbirds' cries?

لقد هموا بالدهر من حيث غلبت

فواعله فاستل ما في الجوانح

Indeed, they were troubled by Time, because of the triumph

of its workings; it plucked out what lay within their breasts.

لقد جار هذا الدهر حتى استبا

حَ سلب معنى أسام خولست بالسوانح

This Time has indeed been unjust, until it deemed lawful

the theft of the meaning of names, filched by auspicious omens.

فأبقى لها وسم التشاؤم يستفز من

لا له في الدهر أقصى المطامح

Thus it left them branded with ill omen, unsettling whoever

has no lofty aspirations in Time.

وإلا فأهل التدبيرات جربوا

وقائعه فاستشرفوا للمطارح

Otherwise, those versed in planning have tested

its vicissitudes, and looked ahead to the places of downfall.

فلم يركنوا فيه للأوائه ولا

لنعمائه واستروحوا بالنصائح

So, within it, they relied neither on its hardships nor

on its blessings, and found solace in counsel.

وأرزا للأحرار نأي أحبّة

خصوصا إذا ملوا زيارة نازح

And more grievous to the noble is the distance of loved ones,

especially when they tire of visiting one far away.

وما ظمأ الأحباب يقطعه اتصا

ل روحانيات في اقتناص مراوح

Nor is the thirst for loved ones quenched by communion

of spirits in the pursuit of refreshing breezes.

وإن كان ود الود طنب في الحشا

بروحانيات طاهرات صحائح

Even though love of love has pitched its tent within the breast

through pure and sound spiritual essences,

قد اشمخرت هامات همة مرغبي

فلا أكتفي إلا بمغنى المسارح

the summits of my yearning's resolve have indeed towered high;

so I am content only with the abode amid the pastures.

ولكن إذا بعنا بأبخس قيمة

رجعت لبيت هو إحدى الصحاصح

But if we are sold for the paltriest price,

I return to a verse, itself a bare, open plain:

ولسنا نبالي إن فراسخ بيننا

فإن الوداد راسخ واللوائح

We care not if leagues lie between us,

for affection is firmly rooted, and so are the signs.

نقيم شؤون الدهر في كل نازل

بحق أمين الوحي مبنى المرابح

We set Time's affairs in order at every trial,

by the right of revelation's trustee, the foundation of gain.

وأشرق في وجه الأماني كوا

كب السعود فإبتم باغتنام المفاتح

And upon the face of hopes shone the stars

of good fortune; so you returned having gained the keys.

وعشش منا القلب بالقدس شاهدا

مشاهد أهل الغراب أهل النوافح

And the heart within us nested in holiness, witnessing

the scenes of the raven's folk, the folk of fragrant breezes.

وزهدنا في الكون طرا وأهله

وأودع سر العلم تحت الشراسح

And we renounced the whole cosmos and its people,

and the secret of knowledge was lodged beneath the broad cloth coverings.