أرى الدهر خوانا يعادي الجوائبا

وينصب لي فيها الصديق محاربا

I see time as treacherous, warring against al-Jawa'ib,

and there setting my friend against me as a foe.

لقد كان ذا عقم فلما بدت له

نتائجها الغراء ولي مغاضبا

It had been barren; but when there appeared to it

its radiant fruits, it turned away in anger.

وقد كان يرجو وهو ذو خرف بان

اعلله منها بداح مداعبا

And, senile as it was, it had hoped that

I would entertain it with a game from it, in jest.

فلما رآها انها الجدّ نفسه

اذا هو قد اضرى عليها المشاغبا

But when it saw that it was earnestness itself,

behold, it had set the troublemaker upon it.

وما تلك اولى فعلة سآني بها

ولا تلك اولى ما تحملت شاحبا

And that was not the first deed by which it distressed me,

nor the first thing I bore, grown pale.

ايحبسني من اجل اني صادح

ويحيط سعيي ان رآني دائبا

Does it imprison me because I sing aloud,

and hem in my striving when it sees me persevering?

ايحسبني اني اذل لعزه

عليّ وامسى من رزاياه هائبا

Does it suppose that I would bow to its might

over me, and grow fearful of its calamities?

ولي قلم ان لم يكن في جوائب

يكن في سواها حيثما كنت جائبا

And I have a pen: if it is not in al-Jawa'ib,

it will be elsewhere, wherever I roam.

يمنعني الجدران والنبت والحصى

اكثبها جندا عليه كتائبا

The walls, the plants, and the pebbles protect me;

I muster them as troops, in battalions against it.

الا ليت شعري كم اعاني نوائبا

ويحمل منها منكباي نواكبا

Ah, would that I knew how many calamities I endure,

and how many crushing misfortunes my shoulders bear from them.

اضام ومالي ناصى اتقى به

رواسب دهر تستفز الرواسبا

I am oppressed, with no defender through whom to ward off

time's deep-set burdens, which shake even the firmly settled.

اذا رمت امرا حال بيني وبينه

واصبح لي فيه خصيما مراقبا

Whenever I seek a thing, it comes between me and it,

and becomes my adversary in it, keeping watch.

فلا هو يأتيد بغبري ولا يرى

سراحي واني منه اقضى المآربا

It neither eases up on what is left of me nor allows

my freedom, though through it I fulfill my aims.

اقام عليّ اليوم عينا رقيبة

واقعد كل الليل عندي حاجبا

Today it has set a watchful eye over me,

and seated a gatekeeper beside me all night.

وهل انا الا بين يوم وليلة

فاني اذا فاتا اطول المطالبا

And am I anywhere but between a day and a night?

For if those two were gone, I would attain my goals.

افي كل سعي لاح لي منه مطمع

اجازى بحرمان فارجع خائبا

In every endeavor from which some prospect of gain appears to me,

am I repaid with deprivation, so that I return disappointed?

نخلت لاهل العصر نصحي وطيتي

فلحت عيانا منه في الحال شائبا

I sifted my counsel and my intentions for the people of this age,

and from it I appeared visibly gray-haired at once.

وما كنت احجو انهم يجهلونه

وينسيهم منه الدهاء التجاربا

And I had not supposed that they would fail to understand it,

or that cunning would make them forget the experience gained from it.

اان صم عني معشر شمل العمى

معاشر حتى لا يرون المخاطبا

Is it because one group turned deaf to me that blindness has engulfed

whole groups, so that they cannot see the one addressing them?

اذا لم يجد حر خدينا مصافيا

فاحرى له ان لا يخادن صاحبا

If a free man finds no sincere companion,

he had better not befriend anyone.

ومن لم يجد من بين اهل له اخا

فاولى له ان لا يؤاخى الاجانبا

And whoever finds no brother among his own kin

had better not take strangers as brothers.

ومن كان لم يحفظ له العهد حاضر

فلا يطلبنه عند من كان غائبا

And whoever has had no one present keep faith with him,

let him not seek it from someone absent.

ومن طلب البرهان منه على الضحى

فاجدر به ان لا يجيب المطالبا

And whoever is asked for proof of daylight

had better not answer the one demanding it.

ومن عد سهلا أن يكذب صادقا

تعود جهلا ان يصدق كاذبا

And whoever deems it easy to call a truthful man a liar

grows accustomed, in ignorance, to believing a liar.

ومن زيف النقد الصحيح فانه

يجاد الى زيف فيأتيه لائبا

And whoever declares genuine coinage counterfeit

is drawn toward counterfeit and comes to it thirsting.

أعوذ برب الناس من شر حاسد

يرى كل ما تحوى العياب معايبا

I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind from the evil of an envier

who sees whatever the trunks hold as faults.

يرعى كل عيب دون عيب بنفسه

وان كان منه قد تردى جلاببا

He watches every fault except the fault in himself,

though he has donned robes of that very fault.

اتاني كلام ا لناس ما بين حاسد

وآخر خلاق عليّ شوائبا

People's talk has reached me—from an envious man

and another who fabricates blemishes against me.

وما دريا اني امرؤ لا تضيره

ضواري كلام لو لغيري لاسبا

And neither knew that I am a man who is not harmed

by savage beasts of speech that would sting another.

إذا كان دهري مولعا باساءتي

فذلك شان لا يشين المناقبا

If my time is bent on mistreating me,

that is a matter that does not tarnish noble qualities.

وإن كان سعيي في الجوائب خاسرا

فإني لذخر الفخر أصبحت كاسبا

And if my striving in al-Jawa'ib runs at a loss,

then I have gained a treasure of glory.