غَدَوتُ أَسيراً في الزَمانِ كَأَنَّني

غَدَوتُ أَسيراً في الزَمانِ كَأَنَّني

عَروضُ طَويلٍ قَبضُها لَيسَ يُبسِطُ

عَروضُ طَويلٍ قَبضُها لَيسَ يُبسِطُ

I have become a captive in time, as though I were

I have become a prisoner of time, as though

the final foot of Ṭawīl’s first hemistich, whose contraction is never undone.

I am verses of long meter whose grasp cannot extend

وَإِن كُنتُ في بَعضِ الحُكومَةِ قاسِطاً

وَإِن كُنتُ في بَعضِ الحُكومَةِ قاسِطاً

فَغَيرِيَ مِن هَذي البَريَّةِ أَقسطُ

فَغَيرِيَ مِن هَذي البَريَّةِ أَقسطُ

And if I have been unjust in some judgments,

And if I was unjust in some rule

then others among these creatures are more unjust.

Others in this wilderness are more unjust

وَأَوتادُ أَبياتٍ مِنَ الشِعرِ حُزتُهُ

وَأَوتادُ أَبياتٍ مِنَ الشِعرِ حُزتُهُ

كَأَوتادِ بَيتِ الشَعرِ حينَ تَوَسَّطُ

كَأَوتادِ بَيتِ الشَعرِ حينَ تَوَسَّطُ

And the metrical pegs of verses of poetry I have gathered

And pegs of verses of poetry held

are like the pegs of a hair-cloth tent when you stand within it.

Like pegs of a nomad's tent when pitched