كانَت قَناتي لا تَلينُ لِغامِزٍ

كانَت قَناتي لا تَلينُ لِغامِزٍ

فَأَلانَها الإِصباحُ وَالإِمساءُ

فَأَلانَها الإِصباحُ وَالإِمساءُ

My spear-shaft would not bend for anyone who pressed it;

My eyelids would not bow to a wink

then morning and evening made it bend.

Yet the morn and eve made them bend

وَدَعَوتُ رَبّي في السَلامَةِ جاهِداً

وَدَعَوتُ رَبّي في السَلامَةِ جاهِداً

لِيُصِحَّني فَإِذا السَلامَةُ داءُ

لِيُصِحَّني فَإِذا السَلامَةُ داءُ

And I earnestly prayed to my Lord for well-being,

I called on my Lord amid safety with zeal

that He might keep me healthy—yet behold, well-being is a disease.

That He may heal me, but safety itself was the bane