صحبتُ بناتِ الدهرِ حتى أَرَيْنَنى

صحبتُ بناتِ الدهرِ حتى أَرَيْنَنى

عجائبَ شتى ليس يَحصُرها العَدُّ

عجائبَ شتى ليس يَحصُرها العَدُّ

I kept company with the daughters of Time until they showed me

I associated with the girls of time until they made me see

Wonders of many kinds, beyond all counting.

Wondrous things beyond counting

فنعمتُها بؤس وفَرْحَتها أسًى

فنعمتُها بؤس وفَرْحَتها أسًى

وصِحتُها سقم وإعطاؤها ردّ

وصِحتُها سقم وإعطاؤها ردّ

So their bliss is misery, and their joy is grief;

So their bounty was misery and their joy was sorrow

And their health is sickness, and their giving is denial.

And their health was sickness and their giving was refusal

تفيد أخا الجهل الغِنى وهْو وادِع

تفيد أخا الجهل الغِنى وهْو وادِع

وذو الفهم دونَ القوتُ يتْحِفُه الكَدّ

وذو الفهم دونَ القوتُ يتْحِفُه الكَدّ

They grant wealth to the ignorant man while he rests at ease,

The ignorant gains wisdom from a brother yet quiet

While toil rewards the discerning man with too little to live on.

While the wise without strength are laden with toil

ولى همةٌ تبِغى النجوم وحالةٌ

ولى همةٌ تبِغى النجوم وحالةٌ

تُصحِّفُ ما تَبْغيه فهْي لها ضِد

تُصحِّفُ ما تَبْغيه فهْي لها ضِد

And I have an ambition that seeks the stars, and a condition

I have an ambition that seeks the stars and a state

That garbles what my ambition seeks, for it stands opposed to it.

That twists what I seek so it's adverse to me

إذا رفعتْني تلك تَخْفِض هذه

إذا رفعتْني تلك تَخْفِض هذه

فكلٌّ تَناهَى في إرادته الجِد

فكلٌّ تَناهَى في إرادته الجِد

Whenever that one lifts me, this one brings me low;

If that raises me this debases me

For each pursues its aim with the utmost earnestness.

Each reaching an extreme in its will

فما حالُ شخصٍ بين هاوٍ وصاعدٍ

فما حالُ شخصٍ بين هاوٍ وصاعدٍ

وليس له من واحدِ منهما بُدّ

وليس له من واحدِ منهما بُدّ

What, then, is the plight of a person between one falling and one rising,

What's the state of one between falling and rising

With no escape for him from either of the two?

With no escape from either of the two

تَوالتنىَ الأرزاءُ حتى كأنما

تَوالتنىَ الأرزاءُ حتى كأنما

فؤادى لكَفَّيْ كلِّ لاطمةٍ خد

فؤادى لكَفَّيْ كلِّ لاطمةٍ خد

Calamities beset me in succession, until it was as though

Misfortunes kept striking me until it was as if

My heart were a cheek beneath both palms of every woman who slaps.

My heart was the cheek for every blow