هَل أَتى فائِدَ عَن أَيسارِنا

هَل أَتى فائِدَ عَن أَيسارِنا

إِذ خَشينا مِن عَدُوٍّ خُرُقا

إِذ خَشينا مِن عَدُوٍّ خُرُقا

Has word reached Fa'id about our gambling companions,

Has any good come from our feebleness,

When we feared violence from an enemy?

When we feared an enemy, full of holes?

إِذ أَتانا الخَوفُ مِن مَأمَنِنا

إِذ أَتانا الخَوفُ مِن مَأمَنِنا

فَطَوَينا في سَوادٍ أُفُقا

فَطَوَينا في سَوادٍ أُفُقا

When fear came to us from our place of safety,

When fear came upon us from our refuge,

So we crossed a horizon in darkness.

We bent into a dark horizon.

وَسَلِي هَديَةَ يَوماً هَل رَأَت

وَسَلِي هَديَةَ يَوماً هَل رَأَت

بَشَراً أَكرَمَ مِنّا خُلقا

بَشَراً أَكرَمَ مِنّا خُلقا

And ask Hadiya someday whether she has seen

Ask the gift of a day, has it seen

Anyone nobler in character than we.

A man more generous than us in manners?

وَلَكَم مِن خِلَّةٍ مِن قَبلِها

وَلَكَم مِن خِلَّةٍ مِن قَبلِها

قَد صَرَمنا حَبلَها فَاِنطَلَقا

قَد صَرَمنا حَبلَها فَاِنطَلَقا

And many a beloved before her—

And how many ropes before it

We severed her bond, and it came loose.

We have cut their cords, so they unraveled.

قَد أَصَبنا العَيشَ عَيشاً ناعِماً

قَد أَصَبنا العَيشَ عَيشاً ناعِماً

وَأَصَبنا العَيشَ عَيشاً رَنقا

وَأَصَبنا العَيشَ عَيشاً رَنقا

We have known a life of ease,

We have attained a life of bliss,

And we have known a clouded life.

And we have attained a strangled life.

وَأَصَبتُ الدَهرَ دَهراً أَشتَهي

وَأَصَبتُ الدَهرَ دَهراً أَشتَهي

طَبَقاً مِنهُ وَأَلوي طَبَقاً

طَبَقاً مِنهُ وَأَلوي طَبَقاً

And I have known an age in which I desire

I have found time to be a time I yearned for,

One phase of it, and turn away from another.

Enjoying some of it, and twisting some.

وَشَهِدتُ الخَيلَ في مَلمومَةٍ

وَشَهِدتُ الخَيلَ في مَلمومَةٍ

ما تَرى مِنهُنَّ إِلّا الحَدَقا

ما تَرى مِنهُنَّ إِلّا الحَدَقا

And I have witnessed the horses in a close-packed host;

And I witnessed horses in battle,

You see nothing of them but the pupils of their eyes.

You see nothing of them except their sclera.

يَتَساقونَ بِأَطرافِ القَنا

يَتَساقونَ بِأَطرافِ القَنا

مِن نَجيعِ المَوتِ كَأساً دَهقا

مِن نَجيعِ المَوتِ كَأساً دَهقا

They give one another drink with the points of spears:

Galloping on the banks of the spear,

A brimming cup of death's fresh blood.

A cup of deadly agony to drink.

فَطِرادُ الخَيلِ قَد يُؤنِقُني

فَطِرادُ الخَيلِ قَد يُؤنِقُني

وَيَرُدُّ اللَهوُ عَنّي الأَنَقا

وَيَرُدُّ اللَهوُ عَنّي الأَنَقا

So the horses' charge and pursuit may delight me,

The horses' chase could bother me

And diversion drives desire away from me,

And play disrupts me from calmness.

بِمشيحِ البيضِ حَتّى يَترُكوا

بِمشيحِ البيضِ حَتّى يَترُكوا

لِسُيوفِ الهِندِ فيها طُرقا

لِسُيوفِ الهِندِ فيها طُرقا

With eager, helmeted warriors, until they leave

With the stirring of the whites, until they leave

Paths through it for the swords of India.

For the Indian swords in them a pathway.

وَكَأَنّي مِن غَدٍ وافَقتُها

وَكَأَنّي مِن غَدٍ وافَقتُها

مِثلَما وافَقَ شَنٌّ طَبَقا

مِثلَما وافَقَ شَنٌّ طَبَقا

And it is as though I shall meet her tomorrow,

And it was as if tomorrow I will meet it

Just as Shann matched Tabaq.

Just as a platter meets a platter.