ألفتُ قراع الخطب مذ أنا يافعُ

ألفتُ قراع الخطب مذ أنا يافعُ

فكيف تروع اليوم قلبي الروائعُ

فكيف تروع اليوم قلبي الروائعُ

I have been accustomed to battling adversity since I was a youth.

I have been composing poems since my youth,

So how can terrors frighten my heart today?

So how can today's masterpieces startle my heart?

لقد عركت منِّي الليالي ابن حرَّةٍ

لقد عركت منِّي الليالي ابن حرَّةٍ

على العرك منه لا تلينُ الأخادعُ

على العرك منه لا تلينُ الأخادعُ

The nights have indeed tested me, a freeborn woman's son,

The nights have worn me out, O son of Hurrah,

whose neck veins do not yield beneath their grinding.

Yet with their constant grinding, my molars do not soften.

وسيَّان عندي سلمُ دهري وحربُه

وسيَّان عندي سلمُ دهري وحربُه

وما هو مُعطٍ لي وما هو مانعُ

وما هو مُعطٍ لي وما هو مانعُ

And my fortune's peace and war are alike to me,

To me, the ups and downs of fate are equal;

as are what it grants me and what it withholds.

It gives me nothing, and it holds nothing back.

لعمري ليصنع أيما شاء إنَّه

لعمري ليصنع أيما شاء إنَّه

حقيرٌ بعيني كل ما هو صانعُ

حقيرٌ بعيني كل ما هو صانعُ

By my life, let it do whatever it wills; indeed,

By my life! Let it do whatever it wants;

all it does is paltry in my eyes.

In my eyes, everything it does is insignificant.

سأنشد لا عجزاً ولكن تحمساً

سأنشد لا عجزاً ولكن تحمساً

ليَ الله أيّ الحادثات أصانع

ليَ الله أيّ الحادثات أصانع

I shall recite, not from weakness, but from martial ardor:

I will recite poems not from inability, but from enthusiasm,

God is with me—which calamities shall I appease?

"O God, which events shall I compose?"

وأيّ الأعادي أتَّقي وهمُ الحصى

وأيّ الأعادي أتَّقي وهمُ الحصى

عديداً وكلٌّ مجهرٌ ومصانع

عديداً وكلٌّ مجهرٌ ومصانع

And which enemies shall I guard against, when they are pebbles

And which enemies shall I beware, when they are like pebbles -

in number, each openly hostile and deceitfully flattering?

Numerous, yet each is tiny and ineffectual?

فحيث طرحتُ اللحظ أبصرت منهمُ

فحيث طرحتُ اللحظ أبصرت منهمُ

أخا حنقٍ شخصي لأحشاه صادع

أخا حنقٍ شخصي لأحشاه صادع

Wherever I cast my glance, I see among them

Wherever I glance, I see among them

a man of rancor whose entrails my very presence rends.

An angry brother with a grudge, his intestines boiling,

إذا ما رآني ازوررَّ عنيَ طرفهُ

إذا ما رآني ازوررَّ عنيَ طرفهُ

كأنِّيَ رمحٌ بين جنبيه شارع

كأنِّيَ رمحٌ بين جنبيه شارع

Whenever he sees me, his gaze turns away from me,

Who, when he sees me, averts his gaze,

as though I were a spear leveled between his sides.

As if I were a spear lodged between his ribs.

وإنِّي ولا فجرٌ كفاني تغرُّدي

وإنِّي ولا فجرٌ كفاني تغرُّدي

تحاشدهم أنَّى حوتنا المجامع

تحاشدهم أنَّى حوتنا المجامع

And indeed—no lie—my standing alone has sufficed me

But my warbling at dawn is enough for me

against their massing together, wherever assemblies brought us together.

As they crowd together wherever we gather.

أريهم بأنِّي عن دهاهم مغفلٌ

أريهم بأنِّي عن دهاهم مغفلٌ

وعندي لهم خبٌّ من العزم رادع

وعندي لهم خبٌّ من العزم رادع

I give them the impression that I am heedless of their guile,

I show them that I am oblivious to their lowly status,

yet I have for them a cunning born of resolve that holds them back.

And that I have mature resolve to oppose them.

كذئب الفضا تلقاه رخواً إذا مشى

كذئب الفضا تلقاه رخواً إذا مشى

ويشتدُّ إن واثبتَه وهو قاطع

ويشتدُّ إن واثبتَه وهو قاطع

Like a wolf of the wilderness, you find him lax when he walks,

Like a wolf of the wilderness - approach him while he walks

and he grows fierce if you spring upon him as he passes.

And he is gentle, but if you leap at him, he will bite back -

ينامُ بإحدى مقلتيه ويتَّقي

ينامُ بإحدى مقلتيه ويتَّقي

بأخرى الأعادي فهو يقظان هاجع

بأخرى الأعادي فهو يقظان هاجع

He sleeps with one of his two eyes, and keeps watch

He sleeps with one eyelid open, vigilant,

with the other against enemies; thus he is awake, yet asleep.

And with the other eyelid guards himself from enemies.