الشمس خلف الجبال

غابت ولاح الهلال

The sun behind the mountains

has set, and the crescent has appeared.

والكون في العين أمسى

حقيقة كالخيال

And to the eye the universe became

a reality like an illusion.

كأنما كل شيءٍ

مكون من ظلال

As though everything

were made of shadows.

تلوح في القفر نار

ضئيلة الاشتعال

A fire glimmers in the wasteland,

burning faintly.

وفوق كوخي طيور

وخلف كوخي غزال

And above my hut are birds,

and behind my hut a gazelle.

وحول كوخي نبات

من حسكنيت ونال

And around my hut is vegetation

of haskanit and nal grasses.

وغرب كوخي وادي

نما عليه السيال

And west of my hut is a valley

where the sayal acacia grew.

وقد أنيخت جمال

لتستريح الجمال

And camels have been made to kneel

so that the camels may rest.

وطال تسريح طرفي

من فوق أعلى التلال

Long have I let my gaze wander

from atop the highest hills.

أرى على كل شيء

كمسحة من جلال

I see upon everything

something like a touch of majesty.

هذا سكون مريح

لمن أطال النضال

This is a restful stillness

for one who has struggled long.

لكن نفسي تفانت

في حيرة وانفعال

But my soul has worn itself out

in bewilderment and agitation.

أواه مما تقاسي

لجهلها بالمآل

Alas for what it endures

because it does not know its fate.

فهل ترى الموت يشفي

من مثل دائي العضال

Do you think, then, that death can heal

an incurable illness like mine?

هذا سؤال ولكن

ماذا جواب السؤال

This is a question, but

what is the answer to the question?

لقد توارى الهلال

والبرق في الجو صال

The crescent has indeed disappeared,

and lightning charged through the sky.

صار السحاب ركاما

أو مثلما قيل شال

The clouds became heaped masses,

or, as they say, rose up.

واشتد ريح فكدنا

نروح تحت الرمال

And the wind grew fierce, and we nearly

perished beneath the sands.

فكسرت في سراها ال

أشجار مثل النصال

So in its night passage it shattered the

trees like blades.

وصار للرعد صوت

حتى تعالى وهال

And thunder found a voice

until it rose high and struck terror.

والجو قد صار نارا

والبحر في الأرض سال

And the sky had turned to fire,

and the sea flowed across the land.

وللطبيعة حرب

تذوب فيها الجبال

And nature has a war

in which the mountains melt.

فكيف أنجو بنفسي

من شر هذا القتال

So how can I escape with my life

from the harm of this battle?

هذا هو الغيث فاعجب

من وابل في وبال

This is the rain—so marvel

at a downpour fraught with calamity.

الحمد لله راقت

واعقب الحال حال

Praise be to God, it cleared,

and one state gave way to another.

والشمس مدت الينا

من الضياء حبال

And the sun stretched out to us

ropes of radiance.

فأغرق الكون منها

بحر من التبر سال

So from it the universe was flooded

by a flowing sea of raw gold.

وراحت الطير تشدو

وراح يرعى الغزال

And the birds began to sing,

and the gazelle began to graze.

وكل شيء أنيس

حتى القطا والصلال

And everything is friendly,

even the sandgrouse and the venomous snakes.

وكل شيء عظيم

حتى أقل النمال

And everything is magnificent,

even the smallest of ants.

في الأرض وادي ووادي

في الماء أو في الخيال

On land is a valley, and another valley

in water or in imagination.

ومن جماد جبال

ومن ظلال جبال

And mountains of solid matter,

and mountains of shadows.

أرى جمالا فماذا

وراء هذا الجمال

I see beauty—so what is

beyond this beauty?

هذا نظام بديع

لكنه للزوال

This is a wondrous order,

but it is destined to vanish.

لكل شيء حقيقة

لكنها في الخيال

Everything has a reality,

but it lies in imagination.

هذا هو الصبح فانظر

هناك بعض الرجال

This is the morning—so look:

there are some men over there.

فهل رأيت الضواري

قد أطلقت من عقال

Have you, then, seen the beasts of prey

let loose from their bonds?

القوم للسير شدوا

على الجمال الرحال

For the journey, the men fastened

the saddles upon the camels.

وهم من الجهل كادوا

لا يفقهون مقال

And in their ignorance they could barely

understand a word.

ثم انحدرنا جميعاً

نجري وراء الخيال

Then we all descended,

running after illusion,

مستأنفين قتالاً

مع الجراد القتال

resuming a battle

against the deadly locusts.

فمات منا رجال

ومات بعض الجمال

Then men among us died,

and some of the camels died.

هذا صيال وهذي

يا صاح عقبى الصيال

This is combat, and this,

my friend, is combat's aftermath.

لو كان في الأرض عدل

ما شب فيها قتال

Had there been justice on earth,

no fighting would have flared up upon it.

لكن خلقنا وفينا

ميل لهذا النضال

But we were created, and within us

is an inclination toward this struggle.

ما دامت الأرض دامت

حرب عليها سجال

As long as the earth endures, so endures

war upon it, with alternating fortunes.