للدَّهرِ في نكَباتِه تَنزيلُ

للدَّهرِ في نكَباتِه تَنزيلُ

والخَطبُ جارٍ والحِمامُ نَزِيلُ

والخَطبُ جارٍ والحِمامُ نَزِيلُ

Fate metes out its calamities by degrees;

Time has a revelation in its calamities,

grave affliction runs its course, and death alights as a guest.

and misfortune runs its course, while death is a guest.

فإذا تجافَت عنكَ في فتكاتِهِ

فإذا تجافَت عنكَ في فتكاتِهِ

فكثيرُها فِيما وَفيتَ قَليلُ

فكثيرُها فِيما وَفيتَ قَليلُ

So if its calamities draw back from you amid Fate’s deadly assaults,

So if they draw away from you amid its deadly assaults,

then however many have filled the life you have lived, they are few.

then their abundance is little, so long as you remain whole.

ولئن مَضى عهدُ التَّداني فانقَضى

ولئن مَضى عهدُ التَّداني فانقَضى

وكذا الحياةُ فما انقضى التّأميلُ

وكذا الحياةُ فما انقضى التّأميلُ

And though the age of nearness has passed and ended,

And even if the time of closeness has passed and ended,

life passes likewise—but hope has not ended.

and life likewise, yet hope has not ended.

ولِقاؤُنا إلا يكن في وَجهِ ال

ولِقاؤُنا إلا يكن في وَجهِ ال

مَعشُوقِ غُرّةً انَّهُ تحجيلُ

مَعشُوقِ غُرّةً انَّهُ تحجيلُ

And our reunion—if its blaze is not upon its

And our meeting—if it is not on the face of the

beloved face—is merely white about the fetlocks.

beloved a white blaze—is surely a white marking on the legs.