لِدهركَ منك أيامٌ طِوالُ

وحالٌ تَقتضيها منكَ حالُ

For your fate, you have long days from it

And a state that another state requires from you

وطعنٌ في حوادثِهِ وضَربٌ

يُقصِّرُ عن حكايتِه المَقالُ

And blame for its incidents and a blow

Speech falls short of telling it

فقمْ لا قُمتَ واغضَبْ للمَعالي

فكمْ هذا التّلومُ والمِطالِ

So get up, you didn't get up and get angry for glory

How much is this blame and procrastination

لقد أغمدتَه حتى لَقالتْ

أصَدٌّ بالقوائِمِ أمْ دَلالُ

You have sheathed it until it was said

Is it more firm on the legs or a bucket?

إلى كمْ تهجُرُ البيضَ المَواضي

وليس لغيرِها خُلِقَ الوِصالُ

To how much do you estrange the white plains

And nothing but them has the nature of connection

ومَنْ كانَ الأغَرُّ أبا أبيهِ

وعَزمتُهُ المقاديرُ العِجالُ

And whoever was the most cuckolded father of his father

And its resolves the sudden destinies

أطاعتْ صدر ذابلهِ المَنايا

وصلّتْ نحوَ قِبلتِهِ الرِّجالُ

The chest of its fading obeyed the passings

And headed towards his prayers the men

تقول لأفْعَلَنّ بِها عظيماً

وليس يصَدِّقُ القوْلَ الفَعالُ

It says I will do great things to it

And the saying does not believe the deed

لكَ الويلاتُ أوْرِدْهُنّ شُعثاً

يُضيقُ بهنّ في السعد المَحالُ

For you are misfortunes, make him enter them disheveled

In happiness, the place is too narrow for them

فما الإنسانُ إلاّ مَنْ تدانَتْ

وخفّتْ عندَه السّبْعُ الثِّقالُ

Man is nothing but the one whose sins piled up

And the seven heavy things became light for him

إذا سالمتَه سالمتَ قَرماً

لفكرتِهِ وهمّتِهِ قِتالُ

If you greet him, you greet a mangy old man

Whose thoughts and determination are fighting

تظلّمُ منهُ أكناف المَذاكي

وتشكوهُ المُهنّدةُ الصِّقالُ

The sides of the taverns complain about him

And the well-hammered sword complains about him

برِمتُ من الحياة وأيُّ عيشٍ

يلذُّ لمن مطاعمه الخَيالُ

I'm disgusted with life, and what a living

Is delicious for those whose food is imagination?

فلو أنّي أعُدُّ ذنوبَ دهري

لضاعَ القطرُ فيها والرِّمالُ

If I count the sins of my fate

The droplets and the sands in it would be lost

ولكنّي أقللُها بصبري

وعن يُمناي يكتمُها الشِّمالُ

But I reduce them with my patience

And the north hides them from my good fortune

ومغرورٍ يُحاولُ نيلَ عِرْضي

فقلتُ له الكواكبُ لا تُنالُ

And a deluded one who tries to attain my honor

So I told him: the planets cannot be attained

يُعاينُ في المكارمِ فيضَ كفّي

ويزعمُ أنّهُ ذَهَبَ النّوالُ

He sees the overflowing of my palm's generosity

And claims that the Obtainer is gone

ويَعجب إن حويتُ الفضلَ طفلاً

ألا لله ثم لي الكَمالُ

And he wonders if I contained virtue as a child

Verily, to God then to me belongs perfection

أُحمِّلُ ضَعفَ جسمي ثِقلَ نفسي

ونفسي ليس تحملُها الجِبالُ

I carry the weakness of my body the weight of my soul

And my soul cannot carry it, not even mountains

وأسمعُ كلَّ قولٍ غير قولي

فأعلمُ أنّهُ الخَطَلُ المُحالُ

And I hear every saying but my saying

So I know that it is the impossible nonsense