1. لقد لقيتُ نصباً

    وقد سُقيت وَصَبَا

    I have indeed suffered weariness,

    and have been given sickness to drink,

  2. بجسدٍ لي قد غدَا

    مُبَغَّضاً محبَّبا

    in a body of mine that has become

    loathed, yet 'beloved'—pimple-covered.

  3. الحَبُّ قد عَنَيْتُ ما

    عنَيْت حُبَّ زينبا

    It was pimples I meant; I did not

    mean love for Zaynab.

  4. أَنْبَتَ لي الحَبُّ به

    أَلف جَرِيبٍ جَرَابا

    The pimple-grain has grown for me within it

    a thousand jarībs of [scabies?].

  5. يا عَجباً من جَرَتٍ

    أَبصرتُ مِنْه عجبا

    How astonishing this [scabies?] is!

    I have seen a marvel come from it:

  6. اجتمع الضِّدان فيه

    مِقةً واصْطَحَبَا

    the two opposites came together there

    in affection, and became companions.

  7. الماءُ منه قد جَرى

    والجَمر قد تَلَهَّبَا

    Water has flowed from it,

    and embers have flared.

  8. تجري القُيوح أَو أقو

    لُ بَلغَ السَّيلُ الزُّبى

    Pus flows—or I

    say, 'The torrent has reached the hilltops.'

  9. والنّار تُذْكَى أَو أَرى

    لها عِظَامي حَطَبا

    And the fire is stoked—or I see

    my bones as its firewood.

  10. أَنَامِلي السَّلَى وإِن

    أَبْصَرْتُ منه رُطَبا

    My fingertips are palm-thorns, although

    I see ripe dates emerging from it.

  11. قد خَتموها فضةً

    من حَصَفٍ وذهَبا

    They have ringed them with silver,

    made of skin eruptions—and with gold.

  12. ترى بها الياقوت والـ

    ـجوهرَ والمَخْشَلبا

    You see rubies there, and the

    jewels and imitation pearls,

  13. من حَصَفٍ وجربٍ

    قد أَلْهَبا وأَنهبا

    formed from eruptions and scabies

    that have inflamed and ravaged me.

  14. يقول من أَبصَرني

    ذَا الأُفْق قد تَكوْكَبا

    Whoever sees me says,

    'This horizon has become star-studded.'

  15. فكَوْكَبٌ في مَشْرِقٍ

    وليس يأْتي مَغْربَا

    For a star is at its rising,

    and never comes to setting.

  16. يُظلم عيشي كلَّما

    أَبْصَرْتُ فيها كوكبا

    My life darkens whenever

    I see a star on them.

  17. فما رأَيْتُ حيَّةً

    إِلاَّ رَأَيْتُ عَقْربَا

    I never see a snake

    without seeing a scorpion.

  18. أُنْخَسُ بالشَّوكِ وقد

    أُطعَنُ فيها بالشَّبا

    I am pricked with thorns, and

    stabbed there with blade-points.

  19. أَكتم كَفَّيَّ عن النَّـ

    ـاسِ حَياءً وإِبَا

    I hide my two hands from the

    people, out of shame and pride.

  20. ما لاح إِلاَّ واخْتَفى

    كَفِّيَ عنهمْ واخْتَبا

    Scarcely does it appear before it vanishes—

    my hand, hiding away from them.

  21. من الهوانِ عاد كَفِّـ

    ـي مَلَكاً مُحَجَّبَا

    Through humiliation my hand has become

    a veiled angel.

  22. تطرِّزُ القيوحُ والدِّ

    ماءُ ثَوبِي والقَبَا

    Pus and blood embroider

    my garment and my outer robe.

  23. أَلْبَسُ ثَوْباً ساذجاً

    ثم أَراه مُذْهَبَا

    I put on a plain garment,

    then see it gilded.

  24. من جُملةِ الجمال صرْ

    تُ حين صِرْتُ أَجْرَبَا

    I became one of the camels

    when I became mangy.

  25. وأَصبح القطْرانُ والـ

    ـكِبْريتُ مِسْكي الكبَا

    And tar and

    sulfur became my musk and incense.

  26. يا جرَباً إِن لم أَقل

    من جَربِي واجَرَبَا

    O scabies, if I do not say,

    from my scabies, 'Alas for scabies!'

  27. أَصبحتُ ذَا القروح لا

    شِعراً ولكن كَرَبَا

    I have become 'the Man of Sores'—not

    in poetry, but in anguish.

  28. ممزَّقَ الجِلدِ مُرا

    قَ الدَّم مهجورَ الخِبَا

    My skin torn, my blood

    spilled, my tent deserted.

  29. فكلُّ من يأْلفُني

    قد صار لي مُجْتَنِباً

    So everyone who was close to me

    has become one who shuns me.

  30. وكلُّهم خَوفاً من الـ

    ـعَدْوى يَفِرُّ هَرَبَا

    And all of them, for fear of

    contagion, flee in flight.

  31. يُعدي الوَرى الأَجربُ

    حتى ثوبُه كالثُؤَبَا

    The mangy man infects everyone;

    even his garment spreads it, like a yawn.

  32. يا مَرضاً صِرتُ به

    في منزلي مُغْتَرِبَا

    O illness, through which I became

    a stranger in my own home,

  33. ودونَ أَهْلِي مُفْرداً

    وعندهم مُذَبْذَبَا

    apart from my family, alone,

    and unsettled in their midst.

  34. أرْمَى وكَنْتُ أُصْطَفَى

    أُقْلَى وكُنْتُ أُجْتَبى

    I am cast away, though once I was chosen;

    I am hated, though once I was favored.

  35. والرأْسُ كنْتُ ثَم صرْ

    تُ من ذُنُوبِي ذَنَبَا

    And I was the head there; I became,

    through my sins, a tail.

  36. غَضِبْتُ من حَالي

    وحَقِّي أَنْ أَموتَ غضَبا

    I grew angry at my condition,

    and I have every right to die of rage.

  37. لا مرحباً بالعيشِ بل

    بالموتِ أَلْفَ مرْحَبَا

    No welcome to life; rather,

    a thousand welcomes to death.

  38. مرَّتْ حَياتي فوجَدْ

    تُ المَوْتَ حُلْواً طَيِّبا

    My life turned bitter, so I found

    death sweet and pleasant.

  39. فما أَلذُّ مَطْعَماً

    ولا أُسِيغُ مَشْرَبَا

    I savor no food,

    nor can I swallow a drink.

  40. لا عِشْتُ إِن كنْتُ أَعيـ

    ـش هَكَذَا مُعذَّبَا

    May I not live if I am to live

    like this, in torment.

  41. قوتي حياتي وكذا

    سلامتي أن أعطب

    My sustenance is my life; likewise,

    my safety lies in perishing.

  42. أُفٍّ لدنيا لا يزَا

    ل المرُء فيها مُتْعَبَا

    Fie on a world in which

    man is forever weary.

  43. تَجْرِي المقاديرُ بما

    يكره شاءَ أَوْ أَبَى

    The decrees of fate bring what

    he hates, whether he consents or refuses.

  44. هنَّ السِّقامُ والعَنا

    ءُ والشَّقاءُ والوَبَا

    They are sickness and hardship,

    misery and pestilence.

  45. وَبيْنَما يَكُونُ كالطَّـ

    ـوْدِ يَعودُ كالهَبا

    And while he is like a mountain,

    he becomes like dust.

  46. وكم يلاقي مَهْلَكاً

    إِذا أَراد مَطْلبَاً

    And how many a deadly peril he encounters

    when he seeks an aim!

  47. والحقُّ ما أَقولُ ما

    أَقولُ قَطُّ الكذِبَا

    What I say is truth; I do not

    ever speak falsehood.

  48. كُنْ بشَراً أَو مَلِكَا

    أَو مَلَكاً مُقَرَّبا

    Be a mortal or a king,

    or an angel brought near,

  49. ما دُمْت موجوداً فما

    تَنْفَكُّ تَلْقَى التَّعَبا

    as long as you exist, you never

    cease to encounter weariness.