متع السمع والبصر

قبل ان تبلغ الكبر

Delight your hearing and your sight

before you reach old age.

فاذا ما بلغته

ذهب السمع والبصر

For once you reach it,

hearing and sight depart.

واذا ما هما معاً

ذهبا مضك الضجر

And when the two together

depart, tedium gnaws at you.

ثم لم يبق في الحيا

ة للذاتها اثر

Then in life there remains

no trace of its pleasures.

وتمرد على تقا

ليد تفضى إلى الضرر

And rebel against traditions

that lead to harm.

أنما الحر من تمرد

حتى على القدر

Only one who rebels is free,

even against destiny.

كن جسورا اذا طلبت

فقد فاز من جسر

Be bold when you seek,

for whoever dared has triumphed.

وتيقظ اذا هممت

وباشر على حذر

Be alert when you resolve,

and proceed with caution.

لا تعيبنني على

خطأ لي اذا ظهر

Do not reproach me for

a fault of mine, if it appears.

أي ذي كبرة مشى

فوق وعر وما عثر

What elderly person has walked

over rough ground without stumbling?

حبذا ميعة الشبا

ب ولا حبذا الكبر

How lovely the bloom of youth,

and how unlovely old age!

حسن الروض في الربيع

اذا طله المطر

Lovely is the garden in spring

when rain bedews it,

والفراش الذي يطو

ف جميلا على الزهر

and the butterfly that circles

beautifully above the flowers.

وسلام على ذكاء

ووجه لها اغر

And peace upon Dhukāʾ,

and her radiant face.

حبذا الزهر قد تبسم

والصبح قد سفر

How lovely the flowers, now smiling,

and the dawn, unveiled.

قد اراد الهزار ان

ينفث السحر فاقتدر

The nightingale wished

to breathe enchantment, and succeeded.

سحرتني عنادل

تتنزى على الشجر

Nightingales enchanted me,

hopping upon the trees,

باغاريد عن محا

كاتها يعجز الوتر

with songs whose imitation

lies beyond a string's power.

نعم ما ابقت العنا

دل في النفس من اثر

How fine what the nightingales have left

as an impression on the soul!

ليس من لم يكن تحسس

منها سوى حجر

Whoever has felt nothing

from them is nothing but stone.

ارسل الطرف للسما

ء وانعم بها النظر

Send your gaze toward the sky,

and look intently upon it.

تبصر النجم لؤلؤاً

بين ابعادها انتثر

You will see the stars as pearls

scattered through its vast distances.

هي للناظرين ديوان

شعر قد ازدهر

For those who gaze, it is a collection

of poetry that has blossomed.

كم به من قصائد

كل ابياتها غرر

How many poems it holds,

all their verses resplendent!

اشبهت روضة بها

كل صنف من الزهر

It resembles a garden containing

every kind of flower.

انها معرض الكوا

كب والشمس والقمر

It is a gallery of stars,

and of the sun and moon.

واذا الشمس اسفرت

وبدا وجهها الاغرّ

And when the sun unveils herself

and her radiant face appears,

سرب النور دافقا

مثل سيل قد انحدر

light flows, pouring forth,

like a torrent rushing down.

صور تبسط النفو

س فما اجمل الصور

Scenes that gladden souls—

how beautiful these scenes!

وهناك المجر فانظر

ملياً الى المجر

And there is the Milky Way: gaze

long upon the Milky Way.

يشبه النهر قد طغى

ولشطيه قد غمر

It resembles a river that has overflowed

and flooded both its banks,

او صراطا الى الجنا

ن قد امتد واستمر

or a path to paradise

stretching on and on,

رصفته ملائك

باليواقيت والدرر

paved by angels

with rubies and pearls.

كم بهذا الفضاء من

سعة تدهش الفكر

How much this space contains

of vastness that astounds the mind,

وشموس يدرن فيه

ويرمين بالشرر

and suns revolving within it

and casting sparks!

ايّ سحر حوت عصاً

حركت هذه الأكر

What magic did a wand contain

that set these spheres in motion!

يا لها من عوالم

ما لها فيه مستقر

Oh, what worlds there are,

with no resting place within it!

كسفين جرى بها

عاصف هب واستمر

Like ships swept along

by a gale that rose and blew on.

والذي ظل خافيا

هو اضعاف ما ظهر

And what remains hidden

is many times what has appeared.

انما هذه الطبيعة

بحر طما وثر

Nature is nothing but

a sea that overflows and abounds.

لم تكن هذه العوا

لم فيه سوى جزر

These worlds were nothing

but islands within it.

ما الذي الحياة لو

لا المنايا على الاثر

What would life be, were

death not close behind?

انما الموت آفة

ليس تبقى ولا تذر

Death is nothing but a scourge

that leaves nothing and spares nothing.

واذا الاثرياء او

دوا فمثواهم حفر

And when the wealthy pass

away, their resting places are pits.

انما الراحلون لم

يأتنا منهم خبر

Of those who have departed, no

news has reached us.

ذهبوا مثل ما اتوا

زمرا بعدها زمر

They went just as they came,

in groups followed by groups.

بعد اني اموت فاليد

فعوا بي الى سقر

After I die, let them

cast me into Saqar.

لك في الموت حين تهلك

ورد بلا صدر

In death, when you perish, you have

an arrival at water, with no departure.

لا تؤمل تجددا

لزجاج قد انكسر

Do not hope for renewal

of glass that has shattered.

اترى الروح باقيا

بعد جسم له دثر

Do you think the soul remains

after its body has decayed?

رب حسناء كالعرا

رة في طرفها حور

Many a beauty like the ʿarārah blossom

had eyes of contrasting black and white.

ارغموها على الزوا

ج بشيخ به اشر

They forced her into marriage

with a wanton old man.

ملها بعد ان قضى

الشيخ من جسمها الوطر

He tired of her after

the old man had satisfied his desire for her body.

ضامها في قساوة

سامها الذل واحتقر

He wronged her cruelly,

subjected her to humiliation and despised her.

كسر القلب من ضجيعته

ثم ما جبر

He broke his bedmate's heart,

and never mended it.

ذاك اثم له شنا

عته غير مغتفر

That is a sin whose hideousness

makes it unforgivable.

ما باسماء عثرة

انما حظها عثر

Asmāʾ had committed no fault;

her fortune alone had stumbled.

مسكت باليد المليحة

قلبا لها انفطر

With her lovely hand she held

her shattered heart.

وبكت تندب الشبا

ب بدمع قد انفجر

She wept, lamenting her youth,

with tears that burst forth.

كان في الخد دمعها

مثل طل على زهر

The tears upon her cheek were

like dew upon flowers.

هو شكوى على القضا

ء وعتب على القدر

It was a complaint against divine decree

and a reproach against destiny.

شبح الموت قد بدا

ودنت ساعة الخطر

The specter of death appeared,

and the hour of danger drew near.

فلقد سلها الشقا

ء وماتت على الاثر

For misery had wasted her away,

and she died soon after.

اكبر الضيم ما تقا

سيه انثى من الذكر

The greatest injustice is what

a woman suffers from a man.

ايها الشيخ ان قلبك

اقسى من الحجر

O old man, your heart

is harder than stone.

اذهبي يا كعاب فالموت

لا يورث الضجر

Go, O budding maiden; death

brings no tedium.

ضاجعي حية الثرى

فهي خير من البشر

Lie beside the serpent of the soil;

she is better than humankind.

وبكى الشيخ للأسى

نادما يسكب العبر

The old man wept in sorrow,

remorsefully shedding tears;

ورمى نفسه بليل

من السطح وانتحر

and at night he threw himself

from the roof and killed himself.

والذي شاهد الامو

ر غني عن الخبر

One who has witnessed events

has no need of reports.

ساعد المالك المهيمن

شعبا بلا وزر

Help, O sovereign Guardian,

a people with no refuge.

لدغت رجله على

غرة حية ذكر

Its foot was bitten

unawares by a male snake.

فهو لا يستطيع مشيا

واما مشى عثر

So it cannot walk,

and if it walks, it stumbles.

قد بكى مجده الذي

غاض من بعد ما زخر

It wept for its glory, which

had ebbed after surging high.

غصبوا غرس كفه

عند ما ادرك الثمر

They seized what its own hand had planted

just as the fruit ripened.

اسرته الليوث تأ

زرها الشاء والبقر

Lions took it captive, supported

by sheep and cattle.

ولقد حاول التحرر

حينا وما قدر

It tried to free itself

for a time, but could not.

قل لمن قد بكى بكا

ؤك لا يدفع الضرر

Tell one who has wept: 'Your weeping

does not ward off harm.'

لا يرد الحقوق قد

غصبت دمع انهمر

Rights are not restored, once

seized, by tears pouring down.

ادفع الشر ان قدر

ت على دفعه بشر

Repel evil, if you can

repel it, with evil.

واعتصم بالرصاص والنار

والقار والزبر

Hold fast to bullets and fire,

and pitch and masses of iron.

يسأل الشيخ وهو في

غمرة ما هو الخبر

The old man asks, immersed

in the depths: 'What is happening?'

ايها الشيخ انت تسبح

في عيلم زخر

O old man, you are swimming

in a surging ocean.

انت من بعد ساعتين

غريق من الخور

After two hours, you will be

drowned through feebleness.

ايها الشيخ لا سلا

م لمن فلكه انكسر

O old man, no safety

remains for one whose vessel is shattered.

ايها الشيخ حم ما

كنت تخشى فلا مفر

O old man, decreed is what

you feared; there is no escape.

ها هو الموج زاحف

مثل طود قد اشمخر

Here is the wave advancing

like a towering mountain.

واذا ما دنا الحما

م فلا ينفع الحذر

And when death draws near,

caution is useless.

انما الدهر بابتسا

ماته منك قد سخر

Time, with its smiles,

has only mocked you.

غرك الدهر ثم غرك

يا شيخ ثم غر

Time deceived you, then deceived you,

old man, then deceived you again.

ايها القوم لا لبا

نة عندي ولا وطر

O people, I have no desire

and no wish,

غير نأيي عن الذين

تجنوا من البطر

except to distance myself from those

who made false accusations out of arrogance.

جنتي ان دخلتها

معكم فهي لي سقر

My paradise, if I entered it

with you, would be Saqar to me.

سيعيدن لي اذا

سرت حريتي السفر

Travel will surely restore to me, when

I set out, my freedom.

انني لا اقيم في

بلد فيه احتقر

I do not remain in

a country where I am despised.

وكأن الحياة فيه

عذاب لمن شعر

As though life there were

torment for anyone who feels;

وكأن السماء بحر

خضم من الشرر

as though the sky were a sea,

vast and full of sparks;

وكأن الشعاع من

وخزه اعيني ابر

as though the sunlight, for

its stabbing at my eyes, were needles;

وكأني من العوا

صف جذع قد انقعر

as though, struck by tempests,

I were a trunk uprooted;

وكأني امرؤ غريب

عن الدار والاسر

as though I were a stranger

to home and families.

وستصفو لي الاصا

ئل في مضر والبكر

And the evenings will be serene for me

in Muḍar and Bakr.

واذا ما المّ بي الموت

فالموت منتظر

And when death overtakes me,

death is awaited.

كلما جئتكم بها

دية قلتم كفر

Whenever I brought you guidance,

you said, 'Unbelief!'

ايها الدوح كان لي

فيك ظل قد انحسر

O grove, I once had

shade in you that has receded.

اين اوراقك النضيرة

والفيئ والزهر

Where are your fresh leaves,

your shade and blossoms?

ربما سالم العدو

وما سالم القدر

An enemy may make peace,

but fate never makes peace.

عضل الداء بي فما

لي من فتكه مفر

My illness has grown incurable; there is

no escape for me from its ravages.

ايها الليل ان صبحك

حسبيلو انفجر

O night, your dawn

would suffice me, if it broke.

ايها الصبح انت شعر

ومعناك مبتكر

O morning, you are poetry,

and your meaning is newly conceived.

ايها الشعر انت

سلوة ايامي الاخر

O poetry, you are

the solace of my last days.

حبذا الشعر فيه من

نفس من قاله اثر

How lovely is poetry: in it remains

a trace of the soul of the one who spoke it.

حسبك الشاعر الذي

قال يشدو بما شعر

Enough for you is the poet who

spoke, singing what he felt.

انما الشاعر المصوّر

اسمى من البشر

Indeed, the poet who creates images

is loftier than humankind.