قد قلت ان العقل لي

يهدى فكان مضللي

I had said that reason, for me,

would guide; instead, it led me astray.

جربت عقلي فهو ليس

الى الحقيقة موصلى

I tested my reason: it does not

lead me to the truth.

سيكون في سير الحيا

ة على الضمير معوّلي

In the course of life, I shall

place my reliance on conscience.

ولقد كرهت العقل فهو

بما يشير مكبلي

And I have come to hate reason, for it

fetters me with what it advises.

من لي بعقل لا يحيد

عن الطريق الامثل

Who can give me a reason that does not stray

from the best path?

العقل في الانسان ليس

من الضمير بافضل

Reason in a human being is not

better than conscience,

الا اذا استوفى فكا

ن من الطراز الاول

unless it attains completeness and so

belongs to the foremost order.

ولقد تبدل كل شيء

في حتى انملى

Everything has changed

within me, even my fingertips,

الا ضميري فهو حتى

اليوم لم يتبدل

except my conscience, which, to

this day, has not changed.

العقل يرفعني

ولكن الضمير ممثلى

Reason raises me,

but conscience represents me.

لا ريب في ان الحجى

هو زينة للمحفل

There is no doubt that intellect

is an ornament to an assembly,

او انه في العبقري

يفل غرب المنصل

or that, in a genius,

it blunts the edge of the sword.

ويقوم ان حزبته حا

زبة مقام الجحفل

And if calamity besets him, it takes

the place of a mighty army.

لكنه جم تردده

امام المعضل

Yet great is its hesitation

before a difficult problem.

انا بعصر تسابق

والويل للمتهمل

I live in an age of competition,

and woe to the dawdler.

انا بعصر الطائرا

ت ركوبة المتنقل

I live in the age of airplanes,

the traveler's mount.

انا بعصر الكهربا

ء وما لها من مشعل

I live in the age of electricity,

and what a torch it has!

عصر التنعم والتبسم

والسرور الاكمل

An age of luxury and smiles,

and the fullest joy.

ولقد مضى عصى البكى

بين الدخول فحومل

And the age of weeping has passed,

between al-Dakhul and Hawmal.

كان الضمير مسيرا

لي في الزمان الاول

Conscience was a guide

for me in the earlier days,

اذ كان يحبو العقل فيه

حبو طفل محول

when reason crawled,

like a year-old child.

حتى اذا ما شب حا

ول طعنه في المقتل

Then, once it grew up, it tried

to stab it in a vital spot.

ودنا يهدم ما بنا

ه في الحياة بمعول

And drew near to demolish what it had built

in life, with a pickaxe.

انحى عليه يدوسه

ولقد اناخ بكلكل

It bore down on it, trampling it,

and knelt upon it with its breast.

اما الضمير فقد تما

وت لا يفر ولا يلى

As for conscience, it feigned

death, neither fleeing nor advancing.

ما يصنع العصفور اصبح

في مخالب اجدل

What can a sparrow do, once caught

in a falcon's talons?

لكن عقلي اليوم وا

هي الحبل رخو المفصل

But my reason today is

weak of cord and slack of joint.

زلت به رجل تخو

ر عن الطريق الامثل

Its foot slipped, faltering

away from the best path.

فرجعت عنه الى الضمير

مطلقا لتعقلي

So I turned from it back to conscience,

divorcing my reasoning.

اليوم في ادب الحيا

ة على الضمير توكلي

Today, in the conduct of life,

I place my trust in conscience.

اني به متوسل

ولقد حمدت توسلي

Through it I seek a way,

and I have praised that recourse.

ضربتني الايام عند

الشيب ضربة

The days dealt me, at

the time of gray hair, a blow.

لكنني لم اعن

للايام او اتذلل

But I did not submit

to the days, nor abase myself.

لا فخر في مد السلا

ح الى مقاتل اعزل

There is no glory in leveling a weapon

at an unarmed fighter.

انا لست من ذنب جنا

ه العقل بالمتنصّل

I do not disown a sin

that reason has committed.

انا في حياتي ما كذبت

لنيل شيء ليس لي

I have never lied in my life

to gain something not mine.

انا ما كطفرت بكل عمري

بالكتاب المنزل

Never in all my life have I disbelieved

in the revealed Book.

انا لم ازل اشدو بنعت

للنبي المرسل

I have never ceased singing praises

of the Prophet who was sent.

انا لست بالمسؤول عن

نزوات عقل مبطل

I am not responsible for

the whims of a reason that advances falsehood.

ما زال يبدي رأيه

سألوه ام لم يسئل

It has never ceased expressing its opinion,

whether they asked it or not.

قد شاء عقلي بعد تفكير

وطول تأمل

My reason wished, after thought

and long contemplation,

باللَه حل المشكلا

ت فكان اكبر مشكل

to solve the problems through God,

but He proved the greatest problem.

ما ضرنا لو ضل هذا

الكون غير معلل

What harm would it do us if this

universe remained unexplained?

أنريد في تعليله

ارضاء قوم جهل

Do we seek, by explaining it,

to please an ignorant people?

ويقول عقلي والرجا

ء مطية المتخيل

And my reason says—while hope

is the mount of the dreamer—

الكون ماضيه يعو

د بنا الى المستقبل

The universe: its past brings

us back into the future.

وتعود هذي الار

ض بعد خرابها كالاول

And this earth returns,

after its ruin, to its former state.

فتمثل الدور الذي

قد مرّ خير ممثل

Then it acts out the cycle

that has passed, as the finest performer.

ونعود نحيا مثلما

كنا بغير تبدّل

And we return to live just as

we were, without change.

ونموت ثم نعود في

ادوارها بتسلسل

And we die, then return in

its cycles, in succession.

كذب الذي قد قال ان

القبر آخر منزل

He lied who said that

the grave is the final abode.

هذا لعمري ما يرى

عقلي بوجه مجمل

This, by my life, is what

my reason holds in broad outline.

أما الأمير فقائل

لي بالحجى لا تحفل

As for the prince, he says

to me: 'Pay no heed to intellect.'

الدين معقل اهله

والدين امنع معقل

Religion is its followers' refuge,

and religion is the most impregnable refuge.

تاللَه لا ادري متى

لليل العماية ينجلى

By God, I do not know when

the night of blindness will clear.

اني لآخذ بالمعا

د من الكتاب المنزل

I do indeed accept resurrection

from the revealed Book,

لا مثلما استخلصته

من عقلي المتطفل

not as I deduced it

from my meddlesome reason.

ةاخاف نارا في الجحيم

بها الاثيم سيصطلى

I fear a fire in Hell,

in which the sinner will burn.

اما الصراط فانه

فوق الجحيم كمنصل

As for the Sirat, it is

above Hell, like a sword blade.

او انه جسر كقنو

النخلة المتعثكل

Or it is a bridge like the fruit-cluster

of a date-laden palm.

لا يأمن الماشي بار

جله سقوطا من عل

One walking on foot is not safe

from falling from on high,

الاّ اذا عبر الصرا

ط على اغرّ محجل

unless he crosses the Sirat

on a white-blazed, white-stockinged horse,

او فوق كبش قرنه

في رأسه كالمعول

or atop a ram whose horn

on its head is like a pickaxe.

يا رب حين اجوزه

مشيا عليك توكلي

O Lord, when I cross it

on foot, in You I place my trust.

يا رب خوف صراطك

الممدود همّ مثقلى

O Lord, fear of Your Sirat,

stretched out, is a worry weighing me down.

صعب علي عبوره

يا رب ثبت ارجلي

Its crossing is hard for me;

O Lord, steady my feet.

طوبى لمن قد عاش عن

اهل الجحيم بمعزل

Blessed is whoever has lived apart

from the people of Hell.

اما الجنان فانها

مقصورة المتبتل

As for the gardens, they are

the secluded chamber of the devoted worshipper.

ما شئت من حور وغلمان

وطيبة مأكل

All you could wish of houris and youths,

and delightful food.

في كل ناحية شمر

دلة لكل شمردل

In every quarter, a tall, shapely woman

for every tall, vigorous man.

وودت لو اصبحت اكرع

في الشراب السلسل

And I wished I might drink deeply

of the smooth-flowing drink,

ولقبلة احرزت من

حوراء ذات تدلل

and win, indeed, a kiss from

a wide-eyed houri full of coquetry,

وحسوت كأساً ثرّة

من كف اغيد أكحل

and sip a brimming cup

from the hand of a lithe, dark-rimmed-eyed youth.