في السجن — Jawahiri

ماذا تُريدُ من الزمانِ

ومن الرغائب والأماني

What do you want from time,

and from desires and wishes?

أوَكلّما شارفتَ من

آمالك الغرِ الحسان

And is it that whenever you draw near to

your radiant, beautiful hopes,

ورعتك الطافُ العناية

بالرفاهِ وبالأمان

and Providence's graces watch over you

with comfort and with security,

أُغْرِمْتَ بالآهات إغرامَ

الحنيفةِ بالأذان؟

you fall in love with sighs as

the true faith loves the call to prayer?

إن كنتَ تَحسُدُ من يحوطُ

البابَ منه حارسان

If you envy one for whom

two guards keep watch at the door,

فلديكَ حراسٌ كأنَّك

منهُمُ في معمعان

then you have guards, as though you were

in a fray among them,

ومؤكلون بما تُصرِّفُ

في الدقائقِ والثواني

and men charged with watching what you do

in the minutes and the seconds.

أُسكنتَ داراً مالها

في الصيت والعظموت ثاني

You have been housed in a dwelling with no

equal in renown and grandeur.

ما إن يباحُ دخولُها

إلا لذي خَطَرٍ وشان

Entry to it is never permitted

except to one of importance and standing.

دارٌ يُشيرُ لها صديق

أو عدوٌ بالبنان

A house a friend points to,

or an enemy, with a finger.

أهوى عليها ألفُ باكٍ

وادّعاها ألفُ باني

A thousand weepers have descended upon it,

and a thousand builders have laid claim to it.

وُقّيتَ فيها رَغمَ أنفِك

من خبيئات الدِنان

There you were protected, against your will,

from the wine-jars' hidden contents.

وحُفظْتَ فيها من غرور المال

أو سِحْرِ الحسان

And there you were shielded from wealth's beguilement

or the spell of beautiful women.

حجبوك عن لحظِ العيونِ

تأنقاً لك في الصيّان

They screened you from the gaze of eyes,

with fastidious care for your safekeeping.

مثل المعيديّ السَّماعُ

به أحب من العِيان

Like al-Muʿaydī: hearing

of him is preferable to seeing him.

وعلامَ تَحْسُدُ من تلهّى

بالمثالث والمثاني

And why do you envy one who amuses himself

with the lute's third and second strings?

أوَليس خشخشةُ الحديد

ألَذَّ من عزفِ القِيان

And is not the rattling of iron

more delightful than the music of singing slave-girls?

يشدو بها من أجل

لهوك ألفُ مكروبٍ وعاني

To its sound they sing, for the sake of

your amusement—a thousand anguished men and captives.

أوزانُ شعرِك بعضُ

أوزانٍ حوتها باتزان

Your verse's metres are but some

of the metres it holds in measured balance.

ماذا تريد من الزمان

أُعطيتَ ما لم يُعْطَ ثاني

What do you want from time?

You have been given what no other has been given.

أُعطيتَ من لطف الطبيعة

أن يُشِعَ النيران

You have been granted, by nature's kindness,

that the two luminaries should shine

صبحاً وإمساءً ، وأن

يوحي إليك الفرقدان

morning and evening, and that

the two Farqad stars should inspire you.

سبِّحْ بأنعُمِهِمْ فأنت

بفضل ما أولَوْك جاني

Praise their favors, for you are,

thanks to what they bestowed on you, a criminal.

صكّ الحديدِ على يديكَ

جزاءُ ما جَنَتِ اليدان

The clank of iron upon your hands

is the penalty for what both hands committed.

يا عابثاً بسلامة الوطن

العزيز ، وبالأمان

O you who toy with the safety of the homeland—

the beloved one—and with security,

ومفرقاً زُمَرَ اليهودِ

طوائفاً كلاًّ لشان

and divide the bands of Jews

into sects, each with its own concern!

ما أنت و " الكاشير " و " الطاريف "

من بقرٍ وضان

What have you to do with 'kosher' and 'taref'

meat from cattle and sheep?

إن الصحافةَ حرةٌ

لكن على شَرطِ الضمان

The press is indeed free,

but on condition of a guarantee.

سبِّحْ بأنعُمِهمْ وإنْ

عانيت منهم ما تعاني

Praise their favors, even if

you suffer at their hands what you suffer.

إن لم تُفدْكَ عقوبةٌ

فعسى تُفيدُ عقوبتان

If one punishment has not helped you,

then perhaps two punishments will.

أوْ لَمْ يُفِدْك مطهر

فلقد يُفيدُ مطهران

Or if one purgatory has not helped you,

then two purgatories may well help.