حللت مكانا في الكهولة بعدما

حللت مكانا في الكهولة بعدما

حللته طفلا منذ حين ويافعا

حللته طفلا منذ حين ويافعا

I came to a place in middle age, after

I surveyed a place in old age after

having come there long ago as a child and as a youth.

Surveying it as a child long ago as a youth

فأذكرني تلك السنين التي انقضت

فأذكرني تلك السنين التي انقضت

وقد كان فيها العمر في العد تاسعا

وقد كان فيها العمر في العد تاسعا

It reminded me of those years that had passed,

So remind me of those years that have passed

when my age then, by the count, was nine.

When life was counting to nine in age

تشخصته حتى تخيلتني به

تشخصته حتى تخيلتني به

ولن يرجع التخييل ما ليس راجعا

ولن يرجع التخييل ما ليس راجعا

I gazed at it until I imagined myself there,

I pictured it until I imagined myself in it

but imagining will not bring back what will not return.

And imagination will not bring back what is not returning

مضت حجج سبع وعشرون خيلت

مضت حجج سبع وعشرون خيلت

الي خيالات ومرت سوائعا

الي خيالات ومرت سوائعا

Twenty-seven years have passed; they seemed

Twenty seven pilgrimages have passed since

to me like phantoms, and passed like fleeting hours.

I imagined and they slipped by

أنا هو ذاك الطفل الأم ووالد

أنا هو ذاك الطفل الأم ووالد

ومن بأخيه كان في الأهل رابعا

ومن بأخيه كان في الأهل رابعا

I am that very child, with mother and father,

I am that child, mother and father

who, with his brother, was fourth in the family.

And among the family I was the fourth brother

هو اليوم ذو بنت وذو الأخت من أب

هو اليوم ذو بنت وذو الأخت من أب

وعم اثنتين عد بالزوج سابعا

وعم اثنتين عد بالزوج سابعا

Today he has a daughter and a paternal half-sister,

Today he has a daughter and a sister from a father

and is uncle to two girls—seven in all, including his wife.

And two aunts, count with his wife as the seventh

ولا والدان أيها الربع فيك قد

ولا والدان أيها الربع فيك قد

قضت أمة والدهر ينسي الفجائعا

قضت أمة والدهر ينسي الفجائعا

And neither parent remains in you, O dwelling; indeed,

And no parents, O quarter in you, have

a generation has died, and time makes one forget calamities.

Fulfilled their nation and time makes one forget tragedies

تذكرتها والمرء يحيي بذكره

تذكرتها والمرء يحيي بذكره

فمالي أستبكي وأبكي المرابعا

فمالي أستبكي وأبكي المرابعا

I remembered it; through remembrance, a person gives life.

I remembered them and man revives with his remembrance

Why, then, do I seek tears and weep over the dwellings?

So why do I cry and lament the quarters

ذكرت بها أمي ذكرت بها أبي

ذكرت بها أمي ذكرت بها أبي

ذكرت بها دهرا مضى متتابعا

ذكرت بها دهرا مضى متتابعا

Through them I remembered my mother; through them I remembered my father.

I remembered my mother with it, I remembered my father with it

Through them I remembered an age that passed in unbroken succession.

I remembered with it an era that passed consecutively

ذكرت بها ذاك الغلام ولم يكن

ذكرت بها ذاك الغلام ولم يكن

سواي وقد أبصرته اليوم شاسعا

سواي وقد أبصرته اليوم شاسعا

Through them I remembered that boy, who was

I remembered with it that boy and he was

none other than myself; yet today I saw him far away.

None other than me, and today I saw him grown up

تقمص في شخصي فما أنا غيره

تقمص في شخصي فما أنا غيره

ولا هو غيري فاختفى وبدا معا

ولا هو غيري فاختفى وبدا معا

He clothed himself in my person; I am none other than he,

He embodied in my persona so I am none but him

nor is he other than I: he vanished and appeared at once.

And he is none but me, so he vanished and appeared together

كأني وإني في الكهولة ناظر

كأني وإني في الكهولة ناظر

أمامي ذاك الشيخ إن عشت طالعا

أمامي ذاك الشيخ إن عشت طالعا

It is as though, while I am in middle age, I behold

As if, though I am in old age watching

before me that old man emerging—if I live.

That old man in front of me, if I live longer

وما بعده إلا التوسد في الثرى

وما بعده إلا التوسد في الثرى

ويوم تراه للخليفة جامعا

ويوم تراه للخليفة جامعا

And after him, nothing but pillowing one's head in the earth,

And after it is nothing but resting in the soil

and a day you see gathering the successor.

And a day you will see it as a successor for the caliph