وَلَو عَلمت حَوّاء أَن اِجتماعَها

وَلَو عَلمت حَوّاء أَن اِجتماعَها

بِآدم يَأتيها بشرّ الأَواخرِ

بِآدم يَأتيها بشرّ الأَواخرِ

And had Eve known that her union

Had Eve known that joining with Adam

with Adam would bring her the vilest of those to come,

Would bring her the worst of calamities later,

لَما سَمحت بِالوَصل يَوماً لبعلها

لَما سَمحت بِالوَصل يَوماً لبعلها

وَلا حَملت مِنهُ بِأَخبَث فاجر

وَلا حَملت مِنهُ بِأَخبَث فاجر

she would never have granted her husband intimacy,

She would not have allowed her husband to be with her even for a day,

nor conceived by him the vilest libertine.

Nor would she have borne from him the most wicked transgressor.

وَلَكنها جاءَت بِهِ رَغم أَنفِها

وَلَكنها جاءَت بِهِ رَغم أَنفِها

فَنالَ بِهِ إِبليس كُلَّ المَفاخر

فَنالَ بِهِ إِبليس كُلَّ المَفاخر

Yet she brought him forth despite herself,

But she brought him into the world against her will,

so through him Iblis won all glory.

So Iblis gained all glories through him.

وَكَيفَ وَقَد جاراه في الغَي وَالخَنا

وَكَيفَ وَقَد جاراه في الغَي وَالخَنا

فَأَربى عَلَيهِ في جَميع الكَبائر

فَأَربى عَلَيهِ في جَميع الكَبائر

And how could it be otherwise, when he rivaled him in waywardness and lewdness,

How could it be otherwise when they both strayed into sin and deception,

then surpassed him in every major sin?

And he raised him in every sort of outrage.

وَما هُوَ إِلا أَشعب في شَراهة

وَما هُوَ إِلا أَشعب في شَراهة

وَفي اللؤم حاشا أَن يُقاس بِمادر

وَفي اللؤم حاشا أَن يُقاس بِمادر

And he is nothing but Ashʿab in gluttony,

He is but greedy in evil,

and in baseness—far be it to compare him with Mādir.

Far be it from comparing him with the gentle.

وَما هُوَ إِلا باقلٌ في فَهاهة

وَما هُوَ إِلا باقلٌ في فَهاهة

وَما هُوَ في الهَيجاء إِلا كَصافر

وَما هُوَ في الهَيجاء إِلا كَصافر

And he is nothing but Bāqil in inarticulacy,

He is but foolish in wisdom,

and in battle he is merely like Ṣāfir.

And in madness he is but clamoring.

فَما لي أَرى العرفان ذلّ لجاهل

فَما لي أَرى العرفان ذلّ لجاهل

وَما لي أَرى الأَعمى يُعَدّ كَناظر

وَما لي أَرى الأَعمى يُعَدّ كَناظر

Why, then, do I see learning humbled before an ignoramus?

Why do I see the wise humbled before the ignorant?

And why do I see the blind man counted as one who sees?

Why do I see the blind considered as seeing?

وَما لي أَرى أَهل الرَشاد تَباعَدوا

وَما لي أَرى أَهل الرَشاد تَباعَدوا

وَنال الأَماني مُلحد غَير شاكر

وَنال الأَماني مُلحد غَير شاكر

And why do I see the rightly guided gone far away,

Why do I see the enlightened grow distant?

while an ungrateful unbeliever has attained his wishes?

And the atheist gained wishes without gratitude.

وَما لي أَرى أَن العُلوم يَسوسُها

وَما لي أَرى أَن العُلوم يَسوسُها

غَبيّ لَها أَمسى كَناهٍ وَآمر

غَبيّ لَها أَمسى كَناهٍ وَآمر

And why do I see the sciences governed

Why do I see sciences governed

by a fool, now acting as their forbidder and commander?

By an ignorant one who has become authoritative and commanding?

أَما ليَ عذرٌ حَيث قُلت مُؤرِّخاً

أَما ليَ عذرٌ حَيث قُلت مُؤرِّخاً

هوَى العلم حقداً في قَرار المَقابر

هوَى العلم حقداً في قَرار المَقابر

Have I no excuse for having said, in a chronogram:

Do I not have an excuse when I said, chronicling,

"Learning fell, through malice, to the depths of the graves"?

That knowledge has maliciously sunk to the bottom of graves?