Rendered into English by: Mohammed A. Alkhozai
(1)
You know it’s a mirage,
nonetheless, you proceed.
You shall not know that except when you reach it,
as if it wasn’t so… before your arrival.
(2)
Normal Man
brags that he is stronger than all the gods put together.
He does not heed them all.
But at a moment of weakness he shall cry:
Oh, my God.
This is a pure human nature.
and a failure in evaluating powers.
(3)
“I can nearly hear the palm trees crying for rain.”
It doesn’t suffice to be a great poet like Badre Shaker As-Syyab
To be able to envisage this image,
you ought to be a farmer to feel it.
(4)
He shall be tired
of waiting for her to open her window.
Instead, he went on painting a house
and a balcony
and a closed window
that he opens.
He knew she was not there.
(5)
The other thing that you do,
on listening to music,
is what polishes the mirror of your soul,
so you can see with more ambiguity
(6)
He sits bored with her,
chattering incessantly,
and endlessly claiming that he is her only solace in this world.
(7)
“When statues bend,
they break”
I cannot recollect who said these words?
But I can hear crashing of stones here.
(8)
Place your opponents in the direction of your amazement for their exceptional intelligent,
they believe so as well,
And shall respect an intelligent opponent .. like themselves.
(9)
Christ’s tears on the cross were more profuse than his blood.
Repenting for the belief of his promises.
(10)
Have you ever seen the sea as an ill-tempered sage?
Even in his rashness, you can trust his patience,
With ingrate sons.
(11)
Almutanabbi did nothing against Saif Ad-Dawla,
Both wanted to keep the two together
The Sword and The State / Poesy and the State
(12)
Faith is what you believe in
not what It thinks of you.