السيرة · Biography
كان فخّارًا ثم أصبح شاعر الزهد. بعد عشقه الجارية عُتبة تحوّل إلى الزهد والحكمة. بساطة أسلوبه جعلت أشعاره محفوظة على كل لسان.
A potter who became the poet of asceticism (zuhd). After pursuing love for a slave girl named Utba, he turned to renunciation and wisdom poetry. His simple style made his poems widely memorized.
القصائد · Poems (17)
إِذَا المَرْءُ لَمْ يَلْبَسْ ثِيَابًا مِنَ التُّقَى
If a person does not wear garments of piety
He moves about naked even if clothed
الحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ لَيْسَ لِي وَلَدٌ
Praise be to God, I have no child
And I have no parent nor offspring
أَقِمْ صَلاتَكَ قَبْلَ مَوْتِكَ وَاعْتَبِرْ
Perform your prayer before your death and learn
From time's calamities before they arrive
مَا أَبْعَدَ اليَوْمَ مِنَ الأَمْسِ
How far today is from yesterday
And how close today is to the grave
عَجِبْتُ لِمَنْ يَبْكِي عَلَى فَقْدِ مَالِهِ
I marvel at one who weeps over loss of wealth
Yet does not lament the loss of youth
يَا بَانِيَ الدَّارِ فَوْقَ الدَّارِ يَبْنِيهَا
O builder of house upon house
How narrow the grave is for what used to please you
وَاللهِ لَوْ عَلِمَ الأَحْيَاءُ مَا فَعَلَتْ
By God, if the living knew what the hands of death
Did to those before me, they would not sleep
عَجِبْتُ لِمَنْ يَغْتَرُّ بِالعُمْرِ وَالأَجَلْ
I marvel at one deceived by lifespan and term
When every day one of them passes away
وَمَا المَوْتُ إِلَّا سَارِقٌ دَقَّ شَخْصُهُ
Death is but a thief whose form is subtle
Attacking without a hand, walking without a foot
وَمَا الأَيَّامُ إِلَّا عِبْرَةٌ
Days are but lessons
So learn, O heedless one
وَتَذَكَّرْ حِينَ تَظْلِمُ ظُلْمَةَ القَبْرِ
Remember when you oppress the darkness of the grave
Its punishment and the narrowness of the niche
أَلا يَا طَائِرَ الفِرْدَوْسِ نَادِ
O bird of Paradise, call out
That life in this world is corruption
كَأَنَّكَ لَمْ تَسْمَعْ بِأَخْبَارِ مَنْ مَضَى
As if you have not heard the news of those who passed
Do you not see every day one departing?
وَقَدْ كَانَ فِي صِغَرِي أَنْ أَطَعْتُ هَوَايَ
In my youth I obeyed my desire
So it left me humiliated, yet I felt no shame
وَلا تَجْعَلِ الهَوَى إِلَهًا تَعْبُدُهُ
Do not make desire a god you worship
For desire can destroy the righteous
فَإِنَّمَا الدُّنْيَا ظِلٌّ زَائِلٌ
The world is but a passing shadow
And a deceiving mirage for those who seek
يَا حَسْرَةً عَلَى العِبَادِ إِذَا جَاءَهُمُ
Alas for the servants when there comes to them
From death what they used to mock
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