Ta'iyyah Ibn Rajab تائية ابن رجب

أَفِي دَارِ الْخَرَابِ تَظَلُّ تَبْنِي * وَتَعْمُرُ مَا لِعُمَرَانٍ خُلِقْتَا

Will you continue building in the house of ruin,
And construct what you were not created to construct?

وَمَا تَرَكَتْ لَكَ الْأَيَّامُ عُذْرًا * لَقَدْ وَعَظَتْكَ لَكِنْ مَا اتَّعَظْتَا

The days have left you no excuse,
they have surely admonished you, yet you did not take heed.

تُنَادِي لِلرَّحِيلِ بِكُلِّ حِينٍ * وَتُعْلِنُ إنَّمَا الْمَقْصُودُ أَنْتَا

It calls for departure at every moment,
and declares that the one intended is you.

وَتُسْمِعُكَ النِّدَاءَ وَأَنْتَ لَاهٍ * عَنِ الدَّاعِي كَأَنَّكَ مَا سَمِعْتَا

It makes you hear the call while you are heedless,
from the caller, as though you had never heard

وَتَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُ سَفَرٌ بَعِيدٌ * وَعَنْ إِعْدَادِ زَادٍ قَدْ غَفَلْتَا

You know that it is a long journey
yet you have neglected preparing provisions for it.

تَنَامُ وَطَالِبُ الأَيَّامِ سَاعٍ * وَرَاءَكَ لَا يَنَامُ فَكَيْفَ نِمْتَا

You sleep, while the seeker of days is striving,
behind you, never sleeping, so how did you sleep?

مَعَائِبُ هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا كَثِيرٌ * وَأَنْتَ عَلَى مَحَبَّتِهَا طُبِعْتَا

The flaws of this world are many
yet you have been moulded upon loving it.

يَضِيعُ العُمْرُ فِي لَعِبٍ وَلهْوٍ * وَ لَوْ أُعْطِيْتَ عَقْلًا مَا لَعِبْتَا

Life is wasted in play and distraction,
and had you been given intellect, you would not have played.

فَمَا بَعْدَ الْمَمَاتِ سِوَى جَحِيمٍ * لِعَاصٍ أَوْ نَعِيمٍ إِنْ أَطَعْتَا

After death there is nothing but Hell,
for the disobedient or bliss, if you were obedient.

وَلَسْتُ بِآمِلِ بَاطِلٍ رَدًّا لِدُنْيَا * فَتَعْمَلُ صَالِحًا فِيمَا تَرَكْتَا

I do not hope for a false return to this world,
so that you might do righteous deeds in what you left behind.

وَأَوَّلُ مَنْ أَلُومُ الْيَوْمَ نَفْسِي * فَقَدْ فَعَلَتْ نَظَائِرَ مَا فَعَلَتْا

And the first one I blame today is my own soul,
for it has done deeds similar to what you have done.

أَيَا نَفْسِي أَخَوْضًا فِي الْمَعَاصِي * وَ بَعْدَ الأَرْبَعِينَ وَفَيْتِ سِتَّا

Oh my soul, will you plunge into sins,
even after forty, having completed six (more years)?

وَأَرْجُو أَنْ يَطُولَ الْعُمْرُ حَتَّى * أَرَى زَادَ الرَّحِيلِ وَقَدْ تَأَتَّى

And I hope that life will be prolonged,
so that I may see the provisions for departure prepared.

أَيَا غُصْنَ الشَّبَابِ تَمِيلُ زَهْوًا * كَأَنَّكَ قَدْ مَضَى زَمَنٌ وَعِشْتَا

Oh branch of youth, you sway with pride,
as if a span of time has already passed and you have lived it through.

عَلِمْتَ فَدَعْ سَبِيلَ الْجَهْلِ وَاحْذَرْ * وَصَحِّحْ قَدْ عَلِمْتَ وَمَا عَمِلْتَا

You have come to know, so abandon the path of ignorance and beware,
and set right, for you have known yet not acted upon it.

وَيَا مَنْ يَجْمَعُ الأَمْوَالَ قُلْ لِي * أَيَمْنَعُكَ الرَّدَى مَا قَدْ جَمَعْتَا

Oh you who gather and hoard wealth, tell me,
will what you have amassed prevent death from reaching you?

وَيَـا مَـنْ يَبتَغِي أَمْرًا مُطَاعًا * فَيُسمَعَ نَافِذًا مَنْ قَدْ أَمَرَتَا

Oh you who seek to be one whose command is obeyed,
whose orders are heard and carried out with effect,

عَجِجْتَ إِلَى الْوِلَايَةِ لَا تُبَالِي * أَجِرْتَ عَلَى الْبَرِّيَّةِ أَمْ عَدَلْتَا

You hastened toward authority, caring little
whether you ruled the people with justice or with oppression.

أَلَا تَدْرِي أَنَّكَ يَوْمَ صَارَتْ * إِلَيْكَ بِغَيْرِ سِكِّينٍ ذُبِحْتَا

Do you not realise that, on the day it comes upon you,
you will be slaughtered without a knife?

وَلَيْسَ يَقُومُ فَرْحَةُ قَدْ تَوَلَّى * بِتَرْحَةِ يَوْمَ تَسْمَعُ قَدْ عُزِلْتَا

The joy of hearing “he has been appointed” will not endure
against the grief of the day you hear “you have been dismissed.”

وَلَا تُهْمِلْ فَإِنَّ الْوَقْتَ يَسْرِي * فَإنْ لَمْ تَغْتَنِمْهُ فَقَدْ أَضَعْتَا

Do not be neglectful, for time moves swiftly on;
if you do not seize it, then you have surely wasted it.

تَرَى الْأَيَّامَ تُبْلِي كُلَّ غُصْنٍ * وَتَطْوِي مِـن سُرُورِكَ مَا نَشَرْتَا

You see the days wearing away every branch,
and folding up from your joy whatever you once spread out.

وَتَعْلَمُ إِنَّمَا الدُّنْيَا مَنَامٌ * فَأَحْلَى مَا تَكُونُ إِذَا انْتَبَهْتَا

You know that the world is nothing but a dream,
and it is sweetest when you awaken from it.

فَكَيْفَ تَصُدُّ عَنْ تَحْصِيلِ بَاقٍ * وَبِالفَانِي وَزُخْرُفِهِ شُغِلَتَا

So how do you turn away from attaining what is everlasting,
while you have been occupied with what perishes and its glitter?

هِيَ الدُّنْيَا إِذَا سَرَّتْكَ يَوْمًا * تَسُوءُكَ ضِعْفَ مَا فِيهَا سُرِرْتَا

It is the world: if it gladdens you one day,
it will distress you twice as much as the joy it once gave.

تَغُرُّكَ كَالسَّرَابِ فَأَنتَ تَسْرِي * إِلَيْهِ وَلَيْسَ تَشْعُرُ إِنْ غُرِرْتَا

It deceives you like a mirage, so you hasten toward it,
while you do not even realise that you have been deceived.

وَأَشْهَدُ كَمْ أَبَادَتْ مِنْ حَبِيبٍ * كَأَنَّكَ آمِنٌ مِمَّا شَهِدْتَا

And I bear witness to how many beloved ones it has destroyed,
yet it is as though you feel secure from what you yourself have witnessed.

وَتَدْفُنُهُمْ وَتَرْجِعُ ذَا سُرُورٍ * بِمَا قَدْ نِلْتَ مِنْ إِرْثٍ وَحَرْثَا

You bury them, then return in a state of happiness
over what you have obtained of inheritance and land.

وَتَنْسَاهُمْ وَأَنْتَ غَدًا سَتَفْنَى * كَأَنَّكَ مَا خُلِقْتَ وَلَا وُجِدْتَا

You forget them, while tomorrow you yourself will perish,
as though you were never created and never existed at all.

تُحَدِّثُ عَنْهُمُ وَتَقُولُوا كَانُوا * نَعَمْ كَانُوا كَمَا وَاللَّهِ كُنْتَا

You speak about them and say, “They were…,”
yes, by Allah, they were, just as you yourself once were.

حَدِيثُكَ هُمْ وَأَنتَ غَدًا حَدِيثٌ * لِغَيْرِهِمُ فَأَحْسِنْ مَا اسْتَطَعْتَا

Today your talk is about them, but tomorrow you will be
spoken of by others, so do the best you you can do.

يَعُودُ الْمَرْءُ بَعْدَ الْمَوْتِ ذِكْرًا * فَكُنْ حَسَنَ الحَدِيثِ إذَا ذُكِرْتَا

A person returns, after death, as nothing but a remembrance,
so be of good mention when you are spoken of.

سَلِ الأيَامَ عَنْ عَمٍّ وَخَالٍ * وَمَا لَكَ وَالسُّؤَالَ وَقَدْ عَلِمْتَا

Ask the days about an uncle and a maternal uncle,
though what need have you to ask, when you already know?

أَلَسْتَ تَرى دِيَارَهُمُ خَلَاءً * فَقَدْ أَنكَرْتَ مِنْهَا مَا عَرَفْتَا

Do you not see their dwellings lying empty,
so that you no longer recognise from them what you once knew?