English Translation
Part Five
There are discerning critics of knowledge and expertise, who refine exquisite speech from idle, meaningless talk.
My tears flowed down my cheeks in unbroken sorrow; thus I composed these verses regarding the tragedy of what transpired.
Though great masters of lofty stature preceded me, and it ill becomes me to exceed my humble bounds…
Yet within a necklace lie rubies, fine red spinels, and simple glass beads—and if I have faulted, my error is pardoned by a sincere apology.
The intense burning of my heart compelled me to publish these lines, just as the fire of censers draws forth the scent of sweet incense!
I penned these words, and were it not that I held back my eyes from weeping, my tears would have washed away every written line!
I relate events that constrain my chest with grief, bearing heavy burdens beneath which my back bows down.
Especially so, for my heart is as fragile as glass—and glass, once shattered, can never be mended again!
Truly, my era has rendered my life bitter and distressed; how I wish the dark evening of death had hastened to claim me in my time!
O my two companions, how sweet life truly would be, and how wholesome, were it not immediately followed by death!
The man of intellect never feels secure in this worldly life, for there is no goodness in a union that is swiftly followed by separation.
Once you die and all hopes are cut short, it is all the same whether your treasury holds straw or pure gold!
Explaining:
Selected fine words amidst the hajr (idle talk): The word hajr (pronounced with a fatha on the ha and a sukun on the jim) refers to corrupt speech or idle chatter; this implies that critics and scholars skillfully distinguish between noble, eloquent speech and fleeting, meaningless talk.
In the necklace-string, there are rubies, la‘l (fine red gems), and glass: The simt is the string of a necklace; la‘l refers to pure, transparent red rubies. This verse displays a refined poetic humility, as the poet describes his composition as a necklace combining timeless gemstones with mere transparent glass.
The fire of the incense burners releasing fragrance: A superb rhetorical simile; the burning within the poet’s own heart—his anguish and passion—is what produced this eloquent poetry, just as the fire of an incense burner releases the sweet aroma of incense and spreads it all around.
Aasar (burdens): The plural of isr, referring to a heavy load or weights that strain the shoulders and back.
Impossible to mend glass once broken: A simile likening the delicacy of his heart and his sorrow to a fragile glass vessel; once the heart shatters from the pain of bereavement, it becomes impossible to patch it up or restore it to its former state.
Rabb al-hija (Master of intellect): One possessed of reason, composure, and genuine substance; al-hija refers to the intellect and consciousness.
Straw (tibn) or gold dust (tibr): Tibr is pure raw gold before it is crafted, while tibn is dry straw. It is a profound piece of wisdom affirming that, at the moment of death and the loss of all hope, stores of dry straw appear no different to a person than vaults of pure gold.
Saadi Shirazi concludes his monumental historical elegy with a deeply moving, philosophical reflection that touches the very core of the soul. With the humility characteristic of true scholars, he apologizes to critics and literary masters, explaining that it was his suppressed grief—wringing his heart—that caused these verses to flow forth, much like a burning piece of agarwood in a censer releases its finest fragrance.
The poet paints a poignant image of his hand inscribing the words while tears stream down to wash away the lines, illustrating how his heart—fragile as glass—shattered completely in the face of the catastrophic fall of the Caliphate and the collapse of learning in Baghdad.
The elegy finds its ultimate resolution in an eternal existential truth: the sweetness of life is fleeting because death follows close behind; when the inevitable hour arrives, vaults of pure gold and heaps of straw and chaff become one and the same in the eyes of man.
Arabic Text
هنالكَ نقّادونَ علماً وخبرَةً
ومنتخبو القول الجميلِ من الهجرِ
جرَت عبَراتي فوق خدّي كآبضةً
فأنشأتُ هذا في قضيّةِ ما يجرى
ولو سبقتني سادةٌ جلّ قدرُهُم
وما حسُنَت منّي مجاوَزَةُ القدرِ
ففي السمطِ ياقوتٌ ولعلٌ وجاجَةٌ
وإن كان لي ذنبٌ يُكَفَّرُ بالعُذر
وحرقَةُ قلبي هيّجتني لنَشرِها
كما فعلَت نارُ المجامرِ بالعِطر
سطَرتُ ولولا غضُّ عيني على البُكا
لرَقرَقَ دمعي حسرةً فمَحا سطرى
أحدّثُ أخباراً يضيقُ بها صدري
وأحمِلُ آصاراً ينوءُ بها ظهري
ولا سيّما قلبي رقيقٌ زجاجُه
ومُمتَنِعٌ وصلُ الزجاجِ لدى الكَسرِ
ألا إنّ عصري فيه عيشى منكّدٌ
فَلَيتَ عشاءَ الموتِ بادرَ في عصري
خليليّ ما أحلى الحياةَ حقيقةً
واطيبَها لولا المماتُ على الإثرِ
ورَبُّ الحجى لا يطمئنُّ بعيشةٍ
فلا خيرَ في وصلٍ يُرَدّّفُ بالهجرِ
سواءٌ إذا ما متّ وانقطَع المُنى
أمخزَنُ تبنس بعد موتِكَ أم تبرِ
