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Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī. ""Let the days do as they please"." Global Medieval Sourcebook.Text based on al-Shāfiʿī, M. 1911. Dīwān al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, ed. Maḥmūd Ibrāhīm Haybah. al-Qāhirah: Maṭbaʿat al-Taqaddum, page 8. .
دع الأيام تفعل ما تشاء | "Let the days do as they please"
Source Information
دع الأيام تفعل ما تشاء | "Let the days do as they please"
by Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī
Text Source:
al-Shāfiʿī, M. 1911. Dīwān al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, ed. Maḥmūd Ibrāhīm Haybah. al-Qāhirah: Maṭbaʿat al-Taqaddum, page 8.
Responsibility Statement:
- Text based on al-Shāfiʿī, M. 1911. Dīwān al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, ed. Maḥmūd Ibrāhīm Haybah. al-Qāhirah: Maṭbaʿat al-Taqaddum, page 8.
- Translation by Sherif Abdelkarim
- Encoded in TEI P5 XML by Danny Smith
Editorial Principles:
Transcriptions and translations are encoded in XML conforming to TEI (P5) guidelines. The original-language text is contained within <lem> tags and translations within <rdg> tags.
Texts are translated into modern American English with maximum fidelity to the original text, except where it would impair comprehension or good style. Archaisms are preserved where they do not conflict with the aesthetic of the original text. Scribal errors and creative translation choices are marked and discussed in the critical notes.
For clarification, I have added diacritics to letters left unmarked in this edition.
Publication Details:
Published by The Global Medieval Sourcebook.
The Global Medieval Sourcebook is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
من ديوان الشافعي from Dīwān al-Shāfiʿī
دع الأيام تفعل ما تشاء وطب نفساً بما حكم القضاء Let the days do as they please, And take heart with what destiny decreed.
ولا تجزع لحادثة الليالي فما لحوادث الدنيا بقاء Don’t sweat the nights’ emergencies; The world’s afflictions lack perpetuity.
وكن رجلا على الأهوال جلداً وشيمتك المروءة والوفاء Be a man indifferent to fear, Of noble, loyal nature.
وإن كثرت عيوبك في البرايا وسرّك أن يكون لها غطاء Should your faults accrue among creation, And you’d like to drape them,
5
تستر بالسخاء فكل عيب يغطيه كما قيل السخاء Drape them with generosity, for every fault Generosity enshrouds, as the saying goes. ولا تر للأعادي قط ذلاً فإن شماتة الأعدا بلاء Never show foes a fault; Their schadenfreude’s a sure misfortune.
ولا ترج السماحة من بخيل فما في النار للظمآن ماء Expect no bounty from the miser; Jehennem waters not the parched.
ورزقك ليس ينقصه التأني وليس يزيد في الرزق العناء Unhurriedness will not diminish your provisions, Nor will overexertion increase them.
ولا حزن يدوم ولا سرور ولا بؤس عليك ولا رخاء Despondency passes, as does joy; Neither poverty nor affluence are on you.
10
إذا ما كنت ذا قلب قنوع فأنت ومالك الدنيا سواء If you possess a satisfied heart, You own the world. ومن نزلت بساحته المنايا فلا أرض تقيه ولا سماء On whomever Death descends with its appointment, No earth can shelter, no sky.
وأرض الله واسعة ولكن إذا نزل القضا ضاق الفضاء Allāh’s earth is wide. However, When fate strikes the space contracts.
دع الأيام تغدر كل حين فما يغني عن الموت الدواء Let the days betray every age, For death knows no antidote.
من ديوان الشافعي from Dīwān al-Shāfiʿī
دع الأيام تفعل ما تشاء وطب نفساً بما حكم القضاء Let the days do as they please, And take heart with what destiny decreed.
ولا تجزع لحادثة الليالي فما لحوادث الدنيا بقاء Don’t sweat the nights’ emergencies; The world’s afflictions lack perpetuity.
وكن رجلا على الأهوال جلداً وشيمتك المروءة والوفاء Be a man indifferent to fear, Of noble, loyal nature.
وإن كثرت عيوبك في البرايا وسرّك أن يكون لها غطاء Should your faults accrue among creation, And you’d like to drape them,
5
تستر بالسخاء فكل عيب يغطيه كما قيل السخاء Drape them with generosity, for every fault Generosity enshrouds, as the saying goes. ولا تر للأعادي قط ذلاً فإن شماتة الأعدا بلاء Never show foes a fault; Their schadenfreude’s a sure misfortune.
ولا ترج السماحة من بخيل فما في النار للظمآن ماء Expect no bounty from the miser; Jehennem waters not the parched.
ورزقك ليس ينقصه التأني وليس يزيد في الرزق العناء Unhurriedness will not diminish your provisions, Nor will overexertion increase them.
ولا حزن يدوم ولا سرور ولا بؤس عليك ولا رخاء Despondency passes, as does joy; Neither poverty nor affluence are on you.
10
إذا ما كنت ذا قلب قنوع فأنت ومالك الدنيا سواء If you possess a satisfied heart, You own the world. ومن نزلت بساحته المنايا فلا أرض تقيه ولا سماء On whomever Death descends with its appointment, No earth can shelter, no sky.
وأرض الله واسعة ولكن إذا نزل القضا ضاق الفضاء Allāh’s earth is wide. However, When fate strikes the space contracts.
دع الأيام تغدر كل حين فما يغني عن الموت الدواء Let the days betray every age, For death knows no antidote.
Critical Notes
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