The Luzumiyat of Abu'l-Ala, LXXXV

translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani

And all my years, as vapid as my lay, 
Are bitter morsels of a mystic day,—
     The day of Fate, who carries in his lap 
December snows and snow-white flowers of May. 

Credit

The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala (James T. White & Co., 1920) by Abū al-‘Alā’ al-Ma‘arrī. Translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani. Copyright © 1920 by Ameen Rihani. This poem is in the public domain.