The Luzumiyat of Abu'l-Ala, LXXXVIII

translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani

I give and go, grim Destiny,—I play 
Upon this checker-board of Night and Day
      The dark game with thee, but the day will come
When one will turn the Board the other way. 

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.