The Luzumiyat of Abu’l-Ala, XXXVIII

translated from the Arabic by Ameen Rihani

The I in me standing upon the brink
Would leap into the Well to get a drink;
      But how to rise once in the depth, I cry,
And cowardly behind my logic slink.

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.

Translators
Ameen Rihani
1876 –
1940