1. Astray, what did she want when she inclined to estrangement,
While we stand at the verge of separation?

2. Aiming to mingle affection with rancor,
And attempting to join nearness with remoteness.

3. She saw a blemish that dimmed her whiteness
By the alternating of one who makes white and one who makes black.

4. So do not ask about her estrangement, for her estrangement
Is the fruit of patience, sweetened by the fruit of joy.

5. And do not wonder at the stinginess of Da'ud in seeking her,
For among the noblest men Da'ud is the most stingy.

6. I spurn both ungenerous friends and loving friends;
So neither an ungenerous one becomes generous nor an affection endures.

7. Will this time pass and not see my position
Or know the value of my ornaments and necklaces?

8. And will it disparage one like me while it is a merchant
Who sells the precious wares of noble deeds and praise?

9. The rest of a comprehensive poem whose ideas
Those before me have clung to and those after me have wearied.

10. In it a skilled and painstaking artisan
Values its composition as much as David valued composing the Psalms.

11. O my two bosom friends, if I possessed a riding camel when
Men refused me their support, then my spear would make them stumble.

12. Yet no weregild has been assessed against me less than their praise,
So how can I be seen as less than their favours make me?

13. Shall I beat the livers of steeds to reach them
Demanding from me while their wants are with me?

14. That one refused saying I am ascetic in gaining one
Whom I see as ascetic in praising me from inadequacy of perception.

15. Indeed, the rich man's falling short of eminence
Is as reprehensible as the poor man's falling short, though resolute and firm.

16. The departure of a longing that moves on and a youthfulness
To Quraysh's village and the matchless lord.

17. To one who preceded whom people do not tie his glory
To effort, nor are guided by him to an aim.

18. To one pure of nature ― none purely white
Has passed in time but has originated from him or flows to him.

19. Worthy, if I visit him after an absence,
Though a period is long, to be true to the pact.

20. And if I present a poem to him in reward,
Neither the giver nor the given will recoil.

21. Vying, he and I, while we in entirety
Have an ample share of remoteness.

22. He has outshone those who give wishes besides him,
And through him what was clear through the fortunate star became clear.

23. So whence did we come all at once with his gift
And return while the stumbling of the walker was fivefold to roses?

24. He overlooks one elevated from his ranks
As authority was diminished in a Najdi chief with restraining power.

25. And his uniqueness is feared though he has no authority,
As a sword is avoided while still in its scabbard.

26. If they confront him about the loftiness of authority they confront
The sword of purity besides it, brittle of edge.

27. Thawba or Mihran would require him for
The loftiness of keeping a promise, not the promiser of a promise.

28. And the double-edged sword is more effective in checking aggression
And more bold in the fray than the single-edged sword.

29. The repository of hopes that brings ease to the forgotten
And makes the indebted wake up in the morning with cash.

30. They have repelled the time's stinginess with their generosity,
And no good until the opposite is repelled by the opposite.

31. Remaining in his comforts, never moving from them,
Roving, even if their riding camel spent the night walking with them.

32. They miss the people's celebrating the first of his pardon,
And have reached or surpassed the final effort.

33. Their worth belittled beneath his worth
As the lowlands of Tihama are beneath Najd.

34. So many glorious ones among them, when a man
Tests their meekness he finds of noble character.

35. And the finder of a realm whom an evil nature
Empowers one day over that finding.

36. So ease is not of wretched disparagement,
Nor loftiness of red-faced shackled ones.

37. I used to blame time once,
So I have come to you blaming time.

38. I was not, when it inclined with one with no refuge,
Inclined to a group but you and rebuttal.

39. They pass the summit of my lofty companionship
And know the summit is not my pillar.

40. Nor did any supporter guarantee me
The vicissitudes of time and what it discloses.

41. So I witness that in choosing you over them
I am fulfilling my fortune and following correct guidance.

42. And I know the roads have not surprised you all
With false tales of people or delegations.