1. شفَّها السَّيْرُ والأسى والغرامُ

    وبَراها الإنجادُ والإتهامُ

    Travel, sorrow, and passion wasted her,

    And journeys to Najd and Tihamah wore her thin.

  2. كم فَرَتْ مهمهاً وجابَتْ قِفاراً

    واشتكتها الأوهاد والأعلام

    How often she cut through a trackless waste and traversed barren deserts,

    And the hollows and mountains complained of her.

  3. فترفَّقْ بها فإنَّ حشاها

    لو تأمَّلْتها جوىً وغرام

    So be gentle with her, for her heart,

    If you look closely at her, is burning anguish and passion.

  4. جَعَلتْ وِردَها من الماء عبًّا

    أفيطفى من الدموع ضرام

    She took her draught of water in great gulps;

    Can a blaze then be quenched by tears?

  5. كم ألَمَّت بنا على آل ميٍّ

    ونبا من دروسها الآلام

    How often she halted with us by Mayy's people,

    And pains arose from their fading traces.

  6. يوم لاح الحمى فقلت لصحبي

    هذه دارهم وتلك الخيام

    The day the protected grounds appeared, I told my companions:

    This is their home, and those are the tents.

  7. فنثرنا من الهوى عبراتٍ

    فَحَسِبْنا أنَّ الدموع ركام

    So out of love we scattered tears,

    And thought those tears a heaped-up mass.

  8. كلَّمتنا الديار وهي سكوتٌ

    إنَّ بعضاً من السكوت كلام

    The dwellings spoke to us, though they were silent;

    Indeed, some silence is speech.

  9. ذكَّرَتْنا بها وما دام عيشاً

    أيُّ عيشٍ دامت له الأيام

    They reminded us of her—but life does not endure;

    For what life have the days ever endured?

  10. ما عَلِمنا حتَّى انقضت وتولَّتْ

    أنَّ أيامنا بها أحلام

    We did not know, until they ended and passed,

    That our days with her were dreams.

  11. إذ جَلَونا من الحميّا عروساً

    بنت كرم لها الزجاج لثام

    When we unveiled a bride of heady wine,

    Daughter of the vine, with glass for her veil.

  12. يا لها ساعةً بمجلس أنس

    غاب جام بها وأشرَفَ جام

    Ah, what an hour at a convivial gathering!

    One goblet vanished there, and another came into view.

  13. ضيَّعَتْها أيدي الحوادثِ منَّا

    مثلَ ما ضَيَّعَ الجميلَ اللئام

    The hands of misfortune robbed us of it,

    Just as the ignoble squander kindness.

  14. نطلب الدهر أن يعود وهَيْها

    ت يروّى من السَّراب الأوام

    We ask time to return—but never

    Can burning thirst be quenched by a mirage.

  15. وبنفسي ذاك الغرير المفدى

    ففؤادي بحيه مستهام

    And my life is ransom for that guileless, cherished one;

    For my heart is mad with love for his encampment.

  16. واشتياقي إلى ارتشاف رضاب

    حَسَدَتْ ذلك الرضابَ المدام

    And I long to sip the nectar of his lips—

    That nectar which wine has envied.

  17. يا غزالاً فدىً لعينيك قلبي

    نظراتٌ أرْسَلْتها أمْ سِهام

    O gazelle, my heart is ransom for your eyes!

    Were they glances you sent—or arrows?

  18. هِمْتُ وَجْداً وذُبْتُ فيك هياما

    وقليلٌ على هواك الهيام

    I went mad with longing and melted in passion for you;

    Yet love-madness is little beside my love for you.

  19. كيف تخفى سريرةُ الحبِّ عنكم

    وأخو الوجد دَمْعُه نمّام

    How can love's secret be hidden from you,

    When the lover's tear is a tale-bearer?

  20. ظَعَنَ الركب ضحوةً وأراني

    لم يطب لي بعد الحبيب مقام

    The caravan departed at midmorning, and I find

    No resting place sweet to me after my beloved's departure.

  21. فاترك الهزل يوم جَدَّ بجدِّ

    إنَّ هزل المقام بالشهم ذام

    So abandon jesting when matters grow truly serious;

    For jesting on such an occasion shames the gallant.

  22. واطلبِ العزَّ بالقنا والمواضي

    إنَّما العزّ ذابل وحسام

    And seek honor with lances and keen blades;

    Honor is but a slender lance and a sharp sword.

  23. فمرام المنى ونيل المعالي

    بسوى البيض والقنا لا يرام

    For the goal of desire and the winning of high honors

    Are sought only with bright swords and lances.

  24. وتمسَّك بسَمْهريّ وشيج

    فالعوالي إلى المعالي زمام

    And hold fast to a rigid lance of tough wood;

    For lofty lances are a rein toward high honors.

  25. واقتحمها إذا نَبَتْ بك يوماً

    فأرى المجدَ بابُه الاقتحام

    And storm it if one day it turns against you;

    For I see that glory's gate is bold assault.

  26. وادفع الشرّ إن عَلِمتَ بشرٍّ

    ربَّما يدفع السّقامَ السقامُ

    And repel evil, if you know it, with evil;

    Sometimes sickness drives sickness away.

  27. فمتى تكبر العزائم بأساً

    صَغُرَتْ عندها الأُمور العظام

    So whenever resolves grow mighty in valor,

    Great matters grow small before them.

  28. وتَقَلَّدْ بالرأي قبل المواضي

    ليس يجدي بغير رأي صِدام

    And gird yourself with judgment before keen swords;

    Combat is of no use without judgment.

  29. رُبَّ رأي بالخطب يفعل ما لا

    يفعل السَّمهريُّ والصَّمصام

    Many a judgment in a crisis does what neither

    The rigid lance nor the keen sword can do.

  30. واحْذرِ الغَدْرَ من طباع لئيم

    عنده الغدر بالصَّديق ذمام

    And beware the treachery in a base man's nature;

    To him, betraying a friend is a duty.

  31. وادَّخر للوغى مقالة حربٍ

    لا تقوّي الأَجسامَ إلاَّ العظام

    And keep Harb's saying in reserve for battle:

    Only bones give strength to bodies.

  32. لا تلومي فتًى يخوض المنايا

    كلُّ جبنٍ من الحِمام حِمامُ

    Do not blame a youth who wades into death;

    All cowardice for fear of death is death.

  33. واصبري فالأَسى سحابةُ صيفٍ

    وَلرَبِّي بأمره أَحكام

    And be patient, for sorrow is a summer cloud;

    And my Lord has judgments in His command.