1. يا ليلةً في آخر الشَّهر

    قد جئتِ بعد الصَّوم بالفطرِ

    O night at the month's end,

    You came after fasting, bringing the breaking of the fast.

  2. كشف الصباح لنا حوادثها

    وتكشَّفت عن مضمر الغدر

    Morning revealed its calamities to us,

    And it laid bare the treachery it concealed.

  3. أصبحتُ منها غير مفتقر

    أبداً إلى حرس على وكر

    It has left me with no need

    Ever for guards over my nest.

  4. هجمت عليَّ بحادث جلل

    وهجومها من حيث لا أدري

    It assailed me with a grievous calamity,

    Its assault coming from a quarter I did not know.

  5. خطبٌ ألمَّ ويا لنازلةٍ

    طلعت عليَّ به مع الفجر

    A disaster befell me—oh, what a calamity

    Came upon me bearing it at dawn!

  6. في ليلة ليلاء تحسبها

    يوم الفراق وليلة القبر

    On a night so dark you would think it

    The day of parting and the night of the grave.

  7. ما جنَّ حتَّى جنَّ طارقه

    طرق المبيت بطارق الشر

    Night scarcely fell before its visitor went mad;

    He struck the lodging with an evil visitation.

  8. وأظن أن الشمس ما كسفت

    إلاَّ لتكشف بعدها ضري

    And I think the sun was not eclipsed

    Except to reveal my suffering afterward.

  9. ولقد أقمت مقام ذي سفه

    صَعُبَ المقامُ به على الحر

    Indeed, I took up a fool's lodging,

    Where staying was hard for a free man,

  10. في منزل أخذوا مساحته

    يوماً فما أوفى على شبر

    In a house whose measurements they took

    One day—and it did not exceed a handspan.

  11. يا مؤجري داراً سُرِقتُ بها

    لا فُزتَ بعد اليوم بالأجر

    O you who rented me a house where I was robbed,

    May you earn no rent after today!

  12. لولا الضرورة كنت مرتحلاً

    عنها وكنت نزلت في قفر

    But for necessity, I would have departed

    From it, and settled in a wasteland.

  13. دامي العيون على أُصَيبِيَةٍ

    سوء الحظوظ وأوجه غر

    My eyes bleed for a few little boys,

    Ill-fated, with innocent faces.

  14. ما عندهم صبر على أمَل

    يرجونه في العسر لليسر

    They have no patience to await a hope

    They cherish amid hardship for relief.

  15. فرحوا بزينتهم ولو عقلوا

    لم يفرحوا بغلائل حمر

    They rejoiced in their finery; had they understood,

    They would not have rejoiced in red tunics.

  16. من كل مبتهج بكسوته

    طرب الشمائل باسم الثغر

    Each one delighted in his clothing,

    Joyful in manner, smiling at the lips.

  17. ناموا وما انتبهوا لشقوتهم

    إلاَّ انتباه الخوف والذعر

    They slept, and awoke to their misery

    Only with an awakening of fear and terror.

  18. يتلفَّتون إلى غلائلهم

    فدموعهم من فقدها تجري

    They look about for their tunics,

    And their tears flow at their loss.

  19. ضاقت بهم بغداد أجمعُها

    واليوم ضاق لضيقهم صدري

    All Baghdad became too narrow for them,

    And today my breast is tight with their distress.

  20. ونظيرة الخنساءِ مكثرة

    بالنوح باكية على صخر

    And a counterpart of al-Khansa abounds

    In lamentation, weeping over Sakhr.

  21. ولقد عجبت لها ويعجبني

    أمران ما اتفقا على أمر

    I have marveled at her; what amazes me is

    Two concerns that agree on nothing:

  22. أبكي على حظٍّ منيت به

    وهي التي تبكي على القِدر

    I weep over the lot that has afflicted me,

    While she weeps over the cooking pot.

  23. هذا وتضحكني مقالتها

    كيف البقاء بنا مع الفقر

    And yet her remark makes me laugh:

    How are we to survive in poverty?

  24. فكأنما كانت وأين لها

    في نعمة موصوفة الخير

    As though she had lived—and how could she?—

    In prosperity famed for its blessings.

  25. هل كنت قبل اليوم في سعة

    وملابس من سندس خضر

    Were you, before today, living in abundance,

    And wearing garments of fine green silk?

  26. أوَ ما ذكرت العمر كيف مضى

    لا كانَ ذاك العمر من عمر

    Do you not remember how your life passed?

    May that lifetime never be counted as life!

  27. إذ تذكرين جلاجلاً سرقت

    ولقد نسيت الجوع في شهر

    While you recall the bells that were stolen,

    You have forgotten the hunger of a month.

  28. وبنوك يومئذ بمسغبة

    خمص البطون حواني الظهر

    Your sons were then in famine,

    Hollow-bellied, their backs bent,

  29. صفرٌ يسوؤك ما عرفت بهم

    من شؤم وقع حوادث غبر

    Sallow—you were distressed by what you found in them

    Of the baleful effects of grim calamities.

  30. وعددت ألف قضيّة سلفت

    تطوى الضلوع بها على الجمر

    I recounted a thousand past troubles

    At which the ribs close over burning coals.

  31. ما أنكرت منهنَّ واحدة

    فلطمتها بأنامل عشر

    She denied not a single one of them,

    So I slapped her with ten fingers.

  32. وعذرتها وعذلت عاذلها

    والعذل بيَّنَ بَيِّنَ العذر

    And I excused her and rebuked her reproacher,

    And reproach revealed the evident excuse.

  33. وقع البلاء فلم يُفِدْ جزع

    فتعلّلاً بعواقب الصبر

    The calamity struck; anguish was no use,

    So take solace in the eventual fruits of patience.

  34. بعد الرجاء بموطن خشن

    يلقي الكرام بجانب وعر

    Hope has grown distant in a harsh land

    That casts the noble onto a rugged slope.

  35. بَلَدٌ كبارُ ملوكِه بَقَرٌ

    صاروا ولاة النهي والأمر

    A land whose greatest kings are cattle,

    Who have become masters of prohibition and command.

  36. لا يفقهون حديث مكرمة

    فيهزّهم نظمي ولا نثري

    They understand no talk of noble deeds,

    So neither my verse nor my prose can stir them.

  37. أصبحتُ أشقى بين أظهرهم

    فكأنني أصبحت في أسر

    I have come to suffer in their midst,

    As though I had become a captive.

  38. يرقى الدنيُّ إلى مراتبهم

    حتَّى يريك النعل في الصدر

    The base man rises to their ranks,

    Until he shows you the sandal in the seat of honor.

  39. وإذا سألتهمُ بمسألةٍ

    بخلوا ولو بقلامة الظفر

    And when you approach them with a request,

    They begrudge even a fingernail clipping.

  40. ذهب الذين أنال نائلهم

    وأعدّهم من أنفس الذخر

    Gone are those whose bounty I received,

    And whom I count among my most precious treasures.

  41. إنْ ساءَني زمنٌ سرِرت بهم

    وكفيت فيهم صولة الدهر

    If an age distressed me, I rejoiced in them,

    And through them I was spared time's onslaught.

  42. ومدحتهم وشكرت نعمتهم

    بغرائب الأبيات من شعري

    I praised them and gave thanks for their kindness

    With rare verses from my poetry.

  43. ولئن شكرت بمثلها أحداً

    فأبو الجميل أحقّ بالشكر

    And if I thank anyone with verses like these,

    Abu al-Jamil is most deserving of thanks.

  44. لم يبق من أهل الجميل سوى

    عبد الغني ونيله الوفر

    None of the benefactors remains except

    Abd al-Ghani and his abundant bounty.

  45. إلاَّ تداركني برحمته

    إنِّي إذاً وأبي لفي خسر

    Unless he comes to my aid through his mercy,

    Then, by my father, I am surely at a loss;

  46. وترحَّلت بي عن مَباركِها

    ولاّجة في المهمه القفر

    And from its kneeling places would carry me off

    A she-camel plunging into the barren wilderness.

  47. ومبدّد الأموال مهلكها

    بالمكرمات لخالد الذكر

    And he scatters wealth, exhausting it

    On generous deeds for enduring renown.

  48. قسماً به وجميل مصطنع

    من فضله قسماً لذي حجر

    I swear by him and by a kindness bestowed

    From his bounty—an oath for one of discernment:

  49. لولاه ما علق الرجاء ولا

    عرف الجميل بأهله ذا العصر

    But for him, hope would take no hold, nor

    Would this age know kindness through its people.

  50. ما زال أندى من مجلّلة

    بالقطر تملي سائر القطر

    He remains more bountiful than a cloud veiled

    In rain, filling the whole land.

  51. فانشر ثناءك ما استطعت على

    عبق العناصر طيب النشر

    So spread your praise, as much as you can, of

    One fragrant in his essence, sweet in scent.

  52. مزجت محبته بأنفسنا

    مثل امتزاج الماء والخمر

    Love for him is mingled with our souls

    As water mingles with wine,

  53. لفضائل شهد العدو بها

    ومناقب كالأنجم الزهر

    For virtues to which the enemy testifies,

    And merits like radiant stars.

  54. درع يقي من كل نائبةٍ

    لا ما يقي في البرد والحر

    He is armor that shields against every calamity,

    Not something that shields from cold and heat.

  55. أمعلّلي بحديثه كرماً

    حَدِّثْ ولا حرج عن البحر

    O you who console me with talk of his generosity,

    Speak of the sea without restraint.

  56. وإذا أثابك من مكارمه

    فمثوبة في الأجر والفخر

    And when he rewards you from his generous bounty,

    It brings recompense and honor.

  57. أدعو له ولمن يلوذ به

    في العالمين دعاء مضطر

    I pray for him and for those who seek his shelter,

    In all the worlds, with a desperate man's prayer,

  58. أنْ لا يزال كما أشاهده

    كالبدر أو في رفعة البدر

    That he may ever remain as I behold him,

    Like the full moon, or at the full moon's height.