1. أَرأَيتَ ما سَبَقَت إِلَيهِ مَخائِلي

    في حُبِّ هَذا الخائِفِ المُتَحامِلِ

    Have you seen what my presentiments foresaw

    in love for this fearful, overbearing one?

  2. ما كُنتُ أَدري ما يَكونُ وإنَّما

    غَلَبَ الدَّلالُ فَصارَ بَعضَ دَلائِلي

    I did not know what would happen; rather,

    coquetry prevailed and became part of my evidence.

  3. ويريبُني أنَّ الوُلاةَ تَسرَّعوا

    مَع كُلِّ مُعتَدِلٍ بِحُكمٍ مائِلِ

    And it troubles me that those in authority have rushed

    to favor every well-proportioned one with a crooked verdict.

  4. يَبدو فتُلزِمُهم مَحاسِنُ وجهِهِ

    أَن يُلزِموا المَقتولَ ذَنبَ القاتِلِ

    He appears, and the beauties of his face compel them

    to lay the killer's guilt upon the slain.

  5. فَإِذا قَضَى رَجُلٌ يُقالُ مَضى بِه

    أَجَلٌ نَعم أَجَلٌ ولَيسَ بآجِلِ

    So when a man dies, they say he was carried off by

    an appointed end—yes, an end, and not a deferred one.

  6. أنتَ ابتَدأتَ وما صَبرتَ ولَم يكُن

    ليَهيجَ قَولي أَو تَهيجَ بَلابِلي

    You began and did not endure; nor would

    my words have been roused, or my heartaches stirred.

  7. سَأَقومُ مُنتَصِراً وأبلغُ قائِلاً

    إِن كانَ يَبلغُ قائِلٌ مِن فاعِلِ

    I shall rise to avenge myself and prevail through speech,

    if a man of words can prevail against a man of deeds.

  8. يا ساكِنَ الطَّرفِ احتَفِظ مِن طَرفِه

    إِن كُنتَ تَرغَبُ في سِلاحٍ كامِلِ

    O frontier-dweller, secure some of his gaze,

    if you desire a perfect weapon.

  9. دَع ثَغرَهُ في الثَّغرِ قُوتاً واعطِني

    رِزقَ المُقيمِ بِهِ وزادَ الرَّاحِلِ

    Leave his mouth at the frontier as sustenance, and give me

    the resident's fare there and the traveler's provisions.

  10. ولربَّ خمرٍ داؤهنَّ مخامِرٌ

    وغَلائِلٍ مَحشُوَّة بغَوائِلِ

    And many veils whose malady lurks within,

    and shifts stuffed with deadly perils,

  11. يَنظُرنَ وَخزاً في القُلوبِ وَتارَةً

    غَمزاً وَراءَ الذَّاهبِ المُتَغافِلِ

    cast glances that stab hearts, and at times

    wink behind the departing man who feigns indifference,

  12. بِأَسِنَّةٍ سُودٍ بِغَيرِ عَوامِلٍ

    رُكِّبنَ في بيضٍ بِغَيرِ حَمائِلِ

    with black spearheads that have no shafts,

    mounted in whites, without baldrics.

  13. ضَربٌ مِن الحدثانِ حَدَّثَ نفسَه

    منِّي غَداةَ لَقيتُه بِالباطِلِ

    A stroke of misfortune told itself

    falsehoods about me on the morning I encountered it.

  14. فيما يُقاتِلُ إِذ بَدا عَلَم الهُدى

    وعَلي بن محمَّدِ بن مُقاتِلِ

    As it fought, there appeared the banner of guidance

    and Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Muqatil.

  15. تَجري المَواهِبُ كالمَواكِبِ حَولَهُ

    بِوَسائِل مِنَّا وغَيرِ وَسائِلِ

    Gifts flow around him like processions,

    through entreaties from us, and without entreaties.

  16. فَرَأَيتُهُ من بَعد ما حفَّت بِه

    خَيلُ المَطامِعِ عادَ كالمُتَثاقِلِ

    Then I saw it, after it had been surrounded by

    the cavalry of hopes, turn back as though weighed down.

  17. وكَذا الندى عِندَ النَّوائِبِ كالرَّدى

    سيما إذا أَمسَى جوارَ السائِلِ

    And thus generosity is like death to calamities,

    especially when it dwells beside the supplicant.

  18. وسَماءِ مَجدٍ كالسَّماءِ نُجومُها

    كنُجومِها بَل هُنَّ غَيرُ أَوافِلِ

    And a heaven of glory, like the sky, whose stars

    are like its stars—rather, they never set.

  19. جَعلَ المَكارِمَ كالمَعارِجِ وارتَقَى

    فيهنَّ حتَّى نالَها بِالنَّائِلِ

    He made noble deeds like ladders, and climbed

    upon them until he reached it through bounty.

  20. هِمَمٌ تَضرُّ بِأَهلِها فَكَأَنَّها

    طالَت ليَأخُذَ أَهلَها بِطَوائِلِ

    Ambitions that harm their bearers, as though they

    grew tall so their bearers might be made to pay for old scores.

  21. مِن مَعشَرٍ كَرمُوا فَقَلَّ عَديدُهُم

    ومآثِرُ الكُرَماءِ غَيرُ قَلائِلِ

    From a people so noble that their number is small,

    yet the glorious deeds of the noble are not few.

  22. كلٌّ لَهُ حِجرُ الرِّئاسَةِ مَولِدٌ

    بِمراضعٍ مِن سِلكِها وقَوابِلِ

    For each, the lap of leadership is a birthplace,

    with wet nurses of its own ranks, and midwives.

  23. فإِذا نَشا فيها وأَنشَأ سُنَّةً

    في النَّاسِ كانَ عَلى سَبيلٍ سابِلِ

    So when he grows up there and establishes a custom

    among the people, he follows a well-trodden road.

  24. وكأنَّما آباؤُهُم أَبناؤُهُم

    خَلَطَ الثَّناءُ أَواخِراً بِأَوائِلِ

    And it is as though their fathers were their sons;

    praise has mingled the later generations with the earlier.

  25. فَلئِن طَلعتَ فَما أَنيتَ غَريبَةً

    فَيُقالَ كَيفَ طُلوعُ هَذا النازِلِ

    So if you have risen, you have done nothing strange,

    that one should say, 'How has this lowly one risen?'

  26. خاصَمتُ فيكَ المالَ حتَّى إِنَّه

    قَد صارَ يَهجرُني وكانَ مُواصِلي

    I disputed with wealth about you, until it

    has come to shun me, though it once kept me company,

  27. مِن أَجلِ أَنِّي قُلتُ إِنَّكَ عادِلٌ

    فيما قَضَيتَ وقالَ ليسَ بِعادِلِ

    because I said that you are just

    in what you decreed; and it said, 'He is not just.'