1. أَوَجدي كَذا أَم هَكَذا كُلُّ مَن يَهوى

    يَزيدُ غَراماً واِشتياقاً عَلى البَلوى

    Is my passion like this, or is everyone who loves so,

    Growing in ardor and longing despite affliction?

  2. رَعا اللَهُ مَن أَمسَت وَسوءُ صَنيعِها

    بِنا فَوقَ أَن يَخفى واحسانها دَعوى

    May God preserve her, though now her ill treatment

    Of us is beyond concealment, and her kindness a mere claim.

  3. رأت أَنَّ في الاعراضِ تَقوى فَحَمَّلَت

    مِن الضُرِّ ما تأبى المُروءَة وَالتَقوى

    She thought turning away was piety, so she imposed

    Harm that nobility and piety reject.

  4. وَكَم نَقَضت مِن مُوثَقٍ جَعلت بِهِ

    شَهيداً عَلَيها عالِم السِرِّ وَالنَجوى

    And how many binding pledges she broke, having made

    The Knower of secrets and whispers a witness against her.

  5. إِذا فَكَّ هَذا اليَوم أَسوأ هجرها

    ثَنَنتهُ بِيَومٍ مِن تجنّبها أَسوا

    If this day lifts the worst of her estrangement,

    She follows it with a still worse day of avoidance.

  6. وَما زالَتِ الشَكوى تَزيدكَ غِلظَةً

    عَليَّ الى أَن صِرتُ أُومن بِالشَكوى

    Complaint kept increasing your harshness

    Toward me, until I came to believe in complaint.

  7. لَها مَربَعٌ في القَلبِ ما زالَ آهِلاً

    اذا رَبعُها بِالحُزنِ أَقفَر أَو أَقوى

    She has a spring abode in my heart, ever inhabited,

    When her dwelling lies deserted in sorrow, or desolate.

  8. وانّي عَلى ما حَمَّلَتهُ لَصابِرٌ

    وان كُنت لا أَبقى عليه وَلا أَقوى

    And I am patient under what she has imposed,

    Though I can neither survive it nor bear it.

  9. أُسَرُّ بِما سُرَّت وأأبى الَّذي أَبَت

    وَأَرضى الَّذي تَرضى وَأَهوى الَّذي تَهوى

    I rejoice in what delighted her and refuse what she refused;

    I accept what she accepts and love what she loves.

  10. يَسيرٌ لَها أَنَّ السَقام مُحرَّمٌ

    بِجِسمي وَسهَلٌ أَنَّ قَلبي بِها يَدوي

    She thinks it trifling that sickness is enshrined

    In my body, and a light matter that my heart ails through her.

  11. وَنَشوان مِن خَمرِ الصَبابَةِ لَم يَزَل

    يَميلُ الى سَكرى مِن الدُلِّ أَو نَشوى

    And, drunk on the wine of yearning, it has never ceased

    To incline toward one drunk or tipsy on coquetry.

  12. فَما يَستَفيق القَلبُ مِن بَرح صَبوةٍ

    الى ظَبيَةٍ أَدماءَ أَو رَشأٍ أَحوى

    So the heart never recovers from the torment of desire

    For a pale gazelle or a dark-hued fawn.

  13. تتابعَ في لَيلٍ مِن الغيِّ مُظلمٍ

    وَقَد لاحَ صُبحٌ في المَفارِقِ أَو أَضوا

    It pressed onward through a dark night of error,

    Though dawn had appeared in the hair-partings, or shone.

  14. وَعائبَةٍ منّي العَفافَ مَع الضَوى

    وَأَحسَنُ شَيء أَن أعفّ وَأَن أَضوى

    And a woman reproached my chastity coupled with leanness;

    Yet the finest thing is to be chaste and lean.

  15. اذا كانَ في المَسعى الغنى وَمذَلَّتي

    فَحَسبي بِفَقرٍ لا يذلُّ وَبالمَثوى

    If striving brings wealth along with my humiliation,

    Then poverty without abasement and a resting place suffice me.

  16. صبرتُ عَلى نَحت الخطوب وبَريها

    وان كانَ ثقلاً لَيسَ يحملُه رَضوى

    I endured misfortunes' chiseling and paring,

    Though it was a burden not even Radwa could bear.

  17. وَنادَيتُ مِن قَعر الحَمولِ وَقَد هَوى

    بجديَ صَرفُ الدَهرِ في أَبعد المَهوى

    And I cried out from beneath the loads, when

    Time's vicissitudes had plunged my fortune into the furthest abyss.

  18. أَما في بَني الدُنيا فَتىً مُتَدارِكٌ

    حُشاشَةَ هَذا الفَضل مِن قبل أَن تَبلى

    Is there not, among this world's sons, a young man to rescue

    The last spark of this merit before it wears away?

  19. وَكَيفَ وَدَهري المُعتَدي المُتَعَمِدي

    أُحاوِلُ مِن أَنيابِهِ النَصر وَالعَدوى

    And how, when my age attacks and deliberately targets me,

    Can I seek victory and succor from its fangs?

  20. وَما كانَ أَدناها اِستِغاثَةُ موثَقٍ

    إِلى مُطلَقٍ لَو يَسمَعُ الفاضِلُ الشَكوى

    How close at hand it was: a bound man's appeal

    To one unbound, if the virtuous man would hear the complaint.

  21. فَريدُ بَني الدُنيا الَّذي لا يُرى لَهُ

    نَظيرٌ عَلى مَرّ الزَمانِ وَلا يُروى

    Peerless among this world's sons: no equal to him is seen

    Through the passing ages, nor is one recounted.

  22. قَريبٌ الى باغي نَداهُ مُبادِرٌ

    وَلا طالِبٌ يُقصى وَلا مَوعِدٌ يُلوى

    Near to the seeker of his bounty, quick to respond,

    No petitioner is driven away, no promise delayed.

  23. إِذا التوت الأَحداثُ بِالمَرءِ واشَجت

    وَنادى بِها أَلوى بِها المَرس الأَلوى

    When calamities coil around a man and grieve him,

    And he cries out over them, the seasoned champion sweeps them away.

  24. وَأَبلَج مَعسولِ الشَمائِل ما جدٍ

    خَلائِقُه تُسلي عَن المَنِّ وَالسَلوى

    And a radiant, honey-mannered, noble man,

    Whose character makes one forget manna and quails.

  25. يَهشُّ إِلى العافي اِرتياحاً الى النَدى

    فَلا عُنُقٌ يُلوى وَلا حاجِبٌ يُزوى

    He brightens at the petitioner, delighting in generosity;

    No neck is turned aside and no eyebrow furrowed.

  26. شَرى المَدحَ مِنّي وَالمَوَدَّة وَالهَوى

    فَتىً مالَهُ في الناسِ مِثلٌ وَلا شروى

    He bought from me praise, affection, and love—

    A young man with no peer or equal among people.

  27. أَقَرَّ لَه بِالفَضل شانيه راغِماً

    مَتّى يسبِقِ الاجماعُ تتحِد الفَتوى

    His hater grudgingly acknowledged his excellence;

    Whenever consensus comes first, the verdict is unanimous.

  28. اذا قِستَهُ بالأَولين رَأَيتَه

    وَآراؤُهُ أَهدى وَأَقواله أَقوى

    If you compare him with his predecessors, you see him

    With sounder opinions and more powerful words.

  29. لَهُ قَلَمٌ دِرياقُه وَسِمامُه

    يُداوي بِه نَفس المَمالك اذ تَدوى

    He has a pen with antidote and poison;

    With it he heals the soul of kingdoms when it ails.

  30. يطبّقُ عَفواً رأيُه كُلّ مُعضِلٍ

    اذا قالَ بَعد الجهد ذو الرأي أَو أَسوى

    His judgment effortlessly hits the mark in every knotty problem,

    When a thinker, after labor, speaks—or errs.

  31. وسَبّاقِ غايات البَلاغَةِ وَالنُهى

    وَذو الخَصل مِنها ان شده أَو أَزوى

    And foremost at the finish lines of eloquence and intellect,

    And winner of their prize, whether he draws taut or draws aside.

  32. بِنَفسي كِتابٌ قُلتُ لَمّا قَرأتُه

    مَكانَكَ لا تَنصب فَقَد بلَغت حَلوى

    My life as ransom for a letter! When I read it, I said:

    Stay where you are; do not toil—you have reached Halwa.

  33. وَعرّيتُ ظَهر السِرِّ عَجزاً فَلا يَرى

    لَهُ أَبَداً رَحلٌ وَلا يُزوى

    And, powerless, I stripped secrecy's back bare;

    No saddle is ever seen upon it, nor folded away.

  34. وَأَيأستُ نَفسي مِن مُباراةِ بارِعٍ

    حَوى قَصَبَ السَبقِ الَّتي لَم تَكُن تُحوى

    And I despaired of matching a master

    Who won the victor's prize-reeds that had never been won.

  35. وَلَو فَضَّه عِبدُ الحَميد لردَّهُ

    يَذُمُّ الَّذي قَد كانَ سَدَّد أَو سَوّى

    Had Abd al-Hamid broken its seal, he would have sent it back,

    Finding fault with what he had formerly corrected or perfected.

  36. نَفائِس نَظمٍ لا يقوَّم شَذره

    لَو انقاس رَوضٌ لا يَجِفُّ وَلا يَذوى

    Treasures of verse whose scattered gems are beyond price;

    Were comparison possible: a garden that never dries or withers.

  37. وَلَم أَرَ عِندي ما يَرى لهديَّةٍ

    لقلَّةِ ما عِندي فأهدَيتُ ما يُروى

    I found nothing with me fit to be considered a gift;

    Because I had so little, I offered what is recited.

  38. وَأَصغرتُ ما يُطوى وَيُنشَرُ وَشيُه

    فحبّرتُ منشوراً عَلى الدَهر ما يُطوى

    I thought little of a fabric whose brocade is folded and unfolded;

    So I embellished an unfurled scroll, never folded through the ages.

  39. وَلَولاكَ ما أَسرَيتُ لَيلاً بُحرَةٍ

    مِن المَنزِلِ الأَدنى إِلى الغايَةِ القُصوى

    And but for you, I would not have traveled by night on a noble mount

    From the nearest station to the farthest goal,

  40. وَفاءً لحقِّ الوُدِّ لا تابِعاً مُنىً

    وَلا بائِعاً شِعراً وَلا طالِباً جَدوى

    In loyalty to affection's due, not pursuing wishes,

    Nor selling poetry, nor seeking gain.