1. أَرَقَدتَ عَن قَلِقِ الفُؤادِ مَشوقِهِ

    فَأَمَرتَ بِالسُلوانِ غَيرَ مُطيقِهِ

    Have you slept, heedless of one restless and lovesick at heart,

    and commanded one incapable of forgetting to forget?

  2. لا تُتعِبِ اللَومَ الَّذي أَنضَيتَهُ

    في كُلِّ مُعتَدِلِ القَوامِ رَشيقِهِ

    Do not weary the reproach you have worn out

    over every well-proportioned, graceful figure.

  3. يَحكي القَضيبَ إِدا الصَبا مَرَّت بِهِ

    حَرَكاتُهُ وَيَطولُهُ بِبُسوقِهِ

    Like a bough when the east wind passes over it

    are his movements; he overtops it with his towering height.

  4. وَمُمَنطَقٍ يُغني النَديمَ بِوَجهِهِ

    عَن كَأسِهِ المَلأى وَعَن إِبريقِهِ

    And a girdled youth whose face lets the drinking companion dispense

    with his brimming cup and his wine jug.

  5. فِعلُ المُدامِ وَلَونُها وَمذاقُها

    في مُقلَتَيهِ وَوَجنَتَيهِ وَريقِهِ

    Wine's effect, its color, and its taste

    are in his eyes, his cheeks, and his saliva.

  6. وَبِنَفسِيَ الطَيفُ المُلِمُّ وَإِن جَرى

    في مَذهَبِ الإِعراضِ عِندَ طُروقِهِ

    And my life be ransom for the visiting phantom, even if he takes

    the path of aversion when he comes by night.

  7. فَدُنُوُّهُ كَبِعادِهِ وَوِصالُهُ ال

    هَجرُ الصَريحُ وَبِرُّهُ كَعُقوقِهِ

    So his nearness is like his distance; union with him is

    outright abandonment, and his kindness like his unkindness.

  8. أَبَداً أُريهِ باطِلاً مِن سَلوَتي

    وَأَبُثُّهُ وَلَهي عَلى تَحقيقِهِ

    Always I show him a false pretense of forgetting,

    and confide my frenzied longing to him in its full truth.

  9. وَجدٌ كَوَجدِ أَبي المُظَفَّرِ بِالنَدى

    كُلُّ اِمرِئٍ يَصبو إِلى مَعشوقِهِ

    A passion like Abu al-Muzaffar's passion for generosity:

    everyone yearns for his beloved.

  10. لَطَرَقتَ في كَسبِ الثَناءِ مَحَجَّةً

    أَبدَعتَها وَعَدَلتَ عَن مَطروقِهِ

    In earning praise, you have surely taken a path

    of your own devising, turning aside from its beaten track.

  11. وَظَهَرتَ في ذا المُلكِ مَظهَرَ سيرَةٍ

    أَفضى الرَجاءُ بِها إِلى تَصديقِهِ

    And in this kingdom you displayed a pattern of conduct

    that brought hope to its fulfillment.

  12. مِثلَ اِنتِهاءِ الشَمسِ تَمَّ ضِياؤُها

    لا كَاِبتِداءِ الصُبحِ قَبلَ شُروقِهِ

    Like the sun at its height, its radiance complete,

    not like dawn's beginning before its sunrise.

  13. حازَ السَعادَةَ مَن يُقَسِّمُ عَيشَهُ

    قِسمَينِ بَينَ صَبوحِهِ وَغَبوقِهِ

    He has won happiness who divides his life

    in two, between his morning draught and his evening draught.

  14. مَهلاً فَضَلتَ المَجدَ مُنذُ حَوَيتَهُ

    وَفَصَلتَ بَينَ كَذوبِهِ وَصَدوقِهِ

    Gently now: you have surpassed glory since you gained it,

    and distinguished its false claimant from its true one.

  15. لا فَضلَ نائِلِهِ عَلى مُرتادِهِ

    بَل فَضلَ خالِقِهِ عَلى مَخلوقِهِ

    Not the superiority of one who wins it over one who seeks it,

    but the superiority of its creator over his creation.

  16. فَبَعيدُ ما قَد رُمتَهُ كَقَريبِهِ

    وَعَلى سِواكَ قَريبُهُ كَسَحيقِهِ

    So the farthest of what you have sought is like its nearest,

    while for anyone else its nearest is like its most remote.

  17. فَليَسأَلِ المالُ الَّذي لَجَّ الوَرى

    في جَمعِهِ وَلَجَجتَ في تَفريقِهِ

    Let wealth be questioned—the wealth mankind persists

    in amassing, while you persist in scattering it;

  18. وَلِتَسأَلِ الخَيلُ الَّتي خيدَت ضُحىً

    بِالطَعنِ عَن سَعَةِ المَكَرِّ وَضيقِهِ

    and let the horses be questioned, driven back at midmorning

    by spear-thrusts from the charging-ground's broad and narrow reaches,

  19. عَمَّن حَمى أَعقابَها ضَنّاً بِها

    لا مَن سَلا عَن سَرحِهِ وَوُسوقِهِ

    about who shielded their rear out of care for them,

    not one heedless of his grazing herds and his loads.

  20. يا ناصِرَ الدينِ الحَنيفِ بِعَزمَةٍ

    صَدَقَت فَأَذعَنَ باطِلٌ بِزُهوقِهِ

    O defender of the upright faith, with a resolve

    that proved true, so falsehood yielded to its own extinction.

  21. لَن يَأمَنَ اللَيّانَ إِلّا صارِمٌ

    سَلَّ الصَوارِمَ لِاِقتِضاءِ حُقوقِهِ

    Only a resolute man will be safe from stalling,

    one who has drawn keen swords to exact his rights.

  22. فَليَحقِنِ المُستَعصِمونَ بِمَنبِجٍ

    باقي دَمٍ مُتَعَرِّضٍ لِمُروقِهِ

    So let those entrenched in Manbij preserve

    their remaining blood, in danger of being shed.

  23. فَلَقَد رَمَيتَهُمُ بِمَن يَغشى الوَغى

    فَيَرى فِراقَ النَفسِ دونَ فَريقِهِ

    For you have hurled against them one who plunges into battle,

    and would sooner part with life than with his comrades,

  24. أَو يَنثَني بِدَمِ الكُماةِ مُخَلَّقاً

    مِثلَ العَروسِ مُضَمَّخاً بِخَلوقِهِ

    or returns anointed with the blood of champions,

    like a bridegroom steeped in his saffron perfume.

  25. وَمُهَنَّدٍ يَمضي غِراراهُ إِذا

    كَلَّ الشَقيقُ وَمَلَّ نَصرَ شَقيقِهِ

    And an Indian-forged sword whose twin edges cut on when

    a brother falters and tires of aiding his brother;

  26. وَمُطَهَّمٍ يَرِدُ النِزالَ كَأَنَّما

    يُدعى إِلىآرِيِّهِ وَعَليقِهِ

    and a splendid steed that enters combat as though

    summoned to its stall and its fodder.

  27. ما بالُ واليهِم يُعَلِّلُ نَفسَهُ

    حيناً وَيُخبِرُ صَبرَهُ عَن موقِهِ

    Why does their governor keep consoling himself

    for a time, while his endurance betrays his folly,

  28. مُتَعَرِّضاً لِنِضالِ مَن هُوَ فَوقَهُ

    جَهلاً بِسَهمٍ قَد خَلا مِن فوقِهِ

    exposing himself to a contest with one above him,

    ignorantly, with an arrow that lacks its nock?

  29. وَتَعَذُّرُ الأَبصارِ أَوعَظُ واعِظٍ

    لَو أَنَّهُ يُهدى إِلى تَوفيقِهِ

    And the failure of sight is the sternest admonisher,

    if only he were guided to heed it rightly,

  30. في عارِضٍ فيهِ المَنايا وَالمُنى

    تُردي وَتُحدى قَبلَ لَمعِ بُروقِهِ

    within a cloud bearing deaths and hopes,

    deaths slaying, hopes urged onward before its lightning flashes.

  31. يَخشى الهِزَبرُ هُجومَهُ في غابِهِ

    أَبَداً وَيَرهَبُهُ العُقابُ بِنيقِهِ

    The lion fears its onslaught in its thicket

    always, and the eagle dreads it on its mountain peak.

  32. قَد كانَ جَدُّكَ صالِحٌ في أَسرِ مَن

    مَنَعَ المَحيصَ وَزادَ في تَضيِيقِهِ

    Your grandfather Salih was once held captive by one

    who blocked escape and tightened his confinement,

  33. حَتّى إِذا ما اللَهُ أَطلَقَهُ قَضى

    بِبِعادِ آسِرِهِ وَمُلكِ طَليقِهِ

    until, when God released him, He decreed

    his captor's removal and the freed captive's reign.

  34. وَكَذاكَ يَفعَلُ فيكَ فَاِعزِم عَزمَةً

    تَجلو ظَلامَ الإِفكِ بَعدَ غُسوقِهِ

    And likewise He will act for you; summon a resolve

    that clears falsehood's darkness after it has deepened.

  35. كَم حَلَّ أَنطاكِيَّةً مِن مُترَفٍ

    مُتَشاغِلٍ بِرَحيقِهِ وَرَقيقِهِ

    How many a pampered man has lodged in Antioch,

    absorbed in his pure wine and his slaves!

  36. وَأَمامَ قُسطَنطينَةٍ وَوَرَاءَها

    خَطبٌ أُعينَ جَليلُهُ بِدَقيقِهِ

    And before Constantinople and behind it

    lies a crisis, its great dangers reinforced by its small ones.

  37. وافى مَليكَ الرومِ مِنهُ مانِعٌ

    عَن نَصرِ دَوقَسِهِ وَعَن بِطريقِهِ

    An obstacle from it has reached the king of the Romans,

    preventing him from aiding his duke and his patrician.

  38. وَقَفَ الرَجاءُ بِهِ عَلى إِخفاقِهِ

    وَالخَوفُ يُلزِمُ قَلبَهُ بِخُفوقِهِ

    Hope has brought him to disappointment,

    and fear compels his heart to pound.

  39. لا يَأمَنَنَّ الشِركُ بَطشَ غَشَمشَمٍ

    يُرجى لِقَطعِ فُروعِهِ وَعُروقِهِ

    Let polytheism never feel safe from the assault of a fierce warrior,

    looked to for severing its branches and its roots.

  40. وَمِنَ الضَلالِ نِضالُ مَن هُوَ فَوقَهُ

    سَفَهاً بِسَهمٍ قَد خَلا مِن فوقِهِ

    And it is error to contend with one's superior,

    foolishly, with an arrow that lacks its nock.

  41. وَليَعتَصِم بِمُمَلَّكٍ قَهَرَ العِدى

    حَتّى لَدانَ عَدُوُّهُ لِصَديقِهِ

    Let him seek refuge with a king who has subdued the foes,

    until his enemy submitted even to his friend.

  42. أَغنى عَطاؤُكَ عَن نَدىً مَحرومُهُ

    أَولى بِحُسنِ الذِكرِ مِن مَرزوقِهِ

    Your giving dispenses with a bounty whose denied petitioner

    deserves fairer mention than its recipient.

  43. جودٌ عَلَوتَ بِهِ المُلوكَ فَما سَعَوا

    يَوماً إِلَيهِ وَلا اِهتَدوا لِطَريقِهِ

    A generosity by which you surpassed kings, who never strove

    for it on any day, nor found their way to it.

  44. سَبَقوا السُؤالَ وَعاذِليكَ عَلى اللُهى

    مَن ذا يَرُدُّ السَهمَ بَعدَ مُروقِهِ

    They outstripped requests and your reproachers over gifts—

    who can turn back an arrow once it has flown?

  45. أَسرَفتَ في إِكثارِهِ وَشَرُفتَ في

    إِنكارِهِ وَكَرُمتَ عَن تَعويقِهِ

    You have been prodigal in increasing it, and noble in

    disclaiming it, and too generous to hold it back.

  46. فَلتَعلَمِ الآمالُ حَقّاً أَنَّها

    نَزَلَت عَلى مَحدِ النِجارِ عَريقِهِ

    Let hopes know truly that they

    have alighted upon one pure in lineage, deeply rooted in it.

  47. عَقَلَ المَديحَ نَوالُهُ فَأَنِفتُ مِن

    تَغريبِهِ وَغَنيتُ عَن تَشريقِهِ

    His bounty has tethered praise, so I disdain

    to send it westward, and need not send it eastward.

  48. قَد كُنتُ أَعرِضُهُ وَلا سوقٌ لَهُ

    فَالآنَ صِرتُ أَبيعُهُ في سوقِهِ

    I used to offer it when it had no market;

    now I have come to sell it in its market,

  49. حِلّاً لِأَنّي أَشتَريهِ بِفِكرَةٍ

    جَوّالَةٍ وَأَحيدُ عَن مَسروقِهِ

    lawfully, for I buy it with a thought

    that ranges freely, and I steer clear of plagiarized verse,

  50. في كُلِّ مُعجِزَةٍ تَكَفَّلَ لي بِها

    فَضلٌ أَعاذَ القَولَ مِن تَلفيقِهِ

    in every marvel guaranteed to me by

    excellence that has guarded verse against patchwork.

  51. حَتّى قَرَنتُ بِدُرِّهِ ياقوتَهُ

    وَسِوايَ يَقرِنُ دُرَّهُ بِعَقيقِهِ

    Until I paired its rubies with its pearls,

    while another pairs his pearls with his carnelian.

  52. مِن بَحرِ نَصرٍ أَجتَنيهِ فَرائِداً

    وَالحَظُّ لِلعَلياءِ في مَنسوقِهِ

    From Nasr's sea I gather it as precious pearls,

    and glory's portion lies in its ordered string.

  53. بَحرٌ يُغاصُ عَلى الغِنى فيهِ فَما

    يَنجو مِنَ الإِعدامِ غَيرُ غَريقِهِ

    A sea in which one dives for wealth, so

    none escapes poverty except one drowned in it.