1. طلَعْتِ ربيعاً من ربيع وأربُعِ

    وطالعتِ أهلاً من مَصيفٍ ومَرْبَعِ

    You rose as spring from springtime and dwelling-places,

    And beheld folk from summer and spring quarters.

  2. منازلُ أستسقي السماءَ لأهلِها

    وإن كنّ يستسقينَ للأرضِ أدمُعي

    Dwellings for whose people I ask the sky for rain,

    Though they ask my tears to water the earth.

  3. على أنّ ما ضمتْ هوادجُهُم سوى

    فؤادي لا ضمّتْ سوى عوْجِ أضلُعي

    Yet their howdahs held nothing but

    My heart—may they hold only my curving ribs!

  4. وما خدَعوني باللِوى غيرَ أنهُم

    لوَوْا نحو المطامعِ أخدَعي

    They did not deceive me at al-Liwa, except that

    They twisted my neck toward hopes of gain.

  5. وقاسَمني في أن يقاسِمَني النّوى

    رشا معهُ قلبي وأشواقُه مَعي

    And sharing with me in what separation apportioned me

    Was a fawn: my heart is with him, its longings with me.

  6. دعاهُ غَرامي للوصالِ فلم يُجِبْ

    نداءَ مَشوقٍ قد أجابَ وما دُعي

    My passion called him to union, but he did not answer

    A yearning lover's call—one who had answered without being called.

  7. وفي كبدي أستغفرُ الله لوعةٌ

    الى مولعٍ عنّي بما هو مولَعُ

    In my liver—I ask God's forgiveness—is a burning ache

    For one absorbed, away from me, in what enthralls him.

  8. يناصبُني في الحبِّ والحبُّ حاكمٌ

    يجوّزُ لي في الناصِبيّ تشيُّعي

    He opposes me in love, and love is a judge

    Who permits my Shi'i devotion to a Nasibi.

  9. ومنتصر في منع مقلوبِ عقرب

    بما تحتَه من لَسْعِ مقلوبِ بُرْقُعِ

    And he triumphs in guarding a face-veil ('ʿaqrab' reversed),

    With the sting beneath it of a scorpion ('burquʿ' reversed).

  10. أبت شمسُه إلا الغروبَ وقد سَما

    لها مُكلِفي من كلّ عضو بيُوشَعِ

    His sun insisted on setting, though there had risen

    Toward it my enchanter, with a Joshua from every limb.

  11. ولي من نَدى من لا يَدي أمرَ مُهجٍ

    من لم يوقع بها قلت أوقعِ

    And through the bounty of one who pays no blood-price, I hold sway over souls;

    To whoever has not struck them I say: 'Strike!'

  12. وليل نزعْنا منهُ عن متجهّمٍ

    أغمِّ القَفا والوجهُ ليس بأنزَعِ

    And a night we drew away from—a scowling figure,

    Shaggy at the nape, with no receding hairline at the brow.

  13. تأبّى ذراعُ الليثِ أن يعتَلي به

    لنا ذنَبُ السرْحانِ مقدارَ إصبَعِ

    The Lion's foreleg refused to allow, in that night,

    The Wolf's tail to rise for us by even a finger's breadth.

  14. فلما ارتمَتْ كفُّ الصَديعِ بأنجمٍ

    قواريرُها قد أوذِنَتْ بالتصدّع

    Then, when dawn's palm flung stars

    Whose glass vessels had been forewarned of shattering,

  15. دعاني السَرى أتعبتَ طِرْفَكَ فاسترحْ

    وقال الكَرى أسهرتَ طَرْفَكَ فاهْجَعِ

    Night travel called to me: 'You have wearied your steed; rest!'

    And sleep said: 'You have kept your eye awake; slumber!'

  16. وإني وإيضاعي وإشرافَ همّتي

    لأعلمُ عند الأشرفِ النَدْبِ موضِعي

    And indeed I—by my swift riding and my lofty resolve—

    Know well my standing with magnanimous al-Ashraf.

  17. أنالُ به ما شئتُ غيرَ مُمانعٍ

    على أنني ما شئتُ غيرُ ممنّعِ

    Through him I attain whatever I wish, unopposed,

    Though whenever I wish, I am not to be denied.

  18. ويطمعُ في شأوي أناسٌ تنافَسوا

    على مَطعِمٍ في راحتيْهِ ومُطْمِعِ

    And men aspire to match my stride, competing

    For sustenance in his two palms, and something to covet.

  19. سكنتُ فقد ظنوا احتقاريَ شأنَهُمُ

    سكونُ تخشٍّ منهمُ أو تخشّعِ

    I kept silent; they thought my disregard for their standing

    Was silence born of fear of them, or humble submission.

  20. أيُلْحِدُ في فضلي امرؤ لو أمتُّهُ

    لأويسَ بالإلحادِ مرجوّ مَرْجِعِ

    Can a man deny my merit when, were I to kill him,

    His hoped-for return would be made hopeless by unbelief?

  21. إليكَ قطعتُ البحرَ أطوي سجلَّهُ

    فيا بحرُ أسْجِلْ لي بحظي وأقْطِعِ

    To reach you I crossed the sea, rolling up its scroll;

    So, O sea, record my share for me, and grant an allotment!

  22. وما بي الى الأوطانِ هجرة مِقْلَعِ

    ولا لي عن الأوطارِ هجرةُ مُقلِعِ

    I have no urge to leave for my native lands like one setting sail,

    Nor to leave my desires behind like one who renounces them.

  23. ولولاك لم أبرح قصيّاً ولم أجد

    قصيّاً فأدعو فضلَهُ بمُجمّعِ

    But for you I would have remained far away and would not have found

    A Qusayy whose bounty I might name 'Mujammiʿ'—the Gatherer.

  24. نطقت بإعرابِ المقاديرِ مُفصِحاً

    فيا سيبويهِ اخْفِضْ بلفظِكَ وارفعِ

    You spoke eloquently, inflecting the decrees of fate;

    So, O Sibawayh, lower and raise with your words!

  25. نصبت لما شادتْ تميمٌ بناءَهُ

    من المجدِ ركنَ السؤدد المترفِّعِ

    You erected, for the edifice Tamim raised

    Of glory, a pillar of exalted lordship.

  26. فضائلُ دعْ حصناً فما زالَ حابسٌ

    يفوقُ بها مِرْداسَ في كل مَجْمَعِ

    Virtues—leave Hisn aside!—for Habis has always

    Surpassed Mirdas through them at every gathering.

  27. وأنتَ تتبعتَ الألى بمآثرٍ

    تُثيرُ عجاجَ السّبْقِ في وجهِ تُبّعِ

    And you followed the forebears with glorious deeds

    That stir the dust of victory in Tubbaʿ's face.

  28. فإحكامُ أحْكامٍ تقولُ مُبادراً

    لها مشرعُ الخطّيّ ما شئتَ فاشْرِعِ

    And judgments firmly settled, with a prompt declaration

    To them by the Khatti spear's wielder: 'Enact whatever you wish!'

  29. وعدلُ قضاءِ لا يميلُ به الهوى

    لإرضاءِ سنيٍّ ولا مُتشيِّعِ

    And justice in judgment that whim cannot sway

    To favor a Sunni or a Shi'i.

  30. وفضلُ خطابٍ مُعجزٍ وخطابُه

    روى كلُّ صِقْعٍ عنهما فضلَ مصْقع

    And excellence in inimitable discourse, and his own discourse—

    From both, every region recounts an orator's excellence.

  31. وظنّ كأنّ السّمعَ والعينَ شاهَدا

    ومن أجلِ هذا قيلَ ذا ظنُّ ألْمَعي

    And a surmise as though hearing and sight had witnessed it;

    Hence they say: 'This is a discerning man's surmise.'

  32. فيا حَسَناً قد أصبحَ الإسمُ وصْفَهُ

    فأصبحَ من وجهينِ أحسنَ من دُعي

    O Hasan, whose name has become his description,

    He is thus, in two ways, the finest of all ever named.

  33. تنزهتُ في دينه عن دنيّةٍ

    وشمّرتُ في دُرّاعهِ عن مدرّعِ

    In his faith I kept myself free of baseness,

    And in his tunic I tucked up the cloth to reveal an armored man.

  34. فلحظُك للديوانِ أيقِظْهُ يحترسْ

    ولفظك للإيوان جرِّدهُ يقطعِ

    So awaken your glance for the chancery: it will keep watch;

    And unsheathe your speech for the palace hall: it will cut.

  35. وطالعْ محيّا النحْر منك بمنظرٍ

    أدامَ إليهِ طرفَهُ بالتطلّع

    And behold the throat's countenance with a gaze of yours

    That has kept its eye fixed upon it in expectation.

  36. كذا البيتُ قد لبّيتُ والهَدْيُ واجبٌ

    عليّ لأني قائلٌ بالتمتّعِ

    Thus I have answered the House's call, and an offering is obligatory

    Upon me, since I uphold tamattuʿ—the rite of 'enjoyment.'

  37. ولم أقتنعْ بالفرْضِ فالفضلُ إنّما

    يكونُ إذا حققتَهُ للتّطوّعِ

    I was not content with obligation, for merit is only

    Found, when rightly examined, in voluntary devotion.

  38. لسانيَ لا يعْيا وغيرُك سمعُهُ

    لغفلتِه يُعْيي اللسانَ ولا يَعي

    My tongue does not falter; but the hearing of anyone but you,

    Through his heedlessness, wearies the tongue and fails to understand.