من لدمع طغى وقلب مهيم

مغرم وافر الانين متيم

Who is there for overflowing tears and a love-distraught heart,

enamored, full of lament, enslaved by love?

صدعته بواعث الهجر حتى

جرحته بنصلها فتكلم

The stirrings of estrangement shattered it, until

they wounded it with their blade, and it spoke.

وسرى ظعن من به تاه ليلاً

فتداعى وللفراق تألم

And the caravan of the one it adored journeyed by night,

so it fell apart and suffered at parting.

آه من لوعة الفراق فكم قد

ذاب منها مضنى واشق مغرم

Ah, the anguish of parting! How many a

weary, enamored lover has melted from it!

وحبيب اضاعني اليوم ظلما

وعساه عن ظلمه بعد يظلم

A beloved has cast me aside today, unjustly;

perhaps for his injustice he will yet be wronged.

اهمل الحب والوداد عتوا

ولعمري المولى اعز واكرم

He spurned love and affection in his insolence;

by my life, the Lord is mightier and more generous.

خان ي ذمة الغرام واني

لي عين للبعد تذرف بالدم

He betrayed love's covenant with me, while I

have an eye that sheds blood at separation.

وهو قد خانه الحليب وحقا

من يكن عيبه الحليب سيندم

The milk he suckled has betrayed him; and truly,

he whose flaw lies in his milk will come to regret it.

ابن بنت الكرام ان كان ابنا

لكريم فهو الكريم الكرم

The son of the nobles' daughter, if he is also a son

of a noble man, is himself noble and generous.

ودواعي الاعراق تجذب جبرا

للمعالي وابن العظيم معظم

The promptings of ancestry draw him irresistibly

toward lofty stations; a great man's son is honored.

ولقد يرفع الزمان وضيعا

فتراه على الكرام تقدم

Time may indeed raise up a baseborn man,

until you see him advance ahead of the noble;

لكن الطور منه ما زال يهوى

للدنايا ونوعه ليس يكتم

yet his nature still inclines

toward baseness, and his kind cannot be concealed.

كم فقير من فرع اصل خطير

فيه طبع من قبة البدر أعظم

How many a poor man, a branch of illustrious stock,

has a nature greater than the dome of the full moon!

وغني من اهل بيت دني

كلما رام رتبة المجد احجم

And a rich man from a base household,

whenever he seeks glory's rank, draws back.

يصنع البر كي يعد مع الاب

رار والسر فيه اصل محكم

He does good to be counted among the

righteous; yet the secret within him is a firmly planted root.

لا يرى غير خذل كل نجيب

مذهبا واللئيم باللؤُم يعلم

He sees nothing but forsaking every noble soul

as his path; the base man is known by baseness.

يلبس الثوب يا هذيم نقيا

ظاهرا وهو بالعيوب مسهم

He wears his robe, O Hudhaym, clean

to outward eyes, though he is marked with faults.

واذا قلد الكرام بفعل

من فعال الكرام بالسر يندم

If he imitates the noble with a deed

from the deeds of the noble, he regrets it in secret.

يتحلى بحلية المجد زورا

وضلالا كالماء يمزج بالسم

He falsely adorns himself with glory's finery,

and in delusion, like water mixed with poison.

سيمة الخيل حطة وبحق

شيم الحر للمفاخر سلم

The horses' mark is abasement; in truth,

the freeborn man's virtues are a ladder to glories.

والدعي الدني يرقى المعالي

والدنايا على حواشيه ترقم

The base pretender climbs to lofty stations,

while base deeds are embroidered on his hems.

يكفر البر يذكر الشر يفشي الس

ر زوراً ويخلط المدح بالذم

He denies kindness, recalls evil, divulges

secrets falsely, and mingles praise with blame.

قبحت صحبة الدني فدعها

يا ابن ودي فانها تورث الهم

Loathsome is the company of the base; leave it,

O son of my affection, for it bequeaths sorrow.

لا يرى ما عليه في كل حال

ويرى ماله ولو هو مبهم

In every circumstance, he fails to see what he owes,

yet sees what is owed him, however obscure.

يكثر الاعتراض طيشا ويغدو

غير راض في كل ما الله انعم

He multiplies objections recklessly, and grows

dissatisfied with all that God has bestowed.

ويجل الانذال خبثا واذلا

ل اولى المجد دينه اذ يترجم

He honors the vile out of malice; humiliating

the glorious is his creed when made plain.

سيرة كلها المثالب يجري

كل حرف منها لسوء فيعجم

A life wholly made of vices, in which

every letter runs toward evil and is dotted accordingly.

يا فؤادي خل الخؤن دني الطب

ع واهمله حيثما كان تسلم

O my heart, leave the traitor, base of

nature; ignore him wherever he may be, and be safe.

وترقب فعل السماء فكم من

خائن بعد عزه صار مرغم

Await heaven's work, for how many a

traitor has been humbled after his glory!

واحفظ الود واصدق العهد واسلك

سبل الطيبين وارحم لترحم

Preserve affection, keep your pledge, and follow

the paths of the good; show mercy, that you may receive it.

كان لي في الغرام يا قلب معنى

ثم اهملته لامر مسلم

Love held a meaning for me, O heart,

then I abandoned it for a reason beyond dispute.

كنت يا قلب بالحبيب رؤفا

ورحيما والله اولى وارحم

You were, O heart, tender toward the beloved,

and merciful; yet God is more deserving and more merciful.

نقض العهد خانه وتمادى

كاذبا والخؤن في وهدة الغم

He broke the covenant, betrayed it, and persisted

in lying; the traitor lies in the pit of grief.

خله يا قليب لله واصبر

فلعدل الاله سر مطلسم

Leave him to God, O little heart, and be patient,

for God's justice has an inscrutable secret.

وصن الحب للحبيب وان خا

ن فجدران ذي الخيانة تهدم

Preserve love for the beloved, even if

he betrays, for the traitor's walls are torn down.

كن قليبي خير العشيرين ما عش

ت فقدر الامين عال مفخم

Be, my little heart, the better of the two companions as long as

you live, for the faithful one's worth is lofty and exalted.

دع اخا الاعوجاج يعوج واثبت

لن يساوي المعوج قط المقوم

Let the crooked man be crooked, and stand firm:

the crooked will never equal the upright.

وتوكل على المهيمن واطرح

زفرة الخائنين والله اعلم

Trust in the Guardian, and cast aside

the traitors' sigh; God knows best.