رأتني فقالت أنت شيخٌ وإنّما

رأتني فقالت أنت شيخٌ وإنّما

يروق الغواني مجدب الخدِّ خالعُ

يروق الغواني مجدب الخدِّ خالعُ

She saw me and said, “You are old—and only

She saw me and said, 'You are an old man, and only

She saw me and said, "You are an old man," though

a bare-cheeked, unbridled youth delights fair women.”

a smooth-cheeked libertine charms beautiful women.'

Youthful cheeks appeal more to the maidens.

لكِ الخير لو أبصَرتني يومَ مأزقٍ

لكِ الخير لو أبصَرتني يومَ مأزقٍ

وقد لمعت فيه السيوف القواطِعُ

وقد لمعت فيه السيوف القواطِعُ

Bless you—if only you had seen me on a day of desperate battle,

Good fortune to you! Had you seen me on a day of peril,

Good for you, if you had seen me on a day of strife

when the keen-edged swords flashed there;

while the keen-edged swords flashed there!

When the sharp swords were flashing.

وعندَ الندى ناهيكِ بي من أخي الندى

وعندَ الندى ناهيكِ بي من أخي الندى

وعند حجاج القوم قولي قاطع

وعند حجاج القوم قولي قاطع

or when bounty was called for: I am exemplar enough of a generous man;

And in generosity, I am all you could ask of a brother of bounty;

Say nothing of me to the tender one, my brother of dew,

and when men contend in argument, my word is decisive.

and in the people's debates, my word is decisive.

And say to the people's bard my words that cut.

يعدونني شيخاً وقد عشت حَقبةً

يعدونني شيخاً وقد عشت حَقبةً

وهُنَ عن الأزواج نحوي نوازع

وهُنَ عن الأزواج نحوي نوازع

They count me old, and indeed I have lived a long age,

They count me an old man, though I lived for years

They see me as an old man, though I have lived through an age,

while women turn from their husbands and are drawn toward me.

with women turning from their husbands toward me.

And the brides shy away from me.

وما شاب رأسي من سنين تتابعت

وما شاب رأسي من سنين تتابعت

علَيّ ولكن شيبتني الوقائع

علَيّ ولكن شيبتني الوقائع

It was not years succeeding one another over me

And my head did not turn gray from years that passed

My hair turned white not from passing years

that turned my head gray, but battles did.

over me; rather, battles turned me gray.

But from shocking events that happened to me.

وما قصرت بي همّتي دون بغيتي

وما قصرت بي همّتي دون بغيتي

ولا دَنّستني منذ كنت المطامع

ولا دَنّستني منذ كنت المطامع

My resolve has never fallen short of carrying me to my goal,

And my resolve has never left me short of my goal,

My spirit did not fall short of my wants,

nor have covetous desires ever sullied me.

nor have covetous desires sullied me for as long as I have lived.

Nor did base deeds tarnish me since I had desires.

فإنكِ لا تدرين أن رُبَّ غارة

فإنكِ لا تدرين أن رُبَّ غارة

كورد القطا ريعانها مُتَتَابعُ

كورد القطا ريعانها مُتَتَابعُ

For indeed you do not know how many a raid there was,

For you do not know that many a raid—

You don't know that many a raid whose beginnings

its vanguard coming wave upon wave like sandgrouse flocking to water,

its onrush wave upon wave, like sandgrouse coming to water—

Were promising had outcomes that were miserable.

نصبت لها وجهي وورداً كأنه

نصبت لها وجهي وورداً كأنه

لها نصبٌ قد ضَرجته النقائِعُ

لها نصبٌ قد ضَرجته النقائِعُ

against which I set my face, rose-red, as though

I faced head-on, with a bay horse that seemed

I set my face toward it and roses that were

it were a target raised before it, stained crimson by pools of blood.

an altar-stone before it, stained with the blood of slaughtered beasts.

Like a bouquet blood had sprinkled over.