1. وُقوفُكَ في الدِيارِ عَلَيكَ عارُ

    وَقَد رُدَّ الشَبابُ المُستَعارُ

    Your standing among the dwellings is a disgrace to you,

    now that borrowed youth has been returned.

  2. أَبَعدَ الأَربَعينَ مُجَرَّماتٌ

    تَمادٍ في الصَبابَةِ وَاِغتِرارُ

    After forty years have run their course,

    still persisting in passion and self-deception?

  3. نَزَعتُ عَنِ الصِبا إِلّا بَقايا

    يُحَفِّدُها عَلى الشَيبِ العُقارُ

    I have renounced youthful passion, save for remnants

    that wine spurs on despite my gray hair.

  4. وَقالَ الغانِياتُ سَلا غُلاماً

    فَكَيفَ بِهِ وَقَد شابَ العِذارُ

    And the fair women said, "He forgot love as a youth;

    what of him now, his sideburns turned gray?"

  5. وَما أَنسى الزِيارَةَ مِنكِ وَهناً

    وَمَوعِدُنا مَعانٌ وَالحِيارُ

    Nor do I forget your visit late at night,

    and our meeting-place was Ma'an and al-Hiyar.

  6. وَطالَ اللَيلُ بي وَلَرُبَّ دَهرٍ

    نَعِمتُ بِهِ لَياليهِ قِصارُ

    And the night dragged on for me, though many a season

    I spent in bliss had nights so short.

  7. عَشِقتُ بِها عَوارِيَّ اللَيالي

    أَحَقَّ الخَيلَ بِالرَكضِ المِعارُ

    In them I loved what the nights lent me—

    of all horses, the borrowed one most deserves a gallop—

  8. وَنَدماني السَريعُ إِلى لِقائي

    عَلى عَجَلٍ وَأَقداحي الكِبارُ

    and my drinking companion, quick to meet me

    in haste, and my great goblets.

  9. وَكَم مِن لَيلَةٍ لَم أُروَ مِنها

    حَنَنتُ لَها وَأَرَّقَني اِدِّكارُ

    And many a night I never had my fill of

    I yearned for; remembrance kept me sleepless.

  10. قَضاني الدَينَ ماطِلُهُ وَوافى

    إِلَيَّ بِها الفُؤادُ المُستَطارُ

    The debtor who delayed repaid me, and there came

    to me with her my enraptured heart.

  11. فَبِتُّ أُعَلُّ خَمراً مِن رُضابٍ

    لَها سُكرٌ وَلَيسَ لَها خُمارُ

    So all night I was plied with wine from her saliva,

    which intoxicates but brings no hangover,

  12. إِلى أَن رَقَّ ثَوبُ اللَيلِ عَنّا

    وَقالَت قُم فَقَد بَرَدَ السُوارُ

    until night's robe wore thin around us,

    and she said, "Rise, for the rush of intoxication has cooled."

  13. وَوَلَّت تَسرُقُ اللَحَظاتِ نَحوي

    عَلى فَرَقٍ كَما اِلتَفَتَ الصُوارُ

    And she turned away, stealing glances toward me

    in fear, as a herd of wild cattle turns to look.

  14. دَنا ذاكَ الصَباحُ فَلَستُ أَدري

    أَشَوقٌ كانَ مِنهُ أَم ضِرارُ

    That morning drew near, and I cannot tell:

    was it longing on its part, or a wish to hurt?

  15. وَقَد عادَيتُ ضَوءَ الصُبحِ حَتّى

    لِطَرفي عَن مَطالِعِهِ اِزوِرارُ

    And I have made an enemy of dawn's light, so that

    my gaze turns away from its rising places.

  16. وَمُضطَغِنٍ يُراوِدُ فِيَّ عَيباً

    سَيَلقاهُ إِذا سُكِنَت وَبارُ

    And many a spiteful man who seeks a flaw in me

    will find it when Wabar is inhabited.

  17. وَأَحسِبُ أَنَّهُ سَيَجُرُّ حَرباً

    عَلى قَومٍ ذُنوبُهُمُ صِغارُ

    And I think he will bring war

    upon a people whose offenses are slight,

  18. كَما خَزِيَت بِراعيها نُمَيرٌ

    وَجَرَّ عَلى بَني أَسَدٍ يَسارُ

    just as Numayr was disgraced by its shepherd,

    and Yasar brought it upon Banu Asad.

  19. وَكَم يَومٍ وَصَلتُ بِفَجرِ لَيلٍ

    كَأَنَّ الرَكبَ تَحتَهُما صِدارُ

    And many a day I joined to a night's dawn,

    as though the caravan beneath the two were a breast-cloth.

  20. إِذا اِنحَسَرَ الظَلامُ اِمتَدَّ آلٌ

    كَأَنّا دُرَّهُ وَهوَ البِحارُ

    When darkness recedes, a mirage stretches out,

    as though we were its pearls and it the seas.

  21. يَموجُ عَلى النَواظِرِ فَهوَ ماءٌ

    وَيَلفَحُ بِالهَواجِرِ فَهوَ نارُ

    It billows before the eyes: it is water;

    and it scorches in the noonday heat: it is fire.

  22. إِذا ما العِزُّ أَصبَحَ في مَكانٍ

    سَمَوتُ لَهُ وَإِن بَعُدَ المَزارُ

    Whenever glory comes to be in a place,

    I rise toward it, however far the destination.

  23. مُقامي حَيثُ لا أَهوى قَليلٌ

    وَنَومي عِندَ مَن أَقلي غِرارُ

    My stay where I do not wish to be is brief,

    and my sleep beside one I loathe is scant.

  24. أَبَت لي هِمَّتي وَغِرارُ سَيفي

    وَعَزمي وَالمَطِيَّةُ وَالقِفارُ

    My ambition and my sword's edge forbid me to linger,

    as do my resolve, my mount, and the deserts,

  25. وَنَفسٌ لاتُجاوِرُها الدَنايا

    وَعِرضٌ لايَرِفُّ عَلَيهِ عارُ

    and a soul beside which no baseness dwells,

    and honor over which no shame flutters,

  26. وَقَومٌ مِثلُ مَن صَحِبوا كِرامٌ

    وَخَيلٌ مِثلُ مَن حَمَلَت خِيارُ

    and men, noble as those they have accompanied,

    and horses, excellent as those they have borne.

  27. وَكَم بَلَدٍ شَتَتناهُنَّ فيهِ

    ضُحىً وَعَلا مَنابِرَهُ الغُبارُ

    And in many a land we scattered them

    at midmorning, and dust rose over its pulpits.

  28. وَخَيلٍ خَفَّ جانِبُها فَلَمّا

    ذُكِرنا بَينَها نُسِيَ الفِرارُ

    And many a cavalry troop's flank had weakened; but when

    we were mentioned among them, flight was forgotten.

  29. وَكَم مَلِكٍ نَزَعنا المُلكَ عَنهُ

    وَجَبّارٍ بِها دَمُهُ جُبارُ

    And many a king we stripped of sovereignty,

    and many a tyrant's blood, through them, was shed with impunity.

  30. وَكُنَّ إِذا أَغَرنَ عَلى دِيارٍ

    رَجَعنَ وَمِن طَرائِدِها الدِيارُ

    And whenever they raided dwellings,

    they returned with those dwellings among their quarry.

  31. فَقَد أَصبَحنَ وَالدُنيا جَميعاً

    لَنا دارٌ وَمَن تَحويهِ جارُ

    So they have come to this: the whole world

    is our home, and whoever it holds is our neighbor.

  32. إِذا أَمسَت نِزارُ لَنا عَبيداً

    فَإِنَ الناسَ كُلُّهُمُ نِزارُ

    If Nizar has become slaves to us,

    then all people are Nizar.