خلفوا لي كآبة وهموما

وغراما ووحشة وغموما

They left me melancholy and cares,

and passion, loneliness, and sorrows,

يوم بانوا ولم يقولوا وداعا

مثلما انهم قلوا تسليما

the day they departed without saying farewell,

just as they had disdained a greeting.

لا كلام ولا سلام فهلا

كلموني بما يداوي الكلوما

No words, no greeting—why did they not

speak to me with what would heal my wounds?

طال ليل من بعدهم وسهادي

ان ليل المحب كان اليما

Long grew the night after them, and my sleeplessness;

indeed, the lover's night was painful.

غاب عن مقلتي بدور كمال

فهي ترعى طول الليالي النجوما

Full moons of perfection vanished from my eye;

so it watches the stars throughout the nights.

وجوى في الحشا تاجج حتى

خلتني في الحياة اصلي جحيما

Burning grief blazed within my breast until

I thought myself, while alive, burning in hell.

معدما من صبر غنيا من الشو

ق فهلا بقيت من ذا عديما

Destitute of patience, rich in longing—

why could I not have remained without this?

ان تكن لي النوى افتراسا واني

فارس فاللديغ يسمى سليما

If separation makes prey of me, though I

am Faris, a horseman—the snakebitten is called 'sound.'

يا فوادي واين اين فوادي

انت ايضا ممن اراه غريما

O my heart—and where, where is my heart?

You too are among those I see as adversaries.

انت سولت لي الغرام فلما

ان تجلدت ذبت منه هيوما

You made passion alluring to me; then, when

I steeled myself, you melted with it, love-maddened.

ثم ان تاثر الرواة حديثا

عن طلول آثرت داء قديما

Then, if narrators transmit a tale

of ruined dwellings, you choose an old affliction.

ثم تشكو ومن شكا وهو ياتي

ما شكا منه كان فيه ظلوما

Then you complain; whoever complains while doing

what he complains of is deeply unjust.

بئس عيش تعيش فيه فلا تحيي

سعيدا ولا تموت رحيما

Wretched is the life you live: you neither live

happily nor die mercifully.

ان من همت فيه ملك حتى

صار من ذكر كل عهد سؤوما

Indeed, the one you adored has tired of you, until

he grew weary of recalling every pledge.

فالام الرجا والياس روح

حين لا ينفع الدواء سقيما

How long, then, this hope, when despair is relief,

when medicine cannot help a sick person?

وعلام المنى وشانك باد

انك الدهر لن تذوق نعيما

And why these wishes, when your lot is plain:

you will never, in all time, taste bliss.

هكذا شان كل من خاض بحرا

للهوى وارتضى به ان يعوما

Such is the lot of everyone who plunges into a sea

of passion and agrees to swim in it.

يا خليلي خلياني وشاني

لا يحيك الملام بي ان تلوما

O my two friends, leave me to my own affairs;

blame cannot affect me, even if you both reproach me.

لست ابغى لعلتي من دواء

فاكفياني الرقى لها والتميما

I seek no medicine for my illness;

so spare me incantations for it and amulets.

ودعاني على ابتئاسي فاني

اوثر الحزن لي سميرا نديما

Leave me in my despondency, for I

prefer sorrow as my night companion, my boon companion.

خلوتي مونسي فما انا راء

لي بين الانام ندا وليما

My solitude is my comforting companion; I see

no well-formed peer for me among mankind.

كل ما لذهم فذلك عندي

الم غير ذكر ابراهيما

All that delights them is, to me,

pain, except the mention of Ibrahim.

عبقري مهذب قد حوى في

صدره قبل ان يشب العلوما

A refined genius, he had gathered within

his breast the sciences before he came of age.

ولهذا يدعى فصيحا وقد جا

ء فصيحا بكل فن عليما

For this he is called Fasih—'eloquent'—and has proved

eloquent, learned in every art.

كم له من متن وشرح افادا

واجادا المنثور والمنظوما

How many a text and commentary of his have been instructive

and excelled in prose and verse!

وقواف من كل بحر اذا ما

سردت خلتهن درا نظيما

And rhymed verses in every meter, which, when

recited, you would take for pearls strung together.

عن ابيه وجده مستفيض

كل فضل فكان ارثا مقيما

From his father and grandfather flows abundantly

every excellence, a lasting inheritance.

سادة للفخار كانوا اصولا

وقطوبا وللمعالي اروما

Lords who were the roots of glory,

its poles, and the roots of high distinction.

علمت كل امة من اعزوا

واذلوا عربا وعجما وروما

Every nation knew whom they honored

and humbled—Arabs, non-Arabs, and Romans.

كلهم كان كالفصيح حكيما

حازما ماجدا حليما زعيما

Each of them, like Fasih, was wise,

resolute, noble, forbearing, a leader.

كم له من يد على تقاضت

حق شكري لها وفيا صميما

How many favors he has done me, claiming

the gratitude due them from me, full and heartfelt!

رد عني السفيه بالنظم والنثر

فكانا لذا الرجيم رجوما

He repelled the fool from me with verse and prose,

and both became missiles against that accursed man.

لم يحر بعدها جوابا وقد كا

ن تصدى له عتلا زنيما

Afterward he could return no answer, though he had

confronted him, brutish and base-born.

قد كساه بهتانه ثوب خزي

اينما سار سار فيه ذميما

His slander clothed him in a robe of shame;

wherever he went, he walked in it, despised.

مستكينا مطردا مخصوما

مستذلا مبعدا مشتوما

Subdued, driven out, defeated in dispute,

humiliated, banished, reviled.

وسيبقى ما دام حيا شقيا

ومن الخير عاريا مشتوما

He will remain wretched as long as he lives,

stripped of goodness, reviled.

ثم يدعو يوم الحمام ثبورا

ثم يستانف العذاب الاليما

Then, on the day of death, he will cry out for destruction,

then begin the painful torment anew.

انه كان للجوائب ضدا

وعلى المسلمين طرا خصيما

Indeed, he was an opponent of al-Jawa'ib,

and an adversary of all the Muslims.

كاد لي عن تغترف وعتو

ان كيد البرجيس كان عظيما

He schemed against me out of [unclear wording] and insolence;

indeed, the plotting of al-Birjis was great.

علم الناس ابرهيم خليلا

وصديقا لي ان دعوت حميما

People knew Ibrahim as a close friend

and a friend to me, an intimate whenever I called.

هكذا من يغار للعلم يحمى

حق مستنصر ويخزى اللئيما

Thus one zealous for learning defends

the right of one seeking aid, and shames the ignoble man.

هكذا كل مومن يبتغى من

فضل مولى الآلاء فوزا عميما

Thus every believer seeks, from

the grace of the Lord of blessings, abundant success.

ولهذا آتاه ذو العرش علما

ومقاما اعلى ورزقا كريما

For this the Lord of the Throne gave him knowledge,

a higher station and generous sustenance,

وسجايا احلى من الشهد طعما

لست معها تستذكر المطعوما

and qualities sweeter to taste than honey,

beside which you give no thought to food.

هذه مدحتي فان كنت قصرت

فاني مدحت برا حليما

This is my praise; if I have fallen short,

I have, after all, praised a righteous, forbearing man.