1. بحياتكمْ ما عندكمْ بَعْدي

    فسِوَى الأَسَى ما بعدكُمْ عندي

    By your lives, what do you have in my absence?

    For after you I have nothing but sorrow.

  2. جُودوا برِفْدٍ من خيالكمُ

    فخيالكمْ لي غايةُ الرِّفدِ

    Be generous with a gift of your dream-image,

    For your dream-image is the utmost gift to me.

  3. اسْدُوا إليَّ يداً لأَشْكُرَها

    فالشُّكرُ لا يعدو يدَ المُسْدِي

    Bestow on me a hand of kindness, that I may thank it,

    For thanks go no further than the giver's hand.

  4. ما لي مجبرٌ غيرُ طيفكُمُ

    يُهدي إليَّ القربَ في البعدِ

    I have no comforter but your phantom,

    Bringing me nearness in separation.

  5. والعينُ قد دَميَتْ وليس لها

    إلاّ مَعينُ الدَّمعِ منْ وِرْدِ

    My eye has bled, and it has

    No drink but the flowing spring of tears.

  6. والسَّمعُ في وَقْرٍ لعاذِلهِ

    فيكمْ ونارُ الشّوقِ في وَقد

    My hearing is deaf to its reproacher

    About you, while longing's fire is ablaze.

  7. مَنْ غَيْركم للوصلِ أَستَدعي

    أو مَن على الهجْرانِ استَعْدي

    Whom but you shall I summon to union,

    Or whose help shall I seek against estrangement?

  8. ما كنتُ أَعلمُ قبلَ فرقتنا

    أَنَّ الهوى يومَ النّوى يُردِي

    Before our parting I did not know

    That love kills on the day of separation.

  9. سَقمي شفائي في مودَّتكمْ

    وضلالتي في حُبّكم رُشْدي

    In your affection, my sickness is my cure,

    And in loving you, my wandering is my guidance.

  10. بالرُّوحِ يفديكم مُحبُّكُمُ

    والرُّوحُ أكرمُ ما بهِ يَفْدِي

    Your lover ransoms you with his soul,

    The soul being the noblest thing he can offer in ransom.

  11. يا مالكي رِقِّي أَما لكمُ

    من رِقةٍ يا حافظي وُدِّي

    O masters of my bondage, have you no

    Tenderness, O keepers of my affection?

  12. يا جاحدي حقَّ الودادِ وهل

    حقُّ الودادِ يضيعُ بالجَحْدِ

    O deniers of love's due, can

    Love's due be lost through denial?

  13. يا دمعُ لا تتركْ مساعدتي

    فقد استقالَ الصبرُ من وجدي

    O tears, do not cease to help me,

    For patience has sought release from my anguish.

  14. طلبَ التّصبُّرَ جاهداً فأبى

    قلبٌ مِن الأشواقِ في جَهْدِ

    He strove to muster patience, but refusal came

    From a heart exhausted by longings.

  15. وتكحّلتْ ليلاً بإئمدهِ

    عينٌ له مِرهَتْ من السُّهدِ

    And by night was painted with its antimony kohl

    An eye of his, left without kohl through sleeplessness.

  16. مُتَفَرِّدٌ بتَجَرُّعِ الأسفِ ال

    مُظمي لشوقِ الأجرعِ الفرْدِ

    Alone in swallowing sorrow

    That parches him with longing for the solitary sandy tract.

  17. شَهدَ الوداعَ فزادَهُ أَلماً

    لمّا أَصابَ الصابَ في الشّهْد

    He witnessed farewell, which increased his pain,

    When he found bitter sap in the honey.

  18. إنْ أَنتَ لم تُهْدِ الشّفاءَ له

    وهواكَ ممرضُهُ فمنْ يُهْدِي

    If you do not bring him healing,

    And love of you makes him sick, who will bring it?

  19. أَمَلْتُ نجحكَ لا تُخبْ أَملي

    وقصدتُ حِفْظَكَ لا تُضعْ قصدِي

    I hoped for fulfillment from you; do not disappoint my hope.

    And I sought your protection; do not thwart my purpose.

  20. رحَلُوا وقلبي في رحالهمُ

    يشكو صدىً ويُشاكُ من صَدِّ

    They departed, my heart among their camel-loads,

    Lamenting thirst and pricked by rejection.

  21. أَلقيتُ عند مثارِ عيسهمُ

    نفسي وقلتُ خِدِي على خَدِّي

    Where their pale camels stirred to leave, I cast down

    Myself, and said, 'Trot upon my cheek.'

  22. ناديتُ حاديهمْ بعيشكَ قفْ

    للبينِ من حَدْوٍ على حدِّ

    I called to their camel-driver, 'By your life, stay

    Within bounds in your chanting for departure.

  23. رفقاً بعيشِهم أَما لهُمُ

    ممّا بدا للبينِ من بُدِّ

    Be gentle with their lives—have they no

    Escape from this parting that has appeared?

  24. فاهدأ هُديتَ فمذ حدوتَ رَموا

    جَلَدي الضعيفَ الأُسَّ بالهَدِّ

    Be still, may you be guided; since you chanted, they have assailed

    My endurance, weak in its foundation, with ruin.'

  25. وجدي بمصرَ يَهيجُ ساكنَهُ

    شَغَفي بذكرى ساكني نجدِ

    My yearning in Egypt—its stillness is roused

    By my ardor at remembering those who dwell in Najd.

  26. والوجدُ في الأحزانِ كامنةً

    عندي خلافُ النّارِ في الزَّندِ

    And passion, amid sorrows lying hidden,

    Is in me unlike the fire in the fire-stick.

  27. ما للأَحبَّةِ لا عَدِمْتُهُمُ

    رَغِبُوا عن الإسعادِ في الزُّهْدِ

    What ails my beloved ones—may I never lose them—

    That they shun giving solace in their aloofness?

  28. أو ليس أحبابي بنو زمني

    لا غَرْوَ إنْ لم يحفظوا عَهدي

    Are not my beloved ones the sons of my age?

    No wonder if they fail to keep my pledge.

  29. إن لم يَفوا فلقد وفى كَرَماً

    عبدُ الرحيم بذمّةِ المجدِ

    If they have not kept faith, then nobly has kept faith

    ʿAbd al-Rahim, with the covenant of glory.

  30. الفاضلُ المفضالُ والنَّدِسُ ال

    مُسْدي النّدى والماجدُ المُجدي

    The accomplished, the munificent, the discerning,

    The bestower of bounty, the glorious benefactor.

  31. ما إنْ يضلُّ بقاصدٍ أَمَل

    إلاّ ويضمنُ أَنه يَهْدي

    No hope ever loses its way in a petitioner

    Without his guaranteeing to guide it.

  32. يُسدي إِليَّ منيرَ انعُمه

    وأنيرُ مِدْحَتَهُ كما أُسدي

    He bestows on me his radiant favors,

    And I brighten his praise in return for what was bestowed.

  33. العُرفُ معتاد له خلقٌ

    وبه تراه غيرَ مُعتدِّ

    Beneficence is habitual with him, a natural trait,

    Yet you see him taking no credit for it.

  34. بجنابهِ يدنو جَنَى أَملي ال

    نّائي وراحةُ حظيَ المُكدِي

    At his side draws near the fruit of my hope,

    Far-off, and relief for my barren fortune.

  35. أَبداً تَوالَى مِنْ عوارفه

    طُرفٌ تُضافُ لنا إلى تُلْدِ

    Ever have followed, from his kindnesses,

    New gifts, added for us to old possessions.

  36. ويرى رجائي مِن مكارمهِ

    في النُّجحِ طَرْفٌ غيرُ مُرتَد

    And my hope, through his noble gifts, is beheld

    In fulfillment by a gaze that never turns back.

  37. زاكي النِّجارِ أَخو الفخارِ وذو ال

    مجدِ الأثيرِ الطاهرِ البُرْدِ

    Pure of lineage, brother to honor, possessed of

    Prized glory, pure of cloak;

  38. ذو الرتبةِ الشّماءِ والشّرفِ ال

    عالي السّنا والسؤْددِ العد

    Possessor of lofty rank and honor

    High in radiance, and inexhaustible eminence.

  39. النّاسُ كلهمُ له تَبَعٌ

    في فضلهِ والدَّهرُ كالعَبْدِ

    All people are his followers

    In his excellence, and time is like a slave.

  40. والبحرُ ذو جَزْرٍ وراحتُهُ

    بحرٌ مدَى الأيام في مَدِّ

    The sea has an ebb, but his palm

    Is a sea in flood for all the days.

  41. وله اليراعُ وليُّه أَبداً

    يُرْعَى به ويُراعُ ذو الحقْدِ

    His is the reed-pen; his ally is ever

    Cared for through it, while the spiteful man is frightened.

  42. كم غاضَ بحرُ بنانهِ فغدا

    دُرُّ البيانِ يُساقُ في العقْدِ

    How often the sea of his fingers ebbed, and then

    Pearls of eloquence came to be strung in a necklace.

  43. إن سوَّدَ البيضاءَ بيّضَ منْ

    ثوبِ اللّيالي كلَّ مُسْوَد

    If he blackens the white page, he whitens

    Every dark patch in the garment of nights.

  44. قَلَمٌ أَقاليمُ البلادِ به

    وثغورُها في الضّبْطِ والشّدِ

    A pen by which the country's provinces

    And its frontiers are held firm and secure.

  45. بهُزالهِ سمَنُ العُلا وكذا

    في الهَزْلِ منه حقيقةُ الجد

    Through its leanness glory grows fat; likewise,

    In its jest lies true earnestness.

  46. للسانهِ حُجَجٌ يَرُدُّ بها

    جزماً قضايا الألسنِ اللُّدِ

    Its tongue has proofs with which it refutes

    Decisively the claims of contentious tongues.

  47. ظمآن يُردي كلَّ ذي ظمإٍ

    فاعجبْ لذي وِرْدٍ بلا وِرْدِ

    Thirsty, it strikes down every thirsty one;

    So marvel at one with a watering-place but no water!

  48. مَلكٌ كتيبتُهُ كتابتُهُ

    فَرْدٌ بجيشِ النّصرِ في جُنْدِ

    A king whose battalion is his writing,

    Peerless among troops, with victory's army.

  49. الأسمرُ الخطيُّ تابعُهُ

    في حكمه والأبيضُ الهندي

    The brown Khatti spear is its follower

    In its command, as is the white Indian sword.

  50. والنائباتُ بحدِّهِ أَبداً

    مثلومةٌ مغلولهُ الحَدِّ

    Calamities are ever, by its edge,

    Blunted, their edge held in fetters.

  51. كم مأزقٍ نَقّى الغرارُ به

    للرُّعبِ من جَفنٍ ومن غمْدِ

    How many a crisis saw sleep and sword-edge cleared

    By terror from eyelid and scabbard.

  52. نَفَذَتْ به اللاماتُ طاعنةً

    أَلفاتِ خُرْصانِ القنا المُلْدِ

    Through it the lām letters penetrated, piercing

    The alifs of the spearheads of supple lances.

  53. والسُّمْرُ داميةٌ مطاعنُها

    كمراودٍ في أَعيُنٍ رُمْدِ

    And the brown spears, their thrusting-points bloodied,

    Are like kohl-sticks in inflamed eyes.

  54. فرَّجْتَهُ بشَبا مُلَطِّفَةٍ

    وَرَدَتْ بقَسْرِ القَسْوَرِ الوَرْدِ

    You relieved it with the sharp points of a subtle missive

    That arrived to subdue the tawny lion.

  55. بلطيفِ تدبيرٍ يَرِقُّ له

    لصفائهِ قلبُ الصّفا الصَّلْدِ

    By subtle planning, before which softens,

    For its clarity, the heart of unyielding rock.

  56. عُرْفٌ يُبّدلُ بالرَّجاء لنا

    في الأزْمِ نُكْرَ الأزمُنِ النُّكْدِ

    Beneficence replaces with hope for us,

    In distress, the cruelty of ill-starred times.

  57. ناديكَ من نَدِّ النّدَى عَطرٌ

    يا مَنْ يَجلُّ نَداهُ عن ندِّ

    Your assembly is fragrant with generosity's incense,

    O you whose bounty is too great for any peer.

  58. من سَبْي سَبْيك كلُّ مَحْمَدَةٍ

    فَلأَنْتَ حَقّاً مالكُ الحمدِ

    Every praiseworthy quality is among the captives of your captives,

    So you are truly the master of praise.

  59. وتعيدُ ما تُبدي وتُضعفُهُ

    ومَنِ المعيدُ سواكَ والمُبدي

    You repeat what you begin, and double it;

    Who but you is the renewer and initiator?

  60. يا مَنْ وجدتُ بلاغتي حَصَراً

    في حَصْرِ ما يُوليهِ والعَدِّ

    O you before whom I found my eloquence tongue-tied

    In encompassing and counting what he bestows.

  61. من كلِّ مَنْ عقدَ النوائبَ عن

    حَظِّي عُرىً مُوثَوقَةَ الشَّدِّ

    Among all who knotted calamities about

    My fortune in tightly fastened bonds,

  62. فَرَّقتَ أعدائي غداةَ هُمُ

    للشرِّ في حشرٍ وفي حَشْدِ

    You scattered my enemies on the morning when they

    Were assembling and massing for evil.

  63. ورفعتّني فوقَ اليّفاعِ ولو

    لم تُسْمني لمكثتُ في الوَهْدِ

    And you raised me above the heights; had you

    Not lifted me, I would have remained in the hollow.

  64. فَضْلي طرادُ الدَّهرِ غادره

    وحظوظُهُ كلَّتْ من الطَّرْدِ

    Time's pursuit left my merit behind,

    And its fortunes grew weary of the chase.

  65. غدرَ الزَّمانُ بكلِّ ذي حَسَبٍ

    يأبى الوفاءَ بعيشهِ الرَّغْدِ

    Time has betrayed every man of noble lineage,

    Refusing to keep faith with his comfortable life.

  66. زِدْ غَرْسَ رِيِّكَ ريّهُ فلقد

    أَضحى بعيدَ العَهْدِ بالعَهْدِ

    Give the planting you have watered still more water, for

    It has long been a stranger to rain.

  67. عَدْوُ العدوِّ يهونُ أَصعبُهُ

    ما دمتَ دمتَ عليه لي مُعدي

    The enemy's charge, at its hardest, becomes easy

    As long as you remain—may you remain—my helper against him.

  68. والشوكُ لا يشكو جنايتَهُ

    من كانَ مطلبَهُ جَنَى الوردِ

    And of the thorn's injury no one complains

    Whose aim is the harvest of roses.

  69. أَخفى بنو زمني محاسنَهُ

    وعتابُ أمي معي وَحْدي

    My contemporaries concealed its virtues,

    And my mother's reproach stays with me alone.

  70. هذا أَوانُ نجازِ وعدِكَ لي

    إنَّ الكريمَ لمُنْجزُ الوعدِ

    Now is the time to fulfill your promise to me;

    The generous man surely fulfills his promise.

  71. من شَدَّ ظهرَ رجائهِ بكَ هل

    يبقى بأَمرٍ غيرِ مُشتّدِ

    Can one who has strengthened the back of his hope with you

    Be left with his affairs unsecured?

  72. أَيكونُ زبدةُ ما أُؤَمِّلُهُ

    عدمَ التمخُّضِ فيه عن زُبْدِ

    Can the cream of what I hope for

    Be its failure to churn forth any butter?

  73. أَرِغْم بفضلكَ ضدَّ مَنْقَبتي

    لا زالَ فضلُكَ مُرِغمَ الضّدِ

    By your bounty, humble the enemy of my merit;

    May your bounty never cease to humble the foe.

  74. ساعدْ بجدِّكَ لي بقيتَ على

    رغمِ الأعادي صاعدَ الجَدّ

    Aid me with your good fortune; may you remain,

    Despite your enemies, ever rising in fortune.