1. تَحِيَّةُ الغيثِ مُنْهَلاً سحائبُه

    على العقيقِ وإنْ أقوَتْ مَلاعِبُه

    May the greeting of rain, its clouds pouring down,

    be upon al-Aqiq, though its playgrounds lie deserted.

  2. لا بل على الحيِّ مشدوداً هوادِجُه

    على الشُّموسِ ومذموماً رَكائِبُه

    No, rather upon the tribe, its howdahs fastened,

    upon the suns, and with its mounts reviled,

  3. حتى تَرُدَّ عليه آيةً سَلكَتْ

    ظِباؤُها الغيدُ أو حلَّتْ ربائُبه

    until it restores to it a trace once traversed

    by its graceful gazelles, or where its tame gazelles dwelt.

  4. ففي الظغائنِ مجنوبٌ لغانيهٍ

    تَغْنَى بوصلِ سواه أو تُجانبُه

    For among the women in howdahs is one shunned by a beauty,

    who finds contentment in another's love, or avoids him.

  5. وفي الديارِ سميعٌ ليس تُسمعُه

    إجابةً وخطيبٌ لا تُخاطبُه

    And in the dwellings is a listener to whom they give no

    reply, and a speaker whom they do not address,

  6. حتى يُبَدِّلَ للعُشَّاقِ زورَتَه

    طَيفٌ يَصُدُّ عن العُشَّاقِ صاحبُه

    until it offers lovers its visit instead—

    a phantom whose owner shuns the lovers.

  7. سرى إلى البدرِ يُخفي البدرَ منتقباً

    والبدرُ يأنَفُ أن تُخفى مناقبُه

    It traveled by night toward the full moon, veiled yet eclipsing the moon,

    though the full moon disdains to have its virtues concealed.

  8. إذا بدا الصبحُ من إشراقِ طلعتِه

    أبَدتْ لكَ الليلَ مُسودّاً ذوائبُه

    When dawn appears from the radiance of its face,

    its tresses show you the night, pitch-black.

  9. والحُسنُ ضِدَّانِ لا أدري إذا اجتمعا

    أنوارُه فتَنَتْني أم غَياهبُه

    And beauty is two opposites; I cannot tell, when they meet,

    whether its lights bewitched me, or its dark depths.

  10. حُلِيُّه وثناياه وعَنبرُه

    كلٌّ ينُمُّ عليه أو يراقبُه

    Its ornaments, its front teeth, and its ambergris—

    each betrays it, or keeps watch over it.

  11. فلستُ أدري إذا ما سار في أُفُقٍ

    شَمائلُ الأفقِ أذكى أم جَنائبُه

    So I cannot tell, when it travels along a horizon,

    whether that horizon's north winds are more fragrant, or its south winds.

  12. أما القريضُ فما تَحظَى محاسنُه

    عند الملوكِ كما تَحظى معائبُه

    As for poetry, its merits do not win favor

    with kings as its faults do.

  13. وربما ظَلَمَ الدينارَ ناقدُه

    وقد كَساه ضروبَ الحُسنِ ضاربُه

    And sometimes the assayer wrongs a dinar,

    although its minter has clothed it in many kinds of beauty.

  14. كأنني بنجيبِ الشِّعرِ قد رحلَتْ

    عنهم إلى الشَّرفِ الأعلى نجائبُه

    I seem to see the finest poetry, its thoroughbreds having departed

    away from them toward the highest eminence.

  15. ولو تشاءَم لانقَضَّت صواعقُه

    على العِراقِ كما ارفضَّت سَحائبُه

    And were it to head toward Syria, its thunderbolts would descend

    upon Iraq, just as its clouds poured forth.

  16. قل للذي قلَّدْتني كفُّه رسَني

    وكنتُ أَدْنُو إليه وهو جاذبُه

    Say to him whose hand fitted me with my halter,

    and I used to draw near him while he pulled it:

  17. لك الأمانُ إذا انسابت أراقِمُه

    من المكامنِ أو دبَّتْ عقاربُه

    You are safe when its speckled serpents slither

    from their hiding places, or its scorpions creep.

  18. ليسَ الصديقُ الذي أعطاك شاهدُه

    شَهْدَ الودادِ وخان الغيبَ غائبُه

    No friend is he who gives you, face to face,

    the honey of affection, but betrays you behind your back.

  19. كم مَنطِقٍ كسحيقِ المِسكِ ظاهرُه

    لم يُقْضَ عندَ أبي إسحاقَ واجبُه

    How many an utterance, its surface like powdered musk,

    has not received its due from Abu Ishaq!

  20. كانت مدائحُنا غرّاً محجَّلةً

    تُثني عليه فقد أضحَتْ تُعاتِبُه

    Our praises were white-blazed and white-stockinged,

    praising him; now they have come to reproach him.

  21. وما أقولُ لِمَن طابَتْ عناصرُه

    في رُتْبَةِ المجدِ وابيضَّتْ مَناسبُه

    And what can I say to one whose origins are pure

    in glory's rank, and whose ancestry shines white?

  22. أغرُّ زانَ مديحي فضلُ سُؤدُدِهِ

    كلؤلؤ العِقْدِ زانَتْه ترائبُه

    A radiant man, whose surpassing nobility adorned my praise,

    as his breast adorned the pearls of a necklace.

  23. وصادقُ الوُدِّ لا ترتدُّ خُلَّتُه

    على الصَّديقِ ولا يَزوَرُّ جانبُه

    And true in affection, whose friendship never turns

    against a friend, nor does his side turn away.

  24. لا أستريحُ إلى زُورٍ ولا كَذِبٍ

    يُهدَى إليه وشرُّ القولِ كاذبُه

    I take no comfort in falsehood or lies

    offered to him; the worst of speech is falsehood.

  25. وليسَ للذَّمِّ فيه مَذْهَبٌ فَيُرى

    أَنَّى ومِن ذهَبٍ صيغَتْ مَذاهبُه

    No avenue for blame can be found in him—

    how could there be, when his ways are fashioned of gold?

  26. نَبا عليَّ فما أدري لَنبوتِه

    أنيابُ دهري أمضي أم نوائبُه

    He turned away from me; in his estrangement I cannot tell

    whether my fate's fangs are sharper, or its calamities.

  27. هُوَ الحُسامُ لقومٍ ماءُ صَفحتِه

    بشاشةٌ ولأقوامٍ مضاربُه

    He is a sharp sword: to some, its blade's sheen

    is a smile; to others, it offers its cutting edges.

  28. والغيثُ إن برقتْ نحوي مخائِلُه

    راحت تَصوبُ على غيري صوائبُه

    And he is rain: if its signs flash toward me,

    its showers go pouring down upon someone else.

  29. هذا وما صَدِئَت قِدْماً مسامعُه

    بما نظمْتُ ولا ضاعَت مواهبُه

    This, though his ears never rusted in former days

    from what I composed, nor were his gifts wasted.

  30. ولي من الأدبِ المحمودِ أثمرُه

    يُنمى إليه وأعرافٌ تناسِبُه

    And mine is the most fruitful part of praiseworthy literature,

    ascribed to him, and virtues that befit him.

  31. ورَغبةٌ كلما جاءَت معرِّضةً

    بجاهِه أعرضَت عنها رغائبُه

    And a longing: whenever it comes appealing indirectly

    to his standing, his bounties turn away from it.

  32. وكم ضربتُ بماضٍ منه ذي شُطَبٍ

    عَضْبٍ مضَارِبُه حلوٍ ضَرائبُه

    And how often I struck with a keen, grooved blade of his,

    sharp in its edges, sweet in its temper.

  33. وردْتُ في طيِّبِ الأنفاسِ ذي ثَمرٍ

    قريبةٍ من يد الجاني أطايبُه

    I came to one sweet of breath, bearing fruit,

    whose choicest fruits were near the gatherer's hand.

  34. عاقَبْتَني بجفاءٍ لا أقومُ به

    فهَل عقابُك محمودٌ عواقبُه

    You punished me with a coldness I cannot withstand;

    are the consequences of your punishment praiseworthy?

  35. وعادَ رأيُك لي سُوداً مشارِقُه

    وكنتُ أعهَدُه بيضاً مغاربُه

    And the dawns of your regard for me have turned black,

    though I had known its sunsets to be white.

  36. الشِّعرُ وَشيُ بُرودٍ أنتَ سَاحِبُه

    فَهْمَاً ودُرُّ عقودٍ أنتَ ثاقبُه

    Poetry is the embroidery of striped mantles, which you trail

    in understanding, and necklace-pearls, which you pierce.

  37. فلِمْ مَنعْتَ على الإحسانِ مُحسِنَه

    ما نالَ من جاهِكَ المبذولِ خاطبُه

    Why, then, despite his excellence, did you deny its skilled maker

    what a petitioner won from your freely offered influence?

  38. وزاهرُ الحمدِ إن أَنْصَفْتَهُ زَهَرٌ

    يَطيبُ رَيَّاهُ إن طابَتْ مشاربُه

    And blooming praise, if you do it justice, is a flower

    whose fragrance is sweet if its waters are sweet.

  39. أكان في العَدلِ أن تَظْما حدائِقُه

    بسَاحَتيْكَ وأن تُروى سباسبُه

    Was it just that its gardens should thirst

    in your two courts, while its barren plains were watered?

  40. لقد نثرتُ على قومٍ حصىَ كِلَمٍ

    لو شِئتَ لانْتَثَرَتْ فيكم كواكبُه

    I have indeed scattered word-pebbles upon some people;

    had you wished, its stars would have been scattered among you.

  41. لولاك ما ارتُدِيَتْ أطمارُه وغدَت

    تُرَدُّ وهي أنيقاتٌ سبائِبُه

    But for you, its rags would not have been worn, nor would

    its robes, though elegant, have come to be rejected.

  42. لأصبِرنَّ على إخلالِ عُرفِكَ بي

    حتى يثوبَ إلى المعهودِ ثائبُه

    I shall surely endure your kindness failing me,

    until its returning bounty comes back as before.

  43. عسى العتابُ يَرُدُّ العتْبَ منك رضاً

    وربما أدركَ المطلوبَ طالبُه

    Perhaps reproach will turn your displeasure into contentment;

    and sometimes the seeker attains what is sought.