1. أبَرقٌ لاحَ مِن خِلَلِ الغَمَامِ

    أمِ انكَشَفَ التَّنَقُّبُ عَن أُمَامِ

    Was it lightning that flashed through the clouds,

    or was the veil lifted from Umam?

  2. فَإن يَك بَارِقاً فَلَهُ بَرِيقٌ

    كَوَجهِ اُمَامَ وَاضِعَةَ اللِّثَامِ

    If it is lightning, it has a gleam

    like Umam's face when she lays aside her veil.

  3. وإِن يَكُ وَجهَها فَلَقَد أعَارَت

    بِلَمحَتِهِ السَّنَا بَدرَ التَّمَامِ

    And if it is her face, she has surely lent

    radiance to the full moon with its flash.

  4. فَدَت رَشَفَاتِ ثَغرِكَ بَعدَ هَدءٍ

    عَلَى عِلاَّتِها جُرُعُ المُدَامِ

    May the sips from your lips, after a spell of quiet,

    be ransomed by draughts of wine, for all their flaws.

  5. أُمَامَةُ لَو عَلِمتِ بِمَا اعتَرَاني

    غَدَاةَ البَينِ مِن ألِمَ الغَرَامِ

    Umama, if you knew what befell me

    on the morning of parting, from the pain of passionate love,

  6. لما نَأيتني وَصَددَّتِ عني

    ودمعِى بَينَ مُنهَمِلٍ وهَامِ

    you would not have left me and turned away,

    while my tears poured and streamed.

  7. أُحِبُّكِ يَا أُمَامَةُ غَيرَ أني

    بُلِيتُ بِحُبِّ غَيرِكِ مُنذُ عامِ

    I love you, Umama, except that I

    have been afflicted with love for another for a year.

  8. سَقَاني شَوقُ آسِيَةٍ سَقَاماً

    وهَاجَ أسىً أمضَّ السَّقَامِ

    Longing for Asiya gave me illness to drink

    and stirred a sorrow, the most agonizing sickness.

  9. فَدمعِى مِن هَوَاهَا في إنسِجَامٍ

    وقَلبي مِن هَواهَا في اضطِرَامِ

    So my tears flow freely from love of her,

    and my heart burns from love of her.

  10. وقَد نُبِّئتُ أنَّ لَهَا حَلِيلاً

    مُجِيداً لاَ يُكَافَحُ في الكَلاَمِ

    And I have been told that she has a husband,

    accomplished, whom no one can challenge in speech.

  11. فَقُلتُ لَهُم تَرَكتُ لَهُ هَوَاهَا

    مَخَافَةَ مَا يَجُرُّ ِإلَى المَلاَمِ

    So I told them, “I have left love of her to him,

    for fear of what might bring reproach.”

  12. فَقَالَ لَهُم تَقَاعَسَ عَن لِقَائِى

    وكَانَ يَهَابني قَبلَ احتِلاَمِى

    Then he told them, “He shrank from meeting me,

    and feared me before I reached manhood.”

  13. وأرسَلَ مِن كِنَانَتِهِ سِهاماً

    بِلاَ سَبَبٍ ِإلىَّ ولاَ سَلاَمِ

    And he sent arrows from his quiver

    toward me without cause, and without a greeting.

  14. فأخرَجتُ السِّهَامَ وكَنتُ أدرَى

    بِمَوقِعِ مَا يُحَاوِلُ باِلسِّهَامِ

    So I drew out the arrows, and I knew better

    the target he sought with his arrows.

  15. فَلَمَّا أن أرَدتُّ الرَّمىَ فِيهِ

    ونَارُ الشِّعرِ مُشعَلَةُ الضِّرَامِ

    Then, when I resolved to shoot at him,

    with poetry's fire blazing with kindling,

  16. تَذَكَّرتُ القَرَابَةَ فَأنثَنَت بي

    إِلَى تَركِ التَّعَارِضِ والتَّرَامِى

    I remembered our kinship, and it turned me

    toward abandoning rivalry and the exchange of shots.

  17. فَأرسَلَ بِالهِجَاءِ ِإلَىَّ أيضاً

    وذَلِكَ فِيهِ إيقَاظُ النِّيَامِ

    Then he sent satire at me again,

    and in that lay the waking of sleepers.

  18. تَنَبَّه مِن مِنَامِكَ هِجتَ صِلاًّ

    تُنُوذِرَ في المَوَاسِمِ والمَوَامِى

    Wake from your sleep: you have stirred a deadly snake,

    warned against at seasonal gatherings and in the wastelands.

  19. سَتُنشَرُ في مَحَلِّكَ وهىَ عُورٌ

    عَلَى عَجَلٍ قَوافٍ كالسِّلاَمِ

    Soon there will be spread in your dwelling—full of abuse—

    in haste, rhymes like stones.

  20. فَإن تَكُ صَالِحاً لِلشِّعرِ تُخرِج

    دَرَارِىَ مِنهُ مُحكَمَةَ النِّظَامِ

    If you are fit for poetry, you will bring forth

    brilliant stars from it, firmly ordered.

  21. وإِن تَكُ تَدَّعِيهِ ولَستَ أهلاً

    لَهُ أصبَحَت مِن مَوتَى الرِّجَامِ

    And if you claim it, yet are not worthy

    of it, you become one of those slain by stones.

  22. أجِيبُوني أجرِّعكُم هِجَاكُم

    وما يَشفي الأوَارُ مِنَ الأوَامِ

    Answer me, and I will make you swallow satire aimed at you;

    burning heat does not relieve parching thirst.

  23. وإيَّاكُم وقَولَةَ لَيس كُفئاً

    فَإني كُفؤُ كُلِّ فَتًى هُمَامِ

    And beware saying, “He is not an equal,”

    for I am the equal of every valiant young man.

  24. وفي نَسبي وفي حَسبي ونَفسِى

    مَقَامٌ لاَ يُقَصِّرُ عَن مَقَامِ

    In my lineage, my honor, and myself,

    there is a standing that falls short of no other.

  25. عِصَامِىٌّ عِظَامىٌّ فأني

    أُقَاسُ في الإفتِخَارِ عَلَى عِظَامِى

    Self-made and nobly descended—how, then, am I

    to be measured in boasting by my bones?

  26. ِإذَا امتَحَنت قَرائِحُنَا تَبَدَّى

    لِحَضرَتِنَا الكُهَامُ مِنَ الحُسَامِ

    When our poetic gifts are tested, there stands revealed

    before us the blunt blade, distinct from the keen sword.

  27. بَدا لِى فِيكَ أنَّكَ غَيرُ حُرٍّ

    لِمَا ضَيَّعتَ مِن شِيَمِ الكرَامِ

    It has become clear to me that you are no noble man,

    because you squandered the virtues of the noble.

  28. وقَد أتعبتَ نَفسَكَ في تَرَجِّى

    مَسَائِلَ مَالَهَا بِكَ مِن لِمَامِ

    You have worn yourself out hoping for

    things that have not the slightest connection with you.

  29. تُحَاوِلُ أن تَكُونَ ولَستَ شَيخاً

    كَأَنَّكَ في التَّيَقُّظِ في المَنَامِ

    You try to be a shaykh, though you are no shaykh,

    as though, while awake, you were asleep.

  30. أشَيخٌ لَيسَ يَعلَمُ فَرضَ عَينٍ

    ولَم يَعلَم مَقاماً مِن مُقَامِ

    A shaykh who does not know an individual's binding duty,

    nor knows a standing-place from a dwelling-place,

  31. ولَم يَحصُل علَى جِسمٍ أَنِيقٍ

    فَيُحسَب مِن أُولِى الرُّتَبِ الجِسَامِ

    and has not even acquired a handsome physique,

    to be counted among those of mighty rank?

  32. ظَنَّنَا أنَّ هَمَّكَ في المَعَالِى

    ولم تَكُ في المَعَالِى ذَا اهتِمَامِ

    We thought your concern was for lofty pursuits,

    but you had no concern for lofty pursuits.

  33. زِمُامُكَ بَطنُكَ استَولَى قَدِيماً

    عَلَيكَ فَأنتَ مُتِّبِعُ الزِّمَامِ

    Your belly is your rein: long ago it took mastery

    over you, and you follow the rein.

  34. يَقُودُكَ لِلطَّعَامِ وأنتَ تُدعَى

    بِخُوَّارِ العِنَانِ إلَى الطَّعَامِ

    It leads you to food, and you are called

    slack of rein on the way to food.

  35. تَعُضُّ عَلَى اللِّجَامِ إِذَا تَبَدَّى

    فَيَصعُبُ عَنهُ رَدعُكَ باللِّجَامِ

    You bite the bit whenever it comes into view,

    so restraining you from it with the bridle is hard.

  36. أذَلَّكَ في مَواطِنِ صَادِقَاتٍ

    وعَلَّكَ مِن مَشَارِبِ كُلِّ زَامِ

    It has humbled you in the arenas of truth,

    and given you drink again at every haughty man's watering-place,

  37. وشَلَّكَ عَن حِيَاضِ المَجدِ ثَلاًّ

    فَمَلَّكَ كُلُّ مُنخَفِضٍ وسَامِ

    and driven you, ruined, from the pools of glory,

    so low and lofty alike have tired of you.

  38. وهَل لَكَ مِن أدَاهِمِهِ تَفَصٍ

    وقد أضحَت أمَاكِنُها دَوَامِ

    And can you escape its black fetters,

    now that the places they bind have turned bloody?

  39. لَعَلكَ قد عَثرتَ وعلَّ قَولِى

    لَعَالَك فِيهِ جَذبُكَ لِلمَرَامِ

    Perhaps you have stumbled; perhaps my saying

    “May you rise again!” will draw you toward the goal.

  40. دَعَوكَ مُحَمَّدَ الحَسَن ابتِدَاءً

    ولَم يَكُ الإبتَداءُ كالإِختِتَامِ

    They called you Muhammad al-Hasan at first,

    but the beginning was not like the end.

  41. فَلَمَّا أن بَلُوكَ وكُنتَ عَلاًّ

    تُعَلُّ بِكَأسِ مَنقَصَةٍ مُدَامِ

    Then, when they tested you, and you proved a weakling,

    plied again with a cup of disgrace's wine,

  42. وترفُلُ في جَلاَبِيبِ المَساوي

    مُوَّشَحةً بِتَنمِيقِ الحَرَامِ

    and strutting in the robes of vice,

    embroidered with the finery of the forbidden,

  43. تَرَوَّوا في سُمَالَكَ لَيس يُبزرِى

    بِقَدرِكَ بَعد تَفتِيشِ الأَسَامِى

    they pondered a name for you that would not detract

    from your worth, after searching through the names.

  44. فَقَالَ البَعض عَيبَةُ كُلِّ عَيبٍ

    وقَالَ البَعضُ مَلأمَةُ الأنَامِ

    Some said, “The repository of every fault,”

    and some said, “The disgrace of humankind.”

  45. شَغُفتَ بِكُلِّ منقصةُ غلاَماً

    وقَد يَبدُو المختَأُ في الغُلاَمِ

    As a boy, you were enthralled by every failing,

    and what is hidden may show itself in a boy.

  46. فَلَمَّا أن نَشَأتَ دَوَىً دَمِيماً

    كَثِيرَ خَناً عدتَ مِنَ اللِّئَامِ

    Then, when you grew up sickly and ugly,

    full of obscenity, you became one of the base.

  47. وقَد أفنَيتَ عُمرَكَ في أُمُورٍ

    صِغَارٍ مَا جَنَحتَ إلى العِظَامِ

    You have spent your lifetime on matters

    of little consequence, never turning toward great ones.

  48. فَرُبَّ أمَانَةٍ قد خُنتَ حَتَّى

    دَعَتكَ إلى التَّشَاجُر والخِصَامِ

    How many trusts you have betrayed, until

    they drew you into quarrels and disputes!

  49. وَكَم خودٍِ نَكَحتَ بِغَيرِ مَهرٍ

    عَلَى رَجَفانِ رعيِكَ لِلذِّمامِ

    How many tender young women you have married without a dowry,

    while your regard for obligations wavered!

  50. وكَم شَيءٍ أخَذتَ على اختِلاسٍ

    فَبُيِّنَ بَينَ آمِنةٍ و آمِ

    And how many things you have taken by stealth,

    and it was made plain between a woman at peace and [unclear: ām].

  51. أتَطمَعُ في المَكَارِمِ بَعدَ هَذَا

    تَقَاصَر لَستَ بالنَّدُسِ الهُمَامِ

    Do you aspire to noble deeds after all this?

    Lower your sights: you are no discerning, valiant man.

  52. وِإن تَرمِ المَكَارِمَ لَم تُصِبهَا

    فَمِثلُكُ لِلمَكَارِمِ عَنهُ حَامِ

    And if you aim at noble deeds, you will not hit them,

    for noble deeds have a guardian against the likes of you.

  53. يَعِزُّ عَلَيكَ رَمُيكَهَا ومَهمَا

    رَمَيتَ فَرَميَةٌ مِن غَيرِ رَامِ

    Shooting at them is hard for you; however

    you shoot, it is a shot from no true archer.

  54. فَخُذهَا دُرَّةَ الغَوَّاصِ تُغني

    عن المِصبَاحِ في سُدُفِ الظَّلامِ

    So take it—a diver's pearl that dispenses

    with a lamp amid the depths of darkness,

  55. وتُوقِدُ في الحَشَا حُرَقاً وتُندِى

    مُطَوَّقَهَا كَأطوَاقِ الحَمَامِ

    and kindles burning anguish in the breast, and moistens

    the one it collars, like the neck-rings of doves.