1. أقَلبٌ لاَ يَزَالُ ولَن يَزُولاَ

    مُعَنًّى مِن تَذَكُّرِهِ البَتُولا

    Is a heart still—and will it forever remain—

    tormented by its remembrance of Batul?

  2. إذا عذل العذول ازداد شوقا

    وتهياما فلم يطع العذولا

    When the reproacher chides it, its yearning grows,

    and its lovesick frenzy; it does not heed the reproacher.

  3. وإن ذُكرَت تَذَكَّرَ خَوطَ بَانٍ

    عَلَى دِعصٍ وأُمَّ طَلاً خَذُولا

    If she is mentioned, it recalls a slender bān-tree shoot

    upon a sandhill, and a fawn's mother apart from the herd;

  4. ولَمحَةً بَارِقٍ وسَوادَ لَيلٍ

    كَلَيلِ المُغرَمِ المُهتَاجِ طُولا

    and a lightning flash, and the darkness of a night

    as long as the agitated lover's night;

  5. وَأحوَى شَادِناً رَشاً رَبِيباً

    يُزِلُّ رَخِيمُ نَعمتِهِ الوُعُولا

    and a dusky young gazelle, a tenderly reared fawn,

    whose mellow voice makes the ibexes stumble;

  6. وكَشحاً كَالجَدِيلِ لَطِيفَ جَسٍّ

    غَرِيرٌ مَن يُشبِّهُهُ جَدِيلا

    and a waist like a plaited cord, delicate to the touch—

    naive is anyone who likens it to a cord!

  7. وألمَى كَالسَّدُوسِ وكَالأقَاحِى

    تَبَطَّنَتِ الأجارِعَ والسُّيُولا

    And a dark-lipped mouth, like black cloth and daisies

    that nestle in sandy flats and torrent beds,

  8. لذِيذَ مُقَبَّلٍ خَضَراً شَمُولاً

    يَذُمُّ لَهَا مُقّبلُهَا الشَّمُولاَ

    sweet to kiss, fresh as heady wine;

    her kisser, for her sake, scorns wine.

  9. كَأنَّ المِسكَ نَكهَتُه سُحَيراً

    ولَو قَبَّلتُه لَشفي الغَلِيلا

    Its breath is like musk just before dawn,

    and if I kissed it, it would soothe my burning thirst.

  10. ولَكني على أني مُعني

    بها ما إِن وَجَدتُ لَهَا سَبِيلا

    Yet I, despite being tormented

    by her, have found no way to her.

  11. أحَاوِلُ الوِصَالَ وَأدَّرِيهَا

    وتَمَنَعُ وَصلَها إِلاَّ قَلِيلا

    I seek union and coax her,

    but she withholds her intimacy, save for a little.

  12. تَذَكَّرتُ البَتُولَ ولَستُ أدرِى

    أسَّمَّوهَا البَتُولَ أمِ القَتُولا

    I remembered Batul, and I do not know:

    did they call her Batul, or Qatul—the slayer?

  13. فَسَالَ الدَّمعُ مِن عَيني حتَّى

    خَشِيتُ على الشَّوامِخِ أَن تَزُولا

    Then tears streamed from my eye until

    I feared the towering mountains might vanish.

  14. وَنَشَّفتُ الزَّوافِرَ منهُ حَتّى

    خَشِيتُ على الزَّواخِيرِ الذُّبُولا

    And I drained the great waterskins of it until

    I feared the swelling seas would wither.

  15. ذَكرتُكِ يَا بَتُولُ على تَنَاءٍ

    وفي الأيكِ الحَمَامُ دَعَا هَدِيلا

    I remembered you, Batul, despite the distance,

    while the doves in the grove called, cooing.

  16. فَقَالَ لِىَ الدَّلِيلُ أتَيتَ صُولاً

    فَقُلتُ لَهُ أكُنتُ أُرِيدُ صُولا

    Then the guide told me, 'You have reached Sul.'

    I said to him, 'Was I seeking Sul?'

  17. لَعمرُكِ مَا نَسِيتُ العَهدَ بَيني

    وبَينِكِ إِذ تَلاَقَينَا أصِيلا

    By your life, I have not forgotten the pledge between me

    and you, when we met in the late afternoon.

  18. ولم يَنقُص مِنَ الوَاشِينَ وَاشٍ

    نَقِيراً مِن هَوَاكِ ولاَ فَتِيلا

    No slanderer among the slanderers has diminished

    my love for you by a date-stone's dimple or thread.

  19. ألاَ إِنَّ البَتُولَ وإن تَنَاءَت

    وأظهَرَ تَركُهَا زَمَناً طَوِيلا

    Indeed, though Batul has gone far away,

    and her abandonment has long been plain,

  20. لفي سَودَاءِ قَلبي مِن هَوَاهَا

    غَرَامٌ ما بَرحتُ بِهِ عَلِيلا

    in my heart's dark core, through love of her,

    lies a passion that has kept me ever ill.

  21. يُؤرِّقني تَذَكُّرُهَا مَبِيتاً

    ويُقلقني تَذَكُّرُهَا مَقِيلا

    Remembering her keeps me awake at night,

    and remembering her disturbs my midday rest.

  22. وَمهمَا حَدَّثَت مُلِّئتُ عَقلاً

    وإِن ضَحِكَت تُمَلِّؤني ذُهُولا

    Whenever she speaks, I am filled with reason,

    and if she laughs, she fills me with bewilderment.

  23. وأَنبَأني المُنبِئُ أنَّ وَغداً

    يُحَاوِلُ أن يَكُونَ لَهَا حَلِيلا

    An informer told me that a scoundrel

    is trying to become her husband.

  24. فَقلتُ لَهُ إِذَا رَضِيَتهُ كُفئاً

    تَخِذتُ غُرَازَ إِثرَهُمُ دَلِيلا

    I told him, 'If she accepts him as a worthy match,

    I would take Ghuraz as a guide in their wake.'

  25. وما تَرضَ العَزِيزَةُ في شَبَابٍ

    أنِيقٍ أن تَضُمَّ لَهَا ذَلِيلا

    Nor will the noble lady consent, in youth

    so radiant, to embrace a base man.

  26. ومَا تَرضَى البَتُولُ سِوَى جَلِيلٍ

    ويُوشِكُ أن تَنَالَ فَتًى جَلِيلا

    Batul will accept none but a noble man,

    and she may soon gain a noble youth.

  27. ومَا هَدَأت رِعَاءُ الشَّاءِ عَنِّي

    وما استحيَت ومَا أدَّكَرَت جَمِيلا

    The shepherds of sheep have not left me in peace,

    nor felt shame, nor remembered any kindness.

  28. وَما خَشيت عَواقِبَ نارَ هَجوِي

    إِذا حُضِئت مُيمِّمةً قَبيلا

    Nor have they feared the consequences of my satire's fire

    when stoked and aimed at a tribe.

  29. وَمَا عَلِمُوا بِأنَّا لَو دَخلَنَا

    على حَكَمٍ أشُلُّهُم شَليلا

    Nor did they know that, if we went

    before an arbiter, I would utterly rout them.

  30. جَعَلتُم شَيخَكُم في الله شَيخاً

    أضَلتهُ جَهَالَتُه السَّبِيلا

    You made your shaykh a shaykh in God's name,

    whose ignorance led him astray from the path.

  31. إِذَا مَا جُلتُمُ في النحو يوماً

    تَبَلَّدَ بَينَ قَائِلَةٍ وقِيلا

    If one day you venture into grammar,

    he is baffled between 'she who speaks' and 'it was said.'

  32. ولَم يُعدَد مِنَ الفُقَهَاءِ حَتَّى

    يَصِحَّ لَهُ تَطَلَّبُهُ الوُصُولا

    Nor is he counted among the jurists until

    his pursuit of attainment proves sound.

  33. وسوَّدتُم على الضُّعَفَاءِ كَلباً

    غَدُوراً لَيس يُؤمَنُ أن يَصُولا

    You made a dog lord over the weak,

    treacherous, from whose attacks no one is safe.

  34. إِذَا جَاءَ الكُهُولَ بِهِ استَخَفُّوا

    فَطُرِّدَ فَاسِقاً فَجًّا جَهُولا

    When he came to the elders with it, they scoffed,

    and he was driven out, sinful, crude, and ignorant.

  35. وكُنتُم تَرتَجُونَ العَدلَ مِنهُ

    فَعَايَنتُم عَنِ العدلِ العُدُولا

    You had hoped for justice from him,

    but you witnessed his turning away from justice.

  36. وكَانَ كأنَّهُ عَدلٌ لَديكُم

    فألفَيتُم لِجَرحَتِهِ عُدُولا

    He seemed to you an upright man,

    yet you found upright witnesses to impeach him.

  37. يُخَاطبُ بِالرِّسَالةِ كُلَّ آنٍ

    كَمَن عَرَفَ الرِّسَالَة أو خَلِيلا

    He holds forth with the Risalah at every turn,

    like one who knew the Risalah or Khalil.

  38. وكَم فَضَحَتهُ في النَّادِى لُحُونٌ

    فَجَرَّرَ مِن مَذَمَّتِهَا ذُيُولا

    How often grammatical errors exposed him in the assembly,

    so he dragged behind him the skirts of their disgrace.

  39. يَبِيتُ يُقَادُ يَطَّلِبُ المَعَاصِى

    أألفَيتُم لِسيَِدِكُم مَثِيلا

    He spends the night being led about, seeking sins.

    Have you found a match for your master?

  40. ويُرسِلُ نَحوَ فَاجِرَةٍ رَسُولاً

    فَإِن وَجَدَ الرَّسُولُ لِذَاكَ سُولا

    He sends a messenger to a wanton woman,

    and if the messenger finds that wish granted,

  41. أتَى فَيَسِيرُ مُتَّبِعاً رَسُولاً

    وكَانَ ولَيسَ يَتِّبِعُ الرَّسُولا

    he comes back; then the man sets out following a messenger,

    though he was not one to follow the Messenger.

  42. فَمَا وُفِّقتُمُ رَأياً ومَا ِإن

    غَرَستُم في مَنَابِتِهَا النَّخِيلا

    So you were not granted sound judgment, nor

    did you plant the date-palms where they should grow.

  43. أَإِخوَاني الأجِلَّةَ لَو نَظرتُم

    بِطَرفٍ لَم يَكُن طَرفاً كَلِيلا

    O my esteemed brothers, if you looked

    with an eye that was not dim,

  44. عَلِمتُم أنَّكُم كُنتُم عُهُودِى

    وكُنتُ لِحَبلِ عَهدِكُمُ وَصُولا

    you would know that you were my bonds of trust,

    and I was faithful to the cord of your covenant.

  45. دَعُو هَذَا التَّعَصُّبَ إِنَّ خَيراً

    من الإِدخَالِ أن تَدَعُوا الذُّحُولا

    Leave this partisanship: better

    than bringing grudges in is to let them go.

  46. وإني عَاذِرٌ لَكُمُ فَأنتُم

    جَعَلتُم مِن فُرُوعِكِمُ أُصُولا

    And I excuse you, for you

    have made roots out of your branches.

  47. ولَو سَوَّدتُمُوهُ مُبَارَكِيًّا

    أشَمَّ بِكُلِّ مَحمَدَةٍ كَفِيلا

    Had you made him chief, a Mubaraki,

    high-nosed, a guarantor of every virtue,

  48. بَصِيراً بالأُمُورِ سَدِيدَ رَاىٍ

    أَميناً لَن يَمِينَ ولَن يَمِيلا

    discerning in affairs, sound in judgment,

    trustworthy, who will neither lie nor waver,

  49. لَدَبَّرَ أمرَكُم تَدبِيرَ نَدبٍ

    عَقِيلٍ يَقتفي نَدباً عَقِيلا

    he would have managed your affairs as a capable man,

    wise, following a capable, wise man;

  50. وكُنتُم مِثلَ مَا كُنتُم قَدِيمَا

    وكَانَ كَمَالُ سُؤدَدِكُم كَمِيلا

    and you would have been as you were of old,

    and the fullness of your glory would have been complete.