1. أسْعِداني في الحُبِّ ما تعْلَمانِ

    وقِفا لي فقد بَدا العَلَمانِ

    Aid me, you two, in the love you know,

    and stop for me: the two landmarks have appeared.

  2. ودَعاني أُجِبْ بدَمْعيَ شَوقاً

    حادثاً ما دعاكُما ودَعاني

    And let me answer with my tears a longing

    newly stirred by what has called you both and me.

  3. ما انتظَمْنا للأُنْسِ في سِلْكِ قُرْبٍ

    أيُّهَا الصّاحبانِ فاغْتَنماني

    While we are strung together for companionship on a thread of nearness,

    O my two companions, seize your chance with me.

  4. واذْكُراني إذا بَعُدْتُ فإنّي

    قَمِنٌ منكُما بأنْ تَذْكُراني

    And remember me when I am far away, for I

    deserve to be remembered by you both.

  5. هو ما تَعْرِفانِ من بَرْحِ َشوقي

    فاعذِراني الغَداةَ أو فاعْذُلاني

    It is the anguish of my longing that you know:

    excuse me this morning, then, or blame me.

  6. نَمْنَمتْ وَجْنتي دموعي فَنمَّتْ

    يومَ سارتْ بَواكرُ الأظْعان

    My tears embroidered my cheek, then betrayed my secret

    the day the first camel-litters set out.

  7. سِرُّ وَجْدي مُستودَعٌ في جُفوني

    وهْو يَبْدو إذا الحبيبُ جَفاني

    The secret of my passion is lodged in my eyelids,

    and appears when the beloved shuns me.

  8. ظَلموني وقد بكَيْتُ لشَجْوي

    حينَ لاقُوا مَلامةَ الغَيْران

    They wronged me, though I wept for my sorrow,

    when they met the jealous one's reproach.

  9. أَخَذوا حيثُ أكتُمُ السِّرَّ فيه

    وهُمُ يأْمُرونَ بالكِتْمان

    They seized the place where I conceal my secret,

    even as they urged concealment.

  10. بَعْدَ أنْ لم أجِدْ فُؤاديَ في صَدْ

    ري جَعلْتُ الأسرارَ في الأجفان

    After I could no longer find my heart within

    my breast, I lodged my secrets in my eyelids.

  11. يا خَليليَّ خَليّاني ومَنْ أهْ

    وَى وإنْ طالَ مَنْ هَواهُ هَواني

    O my two friends, leave me with the one

    I love, though my humiliation through his love lasts long.

  12. وأقِلاّ لَوْمي فإنّي أَرَى الدُّنْ

    يا بإنسانِ ذلكَ الإنسان

    And lessen your blame of me: I see the

    world through the pupil of that person's eye.

  13. ما نَسِيتُ العَهْد القديمَ ولا أَص

    بحَ ناسٍ مَنْ عَهدُه أَسْلاني

    I have not forgotten the old pledge, nor

    has he whose pledge consoled me become forgetful.

  14. فسقَى اللهُ ليلةَ القَصْرِ والعَس

    كرُ قد خَيّموا على هَمَذان

    May God water the night at the palace, when the

    army had pitched its tents at Hamadan.

  15. ما تَذكّرْتُها على النَّأيِ إلاّ

    هَيَّجتْ لي بذكرِها أَشْجاني

    Never have I recalled it, despite the distance, without

    its memory stirring my sorrows.

  16. سلَبتْني فيها رُقادي و أَفرا

    حي ومن بَعْدُ ما مضَتْ أَحزاني

    It robbed me then of sleep and

    joy, and afterward my sorrows never passed away.

  17. هو ذاكَ الفِراقُ فارقَني نَو

    مي وما عادَ بَعدَه يَلْقاني

    It was that parting: my

    sleep deserted me and never came to meet me afterward.

  18. قَصَّر الوَصْلُ ليلةَ القَصْرِ منْ بَعْ

    دِ تَمادي تَطاوُلِ الهجْران

    Union shortened the palace night, after

    separation had stretched endlessly on.

  19. رُبَّ بَدْرٍ ملأتُ عَينيَّ منه

    طالعاً غَيْرَ أَنّه ما هَداني

    Many a full moon I filled my eyes with,

    rising, yet giving me no guidance,

  20. عاقِداً للقَباء منه على خَطْ

    طِيّ رُمْح يَهْتَز أَو خُوطِ بان

    fastening his tunic around a

    swaying Khatti spear, or a shoot of the ban-tree;

  21. فارساً ناظرَيْهِ قد أخَذا لي

    صَوْلَجانَيْ صُدْغَيْهِ يرتكِضان

    a horseman, his two eyes having taken up for me

    the two polo-mallets of his temple-locks, galloping.

  22. فَهُما يَضْرِبانِ لي كُرَةَ القَلْ

    بِ المُعنَّى والحَلْبَةُ الوَجْنَتان

    With them they strike the ball of my

    tormented heart; the playing-field is his two cheeks.

  23. وهْو مع ذاك مُسمِعٌ مُبْدِعٌ حُلْ

    وُ المَعاني فصيحُ نُطقِ اللِّسان

    And for all that, he is a marvelous singer, with

    sweet meanings and eloquent speech.

  24. بات يَشْدو لنا وقد ضَمَّ في الحِضْ

    نِ رَسيلاً يُمْلي عليه الأغاني

    He sang to us through the night, clasping to his

    bosom a companion that dictated songs to him:

  25. أَحْدَبُ القَدِّ مُحكَمُ الشَّدِّ في حلْ

    قهِ شَطْرُ الحَنِيَّةِ المِرْنان

    humpbacked in form, tightly strung, with in its

    throat half a resonant bow.

  26. وهْو ذو ألسُنٍ ولكنَّه أَخْ

    رَسُ إلاّ ما استَنْطقَتْه اليَدان

    It has many tongues, yet is

    mute except when the two hands make it speak.

  27. فبَياني كأنّه أَخَذَ الأو

    تارَ منْه هَواه ممّا يَراني

    My eloquence is as though his love had taken the

    strings from it, seeing me as he does.

  28. والنَّدامَى في مَجْلسٍ أَدَبيٍّ

    غائبِ الرّاحِ شاهِدِ الرَّيْحان

    And the boon-companions, in a literary gathering

    where wine was absent but basil present,

  29. تتَعاطَى مُدامَ نَظْمٍ ونَثْرٍ

    من كُؤوس يُشْرَبْنَ بالآذان

    passed around the vintage of verse and prose

    from cups drunk through the ears.

  30. شُعراءٌ من بَيْنِ عُرْبٍ وعُجْمٍ

    نُظَراءٌ في حِدَّةِ الأذْهان

    Poets, Arabs and non-Arabs alike,

    equals in sharpness of mind.

  31. كلّما دارَ في الخَواطرِ مَعْنىً

    نظَموهُ فدار في الألحان

    Whenever a meaning circulated in their thoughts,

    they cast it into verse, and it circulated in melodies.

  32. ذاك عَصْرٌ مضَى وقد جاء عَصْرٌ

    شَدَّ ما قد تَخالَفَ العَصْران

    That age has passed, and another age has come:

    how greatly the two ages differ!

  33. حالَ حالي وحالَ في إثْرِه لوْ

    ني بصَرْفِ الزَّمانِ ذي الألوان

    My condition changed, and in its wake my

    color changed through the turns of many-colored Time.

  34. زُرْتُ فازْوَرَّتِ المليحةُ إذْ حَلْ

    لَتْ بحالي وجِسميَ العِلّتان

    I visited, but the beauty turned away when

    the two afflictions beset my condition and my body.

  35. وهْي تَهوَى العِقْيانَ لا أَنْ تَرَى مِنْ

    نِيَ وجْهاً في صُفْرة العِقْيان

    She loves gold, not the sight of

    my face in the yellowness of gold.

  36. واعْوِجاجٌ بالدَّهرِ أَن يَمْنَحَ الخَدْ

    دَيْنِ منّي ما تَطْلُبُ الكَفّان

    It is Time's perversity to give my

    two cheeks what my two palms seek.

  37. كيف أَرجو نَيْلَ الغِنَى في زَمانٍ

    أنا بالنّاسِ فيه ذو عِرفان

    How can I hope to attain wealth in an age

    when I am well acquainted with people?

  38. ظَلَّ مالي وظَلَّ عِلْميَ فيه

    وهُما في نهايةِ النُّقْصان

    In that age, my wealth and my learning both remained

    at the utmost degree of deficiency.

  39. ورَضِينا بقسْمَةِ اللهِ إذ كا

    نَ مُحالاً أَن يُجْمَعَ الفَضْلان

    And we accepted God's allotment, since it

    was impossible to bring both excellences together.

  40. أَن يكونَ الزّمانُ عَيْبيَ أَوْلَى

    بيَ من أَن أَكونَ عَيْبَ الزَّمان

    Better that the age should be my flaw

    than that I should be the flaw of the age.

  41. طاولَتْ مُدةُ الصِّيامِ شَكاتي

    وعَراني من بَرْحِها ما عَراني

    The fasting season rivaled my complaint in length,

    and its anguish brought upon me what it brought.

  42. وكأنَّ الرّجاءَ عن كلِّ خَلْقٍ

    حينَ أَفطَرْتُ صامَ فيها مكاني

    As though hope, abstaining from all mankind,

    fasted in my place when I broke my fast.

  43. فكمِ الصّومُ يا رَجائي وشَوّا

    لُ أَتى قاصراً يدَيْ رَمَضان

    How long this fast, my hope, when Shawwal

    has come to shorten Ramadan's two hands?

  44. قال لا فِطْرَ أَو أَرى غُرّةَ الأُسْ

    تاذِ بالسّعْدِ فهْيَ عِيدُ الأماني

    It said: 'No breaking fast until I see the master's

    shining brow in good fortune—the feast of wishes.'

  45. الّذي اعتادَ جُودُه الغَمْرُ أَن يُسْ

    رِفَ بَذلاً حتّى أَقولَ كَفاني

    He whose overflowing generosity is accustomed

    to lavish gifts until I say, 'Enough for me';

  46. والّذي يَشْتري الثّناءَ ويُعْطي ال

    وَفْدَ فيه غَواليَ الأثمان

    and who buys praise, paying the

    delegations dear prices for it;

  47. مَنْ بَرى اللهُ شَخْصَه للبَرايا

    مِنَناً كُلَّه بغَيْرِ امْتنان

    whom God fashioned wholly for mankind

    as favors freely given, without reminders of obligation;

  48. ذو عَلاءٍ وذو عَطاءٍ جَزيلٍ

    فهْو ناءٍ منَ الورى وهْو دان

    possessed of lofty rank and ample bounty,

    he is far from mankind, yet near.

  49. مَن ظُباهُ ومَنْ عِداه جَميعاً

    ما تُقرُّ الغِرارَ في الأجفان

    He whose sword-blades and whose enemies alike

    leave neither blades in sheaths nor sleep in eyelids.

  50. ساحةٌ ما خلَتْ بها ساعَةٌ في الدْ

    دَهْرِ للحاسدِينَ والضيِّفان

    A court where not an hour has ever been empty,

    throughout time, for enviers and guests,

  51. من دَم سائلٍ بملْء جُفون

    من مُعاديهِ أَو بملْءِ جِفان

    of flowing blood, filling sheaths

    from his enemies, or filling bowls.

  52. عارضٌ للجيوشِ في الجودِ فَرْدٌ

    ويداه للمُرتَجي عارضان

    A muster-master of armies, peerless in generosity,

    his two hands are two rainclouds for the hopeful.

  53. تحتَ أَعلامِه العَساكرُ في الهَيْ

    جا وتحتَ الأقلامِ في الدِّيوان

    Under his banners are the armies in

    battle, and under his pens in the register.

  54. هو يُمْضيهمُ فيَمْضونَ والمِطْ

    عامُ أَصْلُ الغَناءِ للمِطْعان

    He sends them forth, and they advance; the lavish

    feeder is the source of the spearman's prowess.

  55. صارمٌ من صوارمِ المُلْكِ ماضٍ

    وسَديدٌ من أَسهُمِ السُّلطان

    A keen, effective sword among the realm's swords,

    and an unerring arrow among the sovereign's arrows.

  56. مُذْ تَولّى أَمرَ المظالمِ قالَ النْ

    ناسُ قد عادَ عَدْلُ نُوشَروان

    Since he took charge of grievances, the

    people have said, 'Nushirwan's justice has returned.'

  57. صدَقَ القائلونَ خُصَّ بذا الإس

    مِ وذا النَعْتِ في الزَّمان اثْنان

    The speakers told the truth: this name

    and this epithet have marked two alone in all time.

  58. أنت حَقّقْتَ ما ادَّعَى ذاك والصّا

    دِقُ من فَجْرِيَ الظَّلامُ الثّاني

    You made good what that one claimed; the true

    dawn, of night's two dawns, is the second.

  59. مِثْلمَا خُطَّ والمُؤخَّرُ ممّا

    كتبوهُ مُقَدَّمٌ سَطْران

    As with two written lines, where the later of what

    they wrote is placed first:

  60. لاحقٌ سابقٌ وكم غَلطاتٍ

    كُتبَتْ في صَحائفِ الأزمان

    the later comer precedes. How many errors

    have been written in the pages of the ages!

  61. فرعَى اللهُ مَنْ غدا وهْو راعٍ

    غَيْرَ وانٍ لنا ولا مُتَوان

    May God protect him who became our shepherd,

    neither slack nor negligent toward us.

  62. مَنْ يُعاني أمراً يُعانُ عليه

    كم مُعانٍ للأمر غيرِ مُعان

    He who undertakes a task is aided in it;

    how many undertake a task without aid!

  63. جمَع العرْضَ والمَظالِمَ جَمْعاً

    وهما في قياسنا ضِدّان

    He joined army mustering and the hearing of grievances,

    though in our reckoning the two are opposites.

  64. فهْو مازال آمراً بالعِدا الأجْ

    نادَ أو ناهِياً عنِ العُدوان

    He is ever ordering his troops against

    the enemy, or forbidding aggression.

  65. تارةً يُرهفُ الأسنةَ للرَّوْ

    عِ وطَوراً يَثْني شَبا الخِرصْان

    At times he sharpens spearheads for

    terror; at others he turns aside the lance-points,

  66. بنَحيلٍ يَظَلُّ ذا دَمْعةٍ سَو

    داءَ تَجْري في أوجُهٍ غُرّان

    with a slender thing bearing a black

    tear that flows over bright faces.

  67. يَكْتسي أنمُلَ الكُفاةِ وإلا

    فهْو راضٍ بوصمَةِ العُرْيان

    It clothes itself in capable men's fingertips; otherwise

    it accepts the stigma of nakedness.

  68. ذو لسانٍ كأنّ في شَقّهِ مَشْ

    قاً يُوالي الأسجاعَ كالكُهّان

    It has a tongue, as though its slit contained

    flowing script; it strings rhymes like soothsayers.

  69. فهْو أفعَى وليس من أهلِ نَجْرا

    نَ كأفْعَى المَوصوفِ بالنَّجْران

    It is a viper, though not one of

    Najran's people, like Af'a, associated with Najran.

  70. يَرقُمُ الطِّرْسَ وهْو كالأرقَمِ النَّضْ

    ناضِ يَسْعَى لسانُه شُعْبَتان

    It inscribes the parchment like a mottled snake

    flicking its tongue as it glides—a tongue in two branches.

  71. وكأن الكتابَ لمّا رأوه

    لضَميرِ الفؤاد ذا إعلان

    As though the scribes, when they saw it

    proclaiming the heart's innermost thought,

  72. عاقَبوهُ عمّا يَبوحُ بسرِّ ال

    مُلْكِ طَبْعاً فشُقَّ وَسْطُ اللسان

    punished it for naturally divulging the

    realm's secret, splitting its tongue down the middle.

  73. يا مَطافاً للوَفدِ من كُلّ أرضٍ

    ومُحلَّى بالعَدْلِ والإحسان

    O place of circumambulation for delegations from every land,

    adorned with justice and benevolence,

  74. عُهدَتْ كَعبةٌ وجئْتَ فصارَتْ

    للهُدَى اليومَ والنّدَى كَعْبتان

    One Kaaba was known; you came, and now

    guidance and generosity have two Kaabas.

  75. غيرَ أنّي كالمُحْصَرِ العامَ بالأسْ

    قامِ عن لَثْمِ أَشْرَفِ الأركان

    Yet this year I am like a pilgrim barred by

    illness from kissing the noblest of corners.

  76. ورأيتُ الطَّريقَ أصبحَ كالسِّلْ

    كِ إليه والنّاسَ مثْلَ الجُمان

    I saw the road become like a thread

    leading to him, and the people like pearls.

  77. وعلى خاطري وخِطاري من دو

    نِ قَصدي ومَقْصدي عُقْلَتان

    Upon my mind and my camel, blocking

    my purpose and destination, lay two hobbles.

  78. وجَرى ذكْرُه فحَلَّ العِقالَيْ

    ينِ رَجائي عن ناقَتي ولساني

    His name was spoken, and my hope loosened the

    two hobbles from my she-camel and my tongue.

  79. وتَجلَّتْ بناتُ فِكْري فحُلِّ

    يَتْ بدُرِّ الألفاظِ غُرُّ المعاني

    The daughters of my thought revealed themselves, and

    bright meanings were adorned with pearls of words.

  80. فتَهنَّ النّيروزَ وازْدَدْ سُروراً

    فهْو عيدٌ مُعظَّمٌ خُسْرُواني

    Enjoy Nowruz, and grow in gladness:

    it is a revered, Khosrowian feast.

  81. جاء ذا الفِطْرُ كالمُصَلّي معَ السّا

    بقِ شَوقاً إليك يَسْتَبِقان

    This feast came with Fast-Breaking, like the runner-up with the

    front-runner, both racing toward you in longing.

  82. عَجَميٌّ إمامُه عَرَبيٌّ

    قد ألمّا فليَهْنِكَ الزّائران

    A Persian one, its leader an Arab one:

    both have arrived—may the two visitors bring you joy.

  83. وصباحُ النَّيْروزِ أوْلى صَباحٍ

    بالتَّهادي لدى الورى والتَّهاني

    Nowruz morning is the morning most worthy

    of gift-giving and congratulations among mankind.

  84. فَتقَبَّلْ هَديَّتي فهْيَ دُرٌّ

    كلُّ دُرٍّ سواه في الأرضِ فان

    Accept my gift, for it is a pearl;

    every other pearl on earth must perish.

  85. وابْقَ ما وشَّحَ الرّياضَ رَبيعٌ

    حاكياً وَرْدُه خُدودَ الحِسان

    And live as long as spring garlands the gardens,

    its roses imitating the cheeks of beauties,

  86. خالداً يا ابْنَ خالدٍ لا يُطيقُ الدْ

    دَهرُ ما عاش هَدْمَ ما أنتَ بان

    immortal, O son of Khalid: Time cannot,

    as long as it lives, destroy what you build.