1. عُدُدٌ لكمْ أنْ سِرْتُ في تَشْييعي

    ممّا تَضمّنُ مُقلتي وضُلوعي

    You have provisions, as I walk to see you off,

    from what my eye and ribs contain.

  2. النّارُ تُقْبَسُ من وطيسِ جَوانحي

    والماءُ يُورَدُ من غديرِ دُموعي

    Fire is drawn from the furnace within my ribs,

    and water from the pool of my tears.

  3. قلبي وعيني يُغْنيانِ رِكابَكُمْ

    عن رِحلَتَيْ قَيظٍ لكمْ ورَبيع

    My heart and eye spare your riding camels

    your two journeys, in summer and spring.

  4. فتَغنَّموا أَنّي أَسيرُ خلالَكمْ

    سَيْرَ امْرِئٍ بالاِلتقاءِ قَنوع

    So cherish the chance that I walk among you,

    like a man content merely to meet.

  5. وتَعلَّموا أَنّي جَزِعتُ ولم أكنْ

    لولا فراقُ أحبَّتي بجَزوع

    And know that I was distraught, though I would not have been,

    but for separation from my loved ones, prone to anguish.

  6. راعَ الفؤادَ نوَى الخليطِ ولم يكُنْ

    قبلَ النّوى من حادثٍ بمَروع

    The companions' departure terrified my heart, which had not

    before separation been frightened by any calamity.

  7. مالي نَزَلْتُ وتَرحلونَ ألا أَرى

    يَوماً تلاؤُمَ شَمْليَ المَجْموع

    Why have I halted while you depart? Shall I not see

    one day my gathered company in harmony?

  8. أنتم تشدّونَ النُّسوعَ لرِحْلةٍ

    وأنا على لَغَبٍ أَحُلُّ نُسوعي

    You tighten the saddle straps for a journey,

    while I, despite my weariness, loosen mine,

  9. مُتأمِّلاً مُتعجِّباً لرِحالكمْ

    مَرفوعةً معَ رَحليَ المَوضوع

    reflecting, marveling at your saddles

    raised up beside my saddle, laid down.

  10. سَهْمُ النّوى أنا دائماً ما بينَ أَن

    أُدنَى وأُبعَدُ مُهلَةٌ لُوقوع

    I am forever separation's arrow; between being drawn near

    and sent far away lies a respite before falling.

  11. أبدو وأخفَى عاجلاً فكأنّني

    طَيفٌ سرَى في أُخْرَياتِ هُجوع

    I appear and quickly vanish, as though I were

    an apparition passing in the final moments of sleep.

  12. وأَرى فؤاديَ في الزّمانِ كأنّه

    بَيْتُ العَروضِ يُرادَ للتّقْطيع

    And I see my heart, as time passes, as though it were

    a verse of prosody destined to be cut into metrical feet.

  13. لمّا طَويْتُ أنا البعادَ نَشَرْتُمُ

    ذَرْعاً لبُرْدِ المَهْمَهِ المَذْروع

    When I had folded up the distance, you unfolded

    a measured length of the traversed wilderness's cloak.

  14. فلئنْ أَقَمْتُ فلاتَ حينَ إقامةٍ

    ولئن رجَعْتُ فلاتَ حينَ رُجوع

    If I stay, it is no time for staying;

    and if I return, it is no time for returning.

  15. ولعلّ دهْراً أن يَعودَ مُبَشّري

    منكم بعَودٍ أَرتجيهِ سريع

    Perhaps time will return as my bearer of glad news

    from you, of the swift return for which I hope.

  16. فالدّهرُ يَلحَقُ طالعاً بغُروبهِ

    أبداً ويُعْقبُ غارباً بطُلوع

    For time follows each rising with its setting,

    always, and follows each setting with a rise.

  17. وإذا رأيتَ الدُّرَّ أصبحَ باقياً

    هانَتْ إعادَةُ سِلْكه المَقْطوع

    And when you see that the pearls still remain,

    restoring their broken string becomes easy.

  18. أمّا سديدُ الحَضرتَيْنِ فلم يَزَلْ

    بمديحه دون الأنامِ ولوعي

    As for Sadid al-Hadratayn, I have never ceased

    to delight in praising him above all mankind.

  19. فهو الّذي يُمسي ويُصبح جاهُه

    طولَ الزّمانِ مُشفِّعي وشَفيعي

    His standing, evening and morning,

    throughout time, secures my pleas and intercedes for me.

  20. وأَشَدُّ ما بي أنّني لم ألْقَهُ

    مَرَضاً وقد وافَيتُ مُذْ أُسبوع

    The worst of my troubles is that I have not met him

    because of illness, though I arrived a week ago.

  21. حتّى كأنّ ولا كأنّ فِراقُه

    أَغرَى السَّقامَ بجسميَ المَفْجوع

    So it seems—no, it is no mere seeming—that separation from him

    has incited sickness against my grief-stricken body.

  22. مَلِكٌ مَديحي المُستجادُ مُطيعُه

    أبداً ونائلُه الجزيلُ مُطيعي

    A king whom my admired praise obeys,

    always, while his lavish bounty obeys me.

  23. جارٍ على دِينِ النّدى لكنّه

    يأْتي بمُبدَعِه وبالمَشْروع

    He follows the religion of generosity, yet

    brings both its innovations and its established law.

  24. وصحيحُ أخبارِ السّماحِ لدى الوَرى

    من مُرسَلٍ عنه ومن مَرْفوع

    The sound reports of generosity among mankind

    are transmitted from him or traced back to him.

  25. يُعْطي ويَشكرُ وَفْدَه كَرماً فكم

    بِرٍّ بشُكْرٍ عنده مَشْفوع

    He gives, and generously thanks his visitors; how many

    kindnesses in him are coupled with thanks!

  26. وإذا اعتَنى لك بالأمورِ أَتمّها

    من غيرِ تقصيرٍ ولا تَضْجيع

    When he attends to your affairs, he completes them

    without shortcoming or slackness.

  27. ذو هِمّةٍ يَقِظٌ متى ما ماجئْتَه

    لاقَيتَ أوفَى النّاسِ حُسنَ صَنيع

    Ambitious and alert, whenever you come to him,

    you meet the most unstinting of men in kindly deeds.

  28. وإذا سَمِعْتَ به سمعتَ بماجدٍ

    يأتيك واصِفٌه بكُلِّ بَديع

    When you hear of him, you hear of a noble man,

    whose describer brings you every marvel.

  29. فإذا رأيتَ رأيتَ منه كاملاً

    مَرئيُّه يُوفى على المَسْموع

    And when you see him, you see a perfect man,

    whose visible excellence surpasses what is heard.

  30. ففَداه في الأقوامِ كُلُّ مُزنّدٍ

    لثنيّةِ العَلْياء غيرُ طَلوع

    May every miser among the peoples be his ransom,

    unable to climb the mountain pass of high glory.

  31. من غَيثِ مكرمةٍ وليثِ كتيبةٍ

    وغنَى فَقيرٍ وانتعاشِ صريع

    What a raincloud of generosity, a lion amid troops,

    wealth for the poor and revival for the fallen!

  32. وأغَرَّ يَمطُرُ في ذُراه وُفودَه

    بندىً هَمولٍ للعُفاةِ هَموع

    A radiant man who showers his delegations in his lofty precincts

    with bounty pouring down, streaming upon petitioners,

  33. من كَفِّ خِرْقٍ للعطاء مُفرِّقٍ

    بالمكرماتِ وللعلاء جَموع

    from the hand of a generous man who dispenses gifts

    through noble deeds, and gathers lofty renown.

  34. أقلامُه يَقْلِمْنَ أظفارَ الرَّدى

    بيَدٍ عظيمةِ مَوقِعِ التَّوقيع

    His pens clip the claws of death

    in a hand whose signature has mighty force.

  35. يُومضْنَ منه في الأناملِ جِرْيةً

    إيماضَ برْقٍ في الحَبيِّ لَموع

    They flash as they run between his fingertips,

    like brilliant lightning in banked-up clouds.

  36. إنّي قصدتُك يا ابنَ أكرَمِ مَعشرٍ

    طَرَفَيْ أُصولٍ في العُلا وفُروع

    I have sought you, son of the noblest people,

    at both ends, in roots and branches of high lineage.

  37. وإليكَ أقبلَ بي نِزاعي والهوَى

    وثنَى عِناني عن سواك نُزوعي

    Toward you my longing and love have borne me,

    and my yearning turned my reins away from all but you.

  38. ومُضِيُّ أعوامٍ عليَّ ثلاثةٍ

    لم أَدْن فيها منك كان مُضيعي

    The passing over me of three years

    in which I did not draw near you was my undoing.

  39. ورأيتُ أنّك غائبٌ عن نُصْرَتي

    فأطَلْتُ بعدَك للخُطوبِ خُضوعي

    I saw that you were absent from my support,

    and prolonged, in your absence, my submission to calamities.

  40. وسكنْتُ بين عِدايَ حصْنَ تَجمُّلٍ

    أضحى على الحدَثانِ غيرَ مَنيع

    I dwelt among my enemies in a fortress of composure,

    which proved no defense against time's calamities.

  41. وبنانيَ المجروحُ يُدمِي قَرْحَهُ

    طولُ العِضاضِ بسِنّيَ المَقروع

    My wounded fingertips bleed afresh

    from long gnawing with my battered tooth,

  42. مُتوقِّعاً يوماً بوَجهكَ أن أرى

    صُبْحَ السّعادةِ مُؤْذِناً بسُطوع

    as I await a day when, in your face, I shall see

    the dawn of happiness heralding its radiance.

  43. فالحمد للهِ الّذي من لُطفِه

    صدع الدُّجى عنّا ضياءُ صَديع

    So praise be to God, through whose kindness

    the light of dawn has cleft the darkness from us.

  44. وجلا بغُرَّتِك العيونَ كأنّها

    بَدْرٌ جَلا الظّلماءَ بَعدَ هَزيع

    He lit our eyes with your radiant brow, as though it were

    a full moon dispelling darkness after a watch of night.

  45. وصُعودُ هذي الشُّهْبِ بعدَ تَصوُّبٍ

    وكذا استقامَتُهُنَّ بَعد رُجوع

    These bright stars have their ascent after descent,

    and likewise their direct course after retrogression.

  46. والمرءُ يُمنَعُ ثُمّ يَرتَعُ آمِناً

    ما نُجعَةٌ إلاّ وراءَ نَجيع

    A man is denied pasture, then grazes safely;

    no quest for pasture lies but beyond spilled blood.

  47. كم فيكَ لي من رَفعةٍ ليدي إلى

    ربٍّ لأدعيةِ العبادِ سَميع

    How often for your sake have I raised my hand to

    a Lord who hears His servants' prayers,

  48. حتّى تَتابعَتِ البشائرُ بالّذي

    تهوى برغم عَدُوِّكَ المَقْموع

    until glad tidings came in succession of what

    you desire, despite your vanquished enemy.

  49. فاليوم قد أَدركْتُ ما أمّلْتُه

    ومضَى الحسودُ بمَعْطِسٍ مجْدوع

    Today I have attained what I hoped for,

    while the envier departed with his nose cut off.

  50. فخطَطْتُ تحت ظِلالِ عزْك مَنْزلي

    وجَعلْتُ وسْطَ حمَى عُلاكَ رُتوعي

    I laid out my dwelling beneath the shade of your might,

    and made my grazing ground within the sanctuary of your eminence.

  51. وكأنّني بي قد بلَغْتُ بك المُنَى

    وحصدْتُ بعضَ رجائيَ المَزروع

    It is as though I have already attained my wishes through you,

    and reaped some of the hopes I sowed.

  52. وسَعادةُ الأتباعِ من دُنياهمُ

    مَقْرونةٌ بسَعادةِ المتْبوع

    The worldly happiness of followers

    is bound to the happiness of the one they follow.

  53. فاعْرِفْ عَرفْتَ الخيرَ أغراضي التي

    فيها وقد حضَر الرّحيلُ شُروعي

    So recognize—may you know goodness—my aims,

    on which I embark, now that departure is at hand.

  54. واعطِفْ جُعلتُ لك الفدا عَطْفاً على

    ناءٍ منَ الوطنِ البعيدِ نَزيع

    Show compassion—may I be your ransom—to

    an uprooted exile, far from his distant homeland.

  55. مَنْ مُخْبِرُ القُصّادِ أنّي جئتُهمْ

    بقَصائدٍ مَوشيّةِ التَّوشيع

    Who will tell the visitors that I have come to them

    with richly embroidered poems,

  56. لِيُرونيَ الإِدرارَ في مَجْموعهمْ

    وأُريهمُ الأشعارَ في مَجْموعي

    so they may show me flowing largesse in their collection,

    and I may show them poems in mine?

  57. ويُجِدُّ تَشريفي الوزيرُ ويُبْصروا

    تَشْنيفَه بالدُّرِّ من تَرْصيعي

    Let the vizier earnestly pursue my honor, and let them see

    how I adorn his ears with pearls of my own setting.

  58. أمّا القضاءُ فأشتَهي لكنّه

    لِدُيونيَ اللاّتي نَفَيْنَ هُجوعي

    As for judgment, I desire it—but the settlement

    of my debts, which have banished my sleep.

  59. وأجَلُّ عندي مَوقعاً من كِتْبَةِ ال

    منشورِ فاعْلَمْ كِتْبةُ التَوزيع

    And weightier to me than writing the

    appointment decree—know this—is writing a payment order.

  60. بعْتُ القضاءَ على البلادِ وصِيتَهُ

    بقَضائهنّ وذاك خَيرُ بُيوعي

    I traded judgeship over the lands, and its renown,

    for their repayment—the best bargain I ever made.

  61. لو كنتَ تَرمي في القضاءِ بنَظرةٍ

    لَعجبْتَ من شِبَعِ القُضاةِ وجوعي

    If you cast a glance at judgeship,

    you would marvel at the judges' satiety and my hunger.

  62. أُرشُوا ولا أُرشَى وتلك غَبينةٌ

    تُمسى لها الأكبادُ ذاتَ صُدوع

    They were bribed, while I am not—a losing bargain

    that leaves livers riven.

  63. وأَخافُ من تشنيعِهمْ لو جُرْتُ في

    حُكمٍ وليس يُخافُ منْ تَشْنيعي

    I fear their denunciation if I act unjustly in

    a ruling, yet no one fears my denunciation.

  64. وسَجيّتي قَصْدُ السّدادِ ولن تَرى

    مُتطبِّعاً في الشَّيْءِ كالمَطْبوع

    My nature is to seek rectitude; you will never see

    one who acquires a trait equal to one born with it.

  65. والقومُ يَبغونَ الثّراءَ وليس لي

    غيرُ الثّناءِ ومَنطقٍ مَسْجوع

    Those men seek wealth, while I have

    nothing but praise and rhymed speech.

  66. عارٍ لطَعْنِ ذَوي النُّهَى أَعراضُهمْ

    ووجوهُهمْ في مُحكَماتِ دُروع

    Their reputations are bare to the thrusts of men of reason,

    while their faces are encased in well-forged armor.

  67. فعلَى القَضا منّي السّلامُ وتَوبتي

    منه النَّصوحُ فجانِبوا تَقْريعي

    So farewell from me to judgeship, and my repentance

    from it is sincere; spare me your reproach,

  68. حتّى يَعودَ كما مضَى زمَنٌ وأق

    وامٌ فيَقْبحُ عندهمْ تَضْييعي

    until there return, as before, an age and

    people who deem it shameful to neglect me.

  69. هذي أُموري فاعتبِرْها مُنْعِماً

    فلقد كشَفْتُ السِّرَّ كشْفَ مذيع

    These are my affairs; consider them attentively,

    for I have laid the secret bare like one proclaiming it.

  70. وأَمِدَّني إمدادَك المَعهودَ لي

    تَجعلْ على استنجازِها تَشْجيعي

    Support me with your accustomed aid to me,

    and so encourage me to secure their fulfillment.

  71. واصدَعْ بما أَمرَ العُلا وإن انثَنى

    عنه الحَسودُ بقَلبِه المَصْدوع

    Proclaim what high honor commands, even if the envier turns

    away from it with his heart shattered.

  72. واسلَمْ لمُلْكٍ أنت تَدعَمُ بَيتَه

    بعمادِ رَأْيٍ يَقتَضيهِ رَفيع

    Remain safe for a kingdom whose house you support

    with the pillar of the lofty counsel it requires,

  73. ما دام في الدّهرِ اتّضاعُ رفيعٍ اسْ

    تِقباحُه مثْلَ ارْتفاعِ وَضيع

    as long as the abasement of the lofty in this world is deemed

    as ugly as the elevation of the lowly.