1. أطاعَكَ منّيَ القلبُ العصِيُّ

    وكم يَقْوَى على النَّبْلِ الرّمِيُّ

    My rebellious heart has obeyed you.

    And how long can one shot at withstand arrows?

  2. وكم للغِيدِ من نظرٍ كَليلٍ

    يُصابُ بسَهمه بَطلٌ كَمِيّ

    How many languid glances graceful women possess,

    whose arrows strike an armor-clad champion!

  3. وكنتُ من الهوَى حُرّاً إلى أن

    سَباني منكَ طَرْفٌ جاهليّ

    I was free of love until

    a pagan gaze of yours took me captive.

  4. سَقيمٌ قد رمَيْتَ به فؤادي

    وقد يُبْلَى بذي السَّقْمِ البَريّ

    An ailing gaze—you shot it at my heart;

    the healthy may be afflicted by the sick.

  5. فإن يكُ حُبُّ ذاتِ الخالِ غَيّاً

    كما زعَموا فلا رَشَدَ الغَويّ

    If loving the woman with the beauty mark is error,

    as they claim, may the errant never find guidance!

  6. ذكرْتُ العامريّةَ والمَطايا

    يُطَرِّبُها الغُلامُ العامِريّ

    I remembered the 'Amiri woman while the riding camels

    were being roused with song by the 'Amiri lad.

  7. فحَنَّ الأرحبِيُّ وهَمَّ شَوقاً

    بكَفّي أَن يَحِنَّ الأصبَحيّ

    The Arhabi camel moaned, and longing almost made

    the Asbahi whip in my hand moan too.

  8. وبِتُّ وللصّبابةِ في فُؤادي

    مَكانٌ ليس يَعْرِفُه الخَليّ

    I spent the night with yearning in my heart,

    occupying a place unknown to the loveless.

  9. أَقولُ ولَيْلتي تَزدادُ طُولاً

    ومالي غَيرَ كوكبِها نَجِيّ

    I say, as my night grows longer,

    with none but its star as my confidant:

  10. ألا صُبْحٌ يُتاحُ لنا مُضيء

    أَلا لَيلٌ يُتاحُ له مُضيّ

    Will no radiant morning be granted us?

    Will this night never be granted its passing?

  11. فحُلَّ عِقالَها يا صاحِ إنّا

    بأرضٍ عِداً يمَلُّ بها الثَّويّ

    Then undo her hobble, my friend, for we

    are in a foreign land where the sojourner grows weary.

  12. ولمّا رابَني إظْلالُ أَمرٍ

    ولاحظَ مُنْتَهاهُ الألمعيّ

    When the looming of an affair troubled me,

    and the keen-witted foresaw its outcome,

  13. زجَرْتُ بأرضِ خُوزِسْتانَ عَنْسي

    مُروقَ السّهمِ أَسْلَمَه الحَنيّ

    I urged my sturdy she-camel through Khuzistan,

    like an arrow darting when the bow releases it.

  14. ووافَيْتُ الجِبالَ كما تَسامَى

    إلى قُلَلِ الشّوامخِ مَضْرَحيّ

    I reached al-Jibal as a great eagle soars

    toward the summits of towering peaks.

  15. وأعرَضَ بعدَهُنَّ فلا عُراضٌ

    لأنفاسِ الرّياح بها دَويّ

    Beyond them appeared broad desert expanses,

    where the winds' breaths resounded.

  16. وغُبْرٌ من بني الغَبْراءِ مَلأى

    فلا يَجْري بها إلاّ جَريّ

    And dusty wastes filled with sons of the dust,

    where none but the daring would travel.

  17. يُسَلُّ لهمْ من الجَفنَينِ خوفاً

    معَ اللّيلِ الكرَى والمَشرَفيّ

    For fear of them, from eyelid and scabbard are drawn,

    at night, sleep and the Mashrafi sword.

  18. فلَم نَنزِلْ بشابُر خُواةَ إلاّ

    وكلُّ رِكابنا نِضْوٌرَذيّ

    We did not halt at Shabur Khuwa until

    every riding camel of ours was worn-out and spent.

  19. فألمَمْنا بها واللّيلُ يَحكي

    زِناداً ضَوْؤُه فيه خَبيّ

    We stopped there briefly while the night resembled

    a fire-striker whose light lay hidden within.

  20. وصَبّحْنا بَروجِرْداً فمِلْنا

    إليها والنهارُ بها فَتِيّ

    At morning we reached Borujerd and turned

    toward it while the day there was still young.

  21. فما بلَغتْ بنا همَذانَ إلاّ

    وقد أَلوى بها الأمدُ القَصيّ

    They brought us to Hamadan only

    after the far-flung journey had bent them,

  22. بأثباجٍ كما انتطحَتْ وُعولٌ

    بِشابةَ أَو كما انأطَرَتْ قِسيّ

    their backs like ibexes butting heads

    at Shaba, or like bows bent over.

  23. فأعجَلْنا بها للرَّكْبِ زاداً

    ورُحْنا للرَّكابِ بنا هَويّ

    There we hastened to provide the riders with provisions,

    then departed, our mounts speeding us onward.

  24. وشارَفْنا المُعسكرَ بعْدَ لأْيٍ

    وقد نقرَ الطُّبولَ بها العَشيّ

    After much difficulty we neared the camp,

    where evening had already beaten the drums.

  25. ولاح لنا الخيامُ البيضُ منه

    على بُعْدٍ كما برَق الحَبيّ

    Its white tents appeared to us

    far off, like lightning from a piled-up cloud.

  26. وطاولَتِ السّماءَ سُرادِقاتٌ

    على أَبوابها رُكزَ القُني

    Pavilions vied in height with the sky,

    with spears planted at their entrances.

  27. فجاذبَنا أَعنَّتَها المَذاكي

    وسالبَنا أَزِمّتَها المَطيّ

    The full-grown horses tugged against us at their reins,

    and the camels contended with us for their halters.

  28. وقُلنا اليوم حان لنا مُناخٌ

    به تُلقى مع اليُمْنِ العِصيّ

    We said: Today our time has come for a resting-place,

    where travel-staves are cast aside amid good fortune.

  29. فلمّا أَن دنَتْ منها رِكابي

    تَلقّاني بإدراري نَعيّ

    But when my riding camels drew near those tents,

    a herald met me with news of my stipend's demise.

  30. فقلتُ وإصبَعي في فيَّ تَدْمَى

    لقد عاشَ السّخاءُ الحاتِميّ

    I said, my finger bleeding in my mouth:

    Truly, Hatim-like generosity lives on!

  31. كذا فَلْيُكرَمِ الزَّورُ المُوافي

    كذا فَلْيُكرِمِ المَولَى الوَفيّ

    Thus should arriving guests be honored!

    Thus should a faithful patron bestow honor!

  32. حياءً معشرَ الكُتّابِ منّا

    فما حازَ النُّهَى إلاّ حَبِيّ

    Have some shame before us, company of scribes,

    for only a favored man has attained understanding.

  33. وما بَينَ الكتابةِ من ذِمام

    وبينَ الشِّعرِ مُتَّضِحٌ جَليّ

    The bond of obligation between scribal work

    and poetry is evident and plain.

  34. وليس يُلابِسُ الآدابَ أَدنَى

    من الإطنابِ إن أَنِفَ الأبيّ

    Nothing less befits the literary arts

    than expansive expression, if the high-minded take offense.

  35. أَيُزْعَمُ أَنَّ إدراري لغَيْري

    لعَمْرُكَ إنّه كَذِبٌ فَريّ

    Is it claimed that my stipend belongs to someone else?

    By your life, it is a fabricated lie!

  36. فيا قلمَ الكتابةِ أَنتَ عندي

    كَذوبٌ بعدَ فَعْلِتها دَعيّ

    O scribal pen, in my eyes you are

    a lying impostor after what it has done.

  37. وليس لسانُك المَشْقوقُ إلاّ

    لِكذْبكَ إن تَأمّلَهُ ذَكيّ

    Your split tongue exists for nothing

    but your lying, as any clever observer can see.

  38. فقال وهَزَّ من عِطْفي مُجيباً

    وما بِيراعةِ الكُتّابِ عِيّ

    It replied, stirring my side as it answered,

    and scribes' reed pens suffer no tongue-tie:

  39. لعلّ خِتامَ ما كتبوا جَميلٌ

    يُسَرُّ بهِ وإنْ كُرِهَ البَديّ

    Perhaps the ending of what they wrote is fair,

    bringing joy, although the beginning was unwelcome.

  40. فخَطُّ الفَصِّ مَعكوسٌ عَجيبٌ

    ويَصدُرُ عنه مَقْرؤٌ سَويّ

    The signet stone's engraving is strangely reversed,

    yet a straight, readable impression comes from it.

  41. تَعجّبَ صاحبي من طُولِ هَمّي

    فقلتُ لِيَهْنِكَ البالُ الرَّخِيّ

    My companion marveled at my prolonged worry.

    I said: May your carefree mind bring you joy!

  42. وخَوَّفني تَصاريفَ اللّيالي

    فقلتُ اللهُ حَسْبي والصَّفيّ

    He warned me of the nights' changing fortunes;

    I said: God is enough for me, and al-Safi.

  43. وكيف يَخافُ رَيبَ الدَّهرِ حُرٌّ

    وَليُّ الدَّولتَينِ له وَليّ

    How can a freeborn man fear time's vicissitudes,

    when the Patron of the Two States is his protector?

  44. وهل يُخشَى كَسادُ الفَضلِ يوماً

    وناصِرُه أَبوه الأريَحيّ

    Can excellence ever be feared to languish,

    when its champion is its generous father?

  45. لقد أَهدَى الغداةَ شِفاءَ صَدري

    فتىً وجْهُ الزّمانِ به وَضىّ

    This morning, healing for my breast was bestowed

    by a young man who brightens the face of time.

  46. أَخو هِمَمٍ لَوِ استَعْلَتْ لظَلّتْ

    سَواميَ في السّماء لها رُقىّ

    A man of aspirations that, if they rose aloft, would remain

    towering in heaven, with further heights to climb.

  47. غدا لعُفاتِه فرعاً كريماً

    نَماهُ منَ العُلا أَصْلٌ زكيّ

    For his petitioners he has become a noble branch,

    raised by a pure root of lofty honor.

  48. فهَزَّهُ عِطفه فَنَنٌ رَطيبٌ

    وجودُ بنانِه ثَمَرٌ جَنيّ

    His swaying side is a supple bough,

    and his fingers' bounty is ripe fruit.

  49. كأنّ الوافدِينَ نُجومُ لَيلٍ

    ورَحْبَ جَنابِه الفَلَكُ العليّ

    The visitors seem like stars at night,

    and his spacious court like the lofty firmament.

  50. إذا ما حانَ من فِرَقٍ ذَهابٌ

    أُتيحَ إليه من فِرَقٍ مَجِيّ

    Whenever one group is due to depart,

    another group is granted an arrival before him.

  51. ومُستوفي مَمالكَ قاصياتٍ

    كِفايتُه لِعاطلِها حُليّ

    An auditor of far-flung kingdoms,

    his competence adorns their unadorned state.

  52. أَظلَّ به على الآفاقِ عِلْمٌ

    فما مِنْ أَمرها عنه خَفيّ

    Through him, knowledge overshadows the horizons,

    so none of their affairs is hidden from him.

  53. كعَينِ الشّمسِ يَلْحَظُ كُلَّ قُطْرٍ

    من الأقطار ناطرُها المُضيّ

    Like the sun's eye, it surveys every region

    among the lands—their radiant watcher.

  54. له قلمٌ بما يَحمي شَحيحٌ

    وصاحبُه بما يَحوي سَخيّ

    His pen is miserly with what it guards,

    while its master is generous with what he possesses.

  55. كلَمْعِ البَرقِ أَنملُه حِساباً

    وفيه الغَيثُ مَشرَبُه رَويّ

    His fingers flash like lightning in reckoning,

    and in him is rain with a thirst-quenching draught.

  56. أَيا مَن طبعُه عَدْلٌ وفَضْلٌ

    فمِنه الحُرُّ بالنُّعْمَى حَريّ

    O you whose nature is justice and bounty,

    from whom the freeborn deserves blessings,

  57. ومَن أَدْنى مَناقِبه سَناءٌ

    ومَن أَدنَى مَواهبِه سَنيّ

    whose least virtue is splendor,

    and whose smallest gift is magnificent:

  58. أَيُقصَدُ نَقْلُ إدراري بظُلْمٍ

    وظُلمُ النّاسِ مَرتَعُه وَبيّ

    Is my stipend to be transferred unjustly,

    when wronging others is a pestilential pasture?

  59. ولم يُحْسَنْ إليّ بحِفْظِ غَيبٍ

    ومثْلُك حينَ لم يُحسِنْ مَسيّ

    No kindness was shown me by guarding my interests in absence,

    and one like you does wrong when he fails to do good.

  60. حلَفْتُ بربِّ مكّةَ والمسَاعي

    ومَن واراه طَيْبةُ والغَرّي

    I swore by the Lord of Mecca and the pilgrimage paths,

    and those whom Tayba and al-Ghari conceal,

  61. لقد كادَتْ تُعاتِبُهمْ قوافٍ

    لها الأقلامُ تُطرِقُ والدُّويّ

    that rhymes had almost reproached them,

    before which pens and inkwells bow their heads.

  62. وقد مُلِئتْ قوارصَ مؤلماتٍ

    ولكنْ مُلجَمٌ قيلَ التّقيّ

    They were filled with biting, painful barbs,

    but a pious man's speech is bridled.

  63. وقَيدُ أوابدي كَرَمٌ وَدينٌ

    عنِ الأقوام لا حَصَرٌ وعِيّ

    Generosity and faith keep my wild verses chained

    away from men—not inarticulacy or tongue-tie.

  64. وحاشا أَن أذُمَّ سَراةَ قومٍ

    وزَنْدي في العُلا بِهمُ وَريّ

    Far be it from me to blame a people's chiefs,

    when through them my firestick sparks in lofty glory.

  65. لقد أَزِفَ المَسيرُ بلا عِتادٍ

    وشَحَّ بدَرّهِ الخِلْفُ البَكيّ

    Departure is near, and I have no equipment,

    while the scant-giving teat withholds its milk.

  66. وتَحتي أعوَجِيٌّ لا يُجارَى

    ولكنْ تحت رَحْلي أَخْدَريّ

    Beneath me is an unmatched A'waji steed,

    yet beneath my saddle is an Akhdari ass.

  67. فهل لك أن تَجودَ وأنتَ بحْرٌ

    به لا عنه كُلٌ فتىً غَنِيّ

    Will you give freely—you who are a sea,

    through which, not apart from it, every young man is enriched—

  68. بعالي القَدِّ سافِلُه وَثيقٌ

    لراكبِه وعاليهِ وَطيّ

    a tall mount, its lower frame sturdy

    for its rider, and its upper frame comfortable?

  69. غدا في الخيلِ من طَرْفٍ نسيباً

    عريقاً وهْو من طَرَفٍ نَفيّ

    Through a noble steed it is wellborn among horses,

    of deep ancestry, though an outcast on one side.

  70. قَصيرَ العُرْفِ أربَعُه طِوالٌ

    يُباهي الخيلَ مَنظرُهُ البَهيّ

    Short-maned, with all four legs long,

    its splendid appearance rivals the horses.

  71. تَطيرُ حصَى الأماعزِ من يدَيْهِ

    كما نقَد الدَّراهِمَ صَيّرفيّ

    Pebbles from the stony ground fly from its forefeet,

    as a money-changer tests dirhams.

  72. ويَسْتَدني البعيدَ منَ الفيافي

    كما يُطوَى النّسيجُ الأتحَميّ

    It draws the distant reaches of the wastes close,

    as Athami woven cloth is folded.

  73. ولو أجريتَه حَولاً صَبورٌ

    ولو أوقَرتَه طَوداً قَويّ

    Though you raced it for a year, it would endure;

    though you loaded it with a mountain, it would be strong.

  74. وظَنّي أن يَمُنَّ به سَماحاً

    فتىً للوَفْد نائلُه هَنيّ

    I trust that it will be freely bestowed

    by a young man whose gifts delight visiting delegations.

  75. مَليءٌ أن يَجودَ به وفكْري

    بمَدْحي أن يَجودَ له مَليّ

    He is fully able to give it, and my mind

    is fully able to give him my praise.

  76. أيا بحراً ومَشرَعُه نَداهُ

    ويا بدراً ومَطلَعُه نَديّ

    O sea whose bounty is its watering-place,

    O full moon whose rising-place is an assembly!

  77. ويَتْبَعُه كرامُ النّاسِ طُرّاً

    كما تَبعَ السِّنانَ السَّمْهَريّ

    All the noble people follow him,

    as the lance-shaft follows its spearhead.

  78. كريمٌ يُفصِحُ المُدّاحُ فيه

    وصَوغُ المَدْحِ في اللُّؤَماء عِيّ

    A noble man whose praisers speak eloquently of him,

    while fashioning praise for the base is tongue-tie.

  79. أهبْتُ إلى مَديحِك بالقوافي

    فكاد يُسابِقُ الصَّدَرَ الرَّويّ

    I summoned rhymes to your praise,

    and the rhyme-letter almost outran the opening hemistich.

  80. فدونَكَها مُوشَّحةَ المَعاني

    كما جُلِيَتْ على البَعْلِ الهَديّ

    Take it, embroidered with meanings,

    as a bride is unveiled before her husband.

  81. وإن أضحَتْ ومَنظرُها جَميلٌ

    فقد أمسَتْ وخاطِبُها كَفيّ

    Though she has become lovely to behold,

    her suitor has proved a worthy match.

  82. فدُمتَ لنا مُطاعَ الأمرِ عِزّاً

    ودام لك البَقاءُ السَّرمَديّ

    May you remain for us a glory, your commands obeyed,

    and may everlasting life remain yours.

  83. ولا سَلَب الزّمانُ عُلاك يوماً

    فأنت لعاطلِ الدُّنيا حُليّ

    May time never rob you of your lofty standing,

    for you adorn the world's unadorned state.