1. أشبهَ دَهْري أبناؤه فهمُ

    إنْ ظَلَموا كُلُّهمْ فما ظُلِموا

    The children of my age resemble it, so

    if they all do wrong, they have not been wronged.

  2. في نفْسِ دهْري وفي نفوسِ بني

    دَهْري جميعاً ظُلْمُ الوَرى شِيَم

    In the soul of my age and the souls of the sons

    of my age alike, wronging mankind is ingrained.

  3. ما يَلْتقي اثْنانِ مُنْصفانِ معاً

    إذا اخْتبرْتَ الأنامَ كُلَّهُم

    No two fair-minded men are found together

    when you put all mankind to the test.

  4. تُنصِفُ ما دام يَظْلِمونَكَ أو

    تَظْلِمُ إنْ كان يُنْصِفُونَ هُم

    You act fairly as long as they wrong you, or

    you do wrong if they are the ones acting fairly.

  5. أعداءُ عُذّالِهمْ إذا عَشِقوا

    وعُذَّلُ العاشقينَ إن سَلِموا

    Enemies of their reproachers when they fall in love,

    and reproachers of lovers when themselves untouched by love.

  6. لو كَرُمَ العاذلونَ ما عذَلوا

    بل لم يلوموا إلاّ وقد لَؤُموا

    Had the reproachers been noble, they would not have reproached;

    indeed, they only blamed once they had shown their baseness.

  7. ما لائمُ العاشِقينَ إن صدَقوا

    إلاّ إذا لامَ ظالمٌ أَثِم

    A reproacher of lovers, if they are sincere,

    is, in his reproach, only an unjust sinner.

  8. راموا سُلُوَى وكُلُّ تسليمةِ ال

    عُشّاقِ لو يَعْلمون قَتْلُهم

    They sought forgetfulness; every surrender by

    lovers, if they knew, is their death.

  9. إلْفيَ رُوحي ولو خَلا نَفْساً

    من رُوحِه الصَّبُّ فهْوَ مُخْتَرَم

    My beloved is my soul; were, for a single breath,

    the lovesick lover bereft of his soul, he would die.

  10. أَستودِعُ اللهَ راحلاً عَجِلاً

    والحيَّ صبحاً على النَّوى عَزَموا

    I commend to God one departing in haste,

    and the tribe, who at dawn resolved to depart.

  11. قلبي إلى ذكْرِه يكادُ مَعَ الدْ

    دمْعِ ارْتياحاً إليه يَنْسَجِم

    My heart, remembering him, almost with the

    tears pours forth, in its yearning for him.

  12. أصبح يومَ النَّوى وناظرُهُ

    بيني وبينَ الرَّقيبِ مُنْقَسِم

    He awoke on parting day, his gaze

    divided between me and the watcher.

  13. خلَّى رسومَ الدّيارِ لي ومَضَى

    تَطْوي به البيدَ أينُقٌ رُسُم

    He left me the traces of the dwellings and departed,

    swift-striding she-camels bearing him across the wastes.

  14. وظَبْيةٍ لا تُصادُ آمِنةٍ

    كُلُّ مكانٍ تَحُلُّه حَرَم

    And a gazelle, secure and never hunted:

    every place she inhabits is a sanctuary.

  15. إنِ سَنحَتْ للعيونِ أو بَرِحَتْ

    لِقاؤها كيف كان مُغْتَنَم

    Whether she passes before our eyes rightward or leftward,

    meeting her, however it happens, is a prize.

  16. تَساقمَتْ عينُها لأعيُنِنا

    حتّى لأَعدَى عُشّاقَها السَّقَم

    Her eye feigned sickness before our eyes,

    until that sickness infected her lovers.

  17. فَلْيَهْنِ ألحاظَها وإن سَقُمَتْ

    سُقْمٌ بنا منْه لا بها الأَلَم

    May her glances rejoice, though they sicken,

    in a sickness that pains us, not her.

  18. للهِ فتّانةٌ محاسِنُها

    ضلَّ افْتِتاناً بحُسْنِها أُمَم

    How wondrous a woman whose charms bewitch!

    Nations have strayed, infatuated with her beauty.

  19. أصنامُ قومٍ كما سَمعْتَ بها

    صُمٌّ منَ الصَّخْرِ نَحتُها زَعَموا

    A people's idols, as you have heard of them,

    are deaf, carved from rock, they say.

  20. ومِنْ عَنائي حتّى تَعبَّدني

    بسِحْرِهِ أن أُتيحَ لي صَنَم

    Among my torments—until it enslaved me

    with its magic—was that an idol was granted me.

  21. من حَجَرٍ قَلْبُه وسائرهُ

    لحْمٌ على صورةِ الدُّمَى ودَم

    Its heart is stone, while all the rest

    is flesh and blood, shaped like a sculpted figure.

  22. يُسمَعُ مِن فيهِ وهْو مُنْتَثِرٌ

    دُرٌّ يُرَى فيه وهْو مُنْتَظِم

    From its mouth one hears, scattered loose,

    pearls that one sees there, strung in order.

  23. قلتُ لأسماءَ وهْيَ جائرةٌ

    حُكْماً وفي بَعْضِ قَولها حِكَم

    I said to Asma, though she was unjust

    in judgment, with wisdom in some of her words:

  24. ظُلْمٌ لقلبي من الأَحِبَّةِ أنْ

    يُسْمَى بقَلْبي ومُلكُه لَهُم

    It is an injustice done my heart by the beloved

    that it is called my heart when they possess it.

  25. قالتْ كمالُ الكمالِ نَنْسِبُهُ

    إليه والوفْدُ فيه يَحْتكِم

    She said: The perfection of al-Kamal we ascribe

    to him; delegations seek his judgment.

  26. كعبةُ جودٍ للطّارقينَ له

    رُكنُ يدٍ لا يزالُ يُسْتَلَم

    A Kaaba of bounty for visitors, he has

    a hand's corner, forever touched in homage.

  27. ذاتُ بنانٍ كالسُّحْبِ ماطِرةٍ

    لكُلِّ قُطْرٍ بقَطْرِها تَسِم

    Its fingers are like rain-bearing clouds,

    marking every region with their drops.

  28. تَجْري فَيكْفي لأنْ يُدَبِّرَ إق

    ليماً عظيماً بكَفِّه قَلَم

    They move; to govern a

    vast province, a pen in his palm suffices.

  29. وكم تَرَى في الزَّمانِ أصحابَ أق

    لامٍ لظُفْرٍ بهنَّ ما قَلَموا

    How many in this age you see wielding

    pens, who have not trimmed even a fingernail with them!

  30. ولاخْتلافِ الخُطوطِ ما القَلَمُ ال

    محْسودُ إلاّ سِيّانِ والزَّلَم

    Because scripts differ, the pen that is

    envied is on a par with the lot-arrow.

  31. منْها المُعلَّى للفائزينَ به

    والوَغْدُ أيضاً منها إذا اقْتَسَموا

    Among them is al-Mu'alla, for those who win through it,

    and among them, too, al-Waghd when they divide the shares.

  32. للهِ إحدَى اليراعِ في يَدِه

    تُراعُ منها الأسودُ والبُهُم

    How wondrous a reed-pen in his hand,

    that terrifies lions and mighty warriors!

  33. مُذْ سَمِعتْ باسْمِها القَنا وهْي في ال

    خَطِّ اعْتراها من خَوْفها صَمَم

    Since the spears heard its name while in

    al-Khatt, fear of it struck them deaf.

  34. ومُذْ رأى البحرُ فَيْضَ نائلها

    أضحَى من الحُزْنِ وهْو يَلْتطِم

    And since the sea saw its bounty overflow,

    it has been buffeting itself in grief.

  35. يا سامياً حامياً حقائقَهُ

    ما ذُمَّ في خُطّةٍ له ذِمَم

    O exalted one, defender of his honor and rights,

    whose pledges have never been faulted in any undertaking;

  36. ويا كريماً حُلْواً شَمائلُه

    به كرامُ الأنامِ قد خُتِموا

    O generous one, sweet in disposition,

    in whom mankind's noble men have their crowning seal.

  37. بمالِ سلطانهِ يَشُحُّ تُقىً

    وكفُّه الدَّهْرَ صَوْبُها دِيَم

    He is sparing with his sovereign's wealth, out of piety,

    while his palm pours steady showers through all time.

  38. شُحٌّ وجُودٌ في الكفِّ منه غدا

    عليهما الحُسنُ وهْو مُنقَسِم

    Stinginess and generosity in his palm have come

    to share the beauty divided between them.

  39. فِدىً لعُلْياهُ كُلُّ ذي حَسَدٍ

    نارُ القِلَى في حَشاهُ تَضْطَرِم

    May every envious man be a ransom for his eminence,

    the fire of hatred blazing in his breast.

  40. مِنْ مُشْرفٍ مُسرِفٍ لأموالِه

    بَذْلاً ومالُ السُّلطانِ مُنْعَصم

    A superintendent, lavish with his own wealth

    in giving, while the sovereign's wealth stays safe.

  41. إشرافُه لازمٌ لإشراقِه الدّهْرَ

    فجيشُ الإظلامِ مُنْهَزِم

    His oversight is ever inseparable from his radiance,

    and the army of darkness is routed.

  42. كَعينِ شمسٍ تَعلو مُهَجِّرةً

    فتَستنيرُ الغِيطانُ والأكَم

    Like the sun's orb climbing in the midday heat,

    lighting the lowlands and the hills.

  43. لا تَقدِرُ الأرضُ من مَمالكها

    تَكْتُمُ شِبْراً عنها فَينْكَتِم

    The earth, one of its realms, cannot

    hide a handspan from it and keep it concealed.

  44. ولي مَعاشٌ ما زلْتُ آخُذُه

    عفْواً وفي الطّالبين مُزْدَحَم

    I have a livelihood I have always received

    freely, amid a throng of petitioners.

  45. وللموالي من العنايةِ بي

    ما يَقْتَضي طُولُ ما خدمْتُهُم

    My patrons' care for me is such

    as my long service to them requires.

  46. قد عَوَّدوني قِدْماً عنايتَهم

    وراضعُ العزِّ ليس يَنْفَطِم

    Long ago they accustomed me to their care,

    and one nursed on honor cannot be weaned.

  47. لكنّه حالَ عامُ أوّلَ عنْ

    عهدٍ رعَتْهُ أقوامُه القُدُم

    But last year departed from

    the covenant upheld by its men of old.

  48. فضاعَ فيه قصائدي وذوو

    عداوتي فيه تمَّ قَصْدُهُم

    My poems were wasted in it, while those

    hostile to me achieved their purpose there.

  49. إدْرارُ سَوءٍ نَزْرٌ مُوفَّرُهُ

    فكيف مِقْدارُهُ إذا ثَلَموا

    A wretched stipend: its full amount is scant;

    what, then, is its measure when they diminish it?

  50. إطلاقُه كاحْتِباسِه أبداً

    مثْلُ سَرابٍ وجُودُه عَدَم

    Its release is always like its withholding,

    like a mirage: its existence is nothingness.

  51. وأنت مَنْ طالما رجَوتُك أنْ

    تُكْشَفَ عنّي برأيِك الغُمَم

    And you are the one I have long hoped

    would lift these clouds from me through your counsel.

  52. فلْيُجتَهدْ لا يكُنْ لماضيهِ مُسْ

    تقبَلُه ناقصاً كما عَلِموا

    So let every effort be made: compared with its past, its

    future must not be diminished, as they know.

  53. إنْ كان في وجهِ عامِ أوّلَ تَعْ

    بيسٌ ففي العام سوف يَبْتَسم

    If the face of last year wore a

    frown, this year it shall smile,

  54. بحُسنِ رأْيٍ لعزّ دينِ هُدىً

    مُستظهِرٌ لم يَزَلْ بهِ الخَدَم

    through the sound counsel of 'Izz al-Din, a guide,

    on whom servants have always relied for support.

  55. فهْو الَّذي لو أعادَ لي نظراً

    وعاينَ الدَّهرُ كيف يُهْتَضم

    He is the one who, if he looked on me again,

    and Time witnessed how I was oppressed,

  56. إذنْ لعادَ الدَّهرُ المُعانِدُ لي

    من ظُلْمِه يَسْتَحْيي وَيحْتَشِم

    then Time, which stubbornly opposes me, would turn back,

    ashamed and abashed at its injustice.

  57. ولانْثَنتْ في ظلالِ دولتهِ

    حُسّادُ فَضْلي طُرّاً وقد رَغِموا

    And beneath the shade of his rule would recoil

    all who envy my merit, brought low.

  58. فقُلْ له يا سحابَ مكْرُمةٍ

    عليكَ تَمَّتْ كما لكَ النِّعَم

    So say to him: O cloud of noble bounty,

    blessings are perfected upon you, as are your own gifts.

  59. أقولُ إنْ كان مَعشرٌ بَخَسوا

    حَقّي وما كان منه زَجْرُهُم

    I say: If some people have diminished

    my due, and he did not rebuke them,

  60. فأغْنِني عنه يا ابنَهُ كَرماً

    تَعِشْ بنُعْماكَ منّيَ الرِّمَم

    generously free me from need of him, O his son;

    let your bounty bring my decayed remains to life.

  61. فابْنُ ذُكاءٍ بنُورِ غُرّتهِ

    قبلَ ذُكاءٍ كم انْجلَتْ ظُلَم

    For the son of Dhuka, by the light of his bright brow,

    has cleared so much darkness before Dhuka herself.

  62. بل يا كمالاً للدَّهرِ قد عَظُمَتْ

    لأهْلِه عند مجدِه الحُرَم

    Rather, O Kamal of the age, great have become

    its people's sacred rights in the presence of his glory.

  63. له العُلا والعلومُ باهرةٌ

    لا صَدَدٌ حدَّها ولا أَمَم

    His are exalted rank and dazzling sciences,

    whose bounds are neither near nor within reach.

  64. كُلُّ عُلُوٍّ فيه له قِدَمٌ

    وكُلُّ علْمٍ فيه له قَدَم

    In every eminence he has long precedence,

    and in every science he has a firm footing.

  65. عَمُّكَ صدْرٌ ما مثلُه أَحَدٌ

    لا عربٌ أبْصرَتْ ولا عَجَم

    Your uncle is Sadr, whose equal no one

    among Arabs or non-Arabs has seen.

  66. فما اعتقادُ الأنامِ فيه سوى

    أَنّ اللّيالي بمثْلِه عُقُم

    Mankind believes nothing of him save

    that the nights are barren of his like.

  67. أُهْدي إلى دارِ كُتْبِه فِقَري

    فَثمَّ يُدْرَى ما هذِه الكَلِم

    I offer my verses to his library,

    for there these words are understood.

  68. كم للسّلاطينِ والخلائفِ لي

    جَزْلُ عطاءٍ بما امتدَحْتُهُم

    How often, from sultans and caliphs, have I received

    lavish gifts for the praises I sang of them!

  69. واليومَ تلك الأشعارُ قد كسَدتْ

    فغيرُ أَحسْنتَ ما لَهُمْ قِيَم

    Today those poems have become unsalable;

    so beyond 'Well done!' they have no price.

  70. والخُوزُ حاشا الكرامَ خيّمتِ ال

    همومُ فيه وقُوّضَ الهِمم

    And in Khuz, the noble excepted,

    cares have encamped, and aspirations are dismantled.

  71. فاشفَعْ إليهمْ فما يُخَيّبُ مَنْ

    أنت له شافعٌ إذا كَرُموا

    So intercede with them, for none is disappointed

    for whom you intercede, if they are noble.

  72. وكنْ شفيعاً منَ الّذينَ لدى

    شُغلٍ إذا لم يُشفَّعوا غَرِموا

    Be an intercessor among those who, when handling

    a matter, pay compensation if their plea is refused.

  73. جاراً كمَنْ جاورَ الحُطَيئةُ مِفْ

    ضالاً لِما لم يُلْزِمْهُ يَلْتَزِم

    A neighbor like al-Hutay'a's neighbor, generous

    in assuming duties never imposed on him.

  74. يا فاضلاً مُفْضِلاً نُهىً ونَدىً

    لذاك تُسْمَى الكمالَ لو فَهِموا

    O virtuous and bountiful one, in wisdom and generosity,

    that is why you are called al-Kamal, if they only understood.

  75. يُكرِمُ زُوّارَهُ ويَكْرُمُ أخَ

    لاقاً فمنْه الإكْرامُ والكرَم

    He honors his visitors and is noble in

    character; from him come both honoring others and nobility.

  76. فُقْتَ اشْتِهاراً كما بدا عَلَمٌ

    مِن فوقه خافقاً بدا عَلَم

    You surpass in fame, like a mountain in view,

    above which appears a fluttering banner.

  77. طوَّلتُ جِدّاً يا مَنْ تطَوُّلُه

    أَكثرُ مِن أنْ ينالَهُ سَأَم

    I have gone on very long, O you whose beneficence

    is too great for weariness to overtake it.

  78. جِئْتُك أشكو إليك مُلْتجِئاً

    ظُلْمَ زمانٍ أحداثُه حُطَم

    I came to you, seeking refuge and complaining

    of an age's injustice, its calamities crushing blows.

  79. فَمُرْهُ يُنْصفْ دَهْري فما يَرسُمُ ال

    مَولَى مُجِدّاً فالعَبْدُ يَرتَسم

    So command my age to be just; whatever the

    master orders in earnest, the servant obeys.

  80. وجُلُّ قَصْدي تَجشيمُ جاهِكَ لي

    وجاهُ قومٍ مالٌ إذا جَشِموا

    My chief aim is to enlist your influence for me;

    some men's influence is wealth when they exert themselves.

  81. دُمْ للمعالي ما أَسبلَتْ دِيَمٌ

    واسْلَمْ طويلاً ما أورقَ السَّلَم

    Endure for lofty deeds as long as steady rains fall,

    and long remain safe, as long as the salam acacia puts forth leaves.