1. هُمْ نازلونَ بقلبي أيّةً سَلكوا

    لو أَنّهمْ رفَقُوا يوماً بمَنْ مَلَكوا

    They dwell in my heart, whichever way they travel.

    If only they would show kindness one day to those they possess!

  2. ساقوا فُؤادي وأبقَوا في الحَشا حُرَقاً

    للهِ ما أَخَذوا منّي وما تَركوا

    They drove my heart away and left burning pains within me.

    God, what they took from me—and what they left!

  3. لمّا بكَوا لا بكَوا والرَّكْبُ مُرتحلٌ

    من لَوعةٍ ضحكَ الواشونَ لا ضَحِكوا

    When they wept—may they never weep!—as the caravan departed,

    the slanderers laughed at that anguish—may they never laugh!

  4. زَمُّوا وقد سَفَكوا دَمعي ركائبَهمْ

    فكدْتُ أُغرِقُ ما زمُّوا بما سَفَكوا

    They bridled their mounts after spilling my tears,

    and I nearly drowned what they bridled in what they spilled.

  5. وراعَني يومَ تَشْييعي هَوادجَهمْ

    والعيسُ من عَجَلِ في السّيْرِ تَبتَرِك

    What startled me, the day I escorted their howdahs away,

    while the pale camels galloped in their haste,

  6. سِترانِ سِتْرٌ عنِ الأقمارِ مُنفَرِجٌ

    يُبدي وآخرُ للعُشّاق مُنهَتِك

    was two veils: one parted from the moons,

    revealing them; the other, the lovers' veil, torn asunder.

  7. ثُمّ انثَنَيْنا وما من راحلٍ أَثَرُ

    إلا خيالٌ برَحْلي في الدُّجَى سَدِك

    Then we turned back, with no trace of those who departed

    save a phantom clinging to my camp in the darkness.

  8. أَضُمُّ جَفني عليه حينَ يَطْرُقُنُي

    كما يُضَمُّ على وَحشيَّةٍ شَرَك

    I close my eyelid over it when it visits me by night,

    as a snare closes upon a wild creature.

  9. ما روضةٌ أَضحكَتْ صُبحاً مبَاسِمَها

    دُموعُ قَطْرٍ عليها اللَّيلَ تَنسفِك

    No garden whose smiling mouths at dawn are made to laugh

    by tears of rain pouring over it throughout the night—

  10. فالنّرجِسُ الغَضّ عَينٌ كلُّها نَظَرٌ

    والأُقحوانةُ ثَغرٌ كُلُّه ضَحِك

    its fresh narcissus an eye made entirely of gazing,

    its daisy a mouth made entirely of laughter,

  11. وللشّقائقِ زِيٌّ وسْطَها عَجبٌ

    إذا تمايَلْنَ والأرواحُ تأتَفِك

    its anemones wearing wondrous attire in its midst

    as they sway while the winds whirl about,

  12. حُمْرُ الثِّيِابِ تُطيرُ الرّيحُ شائلةً

    أَذْيالَها وهْيَ بالأَزْرارِ تَمتَسِك

    red-robed, with the wind lifting and sending aloft

    their hems, while they hold fast by their buttons;

  13. إذا الصَّبا نَبَّهَتْ أحداقَها سحَراً

    حَسِبْتَ مِسْكاً على الآفاقِ يَنْفَرِك

    when the east wind awakens their eyes before dawn,

    you think musk is being rubbed across the horizons—

  14. أَنَمَّ طِيباً وحَلْياً من ترائِبها

    إذا اعتَنقْنا وخَيلُ اللّيلِ تَعتَرك

    reveals more fragrance and adornment than her breast

    when we embrace and the steeds of night clash.

  15. وللسّماءِ نطاقٌ من كَواكِبها

    عُقدْنَ منه على أعطافها حُبُك

    The sky has a girdle of its stars,

    knotted into woven bands around its flanks.

  16. قد أشْعَلَ الشّيْبُ رأسي للبِلى عَجِلاً

    والشّمعُ عند اشْتعالِ الرّأسِ يَنْسبك

    Gray hair has set my head aflame, hastening it toward decay;

    and wax melts when its head is lit.

  17. فإن يَكُنْ راعَها من لَونهِ يَقَقٌ

    فطالما راقَها من قَبْلِه حَلَك

    If the pure whiteness of its color has frightened her,

    its blackness often pleased her before.

  18. عَرفْتُ دهري وأهليه ببادرتي

    من قَبلِ أن نَجّذَتْني فِيهمُ الحُنَك

    I knew my age and its people through my first intuition,

    before experience among them made me seasoned.

  19. فلا حَسائكَ في صَدري على أَحدٍ

    منهم ولا لَهمُ في مَضْجَعي حَسَك

    So there are no thorns in my breast against anyone

    among them, nor do they have thorns in my bed.

  20. ولا أُغَرُّ ببِشرٍ في وجُوهِهمُ

    وربّما غَرَّ حَبٍّ تحته شَبَك

    I am not deceived by smiles upon their faces;

    grain has often deceived, with a net beneath it.

  21. سارتْ مطايا رجائي فيهمُ فغدَتْ

    رَزْحَي من اليأسِ حتّى ما بها حَرَك

    The mounts of my hope journeyed among them, then became

    so exhausted by despair that no movement remained in them.

  22. أُنيخُها ضَلّةً منهمْ إلى عُصَبٍ

    حاشا الكرامَ إذا سِيلو النّدى وَعِكوا

    Misguidedly, I make them kneel before groups of them—

    the generous excepted—who sicken when asked for bounty.

  23. ويَتركُ الحِلْمُ منّا لُدَّ ألسِنةٍ

    وهُنّ كاللُّجمِ في الأفواهِ تَنعلِك

    Forbearance leaves our contentious tongues

    like bridles being chewed in our mouths.

  24. ورُبَّ طائفةٍ لم يكظِموا فشكَوْا

    أقلَّ شيءٍ كما لم يكْرُموا فَشُكُوا

    Many a group failed to restrain their anger and complained

    of the slightest thing, just as they were ungenerous and were complained of.

  25. إلاّ تكُنْ مُسكةٌ للمالِ مُقنعةٌ

    فالعقلُ والصّبرُ عندي منهما مُسَك

    If no sustaining portion of wealth is sufficient,

    then in reason and patience I have sustaining reserves.

  26. حتّى متَى وإلى كم يا زمانُ أَرى

    منك الخطوبَ بجَنْبي وهْي تَنعرِك

    How long, and to what limit, O Time, must I see

    your calamities rubbing against my side?

  27. أَبعْدَ عدلِ نظامِ المُلكِ تَحمِلُ لي

    ذَحْلاً وخلْفَك منه ثائرٌ مَحِك

    After Nizam al-Mulk's justice, do you still bear me

    a grudge, with an unyielding avenger of his behind you?

  28. أَغَرُّ لا مَجدُه المَحسودُ مُشتَرَكٌ

    كَلاّ ولا مالُه في الجودِ مُشترَك

    A radiant man: his envied glory is not held in common;

    nor, indeed, is his wealth when given in bounty.

  29. فَمجدُه خالصاً دونَ الأنامِ له

    ومالُه خالصاً للوَفْدِ مُمْتَلَك

    His glory is exclusively his, apart from all mankind;

    his wealth is exclusively possessed by those who come to him.

  30. يا مُتعِباً نفسَه في أن يُساجِلَه

    أينَ السّماكُ إذا قايَسْتَ والسَّمك

    O you who weary yourself trying to rival him,

    where is al-Simak, when you compare it with the fish?

  31. دَعُوا الوِزارةَ عنكمْ تَربَحوا نَصَباً

    فالحَبلُ في الدُّرّ مِمّا ليس يَنْسَلِك

    Leave the vizierate alone, and spare yourselves toil;

    a rope cannot be threaded through pearls.

  32. وَرِثْتُمُ يا بَني إسحاقَ مَنْصبَها

    فما لغَيرِكمُ في إرثِكم شِرَك

    You inherited its office, O sons of Ishaq;

    no one else has a share in your inheritance.

  33. أنتمْ فَرازينُ هذا الدَّسْت نَعلَمُكُمْ

    وهمْ بَياذِقُه إن صُفَّ مُعتَرَك

    You are this chessboard's viziers, as we know,

    while they are its pawns when the battlefield is arrayed.

  34. فما تَفرْزنَ منهم بَيذَقٌ أبداً

    إلاّ غدا رأسُه في التُّرْبِ يَنمَعِك

    No pawn among them has ever become a vizier

    without his head then wallowing in the dust.

  35. كم رامَ أن يتَعاطى ذاك غيُركمُ

    فخاضَه تائهٌ في الغَىِّ مُنهَمِك

    How many others have sought to undertake that office,

    and plunged into it bewildered, engrossed in error!

  36. وقام بالأمرِ لكنْ قائمٌ عجَبٌ

    كما تُريكَ خيالَ القائمِ البِرَك

    He took up the charge, yet stood in a curious fashion,

    like the image pools show you of someone standing.

  37. حتّى أُعيدَتْ إلى ذي مِرَّةٍ يَقِظٍ

    من الّذين إذا هَمّوا بها فَتكوا

    Until it was returned to a vigilant man of strength,

    one of those who strike ruthlessly when they resolve upon it.

  38. أما تَرى ما رأى السُّلطانُ مُرتَضياً

    في مُلكِه كُلُّ ما يأتي وَيتَّرك

    Do you not see the sultan's judgment, approving

    all that he undertakes or leaves aside within his realm?

  39. ألقَى إليك الّذي ألقَى أبوه إلى

    أبيكَ في المُلْكِ والأحوالُ تَشتَرِك

    He entrusted you with what his father entrusted to

    your father in ruling, the circumstances being alike.

  40. فلا يَزلْ مُمْتَعاً كُلٌّ بصاحبِه

    ولا تَزلْ هذه الأنسابُ تَشتَبِك

    May each continue to enjoy his companion,

    and may these lineages remain interwoven.

  41. فلم يُصادِفْ وزيرٌ مثلَه مَلِكاً

    ولم يُصادِفْ وزيراً مثلَه مَلِك

    No vizier has encountered a king like him,

    nor has any king encountered a vizier like him.

  42. في دَسْتِه قَمرٌ في دِرعهِ أَسد

    في حَفْلِه مَلِكٌ في سرِّه مَلَك

    On his throne, a moon; in his armor, a lion;

    in his assembly, a king; in his inner self, an angel.

  43. إذا عَددْنا سِنيهِ فهْو مُقتَبِلٌ

    وإنْ ذكرْنا حِجاهُ فهْو مُحتَنِك

    If we count his years, he is still young;

    if we speak of his wisdom, he is seasoned.

  44. تَظلُّ في كَفّه الأقلامُ من كَرَمٍ

    للنّاسِ أسخَى منَ الأحلامِ تَنشبِك

    In his hand the pens, out of generosity,

    interweave, more lavish to people than dreams.

  45. تَسعَى له مثْلما يَسعَى الزّمانُ لها

    كُلٌّ بهامَته ماشٍ له حَرِك

    They labor for him as Time labors for them,

    each walking busily for him upon its head.

  46. جَذْلانُ يَرْمي العِدا بالخيلِ عاديةً

    مُشيحةً فوقَها الأبطالُ والشِّكَك

    Exultant, he assails his foes with charging horses,

    eager, with heroes and armaments upon them.

  47. يَظلُّ يَنفَحُ من أعراضِهم عَبَقٌ

    وللحديدِ على أثوابِهم سَهَك

    A fragrance keeps wafting from their honor,

    while the iron upon their garments gives off a rank smell.

  48. كأنّ أوجُهَهمْ والرَّوعُ يَبذُلُها

    عِزّاً دَنانيرُ لم تُنقَشْ لها سِكَك

    As though their faces, which terror stakes

    for glory, were dinars for which no dies were engraved.

  49. من كُلِّ أَزْهرَ مثْل النّجمِ يَحملُه

    طَودٌ له اللّيلُ مِسْكٌ والضُّحَى مَسَكُ

    Each radiant man, like a star, is carried by

    a mountain whose night is musk and whose daylight is ivory bangles.

  50. حتّى رأَوْها أُسوداً ما بِها عَزَلٌ

    تُزيرُ فوق جبالٍ ما بها صَكَك

    Until they saw them as lions, not one unarmed,

    roaring upon mountains, not one knock-kneed.

  51. طرَقْنَ حيَّ العدا في عُقْرِ دارِهمُ

    والنّومُ مْلء ُجُفونِ القَومِ لو تُرِكوا

    They came by night upon the enemy's camp, into the heart of their home,

    sleep filling the people's eyelids, had they been left alone.

  52. والطَّعنُ يَنسِجُ أشطانَ القنا ظُلَلاً

    تُلقَى على فُرَجِ الحُجْبِ الّتي هَتَكوا

    Spear-thrusts weave the rope-like lance-shafts into canopies,

    cast over gaps in the curtains they tore apart.

  53. إلى ذُراكَ قِوامَ الدِّينِ سارَ بنا

    خُوصٌ كما اصطَفَّ من نَخْلِ القُرَى سِكَك

    To your heights, Qiwam al-Din, we were carried by

    sunken-eyed camels, like village palms arrayed in rows.

  54. مُدَّتْ على اسْمِكَ أطرافُ الحبالِ لها

    وأُغْشِيَتْ أُخْريَاتُ الأرحُلِ الوُرك

    For them the ends of the reins were stretched in your name,

    and the backs of the saddles were laid over their haunches.

  55. وثَوَّروهُنّ أدْنَى خَطْوِها سَفَرٌ

    شَوقاً إليك وأبطا مَرِّها رَتَك

    They roused them: their smallest step is a journey,

    in longing for you, and their slowest pace a brisk trot.

  56. تَسْري طَوالبَ أيديها بأرْجُلِها

    مَدَّ اللّيالي فلا فَوْتٌ ولا دَرَك

    They travel by night, pursuing their forefeet with their hind feet,

    through the length of the nights: neither escape nor overtaking.

  57. حتّى تَرى مَلِكاً تَشْفَى برَؤْيتِه

    من الزّمانِ صُدوراً كلُّها حَسَك

    Until they see a king whose sight brings healing

    from Time to breasts that are all thorns.

  58. يَحُطُّ قوماً ويَعلو آخَرونَ به

    كما يُديرُ نُجومَ اللّيلةِ الفَلَك

    He lowers some, while others rise through him,

    as the celestial sphere turns the stars of night.

  59. اليومَ عاش نظامُ المُلْكِ ثانيةً

    وكم مَعاشر عاشوا بعدَ ما هَلَكوا

    Today Nizam al-Mulk has come to life a second time;

    how many peoples have lived again after perishing!

  60. فاللهَ نَسألُ أن يُبقيكَ ما بَقيَتْ

    آثارُه فَهْي حَبْلٌ ليس يَنْبَتِك

    We ask God to preserve you for as long as

    his traces endure: they are a cord that does not snap.

  61. وهاكَها تُوقرُ الحُسّادَ من كَمَدٍ

    كأنّما هيَ في أسماعهمْ سِكَك

    Take these: they deafen the envious with anguish,

    as though they were iron spikes in their ears.

  62. قَوافياً بدويّاتٍ وما بعَثَتْ

    بها من البَدْوِ لا عُرْضٌ ولا أَرَك

    Bedouin rhymes, yet neither

    thorn-grazing nor arak-grazing camels brought them from the desert.

  63. جاءتْ بهنّ يدٌ بيضاءُ فانتظمَتْ

    زُهْراً تَلقَّفُ للأقوامِ ما أَفِكوا

    A white hand brought them, and they were strung together,

    radiant, swallowing the falsehoods those peoples devised.

  64. زُفّتْ إلى أحمدَ المحمودِ واجتنَبتْ

    قَوماً إذا خَطَبوا أبكارَها فُرِكوا

    They were led as brides to Ahmad the praised, and shunned

    men who were spurned when they sought their virgins' hands.

  65. يا مُدرِكاً رُتَباً ما بعدَ ذِرْوتِها

    إلاّ الدّوامُ فَدُمْ للمَجْدِ تَدَّرك

    O you who attain ranks beyond whose summit

    there is only permanence: endure for glory, ever attaining it.

  66. سِحْرٌ من الشِّعْرِ أعجَزْتُ الفُحولَ به

    وأعجزَتْنيَ حتّى بِعْتُها الرَّمَك

    A spell of poetry with which I bested the master poets,

    yet these verses bested me, until I sold my mares for them.

  67. لمّا دُفِعْتُ إلى دَهْرٍ تَنمّرَ لي

    برائعاتٍ فأَمْرِي بينها لَبِك

    When I was thrust into an age that turned leopard-fierce toward me

    with terrors, leaving my affairs tangled among them.

  68. العَقْلُ فيه عِقالٌ والسُّدادُ سُدىً

    والفَضْلُ فيه فُضولٌ والنُّهى نَهِك

    Reason in it is a fetter, and sound judgment goes to waste;

    excellence is excess there, and intellect is exhausted.

  69. قد بِعْتُ طِرْفي وهذا مِطْرَفِي وغداً

    أَبيعُه ولِطَرْفِي أدمُعٌ سُفُك

    I have sold my steed; here is my cloak, and tomorrow

    I shall sell it, while my eye sheds streaming tears.

  70. مَدْحي الملوكَ وأكْلي الكَفَّ مُقتنعاً

    هذا لعَمرُكَ في أيّامكمْ هُتَك

    My praising kings and contentedly gnawing my own hand—

    by your life, this is disgrace in your days!

  71. فاسمَعْ مقالي رعاكَ اللهُ من مَلكٍ

    واعْدِلْ فعَبْدُك دهري ظالمٌ مَعِك

    So hear my words—may God preserve you, king—

    and be just: the age I live in, your servant, is an obstinate tyrant.

  72. طال المُقامُ ونالَ الصّبرُ غايتَه

    وتاهَ في أمره حَيرانُ مُرتبِك

    The stay has grown long, and patience has reached its limit;

    a bewildered, entangled man wanders lost in his affairs.

  73. فاعْطِفْ فإنّ حِمَى العلياء مُنْتَهَبٌ

    إن لم تُغِثْ وحَريمَ المجدِ مُنْتَهِك

    Show compassion, for the sanctuary of high honor is being plundered

    unless you come to aid, and glory's sacred precinct is violated.

  74. وأْمُرْ بها بِدَراً يُنحَرنَ تامِكةً

    كما يُقرَّبُ عند المَوسمِ النُّسك

    Order bulging money-purses to be slaughtered for it,

    as sacrificial victims are offered at the festival.

  75. واعْدُدْ بكفَّيك أعياداً مُعاودَةً

    ما دام جُنحُ الدُّجَى بالصُّبحِ يَحتبِك

    Count recurring feast days on both your hands,

    as long as night's dark flank is woven into dawn.