1. مَن كان فوق سَراةِ المجدِ مُعتلِياً

    مِن أين يَغْشاهُ صَرْفُ الدَّهرِ معتَرِيا

    Whoever has climbed above the heights of glory,

    Whence can time's vicissitudes overtake him, assailing him?

  2. يا مُشتكَي كُلِّ حُرٍّ رابَه زَمنٌ

    لا روَّع الحُرَّ أن يَلقاكَ مُشتكيا

    O refuge of every noble man troubled by time,

    May no noble man fear to meet you in complaint.

  3. إنّ العُلا صَعبةٌ أعيى تَسنُّمها

    وما بَرِحْتَ لها في الدّهرِ ممتَطيا

    The heights are difficult; scaling them has proved exhausting,

    Yet through time you have never ceased riding toward them.

  4. قالوا قد اختلَفتْ منه الخُطا خطأً

    فقلتُ حاشا العُلا ما خَطْوهُ خَطيا

    They said: his steps have faltered in error.

    I said: far be it from glory! His step has not erred.

  5. قُلْ رام في دَرَجٍ للقَصْرِ مُنحَدِراً

    وكانَ في درَجٍ للمجد مُرْتَقيا

    Say: he sought to descend a flight of palace stairs,

    While ascending a flight of glory's stairs.

  6. فلم تُطِقْ في زمانٍ واحدٍ قَدَمٌ

    إن كان مُستَفِلاً فيه ومُعتَليا

    A foot could not bear it at one and the same time,

    If he were both descending and ascending there.

  7. ألا فدُمْ لثنايا المَجْدِ تَطلُعها

    فمِثلُ سَعيِك في العَلْياء ما سُعيا

    So keep climbing the mountain passes of glory;

    No striving in the heights has matched yours.

  8. لازِلتَ في بُردةٍ للعَيشِ ضافيةٍ

    تُفْني عِداك وتَبْقَى الدَّهرَ ما بَقِيا

    May you ever wear an ample mantle of life,

    Destroying your foes and enduring as long as time endures.

  9. على المَجرّةِ جَرّارُ الذيُّول لها

    والثُّريّا لنَعْلِ الفَخرِ مُحتذِيا

    Trailing that mantle's skirts across the Milky Way,

    And wearing the Pleiades as pride's sandal.

  10. يا ماجداً لو قَضَوْا حقّاً لأخمصِه

    لم يَعْدُ في النّاس بالأحْداقِ أن وُقيا

    O noble man, were they to pay his foot's arch its due,

    It would only be shielded among people with their eyes.

  11. لو يَفرُشُ النّاسُ ديباجَ الخدودِ له

    ما كان إلاّ أقَلُّ الحقِّ قد قُضيا

    If people spread the brocade of their cheeks for him,

    Only the least of his due would have been paid.

  12. أكرِمْ بغُصْنِ ندىً مالَ الثّمارُ به

    حتّى أَرَينَك منه العِطْفَ مُنثنيا

    How noble a branch of bounty, bent by its fruit,

    Until they showed you its side bowed down!

  13. نأى عُلُوّاً أو أدناهُ تَكرُّمُه

    مِن كَفِّ مَن يَجْتني منه ليَجْتنيا

    It soared far aloft—or its generosity brought it near

    The hand of one who plucks from it, that he might pluck.

  14. وزعزعتْه رِياحُ الأريحيّةِ إذ

    مَدَّ المُلمَّ إليه الكَفَّ مُجتديا

    The winds of open-handedness shook it when

    The visitor stretched his hand toward it, seeking a gift.

  15. ماذا يَقولُ حَسودٌ أن تَزلَّ له

    نَعْلٌ بها مَنْكِبُ الجَوزاءِ قد وُطيا

    What can an envious man say if there slips for him

    A sandal that has trodden Orion's shoulder?

  16. إن زَلَّ نَعْلٌ فيأْبَى أن يَزِلَّ به

    جَدٌّ له في المعالي طالما رَقيا

    If a sandal slips, what refuses to slip with him

    Is his fortune, which has so often climbed the heights.

  17. في كُلِّ يومً خطابٌ للخُطوبِ معي

    فيمَنْ أَكونُ له بالنّفْسِ مُفْتَدِيا

    Each day I hold a dialogue with calamities

    Concerning him whom I would ransom with my own life.

  18. بُليتُ بالدّهرِ تَعْروني حَوادثُه

    والدَّهرُ أيضاً بصَبْري فيه قد بُليا

    I have been tried by time, its disasters besetting me;

    And time, too, has been tried by my patience with it.

  19. يا غُربةً أغْرَبتْ لي في عَجائِبها

    وبَيّتتْني بنارِ الهَمِّ مُصْطَليا

    O exile, how strange were the marvels you showed me,

    Making me pass the night scorched by sorrow's fire!

  20. قد مَرَّ بي فيك ما مِنّي بأيْسَرِهِ

    قدِ اشْتَفَى زَمني إن كان مُشتفيا

    I have suffered in you things whose slightest part

    Has sated time's revenge on me, if revenge was its aim.

  21. قلبي مُقيمٌ بأرضٍ لا يُفارِقُها

    هوىً ونِضْوي إلى أقصى المدَى حُديا

    My heart dwells in a land it never leaves

    For love, while my worn-out mount is driven to the farthest reach.

  22. كأنّني فَتْحُ بَركارٍ لدائرةٍ

    أضحَى المُديرُ بتَسْديدٍ له عُنيا

    As though I were the spread of a compass set for a circle,

    Whose handler has taken care to set it true:

  23. فشَطْرُه في مكانٍ غيرِ بَارحِه

    وشَطرُه يَمسَحُ الأطرافَ مُرتميا

    One half stays in place, never leaving it,

    While the other sweeps the edges, flung outward.

  24. قد كان نِضْوي بباقي البِيدِ آونةً

    حتّى وَصلْنا فأفناها وقد فَنِيا

    My worn mount was awhile amid the remaining deserts,

    Until we arrived: it had exhausted them, and was itself exhausted.

  25. لولا العدا والعَوادي كنتُ ذا وطنٍ

    بكَسرةٍ وبكِسْرٍ فيه مُكتَفيا

    But for enemies and afflictions, I would have a homeland,

    Content there with a bread-crust and a tent's corner.

  26. حَتّامَ سَيْري إلى دُنْياي مُعتَسفاً

    هل آن سَيْري إلى عُقْبايَ مُنْزَويا

    How long shall I journey toward this world, taking trackless paths?

    Has the time come to journey toward my hereafter in seclusion?

  27. أمَا تَراني لظَهْري داعِماً بِيَدي

    إذا مشيتُ ولو قارَبْتُ خُطْوتيا

    Do you not see me supporting my back with my hand

    When I walk, even though I draw my two steps close?

  28. هل بعدَ إصباحِ لَيلِ الرّأسِ من عُذُرٍ

    ألا أرَى هادياً للسُّبْلِ مُهْتَديا

    After the night of my head has dawned, is there any excuse

    For not seeing a rightly guided guide along the paths?

  29. هَبِ السَّوادَ الّذي أبلَيتُ كنتُ له

    مُجَدِّداً بِبَياضٍ بَعْده غَشِيا

    Suppose the blackness I wore out was something I

    Renewed with whiteness that afterward covered it.

  30. هل من لباسٍ سوى غَبراءَ مُظلمةٍ

    إذا البياضُ الّذي جَدَّدْتُه بَلِيا

    What clothing remains but dark, dusty earth,

    When the whiteness I put on anew is worn out?

  31. وقد علَتْ غُبرةُ الشَّيبِ الشَّبيبةَ لي

    فبِتُّ للأجَلِ المكْتوبِ مُكْتَليا

    The dust of gray hair has risen over my youth,

    So I have become watchful for my appointed end.

  32. كتابُ عُمْري اللّيالي تَرّبتْه وما

    أدنَى المُترَّبَ أن تَلْقاه مُنْطَويا

    The nights have dusted the book of my life; and how

    Close a dusted book is to being found folded shut!

  33. أبتْ دَريئةُ لَهْوٍ أن يكونَ لها

    إصابةٌ بقَنا قَدٍّ إذا حُنِيا

    Pleasure's target has refused to be

    Hit by the spear of a body once it has bent.

  34. أنا ابْنُ دَهرٍ جَفاني فيه كلُّ أخٍ

    إلى بُنوَّته قد راحَ مُنْتَميا

    I am the son of an age in which every brother shunned me,

    Who had gone forth claiming to be its son.

  35. أمّا الكِبارُ فما يَخْفَى جَفاؤهمُ

    ولم أكنْ لصِغارِ النّاسِ مُرتَجيا

    As for the great, their coldness is plain;

    And I never looked to lesser men for hope.

  36. لكنْ جَميعُ ذنوبِ الدَّهرِ مُغْتَفَرٌ

    وعن صَحيفةِ قلبي ذِكرُها مُحِيا

    But all the sins of time are forgiven,

    And their memory is erased from the page of my heart.

  37. صَفْحُ الزّمانِ له عن عَثْرةٍ بدَرَتْ

    بالصَّفْحِ عن عَثَراتِ الدَّهْرِ قد جُزيا

    Time's pardon of him for a stumble that occurred

    Has been repaid by pardoning time's own stumbles.

  38. أقالَ حتّى أقَلْنا مقتدينَ به

    ولم أكنْ قبلَها بالدَّهْرِ مُقتَديا

    It pardoned, until we too pardoned, following its example;

    Before this, I had never taken time as my example.

  39. مَن كان يَبْرأُ من ذَمّي له زَمني

    فقد بَرِئتُ من الشَّكْوى وقد بَرِيا

    Who could absolve my age of my censure of it?

    Now I am free of complaint, and it too is cleared.

  40. سلامةٌ سَلمَ المُلكُ العقيمُ بها

    وأوجبَتْ شُكرَ دَهْرٍ طالما شُكيا

    A recovery through which barren kingship was safeguarded,

    Obliging thanks to time, so long complained of.

  41. فقُلْ لدَهْرك يَستأنِفْ له عَمَلاً

    فعَن مَواضيهِ مُذْ عوفيتَ قد عُفيا

    So tell your age to begin its work anew:

    Since your recovery, its past has been forgiven.

  42. يا مَن به تَحفَظُ الدُّولاتُ صِحَّتَها

    إذا شُفِيتَ فقلْ كلُّ الورى شُفيا

    O you through whom realms preserve their health,

    When you recover, say that all mankind has recovered.

  43. لولا ذِمامٌ للدّهْرِ أنت عاقِدُه

    ما كنتُ عن ذمّهِ ما عشْتُ مُنْتَهيا

    But for a covenant with time that you yourself uphold,

    I would never cease blaming it as long as I lived.

  44. أصْبحتَ للدّهر عُذراً صادقاً فغَدا

    لذكْرِه كلُّ ذنبٍ سابقٍ نُسيا

    You have become a true excuse for time, so that

    At that excuse's mention, every earlier sin is forgotten.

  45. فخُذْ إليك الّذي لا أرتَضيه وإن

    أصبحْتَ من كرمِ الأخلاقِ مُرتَضيا

    So accept what I myself do not approve, even if

    In your noble character you have come to approve it.

  46. إنّي لَمِنْ سالفِ التّقصير مُعتَذِرٌ

    بما يُضاعِفُ تَخْجيلي إذا تُليا

    I apologize for my past shortcomings

    With something that doubles my shame when it is recited.

  47. وكيف أَغدو منَ التّقصيرِ مُعتذِراً

    ونَفْسُ عُذْريَ تَقصيرٌ إذا رُئيا

    How can I set out to apologize for shortcomings

    When my apology itself is a shortcoming once seen?

  48. يا كاملاً فيه أشتاتُ العُلا جُمعَتْ

    فراحَ للفَضْلِ والإفضالِ مُحتويا

    O perfect man, in whom all the scattered heights are gathered,

    Thus he came to embrace excellence and generosity.

  49. مازال مِن لينِ أخلاق كرُمْنَ لَه

    لفاسدٍ الخِلّ بالإصلاحِ مُعْتَنيا

    Through the gentleness of his noble character, he has always

    Taken pains to reform the friend who goes astray.

  50. مهما اعتذَرْتُ بعُذْرٍ لي أكونُ له

    في النّاسِ مطرِقَ طَرْفِ العين مستَحيا

    Whatever excuse I offer, on its account I remain

    Among people with downcast eyes, ashamed.

  51. أخذْتَ عذْريَ مُعوَجّاً وتَعرِضُه

    على الورى مُستقيماً حيثُما اجْتُليا

    You have taken my crooked excuse and display it

    Straight before mankind, wherever it is viewed,

  52. كالشّمعِ يَقبلُ نقْشَ الفَصّ مُنعكساً

    مَكتوبهُ ليُريهِ النّاسَ مُسْتَويا

    Like wax that accepts a signet's reversed engraving,

    To show its lettering upright to people.

  53. شِعْرِي وأنتَ له الرّاوي لرفعتِه

    شِعْرَى وشِعرِيَ شِعْرَى حيثُما رُويا

    My verse, with you as its reciter, is, in its loftiness,

    Sirius; and my verse is Sirius wherever recited.

  54. والبَحرُ يَلفِظُ دُرّاً كان واقِعُه

    في أُذْنِ أصنافهِ قَطْراً إذا وُعيا

    The sea casts forth pearls whose fall

    Into the ear of its kinds was a drop, when received.

  55. حَبٌّ لمُزْنٍ غَدا حَبّاً بلُجّته

    ودُرُّ سُحْبِ غدا دُرّاً كما حُكِيا

    Grains from rain clouds became beads in its depths,

    And the clouds' pearls became pearls, as related.

  56. فالبَحرُ أَنت لعَمْري من نُهىً وندىً

    إذا طلَعْتَ لنا في الحَيِّ مُنتَدِيا

    You are the sea, by my life, in intellect and bounty,

    When you appear among us, attending the clan's assembly.

  57. كأنّما أنت من حِلْمٍ ومن كرمٍ

    طَودٌ بجودٍ غدا للسُّحْبِ مُرتَديا

    It is as though, in forbearance and generosity, you were

    A mountain clothed in clouds through its bounty.

  58. إسْعَدْ بجَدِّ الزّمان أنت غُرّتُه

    بأيِّ حَظٍّ كبيرٍ منْك قد حَظيا

    Rejoice in time's good fortune: you are its radiant brow.

    What a mighty share of you it has obtained!

  59. تَنظَّمَتْ لك ملْء الدّهرِ واتّصلَتْ

    مَحاسنٌ قُبحُهُ في حُسْنِها خَفيا

    Throughout time, there have been strung for you and joined

    Beauties in whose loveliness its ugliness lies hidden.

  60. إنّ المَعالي لَحَلْيٌ أنت لابسُه

    لكنْ زمانُك تَطفيلاً به حَليا

    High virtues are indeed ornaments that you wear,

    But your age wears their adornment only as a hanger-on.

  61. والجِيدُ لا يَكْتسي العِقدَ النَظيمَ له

    في الحَلْيِ حتّى يكونَ السِّلكُ مكتَسِيا

    The neck does not put on its strung necklace

    As adornment until the thread itself is clothed.

  62. يا مُبدعَ القَولِ مَبْسوطاً ومُخَتصراً

    ومُحسِنَ الفِعلِ مُعتاداً ومُبْتَديا

    O master of speech, expansive and concise,

    And of fine deeds, habitual and newly begun,

  63. لمّا غدا حَسناً ما أنت فاعِلُه

    قُلنا بفِعلكِ قد أصبَحْتَ مكتَنيا

    Since what you do has become good,

    We said your deeds had given you your byname.

  64. إذا أردتَ إلى سَعدِ الوَرى نَظَراً

    فكنْ لوَجْهِك في المِرآةِ مُجتليا

    If you wish to look upon mankind's good fortune,

    Then gaze upon your own face in the mirror.

  65. وإنْ دَجا ليلُ خطبٍ لا صباحَ له

    فكنْ لرأيك في داجِيه مُنتَضيا

    And if the night of a calamity darkens, with no dawn,

    Draw your judgment like a sword within its darkness.

  66. تابَ النَّصوحُ إليك الدّهرَ من زَلَلٍ

    منه تَقَدَّمَ لمّا جارَ مُعتَديا

    Time repented sincerely before you for a lapse

    Previously committed by it, when it wronged and transgressed.

  67. والنَصرُ مازال رَبُّ العَرْشِ ضامِنَه

    لِمنْ عليه بلا اسْتحقاقِه بُغياً

    The Lord of the Throne has always guaranteed victory

    To one wronged without deserving it.

  68. فِداؤه مَن مع التَّقْصيرِ عنه غَدا

    بَغْياً لرُتْبته العَلْياء مُبْتَغِيا

    His ransom be the one who, though beneath him, has

    Wrongfully sought his lofty rank.

  69. قد كان تَقْديمُهمْ إيّاهُ مقتَرِباً

    وكان إعدادُهمْ إيّاكَ مُنتَسيا

    Their advancement of him had been close at hand,

    While their preparation of you was being forgotten,

  70. كالسَّهْم قَرَّبَه رامٍ ليُبْعِدَه

    والسّيفِ يَقْرُبُه حامٍ ليَنْتضيا

    Like an arrow an archer brings near to send far away,

    And a sword a protector approaches to unsheathe.

  71. فَلْيَهنأ النّاسَ عَوْدٌ من أخي كرمٍ

    عُداتُه اليومَ تَرجو كلَّ من خُشيا

    May people be gladdened by the return of a generous man,

    His enemies today look in hope to everyone once feared.

  72. عادتْ إلى حضرةِ السُّلطانِ طَلعتُه

    والجَفْنُ لم يَفترِقْ إلاّ لَيلْتقيا

    His countenance has returned to the sultan's presence,

    And the eyelids parted only to come together again.

  73. وأتلفَ المُقتنَى جُوداً فأخلفَه

    والغُصْنُ لا يَكْتسي إلاّ إذا عَريا

    He exhausted his wealth in generosity, then replenished it;

    A branch is clothed anew only when it has grown bare.

  74. فدام للدّولةِ الغَرّاءِ مُعتَمَداً

    مُسدَّداً رائحاً بالنُّصْح مُغْتديا

    May he remain a trusted mainstay of the radiant state,

    Rightly guided, offering counsel at evening and morning.

  75. فهْو الّذي لم يزَلْ للمجدِ مُبتَنيا

    طَوْعَ المكارمِ أو للحَمْدِ مُقْتنيا

    For he is the one who has never ceased building glory,

    Obedient to noble virtues, or acquiring praise.

  76. له من اللُّطْفِ أنفاسٌ إذا نفحَتْ

    رَميمَ عظْمٍ رَجاءً للفتَى حَييا

    He has breaths of kindness that, if they waft upon

    A crumbling bone, it lives again in hope of the noble youth.

  77. قد كان حتّى أماطَ اللهُ عارِضَه

    مريضُ قلبي منَ الأطرافِ مُحتَميا

    Until God removed his affliction,

    My ailing heart had kept itself from the extremities.

  78. فلْتَفدِه من خُطوبِ الدّهرِ نازلةً

    حُشاشتي وهو أَولَى من بها فُدِيا

    Let my life's last remnant ransom him from time's descending calamities,

    For he is the worthiest to be ransomed with it.

  79. فهْو المُقرِّبُ أغراضي إذا بَعُدَتْ

    وهْو المُجيبُ إلى نَصْري إذا دُعيا

    He draws my aims near when they are far,

    And he answers when called to my aid.

  80. وكاشحٌ صَدرُه مَلآنُ من غُلَلٍ

    فلو سقَوْهُ بحارَ الأرضِ ما رَويا

    An enemy's breast is full of burning thirst;

    Though they gave him earth's seas to drink, he would not be quenched.

  81. يُبْقيهِ حِلْمٌ ستُغْنيهِ مَغبّتُه

    كم سقْطِ جَهْلٍ به زَنْدُ الحِجاوَريا

    Forbearance keeps him alive; its outcome will suffice him.

    How often a spark of ignorance has kindled reason's firestick through him!