1. مِن رِقبَةٍ أَدَعُ الزِيارَةَ عامِداً

    وَأَصُدُّ عَنكِ وَعَن دِيارِكِ حائِدا

    Out of caution, I deliberately forgo visiting,

    and turn away from you and your dwellings, keeping aside,

  2. حَتّى أُخالَ مِنَ الصَبابَةِ بارِئاً

    خَلواً وَإِن كُنتُ المُعَنّى الواجِدا

    until I am thought cured of love's yearning,

    empty of it, though I am tormented and consumed with longing.

  3. فَكَأَنَّما كانَ الخَبابُ وَديعَةً

    كَنزاً غَنيتُ بِهِ فَأَصبَحَ نافِذا

    It is as though that brisk pace had been a deposit,

    a treasure that enriched me, now gone.

  4. لَم أَلقِ مَقدوراً عَلى اِستِحقاقِهِ

    في الحَظِّ إِمّا ناقِصاً أَو زائِدا

    I have never found an allotted share matching its desert:

    in fortune, it is either deficient or excessive.

  5. وَعَجِبتُ لِلمَحدودِ يُحرَمُ ناصِباً

    كَلِفاً وَلِلمَجدودِ يَغنَمُ قاعِدا

    I marvel at the unlucky, denied though toiling,

    ardently striving, and the fortunate, gaining while seated,

  6. وَتَفاوُتِ الأَقسامِ فيما بَينَهُم

    لا يَأتَلينَ نَوازِلاً وَصَواعِدا

    and at the disparity of allotted shares among them,

    never slackening in their descent and ascent.

  7. ما خَطبُ مَن حُرِمَ الإِرادَةَ وادِعاً

    خَطبَ الَّذي حُرِمَ الإِرادَةَ جاهِدا

    One denied his wish while at ease has not the plight

    of one denied his wish while striving.

  8. وَعَشائِرٍ غَمَت عَلَيكَ أُمورُهُم

    لا أَصدِقاءَ فَيَرفِدوكَ وَلا عِدى

    And there are clans whose dealings are obscure to you:

    neither friends to support you, nor enemies.

  9. أَغشاهُمُ خُلساً فَأَذهَبُ راغِباً

    تِلقاءَ حَيثُ هُمُ وَأَرجُعُ زاهِدا

    I visit them furtively: I set out eager,

    toward where they are, and return without desire.

  10. قَد قُلتُ لِلراجي المَكارِمَ مُخطِئاً

    إِذ كانَ يَكتَسِبُ المَلاوِمَ عامِدا

    I have said to one mistakenly seeking noble deeds,

    while deliberately earning reproaches:

  11. لا تُلحِقَنَّ إِلى الإِساءَةِ أُختَها

    شَرُّ الإِساءَةِ أَن تُسيءَ مُعاوِدا

    Never add another like it to a wrong;

    the worst wrongdoing is to do wrong again.

  12. وَاِرفَع يَدَيكَ إِلى السَماحَةِ مُفضِلا

    إِنَّ العُلا في القَومِ لِلأَعلى يَدا

    Raise your hands to generosity, bestowing bounty;

    eminence among men belongs to the highest giving hand.

  13. شَروى أَبي الصَقرِ الَّذي مَدَّت لَهُ

    شَيبانُ في الحَسَناتِ أَبعَدَها مَدى

    Like Abu al-Saqr, for whom stretched forth

    Shayban's farthest reach in noble deeds.

  14. وَيَسُرُّني أَن لَيسَ يَكرُمُ شيمَةً

    مِن مَعشِرٍ مَن لَيسَ يَكرَمُ والِدا

    I rejoice that none is noble in character

    among a people unless his father too is noble.

  15. وَالفاضِلاتُ ضَرائِباً وَخَلائِقاً

    لِلفاضِلينَ مَناسِباً وَمَحاتِدا

    And noble dispositions and qualities

    belong to those noble in lineage and ancestral stock.

  16. وَمَتى سَأَلتَ عَنِ اِمرِئٍ أَخلاقَهُ

    صَدَقَت عَلَيهِ أَدِلَّةً وَشَواهِدا

    Whenever you question a man's character about him,

    it speaks truly of him, as evidence and witness.

  17. وَلِيَ الوِزارَةَ مُبقِياً في أُمَّةٍ

    قَد كانَ شارَفَ هُلكُها أَن يَأفِدا

    He assumed the vizierate, preserving a nation

    whose destruction had nearly arrived.

  18. يَئِسَت مِنَ الإِنصافِ حَتّى وَهَّمَت

    بِاليَأسِ أَنَّ اللَهَ تارِكُها سُدى

    It had despaired of justice, until it imagined

    in its despair that God was leaving it untended.

  19. يَسرونَ مِن بَغدادَ خَلفَ قِبابِهِ

    يَغشَونَ آثاراً لَها وَمَعابِدا

    They journey by night from Baghdad, following his domed pavilions,

    visiting their traces and sanctuaries.

  20. لَولا تَكاثُرُهُنَّ في عَرَصاتِها

    لَصُبِغنَ نَوراً أَو بُنينَ مَساجِدا

    Were they not so numerous in its open courts,

    they would be painted as blossoms or built as mosques.

  21. أَرضاهُ مَوفوداً إِلَيهِ وَحَسبُهُ

    بي حينَ أَتبَعتُ القَوافي وافِدا

    I am content with him as a host receiving visitors; he has enough

    in me, when I follow my rhymes as a visitor,

  22. شُكراً لِأَنعُمِهِ الجِسامِ وَلَم تَضِع

    نِعَمٌ مَلَأنَ لَهُ البِلادَ مَحامِدا

    in gratitude for his mighty favors; not lost are

    favors that filled the lands with praises of him.

  23. كَيفَ التَأَخُّرُ عَنهُ وَهوَ بِطَولِهِ

    لَيسَ الوَحيدَ يَداً وَلَستُ الجاحِدا

    How could I hang back from him, when in his bounty

    his is not the only giving hand, nor am I ungrateful?

  24. توليكَ صَدرَ اليَومِ قاصِيَةَ الغِنى

    بِمَواهِبٍ قَد كُنَّ أَمسِ مَواعِدا

    It grants you, at day's outset, the farthest reach of wealth,

    with gifts that only yesterday were promises,

  25. سَومَ السَحائِبِ ما بَدَأنَ بَوارِقاً

    في عارِضٍ إِلّا ثَنَينَ رَواعِدا

    in the manner of clouds: they never begin with lightning

    in a cloudbank without following it with thunder.

  26. وَمَتى رَجَعتَ إِلَيهِ شاكِرَ نَيلِهِ

    رَجَعَت مَصادِرُ ما أَنالُ مَوارِدا

    Whenever you return to him, thanking him for his bounty,

    the outflows of his gifts become inflows again.

  27. يُذكي عَزائِمَ لَو عُنينَ بِسَبكِهِ

    لَسَبَكنَ هَضبَ شَرَورَيَينِ الجامِدا

    He kindles resolves which, if bent on smelting it,

    would smelt the solid rocky heights of Sharurayn.

  28. إِنَّ المَناكِبِ لَيسَ تَعرِفُ أَيِّداً

    مِنها وَلَم تُجشِمهُ عِبئاً آيِدا

    Indeed, among shoulders you cannot recognize a strong one

    without making it bear a crushing burden.

  29. أَغرى الخُيولَ بِأَصبَهانَ فَلا تَسَل

    عَن رَأيِهِ وَالجَيشَ حينَ تَسانَدا

    He set the horses upon Isfahan; ask no more

    of his counsel and the army when they joined forces.

  30. وَكَأَنَّما الصَفّارُ كانَ بِفارِسٍ

    فِرعَونَ مِصرٍ إِذ أَضَلَّ وَما هَدى

    It is as though al-Saffar in Fars had been

    Egypt's Pharaoh, leading astray and giving no guidance.

  31. أَتبَعتَهُ العِجلِيَّ ثُمَّ رَفَدتَهُ

    بِالكَوتَكينَ مُكاتِفاً وَمُعاضِدا

    You sent al-Ijli after him, then reinforced him

    with al-Kawtakin, as a comrade and supporter.

  32. فَالخَوفُ مِن خَلفِ العُلَيجِ وَدونَهُ

    مِن موبِقاتِ الحَربِ أَوحاها رَدى

    So fear was behind the foreign wretch, and before him

    were war's deadly perils that bring the swiftest destruction.

  33. تَدبيرُ أَغلَبَ ما يَنَهنِهُ غالِباً

    لِمُشايِحيهِ مُبادِياً وَمُكايِدا

    The strategy of a lion who never holds back, prevailing

    over his challengers, confronting and outwitting them.

  34. صَغُرَت مَقاديرُ الرِجالِ وَقارَبوا

    في السَعيِ حَتّى ما تَرى لَكَ حاسِدا

    Men's stature has dwindled, and they have grown modest

    in striving, until you see none who envies you.

  35. لَو نافَسوكَ لَخالَسوكَ مِنَ النَدى

    ما يُصلِحونَ بِهِ الزَمانَ الفاسِدا

    Were they to rival you, they would snatch from your bounty

    enough to mend the corrupted age.

  36. قَعَدوا وَأَينَ قِيامُ مَن قَد طُلنَهُ

    شُرُفاتُ ما تَبني ذُراً وَقَواعِدا

    They sat back; how can one rise, already overtopped

    by the battlements of what you build, its summits and foundations?

  37. لَم تَخلُ مِن فِئَةٍ تَحُفُّكَ رَغبَةً

    وَخَلائِقٍ يُبرِزنَ شَخصَكَ فارِدا

    You have never lacked a throng surrounding you eagerly,

    nor qualities that reveal your person as unique.

  38. وَأَحَقُّ ما عَجِبتُ مِنهُ ضَرورَةٌ

    تُغري المَقودَ بِأَن يُطيعَ القائِدا

    Most deserving of my wonder is a compulsion

    that urges the led to obey the leader.

  39. تَأبى الأُلوفُ عَلى الأُلوفِ تُرى لَها

    تَبَعاً وَتَتَّبِعُ الأُلوفُ الواحِدا

    Thousands refuse to be seen as other thousands'

    followers—yet thousands follow a single man.

  40. وَلَقَد بَرَعتَ عَلى المُلوكِ مَحَلَّةً

    عُلواً وَأَفنِيَةً يَرُقنَ الرائِدا

    You have indeed surpassed kings in your abode,

    in height and courtyards that delight the scout.

  41. وَمَدَدتَ تَطَّلِبُ الَّذي لَم يَطلُبوا

    كَفّاً تُناوِلُكَ السَماءَ وَساعِدا

    You stretched forth, seeking what they never sought,

    a hand that brings you heaven, and an arm.

  42. أَسهَدتَ لَيلَ عَواذِلٍ لَولا اللُهى

    تُصفي كَرائِمُها لَبِتنَ هَواجِدا

    You made your women censurers' night sleepless; but for the gifts

    whose choicest you bestow, they would have slept.

  43. يَشفينَ مِنكَ الغَيظَ دونَ مَعاشِرٍ

    يُسقَونَ بِالذَمِّ الزُلالَ البارِدا

    They vent their anger on you rather than on folk

    who are served, through reproach, cool, clear water.

  44. وَإِذا وَسَمنَكَ وَالبَخيلَ بِنَبزَةٍ

    كُنتَ المَضَلَّلَ وَالبَخيلُ الراشِدا

    When they brand you and the miser with an epithet,

    you are the misguided one, and the miser the rightly guided.

  45. وَلَقَد عَلِمتُ بِأَنَّ هَمَّكَ يَعتَلي

    في صاعِدٍ حَتّى تُنَفِّذَ صاعِدا

    I know indeed that your ambition climbs

    ever upward, until you dispatch Ṣāʿid.

  46. بِالنَصرِ يَمتَثِلُ المُعادُ المُبتَدا

    وَالمالُ يَتَّبِعُ الطَريفُ التالِدا

    In victory, each repetition follows the first,

    and in wealth, new acquisitions follow inherited riches.

  47. مَجدٌ وَمااِنفَكَّ الزَمانُ مُوَكِّلا

    بِالمَجدِ يُلحِقُهُ الأَغَرَّ الماجِدا

    Glory! Time has never ceased to be charged

    with glory, joining it to the radiant, noble man.

  48. هَذي نَوافِلُكَ الَّتي خُوِّلتَها

    رَجَعَت غَرائِبُها إِلَيكَ قَصائِدا

    These are your bounties, with which you were endowed;

    their rare wonders have returned to you as poems.

  49. تُعطيكَ شُهرَتُها النُجومَ طَوالِعاً

    وَتُريكَ أَنفُسُها الجِبالَ خَوالِدا

    Their fame gives you stars rising,

    and their very selves show you mountains everlasting.

  50. مُتَعَسِّفاتٍ ماتَزالُ رُواتُها

    تَأبى عَلَيها أَن تَسيرَ قَواصِدا

    Taking trackless routes, their reciters never cease

    refusing to let them travel by direct paths.

  51. وَهيَ القَوافي ما تَقِرُّ ثَوابِتاً

    لِمُمَدَّحٍ حَتّى تَعيرَ شَوارِدا

    Such are rhymes: they never settle, fixed,

    for a much-praised man until they roam abroad as strays.

  52. عِلَلٌ لِإِتواءِ الذَخائِرِ كُلَّما

    جُلِيَت عَلى مَلِكٍ أَباحَ التالِدا

    Causes of exhausting treasures: whenever

    they are unveiled before a king, he gives freely of ancestral wealth.

  53. وَالبَحرُ لَولا أَن تُسَيَّرَ سُفنُهُ

    بِالريحِ مابَرِحَت عَلَيهِ رَواكِدا

    And the sea—were its ships not propelled

    by the wind, they would remain motionless upon it.