1. أُقيمُ عَلى التَشَوُّقِ أَم أَسيرُ

    وَأَعدِلُ في الصَبابَةِ أَم أَسيرُ

    Shall I remain in longing, or depart?

    And act justly in passion, or unjustly?

  2. لَجاجَ مُعَذِّلٍ في الوَجدِ يَبلى

    وَلا إِقصارَ مِنهُ وَلا قُصورُ

    A reprover's persistence over passion wears itself out,

    yet he neither desists nor falls short.

  3. غُروراً كانَ ما وَعَدَتكَ سُعدى

    وَأَحلى الوَعدِ مِن سُعدى الغُرورُ

    What Suʿda promised you was deception,

    and the sweetest promise from Suʿda is deception.

  4. لَبَرَّحَ أَوَّلٌ في الحُبِّ مِنها

    وَشارَفَ أَن يُبَرِّحَ بي أَخيرُ

    Her love brought torment from the first,

    and the latest of it has nearly tormented me.

  5. تَصُدُّ وَفي الجَوانِحِ مِن هَواها

    وَمِن نيرانِ هِجرَتِها سَعيرُ

    She turns away, while within my ribs, from love of her,

    and from the fires of her abandonment, burns a blaze.

  6. وَيَحمى الهَجرُ في الأَحشاءِ حَرّاً

    وَإيقاداً كَما يحمى الهَجيرُ

    Separation burns hot within my entrails,

    blazing as the midday heat burns.

  7. أُليحُ مِنَ الغَواني أَن تَرى لي

    ذَوائِبَ لائِحاً فيها القَتيرُ

    I dread that one of the beauties should see my

    locks, with scattered gray hairs showing through them.

  8. وَجَهلٌ بَيِّنٌ في ذي مَشيبٍ

    غَدا يَغتَرُّهُ الرَشَأُ الغَريرُ

    Plain folly it is in a gray-haired man

    to become beguiled by an artless young gazelle.

  9. تُعَنّينا مُصاحَبَةُ اللَيالي

    وَيُنصِبُنا التَرَوُّحُ وَالبُكورُ

    The companionship of nights wears us down,

    and evening departures and early starts exhaust us.

  10. رَأَيتُ المَأَ أُلِّفَ مِن ضُروبٍ

    يُؤَثِّرُ في تَزايُدِها الأَثيرُ

    I saw [an unclear noun] compounded of various kinds;

    the ether influences their increase.

  11. مَتى يَذهَب مَعَ الأَيّامِ يَنفَد

    نَفادَ الحَولِ تُنفِدُهُ الشُهورُ

    As it passes away with the days, it is exhausted,

    like the year that the months exhaust.

  12. لَقَد نَطَقَ البَشيرُ بِما اِبتَهَجنا

    لَهُ لَو كانَ يَصدُقُنا البَشيرُ

    Indeed, the herald spoke of what we rejoiced

    at—if only the herald spoke truth to us:

  13. بِجَيشٍ تُستَباحُ بِهِ الضَواحي

    وَتَعتَصِمُ العَواصِمُ وَالثُغورُ

    an army through which the outlying lands are overrun,

    while fortified cities and frontier strongholds find protection.

  14. يَحينُ رَدى العِدى فيهِ وَيُهدى

    لَها اليَومُ العَبوسُ القَمطَريرُ

    In it the enemies' doom draws near, and there is offered

    to them a scowling, bitterly harsh day.

  15. كَأَنَّ عَلى الفُراتِ وَجيزَتَيهِ

    جِبالَ تِهامَةَ اِرتَفَعَت تَسيرُ

    As though upon the Euphrates and its two banks

    the mountains of Tihama had risen and were marching.

  16. يُتَلّى في أَواخِرِها تَبيعٌ

    وَيَقدُمُ في أَوائِلِها ثَبيرُ

    Tabiʿ is brought up at their rear,

    while Thabir leads at their front.

  17. فَمَن يَبعُد بِهِ عَنها مَغيبٌ

    يُدَنِّ رَبيعَةَ الفَرَسِ الحُضورُ

    Whoever absence keeps far from them,

    presence brings Rabiʿa of the Horse near.

  18. يُدَبِّرُها وَشيكُ العَزمِ تُلقى

    إِلَيهِ كَي يُنَفِّذَها الأُمورُ

    One swift in resolve commands them; entrusted

    to him, for him to execute, are affairs.

  19. بَعيدُ السِرِّ لَم يَقرُب بِبَحثِ ال

    مُنَقِّبِ ما كَمى عَنهُ الضَميرُ

    His secrets lie deep; no probing by the

    investigator reaches what his mind conceals from him.

  20. مَكايِدُ لا تُخِلُّ بِها أَناةٌ

    وَإِن عَجِلَ المُحَرِّضُ وَالمُشيرُ

    Stratagems that patient deliberation does not impair,

    even if the prompter and adviser grow impatient.

  21. بَوالِغُ لَو يُطاوِلُها قَصيرٌ

    لَقَصَّرَ عَن مَبالِغِها قَصيرُ

    Far-reaching: were Qasir to try to rival them,

    Qasir would fall short of their reach.

  22. تَراءاهُ العُيونَ بِلَحظِ وُدٍّ

    لِطَلعَتِهِ وَتُكبِرُهُ الصُدورُ

    Eyes behold him with a glance of affection

    for his appearance, and hearts revere him.

  23. بَهِيٌّ في حَمائِلِهِ جَميلٌ

    وَفَخمٌ في مُفاضَتِهِ جَهيرُ

    Splendid and handsome in his sword-belts,

    and imposing and striking in his ample mail.

  24. إِذا جيبَت عَلَيهِ الدِرعُ راحَت

    وَحَشوُ فُضولِها كَرَمٌ وَخيرُ

    When the mail is drawn over him, it goes forth,

    its ample folds filled with generosity and goodness.

  25. أَميرٌ تارَةً تَأتي بِعَدلٍ

    إِمارَتَهُ وَتاراتٍ وَزيرُ

    A commander at times, when justice attends

    his rule; and at other times, a minister.

  26. يَكُرُّ نَوالُهُ عَلَلاً عَلَينا

    كُرورَ الكَأسِ أَترَعَها المُديرُ

    His bounty returns to us, draught after draught,

    as a cup goes round, brimmed by the cupbearer.

  27. قَليلٌ مِثلُهُ وَأَقَلُّ شَيءٍ

    وَأَعوَزُهُ مِنَ الناسِ النَظيرُ

    Few are his like, and the rarest thing,

    and hardest to find among men, is a peer.

  28. جَديرٌ أَن يُلَفَّ الخَيلَ شُعثاً

    بِخَيلٍ خَلفَها رَهَجٌ يَثورُ

    He is fit to set disheveled cavalry clashing

    with cavalry behind which dust rises.

  29. يُجَلّى سُدفَةَ الهَيجا بِوَجهٍ

    يُضيءُ عَلى العُيونِ وَيَستَنيرُ

    He dispels battle's darkness with a face

    that shines before the eyes and glows.

  30. إِذا لَمَعَت بَوادي البِشرِ فيهِ

    رَأَيتَ البَرقَ يَلبَسُهُ الصَبيرُ

    When the first signs of cheer flash across it,

    you see lightning clothed in a massed cloud.

  31. وَما مِن مَورِدٍ أَدنى لِرَيٍّ

    مِنَ الأَنهارِ تَملِكُها البُحورُ

    And no watering-place is nearer to quenching thirst

    than rivers possessed by seas.

  32. مَلَكتَ شُطوطَ دِجلَةَ شارِعاتٍ

    تَقابَلُ في جَوانِبِها القُصورُ

    You own the Tigris's banks, stretching outward;

    palaces face one another along their sides.

  33. بِناءٌ لَم يُشَفِّق فيهِ بانٍ

    وَلا هَمٌّ مِنَ الباني قَصيرُ

    An edifice whose builder held nothing back,

    nor was the builder's ambition slight.

  34. تَوَرَّدُهُ الوُفودُ مِنَ النَواحي

    فَيَرضى راغِبٌ أَو مُستَجيرُ

    Delegations come to it from the regions,

    and a petitioner or seeker of refuge is satisfied.

  35. فَلا تَبرَح تَتِمُّ عَلَيكَ نُعمى

    وَلا تَبرَح يَدومُ لَكَ السُرورُ

    So may blessings never cease to be perfected upon you,

    and may joy never cease to endure for you.

  36. لَكَ الخَطَرُ الجَليلُ تُهالُ مِنهُ

    قُلوبُ القَومِ وَالقَدرُ الكَبيرُ

    Yours is the lofty eminence that awes

    the people's hearts, and the mighty stature.

  37. شَكَرتَ الناصِرَ النَعَمَ اللَواتي

    يَقِلُّ لِبَعضِها الشُكرُ الكَثيرُ

    You thanked al-Nasir for those blessings

    for some of which even abundant thanks are meager.

  38. وَما قابَلتَ عارِفَةً بِأُخرى

    كَنُعمى باتَ يَجزيها الشَكورُ

    And no kindness have you repaid with another

    like a blessing the grateful one spent the night repaying.

  39. وَفَرتُ عَلَيكَ مالَكَ وَهوَ عِلقٌ

    مَرَزّاً لَيسَ عادَتَهُ الوُفورُ

    I kept your wealth intact for you, though it is a prized possession,

    subject to loss, not accustomed to abundance.

  40. فَعَوِّض مِنهُ جاهاً أَرتَضيهِ

    وَمِثلُكَ عِندَهُ العِوَضُ الخَطيرُ

    So grant me instead a standing that pleases me,

    and with one such as you lies ample recompense.

  41. فَجُدتَ وَجُزتَ بي أَقصى الأَماني

    وَمِن عاداتِكَ الجودُ الشَهيرُ

    So you gave generously and carried me beyond my farthest wishes,

    and renowned generosity is among your habits.

  42. تُراكَ مُخَلِّفي في غَيرِ أَرضي

    وَإِنهاضي إِلى بَلَدي يَسيرُ

    Will you, I wonder, leave me in a land not mine,

    when sending me to my homeland is easy?

  43. وَقَد شَمِلَ اِمتِنانُكَ كُلَّ حَيٍّ

    فَهَل مَنٌّ يُفَكُّ بِهِ أَسيرُ

    And your beneficence has encompassed every living soul,

    so is there a favor by which a captive may be freed?

  44. وَأَعتَقتَ الرِقابَ فَمُر بِعِتقي

    إِلى بَلَدي وَأَنتَ بِهِ جَديرُ

    And you have freed necks from bondage; so order my release

    to my homeland—you are worthy of that.