1. أَبُكاءً في الدارِ بَعدَ الدارِ

    وَسُلواً بِزَينَبَ عَن نَوارِ

    Weeping at dwelling after dwelling,

    and finding solace in Zaynab, forgetting Nawar?

  2. لا هَناكَ الشُغلُ الجَديدُ بِحُزوى

    عَن رُسومٍ بِرامَتَينِ قِفارِ

    May the new distraction at Huzwa bring you no joy,

    away from the desolate traces at Ramatayn.

  3. ما ظَنَنتُ الأَهواءَ قَبلَكَ تُمحى

    مِن صُدورِ العُشّاقِ مَحوَ الدِيارِ

    Before you, I never thought loves could be erased

    from lovers' breasts as dwellings are erased.

  4. نَظرَةً رَدَّتِ الهَوى الشَرقَ غَرباً

    وَأَمالَت نَهجَ الدُموعِ الجَواري

    A glance turned love's east to west,

    and diverted the course of flowing tears.

  5. رُبَّ عَيشٍ لَنا بِرامَةٍ رَطبٍ

    وَلَيالٍ فيها طِوالٍ قِصارِ

    Many a lush life was ours at Rama,

    and nights there, long yet short.

  6. قَبلَ أَن يُقبِلَ المَشيبُ وَتَبدو

    هَفَواتُ الشَبابِ في إِدبارِ

    Before gray hair came on, and there appeared

    the follies of youth, in retreat.

  7. كُلُّ عُذرٍ مِن كُلِّ ذَنبٍ وَلَكِن

    أَعوَزَ العُذوُ مِن بَياضِ العَذارِ

    Every sin has its excuse, but

    no excuse is found for the whitening of the cheek-hair.

  8. كانَ حُلواً هَذا الهَوى فَأَراهُ

    عادَ مُرّاً وَالسُكرُ قَبلَ الخُمارِ

    This love was sweet; now I see it

    turned bitter—drunkenness precedes the hangover.

  9. وَإِذا ما تَنَكَّرَت لي بِلادٌ

    وَخَليلٌ فَإِنَّني بِالخِيارِ

    And when a land grows strange to me,

    and a close friend, I still have a choice:

  10. وَخَدانُ القِلاصِ حولاً إِذا قا

    بَلنَ حولاً مِن أَنجُمِ الأَسحارِ

    the swift trot of young she-camels, squint-eyed as they face

    squint-eyed stars of the predawn hours.

  11. يَتَرَقرَقنَ كَالسَرابِ وَقَد خُض

    نَ غِماراً مِنَ السَرابِ الجاري

    They shimmer like a mirage, having plunged

    into the depths of the flowing mirage.

  12. كَالقِسى المُعَطَّفاتِ بَلِ الأَس

    هُمِ مَبرِيَّةً بَلِ الأَوتارِ

    Like bent bows—no, like arrows,

    whittled down—no, like bowstrings.

  13. قَد مَلِلناكَ يا غُلامُ فَغادٍ

    بِسَلامٍ أَو رائِحٌ أَو سارِ

    We have tired of you, boy: depart in the morning,

    in peace—or in the evening, or by night.

  14. سَرِقاتٌ مِنّي خُصوصاً فَألاً

    مِن عَدُوٍّ أَو صاحِبٍ أَو جارِ

    Thefts from me alone—then why not

    from an enemy, a friend, or a neighbor?

  15. أَنا مِن ياسِرٍ وَيُسرٍ وَسَعدٍ

    لَستُ مِن عامِرٍ وَلا عَمّارِ

    I am for Yasir, Yusr, and Sa'd,

    not for Amir, nor Ammar.

  16. لا أُريدُ النَظيرَ يُخرِجُهُ الشَت

    مُ إِلى الاِحتِجاجُ وَالاِفتِخارِ

    I do not want an equal whom abuse drives

    to argument and boasting.

  17. وَإِذا رُعتُهُ بِناحِيَةِ السَو

    طِ عَلى الذَنبِ راعَني بِالفَرارِ

    And if I frighten him with the tip of the whip

    for a fault, he frightens me by fleeing.

  18. ما بِأَرضِ العِراقِ يا قَومِ حُرٌّ

    يَفتَديني مِن خِدمَةِ الأَحرارِ

    There is no noble man in Iraq, my people,

    to ransom me from serving free men.

  19. هَل جَوادٌ بِأَبيَضٍ مِن بَني الأَص

    فَرِ ضَخمِ الجُدودِ مَحضِ النِجارِ

    Is there a generous giver of a fair-skinned boy of the Banu al-Asfar,

    of great forebears and pure lineage?

  20. لَم تَرُع قَومَهُ السَرايا وَلَم يَغ

    زُهُم غَيرُ جَحفَلٍ جَرّارِ

    No raiding parties frightened his people; none invaded

    them but a mighty, sweeping host,

  21. أَو خَميسٍ كَأَنَّما طُرِقوا مِن

    هُ بِلَيلٍ أَو صُبِّحوا بِنَهارِ

    or an army, as though they were raided by it

    at night, or attacked at dawn in daylight.

  22. في زُهاهُ أَبو سَعيدٍ عَلى آ

    ثارِ خَيلٍ قَد صَبَّحَتهُ بِثارِ

    In its throng is Abu Sa'id, on the tracks

    of cavalry that had assailed him at dawn in vengeance.

  23. فَحَطهُ الرِماحُ أَغيَدَ مَجدو

    لاً قَصيرَ الزُنّارِ وافي الإِزارِ

    So spears brought him low, supple and well-knit,

    with a short girdle and an ample loincloth.

  24. يَتَلظّى كَأَنَّهُ لِصُنوفِ السَب

    يِ في عَسكَرٍ شِهابُ النارِ

    He blazes, as though among the various captives

    in an army he were a meteor of fire.

  25. فَوقَ ضَعفِ الصِغارِ إِن وُكِلَ الأَم

    رُ إِلَيهِ وَدونَ كَيدِ الكِبارِ

    Above children's weakness, if a task is entrusted

    to him, yet below the cunning of grown men.

  26. رَشَأٌ تُخبِرُ القَراطِقُ مِنهُ

    عَن كَنارٍ يُضيءُ تَحتَ الكَنارِ

    A gazelle fawn: the tunics upon him tell

    of a firelike glow shining beneath the edging.

  27. لَكَ مِن ثَغرَةِ وَخَدَّيهِ ما شِئ

    تَ مِنَ الأُقحُوانِ وَالجُلَّنارِ

    From his mouth and cheeks you have whatever you wish

    of chrysanthemums and pomegranate blossoms.

  28. أَعجَمِيٌّ إِلّا عَجالَةَ لَفظٍ

    عَرَبِيٍّ تَفَتَّحُ النُوّارِ

    Foreign-tongued, save for a fleeting utterance

    in Arabic, like the unfolding of blossoms.

  29. وَكَأَنَّ الذَكاءَ يَبعَثُ مِنهُ

    في سَوادِ الأُمورِ شُعلَةَ نارِ

    And it is as though intelligence sends forth from him

    a flame of fire amid the darkness of affairs.

  30. يا أَبا جَعفَرٍ وَما أَنتَ بِالمَد

    عوِّ إِلّا لِكُلِّ أَمرٍ كُبارِ

    O Abu Ja'far, you are not called upon

    except for every weighty affair.

  31. شَمسُ شَمسٍ وَبَدرُ آلِ حُمَيدٍ

    يَومَ عَدِّ الشُموسِ وَالأَقمارِ

    The sun of Shams, and the full moon of the house of Humayd,

    when suns and moons are counted.

  32. وَفَتى طَيِّئٍ وَشَيخُ بَني الصا

    مِتِ أَهلِ الأَحسابِ وَالأَخطارِ

    And the young champion of Tayyi', and chief of Banu al-Samit,

    men of noble pedigree and high standing.

  33. لَكَ مِن حاتِمٍ وَأَوسٍ وَزَيدٍ

    إِرثُ أُكرومَةٍ وَإِرثُ فَخارِ

    From Hatim, Aws, and Zayd you have

    a heritage of nobility and a heritage of glory.

  34. سُمُحٌ بَينَ بُرمَةِ أَعشارٍ

    تَتَكَفّا وَجَفنَةُ أَكسارِ

    Generous men, between a pot of apportioned meat

    tilting over, and a bowl of broken bread,

  35. وَسُيوفٌ مَطبوعَةٍ لِلمَنايا

    واقِعاتٍ مَواقِعَ الأَقدارِ

    and swords forged for death,

    falling where fate falls.

  36. تِلكَ أَفعالُهُم عَلى قِدَمِ الدَه

    رِ فَكانوا جَداوِلاً مِن بِحارِ

    Such were their deeds from time immemorial;

    thus they were streams issuing from seas.

  37. أَمَلي فيكُمُ وَحَقّي عَلَيكُم

    وَرَواحي إِلَيكُمُ وَاِبتِكاري

    My hope is in you, and my claim is upon you;

    and to you are my evening and morning journeys,

  38. وَاِضطِرابي في الناسِ حَتّى عُد

    تُ إِلى حاجَةٍ فَأَنتُم قَصاري

    and my restless roaming among men, until I returned

    in need—so you are my final resort.

  39. وَلَعَمري لَلجودُ لِلناسِ بِالنا

    سِ سِواهُ بِالثَوبِ وَالدينارِ

    By my life, generosity to people in gifts of people

    differs from generosity in garments and dinars.

  40. وَعَزيزٌ إِلّا لَدَيكَ بِهَذا ال

    فَخِّ أَخذُ الغِلمانِ بِالأَشعارِ

    And hard, except with you, is using this

    snare to catch boys with poems.