1. أودُّ ولي من شيمة المجد عاصمُ

    وأصْبو ولفظي من نسيبي سالمُ

    I love, yet noble character is my shield;

    I yearn, yet my words remain free of love poetry.

  2. ويبلُغُ مني الوجد والشعر باسلٌ

    ويأخذ مني الحب والحزمُ كاتمُ

    Passion takes hold of me, yet my verse is valiant;

    love possesses me, yet resolve keeps it hidden.

  3. عُلاَ جبلت نفس الأبي صرامةً

    فلا غَزلٌ إلى وغىً وملاَحمُ

    Lofty aspirations have molded the proud man's soul to sternness:

    no love song, then—only warfare and pitched battles.

  4. أبت غير زأرٍ أسد خفَّان مرعبٍ

    وللنَّوحِ بالدوْح النضير الحمائمُ

    The lions of Khaffan refuse anything but a terrifying roar;

    lamentation among the verdant trees belongs to doves.

  5. حساني اللواتي بات فيها تغزُّلي

    تبثُّ سَرياها الملوكُ القماقمُ

    My beauties, in whom my love verse spends the night,

    have their raiding parties dispatched by mighty kings;

  6. وما اكتنفت يوم السلام من العُلى

    أسِرَّتها والخاشفاتُ المخاذمُ

    and the heights encompassed in peacetime by

    their thrones and the piercing, cleaving swords;

  7. ومُعتلج المجد الأثيل بموقفٍ

    به القَيْلُ مرهوب الخشاشة نائمُ

    and the struggle for deep-rooted glory at a station

    where the king, fearsome in spirit, lies sleeping;

  8. وازجاؤها كالمرهفاتِ أوامراً

    لها الصعب سهلٌ والمغيَّبُ قادمُ

    and their issuing commands like finely sharpened swords,

    for which the difficult is easy and the absent comes forward;

  9. وتعفيرها تحت العجاجة بالضُّحى

    وقد وطئتْ تعجَ المُطاع الصَّلادم

    and their being cast into dust beneath the battle-cloud at forenoon,

    while mighty steeds trample the ruler's crown [uncertain reading].

  10. فلا تَسحِلوا إبرام مُستحصَد القوى

    فيا طالما لم تُغْنِ فيه المَلاومُ

    Do not unravel the resolve of one whose strength is tightly braided;

    for how often reproaches have availed nothing against him!

  11. فإما ترَينْي عن بلوغ مطالبي

    أُذادُ كما ذِيدَ الظِّماءُ الحَوائمُ

    If, then, you see me turned from attaining my desires,

    driven away like thirsty beasts circling water,

  12. وقد أضمرت مجدي البلاد وفاتني

    من العزِّ ما شادتْ تميمٌ ودارِمُ

    while the lands have hidden my glory and I have missed

    the honor that Tamim and Darim built up:

  13. إذا شمتُ عزماً يرعوي الملك عندهُ

    أُتيحَ له من حادثِ الدهرِ ثالمُ

    whenever I glimpse a resolve before which the king relents,

    some stroke of time is appointed to break it.

  14. أداري وعندي نجدةٌ دون بأسها

    حِدادُ الظبى والُمرْهفاتُ اللهاذمُ

    I act tactfully, though my valor's force outstrips

    keen sword-edges and finely sharpened, cleaving blades.

  15. وأبسم للمبكي نُهىً وحزامةً

    وقد يستهلُّ القلب والثغرُ باسِمُ

    I smile at what causes tears, through wisdom and resolve,

    though the heart may weep while the mouth smiles.

  16. فكم موقفٍ لي من مهيبٍ مُسودٍ

    وقد حجبت عنه السِّراةَ الصوارمُ

    How many a stand I have had before a feared, honored chief,

    while swords barred the noblemen from approaching him;

  17. لدي حيث يسجو كل طرف محدِّقٍ

    وتُرعَد من غير الرَّسِيس القوائمُ

    in my presence, where every staring eye grows still,

    and legs tremble without the onset of fever;

  18. نطقتُ صؤوتاً والكلامُ إشارةٌ

    وأسفرتُ والطَّلقُ الأسرَّة واجم

    I spoke in a ringing voice while speech was mere gesture,

    and I beamed while the bright-faced man stood mute with distress.

  19. سرى ذكر فضلي حيث لا الريف آهلٌ

    ولا الطرس معروف ولا الشيخُ عالمُ

    Word of my merit traveled by night where no countryside is inhabited,

    no written page is known, and no elder is learned.

  20. وما زال يقتاد الرجال حديثه

    وإنْ عزَّ فَسْرٌ عندهُ وتراجِمُ

    Its tale kept leading men onward,

    though explanation and translation of it were hard to find,

  21. إلى أنْ غدا فَدْمُ العشائِر أصمعاً

    له وجبانُ الحي وهو مُلاحمُ

    until the tribal dullard became keen-witted

    through it, and the clan's coward became a battle-fighter.

  22. رؤوف بأعراض اللئام ينوشُه ال

    أذى وهو محبوسُ المقالةِ كاظمُ

    Gentle toward the honor of base men, he is assailed by

    harm, yet restrains his speech and suppresses his anger.

  23. إذا وكفةٌ من بغيةٍ نضحَتْ له

    غدا حمده في إثرها وهو ساجمُ

    If a drop of what he seeks is sprinkled his way,

    his thanks follow in its wake, pouring like rain.

  24. ترفَّع عن فضل الزمانِ فكونُه

    حديثٌ ولكن مجدهُ متُقادم

    He rose above time's favors: his existence

    is recent, but his glory is ancient.

  25. وجاشَر عن فيض النَّوال كأنه

    بنانُ جمال الدين والغيثُ حارمُ

    And he kept aloof [uncertain wording] from overflowing bounty, as though he were

    the fingers of Jamal al-Din, while rain withholds its bounty.

  26. أغَرُّ كرأد الصبح طلْقٌ جبينهُ

    يدلُّ عليه بِشْرهُ والمكارمُ

    Radiant as the morning's first light, his brow is cheerful;

    his cheerfulness and noble deeds proclaim him.

  27. إذا استن في الجدوى وشد على العدى

    تمنَّى مقاميهِ الظُّبى والغمائم

    When he races in beneficence and charges the enemy,

    sword-edges and clouds long for his two stations.

  28. لبيقٌ تودُّ الغيد معسول عطفهِ

    وإنْ وهبته في الحفاظِ الضَّراغِمِ

    He is gracious; slender maidens desire his honeyed tenderness,

    though lions fear him [uncertain reading] in defense of honor.

  29. تطيش الحُبى من حوله وهو ثابت

    وتنبوا المواضي وهو في الهول صام

    Knee-bands fly loose around him, while he remains steadfast,

    and keen swords glance aside, while amid terror he strikes home.

  30. فتى الخير أما عهده فهو مبرمٌ

    وكيدٌ وأما ودُّهُ فهو دائمُ

    A man of goodness: his pledge is firmly bound,

    secure; and his affection endures.

  31. إذا ما ابتنيت الودَّ عند وفائِه

    فلا الخطب نقَّاضٌ ولا الذنب هادمُ

    When you build affection upon his fidelity,

    neither calamity unravels it nor offense tears it down.

  32. يجود بأوفى صفحة وهو قادرٌ

    ويبذل أقصى جودِهِ وهو عادمُ

    He grants the fullest pardon when he has the power,

    and gives his utmost bounty even when destitute.

  33. قؤُولٌ تهاب اللُّدُّ بأس صوابه

    إذا حبستْ نُطق الفصيح الخصائم

    A fluent speaker: stubborn adversaries fear the force of his truth,

    when disputes have silenced the eloquent.

  34. فلو فاه في يوم النزال بحجَّةٍ

    لعادَ شباها وهو للجيش هازمُ

    If he voiced an argument on the day of combat,

    its sharp edge would put an army to flight.

  35. كريمُ مقام النصر عند عدوِّه

    وإنْ عظُمت حرب وجلَّت سخائمُ

    Noble in victory toward his enemy,

    even when war grows fierce and grudges great;

  36. إذا هو أزجى للأعادي مقَتلاً

    أهاب بها الإمكانُ وهي مراحِمُ

    when he deals his enemies a killing blow,

    the power to act calls such blows forth, yet they are acts of mercy.

  37. وما مجلبٌ داجي العجاجة بادنٌ

    له وجباتٌ بالفَلا وغماغمُ

    And no clamorous host, dust-darkened and huge—

    it has crashing thuds and rumblings in the wastes;

  38. صخوبٌ ولكن نطقه من حفيظةٍ

    صَوارمُ من قبل الوغى ولهاذِمُ

    clamorous, yet its speech, born of fury, is

    cutting swords and keen spears before battle;

  39. ويحجبُ عنه جوْنة الصبح نقعهُ

    فظهرُ الفلا ليلٌ على القاعِ عاتمُ

    its dust conceals from it the orb of dawn,

    so the desert's surface is a dark night over the plain;

  40. ويُنفد غُدرانَ الرياض ورودهُ

    وأعقابهُ دونَ الشُّروع حَوائمُ

    its drinking drains the meadow pools,

    while its rear ranks circle short of the water;

  41. حوى الوحش حتى استسلمت لعمومه

    من الذُّعر جِنَّانُ الصَّريم الغواسم

    it hemmed in the beasts until its vast sweep subdued

    the dark serpents of the thicket through terror;

  42. به السابقات الجرد قُبْلٌ كأنها

    سراحينُ مُعْطٌ تقتضيها المطاعمُ

    within it are fleet, sleek steeds with inward-turned eyes, like

    bare-coated wolves pressed by the need for food;

  43. توافرُ عن رعي الجَميم أوانسٌ

    برعي شكيرٍ أنبتتهُ الجماجمُ

    they shun grazing lush grass, taking pleasure

    in grazing shoots that skulls have sprouted;

  44. درين بنصرٍ تحت كل عجاجةٍ

    فهنَّ لنقعٍ يثستثارُ شَوائمُ

    they have known victory beneath every dust-cloud,

    so they watch for omens in the dust that rises;

  45. عليها السَّراةُ الدارعون كأنهم

    قَساورُ خفَّانِ الشدادُ الضَّياغمُ

    upon them are armored nobles, as though

    the mighty, ravening lions of Khaffan;

  46. نزتْ بهم الأوتارُ حتى رزينهُم

    خفيفٌ وأقصاهمْ عن الفحش شاتم

    blood-feuds have made them leap, until even their steadiest man

    is impetuous, and their least foul-mouthed man curses;

  47. وطال دراكُ الطعن حتى تهالكتْ

    جيادٌ وكلَّتْ أنملٌ ومَعاصمُ

    repeated spear-thrusts lasted until collapse overtook

    the steeds, and fingers and wrists grew weary;

  48. وسحُّوا على البيداء ماءً بروقهُ ال

    ظُّبى وغَواديه الطُّلى والجماجمُ

    and they poured upon the waste a rain whose lightning was the

    sword-edges, whose morning showers were necks and skulls—

  49. بأغلب من بأس الوزير أبي الرضا

    إذِ الذِّمْرُ نِكس والمقحِّم خائم

    is stronger than the might of the vizier Abu al-Rida,

    when the bold man turns craven and the charging warrior draws back.

  50. يسرُّك منه في النوازل ماجدٌ

    رزين الحصاةِ حازمُ الرأي عازم

    Amid calamities, he delights you as a noble man,

    steady of mind, prudent in judgment, resolute;

  51. خففٌ عليه فادحُ الغرم في العُلى

    إذا أثقلت ظهر المُطاع المَغارمُ

    the crushing cost of greatness weighs lightly on him,

    when expenses burden a ruler's back.

  52. وشيك القِرى مستبشرٌ بضيوفهِ

    يودُّ نداهُ الغمْر معْنٌ وحاتِمُ

    Prompt in hospitality, delighted with his guests,

    Ma'n and Hatim covet his overflowing bounty.

  53. نماه إلى عليائه كل ماجدٍ

    فخورٍ إذا ما استنبطتهُ المواسمُ

    Every noble forebear raised him to his eminence,

    proud when festive gatherings drew upon his resources.

  54. تبيح النَّدى للمُعْتفين أكفُّهمْ

    وهُنَّ حَوامٍ للنَّزِيلِ عواصمُ

    Their hands freely offer bounty to those who seek it,

    and they guard and shelter the guest.

  55. فجاؤا بمضواعِ الثناء حديثهُ

    إذا فضَّ عند الأندياتِ لَطائمُ

    So they brought forth one fragrant with praise, whose tale,

    when unsealed at assemblies, is caravans laden with perfume.