1. أقربُ من قَولكَ يا عَمْرو

    حالٌ بها ينكشفُ الضَّرُّ

    Nearer than your saying, 'O ʿAmr,'

    is a turn of fortune that dispels distress.

  2. فلا تَبِتْ أسوانَ في غَمرةٍ

    ضاقَ بها ذرعكَ والصَّدرُ

    So do not spend the night grief-stricken in a plight

    that strains your endurance and constricts your breast.

  3. واتخذ الصَّبَر لها جُنَّةً

    فمن شِعارِ الحازمِ الصَّبرُ

    And take patience as a shield against it,

    for patience is among the hallmarks of the resolute.

  4. هي العُلى عِلْقٌ إذا قِسْتهُ

    مُسترخصٌ والثَّمَنُ العُمرُ

    Glory is a precious treasure that, when you appraise it,

    is cheap, though its price is life.

  5. إنَّ امْرءاً ماتَ على مجْده

    لَخالدٌ ما خَلَد الذكْرُ

    Indeed, a man who dies upholding his glory

    is surely immortal as long as remembrance endures.

  6. لا خيرَ في مُثْرٍ لا شاكرٍ

    فإنما المالُ هو الشكْرُ

    There is no good in a wealthy man who is not grateful;

    for wealth is nothing but gratitude.

  7. أحجارُ سُوءٍ جُعلتْ آلَةً

    وسِرها النفعُ أو الضَّرُّ

    Base stones, fashioned into a tool,

    and their secret is benefit or harm.

  8. يُصيبُ من يبذلُها أجْرهُ

    وللذي يُحرزها الوزْرُ

    Whoever gives them away gains his reward,

    and the one who hoards them bears the sin.

  9. حاشا لمثلي أنْ يُرى ضارعاً

    وجيشُ عزمي لَجِبٌ مَجْرُ

    Far be it from one like me to be seen abject,

    while the army of my resolve is clamorous and vast.

  10. لكن يُداري حَرجي معشراً

    لي في مُداراتهم العُذْرُ

    Yet my distress leads me to humor a group;

    I have an excuse for humoring them.

  11. إن شامَ غيري بارقاً من نَدىً

    فَضَّلهُ فهو أذن نُكْرُ

    If another glimpses a lightning-flash of bounty

    and prefers it, that is strange indeed.

  12. أيُّ مَحلٍ لنجومِ الدُّجى

    يبقى إذا ما جُهلَ البدرُ

    What place for the stars of darkness

    remains when the full moon goes unrecognized?

  13. وا عجبا من همَّتي والسُّرى

    للهِ في تقديره سِرُّ

    Oh, the wonder of my ambition and my night journeys!

    God has a secret in His decree.

  14. يبكي العراق الدَّم من فُرقتي

    وليس لي من غمركم بِشرُ

    Iraq weeps blood at my departure,

    yet your abundant bounty brings me no joy.

  15. لم تَزَلَ الآمالُ غَرَّارةً

    يشقى بها الحازمُ والغَمْرُ

    Hopes have never ceased to be deceptive;

    the prudent and the inexperienced alike suffer through them.

  16. كلُّ بَعيدِ رائعٌ صِيتُه

    كذَّب فرطَ الخَبرِ الخُبْرُ

    Every distant thing has an impressive reputation;

    experience gives the lie to exaggerated reports.

  17. يُستعظمُ الآلُ إذا ما جَرى

    والريُّ ما تبذلهُ الغُدرُ

    The mirage seems immense when it flows,

    yet thirst is quenched by what the pools offer.

  18. حُبُّ دُبيسِ غربةٌ في الهوى

    شابه فيها المدَرَ الدرُّ

    Love for Dubays is exile within passion;

    in it, pearls have come to resemble clods of earth.

  19. فاق الهوى العُذريَّ وَجْدي به

    فطابَ لي في حُبهِ المُرُّ

    My passion for him surpasses ʿUdhri love;

    so bitterness tastes sweet to me in loving him.

  20. لله مَهمومٌ بآمالِهِ

    ليس تُسري همَّهُ الخمرُ

    By God, a man burdened by his hopes,

    whose worry wine does not dispel.

  21. أوْقَرُ من نادمني عِندها

    ذو سَفهٍ من شأنه الهُجرُ

    The most dignified of those who keep me company over wine

    is a fool whose habit is foul speech.

  22. أنَّ أولى التيجانِ من خِنْدفٍ

    قومي إذا ما ذكرَ الفخرُ

    Indeed, the crown-bearers of Khindif

    are my people, whenever glory is recounted.

  23. تهفو لنا الراياتُ خَفَّاقةً

    إذا دعا نجدتنا الذُّعرُ

    Banners wave for us, fluttering,

    when terror calls for our help.

  24. فارعوا حقوقَ المجدَ تحظوا بهِ

    في ملِكٍ حِليتُه الشعرُ

    So honor glory's rights, and you will win it

    in a king whose adornment is poetry.

  25. فربما أُعتِبَ مسُتعتبٌ

    من حظنا أو عطف الدهرُ

    For a seeker of redress may yet be appeased

    through our good fortune, or Time may relent.

  26. لا نَعمةٌ تبقى ولا نِقمةٌ

    ولا غِنىً دامَ ولا فَقرُ

    No ease lasts, nor any affliction;

    nor does wealth endure, nor poverty.