إذا المرء لم يستخلص الحزم جُنّةً

إذا المرء لم يستخلص الحزم جُنّةً

ولم تكذب الطَّرف اللموح مخايلهْ

ولم تكذب الطَّرف اللموح مخايلهْ

If a man does not take prudence as his shield,

If a man does not fortify his soul with patience,

and his outward signs do not deceive the keen-sighted eye,

And if his glances do not speak with guile,

ولم يكُ مشّاءً على الأين راقداً

ولم يكُ مشّاءً على الأين راقداً

على البينِ يُخشى فتكُه ومخاتلُهْ

على البينِ يُخشى فتكُه ومخاتلُهْ

and he is not a tireless walker despite fatigue, sleeping

And if he is not prone to slumber in comfort,

despite parting, with his deadly assault and stratagems feared,

Then ruin and treachery threaten him.

أطاعَ الردى واستوعر السهل وانثنت

أطاعَ الردى واستوعر السهل وانثنت

مسالمُهُ في الأمرِ وهي مَقاتلهْ

مسالمُهُ في الأمرِ وهي مَقاتلهْ

he submits to death, finds smooth ground rough, and back upon him turn

He yields to evil and deems the plain easy,

his safe courses in affairs, which prove his deathtraps.

Yet in command he is a fighter.

فلا تعجبي إن الحضارة آفةُ ال

فلا تعجبي إن الحضارة آفةُ ال

صَّريحِ وأنَّ المَجْدَ وعرٌ منازله

صَّريحِ وأنَّ المَجْدَ وعرٌ منازله

So do not wonder if settled life is the bane of the

So wonder not that civilization is the bane

trueborn man, and glory's dwelling places are rugged.

Of the sincere man, and glory harms its lodgings.

وكم خلقٍ شثْنٍ بأول ملمسٍ

وكم خلقٍ شثْنٍ بأول ملمسٍ

ولَيْنٍ إذا يْلوهُ من هو عاقِلهْ

ولَيْنٍ إذا يْلوهُ من هو عاقِلهْ

And many a disposition, rough at the first touch,

How many a despised creation at first touch

yet gentle when handled by one who understands it,

Is soft, but if assailed, shows its wisdom.

تجنبتُه طوعَ الزمانِ فسرَّني

تجنبتُه طوعَ الزمانِ فسرَّني

وللدهر حكمٌ لا تردُّ فواصله

وللدهر حكمٌ لا تردُّ فواصله

I avoided, yielding to time, and that pleased me;

I avoided him in submission to time, so it gladdened me,

and time has a judgment whose decrees cannot be overturned.

For fate has a judgment none can turn back.

وإني بشكر العُرف مغري كريمة

وإني بشكر العُرف مغري كريمة

لديَّ كثيراتُ النَّدى وقلائلهْ

لديَّ كثيراتُ النَّدى وقلائلهْ

And I am devoted to thanking kindness; precious

And I thank custom though it costs me dear,

to me are plentiful gifts and scant ones alike.

For I have generous rains and barren ones.

سليم مغيب القول لا تستفزني

سليم مغيب القول لا تستفزني

لدادةُ لفظٍ أشبه الحق باطلهُ

لدادةُ لفظٍ أشبه الحق باطلهُ

My words' hidden intent is sound; I am not provoked

Do not provoke me, Silent One, with babble,

by contentious speech whose falsehood resembles truth.

Resembling truth, but false in essence.

أكرِّم حتى عرض خصمي وذو النهى

أكرِّم حتى عرض خصمي وذو النهى

بأفعاله لا بالذي هو قائله

بأفعاله لا بالذي هو قائله

I respect even my opponent's good name; and the man of reason

I will honor even the pride of my foe,

is judged by his deeds, not by what he says.

And censure him for his acts, not his words.

وبالجزع حيٌّ من ذؤابةِ هاشمٍ

وبالجزع حيٌّ من ذؤابةِ هاشمٍ

سقى دارهم طَلُّ الغمام ووابله

سقى دارهم طَلُّ الغمام ووابله

And at al-Jizʿ lives a clan of Hāshim's noblest stock;

By resignation lives one of Hashim's lions,

may the clouds' light rain and downpour water their home.

Whose abode the clouds' abundance waters.

سراعٌ إلى نصر الطريد نوافعُ ال

سراعٌ إلى نصر الطريد نوافعُ ال

أكُفِّ إذا ما الجون أخلف حافلهْ

أكُفِّ إذا ما الجون أخلف حافلهْ

Swift to aid the outcast, beneficent are their

Zealous to aid the outcast are the hands

hands when the dark cloud's laden fullness fails.

That check when fickleness fails.

تعلقتهم والخطب مغض عن العُلى

تعلقتهم والخطب مغض عن العُلى

وفارقتهم والدهر جمٌّ غوائلهْ

وفارقتهم والدهر جمٌّ غوائلهْ

I clung to them while calamity averted its gaze from glory,

I clung to them when calamities frowned,

and parted from them while time abounded in treacheries.

And left them when time brought all its disasters.

كأني غداةَ البين ذو خيبريةٍ

كأني غداةَ البين ذو خيبريةٍ

تُرنحهُ فوق الفِراشِ أفاكلهْ

تُرنحهُ فوق الفِراشِ أفاكلهْ

On the morning of parting I was like a man with Khaybar fever,

As though after the parting I were one morning

whose shivering fits rock him upon his bed.

Languishing upon the carpet with a Khaibarian.

وإن لم يكن شعري ظهيري على المنى

وإن لم يكن شعري ظهيري على المنى

إذا كَلَّ عزمٌ فالقوا في صياقله

إذا كَلَّ عزمٌ فالقوا في صياقله

And if my poetry were not my ally in pursuing my wishes,

And if my verse backs not my wish,

when resolve flags—for strength lies in its polishers—

When resolve falters, its blades will.

أطعت ملوك الأرض طاعة جاهلٍ

أطعت ملوك الأرض طاعة جاهلٍ

فأسفرَ حظي واستراحت عواذلُهْ

فأسفرَ حظي واستراحت عواذلُهْ

I would obey the kings of the earth with a fool's obedience,

I obeyed earth's kings with a fool's obedience,

and my fortune would brighten and its reproachers find rest.

So my fortune dawned and worries ceased.

ولكنني أشدو به فيسرُّني

ولكنني أشدو به فيسرُّني

سرور أخي الصهباء دبَّتْ مفاصله

سرور أخي الصهباء دبَّتْ مفاصله

But I sing it, and it delights me

But I sing it to make my brother glad,

with the wine-lover's joy as tawny wine courses through his joints.

The bright-faced one, whose joints are supple.

على أنني بُوِّئتُ منه مواقِفاً

على أنني بُوِّئتُ منه مواقِفاً

تقاصر عنهن القريضُ وقائله

تقاصر عنهن القريضُ وقائله

Yet through it I have been granted stations

For he showed me situations from which

that poetry and its speaker fall short of:

Ballad and bard shrink.

ولوجي على أسدِ الأسرة مكرماً

ولوجي على أسدِ الأسرة مكرماً

يُباذلني مرهوبُهمْ وأباذله

يُباذلني مرهوبُهمْ وأباذله

my entering, honored, into the presence of the lions of the thrones,

My cheek upon the lion of the clan, honored,

their feared one exchanging gifts with me, and I with him.

Bestowing on me their awe, receiving mine.

ويومٍ كعمر النَّسرِ نارٌ هجيرهُ

ويومٍ كعمر النَّسرِ نارٌ هجيرهُ

تباعد أدنى صُبحه وأصائله

تباعد أدنى صُبحه وأصائله

And many a day as long as the vulture's lifetime, its noon heat a fire,

A day like the eagle's life: its early fire

its dawn's first light far removed from its afternoon hours,

Distant from gloaming and waning.

قطعت به خرقاً كأنَّ سرابهُ

قطعت به خرقاً كأنَّ سرابهُ

غواربُ يمٍّ ما تُرامُ سواحله

غواربُ يمٍّ ما تُرامُ سواحله

I crossed in it a desert expanse whose mirage seemed

I crossed with it a stage as though its mirage

the wave crests of a sea whose shores cannot be reached.

Were waves of a sea that knows no shore.

سحيق المدى يستهلك العي خطوه

سحيق المدى يستهلك العي خطوه

وتخدع خِرِّيتَ الفَلاة مجاهله

وتخدع خِرِّيتَ الفَلاة مجاهله

Far-reaching, weariness consumes the steps across it,

Vast its range, exhausting vigor its step,

and its trackless wastes deceive the expert desert guide.

And the emptiness of the wastes deceives its ignorant.

تنكَّر من إيحاشِه كل ساكنٍ

تنكَّر من إيحاشِه كل ساكنٍ

فصوَّانُهُ مرهوبةٌ وجَراولهْ

فصوَّانُهُ مرهوبةٌ وجَراولهْ

Its desolation made every still thing seem strange,

All settled tremble at its fearsome onslaught,

so its flints and rough rocks were feared.

And its pounding makes its riverside quail.

مياه كأغبار السليط زهيدةٌ

مياه كأغبار السليط زهيدةٌ

وأثْرُ الورود ينقعُ الصدر سائلهْ

وأثْرُ الورود ينقعُ الصدر سائلهْ

Scant water, like the dregs of oil,

Waters like driven rain are paltry,

and on reaching it, its flow quenches thirst in the breast.

Yet the track of roses soaks the breast of its seeker.

شهيٍّ كأن الوقبَ لجةُ غوره

شهيٍّ كأن الوقبَ لجةُ غوره

يسوغُ إذا ما استوخم الماءَ ناهله

يسوغُ إذا ما استوخم الماءَ ناهله

Delicious, as though the rock hollow were a sea in its depths,

Glorious, as though the Pleiades' setting

it goes down easily even when its drinker finds the water unwholesome.

Were the place its waters rinse when pure.

كأنَّ هجيري بالفلاةِ وموردي

كأنَّ هجيري بالفلاةِ وموردي

عِقابُ مطاعٍ ذي كمالٍ ونائله

عِقابُ مطاعٍ ذي كمالٍ ونائله

As though my noonday heat in the wilderness and my watering place

As though my roaring in the wastes and my stream

were a perfect, obeyed ruler's punishment and bounty.

Were the punishment of an obedient perfecter.