1. لِمَن المنازلُ بالصحيفةِ تعرفُ

    قفراً كأنّ رسومهنَّ الأحرفُ

    Whose are the dwellings at al-Sahifa, still discernible,

    desolate, their traces like letters?

  2. عوجوا عَلى الأطلالِ منها ساعةً

    واِمضوا على نهجِ السلامةِ أو قفوا

    Turn aside to their ruins for an hour,

    and go on along the path of safety, or halt.

  3. وَصفوا مقاسات الغرامِ وكيّفوا

    مِن مستجدِّ الوجدِ ما يتكيّفُ

    And describe love’s ordeals, and portray

    whatever can be portrayed of newly stirred yearning.

  4. وَلَقد شَجا قَلبي بكاءُ حمامةٍ

    وَرقاء في فننٍ تنوحُ وتهتفُ

    Indeed, a dove’s weeping has grieved my heart,

    a gray dove lamenting and crying out upon a bough.

  5. بِجمال سعدى وهيَ تلك أليّة

    يخشى مآثم حنثِها لا يحلفُ

    By Su‘da’s beauty—such an oath

    is not sworn by one who fears the guilt of breaking it—

  6. إنّي عَلى عهدٍ لديدنة الهَوى

    لا أَستحيلُ إذاً ولا أتخلّفُ

    I am bound by a pledge to love’s accustomed ways;

    I do not change, then, nor fall short.

  7. وَلَقد كلفتُ بها ولا عجباً لمن

    أَضحى بِها أبداً يهيمُ ويكلفُ

    Indeed I have fallen in love with her; no wonder that anyone

    should be forever love-mad for her and enamored.

  8. جِسمي وناحلُ خصرها في وشحها

    لَم يدرِ أيُّهما عَذولي أنحفُ

    My body and her slender waist within her sashes—

    my reproacher could not tell which of the two was thinner.

  9. قَد صرتُ أعجز مُذ أضرّ بيَ الهوى

    وَالوجد عَن حملِ القميصِ وأضعفُ

    I have grown less able—since I was afflicted by love

    and yearning—to bear a shirt, and weaker still.

  10. غنجا تبلّغ في القلوبِ لِحاظها

    ما ليسَ يبلغهُ الحسامُ المرهفُ

    Her coquettish glances reach into hearts

    where the keen-edged sword cannot reach.

  11. فَالورد منها ليسَ يذبلُ زهرهُ

    أبداً ولا التفّاحُ منها يقطفُ

    And the rose upon her—its blossom does not wither,

    ever; nor is the apple upon her plucked.

  12. وَإِذا رشفت مجاجةً مِن ريقها

    أَيقنت مِنها أنَّ ريق القرقفُ

    And when I sip a drop of her saliva,

    I know from it that her saliva is strong wine.

  13. يا حبّها يومَ الوداعِ وحبّذا

    ذاكَ الوداع وحبّذاك الموقفُ

    Oh, how I loved her on the day of parting! How lovely

    that farewell, and how lovely the place where we stood!

  14. إِذ صافَحت خدّي بِصفحةِ خدّها

    وَدَنا إليّ قوامُها المتعطّفُ

    When she greeted my cheek with the surface of hers,

    and her swaying figure drew close to me.

  15. مِن حيثُ لَم نحسن هناكَ منَ البكا

    نُطقاً وأَدمُعنا تسحُّ وتذرفُ

    There, where through weeping we could not manage

    speech, while our tears poured and streamed.

  16. وَعرندسٍ جرفٍ يُخالط عزمها

    بينَ الرواحلِ شدّةً وتعجرفُ

    And a sturdy, voracious camel, with whose resolve

    amid the mounts are mingled strength and impetuosity.

  17. تنفي اللغامَ إِذا جَدت فكأنّما

    في هامِها زبد اللغام الكرسفُ

    She flings off foam when she presses on, as though

    the froth of her spittle upon her head were cotton.

  18. كلّفتها قطعَ القفارِ ولَم أزَل

    في البيدِ أُلزِمها السرى وأكلّفُ

    I tasked her with crossing the deserts, and never ceased

    in the wastes to force her to travel by night and tax her.

  19. حتّى اِنتهيت بِها إلى سمدٍ وقد

    أمنت هنالكَ كلّما تَتخوّفُ

    until I reached Samad with her, and had

    there found safety from all that you fear.

  20. بلدٌ أعزُّ مكانةً بِمَليكها

    وَأَجلّ أرضٍ في البلادِ وأشرفُ

    A land most exalted in rank through its king,

    and the most august land among lands, and the noblest.

  21. فكأنّما مصر مدينةُ يوسفٍ

    وَكأنّما كهلان فيها يوسفُ

    It is as though it were Egypt, the city of Yusuf,

    and as though Kahlan within it were Yusuf.

  22. ملكٌ يسيدُ المكرُمات وإنّه

    أَبداً ليتلفُ حيث شاء ويخلفُ

    A king supreme in noble deeds; indeed,

    he ever spends freely wherever he wishes, and replenishes.

  23. أَعلى وأعدلُ في تخوتِ الملكِ من

    كِسرى وقيصر حيث كان وأنصفُ

    Higher and more just upon the thrones of kingship than

    Kisra and Caesar, wherever he may be, and more equitable.

  24. مُزِجت قساوتهُ على تَصريفها

    خلقٌ ألذُّ منَ النسيمِ وألطفُ

    His sternness, in its varied workings, is mingled

    with a disposition sweeter than the breeze, and gentler.

  25. صَمدٌ يظلّ عَلى أعاديهِ له

    بطشٌ يُزيل الراسياتِ وينسفُ

    A steadfast lord, ever standing against his enemies; his

    might dislodges firm mountains and scatters them.

  26. فَعلى مُسالمه رخاء سجسجٌ

    أَخلاقهُ وعلى المُعادي جرجفُ

    For one at peace with him, a soft, temperate breeze

    is his nature; toward his enemy, a freezing gale.

  27. كَم زلزلت صولاتهُ لعداتهِ

    حصناً فَأمسى وهي قاعٌ صفصفُ

    How often his assaults have shaken his enemies’

    fortress, till it became a bare, level plain!

  28. يا مَن لهُ الشرفُ الرفيعُ ومن له

    يَنمو تليدُ المجدِ والمستطرفُ

    O you who possess exalted honor, and whose

    inherited and newly won glory grows,

  29. اِسمع لمَن هو عَن سواكَ منَ الورى

    مُترفّعٌ مُتنزّهٌ متعفّفُ

    listen to one who, from all mankind except you,

    stands aloof, keeps apart, and refrains from begging.

  30. آمالهُ تَقوى وتسمنُ والمطا

    معُ منه تهزلُ في المسيرِ وتعجفُ

    His hopes grow strong and fat, while his covetous desires

    grow lean within him along the road and waste away.

  31. يَتَجشّمُ المَسرى ولَم يَنظر إلى

    ما قالهُ المتطيّر المتعيفُ

    He braves the night journey, paying no heed to

    what the superstitious interpreter of bird omens has said.

  32. مُستقبلاً لفحَ الرياح بوجههِ

    وَالشمس فهو لذاكَ أشعث أكلفُ

    Facing the scorching blast of the winds with his face,

    and the sun, he is thus disheveled and sun-darkened.

  33. وَفّاكَ بالأشعارِ ذاك مؤسّس

    مِنها عَلى جهةٍ وذلك مردفُ

    He has paid you your due with poems: one has a foundation alif in its rhyme,

    among them, in one form; another has a long vowel directly before its rhyme consonant.