1. قِف بِالرسومِ الخاليات مخاطباً

    وَاِجعل أَنينك للمطيّ مجاوبا

    Camp at the deserted traces, addressing them,

    And make your moaning answer the riding camels.

  2. دمنٌ بِها كم قد غدوت محبّبا

    ولكَم لثمت بِها الغزالة كاعِبا

    Camp-remains where so often I was beloved,

    And so often I kissed the gazelle there, a budding-breasted maiden.

  3. بانَ الأحبّة مِن مَعالِمها وقد

    جَعَلوا الهوادجَ للخرادِ مَراكبا

    The beloved departed from its landmarks, and had

    Made the howdahs mounts for the maidens.

  4. أَمسَت كَخوفِ العيرِ أَوحش منزلاً

    وَعَفت عِراصاً بَعدَهم وَملاعبا

    It became, like the wild ass's fear, a most desolate dwelling,

    And its courtyards and playgrounds were effaced after them.

  5. وَلَقد وقفتُ فكنتُ جسماً حاضراً

    ما بينَ أربُعهم وَقلباً غائبا

    Indeed I stood there, my body present,

    Among their dwellings, but my heart absent.

  6. يوماً نودّعهم وَنحنُ منَ الجَوى

    نذري بِأنملِنا الدموعَ سَواكبا

    One day we bade them farewell, while from heartache

    We scattered streaming tears with our fingertips.

  7. وَتَرى ظعائِنَهم غداةَ البينِ في

    لججِ السرابِ طوافياً ورواسبا

    And you see their travelling litters on the morning of parting in

    The mirage's depths, floating and sinking.

  8. يُجلين لِلأبصارِ حين تحمّلوا

    منهم شموساً في الخدورِ غَواربا

    They reveal to the eyes, when they set out,

    Suns among them, setting within curtained chambers.

  9. سارَت بهنّ العيسُ ترفلُ فاِغتدت

    منّا القلوبُ لِركبهنّ جَنايبا

    The pale camels bore them along, swaying, and then

    Our hearts became led mounts beside their caravan.

  10. بيضُ الترائبِ لَم يَزلن حَبايبا

    منّا للبّاتِ القلوبِ نَواهِبا

    Fair-breasted, they never ceased to be beloved,

    Plundering from us the innermost cores of our hearts.

  11. أَطمَعنَنا منهنّ وصلَ إِياسنا

    فَتخالهنّ فَواركاً وَحَبائبا

    They made us hope for union with them amid our despair,

    So you would think them both scornful women and sweethearts.

  12. وَبسمنَ عن بردٍ تحلّ عقوده

    مِن أن يصير لهنّ سلك ناقبا

    And they smiled, revealing hail whose necklaces are free

    From any thread becoming their piercer.

  13. بردٌ يذيبُ ولا يَذوبُ وكلّما

    قارنتهُ للّثمِ كنت الذائِبا

    Hail that melts others but does not melt; and whenever

    I drew close to kiss it, I was the one who melted.

  14. كَم قَد نَعمت بهنّ مُختلياً ولم

    أَخشى حَسوداً كاشِحاً ومُراقبا

    How often I delighted in them in seclusion, without

    Fearing an envious foe or a watcher.

  15. أيّام لم يعبث بنا زمنٌ وَلَم

    نَسمع غرابَ البينِ فينا ناعبا

    In days when time did not toy with us, nor did

    We hear the raven of parting cawing in our midst,

  16. وَذَوائِبي غربيبة أَلوانها

    وَرياضُ لهوٍ لَم يزلنَ خَصائبا

    And my locks were raven-black in hue,

    And the gardens of pleasure remained fertile.

  17. أَسفاً لأيّامٍ مَضَت أسفاً لها

    ولّى الشبابُ وَما قَضيتُ مَآرِبا

    Alas for days gone by—alas for them!

    Youth has fled, and I have not fulfilled my desires.

  18. ما إن رجوتُ منَ الزّمانِ مَغانماً

    إِلا وقَد فَاجأت خطباً نائبا

    Never did I hope for gains from time

    Without suddenly encountering a calamity that befell me.

  19. ما جادَ فِكري في مَذاهبِ حُكمهِ

    مُتصفّحاً إلّا رَأيت عَجائبا

    Never was my thought fruitful in the ways of its decrees,

    Scrutinizing them, without my seeing wonders.

  20. ما شمتُ منهُ مَخايلاً إلّا وَقَد

    هَطلت مَواطر ودقهنّ مَصائبا

    Never did I discern its promising signs without

    Rain-clouds pouring down calamities as their rain.

  21. كَم بارقٍ للظنّ يَبدو صادقاً

    وَيلوحُ في عينِ الحَقيقةِ كاذِبا

    How many a lightning-flash seems true to conjecture,

    Yet appears false in the eye of truth.

  22. لا تَأمننَّ الناسَ كَيداً واِحذَرن

    ممّن تَراهُ مُسالماً وَمحاربا

    Never feel safe from people's guile, and beware

    Of anyone you see, whether peaceable or hostile.

  23. وَاِصرف لَهم باب الوبالِ ولا تلن

    للناسِ ما دامَت حَياتك جانبا

    And turn toward them the gate of ruin; never soften

    Your side toward people as long as you live.

  24. كم واثقٍ بالناسِ حتّى ما أَتت

    نوبُ الزمانِ غَدوا عليهِ نوائِبا

    How many a man trusted people, until there came

    Time's trials, and those people became trials against him.

  25. سَلني عنِ الدنيا تَجدني مخبراً

    عَنها فَصيحاً في المَقالةِ خاطِبا

    Ask me about the world: you will find me reporting

    About it—an eloquent orator in speech.

  26. عاشرت أحداثَ اللّيالي مثلَ ما

    أَحصيتُهنّ مآكلاً ومشاربا

    I kept company with the events of nights, just as

    I counted them as foods and drinks.

  27. وَضربت في الأرضين حتّى جلت في

    أَقطارهنّ مَشارقاً ومَغاربا

    And I travelled through the lands until I roamed

    Their far regions, east and west.

  28. وَعددت لِلآنامِ صبراً طائلاً

    وَعزيمةً تَمضي وَرأياً صائبا

    And I counted out ample patience for mankind,

    And a resolve that presses on, and sound judgment.

  29. وَرقيتُ في أفقِ المطالبِ لامساً

    مِنها شموساً وُضّحا وَكواكبا

    And I climbed the horizon of aspirations, touching

    Among them radiant suns and stars.

  30. وَعلقتُ بِالزاكي أبي العربِ الّذي

    عمّ الأنامَ غوايلاً وَرَغائبا

    And I bound myself to the virtuous Abu al-Arab, who

    Encompassed mankind with calamities and coveted gifts.

  31. ملكٌ يَخالُ العدلَ ديناً قيّماً

    وَيَرى عَليه الجودَ فَرضاً واجبا

    A king who deems justice an upright faith,

    And regards generosity as a duty incumbent upon him.

  32. وفتىً مَتى تقصدهُ في طلبِ الغِنى

    تَقصِد جواداً لِلمَواهبِ واهبا

    And a noble youth: whenever you seek him in pursuit of wealth,

    You seek a generous man, a giver of gifts.

  33. تَحظى الملوكُ عُلاه إِذ هيَ قبّلت

    مِن راحَتيهِ أَناملاً وَرَواجبا

    Kings attain his eminence when they kiss

    The fingertips and knuckles of his two hands.

  34. ما سارَ نَحوَ عُلاه طرسُ كتابه

    إِلّا وَقَد هَزم الكتاب كَتائبا

    No page of his letter ever travelled toward his eminence

    Without the letter having routed battalions.

  35. ما في سَماء علاه مرّ مخاطب

    إِلّا وَأتبعهُ شِهاباً ثاقبا

    No speaker ever passed through the sky of his eminence

    Without his sending after him a piercing meteor.

  36. كَم سُلّ منهُ على الخطوبِ مهنّد

    عَضبٌ وَأَمضى في الخطوبِ مَضاربا

    How often was drawn from him against calamities a sword of Indian steel,

    Sharp, and keener-edged against calamities.

  37. أَسدٌ إِذا ما هزّ ثعلبَ رمحهِ

    صارَت لَه أسدُ العرينِ ثَعالبا

    A lion who, when he shakes the 'fox' of his spear,

    Makes the lions of the thicket foxes before him.

  38. تَركَ العدا في الحربِ ميداناً تثي

    رُ بِهِ فَوارسه دَماً وغياهِبا

    He left the foes a battlefield in war, where

    His horsemen stirred up blood and darkness.

  39. وَدماهم منه ببحرٍ زاخرٍ

    لَجب تلاطمَ بِالدروعِ غَوارِبا

    And he bloodied them with a surging sea of his own,

    Roaring, its crests clashing with armor:

  40. بَحراً يموجُ مغافراً وبواتراً

    وَلَهاذماً وضَراغماً وَشَوازبا

    A sea surging with helmets and keen swords,

    Sharp spearheads, lions, and lean steeds.

  41. وَكَساهمُ حللَ النجيعِ فَأَصبَحوا

    صَرعى لذؤبانِ الفلاةِ مآدبا

    And he clothed them in garments of gore, so they became

    Slain, feasts for the wolves of the wilderness,

  42. في عارضٍ يذرُ السيوفَ بَوارقاً

    وَالنبلَ وبلاً وَالعجاجَ غياهِبا

    Amid a cloudbank that left swords as lightning-flashes,

    Arrows as a downpour, and battle-dust as darkness.

  43. يا مَن أَقامَ حياً غمائمَ جودهِ

    لِلناسِ عَن ودقِ الغَمائمِ نائِبا

    O you who made the rain of your generosity's clouds

    For people a substitute for the rain of the clouds,

  44. اِسمع مقالةَ شاعرٍ أَضحى عَلى

    صَرفِ اللّيالي وَالحَوادثِ عاتِبا

    Hear the words of a poet who has become

    Reproachful at the turns of nights and calamities.

  45. وَنَداكَ يصلح بينهنّ وَتينه

    فَاصلح خصامهما ندىً وَمَواهِبا

    And your bounty heals his vital artery amid them;

    So settle their quarrel with bounty and gifts.