1. أرى العَنْقاءَ تَكْبُرُ أن تُصادا

    فعانِدْ مَنْ تُطيقُ لهُ عِنادا

    I see the phoenix as too lofty to be hunted,

    So oppose whoever you have the strength to oppose.

  2. وما نَهْنَهَتُ عن طَلَبٍ ولكِنْ

    هيَ الأيّامُ لا تُعْطي قِيادا

    I have not held back from pursuit, but

    The days themselves refuse to yield the reins.

  3. فلا تَلُمِ السّوابِقَ والمَطايا

    إذا غَرَضٌ من الأغراضِ حادا

    So do not blame the fleet steeds and the riding beasts

    If some aim among your aims goes astray.

  4. لعَلّكَ أنْ تَشُنّ بها مَغاراً

    فتُنْجِحَ أو تُجَشّمَها طِرادا

    Perhaps you will launch a raid with them,

    And succeed, or force them into a chase,

  5. مُقارِعَةً أحِجّتَها العَوالي

    مُجَنّبَةً نَواظِرَها الرّقادا

    Their brow-ridges clashing with the tall spears,

    Their eyes kept far from sleep.

  6. نَلومُ على تَبلّدِها قُلوباً

    تُكابِدُ من مَعيشَتِها جِهادا

    We blame hearts for their sluggishness,

    Though they endure a struggle in making their living.

  7. إذا ما النّارُ لم تُطْعَمْ ضِراماً

    فأوْشِكْ أنْ تَمُرَّ بها رَمادا

    When fire is not fed with kindling,

    Then expect soon to pass it as ashes.

  8. فظُنّ بسائِرِ الإخْوانِ شَرّاً

    ولا تأمَنْ على سِرٍّ فُؤادا

    So suspect evil in all companions,

    And trust no heart with a secret.

  9. فلو خَبَرَتْهُمُ الجَوزاءُ خُبْري

    لَما طَلَعَتْ مَخافَةَ أن تُكادا

    For had al-Jawza known them as I do,

    She would not have risen, for fear of being plotted against.

  10. تَجَنّبْتُ الأنامَ فلا أُواخي

    وزِدْتُ عن العدُوّ فما أُعادى

    I shunned humankind, so I make no friends,

    And drew farther from the enemy, so I am not opposed.

  11. ولمّا أنْ تَجَهّمَني مُرادي

    جَرَيْتُ معَ الزّمانِ كما أرادا

    And when my desire frowned upon me,

    I went along with Time as it wished.

  12. وهَوَّنْتُ الخُطوبَ عليّ حتى

    كأني صِرتُ أمْنحُها الوِدادا

    And made calamities easier on myself, until

    I seemed to have come to offer them affection.

  13. أَأُنْكِرُها ومَنْبِتُها فؤادي

    وكيفَ تُناكِرُ الأرضُ القَتادا

    Shall I disown them, when their birthplace is my heart?

    And how could the earth disown its thorn bushes?

  14. فأيّ النّاسِ أجْعَلُهُ صَديقا

    وأيّ الأرضِ أسْلُكُهُ ارْتِيادا

    So whom among people shall I make a friend?

    And what land shall I traverse in quest?

  15. ولو أنّ النّجومَ لديّ مالٌ

    نَفَتْ كَفّايَ أكْثرَها انْتِقادا

    And if the stars were wealth in my possession,

    My two hands would reject most of them upon assay.

  16. كأني في لِسانِ الدهْرِ لَفْظٌ

    تَضَمّنَ منه أغْراضاً بِعادا

    As though I were a word upon Time's tongue,

    Containing far-reaching purposes drawn from it.

  17. يُكَرّرُني ليَفَهَمَني رِجالٌ

    كما كَرّرْتَ مَعْنىً مُسْتَعادا

    It repeats me so that men may understand me,

    As you repeated a meaning asked for again.

  18. ولو أنّي حُبِيتُ الخُلْدَ فَرْداً

    لمَا أحبَبْتُ بالخُلْدِ انفِرادا

    And were I alone granted immortality,

    I would not love solitude in immortality.

  19. فلا هَطَلَتْ عَلَيّ ولا بأرْضي

    سَحائبُ ليسَ تنْتَظِمُ البِلادا

    May no rain fall on me, nor upon my land,

    From clouds that do not encompass all lands.

  20. وكم مِن طالِبٍ أمَدي سيَلْقى

    دُوَيْنَ مَكانيَ السبْعَ الشّدادا

    And many a seeker of my reach will meet

    The seven mighty heavens just below my station.

  21. يُؤجِّجُ في شُعاعِ الشمسِ ناراً

    ويَقْدَحُ في تَلَهّبِها زِنادا

    He kindles a fire amid the sun's rays,

    And strikes firesticks within its blaze.

  22. ويَطْعَنُ في عُلايَ وإنّ شِسْعي

    لَيَأنَفُ أن يكونَ له نِجادا

    And assails my eminence, though my sandal-strap

    Would surely scorn to be his sword-baldric.

  23. ويُظْهِرُ لي مَوَدّتَهُ مَقالا

    ويُبْغِضُني ضَميراً واعْتِقادا

    And displays his affection for me in words,

    And hates me inwardly and in conviction.

  24. فلا وأبيكَ ما أخْشَى انتِقاضاً

    ولا وأبيكَ ما أرْجو ازْديادا

    No, by your father, I fear no diminution,

    Nor, by your father, do I hope for increase.

  25. ليَ الشّرَفُ الّذي يَطَأُ الثُريّا

    معَ الفَضْلِ الذي بَهَرَ العِبادا

    Mine is the eminence that treads upon the Pleiades,

    Along with the excellence that dazzled humankind.

  26. وكم عَيْنٍ تُؤَمّلُ أن تَراني

    وتَفْقِدُ عندَ رؤيَتِيَ السّوادا

    And many an eye hopes to behold me,

    Yet loses its dark pupil at the sight of me.

  27. ولو مَلأ السُّهى عَيْنَيْهِ مِنّي

    أَبَرَّ على مَدَى زُحَلٍ وزادا

    Were al-Suha to fill both his eyes with me,

    He would surpass Saturn's reach, and go farther.

  28. أفُلّ نَوائبَ الأيامِ وحْدي

    إذا جَمَعَتْ كَتائِبَها احْتِشادا

    I alone blunt the calamities of the days,

    When they gather their battalions in force.

  29. وقدْ أَثْبَتُّ رِجْلي في رِكابٍ

    جَعَلْتُ من الزَّماعِ له بَدَادا

    And I have planted my foot in a stirrup

    For which I made a saddle-pad of resolve.

  30. إذا أوْطَأتُها قَدَمَيْ سُهَيْلٍ

    فلا سُقِيَتْ خُناصِرَةُ العِهادا

    If I make them tread upon Suhayl's two feet,

    Then may Khunasira receive no recurring rains.

  31. كأنّ ظِماءَهُنّ بناتُ نَعْشٍ

    يَرِدْنَ إذا وَرَدنا بِنا الثِّمادا

    Their thirsty ones seem the Daughters of Na'sh,

    Coming with us to the scant pools whenever we come to water.

  32. ستَعْجَبُ من تَغَشْمُرِها لَيالٍ

    تُبارِينا كواكبُها سُهادا

    Nights will marvel at their headlong boldness,

    Their stars vying with us in wakefulness.

  33. كأنّ فِجاجَها فَقَدَتْ حَبيباً

    فصَيّرَتِ الظّلامَ لها حِدادا

    As though their passes had lost a beloved,

    And turned the darkness into their mourning garb.

  34. وقد كتَبَ الضّريبُ بها سُطوراً

    فخِلْتَ الأرضَ لابِسَةً بِجادا

    And frost has written lines across them,

    So you thought the earth was wearing a striped cloak.

  35. كأنّ الزِّبْرِقانَ بها أسيرٌ

    تُجُنِّبَ لا يُفَكُّ ولا يُفادى

    As though the full moon there were a captive,

    Kept apart, neither freed nor ransomed.

  36. وبعضُ الظاعِنينَ كقَرْنِ شَمْسٍ

    يَغيبُ فإنْ أضاء الفَجْرُ عادا

    And some who depart are like the sun's rim:

    It vanishes, then returns when dawn shines.

  37. ولكِنّي الشّبابُ إذا تَوَلّى

    فجَهْلٌ أنْ تَرومَ له ارْتِدادا

    But I am youth: once it has gone,

    It is folly to seek its return.

  38. وأحْسَبُ أنّ قَلْبي لو عَصاني

    فَعاوَدَ ما وَجَدْتُ له افْتِقادا

    And I think that, if my heart disobeyed me

    And then returned, I would not have missed it.

  39. تذكَّرْتُ البِداوَةَ في أُناسٍ

    تَخالُ رَبيعَهُمْ سَنَةً جَمادا

    I recalled desert life among a people

    Whose spring you would mistake for a barren year.

  40. يَصيدونَ الفَوَارِسَ كلَّ يومٍ

    كما تَتَصَيّدُ الأُسْدُ النِّقادا

    They hunt horsemen every day,

    As lions hunt small sheep.

  41. طلَعْتُ عليهِمْ واليوْمُ طِفْلٌ

    كأنّ على مَشارِقِهِ جِسادا

    I appeared among them while the day was an infant,

    As though red dye lay upon its eastern horizons.

  42. إذا نَزَلَ الضّيوفُ ولم يُريحُوا

    كرامَ سَوامِهمْ عَقَروا الجِيادا

    When guests arrive before they have brought home

    Their choicest grazing herds, they slaughter fine horses.

  43. بُناةُ الشِّعْرِ ما أكْفَوْا رَوِيّاً

    ولا عَرَفوا الإجازَةَ والسِّنادا

    Builders of verse, they never confused similar rhyme-consonants,

    Nor knew dissimilar rhyme mismatches or pre-rhyme discord.

  44. عَهِدْتُ لأحْسَنِ الحَيّيْنِ وَجْهاً

    وأوْهَبِهِمْ طريفاً أو تِلادا

    I pledged myself to the fairest-faced of the two clans,

    And their most lavish giver of new or inherited wealth,

  45. وأطْوَلِهِمْ إذا ركِبوا قَناةً

    وأرْفَعِهِمْ إذا نزَلوا عِمادا

    And the longest of spear among them when they ride,

    And the highest of tent-pole when they alight:

  46. فتىً يَهَبُ اللُّجَيْنَ المَحضَ جوداً

    ويَدَّخِرُ الحديدَ له عَتادا

    A young man who freely gives pure silver,

    And stores iron for his equipment.

  47. ويَلْبَسُ من جُلودِ عِداهُ سِبْتاً

    ويَرْفَعُ من رُؤوسِهِمُ النِّضَادا

    And wears leather tanned from his enemies' skins,

    And stacks their heads in heaps.

  48. أبَنَّ الغَزْوَ مُكْتَهِلاً وبَدْرا

    وعُوّدَ أنْ يَسودَ ولا يُسادا

    He has clung to raiding in maturity and youthful prime,

    And was accustomed to rule, never to be ruled.

  49. جَهولٌ بالمَناسِكِ ليس يَدري

    أغَيّاً باتَ يَفْعَلُ أم رَشادا

    Ignorant of sacred rites, he does not know

    Whether he spends the night doing wrong or right.

  50. طَموحُ السّيفِ لا يخْشَى إلهاً

    ولا يَرجو القِيامَةَ والمَعادا

    His sword reaches high; he fears no god,

    Nor hopes for resurrection or the life to come.

  51. ويَغْبِقُ أهْلَهُ لبَنَ الصّفايا

    ويَمْنَحُ قَوْتَ مُهْجَتِهِ الجَوادا

    And gives his family evening milk from choice milch-beasts,

    And grants his steed the food that sustains his own life.

  52. يَذودُ سَخاؤُهَ الأذْوادَ عنه

    ويُحْسِنُ عن حرائِبِهِ الذِّيادا

    His generosity drives the small camel herds away from him,

    And he excels at defending his cherished possessions.

  53. يَرُدّ بتُرْسِهِ النّكْباءَ عنّي

    ويجْعَلُ دِرْعَهُ تحْتي مِهادا

    With his shield he keeps the crosswind off me,

    And makes his mail a bed beneath me.

  54. فبِتُّ وإنّما ألْقَى خَيَالاً

    كمَنْ يَلْقَى الأسِنّةَ والصِّعادا

    So I spent the night, though I met only a phantom,

    Like one who faces spearheads and straight lances.

  55. وأطْلَسَ مُخْلِقِ السِّرْبالِ يَبْغي

    نَوافِلَنا صَلاحاً أو فَسادا

    And a gray wolf, his coat threadbare, seeks

    Our bounty, by fair means or foul.

  56. كأنّي إذْ نَبَذْتُ له عِصاماً

    وَهَبْتُ له المَطِيّةَ والمَزَادا

    As though, when I tossed him a waterskin-strap,

    I had given him the mount and the waterskins.

  57. وبَالي الجِسْمِ كالذّكَرِ اليَماني

    أفُلّ به اليَمانِيَةَ الحِدادا

    And a worn-bodied mount, like a Yemeni steel blade,

    With which I blunt the sharp Yemeni blades.

  58. طَرَحْتُ له الوَضِينَ فخِلْتُ أني

    طرَحْتُ له الحَشِيّةَ والوِسادا

    I tossed him the plaited saddle-girth, and thought that I

    Had tossed him a mattress and a pillow.

  59. وَلي نَفْسٌ تَحُلّ بيَ الرّوابي

    وتأبَى أنْ تَحُلّ بيَ الوِهادا

    And mine is a soul that lodges me on the heights,

    And refuses to lodge me in the hollows.

  60. تَمُدّ لتَقْبِضَ القَمَرَينِ كَفّا

    وتَحْمِلُ كيْ تَبُذّ النجْمَ زادا

    It stretches out a hand to seize the sun and moon,

    And carries provisions to outstrip the stars.