1. يذكِّرُني ثناياهنَّلماّ

    تبسَّمَ في الرياضِ الاقْحُوانُ

    Their front teeth are recalled to me when

    the chamomile smiles in the gardens.

  2. اياللهِ مِن برقٍ لموعٍ

    تبلَّجَ عن شرارتِهِ العَنانُ

    O God, what flashing lightning!

    The clouds grew radiant from its spark.

  3. اضاءَلناظري والليلُ داجٍ

    عليهِ من الغياهبِ طيانُ

    It shone before my eyes while the night was dark,

    with a covering of deep gloom upon it.

  4. فبتُّ كأننَّي منه لديغٌ

    سقاه مُجاجَ فيه الافُعُوانُ

    So I spent the night as though stung by it,

    as one whom a viper had given its mouth's venom to drink.

  5. سَقَى زمنُ الشبيبِة كلُّ مُزْنٍ

    غَدَتْ حُلَلُ الربيعِ به تُزانُ

    May every raincloud water the days of youth,

    by which spring's robes came to be adorned.

  6. هو الزمنُ الذي لم يُلْفَ فيه

    مع الاحبابِ ضيرُ وامتهانُ

    That was the time in which there was no

    harm or humiliation in the company of loved ones.

  7. لقد افنى التغرُّقُ لاصطباري

    دروعاً لايُنَفِّدُها الطعانُ

    Parting has indeed worn out my endurance's

    armor, which spear-thrusts cannot wear away.

  8. واعيسَ يذرعُ الفلواتِ وخداً

    يطيرُ على خُطاهُ الَهيِّبانُ

    And a pale camel strides the wastelands at a swift trot;

    the ostrich flies along its tracks.

  9. يجاذِبُنى الزمامَ وليس يَثنى

    عزيمتَهُ خِشاشُ او عِرانُ

    It tugs against me at the rein; nothing bends

    its resolve—not a nose-peg or a nose-pin,

  10. ولا الهَجْلُ الذى تمَشي المطايا

    بعرصِتهِ تُذالُ ولا الِمتانُ

    nor the broad valley where riding-camels walk

    worn down across its open ground, nor the hard uplands.

  11. جَزَعتُ به الغاوزَ في ليالٍ

    تهيَّبَ قطعَهنَّ الشَّيذُ مانُ

    I crossed the deserts on it through nights

    which the wolf feared to traverse,

  12. الى حيَّ كتمتُ هواىَ فيه

    اِذا الاهْواءُ دنسَّهَا العِلانُ

    to a tribe among whom I concealed my love,

    when public disclosure sullied passions.

  13. نديمىوالنديمُ الحرُّ ممِّا

    يُزانُ به اللبيبُ ولايشانُ

    My drinking companion—an honorable companion is something

    that adorns a wise man and does not disgrace him—

  14. ادِرْها مثلَ ذوبِ التَّبرِ صرفاً

    تطيرُ بها مِنَ الفحرحِ الدِّنانُ

    pass it round, unmixed, like molten gold;

    the wine-jars soar with joy at it.

  15. اِذا ما الليلُ مُدَّ له رواقُ

    واُلِقيَ مِنْ دجنتِهِ الجِرانُ

    When a canopy is spread for the night,

    and the neck of its darkness is laid down,

  16. ولم يصدحْوقد طاحَ النَّدامى

    بهاقبلَ الصباحِ العُْترُفانُ

    and the rooster has not crowed, though the drinking companions have fallen

    to the wine before dawn,

  17. فبادِرْهاولا يمنعكَ عنها

    فلانُ بالنصيحةِأو فلانُ

    then hasten to it, and let neither keep you from it—

    so-and-so with his advice, or so-and-so.

  18. فخيرُ الوقتِ ما واتاكَ فيِهِ

    زمانُأوشبابُ أومكانُ

    For the best hour is one in which you are favored by

    time, or youth, or a place.

  19. فيوُمَ فيهِ للكاساتِ حظُّ

    لها قي رأسِ شارِبها عِنانُ

    So one day the cups have their share,

    holding a rein upon their drinker's head;

  20. يُقادُ بهِ فيصحَبُ مستقيداً

    رخيْ البالِ ليسَ بهِ حِرانُ

    he is led by it and goes along submissively,

    at ease in mind, with no balking in him.

  21. ويومَُ فيهِ للأعدا ءِ كأسَُ

    يَغَصُّ بفضلِ سورتِها الِهدانُ

    And another day holds a cup for enemies:

    the weakling chokes on the excess of its fury.

  22. يُذيقهُمُ بها حُرَعَ المنايا

    وللاْقرانِ بالموتِ ارتهانُ

    He makes them taste through it draughts of death,

    and adversaries are held in pledge to death.

  23. ترى دُفَعَ النجيعِ على المذاكي

    كما خَضَبَ الخَد لََّجَةَ الرَّقانُ

    You see gushes of blood upon the full-grown horses,

    as henna dyes a full-figured woman.

  24. أحِنُّ وللهوارقِ في الدياجي

    وميضُ سناً تُنارُ به الرِّعانُ

    I yearn, while the lightning-flashes in the darkness have

    a gleam of radiance that lights the mountain-spurs.

  25. اذا لمعتْ حسبتَ الأرضَ يكسو

    رُباها الريشَ منها الحَيْقطانُ

    When they flash, you think the earth is being clothed,

    its hills dressed in their feathers by the francolin.

  26. فلي شأنَُاذا طفقتْ تراءَ ى

    على حَضَنٍ وللأشواقِ شانُ

    For I have my own concern when they begin to appear

    over Ḥaḍan, and longing has its own concern.

  27. خليليَّ انظرا هل لاَح مغنىً

    لعلوةَ يطَّبيني أو مَعانُ

    My two friends, look: has a dwelling appeared

    of ʿAlwa's to draw me, or an abode?

  28. فما بانُ الحِمى والأثلُ لمّا

    تناءَتْ دارُها أثْلٌ وبانُ

    For the preserve's bān-trees and tamarisks, once

    her home grew distant, were no longer tamarisks and bān-trees.

  29. ولا وجدي ولو أسهبتُ مِمّا

    يقومُ بوصفِ أيسرِه اللسانُ

    Nor is my anguish, however long I speak, something

    whose lightest part the tongue can describe.

  30. فليس مِنَ الغرائبِ أن تُعينا

    عريبَ هوىً تكنَّفِهُ الهوانُ

    So it is no strange thing for you two to help

    a stranger in love surrounded by humiliation.

  31. فاِنَّ أخا الغرامِ إذا تمادىَ

    بهِ داءُ الهوى أمسى يُعانُ

    For a man of passion, when

    love's sickness lingers in him, comes to receive aid.

  32. واِنْ تمنعكُما مثلي دموعٌ

    دفاقٌ لا يَجِفُّ لهنَّ شانُ

    And if tears hold you two back as they do me,

    pouring from tear-channels that never dry,

  33. وأعلامٌ لنجدٍ شاهقاتٌ

    تقاصرُ دونَ شامِخِها القِنانُ

    and Najd's towering mountains,

    beside whose lofty heights the peaks fall short—

  34. فلي قلبٌ يراها كلُّ وقتٍ

    بناظرِه إذا عُدِمَ العِيانُ

    then I have a heart that sees them at every moment

    with its own eye when direct sight is lacking.

  35. ولي دمعٌ يخبَّرُ عن ضميري

    كما شرَح الكلامَ التُّرجُمانُ

    And I have tears that reveal my innermost thoughts,

    as an interpreter explains speech.

  36. فدونَ الناظمينَ واِنْ تمالوَا

    عليَّ وزوَّروا اِفكاً ومانوا

    So before the versifiers stand, though they band together

    against me, fabricate slander, and lie,

  37. قصائدُ مِن بناتِ الفكر تَترى

    اِذا سَمِعوا غرائبَهُنَّ دانوا

    poems—daughters of thought—coming one after another;

    when they hear their marvels, they submit.

  38. مودَّتُهمْ على مَضَضٍ وقسرٍ

    وقد كَرِهوا مقاومتي دِهانُ

    Their affection, offered grudgingly and under duress,

    while they dislike contending with me, is dissembling.

  39. أخَصُّهمُ كَهامٌ حيث شامُوا

    سيوفَهمُ الكَليلَةَ أو دَدانُ

    Their best is a blunt blade when they draw

    their dulled swords—or a blade that cannot cut.

  40. وكيف تُضيءُ للأضدادِ نارٌ

    وقد نصعتْ مناقبيَ الهِجانُ

    How can any fire shine for rivals

    when my pure merits have shone forth?

  41. وأين مِنَ الربيطِ الجأشِ تبدو

    عزيمتُه أخو الفشلِ الجَبانُ

    And where, beside the steadfast-hearted, whose

    resolve shines forth, stands the faint-hearted coward?

  42. فلو أن النجومَ الزُّهْرَ تبغي

    مطاولَتي زواهنَّ الكِيانُ

    If the radiant stars sought

    to match my stature, their own nature would hold them back.

  43. على أنّي منحتُهمُ ودادي

    وبعض الودَّ يَجْلِبُه الحَنانُ

    Though I bestowed my affection on them—

    and some affection is prompted by compassion—

  44. ولكنيّ حُسِدْتُ على قوافٍ

    سَبَقْتُ بها وقد جَدَّ الرَّهانُ

    I was nevertheless envied for rhymes

    with which I outstripped them when the contest grew earnest.

  45. اِذا سَمِعوا قريضي في نَديًّ

    علا تلكَ الوجوهَ الرَّيهَقانُ

    When they hear my verse in an assembly,

    saffron overspreads those faces.

  46. ولا عجبٌ إذا أخفَى سناهُ السُّها

    لمّا تجلَّى الزَّبرِقانُ

    And no wonder if al-Suhā conceals its radiance

    when the full moon shines forth.

  47. وقد علِموا بأنَّيَ لا أُبارَى

    ولو ملأَ الصدورَ الاِضطِغانُ

    They know already that I cannot be rivaled,

    even if rancor fills their breasts.

  48. فحسبُهمُ واِنْ غَبَطُوا بياني

    بأنَّهمُ لأَشعاري استكانوا

    Enough for them, even if they envy my eloquence,

    that they have submitted to my poems.