1. سقياً لجيرونَ وللبريصِ

    إذ عيشُنا صافٍ من التنغيصِ

    May rain bless Jayrūn and al-Barīṣ,

    when our life was clear of vexation.

  2. نفسِ اسلكي بي طُرُق التخليص

    المورداتي مَوردَ التمحيص

    My soul, take me along the paths of deliverance,

    that bring me to purification's watering place.

  3. مَن غاصَ في غيٍّ فلا تغُوصي

    أو حاصَ عن رُشدٍ فلا تحيصي

    Whoever plunges into error, do not plunge;

    or swerves from right guidance, do not swerve.

  4. خُذي عناني من يدِ التربيص

    وذا أوانُ البَوصِ لي فبُوصي

    Take my reins from the hand of delay,

    and now is my time to advance, so advance.

  5. ما جُعِلَ المصدوقُ كالمخروصِ

    عَرَّصْتِني فاجتنبي تَعْريصي

    What is verified is not like what is conjectured.

    You have roasted me; avoid roasting me.

  6. ألهى عن الحُشوكِ والشُّصوص

    والهمِّ بالمقبوضِ والمقبوصِ

    I have been distracted from milk-rich and milk-poor camels,

    and from concern over what is grasped or pinched up,

  7. والشغل بالتزويق والتجصيص

    ما حُصَّ من جناحيَ الحصيص

    and from busying myself with decoration and plastering,

    by what has been shorn from my close-shorn wing,

  8. ومصُّ ماءِ الثمدِ الممصوص

    وبيعُ دهري رُطَباً بشِيص

    by sucking the water of an already-drained shallow pool,

    and by bartering my lifetime's ripe dates for shriveled ones.

  9. لستُ من الجثجاثِ والقصيص

    ولا من الجأبِ ولا النَّحوص

    I have no concern with jithjāth shrubs or qaṣīṣ herbs,

    nor with the wild jackass or the wild she-ass,

  10. ولا من البكر ولا القَلوص

    ولا من القانص والقنيص

    nor with the young male camel or the young she-camel,

    nor with the hunter and the hunted,

  11. ولا لطيف الخَصر عبْل البوص

    قَدْنِيَ من ذاتِ الحشا الخميص

    nor with one slim of waist and full of buttocks.

    I have had enough of the woman with a slender belly.

  12. حلفَ الهوى محالف التنغيص

    كأنّما بُخنِقَ بالخبيص

    Love swore, allied with affliction.

    As though hooded in khabīṣ sweetmeat,

  13. حظِّيَ من غالٍ ومن رخيص

    طائرُ زْجلٍ ليس بالغَموص

    my share of the costly and of the cheap

    is a racing pigeon, not one to be scorned,

  14. أحقُّ طير الزجلِ بالخصوص

    ليس إذا يقمصُ بالمقموص

    the racing bird most deserving of distinction.

    When it leaps, it is not forced to leap,

  15. ولا إذا ما حِصنَ بالحَيوص

    في الحسبِ الموفور لا المنقوص

    nor, when the others swerve, is it a habitual dodger;

    with honor abundant, not diminished,

  16. والنسبِ السَّالم لا المقروص

    من النَّصيص النعتِ فالنَّصيص

    and lineage sound, not bitten into,

    from one clearly described forebear, then another;

  17. مُقلَّصٍ وأيّما تَقليصِ

    كفارسٍ في دِرْعِه الدَّليص

    trimly built—and what trimness!

    Like a knight within his gleaming armor,

  18. يَمضي مضاءَ اللَّهذَم المشُوص

    أبا الحسين يا كريم العيص

    it advances with the keenness of a polished spearhead.

    Abū al-Ḥusayn, noble of stock,

  19. مَن عنترٌ من أَسَدُ الرهيص

    عندك يوم المأزقِ المرصوص

    who is ʿAntar, who is Asad al-Rahīṣ,

    compared with you on the day of close-packed battle?

  20. يا ابنَ فصوص المجدِ فالفصوص

    ذوي الرُّهوص الشُّمِّ فالرُّهوص

    O son of glory's gems, gem after gem,

    possessors of lofty foundations, foundation after foundation!

  21. شفاءٌ فَحص المشتفي الفحوص

    كما طارَ من طيرِكَ من قصيص

    The searching cure-seeker's inquiry is healing,

    as a clipped-wing bird among your birds took flight.

  22. جاءتْ مجيءَ التائقِ الحريص

    يُنفِذُها من أعوَص العَويص

    They came as one yearning and eager comes;

    carrying them through the knottiest difficulties are

  23. أجنحَةٌ مُوثَّقَةُ الفريص

    كَسَعفِ النخل اللطيف الخُوص

    wings with firmly knit flank-muscles,

    like palm fronds with delicate leaflets.

  24. هيهاتِ ما للريح من مَحيص

    منها وما للبرقِ من مَفيص

    Far from it—the wind has no escape

    from them, nor has lightning any way out.

  25. طَيرُكَ للتجيل والتخصيص

    والمدجِ ذي التَّمنيق والتَّخليص

    Your birds deserve reverence and distinction,

    and praise, rich in embellishment and refinement;

  26. وما سوى طَيْرِكَ للمَصُوصِ

    كم من طويل الصَّوْنِ في القُرْموص

    and every bird but yours is for vinegar stew.

    How many a long-protected one within a hiding-hole

  27. غَادَرْتَهُ أَذلَّ مِنْ حُرْقُوصِ

    مستتراً بالجندلِ المرصُوص

    have you left more abject than a tiny biting insect,

    hiding among closely packed stones,

  28. تَسَتُّرَ الجابي منَ الشُّصُوص

    منْ شُبْهبِها الساطعةِ الوبيص

    as a tax collector hides from thieves—

    from the flock's pale birds, radiant with sheen,

  29. وخُضْرِها الموموقةِ الشُّخُوصِ

    من ساذجٍ أو أَنْمَرِ القميص

    and its green ones, beloved in form,

    some plain-colored, others speckled of coat,

  30. كأنما فُصِّصَ بالفصوص

    أسْرَقَ للبُعْدِ من اللُّصُوص

    as though inset with gemstones,

    stealing distance more stealthily than thieves,

  31. أهدى لدى الغاباتِ من دُعْموصِ

    ومن قَطَا البرِّ إلى المَفْحوص

    surer of their way through thickets than a water-worm,

    and than desert sandgrouse heading to their scraped-out nests.

  32. يُغادِرُ الطيرَ بحِيْص بِيص

    كأنَّها من شأوِهِ المنْصُوص

    It leaves the other birds in frantic confusion,

    as though, from its headlong racing pace,

  33. ما بين مَشْكُولٍ إلى مَقْصُوص

    والنخلُ من أَذنابِها كالخوص

    they ranged from hobbled to wing-clipped;

    and the palms from their tails are like palm leaflets,

  34. بين مُقِلٍّ عُنُقَ الموقوصِ

    وَمُسْتَقلٍّ قدَمَ الموهوص

    some lifting the neck of the broken-necked,

    and others raising the foot of the crushed-footed.

  35. ينكص مُشْتاقاً إلى النُّكُوص

    It draws back, longing to retreat.