1. لَقَد كُنتُ مِن وَشكِ الفِراقِ أُليحُ

    إِذِ الشَملُ دانٍ لَم يَرُعهُ نُزوحُ

    I was indeed apprehensive of impending separation,

    while our company was still together, undisturbed by departure,

  2. وَإِذ قَدحُنا واري الزِنادِ وَقِدحنا ال

    مُعَلّا وَأَنوارُ الدُنُوِّ تَلوحُ

    and when our striking drew fire from the fire-sticks, and our lot-arrow was the

    highest-winning one, and the lights of nearness gleamed.

  3. فَقَد حُمَّ ما قَد كُنتُ أَخشى وُقوعَهُ

    فَقَلبي لِبَينَ الظاعِنينَ قَريحُ

    Now what I had feared would happen has been decreed,

    so my heart is wounded by separation from the departing ones.

  4. فَواكَبِدي إِن شَطَّتِ الدارُ بَينَنا

    وَأَنضَت مَطاياكُم مَهامِهُ فيحُ

    Alas for my liver, should our dwellings grow far apart,

    and vast deserts wear your mounts to exhaustion,

  5. وَصاحَ غُرابُ البَينِ وَاِنشَقَّتِ العَصا

    وَرَدَّ عَذولٌ في الهَوى وَنَصيحُ

    and separation's raven cry, and the staff split,

    and a reproacher and an adviser speak against love.

  6. أَجيرانَنا بِالرَقمَتَينِ عَلَيكُمُ

    سَلامٌ كَعَرفِ المَندلِيِّ يَفوحُ

    O our neighbors at al-Raqmatayn, upon you

    be peace, wafting like the fragrance of Mandali aloeswood.

  7. لَقَد كُنتُمُ أَرواحَنا فَذَهَبتُمُ

    فَلا جِسمَ يَبقى حينَ تَذهَبُ روحُ

    You were indeed our souls, and you departed;

    no body remains when a soul departs.

  8. حَنَيتُم عَلى جَمرِ الفِراقِ ضُلوعَنا

    فَضُمِّنَّ أَكباداً بِهِنَّ قُروحُ

    You bent our ribs over the embers of separation,

    so they were made to enclose livers bearing sores.

  9. وَكَم أَوجُهٍ يَومَ الوَداعِ اِجتَلَيتُها

    حِساناً وَلَكِنَّ الوَداعَ قَبيعُ

    How many faces I beheld on the day of farewell,

    beautiful—yet farewell is ugly.

  10. لَقَد صَحَّ وَجدي فَهوَ لَم يَشكُ عِلَّةً

    وَما القَلبُ مِن داءِ الغَرامِ صَحيحُ

    My passion is sound indeed; it has complained of no ailment,

    yet my heart is not free of love's disease.

  11. وَكَم مِن قريعٍ لِلنَوى فَكَأَنَّهُ

    لقىً بَينَ أَطنابِ الخِيامِ طَريحُ

    How many a man stricken by separation seems

    a castaway lying among the tent ropes.

  12. وَكَم مِن فُؤادٍ ذابَ فَاِنهَلَّ أَدمُعاً

    فَفي كُلِّما جفنٍ يُخالُ ذَبيحُ

    How many a heart has melted and streamed down as tears,

    so in every eyelid it seems a slaughtered victim.

  13. وَما هاجَني إِلّا بُكاءُ حَمامَةٍ

    تَنوحُ وَبِالسِرِّ المَصونِ تَبوحُ

    Nothing stirred me but the weeping of a dove,

    lamenting and revealing the guarded secret.

  14. أَضُمُّ بِكِلتا راحَتَيَّ عَلى الحشا

    إِذا هِيَ صاحَت سُحرَةً وَأَصيحُ

    I press both my palms against my breast,

    when she cries before dawn, and I too cry out.

  15. مُوَلَّهَةً بِالبانِ تَدعو هَديلَها

    فَأُسعِدُها بِالنَوحِ حينَ تَنوحُ

    Distraught among the ban trees, she calls to her dove-mate,

    so I join her lament whenever she laments.

  16. فَيا لَيتَ أَنّي ما عَرَفتُ هَواكُمُ

    وَلا عَصَفَت بي في الصَبابَةِ ريحُ

    Would that I had never known love for you,

    and no wind of yearning had swept me away.

  17. تَأَلَّقَ مِن لُبنانَ لي فَاِنتَجَعتُهُ

    لِمرآكَ بَرقٌ مِن دِمَشقَ مُليحُ

    From Lebanon there gleamed for me—and I sought it out,

    from Damascus, to see you—a lovely lightning-flash.

  18. وَقَد كُنتُ قَبلَ اليَومِ أَستَقبِحُ النَوى

    وَأَنَّ مَسيري عَن دِمَشقَ مَليحُ

    Before today I used to deem separation ugly,

    yet my journey away from Damascus is beautiful.

  19. وَمِن جودِ مَجدِ الدينِ في بعَلبكَّ لي

    أَتَت نِعَمٌ أَغدو بِها وَأَروحُ

    And from Majd al-Din's generosity in Baalbek, to me

    came blessings with which I pass my mornings and evenings.

  20. مَحَلُّ مُلوكِ الأَرضِ مِن دونِ شَأوِهِ

    وَكُلُّهُم بادي الكَلالِ طَليحُ

    The station of earth's kings falls short of his reach,

    and each of them is visibly weary and spent.

  21. غَدا مِثلَ شَهرِ الصَومِ في الصَونِ عِرضُهُ

    بِمالٍ لَهُ في المَكرُماتِ يُبيحُ

    His honor has become as inviolable as the month of fasting,

    through his wealth, which he freely gives for noble deeds.

  22. هَنيئاً لَهُ شَهرُ الصِيام فَفعلُهُ

    بِهِ مَتجَرٌ عِندَ الإِلَهِ رَبيحُ

    May the fasting month bring him joy, for his deeds

    in it are a profitable trade with God.

  23. إِذا جادَ قالَت طَيِّءٌ عِندَ جودِهِ

    أَلا إِنَّ فينا حاتماً لَشَحيحُ

    When he gives, Tayy says at the sight of his generosity,

    'Indeed, Hatim among us is miserly!'

  24. وَإِن صالَ صادَ الأُسدَ في أَجَماتِها

    فَزائِرُها الضاري هُناكَ نَبوحُ

    And if he attacks, he hunts lions in their thickets,

    so their savage roarer is only a barker there.

  25. يَرى رَأيَ قَيسٍ فائِلاً عِندَ رَأيِهِ

    وَإِن قالَ ما قسٌّ لَدَيهِ فَصيحُ

    He finds Qays's judgment unsound beside his own,

    and if he speaks, Quss is not eloquent beside him.

  26. وَفي مَعمَعانِ الحَربِ عَمرٌو وَعامِرٌ

    يَفِرّانِ خَوفاً مِنهُ وَهوَ مُشيحُ

    And in the turmoil of war, Amr and Amir

    both flee for fear of him while he presses on.

  27. وَكُلُّ قَريضٍ دونَ نَظمِ قَريضِهِ

    وَهَل تَتَساوى رَغوَةٌ وَصَريحُ

    All poetry falls short of the weaving of his verse,

    and can froth and pure milk be equal?

  28. وَيا حَبَّذا الإِسفِنطُ حينَ يُرى بِهِ

    غَبوقٌ زَها مِنهُ لَهُ وَصَبوحُ

    And how delightful the wine, when through it are seen

    an evening draught, gleaming from it for him, and a morning draught!

  29. بِهِ عاشَ مَوتى الفَقرِ حَتّى كَأَنَّما

    أَتى الناسَ مِن بَعدِ المَسيحِ مَسيحُ

    Through him poverty's dead came to life, until it seemed

    a Messiah had come to mankind after the Messiah.

  30. أَلا إِنَّما كُلُّ المُلوكِ كَواكِبٌ

    وَمِن وَجهِ بهَرامَ شاهَ يَخجَلُ يوحُ

    Indeed, all kings are but stars,

    and Yuh, the sun, blushes before Bahram Shah's face.

  31. فَنالَ الَّذي نالَ اِبنُ داوودَ قَبلَهُ

    وَعُمِّرَ ما في الدَهرِ عُمِّر نوحُ

    May he attain what David's son attained before him,

    and be granted as long a life as Noah had in this world.

  32. فَما شاعَ إِلّا بِالمَحامِدِ ذِكرُهُ

    وَلا شاعَ إِلّا في عُلاهُ مَديحُ

    For his name has spread only through praiseworthy deeds,

    and praise has spread only of his eminence.

  33. وَما أَسَدٌ دامي الأَظافِرِ باسِلٌ

    غَضوبٌ جَريءٌ في الكُماةِ جَريحُ

    And no lion, bloody-clawed and valiant,

    wrathful, bold, wounded among armored warriors,

  34. يُماصِعُ عَن شِبلَيهِ في الغيلِ عابِساً

    فَفي وَجهِهِ عِندَ اللِقاءِ كُلوحُ

    fighting for its two cubs in the thicket, scowling,

    with a grimace on its face at the encounter,

  35. بِأَفتَكَ مِنهُ وَالكُماةُ مخالِطٌ

    دِماءَهُم فَوقَ الجُسومِ مُسيحُ

    is deadlier than he, while the armored warriors have

    sweat mingling with their blood upon their bodies.

  36. شَأى العُلَماءَ الراسِخينَ اِعتِزامُهُ

    وَبَذَّ المُلوكَ الصَيدَ وَهوَ جموحُ

    His resolve has outstripped the firmly grounded scholars,

    and surpassed the proud kings, while he remains unbridled.

  37. مَهابَتُهُ مِلءُ القُلوبِ وَإِنَّهُ

    لَعافٍ عَن الذَنبِ العَظيمِ صَفوحُ

    Awe of him fills hearts, and he is

    truly one who pardons grave offenses, ever forgiving.

  38. لَهُ صُورَةٌ أَضحَت تَروقُ وَسَورَةٌ

    تَروقُ وَخَلقٌ كَالنَسيمِ سَجيحُ

    He has a form that now delights, and a fierce power

    that delights, and a disposition gentle as the breeze.

  39. مَقاماتُهُ وَقفٌ عَلى الفَضلِ ما بِها

    فُضولٌ وَلا فيها يُذاعُ قَبيحُ

    His assemblies are devoted to excellence; in them is no

    idle talk, nor is anything foul proclaimed there.

  40. فَمِن خَطِّهِ يَقري العُيونَ حَلاوَةً

    وَتُقرَأُ مِن شَرحِ الصُدورِ شُروحُ

    Thus, with his handwriting, he regales the eyes with sweetness,

    and commentaries are read from the unfolding of hearts.