1. بِوَدِّ الرَذايا أَنَّها في السَوابِقِ

    وَكَم لِلعُلى مِن طالِبٍ غَيرِ لاحِقِ

    Worn-out mounts wish they were among the swift steeds.

    And how many seek the heights without attaining them!

  2. وَفي شِدَّةِ الدَهرِ اِعتِبارٌ لِعاقِلٍ

    وَفي لَذَّةِ الدُنيا غُرورٌ لِواثِقِ

    In the harshness of time is a lesson for the wise,

    and in the world's pleasures, deception for the trusting.

  3. أَرى العَيشَ أَيّاماً تَمُرُّ وَلَيتَنا

    نُباعِدُ مِن أَحداثِها وَالبَوائِقِ

    I see life as days passing by; would that we

    could distance ourselves from their calamities and disasters.

  4. شَهِيٌّ إِلى الناسِ النَجاءُ مِنَ الرَدى

    وَلا عُنقَ إِلّا وَهيَ في فِترِ خانِقِ

    Escape from death is sweet to people,

    yet every neck lies within the span of a strangler's hand.

  5. وَأَكثَرُ مَن شاوَرتَهُ غَيرُ حازِمٍ

    وَأَكثَرُ مَن صاحَبتَ غَيرُ المُوافِقِ

    Most whom you consult lack sound judgment,

    and most whose company you keep are uncongenial.

  6. إِذا أَنتَ فَتَّشتَ القُلوبَ وَجَدتَها

    قُلوبَ الأَعادي في جُسومِ الأَصادِقِ

    When you search hearts, you find them

    enemies' hearts in friends' bodies.

  7. وَعِندي مِنَ الوُدِّ الَّذي لا يَشوبُهُ

    لَحاظُ المُرائي أَو كَلامُ المُنافِقِ

    Yet I have affection untainted

    by a dissembler's glances or a hypocrite's words.

  8. أُغالِطُ نَفسي بَعدَ مَرأى وَمَسمَعٍ

    وَلا أَنظُرُ الدُنيا بِعَينِ الحَقائِقِ

    I deceive myself despite what I see and hear,

    and do not view the world through the eyes of reality.

  9. عَلى أَنَّني أَدري إِذا كانَ قائِدي

    بَقائي فَإِنَّ المَوتَ لا شَكَّ سائِقي

    Yet I know that if my guide

    is my continued life, death is surely my driver.

  10. وَما جَمعِيَ الأَموالَ إِلّا غَنيمَةً

    لِمَن عاشَ بَعدي وَاِتِّهاماً لِرازِقي

    My gathering wealth is nothing but spoils

    for whoever lives after me, and distrust of my Provider.

  11. تَنَفَّسَ في رَأسي بَياضٌ كَأَنَّهُ

    صِقالُ تَراقٍ في النُصولِ الرَوانِقِ

    Whiteness has breathed across my head, as though it were

    the polish of arrowheads among gleaming blades.

  12. وَما جَزَعي إِن حالَ لَونٌ وَإِنَّما

    أَرى الشَيبَ عَضباً قاطِعاً حَبلَ عاتِقي

    I do not fret because a color has changed; rather,

    I see gray hair as a keen sword cutting my shoulder's sinew.

  13. فَما لي أَذُمُّ الغادِرينَ وَإِنَّما

    شَبابِيَ أَدنى غادِرٍ بي وَماذِقِ

    Why should I revile betrayers, when

    my youth is my nearest betrayer and false friend?

  14. تُعَيُّرُني شَيبي كَأَنّي اِبتَدَعتُهُ

    وَمَن لِيَ أَن يَبقى بَياضُ المَفارِقِ

    You taunt me for my gray hair, as though I invented it.

    And who can assure me that my partings' whiteness will endure?

  15. وَإِنَّ وَراءَ الشَيبِ ما لا أَجوزُهُ

    بِعائِقَةٍ تُنسي جَميعَ العَوائِقِ

    Beyond gray hair lies what I cannot pass,

    barred by an obstacle that makes all others forgotten.

  16. وَلَيسَ نَهارُ الشَيبِ عِندي بِمُزمِعٍ

    رُجوعاً إِلى لَيلِ الشَبابِ الغُرانِقِ

    To my mind, the daylight of gray hair has no intention

    of returning to the night of tender, handsome youth.

  17. وَما العِزُّ إِلّا غَزوُكَ الحَيَّ بِالقَنا

    وَرَبطُ المَذاكي في خُدورِ العَواتِقِ

    Honor is nothing but raiding the tribe with lances,

    and tethering prime steeds in maidens' curtained chambers,

  18. وَإِغمادُكَ الأَسيافَ في كُلِّ هامَةٍ

    وَرَكزُكَ أَطرافَ القَنا في الحَمالِقِ

    and sheathing your swords in every skull,

    and planting your lance-tips in the inner eyelids,

  19. وَلا تَرتَضي أَن تُدنِسَ العِرضَ ساعَةً

    وَمَشيُكَ في ثَوبٍ مِنَ الزَينِ رائِقِ

    and refusing to stain your honor for a moment,

    and walking in a garment of radiant beauty.

  20. فَلِلعِزِّ ما أَدنى لِياني مِنَ القَنا

    وَأَكرَهَ رُمحي في صُدورِ الفَيالِقِ

    For glory's sake was my pliancy brought near the lances,

    and my spear forced into battalions' breasts.

  21. سَقى اللَهُ نَفساً ما أَضَرَّ بَقاؤُها

    بِجِسمي وَأَغراها بِما كانَ عارِقي

    May God water a soul—how its persistence harms

    my body, and how eager it is for what strips my flesh!

  22. تُكَلِّفُني سَيراً إِلى غَيرِ غايَةٍ

    مُضِرّاً بِأَبناءِ الجَديلِ وَلاحِقِ

    It burdens me with travel toward no destination,

    harmful to the offspring of al-Jadil and Lahiq.

  23. وَلَيلٍ كَعَينِ الظَبيِ إِلّا نُجومَهُ

    قَطَعتُ وَلي مِن صُبحِهِ كَفُّ سارِقِ

    Many a night like a gazelle's eye, save for its stars,

    I crossed, with a thief's handful of its dawn.

  24. جَريّاً عَلى الظَلماءِ حَتّى كَأَنَّني

    أَراها بِأَلحاظِ الرَزايا الطَوارِقِ

    Daring the darkness, until it was as though

    I saw it through the glances of calamities that strike by night.

  25. وَرَكبٍ أَناخوا ساعَةً فَتَناهَبوا

    ثَرى البيدِ في أَعضادِهِم وَالمَرافِقِ

    And a band of riders halted an hour, then snatched their shares

    of desert earth for their upper arms and elbows.

  26. وَساروا بِأَيدي العيسِ عَجلى كَأَنَّها

    خَراطِمُ أَقلامٍ جَرَت في المَهارِقِ

    They traveled, the pale camels' forelegs hastening, as though they were

    the tips of pens running across parchment.

  27. وَما أَنا مِمَّن يُضجِرُ السَيرُ قَلبَهُ

    وَتُذكِرُهُ الأَمواهُ حَرَّ الوَدائِقِ

    I am not one whose heart travel vexes,

    or whom waters remind of the heat of sultry noons.

  28. وَلَكِن شَريكُ الوَحشِ في كُلِّ مَهمَهٍ

    وَرِدفُ اللَيالي في الرُبى وَالأَبارِقِ

    Rather, I am a companion of wild beasts in every wilderness,

    and a riding-companion of the nights on hills and stony tracts.

  29. رَعى اللَهُ مَن فارَقتُ مِن غَيرِ رَغبَةٍ

    عَلى الوَجدِ مِنّي وَالسِقامِ المُطابِقِ

    May God protect those I parted from unwillingly,

    despite my yearning and the sickness that encompasses me.

  30. يُباعِدُ عَنّي مَن غَرامي لِأَجلِهِ

    وَيَقرُبُ مِن قَلبي لَهُ غَيرُ وامِقِ

    The one for whose sake I pine keeps away from me,

    while one my heart does not love draws near.

  31. إِذا شِئتَ أَن لا تَهجُرَ الهَمَّ فَاِغتَرِب

    وَإِن شِئتَ أَن يَأتي الحِمامُ فَفارِقِ

    If you wish never to leave grief, go into exile;

    and if you wish death to come, then part.

  32. فَكُلُّ غَريبٍ يَألَفُ الهَمُّ قَلبَهُ

    وَلا سيَّما قَلبُ الغَريبِ المُفارِقِ

    For grief makes itself at home in every stranger's heart,

    especially the heart of the stranger who has parted.

  33. فَكَيفَ بِطَرفٍ لَحظُهُ لَحظُ مُدنَفٍ

    سَقيمٍ وَجِسمٍ قَلبُهُ قَلبُ عاشِقِ

    What then of an eye whose glance is that of one wasted

    and sick, and a body whose heart is a lover's?

  34. إِذا كُنتُ مِمَّن يَجحَدُ الشَوقَ في النَوى

    فَكَم فاضَ دَمعي مِن حَنينِ الأَيانِقِ

    If I am one who denies longing in separation,

    how often have my tears overflowed at the she-camels' yearning cries!

  35. وَكَم أَنا وَقّافٌ عَلى كُلِّ مَنزِلٍ

    وَكَم أَنا مُرتاحٌ إِلى كُلِّ بارِقِ

    How often I stop at every dwelling,

    and how often I thrill to every flash of lightning!

  36. أَحِنُّ إِلى مَن لا يَحِنُّ صَبابَةً

    وَما واجِدٌ قَلبا مَشوقٍ وَشائِقِ

    I yearn with passion for one who does not yearn;

    the yearning heart and the heart that stirs it do not both grieve.

  37. وَعِندي مِنَ الأَحبابِ كُلُّ عَظيمَةٍ

    تُزَهَّدُ في قُربِ الضَجيعِ المُعانِقِ

    From loved ones I have met every grave affliction

    that makes one shun the nearness of an embracing bedmate.

  38. تَعَطَّلَتِ الأَحشاءُ مِن كُلِّ أَنَّةٍ

    فَلا القُربُ يُضنيني وَلا البُعدُ شائِقي

    My inward parts have fallen silent of every groan;

    nearness no longer wastes me, nor does distance stir my longing.

  39. وَما في الغَواني مِن سُرورٍ لِناظِرٍ

    وَلا في الخُزامى مِن نَسيمٍ لِناشِقِ

    There is no joy in beautiful women for an observer,

    nor a fragrant breath in lavender for one who inhales.

  40. رَمى اللَهُ بي مِن هَذِهِ الأَرضِ غَيرَها

    وَقَطَّعَ مِن هَذا الأَنامِ عَلائِقي

    May God cast me from this land into another,

    and sever my ties with these people.

  41. فَكَم فيهِمُ مِن واعِدٍ غَيرِ مُنجِزٍ

    وَكَم فيهِمُ مِن قائِلٍ غَيرِ صادِقِ

    How many among them promise without fulfilling,

    and how many speak without truth!

  42. يَظُنّونَ أَنَّ المَجدَ فيمَن لَهُ الغِنى

    وَأَنَّ جَميعَ العِلمِ فَضلُ التَشادُقِ

    They think glory belongs to whoever has wealth,

    and that all knowledge is an excess of grandiloquence.

  43. وَفاءٌ كَأَنبوبِ اليَراعِ لِصاحِبٍ

    وَغَدرٌ كَأَطرافِ الرِماحِ الزَوالِقِ

    For a companion, fidelity is like the hollow shaft of a reed,

    and treachery like the tips of smooth-sliding lances.

  44. وَلَولا اِبنُ موسى لَم يَكُن في زَمانِنا

    مَعاذٌ لِجانٍ أَو مَحَلٌّ لِطارِقِ

    Were it not for Ibn Musa, there would be in our time

    no refuge for a wrongdoer or lodging for a night visitor.

  45. وَلا دَبَّرَت سُمرَ القَنا كَفُّ فارِسٍ

    وَلا مُدَّ في رِزقِ المُنى باعُ رازِقِ

    No horseman's hand would wield the brown lances,

    nor would a giver's arm stretch out to nourish hopes.

  46. تَغَمَّدَنا مِن كُلِّ أَرضٍ بِنَفحَةٍ

    وَأَمطَرَنا مِن كُلِّ جَوٍّ بِوادِقِ

    He enfolded us in a breath of bounty from every land,

    and showered us with rain from every sky.

  47. إِذا هَمَّ لَم يَبعُد بِهِ زَجرُ زاجِرٍ

    وَإِن ثارَ لَم يَعطِف بِهِ نَعقُ ناعِقِ

    When he resolves, no rebuker's rebuke deters him;

    when he rises, no cawer's cawing turns him aside.

  48. وَإِن رامَ أَملاكَ البِلادِ بِفَتكَةٍ

    مَشى الذُلُّ في تيجانِها وَالمَناطِقِ

    If he seeks the kings of lands with a deadly assault,

    humiliation courses through their crowns and girdles.

  49. لَهُ العِزُّ وَالمَجدُ التَليدُ وِراثَةً

    وَأَخذاً عَنِ البيضِ الظُبى وَالسَوابِقِ

    Honor and ancestral glory are his by inheritance,

    and by acquisition through bright blade-edges and swift steeds.

  50. وَمازالَ يَلقى كُلَّ غَبراءَ فَخمَةٍ

    تُغالي بِأَطرافِ القَنا وَالعَقائِقِ

    He has always faced every mighty, dust-dark battle,

    towering with lance-tips and flashing blades.

  51. وَما بَرِحَت في كُلِّ عَصرٍ سُيوفُهُ

    مَواضِعَ تيجانِ الرِجالِ البَطارِقِ

    In every age his swords have never left

    the places where the crowns of warrior-chiefs rest.

  52. يُجَرِّدُها مِثلَ الأَقاحي عَلى الطُلى

    وَيُغمِدُها مُحمَرَّةً كَالشَقائِقِ

    He bares them, like daisies, against throats,

    and sheathes them reddened like anemones.

  53. تُبَلِّغُهُ أَقصى الأَماني رِماحُهُ

    وَآرائُهُ وَالرَأيُ أَمضى مُرافِقِ

    His lances bring him to the furthest reaches of his wishes,

    and his counsels too; counsel is the keenest companion.

  54. وَخَيلٍ كَأَطرافِ العَوالي جَريئَةٍ

    عَلى الطَعنِ مُسقاةٍ دِماءَ المَوارِقِ

    And horses like the tips of long lances, bold

    in thrusting, watered with the blood of renegades.

  55. إِذا عَنَّ طَردٌ أَو طِرادٌ تَبادَرَت

    طِرادَ الأَعادي قَبلَ طَردِ الوَسائِقِ

    When a hunt or a skirmish presents itself, they hasten

    to chase enemies before chasing driven-off herds.

  56. تُديرُ عُيوناً بَدَّدَ الرَوعُ لَحظُها

    وَغَطّى مَآقيها غُبارُ السَمالِقِ

    They turn eyes whose glances terror has scattered,

    their eye-corners covered by the dust of barren plains,

  57. نَواصِبِ آذانٍ إِلى كُلِّ نَبأَةٍ

    طَوامِحِ أَلحاظٍ إِلى كُلِّ مارِقِ

    pricking their ears toward every faint sound,

    stretching their glances toward every fugitive.

  58. ذَواكِرَ لِلنَجوى بِيَومٍ طِعانُهُ

    يُنَسّي رُؤوسَ الخَيلِ جَذبَ العَلائِقِ

    Mindful of whispers on a day whose lance-fighting

    makes horses' heads forget the tugging of reins.

  59. تَروعُ جَنانَ اللَيثِ إِن لَم تَذُمَّهُ

    وَتَطعَنُ في الأَقرانِ إِن لَم تُعانِقِ

    You terrify the lion's heart unless you grant it protection,

    and strike at your peers unless you embrace them.

  60. هَنيئاً لَكَ العيدُ المُضاعَفُ سَعدُهُ

    كَما ضاعَفَ الوَسميُّ نَبتَ الحَدائِقِ

    May this festival be joyous for you, its happiness doubled,

    as the first seasonal rain doubles the gardens' growth.

  61. وَكَم مِثلِ هَذا العيدِ قَضّيتَ فَرضَهُ

    بِمَكَّةَ في ظِلِّ البُنودِ الخَوافِقِ

    How often, on a festival like this, have you fulfilled its duty

    in Mecca, beneath the shade of fluttering banners!

  62. وَقُدتَ إِلَيهِ العيسَ عَجلى مَروعَةً

    تَناهَزُ في أَنماطِها وَالنَمارِقِ

    And you led to it pale camels, hurrying, alarmed,

    bounding in their patterned coverlets and cushions,

  63. مُدَفَّعَةً تَحتَ السِياطِ كَأَنَّها

    إِذا جَنَّتِ الظَلماءُ أَيدي النَقانِقِ

    urged onward under whips, as though they were,

    when darkness closes in, the legs of male ostriches.

  64. وَيُعنِتُها الحادونَ أَو تُوسِعَ الخُطا

    إِلى قُربِ دارِ المَوقِفِ المُتَضائِقِ

    The camel-drivers tax them until they lengthen their strides

    to the vicinity of the crowded place of standing.

  65. وَأَيُّ مَقامٍ لِلوَرى تَحتَ ظِلِّهِ

    مَهيبٍ يُطاطي مِن عُيونِ الحَدائِقِ

    And what a station for mankind beneath its shade—

    awe-inspiring, making the gardens' eyes bow down!

  66. وَأَكثَرُ ما تَلقى بِهِ العَينُ أَو تَرى

    إِفاضَةُ مَخلوقٍ إِلى قُربِ خالِقِ

    Most of what the eye encounters or sees there

    is a creature's outpouring toward nearness to its Creator.

  67. ثَمانينَ أَعطَيتَ المُنى في مُرورِها

    وَلَم تَرمِ عَن مَسراكَ فيها بِعائِقِ

    Through eighty years, as they passed, you have granted wishes,

    and never departed from your course through them because of an obstacle.

  68. وَأَكبَرُ ظَنّي أَن أَرى مِنكَ عارِضاً

    يُؤَمِّمُها في مِثلِ تِلكَ البَوارِقِ

    My strongest expectation is to see from you a raincloud

    making for it amid lightning flashes like those.

  69. أَبا أَحمَدٍ هَذا طِلابي وَهَذِهِ

    مُنايَ الَّتي أَمَّتكَ دونَ الخَلائِقِ

    Abu Ahmad, this is my quest, and these

    are my wishes, which sought you rather than all creation.

  70. وَإِنّي لَأَرجو مِنكَ ما لا أُذيعُهُ

    مَخافَةَ واشٍ أَو عَدوٍّ مُماذِقِ

    Indeed, I hope from you for what I do not divulge,

    for fear of a slanderer or a falsely friendly enemy.

  71. وَلا بُدَّ مِن يَومٍ حَميدٍ كَأَنَّهُ

    مِنَ النَقعِ في أَثناءِ بُردٍ شَبارِقِ

    There must come a glorious day, as though it were

    amid the dust, in the folds of a tattered cloak,

  72. عَظيمِ دَويِّ الصَوتِ في سَمعِ سامِعٍ

    بَعيدِ سَماعِ الصَوتِ مِن نُطقِ ناطِقِ

    mighty in its roaring sound in a listener's ear,

    with a speaker's uttered voice far beyond hearing.

  73. أَعُدُّ عَنايَ فيهِ رَوحاً وَراحَةً

    وَكَم سَعَةٍ لِلمَرءِ غِبَّ المَضائِقِ

    I count my toil in it as relief and rest;

    how much ease comes to a person after straits!

  74. وَهَذا مَقالي فيكَ غَيثٌ وَرُبَّما

    رَمَيتُ العِدى مِن وَقعِهِ بِالصَواعِقِ

    This utterance of mine about you is rain, and sometimes

    I have struck foes with thunderbolts through its impact.

  75. إِذا أَنتَ يَوماً سِمتَنيهِ فَإِنَّما

    تُكَلِّفُني قَطعَ الذُرى وَالشَواهِقِ

    If one day you demand it of me, you only

    require me to cut through summits and towering heights.

  76. وَحَسبُكَ مِنهُ ما رَضيتَ اِستِماعَهُ

    وَأَكثَرُ ما في الناسِ لَغوُ المَناطِقِ

    Enough of it for you is what you consent to hear;

    most of what people say is empty chatter.