هل القلب إلا مضغة تتقلب

له خاطر يرضى مراراً ويغضب

Is the heart anything but a morsel of flesh that keeps turning?

It has a mind that is often pleased and grows angry.

أم النفس إلا وهدة مطمئنة

تفيض ثغاب الهم منها وتنضب

Or is the soul anything but a quiet hollow,

from which sorrow's pools overflow and run dry?

فلا تلزمن الناس غير طباعهم

فتتعب من طول العتاب ويتعبوا

Do not force people to be other than their natures,

lest long reproach weary both you and them.

فإنك إن كشفتهم ربما انجلى

رمادهم عن جمرة لم تتلهب

For if you lay them bare, you may find

their ashes parting from an ember not yet ablaze.

فتاركهم ما تاركوك فإنهم

إلى الشر مذ كانوا من الخير أقرب

Leave them alone so long as they leave you alone, for they

have always been closer to evil than to good.

ولا تغترر منهم بحسن بشاشة

فأكثر إيماض البوارق خلب

Do not be deceived by their pleasant welcome,

for most lightning flashes bring no rain.

واصغ إلى ماقلته تنتفع به

ولا تطرح نصحي فإني مجرب

Listen to what I have said, and you will benefit from it;

do not discard my counsel, for I am experienced.

فما تنكر الأيام معرفتي بها

ولا أنني أدرى بهن وأدرب

The days cannot deny my knowledge of them,

nor that I know them better and am more seasoned.

وإني لأقوام جذيل محكك

وإني لأقوام عذيق مرجب

For some I am a well-rubbed scratching-trunk,

and for others a cherished little palm, carefully propped.

عليم بما يرضي المروءة والتقى

خبير بما آتي وما أتجنب

Well versed in what satisfies nobility and piety,

experienced in what I undertake and what I avoid.

حلبت أفاويق الزمان براحة

تدر بها أخلافه حين تحلب

I have milked time's successive yields with a hand

that makes its teats flow whenever they are milked.

وصاحبت هذا الدهر حتى لقد غدت

عجائبه من خبرتي تتعجب

I have kept this age company so long that

its wonders have come to marvel at my experience.

ودوخت أقطار البلاد كأنني

إلى الريح أعزى أو إلى الخضر أنسب

I have ranged through the regions of the lands, as though

I were ascribed to the wind or traced my lineage to al-Khidr.

وعاشرت أقواماً يزيدون كثرة

على الألف أو عد الحصى حين يحسب

I have associated with peoples whose numbers surpass

a thousand—or the pebbles, should one count them.

فما راقني في روضهم قط مربع

ولا شافني من ودهم قط مشرب

No spring abode in their garden ever delighted me,

nor did a draught of their affection ever heal me.

تراني وإياهم فريقين كلنا

بما عنده من عزة النفس معجب

You see me and them as two parties, each of us

admiring the pride of soul he possesses.

فعندهم دنيا وعندي فضيلة

ولاشك أن الفضل أعلى وأغلب

They have worldly riches, while I have virtue,

and surely merit stands higher and prevails.

أناس مضى صدر من العمر عندهم

أصعد ظني فيهم وأصوب

People with whom the first part of my life passed,

as I raised and lowered my expectations of them.

رجوت بهم نيل الغنى فوجدته

كما قيل في الأمثال عنقاء مغرب

I hoped through them to gain wealth, but found it

like the far-vanished ‘Anqa of the proverbs.

وكسل عزم المدح بعد نشاطه

ندى ذمه عندي من المدح أقرب

And praise's resolve, once eager, was made listless

by bounty I find worthier of blame than of praise.

كأن القوافي حين تسعى لشكرهم

على الجمر تمشي أو على الشوك تسحب

As though the rhymes, when hurrying to thank them,

walk on embers or are dragged across thorns.

أفوه بحق كلما رمت ذمهم

وما غير قول الحق لي قط مذهب

I utter truth whenever I intend to censure them,

and speaking truth has always been my only path.

وأصدق إلا أن أريد مديحهم

فإني على حكم الضرورة أكذب

I speak truth—unless I mean to praise them,

for then necessity's decree compels me to lie.

ولو علموا صدق المدائح فيهم

لكانت مساعيهم تهش وتطرب

Had they known the praises spoken of them were true,

their deeds would have rejoiced and thrilled.

ولكن دروا أن الذي جاء مادحاً

بغير الذي فيهم يسب ويثلب

But they knew that one who came praising

qualities they did not possess was reviling and disparaging them.

ومازال هذا الأمر دأبي ودأبهم

أغالب لومي فيهم وهو أغلب

This remained my practice and theirs:

I struggle against my reproach of them, but it prevails.

إلى أن أدالتني الليالي وأعتبت

وما خلتها بعد الإساءة تعتب

Until the nights turned fortune in my favor and made amends—

I had not thought they would make amends after their wrongs.

فهاجرت نحو الصالح الملك هجرة

غدت سبباً للأمن وهو المسبب

Then I made my migration toward al-Salih, the king,

a migration that brought safety, while he was its true cause.

فمن مبلغ سعد العشيرة معشري

وشعباً بهم صدع النوائب يشعب

Who will carry word to Sa'd al-Ashira, my kin,

and to a tribe through whom calamity's rift is mended,

بأني قد أصبحت جاراً لأبلج

مدائحه من ريق المزن أعذب

that I have become the protected neighbor of a radiant-faced man,

whose praises are sweeter than the rainclouds' fresh drops?

يشجع آمال العفاة ابتسامه

وتجبه آساد الشرى حين يغضب

His smile emboldens the hopes of those who seek his bounty,

and the lions of al-Shara are browbeaten when he grows angry.

غفرت به ذنب الليالي التي مضت

وربتما يستوجب العفو مذنب

Through him I forgave the sin of the nights gone by,

and sometimes a wrongdoer merits pardon.

لئن شغفت غر القوافي بحبه

فكل امرئ يولي الجميل محبب

If the radiant rhymes are enamored of his love,

everyone who bestows kindness is beloved.

وإن عز مثواها وطال بقربه

فكل مكان ينبت العز طيب

And if their dwelling is honored and their stay beside him long,

every place where honor grows is pleasant.

وكم نبت الأوطان يوماً بأهلها

فأورثها عز الحياة التغرب

How often have homelands one day spurned their people,

and exile then bequeathed them an honored life.

وهذا رسول الله فارق مكة

على جفوة لم ترضها فيه يثرب

Here is God's Messenger, who departed Mecca

amid estrangement that Yathrib would not accept for him.

ولولا فراق السيف للغمد لم يفز

له بجميل الذكر حد ومضرب

Had the sword not left its sheath, neither

its edge nor its stroke would have won it fair renown.

ولو لزم الطير الفلاة ووحشها

أماكنها ما صاد ناب ومخلب

Had birds kept to the wilderness, and its wild beasts

to their places, no fang or talon would have taken prey.

وحسبي أن أصبحت جاراً لساحة

مكارمها بالوافدين ترحب

It is enough for me to have become the protected neighbor of a court

whose noble graces welcome all who arrive.

رأينا بيومي بأسه ونواله

على ضاع فيه حاتم و المهلب

In his days of warfare and of giving we have seen

heights of glory that eclipse Hatim and al-Muhallab.

إذا ما ذكرنا وقعة من حروبه

فيما يذكر الحيان بكر وتغلب

When we mention a battle from his wars,

why mention the two tribes, Bakr and Taghlib?

له معجزات في الشجاعة والندى

وسر عن الأبصار فيها مغيب

He works miracles in courage and generosity,

with a secret in them concealed from sight.

ترى كل رعديد الفؤاد وباخل

يصدقها ف ينفسه ويكذب

You see every craven-hearted man and miser

believe them inwardly, yet deny them.

عُلى بهرت آياتها بطلائع

فهل في العُلى أيضاً نبي مقرب

Glories whose signs have dazzled in Tala'i—

is there, in glory too, a favored prophet?

تيقنت الأفرنج أنك إن ترد

دمارهم لم ينجهم منك مهرب

The Franks know for certain that, should you desire

their destruction, no escape would save them from you.

وخافتك إن لم تعطها الأمن منعماً

فجاءتك بالأسد الثرى تتغلب

They feared you if you did not graciously grant them safety,

so they came to you with lions, striving for mastery on the earth [text unclear].

وأهدوا رجال السلم آلة حربهم

ومن بعض ما أهدوا مجن ومقضب

The men of peace offered the equipment of their war,

and among their gifts were a shield and a cutting sword.

وذلك فأل صادق إن عزهم

بسيفك يا سيف الهدى سوف يسلب

That is a true omen: their might

will be stripped away by your sword, O sword of guidance.

لك الرأي لم تلل ظباه ولم يُفل

إذا ظلت الآراء تطفو وترسب

Yours is judgment whose edges have never dulled or been notched,

while other judgments float and sink.

وما شئت فاصنع راشداً في سؤالهم

فرأيك من رأي البرية أصوب

Do as you wish, rightly guided, regarding their request,

for your judgment is sounder than the judgment of all creation.

وعندك حزم لا يضيق نطاقه

وصدر من الدهناء أرخى وأرحب

You possess resolve whose compass is never straitened,

and a breast more open and spacious than al-Dahna.

أقول لمغتر بظاهر بشره

تيقظ فإن الماء يخفيه طحلب

I say to one deceived by his outward cheer:

Stay alert: algae hide the water.

ولا تركنن للبحر عند سكونه

وبادر فإن البحر إن هاج يعطب

Do not trust the sea when it is still;

make haste, for a raging sea brings ruin.

وقد يبسم الضرغام وهو معبس

وقد يتلظى البرق والغيث يسكب

A lion may smile even while he frowns,

and lightning may blaze while rain pours down.

تباعد إذا أولاك قرباً ولم يزل

أخو الحزم من يخشى الملوك ويرهب

Keep your distance when he grants you closeness; it has always been

the prudent man who fears kings and stands in awe.

فلا تتصوره بصورة صاحب

فليس أبو شبلين غرثان يصحب

Do not imagine him in the guise of a companion:

the hungry father of two cubs is not to be befriended.

ولا تتسحب واثقاً بحيائه

فما ذلك إلا واثق يتسحب

Do not presume upon him, trusting in his modesty;

only the overconfident would presume so.

مهدت لنا أكناف عز منيعة

على أنها من مرتقى النجم أعزب

You have prepared for us the unassailable shelters of honor,

though they are remoter than the stars' ascent.

وأسبلت أستار الحجاب مهابة

وذلك في بعض المواطن أهيب

You have lowered the curtains of seclusion to inspire awe,

and in some circumstances this inspires greater awe.

ولكنك الشمس التي لا محلها

بدان ولا أنوارها قط تحجب

Yet you are the sun, whose station is not

near, nor is its light ever veiled.

نراك وستر من جلالك حائل

فنحن حضور والبصائر غيب

We see you though a veil of your majesty intervenes;

we are present, yet our inward perceptions are absent.

وأكثر ما نلقاك حلماً ورحمة

إذا كان ذنب للعقوبة يوجب

We find you most forbearing and merciful

when a sin calls for punishment.

قصدت ولكن فيك فضل بقية

يغالبها رأي العفاف فيغلب

You keep to moderation, though an ample reserve remains in you;

the resolve of self-restraint contends with it and prevails.

تميل إذا ما كان في الأمر شبهة

إلى كل ما فيه من الله تقرب

When there is any doubt in a matter, you incline

toward whatever brings you closer to God.

فلا زلت للدنيا وللدين عصمة

وثغرهما من مأثراتك أشنب

May you remain a safeguard for the world and the faith,

and may their smile shine pearly-white through your glorious deeds.