يا ظبية الرمل التي

أونسها وتنفر

O gazelle of the sands, whom

I soothe, yet who shies away!

لام عليك عذ لي

لو شاهدوك عذروا

My reproachers blamed me for you;

had they seen you, they would have excused me.

هل أنت إلا ظبية

نم عليها الزهر

Are you anything but a gazelle

whose presence the blossoms betrayed?

ينفح من حيث الصبا

لها نسيم عطر

From where the east wind blows, there wafts

for her a fragrant breeze.

وصاحب قلت له

صفو الليالي كدر

And to a companion I said:

The serenity of nights is troubled;

فاستغنم العيش إذا

ما نام عنك القدر

so seize life's pleasures whenever

fate sleeps, heedless of you.

ولا تخل حاضراً

لغائب ينتظر

Do not abandon what is at hand

for something absent, still awaited.

ولا تسوف أملاً

فالعيش من ذا أقصر

Do not put off a hope;

for life is shorter than that.

واستغفر الله إذا

أذنبت فهو يغفر

And seek God's forgiveness whenever

you sin, for He forgives.

واشكر أبا النجم الذي

إحسانه لا يكفر

And thank Abū al-Najm, whose

kindness is not denied:

بدر بن رزيك الذي

أدنى نداه البدر

Badr ibn Ruzzīk, whose

least bounty is the full moon.

ذو غرة تزهو بها

تيجانه المغفر

His radiant brow lends splendor to

his crowns—his mail helmet.

لا تسألا عن خبره

غيري فعندي الخبر

You two, ask no one about him

but me, for I have the news.

متوج علمني

بالجود كيف أشكر

A crowned man who taught me,

through generosity, how to give thanks.

أخجلني بأنعم

أنظمها وينثر

He shamed me with favors

I string into verse, while he scatters them.

فلا أغارت أبداً

على نداه الغير

May there never be a raid

upon his bounty by fortune's changes.

وهذه وصيفة

على الخطاب تجسر

And this is a maidservant

who dares to speak so boldly.

فاصفح وهب لي جرمها

فإنها لا تشعر

So pardon her, and for my sake remit her offense,

for she does not understand.

لو نتفت ذقن فتو

ح كان ذنباً يغفر

Had she plucked Futūḥ's beard,

it would have been a pardonable sin;

أو صفحت حمدان لم

تأت بشيء ينكر

or had she slapped Ḥamdān, she would not

have done anything blameworthy.

وهذه عجوزة

خلفها القفندر

And this is an old woman,

left behind by the ugly brute.

بنحسها وشؤمها

مات الوزير جعفر

Through her ill luck and evil omen

the vizier Jaʿfar died.

لو صبحت اسكندراً

ما أفلح الإسكندر

Had she greeted Alexander at dawn,

Alexander would never have prospered.

سيئة الخلق لها

مقابح لا تحصر

Ill-tempered, she has

ugly traits beyond all counting.

تعظم عند نفسها

وقدرها محتقر

She is great in her own eyes,

though her worth is despised.

عيبة عيب لم يزل

يعرف منها المنكر

A sack of faults, she has always

been known for wickedness.

كأنما أدبها

ذاك اللعين الأعور

As though she had been schooled by

that accursed, one-eyed wretch.

سوداء ما في جسمها

أبيض إ لا الشعر

A black woman, with nothing in her body

white except her hair.

نوبية مشفرها

مشقق مشتر

A Nubian woman, whose thick lip

is cracked and turned outward.

تبسم عن كوادم

طحلبهن أخضر

She smiles, revealing teeth

whose moss is green.

قلت وقد تنفست

هذا خرا أم بخر

I said, as she breathed out:

Is this shit, or foul breath?

بالله قولي واصدقي

هذا فم أم مبعر

By God, tell me, and speak truthfully:

Is this a mouth or an anus?

وحركت جناحها

ففاح منه كور

She moved her wing,

and from it wafted a furnace's reek.

إن لم يصب منه العمى

أصاب منه العور

If it did not bring on blindness,

it brought the loss of sight in one eye.

لي كل يوم معها

حكاية تسطر

Every day with her I have

a tale to be written down.

تظهر لي نصيحة

والغش فيها مضمر

She shows me good counsel,

while hiding deceit within.

تقول لي حتى متى

يا خاملاً لا تظهر

She says to me: How long,

you obscure man, will you remain unseen?

ترضى بأن يقال ذا

من الرجال أشعر

Are you content for people to say: This man

is the finest poet among men,

وكلهم مستخدم

مبجل موقر

while all of them are employed,

honored and revered?

صادفت منهم راكباً

أعرفه وأنكر

I came upon one of them riding;

I recognized him, yet did not recognize him.

تسمع في ركابه

تقدموا تأخروا

Among his escort you could hear:

Move forward! Move back!

قلت لمن كان معي

اكشف لنا ما الخبر

I said to the man beside me:

Explain to us: what is happening?

فقال لي منتهراً

اسكت بفيك الحجر

He said to me, rebuking me:

Silence! May a stone fill your mouth!

يجوز أن يخفى السها

فكيف يخفى القمر

Suhā may be hidden,

but how can the moon be hidden?

فقلت من هذا الذي

تعظمه وتكبر

I said: Who is this man

you honor and exalt?

قال جلال الرؤسا

فاستمعوا وأبصروا

He said: Jalāl al-Ruʾasāʾ!

Listen, then, and behold:

هذا الذي تجملت

مصر به لا شيزر

This is the man who has adorned

Egypt, not Shayzar.

فعندها قلت لحظي

أنت حظ مدبر

At that I said to my fortune:

You are luck that turns its back!

حتى متى أضجر من

دهري ولست تضجر

How long must I be vexed by

my times, while you are never vexed?

وسوف أبلغ المنى

إن عزم المظفر

Yet I shall attain my wishes,

if al-Muẓaffar resolves it.

لأنني من ظله

في ذمة لا تخفر

For in his shade I am

under a pledge of protection never broken.

نلت به ما أرتجي

أمنت مما أحدر

Through him I have gained what I hope for;

I am safe from what I fear.

وهو على ما أشتهي

من كل خلق أقدر

And he, at fulfilling what I wish,

is more able than any created being.