ما كل سجع بمعدود من الخطب

فلا تغرنك دعوى الناس في الأدب

Not all rhymed prose is reckoned among orations;

so do not be deceived by people's claims to literary skill.

فاقبض على كلماتي كف منتقد

زيف الكلام فليس الصفر كالذهب

So grasp my words with the hand of one who assays

the counterfeit in speech, for brass is not like gold.

قصائدي لم تزل في كل جارحة

من حسنها نشوات الخمر والطرب

My poems have always filled every limb,

through their beauty, with the raptures of wine and delight.

كانت مكرمة المثوى منزهة

في أرض مصر عن التصريح بالطلب

They were honored in their lodging, and spared

in Egypt the need to make requests outright.

فأصبحت في جوار النيل ظامئة

تحوم حول لآل الماء والعشب

Yet beside the Nile they have become thirsty,

hovering around the pearls of water and the grass.

حتى كأن بني أيوب ما علموا

بأنني في زماني أفصح العرب

As though the sons of Ayyub had never known

that in my age I am the most eloquent of Arabs.

ضاقت علي لياليهم وقد رحبت

للوافدين إلى الساحات والرحب

Their nights closed in on me, though they opened wide

for visitors to their courtyards and open squares.

حتى كأن أذى قلبي يطيب لهم

كالعود لولا حريق النار لم يطب

As though my heart's suffering were sweet to them,

like aloeswood, fragrant only when burned by fire.

خافوا علي ولا رأيي بمنحرف

عن الوداد ولا قلبي بمنقلب

They feared for me, though my judgment has not swerved

from affection, nor has my heart turned away.

فإن أتى فرج من راحتي فرج

فليس ذاك بمعدود من العجب

So if relief comes from Faraj's two palms,

that is no cause for wonder.

الأبلج الطلق وجهاً والكريم يداً

إذا تجهم وجه الدهر والسحب

Bright-browed, cheerful of face, and generous of hand,

when time's face and the clouds grow grim.

الأورع البر لا تخشى بوادره

إذا استخفت رجالاً سورة الغضب

Most devout and good—you need not fear his outbursts

when anger's surge drives men to rashness.

لا بالحريص على الدنيا إذا انحرفت

ولا البخيل بما يحوي من النشب

Not greedy for the world when it turns away,

nor miserly with the wealth he holds.

لما عرفت سجاياه التي كرمت

عرفت منه شريف النفس والحسب

When I came to know his noble traits,

I knew him as noble in soul and lineage.

وقلت للمتعاطي شأو شيمته

ما أوضح الفرق بين الرأس والذنب

And I said to whoever sought to match his character:

How clear the difference between the head and the tail!

يحدث الصدق عن أفعال سؤدده

بسيرة أمنت من وصمة الكذب

Truth recounts the deeds of his nobility

in a life-story safe from the stain of falsehood.

لو كان في السلف الماضي لكان به

إما ولياً لعهد أو وصي نبي

Had he lived among the forebears of old, he would there have been

either an heir apparent or a prophet's trustee.

أغيب عنه وألقاه ومنزلتي

محروسة فكأني عنه لم أغب

I leave him and meet him again, and my standing

is safeguarded, as though I had never been away from him.

محبة سهلت وعر الكلام له

حتى كأني أستملي من الكتب

Affection has smoothed the rough ground of speech for him,

until I seem to take dictation from books.

إن للقوافي إذا قلت كرامتها

زيادة بعد قتل النفس في السلب

Indeed, when rhymes receive little honor, they have

an added share of spoils after the soul is slain.

كم مات قوم فأحيتهم مدائحهم

والشعر أشرف إحياء من النسب

How many people died, then were revived by poems in their praise!

And poetry gives a nobler life than lineage.

أعطى نصيب بني مروان خالدة

تبقي عليهم بقاء السبعة الشهب

Nusayb gave the sons of Marwan an immortal poem,

keeping them alive as long as the seven bright stars endure.

أولوه نزراً فأولاهم مجازفة

ما في الحقائب ما يبقى على الخطب

They gave him a pittance; he gave them without measure—

nothing in saddlebags survives calamities.

فلينظر المجد في إنجاز موعده

فشهر طوبة فيه الكسر للقضب

So let Glory see to fulfilling his promise,

for Tubah is the month in which branches break.