1. Spare some of your time for play, my friend,
And give yourself some rest from toil and pain.

2. Not all the past that I have wasted
Was weakness; nor all the future, certain gain.

3. Seek not a livelihood through lofty aspirations;
Sustenance is apportioned, as Fate ordains.

4. If the best of men enjoyed the happiest fortunes,
The sun would never sink from its high domain.

5. Or if the noblest star were free from all misfortune,
The crescent moon would never suffer loss or wane.

6. O leader of the caravan, heading westward,
My heart inclines away from Najd's barren plain,

7. Seeking breadth amid the straits of life,
And shunning all that gives me grief and pain.

8. Stop, call the Bani Bakr in their dwellings,
White houses, made lovely by the showers of rain,

9. When the black she-camel saw them, unknown, distant,
Galloping through the vale, long-necked and lean,

10. She laughed till the tears ran down my cheeks,
Turning towards me, smiling, to make me weep again.

11. Marvel not today at her whiteness, looking
At my grey hairs - for her blackness I did pine.

12. I knew the deferred sorrow respects
The days of youth - for them I weep in vain.

13. These white hairs, if you look at them closely,
Are scars on me from the claws of Time.

14. You'd think my revels with the lads of Rusafa
Were but a tale of wine and joy and cheer.

15. Yet I've been changed, after those friends,
My drink abandoned, and my song and lute.

16. When I left them 'twas as though, remembering them,
I tasted sweetness, but their mention stung like fear.

17. My former bliss with them pleased me awhile,
But after them displeasure filled my heart.

18. As we pour water away in hatred of its taste,
Yet serve up raisins for the sake of the wine.

19. The cupbearers pass round amongst expectant drinkers,
Awaiting the brimming goblet we hold dear,

20. As though we bid the Persian bring sweetness,
Or ask the Mezdi wine - so have we fallen here!

21. By Ali's life! Mean souls are satisfied
With hand-me-downs, content with their lot.

22. Yet we see their father, though his virtues suffice,
While the land throbs healthily, and herbs shoot up.

23. They are sated by the world, while their neighbor
Wastes in the wilderness, flank-spare and gaunt.

24. Say to the Prince - and if I'm blamed, so be it -
"Bounty is shamed. You have done no wrong and no hurt."

25. You've spent your wealth until, in every crisis
You wished to help, but nothing was left to give.

26. If you'd set yourself to practise restraint,
To keep means for your needs but two days, you'd prosper.

27. It's as though your wealth were a sickness you warrant,
And nothing cures you but want and poverty's dearth.

28. If they who depend on you were equitable,
They'd hardly beg - even humbly make a request.

29. O full moon of Awf! Awf is the sun in Asad,
Asad, a white mole on the cheek of the Arabs.

30. You, champions, of might and nobility,
Your chronicles are wondrous, age-old tomes.

31. The sweetest ancient song is your early tale,
And the histories of your forebears, held in books.

32. Since the dawn of Islam unfolded its standard,
You've been swords of the Prophet and his successor.

33. With you, the faith established its abode
In serried ranks, while war's tribes scout and probe.

34. In Basra faith stood tall and erect
While unbelief cowered, felled, its knees on its nape.

35. Till you made it your inheritance - and the finest
Bequest was your creed, from a father, from his fathers.

36. When you see a man of pure doctrine, conclude
His sons will be noble - an excellent troop.

37. No chance was missed, but you missed no day of triumph,
While you are the roses, and enemies, thorns.

38. Though they carried repeated banners against you,
They learned not, before you, the meaning of flight or defeat.

39. You lead them, disgraced, on roan camels,
Vain warriors on fleet mares outstripping the rest,

40. When you summoned Ali to their midst, you guaranteed
Yourself just rule over them - your strong arm sufficed.

41. You severed the canes' heads amongst them, till their necks
Were lost in the swirling, tossed eddies of death.

42. An ambitious man aspired to your summits and fell -
Can the foot occupy the place of the head?

43. None closer in merit was perfected in you,
Safe from the eyes of critics, in deeds or speech.

44. I loved you, though far were our encampments -
Through love I approached you, from afar though I lived.

45. Solomon's affection gave his kinship to him
One day - yet my clanship did not profit my uncle Abu Lahab.

46. Noble deeds lifted the veil from your virtues,
Freeing the motives of my verse and orations from need.

47. So you'll not see me crowding princes' doors
Jostling for wealth and rank, status and position.

48. Contenment has dissuaded me from visiting
The courts of the mighty, or coveting the hidden.

49. I have the habit of generosity from you - if I came
To your kingdom's gate, I'd not be denied or forbidden.

50. I have filled the heart of the faithful preserver of love poetry
And the ear of the listening aesthete with gratitude.

51. For your bounty to the likes of me seems to one
Who came to you with two claims - religion and propriety.

52. He who pleads a case finds no stronger
Motive, to you, than mine in both affairs.