1. Who rides carried by a docile she-camel
That casts her plains with her sorrow
١. مَن راكبٌ تنجو به ممسوسةٌ
ترمِي سُهولَ طريقها بُحزونِهِ
2. She covers wastelands from her head to her spine
With her strength, under the Pleiades and its keeper
٢. تغشَى الفَلا من رأسها وفَقارِها
بقويِّه تحت السُّرَى وأمينهِ
3. While the male camel dreams, the ignorant one from passion
And her rests are in her ignorance and madness
٣. وَرهاءُ يحلَم ذو السَّفاهِ من الونى
ومراحُها في غيِّه وجنونه
4. From what it produces and rends it torn
From the secret of what it strained and its hidden
٤. مما تنَّخل وافتلاها داعر
من سِرِّ ما صفَّى ومن مكنونهِ
5. So fate brought her, the elite of its soul
Between Bazla and the daughter of Labuna
٥. فأتى بها المقدارُ نخبةَ نفسهِ
ما بين بازلهِ وبنت لبونهِ
6. She guaranteed for her rider at the end of her market
In travel or secured the soundness of his affairs
٦. كفَلَتْ لراكبها بآخرِ سَوقِهِ
في السير أو ضمنت صلاح شئونهِ
7. Communicate, you have reached glory in his verses
And honor between Irass and Qatinah
٧. بلِّغْ بلغتَ المجدَ في أبياته
والعزَّ بين عِراصهِ وقَطينهِ
8. He meant the sons of Auf in their aloofness
That talk is suspended with its passions
٨. عنّى بني عوف على إعراضهم
إنّ الحديثَ معلَّقٌ بشجونهِ
9. A reproach that the breath of its heaviness cools the atmosphere
That the sick is comforted by his moan
٩. عتباً يروّح نفثُهُ ثِقلَ الجوى
إن العليل مروَّحٌ بأنينهِ
10. Either in general or specifically between them
For Abi Al-Alaa and the brother of Nud and his companion
١٠. إما عموما أو فعج من بينهم
لأبي العلا وأخي الندى وقرينهِ
11. I resided in the house of Abi Qawam, so it was confused
With the lion among his cubs and in his den
١١. اُحطط ببيت أبي قوامٍ فالتبس
بالليث في أشباله وعرينهِ
12. A house that contains the full moon in its rise
And the branch in its movements and stillness
١٢. بيت يضمّ البدرَ في إشراقه
والغصنَ في حركاته وسكونهِ
13. Flowing, roses are harvested from its clusters
Lush, and dew squeezed from its mud
١٣. ريّان يُجنَى الوردُ من أطنابهِ
خِصبا ويُعتصَر الندى من طينهِ
14. The most handsome of all builds it smiling
Capricious, his difficulty taken from his softness
١٤. يبنيه أروعُ قاطبٌ متبسّمٌ
غيرانُ يؤخذ صعبُه من لينهِ
15. Veiled, and the sun is under his wraps
Or traveling, and the star is below his forehead
١٥. متلثّم والشمسُ تحت لثامهِ
أو سافرٌ والنجمُ تحت جبينهِ
16. The face of the clan sunken in its fortress
Or raging, angrily without its fortresses
١٦. وجهُ العشيرة غائرا في حصنهِ
أو ثائرا غضبانَ دون حصونهِ
17. He ate excess food and fed satiated
So his eyelids filled with the earnings of his eyelids
١٧. أكل العدا سَرفا وأطعمَ مُشبِعا
فجفانُه ملأَى بكسب جفونهِ
18. So death is between his lance and his sword
And sustenance between his left and his right
١٨. فالموت بين قناته وحسامه
والرزق بين شماله ويمينهِ
19. The sons of Asad gave up their wagers to him
Regrettably, so he won his share and their pawns
١٩. خلَّى بنو أسدٍ عليه شوطَهُ
حَسْرَى ففاز بخصله ورهونهِ
20. Convey to him from me, sincerely without them
A complaint, and you have no loyal except Him
٢٠. بَلّغهُ عنّي مُخلِصا من دونهم
شَكوى ومالك مَخلَصٌ من دونهِ
21. Why have I gotten nothing back from the Euphrates except
Its bitter waters after its freshness and spring
٢١. ما للفراتِ وردتُ منه أُجَاجَه ال
مملوحَ بعد زُلاله ومَعينهِ
22. And how has the rain changed its ways
So I suffered after its generosity with its stinginess
٢٢. والغيثِ كيف تغيّرت أخلاقه
فبُليت بعد جواده بضنينهِ
23. Why does the face of the full moon shine its night
To the affectionate, while I have the darkness of its shelters
٢٣. ما بال وجهِ البدر يُشرق ليلَهُ
للمدلجين ولي ظلامُ دُجونهِ
24. After I wallowed in its lights
And roamed through its expanses and bosoms
٢٤. من بعد ما غَلَّستُ في أنواره
وسرَحتُ في فلواته وحضونهِ
25. And to you my poetry complains of your violating your vow
And screams during its vigils or its wells
٢٥. وإليك يشكو الشعر نقضَك عهدَه
ويصيح في أبكاره أو عُونهِ
26. You, who procrastinates, how you delay your promises
Stalling and abstain from repaying its debts
٢٦. أنت المليّ فكم تَلِطُّ وعودَه
مطلا وتقعُد عن قضاء ديونهِ
27. And you stand to cast into the chests of its rights
With excuses, between its hidden and its evident
٢٧. وتقومُ تدفعُ في صدور حقوقهِ
بالعذرِ بين خفيِّه ومُبينهِ
28. O owner of the delicate face, you were forgiving in
Delaying the generous donations of your protected
٢٨. يا صاحب الوجه الرقيق سمحتَ في
مطلي ببذل كريمه ومصونهِ
29. The water of modesty, how could you prevent me
With your coldness from its stored rain
٢٩. ماء الحياء عليه كيف منعتني
بجفائك المبذولَ من ماعونه
30. Or were you not ashamed of a deaf woman you married
To you from the maidens of words and its essence
٣٠. أوَما خجلت لخُرَّدٍ زوَّجتُها
إياك من حُورِ الكلام وعِينهِ
31. A delegation of her comes to you every day
A face screaming excuses from its burrows
٣١. يجلو عليكم كلَّ يوم وفدُها
وجها يصيح العذر من عِرنينهِ
32. It moves about her, and your morning is not
Joyful with its melodies and its compositions
٣٢. يسرِي بها الساري ويُصبح فيكم ال
شادي يطرّبها على تلحينهِ
33. Married and her dowry forgotten
While the dowry is a duty at its time
٣٣. منكوحة ومهورُها منسيَّةٌ
والمَهرُ حقٌّ واجبٌ في حينهِ
34. What was the worth of her reward to me in your view
Of what returns with its defects and lowness
٣٤. ما كان قدرُ ثوابها لي عندكم
مما يعود بثَلمهِ ووُهونهِ
35. An excuse you beautify for yourselves
And glory blames you for its beautification
٣٥. عذرٌ تحسّنه لكم أهواؤكم
والمجدُ يعذلكُم على تحسينهِ
36. If you were benevolent I would have thanked the bit of your gifts
And donated the little of your bestowals to its fat
٣٦. لَوْ جدتُمُ لشكرتُ نزرَ عطائكم
ووهبتُ غَثَّ نوالكم لسمينهِ
37. And I have sworn I have no fear of shyness
Of the house from its plains and its valleys
٣٧. ولقد حلفتُ فلا أخاف تحرُّجا
بالبيت عن بطحائه وحُجونهِ
38. And the obedient, he leads them to the place
Of slaughter, sacrificing its thin and white
٣٨. والخاضعاتِ يقودهنَّ إلى مِنىً
للنحر باذلُ نَضوهِ وبَدينهِ
39. My long begging from your gifts is not
A habit for me in debasing poetry or belittling it
٣٩. ما طولُ هزّي من عطائك عادةٌ
لي في ابتذال الشعر أو تهوينهِ
40. And I have come with my honor glorified
Next to the abstinent of loins, fortified
٤٠. ولقد أتيتُ بعزّتي متعزّزا
في جنب ممتنع الجناب حصينهِ
41. And I see the abundance of supply with the stingy
As generosity and the humiliation of living with the glutton
٤١. وأرى وفور العرض عند خميصه
كرما وذل العيش عند بطنيه
42. And I fear that if poetry rebels against you
From the excess of its estrangement towards its calmness
٤٢. وأخاف إن نشز القريضُ عليكُمُ
من فرط نفرته إزاءَ سكونهِ
43. And when it sees its justice in another
I worry it will protect the protection of its oppressed
٤٣. وإذا رأى إنصافَه في غيره
أشفقتُ أن يحمِي حمى مغبونهِ
44. And water is drunk sometimes from a
Pure spring, and sometimes from its sediments
٤٤. والماءُ يُشرَب تارةً من منهلٍ
صافٍ ويُشرَق تارةً بأجونهِ
45. And generosity is an inherited religion in you
And the free is not returning from his religion
٤٥. والجودُ دِينٌ فيكم متوارَثٌ
والحرُّ ليس براجع عن دينهِ
46. Far from your glory to say it faltered
In generous acts and doubted after its certainty
٤٦. حاشا لمجدك أن يقال بدا له
في المكرمات وشكَّ بعد يقينهِ