الوَفرُ مُحتَقَبٌ ومُحتَضَنُ

الوَفرُ مُحتَقَبٌ ومُحتَضَنُ

والوَعدُ إن وافيته حضَنُ

والوَعدُ إن وافيته حضَنُ

Wealth is borne behind the saddle and clasped to the breast;

Longing awaits and embraces me,

and the rendezvous, if you reach it, is Ḥaḍan.

And the promise - if I keep to it - will embrace me.

عِندي إلى نجدٍ وسَاكِنه

عِندي إلى نجدٍ وسَاكِنه

شَوقٌ يُجَرُّ ببعضِه الرَّسنُ

شَوقٌ يُجَرُّ ببعضِه الرَّسنُ

Within me, for Najd and its dweller,

I long for Najd and its dwellers,

is a longing, a mere part of which draws the rein.

A longing that drags with it the camel-litter.

لا صَبرَ لي يا حارِ عَن رَشأٍ

لا صَبرَ لي يا حارِ عَن رَشأٍ

عِندي الجُفونُ وعندَهُ الوسَنُ

عِندي الجُفونُ وعندَهُ الوسَنُ

I cannot bear, O Ḥār, to be apart from a young gazelle;

I have no patience, O critic, about Rasha,

mine are the eyelids; his is the drowsiness.

My eyelids are with me, and the arrow-heads are with him.

إن كان قَسَّمني وقِسمَته

إن كان قَسَّمني وقِسمَته

ضِيزى له روحٌ ولي بَدنُ

ضِيزى له روحٌ ولي بَدنُ

Even if he has divided me, and his division

If he divided me and divided his love,

is unjust—his is the soul, and mine the body—

His portion is a soul, mine is a body.

فَعذابهُ عذبٌ لعاشِقهِ

فَعذابهُ عذبٌ لعاشِقهِ

وقبيحُه في عينهِ حسَنُ

وقبيحُه في عينهِ حسَنُ

his torment is still sweet to his lover,

So his torment is sweet to his lover,

and his ugliness is beauty in his lover's eyes.

And his ugliness in his eyes is beauty.

يا حارِ لولاهُ لَما ابتدَرت

يا حارِ لولاهُ لَما ابتدَرت

من مُقلتي مدامعٌ هُتُن

من مُقلتي مدامعٌ هُتُن

O Ḥār, but for him, there would not have rushed

O critic, were it not for him, the tears would not

from my eye tears pouring in torrents;

Have flowed copiously from my eyelids.

ولما انتجعت العُرب عن شحطٍ

ولما انتجعت العُرب عن شحطٍ

من دونها الأهوالُ والفتنُ

من دونها الأهوالُ والفتنُ

nor would I have sought out the Arabs from afar,

And the prominent would not have lamented bitterly

with terrors and trials between me and them,

Except for him, terrors and afflictions.

ومهامه كالبحر لا أثرٌ

ومهامه كالبحر لا أثرٌ

فيها لمقتفرٍ ولا سننُ

فيها لمقتفرٍ ولا سننُ

and wastes like the sea, with no trace

And his undertakings are like the sea with no trace

in them for a tracker, nor any path.

In it for one who swims or laws.

لو سارَ فيها النجمُ ظلَّ بها

لو سارَ فيها النجمُ ظلَّ بها

حيرانَ لا شامٌ ولا يَمنُ

حيرانَ لا شامٌ ولا يَمنُ

If a star traveled through them, it would remain there

If a star traveled in it, it would remain confused -

bewildered, with neither Shām nor Yemen.

No North or South.

دِيَةُ الفَتى أَلفٌ وليسَ لهُ

دِيَةُ الفَتى أَلفٌ وليسَ لهُ

إن سارَ في أرجائِها ثَمنُ

إن سارَ في أرجائِها ثَمنُ

A young man's blood-price is a thousand, yet he has no

A man's blood-money is a thousand, and there is no

price if he journeys through their reaches.

Price for him if he travels through its regions.

والمرءُ كُلّ المرءِ مَن أخذت

والمرءُ كُلّ المرءِ مَن أخذت

مِنهُ الخطوبُ وعَضَّهُ الزَّمنُ

مِنهُ الخطوبُ وعَضَّهُ الزَّمنُ

And a man—a man in full—is one who has suffered loss

A man is all of man whom anxieties have seized

through calamities, and whom time has bitten:

And whom time has bitten.

ثبتٌ فإن عَنَّ الغَرامُ لهُ

ثبتٌ فإن عَنَّ الغَرامُ لهُ

لَعِبت بهِ الأَطلالُ والدِّمَنُ

لَعِبت بهِ الأَطلالُ والدِّمَنُ

steadfast; yet if passion comes upon him,

If passion has left him, the ruins and remains

the ruins and traces of deserted camps toy with him.

Will toy with him.

لا كالمُرَفَّه في بُلَهنيةٍ

لا كالمُرَفَّه في بُلَهنيةٍ

يا ويلَهُ إن لَزهُ قَرَن

يا ويلَهُ إن لَزهُ قَرَن

Not like the pampered man living at ease—

Not like the witless in stupidity -

woe to him if an opponent presses him hard!

Woe to him if a horned viper stings him!

رابي المجسة مُترفٌ رَهِلٌ

رابي المجسة مُترفٌ رَهِلٌ

لم يَبرِهِ سَفَرٌ ولا سَفَنُ

لم يَبرِهِ سَفَرٌ ولا سَفَنُ

Plump to the touch, pampered and flabby,

Raising the faded litter is a well-bred libertine -

whom neither travel nor abrasion has whittled down.

No journey or ships have burdened him.