هلما نحييها ربى وربوعا

وحثا نسقيها دماً ودموعا

Come, you two; let us salute them, hills and dwellings,

and urge on; let us water them with blood and tears.

وعوجا على عافي الطلول وعرجا

معي واندباني والطول جميعا

Turn aside to the faded ruins, and linger

with me; mourn me and the expanse together.

ولا تزجيا القود الرواسم واعقلا

على الرسم منها ظالعا وضليعا

Do not drive the long-necked, swift-striding mounts onward; hobble

at the trace both the lame and the sturdy among them.

خليلي خلي من اصاخ بسمعه

وتباً لخل لا يكون سميعا

My two friends, my friend is one who lends his ear,

and woe to a friend who will not listen.

فلا تعصياني في التصابي على الصبا

وارفق ما كان الرفيق مطيعا

So do not oppose me in yearning again for youth;

a companion is kindest when obedient.

قفا نوضح الاشجان منا بتوضح

وتنتجع الدمع الملث نجيعا

Stop, you two; let us reveal our sorrows at Tūḍiḥ,

and let them seek sustenance in ceaseless tears of blood.

ونبكي الليالي الغاديات بغيدها

لو ان الليالي تستطيع رجوعا

Let us weep for the nights departing with their graceful maidens—

if only those nights could return!

معاهد انس بان عهد انيسها

بعيش وريعان الشباب وريعا

Haunts of fellowship, whose companion's days have vanished,

along with life's ease, youth's bloom, and abundance.

وجنة مأوي غاض ماء نعيمها

وجرعت غسلينا بها وضريعا

And a garden of refuge, whose waters of bliss receded;

there I was made to swallow foul discharge and bitter thorns.

لقد غال ما بيني وبين ظبائها

على الجزع بين ظلت منه جزوعا

Indeed, what lay between me and its gazelles was ravaged

at the valley's bend by parting, which left me anguished.

وحجب عن عيني اوجه عينها

وكن شموساً لا تغب طلوعا

It hid from my eyes the faces of its wide-eyed women,

who were suns that never failed to rise.

عقائل يعقلن الفؤاد عن السوي

ويصرعن ذا العقل الصحيح سريعا

Noble ladies who bind the heart away from all others,

and swiftly fell a man of sound reason.

تقد القنا منهن والصبح والدجى

قدودٌ أقلت اوجها وفروعا

Lances, dawn, and darkness are fashioned from them—

slender figures bearing faces and tresses.

احاشيك بي منهن ذات تمنع

واقتل ما كان الحبيب منوعا

I would shield you with myself, aloof beauty among them;

the beloved is most deadly when withholding.

لها لحظات ما اسنة قومها

بأسرع منها في الكمي وقوعا

Hers are glances: her people's spearheads are not

quicker than they to strike an armored warrior.

تمن بزور الطيف طرفي وانه

لزور وان كان المحب قنوعا

She favors my eye with the phantom's visit, yet it

is surely falsehood, though the lover is content with little.

وابخل خلق الله من كان باعثاً

خيالا لعين لا تذوق هجوعا

The most miserly of God's creatures is one who sends

a phantom to an eye that tastes no sleep.

يكلفني فيها الهوى ما يكلف اللها

ابن سيفا منذ كان رضيعا

Love of her demands of me what largesse demands

of Ibn Sayfā, ever since he was a suckling.

فتي مذ براه اللَه في الخلق كاملاً

تدفق بحر الجود منه سريعا

A youth: since God fashioned him perfect among creation,

the sea of generosity has gushed swiftly from him.

نؤمل منه في الحضيض أناملاً

ونرقب مجداً في السماء منيعا

We set our hopes on his fingertips here below,

and watch for unassailable glory in the heavens.

أمير نمير المن من غير منة

تكدر منه هامياً وهموعا

A prince of pure-flowing bounty, without reminders of favor

to muddy its pouring, plentiful flow.

له راحة بحي بها الفضل خالداً

ونصحب منها جعفراً وربيعا

He has a palm through which bounty lives forever,

and through it we befriend Jaʿfar and Rabīʿ—a river and a spring.

فلو لمست صخراً تفجر صلده

واينع الوقد فيه فروعا

If it touched a rock, its solid mass would burst open,

and kindling wood would flourish there in branches.

ومن الف النعما وبذل الوفها

لنعم فتي يسدي إليك صنيعا

One accustomed to blessings and bestowing them by the thousand

is indeed a splendid youth who grants you kindness.

أخو الباس في الهيجا جرد واحتبى

من العزم بيضا واليقين دروعا

A brother of valor: in battle he draws and dons

gleaming blades of resolve and armor of certainty.

شهدناه يردي القرن منه بنظرة

ويرتد بعض عن لقاء مروعا

We have seen him fell his rival with a glance,

while some recoil, terrified, from confrontation.

ولات مناص في الفرار لهالك

ولكنه الأنسان كان هلوعا

There is no escape in flight for one doomed,

but he is human, ever prone to panic.

لك الخير اما صدني عنك حادث

قطوع وما ذال الزمان قطوعا

May good be yours! If a mishap has kept me from you—

severing, as time has always been severing—

فلي أمل في اللَه لست امله

وما كنت فيما لا ينال طموعا

then I have a hope in God of which I never tire,

nor have I ever coveted what cannot be attained.

ستشرق شمس القرب بعد غروبها

وتهزم رايات الصديع هزيعا

The sun of closeness will rise after its setting,

and rout estrangement's banners for a spell.

وان سعت الحساد بي غير ضائري

ويا ربما كان الحسود نفوعا

Even if the envious plot against me, they do me no harm;

oh, how often the envious have proved useful!

فتجربة الياقوت بالنار والكبا

بحرق فيها دائما ليضوعا

For rubies are tested by fire, and incense

through constant burning in it, to release its fragrance.

وكم نبح الكلب السماء وبدرها

اضر وضيع في العلاء رفيعا

How often a dog has barked at the sky and its full moon!

Has a lowly one harmed one exalted in the heights?

واني بحمد اللَه للسر لم اكن

مذيعا وللعهد القديم مضيعا

And, praise be to God, regarding secrets I have never been

a divulger, nor a neglecter of an old covenant.

وان كان لي ذنب فأنت شفيعه

إذا كنت لا ترضى القريض شفيعا

If I have a fault, you are its intercessor,

if you will not accept poetry as an intercessor.

إليك به في روض مجدك طائراً

صدوحاً بما يشجى الحسود صدوعا

To you I bring it, a bird in the garden of your glory,

singing aloud, boldly proclaiming what grieves the envious.

لعمرك ما الماء الزلال على ظما

اضيف له قند العراق نقيعا

By your life, clear water in the grip of thirst,

with Iraqi sugar added to it as an infusion,

بأعذب لفظاً من بديه بديعه

وأعذب ما كان البديه بديعا

is no sweeter in expression than its wondrous improvisation;

and improvisation is sweetest when inventive.

ودم ابداً يفديك كل ممدح

فما زلت في نظم القريض ولوعا

Endure forever; may every much-praised man ransom you,

for I have always been devoted to composing verse.

كأني ان انشد سواك قصيدة

القن موتي أو رقبت صريعا

It is as if, when I recite a poem to anyone but you,

I am prompted with my death, or watched lying slain.

واني بدهر عفت الاك أهله

وان كنت لن أعرى به وأجوعا

In this age I have loathed its people, except you,

though I shall never go naked or hungry in it.