سهام مقاها فاحذروها صوائب

لها الريش هدب والسهام حواجب

The arrows of her eyes strike true—beware of them.

Their fletching is lashes, and the arrows are brows.

رمتني فلم تُخط الفؤاد وكسرت

جفونا بدت منها سيوف قواضب

She shot at me and did not miss my heart, and lowered

eyelids from which keen-cutting swords appeared.

وهزت لطعن الصب لدن قوامها

وما هو إلا عاشق لا محارب

And she brandished her supple figure to pierce the lovesick lover,

though he is only a lover, not a warrior.

فهذي عيوني في الدموع غريقة

تعوم وذا قلبي على الجمر ذائب

So these eyes of mine are drowned in tears,

afloat, while this heart of mine melts on glowing coals.

على أنني أمسي إسير عناقها

وقد قيدت رجلي منها الذوائب

Though at evening I am captive to her embrace,

and her tresses have bound my feet,

امازجهال ضما يريك اتحادنا

كما مزج الصهباء بالماء شارب

I mingle with her in an embrace that shows you our union,

as a drinker mixes tawny wine with water.

ووجدي وجدي ما انطفت لي علة

ولا استنقذت من حسن صبري سلائب

Yet my longing remains my longing; no ailment of mine has subsided,

nor have the spoils taken from my fine patience been recovered.

أزيد إشتياقا كلما ازددت وصلة

كأني عنها في حضوري غائب

I grow more yearning whenever I gain more closeness,

as though I were absent from her even while present.

مهفهفة تفني الهموم إذا بدت

وتلهيك في الهيجاء عن من تحارب

Slender-waisted, she dispels cares when she appears,

and in battle distracts you from the one you fight.

وتأخذ إسلاب العقول بمنطق

يعيس من الموتى به من تخاطب

and carries off minds as spoils with speech

through which even the dead she addresses come alive.

تبيت تعاطيني كؤس عتابها

وما ذاق طعم العيش من لايعاتب

She spends the night offering me cups of her reproach,

and whoever is not reproached has never tasted life's savor.

ونهصر من روض الإحاديث مجتنىً

تجاذبني اطرافه واجاذب

And we bend down fruit to gather from the garden of conversation;

she tugs its ends against me, and I tug back.

فلا تسألوا عن ليل صبين خليا

وشأنهما في البعد عمن يراقب

So do not ask about the night of two lovers left alone,

and their doings far from anyone who watches:

خليعين كل قد تمادى مع الهوى

وأطلق من أرسانه فهو سائب

two unfettered lovers, each having followed passion to excess,

and been released from his reins, so he roams free.

ومن لم يبدد حبه شمل عقله

فمرت هواه خلب البرق كاذب

And anyone whose love has not scattered the unity of his mind—

his passion, then, is barren, its lightning deceptive and false.

إليك فلا تطمع برد سكينتي

فليس يَرُدُّ الدر في الضرع حالب

Leave me be; do not hope to restore my composure,

for no milker returns milk to the udder.

وللحب سلطان على كل قادر

ولو انه الملك الذي لا يغالب

And love has dominion over every powerful person,

even if he is the king whom none can overcome:

صلاح البرايا الناصر الملك الذي

طرائقه في المكرمات غرائب

the good of all creation, al-Nasir, the king whose

ways in noble deeds are wondrous.

بعيد مساعي العزم قد حل رتبة

تعفر خدا في ثراها الكواكب

Far-reaching in resolute endeavor, he has attained a rank

in whose dust the stars rub their cheeks.

فتى لا يرى باسا باتعاب جسمه

بأمر إذا للمجد فيه مآرب

A young man who sees no harm in wearying his body

with a task whenever glory has aims in it.

وما حفظ العليا ووفها حقوقها

فتى لم يطاعن دونها ويضارب

And no man has guarded high honor and rendered it its due

who has not fought with spears and swords in its defense.

إذا نام عن أشباله اليث أصبحت

تمد يد الاطماع فيها الثعالب

When the lion sleeps, heedless of his cubs, then

foxes begin to stretch the hand of greed toward them.

وماذب عن مجد وحامي كأحمد

لقد حنكته في الشباب التجارب

And none has defended and protected glory like Ahmad;

experiences have indeed seasoned him in his youth.

إذا ما غزا في موكب سار قبله

من النصر والفتح المبين مواكب

When he campaigns in a procession, before him march

processions of victory and manifest conquest.

وحفت به تحت العجاج كتائب

اسنَّتها فيه نجوم ثواقب

And battalions surround him beneath the billowing dust,

their spearheads within it are piercing stars.

قد اطردت أرسانها وتنافست

كما اطردت في السمهري الأنايب

Their reins already follow in unbroken succession and vie with one another,

as segments follow one another along a straight lance.

تراها جبالا من حدي وراءه

تدافع مما ضقن عنها السباسب

You see them behind him as mountains of iron,

pressing together because the plains are too narrow for them.

تظل عواليها تظل كأنها

إذا ذبن من حر الهجير الذوائب

Their spear-tips keep casting shade, as though they were

tresses when they melt in the heat of noon.

وإن خفضت في مشرع الطعن أرجيت

عليهم من النقع المثار مضارب

And when lowered at the watering-place of spear-thrusts, there are draped

over them tents of stirred-up dust.

وضلت تعادي الخيل فيه كأنها

كواسر عقبان لوكر طوالب

And the horses stray, racing through it, as though they were

swooping eagles seeking a nest.

هنالك لا روح تصان من الردى

ولا دم إلا في فم السيف ساكب

There no soul is shielded from death,

and no blood but pours into the sword's mouth.

ولا نحر إلا فيه بالرمح طاعن

ولا رأس إلا فيه بالسيف ضارب

And no throat but someone pierces it with a spear,

and no head but someone strikes it with a sword.

عجبت لمن يدري بأنك حتفه

إذا شاب منه النصح بالغش شائب

I marvel at one who knows that you are his death

if anyone mingles his sincere counsel with deceit,

وإنك طلاب وإنك مدرك

لمن لم يحاسب نفسه ويعاقب

and that you relentlessly pursue and overtake

whoever does not call himself to account and punish himself,

ويعلم أيضاً أن عفوك واسع

لكل مسيئ قد أتى وهو تائب

and also knows that your pardon is ample

for every offender who comes repentant.

ويعميه عن هذا القضا ويصمه

فيصغي لما تروي الأماني الكواذب

Yet fate blinds him to this and deafens him,

so he listens to what lying hopes recount.

ولكن شقا ساقهم لمصارع

كتبن ولا ماح لما الله كاتب

But misery drove them to places of death

that were decreed; none can erase what God writes.

طريدك لا يبقى فمن ثرت نحوه

أقيمت عليه في الحياة النوادب

The one you pursue does not survive; whoever you rise against—

wailing women are gathered over him while he still lives.

واين يفر المرء عنك إذا ابتغى

مفرا وهل ينجو من الموت هارب

And where can a man flee from you if he seeks

refuge—and can a fugitive escape death?

مع اليوم يوم يهمل العز ذكره

وما الحزم إلا أن تراعي العواقب

Alongside today lies a day whose mention glory neglects;

and prudence is nothing but considering consequences.

ويومك محفوظ وامسك غيره

عن غدك الرأى المصيب يحارب

And your today is guarded, and your yesterday is different;

sound judgment fights for your tomorrow.