قليل لها هجر الجنوب المضاجعا

وصب عيون الصب فيها المدامعا

Too little for her are sides forsaking their beds,

and the lovesick one's eyes pouring tears for her,

وكثرة من يدعى على كبد يداً

وينشد قلبا بين جنبيه ضايعا

and the many who claim a hand has been laid upon their liver,

and seek a heart lost between their two sides.

لقد كان لي في رد قلبي حيلة

ولكن نضت سيفا من الجفن قاطعا

I did have a stratagem for reclaiming my heart,

but she unsheathed a cutting sword from her eyelid.

واصمت بلحظ ما برحن قسيه

باسهمها فينا روام نوازعا

And she struck dead with a glance whose bows have never ceased

shooting their arrows at us and drawing back.

وقدّ إذا هزته نادى على القنا

رعي لي في يوم الطعان الوقائعا

And her figure, when she sways it, calls to the spears:

"Take care of the battles for me on the day of spear-thrusts."

إذا ما تثنى قالت الريح ما بقي

يميل معي غصن ويهتز طائعا

When it sways, the wind says, "No longer

does a branch bend with me and sway obediently."

وتبسم عن در تساقط مثله

حديثا حلت بالدر منه المسامعا

She smiles to reveal pearls, whose like cascades

as speech, with whose pearls she adorns the ears.

تخال ثناياها على بعد دارها

إذا بتسمت ليلا بروقا لوامعا

You would take her front teeth, despite her home's distance,

when she smiles at night, for flashes of gleaming lightning.

بدت بين أتراب لها تشبه الدما

يجررن من خلف الذيول المقانعا

She appeared among companions her own age, like figurines,

trailing their head-veils behind their hems.

وقال لبعض بعضهن كذا بنا

نجرب أي اللحظ أمضى مقاطعا

And some of them said to others, "Let us do this:

test which glance has the keenest cutting edges."

رمين فثبت في الفؤاد ولم تضع

سلاحي يدي حتى كشفن البراقعا

They shot, and their shots lodged in the heart; nor did

my hand lay down my weapon until they lifted their face-veils.

ولاحت وجوه في شعور تخالها

بدور سماء في ليال طوالعا

And faces shone amid hair—you would think them

full moons in the sky, rising amid nights.

هنالك يمسى المرء في قبضة الهوى

ويصبح فيه للعذارين خالعا

There a man spends his evening in passion's grip,

and wakes within it, casting off both bridle-straps.

ويزهد في قلب تقسمن لبه

وما خلت منهوبا تقسم راجعا

He disdains a heart whose core they have shared out;

I never thought plunder, once divided, would return.

إلى الله من واش إلي محدق

وخل نفي نومي وقد بات هاجعا

To God I complain of a talebearer staring at me,

and a beloved who banished my sleep yet spent the night asleep.

فهذا كأعمالي يبيت ملازما

وهذا كآمالي يظل مدافعا

This one, like my deeds, stays close all night;

and that one, like my hopes, keeps putting me off all day.

ولي أمل في أحمد آن وقته

وأوشك أن يرضى نداه المطامعا

And I have a hope in Ahmad whose time has come,

and his bounty is soon to satisfy aspirations.

ووعد إذا ما لحن وهنا بروقة

أتاك مع الاصباح سحبا هوامعا

And a promise whose lightning, when it gleams late at night,

comes to you at dawn as clouds pouring rain.

إذا أوعد الجاني فصدق بخلفه

وكن بوفاه في المواعيد قاطعا

If he threatens an offender, trust that he will break his threat;

and be certain that he will fulfill his promises.

وما الناصر ابن الاشرف الملك امرء

عن الكل مما عز بالبعض قانعا

Nor is King al-Nasir, son of al-Ashraf, a man

content with a part, instead of all, of what is hard to attain.

ولكنه لو حاول النجم خلته

بهمته العليا إلى النجم طالعا

But if he sought the star, you would think him

ascending to the star through his lofty resolve.

تساعده الاقدار فيما يريده

ومن صد جهلا عنه ردته خاضعا

The fates help him in whatever he desires,

and whoever ignorantly turns away from him, they bring back submissive.

كان له عزمه خلف من نأى

سلاسل تثنى جيده وجوامعا

For whoever drew away, his pursuing resolve became

chains bending his neck and fetters.

فما رام امرا لا يظن وقوعه

لبعد المدا رأيناه واقعا

He sought no thing thought unlikely to happen

because the goal was distant, but we saw it come to pass.

فيا هاربا عنه رويدا فعزمه

كظلك أني سرت سار متابعا

O you fleeing from him, slow down: his resolve

is like your shadow—wherever you go, it follows.

فطر في السما أوقع فلابد أن ترى

بكفيه إما كارها أو مطاوعا

Fly in the sky or alight: you must be found

in his two hands, either unwilling or compliant.

ومن فر قبل الليل ادركه المسا

سواء تباطئ سيره أو تسارعا

Whoever flees before night is overtaken by evening,

whether his pace slows or quickens.

تجاهد في البارى بنفسك دوننا

وتسهر ليلا دون من بات هاجعا

You strive for the Creator in person, in our stead,

and keep vigil at night instead of those who sleep.

وتتعب فيما يستريح به الورى

وتسرى فما يمسى كغيرك رادعا

You toil at what brings humankind rest,

and travel by night, never holding back at evening like others.

تعجب غر حيث يممت جعفرا

وعدت ولم تترك رباه بلاقعا

A naive man marveled that you headed toward Ja'far

and returned without leaving his hills barren wastes.

وجعفر لم يذنب ومذ مد كفه

وبايع لم يصبح لها منك نازعا

Ja'far had committed no offense; since he extended his hand

and pledged allegiance, he had not withdrawn it from you.

دعوت فلبي طائعا برجاله

وكان له عذر عن الوصل مانعا

You called, and he answered obediently with his men,

though he had an excuse that kept him from coming.

وليس له عذر سوى الجبن وحده

وذلك داء لا دواً منه نافعا

He has no excuse but cowardice alone,

and that is a disease for which no remedy helps.

فلما دنوتم نحوه ازداد خوفه

وعاود سُما ذلك السقم ناقعا

When you drew near him, his fear increased,

and that sickness returned as a deadly poison.

ويوم إليه كي تقر فؤاده

فطار مطارا لم يكن منه واقعاً

And one day [you went] to him to calm his heart,

so he took flight, a flight from which he did not alight.

واقبل يستدعي بعهد عرفته

وما كان عهد منك في الناس ضائعا

And he came appealing to a covenant you knew,

and no covenant of yours among men had ever gone unhonored.

وقال خذوني ان أخذتم بحجة

وإن لم يكن ذنب فراعوا الشرائعا

He said, "Seize me, if you have proof for seizing me;

but if there is no offense, respect the laws."

ولما رأيت المرء قد صان نفسه

وأكرمها عن أن يكون مخادعا

When you saw that the man had safeguarded himself

and held himself above being deceitful,

وهبت له من نفسه ما ملكته

فحى وقد مد اليدين ونازعا

you granted him back what you had possessed of his own life;

so he lived, though he had stretched out both hands and struggled with death.

وما كنت في سفك الدما متأولا

إذا لم تجد نصا على الحل قاطعا

You did not resort to interpretation in shedding blood

when you found no text conclusively declaring it lawful.

ملكت ولم تاثم وكانت ودائع

فصنت بحمد الله تلك الودائعا

You gained mastery without sinning; they were trusts,

so, praise be to God, you safeguarded those trusts.