ما عن سرب الضبيات العفر

معترضا فوق الرمال العفر

No herd of dust-colored gazelles appeared

crossing over the dust-colored sands,

إلا وظلت مرهفات لحظه

مختلفات في القلوب تفرى

but the keen blades of its gaze kept

passing to and fro through hearts, rending them.

سيوف لحظ يشتهى الموت بها

في أعين مكحولة بالسحر

Swords of glances, by which death is desired,

in eyes lined with the kohl of magic.

وقضب بانٍ فوق كثب أثمرت

بدور تم في دجى من شعر

And bān-tree boughs above dunes bore fruit:

full moons amid a darkness made of hair.

آه على ليلة وصل ذهبت

قابلت بين بدرها وبدرى

Ah, for a vanished night of union,

when I compared its full moon with my own;

وقمت ما بينهما محاسبا

أجيل طرفي وأدير فكري

and stood between them, weighing their merits,

turning my gaze about and turning over my thoughts.

فما رنا البدر بطرف فاتر

ولا أراني مثل ذاك الثغر

For the full moon did not look with a languid gaze,

nor show me the like of that mouth;

ولا أماط مرطه عن ناهد

وعن قوام بالقناة يزرى

nor draw aside its mantle from a swelling breast,

or from a figure that puts a spear-shaft to shame;

ولاسقاني من سلاف ثغره

مجاجة تطفى لهيب الجمر

nor give me, from the pure wine of its mouth,

a mouthful that quenches the embers' blaze.

سقياً لها من ليلة بتنا بها

تجر ذيلي فرحة وسكر

May rain bless that night we spent,

as it trailed the twin hems of joy and intoxication.

ندير كاسات العتاب بيننا

مترعة ولا كؤس الخمر

We passed cups of reproach between us,

brimming full—not goblets of wine;

ونجتني من الحديث المشتهى

نوادرا مثل قطيف الزهر

and gathered from the conversation we craved

choice anecdotes, like freshly picked flowers.

كانت كما شئنا سرواً وصفاً

لو لم يكدرها طلوع الفجر

It would have been as we wished, in joy and serenity,

had dawn's rising not clouded it.

تلك الليال المشفيات غلتي

هي التي أعدها من عمري

Those nights that quenched my burning thirst

are the ones I count as my life.

وعذل يهيج شدوى عذله

فبات يغرى وهو ليس يدري

And a reprover whose reproach stirred my singing

thus spent the night spurring me on, unaware.

أنكرت ياعاذل ما يجهله

لو ذقت بسطت عذرى

You condemned, O reprover, what he does not know;

had you tasted it, you would have pleaded my case.

كل عذاب يبتلى الصب به

يطيقه إلا عذاب الهجر

Every torment with which the ardent lover is afflicted,

he can bear, save the torment of abandonment.

مالي وللأيام تفقو أثرى

كأنما تطلبني بوتر

What have I to do with the days that pursue my trail,

as though seeking me out for a blood-debt?

فتارة تقلب لي مجنها

وتارة تأخذني بالغدر

At times they turn their shield against me,

and at times seize me through treachery.

أصبح خفض العيش في الذل لمن

يجهل في الأحرار قدر الحر

Ease of life now lies in abasement before those

who do not know a free man's worth among the free.

وصار بذل العرض حتما في الغنى

فصنت عرضي ورضيت فقري

And sacrificing honor has become a necessity for wealth,

so I preserved my honor and accepted my poverty.

فقر ولا كسب غنى بذلة

وميتة ولا حياة تزرى

Poverty, not wealth acquired through abasement;

and death, not a life that brings disgrace.

ما كنت مغترا ببرق خلب

أشيمه في أهل هذا العصر

I was not deceived by rainless lightning

that I watched for among the people of this age.

أعرفهم لكنها معرفة

أشبه شيء عندهم بالنكر

I know them, but it is an acquaintance

that, in their eyes, is most like estrangement.

عدمت منهم أوجها لقيتها

مقفرة من الحيا والبشر

May I be rid of those faces I met among them,

barren of modesty and good cheer.

قد قنعت من العلى نفوسهم

بما عليها من لباس الكبر

Their souls have been content, in place of eminence,

with the cloak of arrogance they wear.

أنفت من قصدهم ترفعا

عن مدحهم وصنت عنهم شعري

I disdained seeking them out, holding myself above

praising them, and kept my poetry from them.

حسبي أبو القاسم مولى وكفى

اللب يغنى عن جنات القشر

Abu al-Qasim is patron enough for me; he suffices.

The kernel is enough without gardens of husks.

أطلعت في ظلمة ليل ذمهم

ضياء نور مدحه كالفجر

Amid the dark night of reproach against them, I raised

the radiant light of praise for him, like dawn.

فازداد نورا حسن ذكراه كما

يزداد حسن الخير بعد الشر

So the beauty of his remembrance grew brighter, just as

the beauty of good grows greater after evil.

واختال في الطرس الثنا كأنما

كسوت طرسى حبراً من حبرىي

And praise strutted proudly on the page, as though

I clothed my page in striped finery made from my ink.

مدحته معترفاً بفضله

وما عسى مدحي له وشكري

I praised him, acknowledging his excellence,

yet what can my praise and gratitude to him amount to?

كم منة بيضاء قد قلدني

يضيع نظمي عندها ونثري

How many a shining favor he has hung about my neck—

beside them, my verse and prose come to nothing.

إن بنى معيبد لا تدعهم

إلا لخطب من خطوب الدهر

Indeed, do not call upon the sons of Muʿaybid

except for a calamity among Time's calamities.

ناد أبا القاسم واستكف به

فهو الذي يكفي عظيم الأمر

Call on Abu al-Qasim, and seek his help,

for he is the one who can handle the gravest affair.

لا ينكت الأرض إذا سألته

أمرا ولا يسأل بسط العذر

He does not scratch the ground when you ask him

for something, nor ask you to set out your excuse.

قد بسط الكف لمن يسأله

وعم كلاً بالنوال الغمر

He has opened his hand to whoever asks him,

and embraced everyone with abundant gifts.

فالصادر القانع من ساحته

مبشر للوارد المغتر

So the contented one departing from his courtyard

brings glad tidings to the trusting newcomer.

تكاد إن تورق في راحته

من الندى صم الرماح السمر

In his palm, there almost burst into leaf,

from his dew-like bounty, the solid, brown spear-shafts.

أغلب لا يفرح إن نال ولا

يجزع إن نيل ببعض الضر

A mighty lion: he does not rejoice if he gains, nor

despair if some harm befalls him.

يا من إذا غرست حوليه رجاً

أثمر في غير أوان الثمر

O you, around whom, when I plant a hope,

it bears fruit outside the season of fruit.

غيرك لا أحسبه ابن آدم

في جلب نفع أو دفاع ضر

No one but you do I count a son of Adam

in bringing benefit or warding off harm.

لازالت الأقدار في قضائها

مبرمة بما أردت تجرى

May the decrees of fate, in their enactment, ever

run firmly ordained according to your will.