1. وَمِمّا شَجاني بارِقٌ لاحَ مَوهِناً

    فَأَكفا إِناءَ الدَمعِ وَاِستَلَبَ الغُمضا

    And among the things that grieved me was lightning gleaming late at night;

    it overturned the vessel of tears and stole away sleep.

  2. كَأَنَّ المُلاءَ البيضَ في يَدِ ناشِرٍ

    عَلى الأُفُقِ الغَربيِّ يَنفُضُها نَفضا

    As though white sheets lay in the hand of someone unfolding them,

    on the western horizon, shaking them vigorously.

  3. رَنَوتُ إِلَيهِ مِن بَعيدٍ بِنَظرَةٍ

    رَسولٍ لِقَلبٍ لَم يُطِق نَحوَهُ غُمضا

    I gazed toward it from afar with a glance,

    a messenger for a heart that could not bear sleep while turned toward it.

  4. لَهُ عارِضٌ كَالجَيشِ تَفري سَوادَهُ

    عَناجيجُ شُهبٍ خَرَّقَت مَتنُهُ رَكضا

    It had a rain cloud like an army, its blackness cleft

    by gray-white steeds that pierced its back at a gallop.

  5. فَبِتُّ وَلي خَصمٌ مِنَ الشَوقِ غالِبٌ

    إِذا ما دَعا دَمعي تَحَدَّرَ وَاِرفَضّا

    So I spent the night with longing as my overpowering adversary;

    whenever it summoned my tears, they streamed down and scattered.

  6. وَأَهدَتهُ دَعوائي بِنَجدٍ وَأَهلِها

    فَيا أَهلَ نَجدٍ هَل تُجازونَني قِرضا

    And my calls for Najd and its people offered those tears as a gift;

    so, people of Najd, will you repay my loan?

  7. أَلا نَكَرَت شُرُّ شُجوني وَراعَها

    نُحولٌ أَرَقَّ العَظمَ وَاِستَلَبَ الغُمضا

    Lo, Shurr found my sorrows strange, and she was frightened by

    a wasting that thinned the bones and stole away sleep,

  8. وَشَيبٌ تَعَرّى في الشَبابِ كَأَنَّهُ

    سِراجُ صَباحٍ شَقَّ في اللَيلِ مُبيَضّا

    and gray hair laid bare in youth, as though it were

    a lamp of dawn cleaving the night, shining white.

  9. مُنَعَّمَةٌ مَحمودَهُ الحُسنِ غادَةٌ

    تُكَسِّرُ في أَجفانِها مَرَضاً خَفضا

    A pampered, graceful maiden, praised for her beauty,

    she gently droops her eyelids in languor.

  10. إِذا ما مَشَت هَزَّت قَضيباً عَلى نَقاً

    كَهَزِّ نَسيمِ الغُصنِ رَيحانَهُ غَضّا

    When she walks, she sways a slender bough above a sand dune,

    as a breeze shakes a bough's tender basil.

  11. سَلَت نافِلاتِ الحُبِّ مِمَّن عَلِمتُهُ

    فَكَيفَ بِمَشغوفٍ يَرى حُبَّها فَرضا

    She forgot the voluntary offerings of love from those I knew;

    so what of one love-struck, who counts loving her a duty?

  12. أَرى كُلَّ يَومٍ في ظَلامِ مَفارِقي

    شِهابَ مَشيبٍ باقِيَ الأَثرِ مُنقَضّا

    Each day I see in the darkness of my hair's partings

    a meteor of gray hair plunging down, leaving a lasting trace.

  13. وَكانَت يَدُ الأَيّامِ تَقبَلُ بِزَّتي

    فَصارَت يَدُ الأَيّامِ تَنفُضُني نَفضا

    And the hand of days once welcomed my finery;

    then the hand of days began shaking me violently.

  14. وَقارَعَني مُلكُ الشَبابِ فَأَصبَحَت

    عُيونُ المَها الإِنسِيِّ تَنقُضُني نَقضا

    And youth's dominion contended with me; now

    the eyes of oryx in human form utterly undo me.

  15. وَرَدَّ عَلَيَّ الدَهرُ حَدَّ سِلاحِهِ

    فَقَطَّعَني جَرحاً وَأَوجَعَني عَضّا

    And Time turned its weapon's edge back upon me,

    slashing me with wounds and tormenting me with bites.

  16. وَخَلَّفتُ ماءَ العَيشِ صَفوَ غَديرِهِ

    وَبُدِّلتُ مِن سَلسالِهِ نَمِراً بَرضا

    And I left behind life's water, the clear purity of its pool,

    and was given, instead of its sweet water, a scant brackish trickle.

  17. رُوَيدَكَ إِنَّ الدَهرَ ما قَد عَلِمتَهُ

    وَلَيسَ لَنا مِن حُكمِهِ كُلُّ ما نَرضى

    Take it slowly: Time is what you have known it to be,

    and not all its judgments are to our liking.

  18. وَلا بُدَّ أَن يُصغي إِلى البُؤسِ جانِبُ ال

    نَعيمِ وَيَقضي مَنعُهُ ثُمَّ لا يُقضى

    And inevitably, toward misery must incline the side of

    ease; its withholding passes judgment, yet is not itself judged.

  19. أَرى الدَهرَ يَقضي كَيفَ شاءَ مُحَكَّماً

    وَلا يَملِكُ الإِنسانُ بَسطاً وَلا قَبضا

    I see Time judge however it wishes, an empowered arbiter,

    and humankind commands neither giving nor withholding.

  20. وَإِن تَجهَليني بَعدَ عِلمٍ فَإِنَّني

    عُرِضتُ عَلى الأَحداثِ بَعدَكُمُ عَرضا

    And if you no longer recognize me after knowing me, then I

    have been utterly exposed to calamities since you were gone.

  21. وَفَقدُ أُناسٍ لا أَخافُ عُيونَهُم

    قَرَونِيَ مِن أَخلافِهِم حَلَباً مَخضا

    And for the loss of people whose gaze I do not fear—

    who fed me churned milk drawn from their udders—

  22. أُرَقّي زَفيري في التَراقي عَلَيهِمُ

    إِذا لاعَجُ الأَحزانِ أَوجَعَني مَضّا

    I raise my sighing within my collarbones for them,

    when the burning of sorrows gives me piercing pain.

  23. وَصَلتُ جَناحَ الوُدِّ بَعدَ فِراقِهِم

    بِريشِ ذُنابى بَعضُها يَخذُلُ البَعضا

    I joined the wing of affection, after parting from them,

    with tail feathers, some of which fail the others.

  24. فَعُلقَةُ قَلبي كَيفَ تَلحَقُ لَهوَهُ

    وَأَسفارُ أَحزاني تُخَلِّفُهُ مُنضى

    How, then, can my heart's attachment catch up with its pleasures,

    while my sorrows' journeys leave it behind, exhausted?

  25. أَلا زَوِّدي يا رَبَّةَ الخِدرِ راجِلاً

    تَتَبَّعَ أَرضاً قَد دَعَت شَخصُهُ رَضّا

    Come, mistress of the curtained chamber, provision a man on foot,

    who traversed a land that summoned his body to be crushed.

  26. وَكَيفَ ثَوائي بَينَ قَومٍ كَأَنَّما

    تُرَضُّ تَحِيّاتي وُجوهَهُمُ رَضّا

    And how can I remain among people as though

    my greetings were battering their faces to pieces?

  27. سَرَت عَقرَبُ الشَحناءِ وَالبُغضُ بَينَنا

    وَلا يَملِكُ الناسُ المَحَبَّةَ وَالبُغضا

    The scorpion of enmity and hatred crept between us,

    and people have no mastery over love and hatred.

  28. أَلا رُبَّ حِلمٍ عادَ رِقّاً وَذِلَّةً

    وَجَهلٍ بِهِ مُعطيكَ ذو الجَهلِ ما تَرضى

    How often forbearance has become bondage and humiliation,

    while rashness makes a rash man give you what pleases you.