1. لَو لَم يُخالِط يَومَ بَينَكَ أَدمُعي

    قاني دَمي ما كُنتُ إِلّا مدَّعي

    Had my tears, on the day of your departure, not mingled

    with my crimson blood, I would have been only a pretender.

  2. قَد صَحَّ عِندَكَ شاهِدٌ مِن عَبرَتي

    فَسَلِ الدُجى وَنُجومَهُ عَن مَضجَعي

    The testimony of my tears has proved true before you;

    so ask the night's darkness and its stars about my bed.

  3. عاقَبتَني بِجِنايَةٍ لَم أَجنِها

    ظُلماً وَكَم مِن حاصِدٍ لَم يَزرَعِ

    You punished me for a crime I did not commit,

    unjustly—and how many a reaper has never sown!

  4. وَمنعتَ طَيفكَ مِن زِيارَةِ عاشِقٍ

    حاوَلتَ مُهجَتَهُ فَلَم يَتَمَنَّعِ

    And you barred your phantom from visiting a lover

    whose life's blood you sought, and who did not resist.

  5. وَأَمالَكَ الواشي وَلَولا غِرَّةٌ

    كانَ الصِبى سَبَباً لَها لَم تخدَعِ

    And the slanderer swayed you; were it not for heedlessness

    caused by youth, you would not have been deceived.

  6. فَجَمَعتَ أَثقالَ الصُدودِ إِلى النَوى

    فَوقَ المَلامِ إِلى فُؤادٍ موجَعِ

    So you combined the burdens of rejection and separation,

    on top of reproach, upon an aching heart.

  7. يا راحِلاً وَالقَلبُ بَينَ رِحالِهِ

    يَقتادَهُ حِفظاً لِعَهدِ مُضَيّعِ

    O departing one, with the heart amid your baggage,

    you lead it away through its loyalty to a faithless one's pledge.

  8. هَلّا وَقَفتَ عَلى مُحِبِّكَ حافِظاً

    عَهدَ الهَوى فيهِ وُقوفَ مُوَدِّعِ

    Why did you not stop beside your lover, keeping

    love's covenant with him, as one stops to bid farewell?

  9. كَيفَ السَبيلُ إِلى السُلُوِّ وَلَم تُعد

    عَقلي عَلَيَّ وَلَم تَدَع قَلبي مَعي

    How can I find a way to forget, when you have not restored

    my reason to me, nor left my heart with me?

  10. فَسَقى زَماناً مَرَّ لي بِطُوَيلِعٍ

    صَوبُ الحَيا وَسقى عِراص طُوَيلِعِ

    May the time I spent at Tuwayliʿ be watered

    by rain's downpour, and may it water Tuwayliʿ's open grounds.

  11. فَلَأَصبِرَنَّ عَلى الزَمانِ وُجَورِهِ

    صَبرَ اِمريءٍ مُتَجَمِّلٍ لَم يَخضَعِ

    So I shall surely endure time and its injustice,

    with the patience of a dignified man who has not yielded.

  12. وَلَأَلبسَنَّ مِنَ التَجَلُّدِ نَثرَةً

    حَصداءَ تَهزَأُ مِن سَوابِغَ تُبَّعِ

    And I shall surely don a coat of mail made of fortitude,

    close-woven, mocking Tubbaʿ's full-length coats of mail.

  13. وَلَأَشكُرَنَّ حَوادِثاً قَذَفَت بِآ

    مالي إِلى الملكِ الهمامِ الأَروَعِ

    And I shall surely thank the misfortunes that hurled

    my hopes toward the valiant, awe-inspiring king.

  14. فَضَفا عَلَيَّ ظِلالُ أَبلَجَ ماجِدٍ

    ضافي لِباسِ المَجدِ صافي المَشرعِ

    Then the shade of a radiant, noble man spread over me,

    his robe of glory ample, his watering-place pure.

  15. وَرَأَيتُ أَحسَنَ مَنظَرٍ وَخبرتُ أَط

    يَبَ مَخبرٍ وَحَلَلتُ أَرفَعَ مَوضِعِ

    And I saw the fairest appearance and came to know

    the finest inward nature, and settled in the loftiest place.

  16. في ظِلِّ وَضّاحِ الجَبينِ سَمَيذَعٍ

    مِن نَسلِ وَضّاحِ الجَبينِ سَميذَعِ

    In the shade of a radiant-browed, noble lord,

    descended from a radiant-browed, noble lord:

  17. الأَشرَفِ المَلكِ الَّذي بَذلُ النَدى

    مِن كَفِّهِ طَبعٌ بِغَيرِ تَطَبُّعِ

    Al-Ashraf, the king, whose giving of bounty

    from his hand is innate, without affectation.

  18. مَلِكٌ لَهُ يَومَ الهياجِ مَواقِفٌ

    مَشهورَةٌ لا يَدعيها مُدَّعي

    A king whose stands on the day of battle

    are renowned; no pretender can lay claim to them.

  19. مُتَبَسِّمٌ في كُلِّ يَومٍ عابِسٍ

    مُتَوَضِّحٌ في كُلِّ خَطبٍ أَسفَعِ

    Smiling on every scowling day,

    radiant in every dark calamity.

  20. يَروي حِرارَ السَمهَرِيِّ بِكَفِّهِ

    يَومَ الوَغى مِن قَلبِ كُلِّ مَدرَّعِ

    He slakes the Samhari lance's burning thirst with his hand,

    on the day of battle, from every armored warrior's heart.

  21. سِيّانِ عِندَ يَمينِهِ وَحُسامِهِ

    في الحَربِ هامَةُ حاسِرٍ وَمُقَنَّعِ

    Alike before his right hand and his keen sword,

    in war, are the heads of the bareheaded and the helmeted.

  22. وَلَطالَما حَطَمَ الوَشيجَ بِكَفِّهِ

    مِن بَعدِ حَشوِ الدرعِ بَينَ الأَضلُعِ

    And how often he has shattered lance-shafts with his hand,

    after lodging them inside the mail, between the ribs.

  23. مَلكٌ مَتى اِستَسقَيتَ بَحرَ يَمينِهِ

    جادَت عَلَيكَ بِديمَةٍ لَم تُقلَعِ

    A king—whenever you ask the sea of his right hand for rain,

    it showers you with a steady rain that never ceases.

  24. حَسَنَت مَواقِعُها وَكَم مِن ديمَةٍ

    جَهَلَت فَجادَت في سَباخٍ بَلقَعِ

    Its falls are well placed; how many a steady rain

    has erred and so poured on barren salt flats!

  25. وَلَطالَما غَشِيَ الوَغى بِثَلاثَةٍ

    في ظَهرِ مَنسوبٍ يَطيرُ بِأَربَعِ

    And how often he has plunged into battle with three,

    on the back of a pedigreed steed that flies on four:

  26. بِأَصَمَّ مُعتَدِلٍ وَأَبيَضَ صارِمٍ

    وَجَنانِ مَضّاءِ العَزيمِ مُشَيَّعِ

    with a solid, straight lance and a bright, keen sword,

    and a heart, unflagging in resolve and fearless.

  27. كَم مَوقِفٍ ضَنكٍ فَلَولا صَبرُهُ

    فيهِ لِوَقعِ البيضِ لَم يَتَوَسَّعِ

    How many a tight position—had he not stood firm

    there under the blows of bright swords, it would never have opened out!

  28. مِن مَعشَرٍ شَرَعوا السَماحَ وَأَرشَدوا

    فيهِ العُفاةَ إِلى طَريقٍ مهَيعِ

    Of a people who opened generosity's way and guided

    its seekers to a broad, open road.

  29. وافيتُهُ وَالسَيلُ قَد بَلَغَ الزُبى

    عندي وَوِردُ العَمررنقِ المُشرعِ

    I came to him when the flood had reached the heights

    for me, and life's draught was muddy at its source.

  30. فَبَلَغتُ مِن نُعماهُ ما لا يَنتَهي

    أَملي وَلَم يَطمَح إِلَيهِ مَطمَعي

    So I attained, from his bounty, what lay beyond

    my hopes, and what my ambition had never aspired to.

  31. وَنَهى الحَوادِثَ أَن تُلِمَّ بِمَنزِلي

    وَصُروفَ دَهري أَن تَطوفَ بِمَربَعي

    And he forbade misfortunes to alight at my dwelling,

    and the turns of my fate to circle my abode.

  32. مُتَبَرِّعٌ بِالجودِ قَبلَ سُؤالِهُ

    وَالجودُ جودُ الباديءِ المُتَبَرِّعِ

    A willing giver of bounty before he is asked,

    and bounty is the bounty of one who gives first and freely.

  33. فَغَدَوتُ أُنشِدُ جودَهُ مُتَمَثِّلاً

    وَنَوالُهُ مِثلُ السُيولِ الدُفَّعِ

    So I began singing of his bounty, quoting a verse,

    and his gifts are like surging torrents:

  34. وَلَقَد دَعَوتُ نَدى الكِرامِ فَلَم يجِب

    فَلَأَشكُرَنَّ نَدىً أَجابَ وَما دعي

    And indeed I called on the bounty of the noble, but it did not answer;

    so I shall surely thank a bounty that answered without being called.