1. ألا كمْ تُسْمِعُ الزمن العتابا

    تخاطبُهُ ولا يدري الخطابا

    Ah, how often you make Time hear your reproaches!

    You address it, yet it understands no speech.

  2. أتطمعُ أن يردّ عليك إلفاً

    ويُبْقي ما حييتَ لك الشبابا

    Do you hope it will restore a loved companion to you,

    And keep your youth for you as long as you live?

  3. ألم تَرَ صرفه يُبلي جديداً

    ويتركُ آهلَ الدّنْيا يَبابا

    Have you not seen its vicissitudes wear out the new,

    And leave the world's inhabited places desolate?

  4. وإن كان الثواءُ عليك داءً

    فبرؤك في نوىً تُمطي الركابا

    And if staying put is a sickness for you,

    Then your cure lies in departure that sends the riding-camels onward.

  5. وهمّكَ همّ مرتقِبٍ أموراً

    تسيحُ على غرائبها اغترابا

    And your concern is that of one awaiting events,

    You wander far from home in pursuit of their wonders.

  6. وإن أخا الحزامةِ مَن كَراهُ

    كَحَسْوِ مُرَوّعِ الطيرِ الثِّغابا

    Indeed, the prudent man is one whose sleep

    Is like a frightened bird's sipping from rock pools:

  7. فتىً يستطعمُ البيضَ المواضي

    ويستسقي اللهاذمَ لا السحابا

    A youth who asks bright, keen-edged swords for food,

    And seeks drink from sharp spearheads, not from clouds.

  8. فصرِّفْ في العُلى الأفعالَ حزماً

    وعزْمًا إن نحوْتَ بها الصّوابا

    So direct your deeds toward eminence with prudence,

    And determination, if through them you seek what is right.

  9. وكن في جانبِ التحريض ناراً

    تزيدُ بنفحةِ الرّيحِ التهابا

    And, when spurred to action, be a fire

    That blazes higher with a gust of wind.

  10. فلم يُمِهِ الحسامَ القينُ إلّا

    ليصرفَ عند سلَّتهِ الرّقابا

    For the smith tempered the sharp sword only

    To turn necks aside when it is drawn.

  11. ولا ترْغبْ بنفسك عن فلاةٍ

    تخالُ سَرَابَ قيْعَتها شَرابا

    And do not shun a desert waste,

    Where you take the mirage of its plains for drink.

  12. فكم مُلْكٍ يُنال بخوْض هُلْكٍ

    فلا يُبْهِمْ عليك الخوفُ بابا

    For many a kingdom is won by braving deadly peril;

    So let fear bar no door to you.

  13. وقفتُ من التناقضِ مُستريباً

    وقد يقفُ اللبيبُ إذا استرابا

    And I stood in doubt at such contradictions,

    And even the wise man pauses when in doubt.

  14. كأنّ الدهرَ محْسنُهُ مُسيءٌ

    فما يَجْزي على عملٍ ثوابا

    As though Time's benefactor were an evildoer,

    For it gives no reward for any deed.

  15. ولو أخذَ الزّمان بكفّ حرّ

    لكان بطبعِهِ أمْراً عُجابا

    And if Time took a noble man by the hand,

    That would, given its nature, be an astonishing thing.

  16. يَجُرّ عليّ شرْبُ الراحِ همّاً

    ويورثُ قلبيَ الشدوُ اكتئابا

    Drinking wine brings sorrow upon me,

    And song bequeaths despondency to my heart.

  17. وفي خُلُقِ الزّمان طباعُ خُلْفٍ

    تُمرِّرُ في فمي النُّغَبَ العذابا

    And Time's character has contrary traits

    That embitter sweet draughts in my mouth.

  18. وقد بُدِّلتُ بعد سَرَاةِ قومي

    ذئاباً في الصّحابةِ لا صحابا

    And after the noblemen of my people, I have been given

    Wolves for company, not companions.

  19. وألفيتُ الجليسَ على خلافي

    فلسْتُ مجالِساً إلّا كِتابَا

    And I found my companion at variance with me,

    So I keep company with nothing but a book.

  20. وما العنقاءُ أعوزُ من صديقٍ

    إذا خَبُثَ الزمانُ عليك طابا

    And the phoenix is no rarer than a friend

    Who stays kind when Time turns foul toward you.

  21. وما ضاقتْ عليَّ الأرضُ إلّا

    دَحَوْتُ مكانَها خُلُقاً رحابا

    And whenever the earth grew narrow around me,

    I spread out a spacious spirit in its place.

  22. سأعتسِفُ القفارَ بِمُرْقِلاتٍ

    تجاوزني سباسِبَها انتهابا

    I shall cross trackless wastes on swift-striding camels,

    That bear me across their plains in a plundering rush.

  23. تخالُ حديث أيديها سراعاً

    حثيثَ أناملٍ لقطت حسابا

    You would take the chatter of their swift forelegs

    For the quick motion of fingertips gathering counting stones.

  24. وتحسبُ خافقَ الهادي وجيفاً

    يظنّ زمامَ مخطمه حُبابا

    And you would think the swift beast, its neck tossing,

    Mistook the rein at its muzzle for a snake.

  25. وَأَسرى تَحتَ نَجمٍ من سناني

    إِذا نَجمٌ عنِ الأَبصارِ غابا

    And I travel by night beneath my spearhead's star,

    When a star disappears from sight.

  26. وإنّ المَيْتَ في سفرِ المعالي

    كمن نالَ المُنى منها وآبا

    And one who dies on the journey to high glory

    Is like one who attained his wishes there and returned.

  27. ويُنجدني على الحدثان عضْبٌ

    يُذلل قرعه النوَبَ الصعابا

    And a sharp sword aids me against misfortune,

    Whose blows subdue harsh calamities.

  28. يمانٍ كلما استمطرْتُ صوْباً

    به من عارض المهَجات صابا

    A Yemeni blade: whenever I seek a downpour

    With it from the cloud of lifeblood, it pours.

  29. كأن عليه نارَ القينِ تُذكى

    فلولا ماءُ رَوْنَقِهِ لَذابا

    As though the smith's fire were kindled upon it;

    But for the water of its sheen, it would melt.

  30. كأنّ شُعاعَ عينِ الشمسِ فيه

    وإن كان الفِرِنْدُ به ضَبابا

    As though the radiance of the sun's orb were within it,

    Though its watered pattern is a mist upon it.

  31. كأنّ الدَّهْرَ شَيّبَهُ قديماً

    فما زال النجيعُ لهُ خضابا

    As though Time had made it gray long ago,

    So blood has always been its dye.

  32. كأنّ ذُبابَهُ شادي صَبوحٍ

    يحرّكُ إن ضربتُ به رقابا

    As though its tip were a singer over morning wine,

    Setting necks swaying when I strike with it.

  33. وكنّا في مواطِنِنا كراماً

    تعافُ الضيمَ أنفسُنا وتابى

    And we were noble in our homelands,

    Our souls abhorred humiliation and refused it.

  34. ونطلع في مطالعنا نجوماً

    تعدّ لكلّ شيطان شهابا

    And we rose as stars upon our horizons,

    Preparing a shooting star for every devil.

  35. صبرنا للخطوب على صُروفٍ

    إذا رُمِيَ الوليدُ بهنّ شابا

    We endured calamities through reversals

    That would turn an infant gray if he were struck by them.

  36. ولم تَسْلَمْ لنا إلا نفوسٌ

    وأحسابٌ نُكَرّمهاْ احتسابا

    And nothing remained safe to us but our souls

    And ancestral honors we cherish in hope of reward.

  37. ولم تخْلُ الكواكبُ من سقوطٍ

    ولكن لا يُبَلّغُها الترابا

    And the stars are not exempt from falling,

    Yet their fall does not bring them to the dust.