1. أقوى المُحَصَّبُ من هادٍ ومن هِيدِ

    وودّعونَا لِطيّاتٍ عَباديدِ

    Al-Muhassab lies deserted of guides and camel-driving calls.

    They bade us farewell for widely scattered destinations.

  2. ما أنسَ لا أنسَ إجفالَ الحجيجِ بنا

    والرّاقصاتِ من المَهْريّةِ القُود

    Whatever I forget, I shall not forget the pilgrims' hurried departure with us,

    nor the swaying, long-necked Mahri camels.

  3. ذا موقِفُ الصَّبّ من مرمى الجمار ومن

    مَشاخبِ البُدْنِ قَفْراً غير معهود

    Here is the lover's stopping-place, beside the pebble-casting ground and

    the blood-spouts of the sacrificial camels, desolate as never before.

  4. ومَوقِفُ الفَتَياتِ الناسكاتِ ضحىً

    يَعْثُرْنَ في حِبَراتِ الفِتيةِ الصِّيدِ

    And the stopping-place of the young women at worship in the forenoon,

    stumbling in the striped robes of proud young men.

  5. يُحْرِمنَ في الرَّيطِ من مثنىً وواحدةٍ

    وليسَ يَحْرِمْنَ إلاّ في الموَاعيدِ

    They enter consecration in robes, in pairs and singly,

    yet only in their promises do they deny us.

  6. ذواتُ نَبْلٍ ضِعافٍ وهي قاتلِةٌ

    وقد يُصِيبُ كَمِيّاً سَهمُ رِعديد

    They bear weak arrows, yet those arrows kill,

    and a coward's arrow may strike an armored warrior.

  7. قد كنتُ قَنّاصَها أيّامَ أذعَرُهَا

    غِيدَ السّوالفِ في أياميَ الغِيدِ

    Once I was their hunter, in the days when I startled them—

    those graceful-necked ones, in my own tender days.

  8. إذْ لا تَبيتُ ظِباءُ الوحشِ نافرةً

    ولا تُراعُ مَهاةُ الرملِ بالسِّيد

    When wild gazelles did not pass the night in flight,

    nor was the sand's oryx cow frightened by the wolf.

  9. لا مثلَ وَجدي برَيعانِ الشبابِ وقَدْ

    رأيتُ أُمْلودَ غُصْني غيرَ أُملود

    Nothing equals my anguish for youth's prime, now that

    I have seen my bough's supple shoot no longer supple.

  10. والشيبُ يضرِبُ في فَودَيّ بارقَهُ

    والدّهْر يَقدَحُ في شمْلي بتَبديدِ

    Gray hair flashes its lightning at my temples,

    and time kindles dispersal in my once-united life.

  11. ورابَني لَوْنُ رأسي إنّه اختلفتْ

    فيه الغمائمُ من بِيضٍ ومن سود

    The color of my head disturbed me: there alternate

    upon it clouds of white and clouds of black.

  12. إن تبكِ أعينُنا للحادثات فقدْ

    كَحلننا بعد تغميضٍ بتسهيد

    If our eyes weep over calamities, those calamities have

    painted our eyes with sleeplessness as kohl after sleep.

  13. وليسَ تَرضى اللّيالي في تصرّفِها

    إلاّ إذا مَزجَتْ صاباً بقِنديد

    The nights, in their shifting ways, are never content

    unless they mingle bitter spurge sap with wine.

  14. لأعْرُقَنّ زماناً راب حادِثُهُ

    إذا استَمَرّ فَألقَى بالمَقَاليد

    I shall surely gnaw bare an age whose calamity troubled me,

    once it runs its course and gives up the keys.

  15. في اللّهِ تصْديقُ ما في النفس من أمَلٍ

    وفي المُعِزّ مُعِزِّ البأس والجُود

    In God lies the fulfillment of the hope within the soul,

    and in al-Muizz, exalter of might and generosity,

  16. الواهِبِ البَدَراتِ النُجلِ ضاحِيَةً

    أمثالِ أسنِمَةِ البُزْلِ الجَلاعِيدِ

    who gives out great money-purses openly,

    like the humps of huge, full-grown camels.

  17. مُؤيَّدِ العزْمِ في الجُلّى إذا طرَقَتْ

    منَدَّدِ السمْع في النّادي إذا نودي

    His resolve is upheld when great calamity strikes,

    his hearing reaches across the assembly whenever he is called.

  18. لكلّ صوْتٍ مَجالٌ في مَسامعِهِ

    غيرِ العَنيفَينِ من لَوْمٍ وتَفنيدِ

    Every voice has room within his hearing,

    except the two harsh voices of blame and disparagement.

  19. وعندَ ذي التاجِ بِيضُ المكرُماتِ وما

    عندي له غيرُ تمجيدٍ وتحميد

    With the crowned one are radiant deeds of nobility, and

    I have for him nothing but glorification and praise.

  20. أتْبَعْتُهُ فِكَري حتى إذا بَلَغتْ

    غاياتِها بين تصْويبٍ وتصعيد

    I sent my thoughts after him until, when they reached

    their farthest bounds, descending and ascending,

  21. رأيتُ موضِعَ بُرهانٍ يبينُ وما

    رأيتُ موضعَ تكييفٍ وتحديد

    I saw a place where proof shines clear, but

    I saw no scope for assigning qualities or limits.

  22. وكان مُنقِذَ نفسي من عَمايتِها

    فقلتُ فيهِ بعلْمٍ لا بتقليدِ

    He rescued my soul from its blindness,

    so I spoke of him from knowledge, not imitation:

  23. فمن ضميرٍ بصدْقِ القوْلِ مشتملٍ

    ومن لِسانٍ بِحُرّ المدحِ غِرِّيد

    from a heart enfolding truthful speech,

    and a tongue singing pure praise.

  24. ما أجزَلَ اللّهُ ذُخري قبل رؤيتِهِ

    ولا انتَفَعْتُ بإيمانٍ وتوحيد

    God had not made my stored reward abundant before I saw him,

    nor had I profited from faith and the confession of God's oneness.

  25. للّهِ منْ سَبَبٍ باللّهِ مُتّصِلٍ

    وظِلِّ عدلٍ على الآفاقِ ممدود

    God be praised for a bond joined to God,

    and a shade of justice stretched across the horizons:

  26. هادي رَشادٍ وبُرْهانٍ ومَوعظَةٍ

    وبيِّناتٍ وتوفيقٍ وتسْديد

    a guide to right conduct, proof, and admonition,

    clear signs, success, and rectitude.

  27. ضيِاءُ مظُلمةِ الأيّامِ داجِيَةٍ

    وغيْثُ مُمْحِلَةِ الأكنافِ جارود

    A light for the dark, pitch-black days,

    and rain for drought-stricken regions stripped bare.

  28. ترى أعاديه في أيّام دَولتِهِ

    ما لا يرى حاسدٌ في وجهِ محسود

    His enemies behold, in the days of his reign,

    what no envier beholds in the face of one he envies.

  29. قد حاكمتْهُ ملوكُ الرّوم في لَجِبٍ

    وكانَ للّهِ حكمٌ غيرُ مردود

    The kings of the Romans took him to judgment amid battle's din,

    and God's judgment could not be overturned.

  30. إذْ لا ترَى هِبْرزِيّاً غيرَ منعفرٍ

    منهم ولا جاثلِيقاً غيرَ مصفود

    When no nobleman could be seen but dust-covered

    among them, nor any catholicos but bound in chains.

  31. قَضَيْتَ نحبَ العوالي من بطارقهمْ

    وللدّماسِقِ يَوْمٌ جِدُّ مشهود

    You fulfilled the tall spears' vow with their patricians,

    and the domestikoi had a day most widely witnessed.

  32. ذَمّوا قَناكَ وقد ثارَتْ أسِنّتُها

    فما تركْنَ وَريداً غيرَ مَورود

    They cursed your spears when their points surged up,

    for they left no jugular vein unvisited.

  33. طَعْنٌ يُكوِّرُ هذا في فريصة ذا

    كأنّ في كلّ شِلْوٍ بطنَ ملحود

    A thrust folds this man into that man's flank,

    as though each torn limb contained a grave's hollow.

  34. حوَيتَ أسلابَهم من كلّ ذي شُطَبٍ

    ماضٍ ومُطَّرِدِ الكعبَينِ أُملود

    You gathered their spoils: every grooved blade,

    keen, and every supple spear straight at both joints,

  35. وكلِّ درعٍ دِلاصِ المَتن سابغةٍ

    تُطوَى على كل ضافي النسْج مَسرود

    and every ample coat of armor, smooth-backed,

    wrapped over every full-woven coat of interlinked mail.

  36. لم يعلموا أنّ ذاكَ العزمَ مُنصَلِتٌ

    وأنّ تِلكَ المنَايا بالمَراصِيد

    They did not know that this resolve was unsheathed,

    or that those deaths lay waiting in ambush,

  37. حتّى أتَوْكَ على الأقتابِ من بُهَمٍ

    خُزْرِ العيونِ ومن شُوسٍ مذاويد

    until they came to you on camel-saddles: formidable warriors,

    narrow-eyed, and fierce defenders.

  38. وفوْقَ كلّ قُتودٍ بَزُّ مُستَلَبٍ

    وفوق كل قناةٍ رأسُ صنديد

    Above every saddle-frame lay a plundered man's gear,

    and above every spear, the head of a champion.

  39. توّجتَ منها القنا تيجان ملحمةٍ

    من كل محْلولِ سِلكِ النظمِ معقود

    With them you crowned the spears with battle's crowns,

    each knotted fast, though its string of union was undone.

  40. كأنّها في الذُرَى سُحقٌ مُكَمَّمَةٌ

    من كلّ مخضودِ أعلى الطّلعِ منضود

    They seemed, aloft, like tall palms capped with sheaths,

    each with its upper spadix lopped, its clusters packed.

  41. سودُ الغدائرِ في بِيضِ الأسِنّةِ في

    حُمْرِ الأنابيبِ من رَدْعٍ وتجسيد

    Black tresses on white spearheads set upon

    red shafts, stained and caked with blood.

  42. أشهَدتَهم كلَّ فَضْفاض القميص ضحىً

    في سْرجِ كلّ طِمِرّ العدوِ قَيدودِ

    You made them behold every ample-shirted warrior in the forenoon,

    in the saddle of every swift-running, long-backed steed.

  43. كأنّ أرماحَهم تَتْلو إذا هُزِجَتْ

    زَبورَ داودَ في محْرابِ داود

    Their spears seemed to recite, when they sang,

    David's Psalms in David's sanctuary.

  44. لو كان للرّومِ علْمٌ بالذي لقِيَتْ

    ما هُنّئَتْ أُمُّ بِطريقٍ بمولود

    Had the Romans known what they would meet,

    no patrician's mother would have been congratulated on a newborn.

  45. لم يَبقَ في أرْضِ قُسطَنطينَ مُشرِكةٌ

    إلاّ وقد خَصّها ثُكْلٌ بمفقود

    No polytheist woman remained in Constantine's land

    without bereavement singling her out through someone lost.

  46. أرضٌ أقمتَ رَنيناً في مَآتِمِها

    يُغْني الحمائمَ عن سَجعٍ وتغريد

    A land where you raised lamentation in its mourning gatherings,

    making the doves' cooing and singing needless.

  47. كأنّما بادَرَتْ منها ملوكُهُمُ

    مصارعَ القَتل أو جاؤوا لموعود

    It was as though their kings had hastened from that land

    to places of slaughter, or had come to a promised appointment.

  48. ما كلّ بارقَةٍ في الجوّ صاعقَةٌ

    تُخْشَى ولا كلّ عِفريتٍ بمِرّيد

    Not every flash in the sky is a thunderbolt

    to be feared, nor every demon a rebellious one.

  49. ألقى الدُّمُسْتُقُ بالصّلبان حينَ رأى

    ما أنزَلَ اللّهُ من نَصْرٍ وتأييد

    The domestikos cast down the crosses when he saw

    the victory and support God had sent down.

  50. فقُلْ له حال من دونِ الخليجِ قَناً

    سُمْرٌ وأذرُعُ أبطالٍ مَناجيد

    Tell him: the way to the gulf is barred by spears,

    brown-shafted, and the arms of valiant heroes,

  51. أهلُ الجِلادِ إذا بانَتْ أكفُّهُمُ

    يَجْمَعْنَ بينَ العَوالي واللّغاديد

    men of combat whose hands, when they appear,

    bring spear-points and throats together.

  52. فرْسانُ طَعْنٍ تُؤامٍ في الفرائصِ لا

    يُنمي وضَرْبٍ دراكٍ في القماحيد

    Horsemen whose paired thrusts into the flanks do not

    delay death, whose blows follow fast upon the backs of heads.

  53. ذا أهرَتٌ كشُدوقِ الأُسد قد رجفتْ

    زأراً وهذا غَموسٌ كالأخاديد

    This wound gapes like lions' jaws trembling

    with roars; that one plunges deep like trenches.

  54. أعيا عليه أيرجو أم يخافُ وقد

    رآكَ تُنْجِزُ مِنْ وعدٍ وتوعيدِ

    He could not tell whether to hope or fear, since

    he had seen you fulfill both promises and threats.

  55. وقائعٌ كَظَمَتْهُ فانْثنى خَرِساً

    كأنّما كَعَمَتْ فاه بجُلمود

    Battles choked him, and he turned away speechless,

    as though they had gagged his mouth with a boulder.

  56. حَمَيْتَهُ البَرَّ والبَحرَ الفضاءَ معاً

    فما يَمُرّ ببابٍ غيرِ مَسدود

    You barred him from the land and open sea alike,

    so he passes no gate that is not shut.

  57. يرى ثُغورَكَ كالعَينِ التي سَلِمَتْ

    بين المَرَوراتِ منها والقَراديد

    He sees your frontier strongholds like an eye kept unharmed

    amid their barren plains and rocky heights.

  58. يا رُبّ فارعةِ الأجبالِ راسِيَةٍ

    منها وشاهقةِ الأكنافِ صَيخود

    Ah, how many a firmly rooted height overtopping mountains,

    among them, lofty-flanked and rock-hard!

  59. دَنا ليمنَعَ رُكْنَيْها بغاربِهِ

    فباتَ يَدعَمُ مهدوداً بمهدود

    He drew near to defend its two flanks with his back,

    and spent the night propping one shattered thing with another.

  60. قد كانتِ الرّومُ محذوراً كتائبُها

    تُدْني البلادَ على شَحْطٍ وتبْعيد

    The Romans once had battalions greatly feared,

    bringing distant lands near despite remoteness and distance.

  61. ملْكٌ تأخّرَ عهدُ الرّومِ من قِدَمٍ

    عنه كأن لم يكن دهراً بمعهود

    A kingship that left the Romans' age-old reign behind,

    as though it had never been known throughout time.

  62. حُلّ الذي أحكموه في العزائم منْ

    عَقْدٍ وما جرّبوه في المكائيد

    Undone is what they fastened firmly within their resolves:

    their bonds, and what they tested in their stratagems.

  63. وشاغَبوا اليَمَّ ألفَيْ حِجّةٍ كَمَلاً

    وهم فوارسُ قاريّاتِهِ السُّود

    They contended with the sea for two thousand full years,

    riders of its black ships.

  64. فاليوْمَ قد طُمِستْ فيه مسالكُهم

    من كلّ لاحبِ نَهْجِ الفُلْكِ مقصود

    Today their routes upon it have been effaced,

    every clearly marked course frequented by ships.

  65. لو كنتَ سائلَهُم في اليَمّ ما عَرَفُوا

    سُفْعَ السّفائن من عُفْرِ الملاحيد

    Had you questioned them at sea, they would not have known

    dark ships from dust-colored graves.

  66. هَيهاتَ راعَهُمُ في كلّ مُعْتَرَكٍ

    مَلْكُ الملوكِ وصِنديدُ الصّناديد

    Far from it! In every battlefield they were terrified by

    the king of kings, the champion of champions,

  67. مَن ليس يمسَحُ عن عِرنينِ مُضْطهَدٍ

    ولا يَبيتُ على أحناءِ مَفؤود

    who does not wipe the nose of one oppressed,

    nor sleeps upon the ribs of one whose heart is stricken.

  68. ذو هيبةٍ تُتّقَى من غيرِ بائقةٍ

    وحِكمةٍ تُجْتَنى من غيرِ تعقيد

    Possessing an awe that commands caution without harm,

    and wisdom harvested without entanglement.

  69. من مَعشرٍ تَسَعُ الدنيا نفوسهُمُ

    والناسُ ما بينَ تضييقٍ وتنكيد

    From a people whose souls encompass the world,

    while others live between constriction and distress.

  70. لو أصْحرُوا في فضاءٍ من صُدورهِمُ

    سَدّوا عليكَ فُروجَ البِيدِ بالبِيد

    If they went out into an open space within their breasts,

    they would block the deserts' gaps before you with deserts.

  71. أولئك الناسُ إن عُدّوا بأجمعِهِمْ

    ومَن سواهم فَلَغْوٌ غيرُ معدود

    They are mankind, if all mankind is counted,

    and everyone else is mere nothing, not counted.

  72. والفرقُ بين الوَرَى جمْعاً وبينَهُمُ

    كالفرْقِ ما بينَ مَعدومٍ وموجود

    The difference between all other mortals and them

    is like the difference between the nonexistent and the existent.

  73. إن كانَ للجودِ بابٌ مُرْتَجٌ غُلُقٌ

    فأنت تدني إليه كلّ إقليد

    If generosity has a barred and bolted door,

    you bring every key close to it.

  74. كأنّ حلمك أرسى الأرض أو عقدت

    بهِ نَواصي ذُرَى أعْلامِها القُودِ

    It is as though your forbearance anchored the earth, or there were bound

    by it the forelocks of the summits of its tall mountains.

  75. لكَ المَواهبُ أُولاها وآخرُها

    عَطاءُ رَبٍّ عَطاءٌ غيرُ مجدودِ

    Yours are gifts, from first to last:

    a lord's giving, a giving never cut off.

  76. فأنتَ سَيّرْتَ ما في الجُودِ من مثَلٍ

    باقٍ ومن أثَرٍ في النّاسِ محمودِ

    You have spread abroad every proverb of generosity

    that endures, and every praiseworthy legacy among people.

  77. لو خَلّدَ الدّهرُ ذا عزّ لعِزّتِهِ

    كنتَ الأحَقَّ بتَعميرٍ وتَخليدِ

    If time made a man of glory immortal for his glory,

    you would be most deserving of long life and immortality.

  78. تَبلى الكرامُ وآثارُ الكرامِ وما

    تَزدادُ في كلّ عَصرٍ غيرَ تجديدِ

    Noble men and their legacies wear away, while you

    gain in every age nothing but renewal.