Poems
- أأبا رياش يا قبيح المنظرO Abu Riash, ugly of appearance
- أبو رياش بغى والبغى مهلكةAbu Riyash transgressed, and transgression brings ruin.
- ابو رياش ولى الرسماAbu Riyash was put in charge of the levy;
- أتطمع أن تحب ولا جفونDo you hope to love, yet have no eyelids
- اثنان لم ينكرهما منكرTwo things no denier has denied:
- اذا اخو الحسن اضحى فعله سمجاWhen a handsome man's conduct becomes repugnant,
- إذا خفق اللواء على يوماIf the banner flutters over me one day,
- أعد الورى للبرد جندا من الصلاPeople readied an army of fire against the cold,
- أقول لصاحبى والراح روحىI say to my companion, wine being my spirit
- أقول لعصبة بالفقه صالتI say to the league with jurisprudence prayed
- البدر والشمس المنيرةThe full moon and the radiant sun,
- الدهر دهر عجيبThe age is a strange age.
- أمر غد أنت منه فى لبسYou are uncertain about the affairs of tomorrow.
- ان أصبحت هممى فى الافق عاليةIf my aspirations in the horizon grew high
- أنت ابن كل البرايا لكن اقتصرواYou are the son of all the deserts, but they have confined
- إنما البصرة أنشابBasra is nothing but property,
- أيها الشيخ الذىO hopeful sheikh,
- تولى شباب كنت فيه منعماGone is the youth in which you lived in ease,
- جار الزمان علينا فى تصرفهTime has wronged us in its changing ways;
- حبيب جفوتي فرض عليهMy beloved ignored me
- حرمان ذى ادب وحظوة جاهلDeprivation has etiquette, ignorance has fortune
- حزيران وتموز وآبJune, July, and August—
- حلف الرملى فيماAl-Ramli swore, concerning what
- حوى يوما ابو الهيذام أيرىOne day Abu al-Haydhām took in my cock,
- ذهب الذين يعاش فى اكنافهمGone are those in whose shelter one could live.
- زمان رأينا فيه كل العجائبAn age in which we have seen every marvel,
- زمان قد تفرغ للفضولAn age has given itself over to frivolity;
- صداع من كلامك يعتريناA headache from your talk afflicts us.
- عجائب فى زمانك شاهداتWonders in your time witnessed
- عجبت للدهر في تصرفهI marveled at Time's ways,
- عدنا فى زمانناIn our time, we have turned away
- على القبح الفظيع أبو رياشDespite his hideous ugliness, Abu Riyash
- فديتك لو علمت ببعض ما بىI would sacrifice myself if you knew some of what is in me
- فراق أخلائى الذين عهدتهمParting from my dear friends whom I have known
- فقصارهن مع الهموم طويلةSo the short among them are long amid worries,
- قالوا عشقت صغيرا قلت ارتع فىThey said, “You have fallen for a young one.” I said, “I graze in
- قد شربنا على شقائق روضWe have drunk beside a meadow's anemones,
- قف انظر الى در السحاب كأنهStop and behold the cloud’s pearls, as though they were
- قل للوضيع أبى رياش لا تبلTell the lowly Abu Riyash: do not fret;
- قل لى وطرطورك هذا الذىTell me—by this pointed cap of yours, which
- قولا لأهل زمان لا خلاق لهمYou two, say to the people of an age who have no virtue:
- كل من حاز سروراWhoever has attained happiness
- لا تخدعنك اللحى ولا الصورLet neither beards nor appearances deceive you.
- لا تصلح الدنيا ولا تستوىThe world can neither prosper nor be set right
- لا مكث الله دنيانا فقيمتهاGod does not let a world remain
- لأم الشاعر الرملي صدغThe mother of the poet al-Ramli has a temple
- لعب الهوى بمعالى ورسومىPassion toyed with my eminence and my traces.
- لعنتم جميعا من وجوه بليدةMay you all be cursed, you dull-witted faces!
- لم يبق حر اليه يختلفNo noble man remains to whom people turn;
- لنا سراج نوره ظلمةWe have a lamp whose light is darkness;
- لنصر فى فؤادى فرط حبFor Nasr, my heart holds an overflowing love,
- لو اننى مسعطيIf I were Maga'i
- ما أوقح المتنبىHow brazen al-Mutanabbi is
- متنبيكم ابن سقاء كوفاMutanabbi, son of a water-carrier in Kufa
- مضى الاحرار وانقرضوا وبادواThe noble men have passed away, died out, and perished;
- نبئت أن ابا رياض قد حوىI was told that Abu Riyad has acquired
- نحن بالبصرة فى لونWe in Basra lead a kind
- نحن من الدهر فى أعاجيبAt the hands of Time, we find ourselves amid strange wonders;
- نحن والله فى زمان غشومWe are, by God, in a cruel age;
- نفسى تقيك ابا الهيذام كل أذىMay my soul shield you, Abū al-Haydhām, from every harm.
- نكرت نحولى وهو من فرط الاسىYou found my gauntness strange; it comes from overwhelming grief,
- هل طالب ثار من قد أهدرت دمهIs there one to avenge him whose blood has been shed with impunity
- وروض عبقرى الوشى غضAnd a fresh garden, wondrous in its embroidery,
- ولما تعرض لى زائراAnd when he appeared before me as a visitor,
- وليتم فما أوليتم الناس طائلاYou took office, yet bestowed no benefit on the people.
- يا رب سابغة حبتنى نعمةAh, many a full coat of mail has bestowed a favor upon me,
- يا زمانا ألبس الأحرارO age that has clothed the
- يا طالبا بالعلم حظا مسعداO you who seek a happy lot through learning,
- يا من تطيب وهو من حرق استهO one who has perfumed himself, yet, from the burning of his arse,
- يطير الى الطعام ابو رياشAbu Riyash flies to food,
- يعيب الناس كلهم الزماناAll people blame the times,
- يقول ابن هانى أفسد الشعر ضلةHe says, “Ibn Hani ruined poetry out of folly,
- يقولون لى أصبحت فى العلم واحداThey tell me, “You have become unrivaled in learning,
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