1. بقيتَ ولا كانَ الزمانُ ولا بقى

    فنائِلُهُ بَدْءٌ ونَيْلُكَ مُنتَهى

    May you endure, and may Time neither exist nor endure.

    For its bounty is a beginning, and yours the ultimate end.

  2. قد أفنيتَ آمالي بجودِكَ والمُنى

    وجودتني حتى غنيتُ عن الغِنى

    You have exhausted my hopes and wishes with your generosity,

    and made me generous until I had no need of wealth.

  3. وصيرتَني من بعدِ ما كنتُ واقفاً

    أقولُ لدهري كلّما جاءَ ههنا

    And, after I had stood, you made me

    say to my Time whenever it comes, 'Here!'

  4. فودَّ نزارٌ لو يَسُرُّ ربيعةً

    بأنّكَ أضجرتَ الأفاقِرَ باللُّها

    So Nizar wished he could gladden Rabi‘a

    with the news that you have wearied the destitute with gifts,

  5. وأنكَ لا تنفكُ تحت عَجاجَةٍ

    تُقطَّعُ فيها المشرفيةَ بالطُلى

    and that you never cease to be beneath a dust cloud

    where Mashrafi swords are shattered against necks.

  6. ثَنَتْها من الصخرِ السنابكُ فاغتدتْ

    تَردُّ عن الفرسانِ عاديةَ الظُبى

    Hooves curled it up from the rock, and it began

    to shield the horsemen from the blades' onslaught.

  7. إذا يئستْ عُقبانُها من خَصيلة

    رفعتَ إليها الدارعينَ على القَنا

    When its eagles despair of a morsel,

    you lift armored men up to them on spears.

  8. سيوفُكَ أمضى في النّفوسِ من الرّدى

    وخوفُكَ أمضى من سيوفِكَ في العِدَى

    Your swords cut deeper into souls than death,

    and fear of you cuts deeper into enemies than your swords.

  9. وليلُكَ صُبْحٌ ما يَحولُ من الظُبى

    وصُبحكَ ليلٌ ما يضيءُ من الثّرى

    And your night is unchanging dawn because of the blades,

    and your dawn is lightless night because of the dust.

  10. وأنتَ الذي لوْلاهُ ما عُرِفَ النّدى

    ولا كانتِ الدُنْيا ولا خُلِقَ الوَرى

    And you are the one without whom generosity would be unknown,

    nor would the world exist, nor humankind be created.

  11. فتىً يتجافى لذةَ النومِ جفنُه

    كأنّ لذيذَ النومِ في جَفنهِ قَذَى

    A youth whose eyelid shuns sleep's delight,

    as though sweet sleep were grit in his eyelid.

  12. أطرفُكَ شاكٍ أمْ سهادُكَ عاشِقٌ

    يَغار على عينيكَ من سِنَةِ الكَرَى

    Is your eye ailing, or is your sleeplessness a lover

    jealously guarding your eyes against a touch of sleep?

  13. ومن سهَرت في المكرُماتِ جُفونُهُ

    رعَى طرْفُهُ في جوِّها أنجُمَ العُلا

    And whoever's eyelids stay awake for noble deeds,

    his eye watches the stars of glory in their sky.

  14. وليس ينامُ القلبُ والجفْنُ ساهرٌ

    ولا تغمُدُ العينانِ والقلبُ منتضى

    And the heart does not sleep while the eyelid is awake,

    nor are the eyes sheathed while the heart is unsheathed.

  15. ألا إنّ عينَ المرءِ عُنوانُ قَلبهِ

    تُخبِّرُ عنْ أسْرارِهِ شاءَ أمْ أبى

    Behold, a man's eye is the index of his heart,

    telling its secrets, whether he wishes it or not.

  16. رأيتُ كريماً يأكلُ الناسُ زادَهُ

    إذا سَئِموا أزوادَهُ سَئِمَ الطّوَى

    I saw a generous man whose provisions people eat;

    when they tire of his provisions, he tires of hunger.

  17. يَرى ما تَرى أبصارُهُمْ وهو مُطْرِقٌ

    وما لا تَرى أبصارُهُم عينُه تَرى

    He sees what their eyes see, though his head is bowed,

    and what their eyes do not see, his eye sees.

  18. فقلتُ سحابٌ أسْتَظِلُّ بظِلّه

    ولا امترى غيرَ المودةِ والهَوى

    So I said, 'A cloud beneath whose shade I shelter,

    and from it I draw nothing but affection and love.'

  19. فلم أرَ عيشاً قبلَهُ متزهِّداً

    ولا صادِياً قبلي يَفِرُّ منَ الحَيا

    So never before him had I seen life turned ascetic,

    nor, before me, a thirsty man fleeing the rain.

  20. لرأيكَ سيفَ الدولةِ الهمُ دونَه ال

    عزيمةُ والوعدُ الذي دونَهُ النّدى

    Your judgment, Sayf al-Dawla, has intent preceded by

    resolve, and a promise preceded by generosity.

  21. فلا زلتَ تُبلى جِدّةَ الدّهْرِ باقياً

    وتلبس أثْوابَ الحياةِ بِلا مَدَى

    So may you ever endure, wearing out Time's newness,

    and wear the robes of life without end.