1. مالها اليومَ بالمَضِيعَةِ راعٍ

    غيرُ صُمِّ القَنا مَنَاعَ مَنَاعِ

    Today, in abandonment, she has no guardian

    save solid lances: “Keep away! Keep away!”

  2. غابَ عن نصرها الهجيمُ وسعد

    والغطاريفُ من بنى القَعْقَاعِ

    Al-Hujaym and Saʿd are absent from her aid,

    and the noble lords among the sons of al-Qaʿqāʿ.

  3. لجموها بالسَّمْهَرِيَّةِ ما تُر

    قع آثارُ طعنها بالقَاعِ

    They bridled her with hard-shafted spears; no patching

    can mend the marks of their thrusts upon the plain.

  4. لا يُنَهْنِهْنَ في المناهلِ أَو يك

    رعنَ في سَلْسَلٍ من الأَدراعِ

    They do not hold back at watering places until

    they drink a clear stream from coats of mail.

  5. والسيوفُ التي كتمنَ حِفاظاً

    والمنايا في سِرهنَّ المُذَاعِ

    And swords that kept their secret to safeguard honor,

    with death within that secret, openly known.

  6. كلُّ واني المَهَزِّ يُحسَب مرتا

    عاً لِتلْوِينِ لونهِ والشُّعَاعِ

    Each blade, languid in its sway, seems frightened

    because of its changing color and its gleam.

  7. والقِسيُّ المعطفات من النب

    ع تطيعُ الاكفَ بعدَ نِزَاعِ

    And the curved bows of nabʿ wood

    obey the hands after resistance,

  8. كضلوع الاوعال حفِز نَبلاً

    غيرَ مأمونةٍ على الأَضلاعِ

    like ibex ribs, propelling arrows,

    not to be trusted where ribs are concerned.

  9. طلب اللهُ بالضغينةِ قوماً

    حبسُونا بمنزلٍ جَعْجَاعِ

    May God pursue with rancor a people

    who confined us in a cramped abode.

  10. أَكلوا جارَهم من اللؤم والدقْ

    قَةِ خِرصاً وما هم بِجِيَاعِ

    They devoured their neighbor out of baseness and pettiness,

    ravenously, though they were not hungry.

  11. وأَرادوا به البديلَ فباعو

    هُ بوكسٍ والمجدُ غيرُ مُبَاعِ

    They sought his replacement, so they sold

    him at a loss—yet glory is not for sale.

  12. ليتهم خُولوا من الزُّهْدِ والعفْ

    فَةِ ما خولوا من الأَطمَاعِ

    Would that they were granted as much abstinence and

    chastity as they were granted greed.

  13. وعسى الحالُ أنْ تحولَ فيجْزو

    نَ بكيل القروضِ صَاعاً بصَاعِ

    Perhaps fortune will change, and they will be repaid

    by the measure of their debts, a ṣāʿ for a ṣāʿ.

  14. عجباً كيف نطمئِنُّ الى الدُّنْ

    يَا ونرضى من ودها بالخدَاعِ

    How strange that we trust this world

    and accept deceit as its affection!

  15. وهي بالامس زلزلتْ آلَ سَاسَا

    نَ وأَلوتْ بتبَّع الاتْبَاعِ

    Only yesterday it shook the house of Sasan

    and swept away Tubbaʿ of the followers.

  16. فهم عِبرةٌ لنا وَحَدِيثٌ

    يملأ السمعَ لو وعاهُ الواعِي

    They are a lesson for us, and a tale

    that fills the ear—if the heedful listener would heed it.

  17. شهواتٌ وراحةٌ من عَنَاءٍ

    نَتَدَاوى بها من الأوْجَاعِ

    Desires, and respite from hardship:

    with these we treat our pains.

  18. وكأَنَّا اذا النعيمُ تولَّى

    لم نُمتَّع من لهوه بِمَتَاعِ

    Yet when delight departs, it is as though

    we had never enjoyed any pleasure from its play.

  19. قَطَعَ النازحَ المطاوحَ فخرُ ال

    ملكِ بالريثِ منه والاسْرَاعِ

    Fakhr al-Mulk traversed the distant reaches

    with his measured pace and his haste.

  20. وتَنَمّى الى العُلا غيرَ وانٍ

    ربَّ وانٍ في حَاجَةٍ وهو سَاعِ

    And he rose toward the heights, never flagging;

    many a man flags in a task although he strives.

  21. أَريحى تخاله القومُ مَرعيْ

    يَاً اذا كان فيهم وهو رَاعِ

    A generous man whom the people think a ward

    when he is among them, though he is their shepherd.

  22. لا تَمَادَى به الظنونُ ولا يق

    نعُ دونَ النفوسِ بالاقَناعِ

    Conjectures do not carry him away, nor is he content

    with persuasion in place of lives.

  23. أَوطأَ الخيلَ كابُلاً وحيا السن

    دَ وأَذكى نيرانَه باليفَاعِ

    He made his horses tread Kabul and greeted Sind,

    and kindled his fires on the highlands.

  24. لم يدعْ مَنقَلاً بِدَالِقَ الا

    راعَه من وئيدهِ برَواعِ

    He left no pass at Dāliq

    without terrifying it through his measured tread.

  25. ثم أَنحى على العراقِ بِاروَا

    قِ سماءٍ بطيّةِ الاقلاعِ

    Then he turned toward Iraq with the spreading canopies

    of a rain-cloud slow to depart.

  26. جبرتْ كلَّ عثرةٍ وتلافت

    كلَّ حقٍّ من الحقوقِ مُضَاعِ

    It mended every stumble and recovered

    every right that had been squandered.

  27. فقضى همَّه وهمَّكَ داءٌ

    لكَ ما لم تداوهِ بالزِّمَاعِ

    Thus he fulfilled his aim; your care is an illness

    for you unless you treat it with resolve.

  28. أَنت يومَ الاهواز أَبليتَ في الكي

    دِ وأَبدعتَ أَيما ابدَاعِ

    You excelled in stratagem on the day of Ahwaz,

    and showed the utmost ingenuity.

  29. وهجرتَ الرقادَ تمْنعُ ملكاً

    كان لولاكَ عُرضَةً للضّيَاعِ

    And you forsook sleep, safeguarding a kingdom

    which, but for you, would have been exposed to ruin,

  30. بذراعٍ تطولُ عاليةَ الرم

    حِ وباعٍ في المكرمَاتِ وَسَاعِ

    with an arm outreaching the top of a spear

    and a vast reach in noble deeds,

  31. ولهامٍ كالسيلِ يركبُ في اللي

    لِ رؤوس الاكامِ ذى دُفَّاعِ

    and a mighty host, like a torrent, mounting by night

    the crests of hills with powerful surges.

  32. لك من غُنمِهِ الجميعُ اذا فا

    زَ رئيس الخميسِ بالمربَاعِ

    All its spoils are yours when

    the army's commander wins his quarter-share.

  33. وتجاوزتَ عن ذنوبِ رجالٍ

    لم يُجازَوا بالطولِ في الاصطنَاعِ

    And you pardoned the sins of men

    who had not been recompensed with bounty in patronage.

  34. يحسنون الفرارَ انْ صدقَ البا

    سُ ولا يُحسِنُونَ صِدقَ المصَاعِ

    They excel at flight when battle turns earnest,

    but do not excel at earnest combat.

  35. كالمحاليج يَنعرون الى الفتْ

    نَةِ فيها لهم حَفيفُ اليَرَاعِ

    Like cotton gins, they bellow for sedition;

    there their sound is the rustle of reeds.

  36. لم تُواخذهم وصُنتَ عن اللو

    مِ أَذاهم والمنطقِ اللذَّاعِ

    You did not call them to account, and shielded from blame

    their offenses—and from words that sting.

  37. كنتَ لما عُققتَ أُماً رؤوماً

    بَرةً ما تَمُلُّ حُسْنَ الرضَاعِ

    When met with filial disloyalty, you were a tender mother,

    kindhearted, never tiring of good nursing.

  38. ليس ما تستطيعُ من كرمِ العَفْ

    و اِذا ما قَدِرتَ بالمستطَاعِ

    Your capacity for generous pardon,

    when you hold power, is beyond ordinary ability.

  39. والعلا لا ينالُها بيديهِ

    كلُّ ذي بَسْطَةٍ طويلِ البَاعِ

    Glory is not won with his own hands

    by every powerful man of lengthy reach,

  40. لا يُرى في المشيعين الى الرو

    عِ اذا استلأموا ولا الأَشياعِ

    who is unseen among the bold entering battle

    when they don armor, or among their followers.

  41. كلهم مُغْرمٌ بها مستهامٌ

    وأَخوها مَنْ قَدَّمَتْهُ المَسَاعِي

    All are enamored of her, bewildered by love;

    but her brother is he whom endeavors bring forward.

  42. يَمتطي في طِلابها فِقَرَ الاس

    دِ ويمشي على نُيُوبِ الأَفاعِي

    In seeking her, he mounts the backbones of lions

    and walks upon the fangs of vipers.

  43. والجسومُ العِظامُ لا تنفعُ الأَق

    وامَ الا في مهنةٍ أو صرَاعِ

    Large bodies are of no use to people

    except in labor or wrestling.

  44. واذا استضعفَ الوعيدُ ففي الشرَّ

    طِ ثقافٌ يقيمُ مَيلَ الطِّباعِ

    If threats are thought weak, the police provide

    a straightening tool to correct crooked natures.

  45. ثم انْ خانكَ الوعيدُ ففي السَّي

    فِ علاجٌ يَشفى عِدَادَ الصُدَاعِ

    Then, if threats fail you, in the sword

    there is a cure for recurring headaches.

  46. لا تُهنْهَا في الخاطئينَ وصَنها

    عن طِلى الحشوِ منهم والرُّعَاعِ

    Do not dishonor them on wrongdoers; preserve them

    from the necks of the rabble and riffraff among them.

  47. صادياتٌ لهنَّ في قُلَلِ القو

    مِ اذا ما وردنَ ولغَ السِّبَاعِ

    Thirsty blades: at the crowns of men,

    when they drink, they lap like beasts of prey.

  48. أَيُّ معنىً لها اذا هي لم يُض

    رب بها هامةُ الكمى الشجاعِ

    What purpose have they if they are not used

    to strike the head of a brave, armored warrior?

  49. قد بعثنا من أُمهاتِ القوافي

    كلَّ رقَّامةِ اليدينِ صَنَاعِ

    We have dispatched, from the mothers of rhyme,

    each deft craftswoman with embroidering hands.

  50. تذرعُ الارضَ بين طنجةَ فالصي

    نَ الى أهلها بغير ذرَاعِ

    She measures the earth from Tangier onward to China,

    to reach her people, though she has no arm.

  51. تارةً تغتذِى بغَضفِ دياجي

    ها وطوراً بآلها اللمَّاعِ

    At times she feeds upon its deep night-darkness,

    and at times upon its glittering mirage.

  52. وتُراعِى حَبَّ القُلوبِ فما تُح

    مى عليها اعطانها والمراعِي

    And she tends the hearts' kernels, never barred

    from her watering grounds and pastures.

  53. واذا الاوجه اجتلينَ على الاع

    ين ظلتْ تُجلى على الاسمَاعِ

    And when faces are displayed before the eyes,

    she continues to be unveiled before the ears.

  54. لا ابْتُلينا بعد اقترابكَ بالبُعْ

    دِ ولا كان منكَ يومُ الوَدَاعِ

    May we not, after your nearness, be afflicted with distance,

    nor may a day of parting from you come.

  55. فاذكرِ العهدَ بيننا في هَنَاةٍ

    تدعِ العبدَ مُسنَداً بالقَاعِ

    So remember the pledge between us concerning a small matter

    that leaves your servant propped upon the plain.

  56. لا تكِلها الى المِطالِ وفِلْهَا

    انما الامرُ للاميرِ المُطَاعِ

    Do not consign it to procrastination; fulfill it.

    The command belongs only to the emir who is obeyed.