1. حَبَتكَ السَّماء بِأَمطارِها

    وَكَيفَ تَضِنُّ عَلَى جارِها

    May the sky favor you with its rains—

    and how could it begrudge its neighbor?

  2. وَلا بَرِحَت في ثَراكَ الرِّياضُ

    تَفُضُّ لَطائِمَ نُوّارِها

    And may gardens in your soil never cease

    unsealing the perfume-caskets of their blossoms.

  3. وَقَد نابَ عَنها جَميلُ الثَّنا

    فَذِكرُكَ أَعبَقُ أَزهارِها

    And fair praise has already taken their place,

    for your remembrance is their most fragrant flower.

  4. أَطَلتَ لَيالِيَّ حَتّى ظَنَن

    تُ أَنَّكَ نُبتَ بِأَسحارِها

    You lengthened my nights until I thought

    you had departed with their dawns.

  5. وَغادَرتُ دَمعي رَقيبَ الجُفونِ

    فَباعَدتُ ما بَينَ أَشفارِها

    And I left my tears as watchmen over my eyelids,

    so I kept their lashes far apart.

  6. وَبي لَوعَةٌ مِنكَ ما تَطمَئِنُّ

    فَأَشكو إِلَيكَ بِمِقدارِها

    Within me is a burning grief for you that will not rest,

    so my complaint to you matches its measure.

  7. فَلَهفي عَلَيكَ لَشَعثِ العُفا

    ةِ تَرمي إِلَيكَ بِأمطارِها

    Alas for you—for the disheveled seekers of bounty

    casting their woolen cloaks toward you,

  8. تَجوبُ المَهامِهَ حَتّى تُنيخَ

    بِقاري العَشيرَةِ عَفّارِها

    crossing the trackless wastes until they make their mounts kneel

    before the tribe's host, its champion.

  9. وَساغِبَةٍ عَلَّلَت في الظَّلامِ

    بَنيها بِقُربِكَ مِن دارِها

    And for a starving woman who soothed, in the darkness,

    her sons with your nearness to her home.

  10. فَكُنتَ إِلى بَذلِ ما أَمَّلَت

    هُ أَسرَعُ مِن وَهمِ أَفكارِها

    So, in bestowing what she hoped for, you were

    swifter than the imaginings of her mind.

  11. وَبَهماء تَلمَحُ فيها النُّجومَ

    مُصَيَّفَةً بَينَ أَقطارِها

    And a pitch-dark night in which you glimpse the stars,

    summering between its horizons.

  12. تَعَسَّفتَها سارِياً وَالقَطا

    جَوائِرَ عَن نَهجِ أَوكارِها

    You crossed it by night, while the sandgrouse

    strayed from the paths to their nests.

  13. وَعانَ دَعاكَ وَصَحبُ الهُمومِ

    تَروحُ عَلَيهِ بِسُمّارِها

    And a captive who called to you while a company of cares

    came upon him at evening with their night-companions.

  14. فَأَنفَذتَهُ مِن يَدِ الحادِثاتِ

    وَقَد عَلِقَتهُ بِأَظفارِها

    You delivered him from the hand of calamities,

    which had already seized him with their claws.

  15. وَنَجلاء تَهزَأ أَرجاؤُها

    بِأَيدي الأساةِ وَمِسمارِها

    And a gaping wound whose margins mocked

    the physicians' hands and their cautery nail.

  16. فَضَلَّت بِها خَطراتُ الظُّنو

    نِ بَينَ القُلوبِ وَأَغمارِها

    So, over it, the stirrings of conjecture went astray

    between hearts and their grudges.

  17. وَلَهفي عَلَيكَ وَهوجُ الرِّيا

    حِ تَسحَبُ أَذيالَ أَعصارِها

    And alas for you, while violent winds

    dragged the trailing skirts of their whirlwinds

  18. بِغَبراء تَعرِقُ كُومَ المطي

    يِ حَتّى تَنوءُ بِأَوبارِها

    in a dust-gray year that stripped high-humped mounts of flesh,

    until they staggered beneath their own hair.

  19. جَلَوتَ غَياهِبَها وَالكِرا

    مُ تُقري الضُّيوفَ بِأَعذارِها

    You dispelled its deep darkness, while the noble

    entertained their guests with excuses.

  20. وَجَدَّلَ سَيفُكَ شَول اللِّقاح

    وَقَد كَسَّعوها بِأَغبارِها

    And your sword felled the scant-milking camels,

    though they had left their last milk in their udders.

  21. تَقَسَّمَها وَرَبابُ القِداح

    مُعَطَّلَةٌ عِندَ ايسارِها

    It portioned them out, while the gaming-arrow quivers

    lay unused beside their gamblers.

  22. وَلَهفِي لأخوانِ صِدق أَطَلتَ

    عَلَيها بَقِيَّةَ أَعمارِها

    And alas for faithful friends—you have lengthened

    the remainder of their lives for them.

  23. مَلَكتَ ضَمائِرَها وَاِستَرَق

    قَ جودُكَ رِبقَةَ أَحرارِها

    You possessed their hearts, and into bondage

    your bounty drew their free men by the halter.

  24. فَإِن نَزَحوا فيكَ ماء الجُفونِ

    فَإِنَّكَ إِنسانُ أَبصارِها

    So if they drain their eyelids' water for you,

    then you are the pupil of their eyes.

  25. وَإِن عَقَروا لَكَ حَبَّ القُلوبِ

    فَقَد كُنتَ مَوضِعَ أَسرارِها

    And if they sacrifice their hearts' cores for you,

    for you were indeed the resting place of their secrets.

  26. بِرَغمي نَزَلتُ بِدارٍ تُقي

    مُ رَهنَ ثَراها وَأَحجارِها

    Against my will I came to a dwelling where you remain

    a hostage to its earth and stones.

  27. تُدارُ وَلَيسَ بِها مِن قِرا

    كَ إِلّا الغَرامَ لِزُوَّارِها

    It is visited, yet has none of your hospitality

    except anguish for its visitors.

  28. وَكُنتَ بِعَلياء مَطروقَةٍ

    يُضيءُ النُّجومَ سَنا نارِها

    You once dwelt on a lofty height, much frequented,

    the radiance of its fire lighting up the stars.

  29. إِذا عَرَّسَت في ذُراها الرِّكابُ

    فَقَد آمَنَت شَدَّ أَكوارِها

    When the riding camels halted for the night on its heights,

    they were safe from their saddle-frames being strapped on.

  30. وَلَو نَزَلَت بِكَ فيها العُصاةُ

    حَمَلتَ صَحائِفَ أَوزارِها

    And had even sinners alighted with you there,

    you would have borne the scrolls of their sins.

  31. أَبا حَسَنٍ هِيَ دُنيا تُنا

    لُ أَقدارُها فَوقَ أَقدارِها

    Abu Hasan, this is a world where one attains

    honors beyond its worth.

  32. جَرَت في أَبيكَ عَلَى عادَةٍ

    تَموتُ الكِرامُ بِأَوتارِها

    It followed, in your father's case, a custom:

    noble men die through its vendettas.

  33. وَقَد صَفَحَت عَنكَ مِن بَعدِهِ

    فَإِظلامُها مِثلُ إِسفارِها

    And it has spared you after him,

    so its darkness is like its dawning light.

  34. جَرَيتَ عَلى نَهجِهِ في العُلا

    فَكانَ خَبيراً بِأَوعارِها

    You followed his path in lofty honor,

    for he knew its rugged ways well.

  35. وَجادَ لَنا بِكَ بَعدَ الكِرام

    فَصَدَّقَ كاذِبُ أَخبارِها

    And he bestowed you on us after the noble men,

    and so made its false tidings true.