1. ليتَك لمّا تكن مُسعِدا

    أو مصلحاً لم تكن المفسدا

    Would that, since you were no helper

    or mender, you had not been the spoiler.

  2. كنتُ كثيراً بك فيما يَرَى

    ظنِّي فكثَّرتً عديدَ العدا

    With you I was many, in the eyes

    of my fancy; yet you swelled the ranks of my foes.

  3. وشَى وقد قدَّمتَهُ رائداً

    لا تبعث الظلمة مسترشِدا

    He slandered, though you had sent him ahead as a scout;

    do not send darkness when seeking guidance.

  4. يسومني الغدرَ بعهد اللِّوى

    ما حقُّ من يغدِرُ أن يَعهَدا

    He urges me to betray the pledge at al-Liwa;

    one who betrays has no right to make a pledge.

  5. غيرِي أبو الألوانِ في حبِّه

    يشكو الهوى اليومَ ويسلو غدا

    Another, not I, is many-colored in his love:

    he laments love today and grows indifferent tomorrow.

  6. أصبو إلى طَيْبةَ من بابلٍ

    ما أقربَ الشوقَ وما أبعدا

    From Babylon I long for Tayba;

    how near longing is, and how far!

  7. يا فارسَ الغيداء يبغي مِنىً

    بلِّغْ بلغتَ الرشأَ الأغيدا

    O rider of the graceful mount, heading for Mina,

    convey my message—may you reach the supple young gazelle!

  8. يا حبذا الذكرى وإن أسهرتْ

    بعدك والدمعُ وإن أرمَدا

    Oh, how dear remembrance is, though it keeps me awake

    in your absence; and tears, though they inflame my eyes!

  9. لا تأخذِ النَّفْرَ بتفريقنا

    فربّما عاد لنا موعِدا

    Do not blame the departure for parting us;

    perhaps it will return as our appointed meeting.

  10. بالغور دارٌ وبنجدٍ هوىً

    يا لهف من غار لمن أنجدا

    In al-Ghawr is a home, and in Najd a love;

    oh, the lowland dweller's longing for one who went up to Najd!

  11. ما كان سَلمِي يوم فارقتكم

    يا سَلْمَ منّي حاملاً أجلدا

    On the day I left you, Salmi

    carried none more steadfast than me, O Salm.

  12. سجيّةٌ في الصبر عَوَّدتُها

    قلبيَ والقلبُ وما عُوّدا

    A habit of patience that I instilled in

    my heart—and the heart follows what it is taught.

  13. لم تُدنِني الأيامُ من عدلها

    قطّ فألقى الجَورَ مستبعَدا

    The days have not brought me near their justice,

    ever, that I should find injustice unexpected.

  14. وإنما يُنكِرُ من عَيشِهِ

    أنكدَهُ مَنْ عَرَفَ الأرغدا

    And one only resents, in one's life,

    its harshest lot if one has known the most ease.

  15. حوادثٌ أعجبُ من كرِّها

    أن أتشكَّاها وأن أُحسَدا

    Stranger than the repeated assaults of misfortunes

    is that I complain of them and am envied.

  16. ليتَ بني الدنيا التي لا تَرَى

    لي نسباً منها ولا مَولدا

    Would that the sons of this world—which acknowledges

    no lineage for me within it, nor any birthplace—

  17. كفَّتهُمُ عنِّيَ أو ليتُهمْ

    كانوا جميعاً للحسين الفدى

    were kept from me by it; or would that they

    were all a ransom for al-Husayn,

  18. للقمرِ الفردِ وهل مالكٌ

    في الأفْق غيرُ البدرِ أن يُفردَا

    for the peerless moon—and who has the right,

    on the horizon, but the full moon, to stand alone?

  19. لا يَحسَبُ الطيِّبَ مِن ماله

    ما لم يكن معترضاً للجَدَأ

    He deems none of his wealth wholesome

    unless it is held ready for giving.

  20. وكان أغنَى حسباً عندهُمْ

    من لم يزل أفقرَ منهم يدا

    And in their eyes the richest in nobility

    was he whose hand was ever poorer than theirs.

  21. والأبيضا الرأي إذا ما شكا

    خابطُ ليلٍ رَأيَهُ الأسوَدا

    And white of counsel, whenever complaint is made

    by one groping through night about his own black counsel;

  22. وفارس القَولةِ لم يَستقمْ

    في ظهرها الفارسُ إلا ارتدى

    and a rider of speech: no horseman ever stood firm

    upon its back without falling.

  23. وسالك الخطبِ وقد أظلمتْ

    مَحجَّةٌ بالنجم لا تُهتَدَى

    And a traveler through crises, when darkness has fallen

    on a road along which no star can guide.

  24. ما شِيمَ منكم صارمٌ مغمَدٌ

    إلا وأمضى منه ما جُرِّدا

    Never was a keen sword from among you laid in its sheath

    but the one drawn was sharper still.

  25. ولا قَضَى اللّهُ على سيِّد

    قضاءَهُ إلا اجتبَى سيِّدا

    Nor has God pronounced upon a lord

    His decree without choosing another lord.

  26. إن بدأا تمّم أو نَقصُوا

    أنعمَ أو حطُّوا عُلاً شيَّدا

    If they began, he completed; or if they fell short,

    he gave abundantly; or if they brought heights low, he built them up.

  27. كأنه أُرضِعَ ثديَ النُّهى

    أو شاب من حُنكتِهِ أمردا

    As though he had been nursed at wisdom's breast,

    or grown gray from experience while still beardless.

  28. لا عاقَ أنوارَك يا بدرَهُمْ

    ما يَنقُصُ البدرَ إذا زُيِّدا

    May your rays, O their full moon, never be hindered

    by what diminishes the full moon after it has waxed.

  29. ولا أغبَّتكم على عادِها

    ما أفطر الصائمُ أو عيَّدا

    May they never leave gaps in their customary visits to you,

    as long as a faster breaks his fast or celebrates a feast:

  30. بواكرٌ من مِدَي تَقتَفِي

    في صونها آثارَكم في الندى

    fresh offerings from my poetic reach, following

    in their guarded purity your footsteps in generosity.

  31. تجلو على الألباب أحسابَكُم

    بوادياً في حَلْيِها عُوَّدا

    They reveal your noble lineages to discerning minds,

    appearing afresh in their jewels, even when returning.

  32. تبقَى على الدهر وِساعَ الخُطَا

    في جَوْبِها الأرض طِوالَ المدى

    They endure through time, broad of stride,

    crossing the earth, long in their reach.

  33. يزيدها ترديدُها جِدَّةً

    ويُخلِقُ القولُ إذا رُدِّدا

    Repeating them increases their freshness,

    while speech grows worn when repeated.