1. تَموق الليالي فيكُمُ ثم تَعقِلُ

    وتَقْسِطُ في أحكامها ثم تَعدِلُ

    The nights act foolishly toward you, then regain their reason,

    and are unjust in their judgments, then become just.

  2. ويُعرِضُ وجهُ الملك عنكم عُلالةً

    فيلفِته شوقٌ إليكم فيُقبِلُ

    The king's face turns away from you for a little while,

    then longing turns it toward you, and it turns back.

  3. إذا جَرَّب الأبدالَ أصلحه لكم

    على كثرةِ التقليب من يتبدَّلُ

    When he tries substitutes, he is won back to you

    by whoever he takes instead, however often he changes them.

  4. وكم هجرةٍ لم تتفِقْ عن ملالةٍ

    وصدٍّ يريبُ الحبَّ وهو تدلُّلُ

    Many an estrangement has not arisen from weariness,

    and many a rebuff troubles love, though it is merely coyness.

  5. مكانكُمُ منه لكم أين كنتُمُ

    مقيمُكُمُ والظاعن المتحوّلُ

    Your place with him is yours wherever you may be,

    whether you stay or depart and wander.

  6. وهل يسكن الأفلاكَ إلا نجومها

    وإن غرَّ قوماً أنها تتنقَّلُ

    Who inhabits the celestial spheres but their own stars,

    though their movement deceives some people?

  7. وما أنت إلا البدرُ نأياً وأوبةً

    تحِلُّ على حكم السعود وترحلُ

    You are nothing but the full moon, in departure and return;

    you alight and depart by the decree of auspicious stars.

  8. على كلّ قطبٍ ثابتٍ لك مَطلعٌ

    وفي كلِّ برجٍ سائرٍ لك منزلُ

    At every fixed pole you have a rising place,

    and in every moving zodiacal sign you have a station.

  9. فكيف يساميك الإمارةَ والعلا

    خَفِيٌّ دقيقُ الشخصِ يعلو وينزلُ

    How, then, can he rival you in rulership and loftiness—

    an obscure, slight figure, rising and descending?

  10. إذا تمّ بدراً أو تنصَّفَ شهرهُ

    فإنك منه في سَرارك أكملُ

    If he waxes into a full moon, or his month reaches its middle,

    you, even in your dark-moon phase, are more complete than he.

  11. إذا غبتَ عنّا فالسحابة أقلعتْ

    بجُمّتها الوطفاء والعامُ ممحلُ

    When you are absent from us, the cloud withdraws

    with its luxuriant locks, while the year is barren.

  12. ويقدُمك الإقبالُ حتى ترى الحصى

    يروَّض خِصباً والجلاميدَ تُبقِلُ

    Good fortune precedes you, until you see the pebbles

    turn to fertile meadowland, and the boulders sprout green.

  13. وما المُلك يخلو منك إلا فريسة

    تُمضَّغُ ما بين النيوبِ فتؤكلُ

    Without you, the kingdom is nothing but prey,

    chewed between the fangs and then consumed.

  14. إذا ذُدتَ عنها فهو وادٍ محرَّمٌ

    وإن غبتَ شيئاً فهو نَهبٌ محلَّلُ

    When you defend it, it is an inviolable valley;

    if you are absent briefly, it is lawful plunder.

  15. وقد ألِفتْ منك الوزارةُ موطناً

    تَفَيَّأُ في أكنافه وتَظَلَّلُ

    The vizierate has found in you a familiar home,

    in whose sheltered sides she rests and takes shade.

  16. ربَتْ فهي ذاتُ الوَدْعِ في حُجُراته

    وشَبَّتْ فهذا شيبُها والتكهُّلُ

    She grew there, a cowrie-adorned child within its chambers,

    and came of age; here are her gray hairs and her middle age.

  17. أخو ثديها والناسُ أبناءُ عَلَّةٍ

    وكافلُها إن زُوِّجت وهي تُعضَلُ

    You are her milk-brother; others are sons of another mother,

    and her guardian if she is married, even while she is barred from marrying.

  18. ووالدها الحاني الشفيقُ وبعضُهم

    إذا ولدَ ابناً لم يُبَلْ كيف يَثْكَلُ

    You are her tender, compassionate father; yet some men,

    when they father a son, care not how they lose him.

  19. فلا ضامها يُتمٌ وأنت لها أبٌ

    ولا عرفَتْ يا بعلَها كيف تُرمِلُ

    May orphanhood never oppress her while you are her father,

    and may she never know, O her husband, how to be widowed.

  20. ولا عدِمتْ مشكورَ سعيك دولةٌ

    عليك إذا ذُمَّ السُّعَاةُ تُعَوِّلُ

    May no state be deprived of your praiseworthy endeavors,

    relying on you when its agents are blamed.

  21. نهضتَ بها والدهرُ تحتَ وُسُوقها

    يناشدُ جنبيه النهوضَ فينكُلُ

    You rose bearing her, while Time beneath her loads

    implores its two flanks to rise, then shrinks back.

  22. فراحوا وألقَوْها على متمرِّنٍ

    يخِفُّ عليه الأمرُ من حيث يَثقُلُ

    So they went and cast her upon a practiced man,

    for whom the task is light precisely where it is heavy.

  23. إلى كم تراهم يسبُرون اجتهادَهم

    وعفوُك فيها ثم عفوُك أفضلُ

    How long will you see them testing their utmost effort,

    while your effortless action in it—yes, your effortless action—is better?

  24. وكم تتزوَّى هضبةٌ بعد هضبةٍ

    بهم ولرَضوَى منكِب لا يُزَيَّلُ

    How many a hill, one after another, crumples

    beneath them, while Radwa's shoulder cannot be displaced!

  25. وقد حَطَّها منبوذةً واستقالَها

    مطَا كلِّ ظهرٍ ظنَّ أن سوفَ يحملُ

    She has been dropped, abandoned, and release from her sought

    by every back that thought it would bear her.

  26. تناكصَ عنها الناسُ إذ قرُبوا لها

    ومنهمْ قُرومٌ في الحبالِ وبُزَّلُ

    People recoiled from her when they approached her,

    though among them were tethered stud camels and mature camels.

  27. ألم يك في التجريبِ وعظٌ فيُنتهَى

    إليه ولا للحزم وعظٌ فيُقبَلُ

    Was there no admonition in trial, so they might turn

    to it, nor counsel for prudence to accept?

  28. أقُول وركنُ الدين سمعٌ مصدِّقٌ

    معي ولسانٌ شاهدٌ لي مُعدَّلُ

    I speak, and Rukn al-Din is a believing ear

    beside me, and a trustworthy tongue bearing witness for me.

  29. إذا هو شامَ المرهفاتِ وسلَّها

    درى أيّها أمضى شباةً وأعملُ

    When he examines the keen-edged blades and draws them,

    he knows which is sharper of edge and more effective.

  30. رأى بك وجهَ الرشد الوقتُ فَترةٌ

    وبابَ الهدى والملكُ شرعٌ مضلِّلُ

    He saw in you the face of sound judgment, when the age was faltering,

    and the gateway of guidance, when kingship was an open road leading astray.

  31. ولا أمنَ إلا أنّ سيفَك يُتّقَى

    ولا رزقَ إلا أنّ كفّك تهطِلُ

    There is no safety except that your sword is feared,

    and no sustenance except that your hand pours rain.

  32. كأنك في التدبير وحيٌ منزَّلٌ

    لنا أو نبيٌّ في السياسة مرسَلُ

    In governance, you are like revelation sent down

    to us, or a prophet dispatched in statecraft.

  33. فلولا اتقاءُ العُجبِ لم يُملِ طرفَه

    على القرب منك الناظرُ المتأمّلُ

    Were it not for guarding against vanity, he would never avert his gaze—

    the thoughtful observer, standing close to you.

  34. ولو شئت أن تعطي علاءك حقَّه

    سموتَ فخاطبتَ الكواكبَ من علُ

    If you wished to give your exalted rank its due,

    you would rise and address the stars from above.

  35. خليليّ والأنباء حقٌّ وباطلٌ

    وتُسنَدُ أخبارُ الكرام وترسَلُ

    My two friends, reports are true and false,

    and accounts of the noble are transmitted with attribution or without.

  36. بدينكما هل في فخارٍ سمعتما

    به الذكُر يُروَى والأحاديثُ تُنقَلُ

    By your faith, have you two heard of any glory

    whose renown is recounted and whose accounts are passed on,

  37. كمجدٍ بنو عبد الرحيم ولاتُهُ

    يُشيَّد في أبياتهم ويؤثَّلُ

    like a glory whose custodians are Banu Abd al-Rahim,

    built up within their houses and firmly founded?

  38. وهل في بدور الأرض بعد ظهورها

    وجوهٌ لهم يومَ السؤال وأنملُ

    Among earth's full moons, after they appear,

    are there faces and fingertips like theirs when requests are made?

  39. أقيما فلا الأخطارُ تُركَبُ دونهم

    لحظٍّ ولا العيسُ المراسيلُ تُرحَلُ

    Stay: no dangers should be braved away from them

    for gain, nor swift pale camels saddled.

  40. قَعَا بالأماني الطائرات حوائماً

    ترِفّ على باب الوزير وترفُلُ

    Alight with your winged hopes hovering,

    fluttering at the vizier's gate and trailing their robes,

  41. إلى ملكٍ لا الحق يُدفَعُ عنده

    بعذرٍ ولا الميعاد بالمطل يُقتلُ

    before a king who never rejects a rightful claim

    with an excuse, nor kills a promise through delay.

  42. يعاقب إصلاحاً ويعطي تبرُّعا

    وكالمنع إعطاءُ الفتى وهو يُسألُ

    He punishes to reform and gives freely;

    a man's giving, when he must be asked, is like withholding.

  43. صبا بالمعالي وهو في خَرَز الصِّبا

    يُدارَى بها في مهده ويعلَّلُ

    He loved high honors while still wearing childhood's beads,

    soothed and comforted with them in his cradle.

  44. وأصفَى خليلَيك الذي كنتَ تِربَهُ

    وأحلى حبيبَيْك الذي هو أوّلُ

    The truest of your two friends is the one whose age-mate you were,

    and the sweetest of your two beloveds is the first.

  45. على سرجهِ إن أركبتْهُ حميَّةٌ

    أخو لِبَدٍ بادي الطوَى متبسّلُ

    On his saddle, if zeal mounts him there,

    he is a maned lion, lean-bellied and fierce,

  46. غضوبٌ إلى أن تغسِل العارَ كفُّه

    ولو بدمٍ والعارُ بالدمِ يُغسَلُ

    angry until his hand washes away shame,

    even with blood—and shame is washed away with blood.

  47. وفي دَستهِ يومَ الرضا البدرُ ضاحكاً

    إلى وفده والعارضُ المتهلِّلُ

    In his seat, on a day of contentment, he is the full moon smiling

    upon his visiting delegation, and a beaming rain cloud.

  48. حمى الله للأيام منك بقيَّةً

    هي الدهرُ والأيامُ أو هي أفضلُ

    May God preserve for the days a remnant of you

    that is all Time and all its days—or better than they.

  49. مددت يداً بالمكرمات بسطتَها

    فطالت تنال النجمَ أو هي أطولُ

    You extended a hand, spreading it with generous deeds,

    and it grew long enough to reach the star—or longer still.

  50. فكيف إليها الرزقُ وهي مَخوفةٌ

    وكيف إليها الموتُ وهي تُقَبَّلُ

    How can sustenance approach it, when it is feared?

    And how can death approach it, when it is kissed?

  51. ولا كان هذا الشملُ مما يرُوعه

    صُدوعٌ ولا ذا الظلُّ مما يُحوَّلُ

    May this union never be startled

    by fractures, nor this shade ever be shifted.

  52. إذا غبتَ طارت بي على النأي لوعةٌ

    تُقيم المطايا وهي نحوَك تُرقلُ

    When you are absent, anguish carries me flying across the distance,

    halting the mounts as they trot swiftly toward you.

  53. وخلفتني أمّا نهاري فمطلَقٌ

    كعانٍ وأما لون ليلى فأليلُ

    You left me: my day is unbound,

    like a captive, and the hue of my night is darker still.

  54. يراني صحيحاً من يرانيَ صابراً

    وما ذاك إلا أنني أتجمّلُ

    Whoever sees me patient thinks me well;

    yet that is only because I keep up appearances.

  55. ولا وجه إلا و هو عنِّيَ معرِضٌ

    ولا كفَّ إلا وهو دونيَ مقُفَلُ

    There is no face but turns away from me,

    and no hand but is locked against me.

  56. إذا ذكروا ما موضعي منك والذي

    إليك به من حرمةٍ أتوسّلُ

    When they recall my standing with you, and the bond

    of honor through which I appeal to you,

  57. وأنيَ قد حَرّمتُ نفسي عليهمُ

    ورِقِّيَ مِلكٌ في يديك محلَّلُ

    and that I have forbidden myself to them,

    while my servitude is lawful property in your hands,

  58. رأيت أخي فيهم عدواً مكاشحاً

    ومطريَّ فيهم عائباً يتعلَّلُ

    I find my brother among them a rancorous enemy,

    and my eulogist among them a faultfinder inventing excuses.

  59. فلا ينحسم داءٌ هواك يجرُّه

    ولا عَزَّ قلبٌ في ودادك يُبذَلُ

    May no sickness brought on by love of you ever be cured,

    nor any heart offered in affection for you grow unyielding.

  60. ولا فاتني هذا الذَّرا الرحبُ موطناً

    لعزِّي ولا هذا البساطُ المقبَّلُ

    May this spacious refuge never fail me as a home

    for my dignity, nor this carpet that is kissed.

  61. وكان الذي بَقَّى ليَ العمرُ فضلةً

    لمدحكمُ تبقَى وفيكم تؤجَّلُ

    And may the remnant that life has left me

    remain for praising you, and be prolonged for your sake,

  62. تُسدِّي لكم في كلّ يومٍ وشائعاً

    من الفخر مصبوغاتُها ليس تنصُلُ

    weaving for you each day skeins

    of glory whose dyed threads never fade.

  63. لها من عِلاط الجهد وسمٌ مُخَلَّدٌ

    يمر عليه الدهرُ والدهرُ مغفَلُ

    They bear an everlasting mark from effort's neck-branding,

    over which Time passes, while Time itself is unbranded.

  64. نجائبُ أمّاتُ القريض بمثلها

    عقائمُ إلا أن فكريَ ينسُلُ

    Noble she-camels: of their like, the mothers of poetry

    are barren—yet my thought breeds them.

  65. نوازيَ من بين الضلوع كأنما

    يجيش بها من بين جنبيّ مِرجلُ

    Leaping from between my ribs, as though

    a cauldron within my sides were seething with them.

  66. على اسمك تُحدَى أو بوصفك تُقتضَى

    صِعاباً فتعنو في الحبال وتسهُلُ

    They are urged on to your name, or called forth by your qualities,

    unruly, yet they yield to their ropes and grow tame.

  67. فلو كنت فيها خائفاً بُخلَ خاطري

    لسمَّحهُ إحسانك المتقبَّلُ

    Had I feared my inspiration's stinginess with them,

    your well-received kindness would have made it generous.

  68. تضوع بها أوصافُ فخرك ما جَرَتْ

    على الأرض رعناءُ التنسُّم شمألُ

    Through them your glorious qualities breathe fragrance, as long as

    a north wind sweeps the earth with unruly gusts.

  69. كأني إذا جرَّرتُ فيك ذيولَها

    أُمسِّك في أذيالها وأمندِلُ

    As though, when I trail their skirts in your praise,

    I perfume their hems with musk and aloeswood.

  70. وينصرني فيها على الخصم أنني

    على المجد فيكم والعلا أتوكَّلُ

    What helps me against my adversary in them is that

    I rely on the glory and loftiness found in you.

  71. بقيتُ لها وحدي وفي الناس أهلُها

    كثيرٌ ولكن يدّعون وأعملُ

    I alone remain devoted to them, though their practitioners among men

    are many; but they make claims, and I do the work.

  72. ومنها ليوم المِهرَجان قلادةٌ

    تحلِّيه والأيامُ تَحلَى وتَعطَلُ

    Among them is a necklace for Mihrajan day,

    adorning it, while days are sometimes jeweled and sometimes bare.

  73. وإن كان يوماً سابقاً بجماله

    فجلوتُهُ فيها أتمُّ وأجملُ

    Though it is a day already foremost in beauty,

    its unveiling in this is fuller and fairer.

  74. تلين لكم أعطافُها وهي شُمَّسٌ

    وتُطلَق من أرساغها وهي تُشكَلُ

    Their flanks soften for you, though they are unruly,

    and they are loosed at their pasterns, though hobbled.

  75. ثناءٌ عليكم آخرَ الدهر عاكفٌ

    وودُّ بكم دون الأنام موكَّلُ

    Praise that abides with you to the end of time,

    and love entrusted to you alone, apart from all creation.