1. لعلَّ الركَبَ أن خلَصوا نجيَّا

    يَروْن الحزمَ أن يقِفوا المطيَّا

    Perhaps the riders have withdrawn to confer in private,

    and deem it prudent to halt their mounts.

  2. فإنّ على المشارف من رُسَيْسٍ

    هوىً يستنظر السيرَ الوحيَّا

    For on the heights of Rusays

    there is a love that bids swift travel wait.

  3. بُلَهنِيَةٌ من الدنيا وظلٌّ

    وروضٌ أرضُه يصفُ السمِيِّا

    There is ease from worldly life, and shade,

    and a meadow whose earth tells of the rain.

  4. وسارحة تعجِّجُ عن أَداوَى

    مواقرَ عفوُها يسعُ العشِيَّا

    And a roaming herd raises dust away from waterskins,

    heavy-laden, whose surplus suffices for the evening.

  5. وكالظبيات أعطافاً عطاشا

    إذا ضُمَّتْ وأردافا رُوِيَّا

    And gazelle-like women, thirsty in their waists

    when embraced, but well-watered in their hips.

  6. يناضلن القلوبَ بصائبات

    يَرُقْنَ وإن قتلنَ بها الرِميَّا

    They shoot at hearts with unerring arrows;

    they delight, though with these they kill their quarry.

  7. مكايِدُ إن نجا غَلطاً عليها

    سقيمُ هوىً أخذن به البريَّا

    Snares: if, by mistake, there escapes them

    a lovesick man, they seize an innocent in his place.

  8. أطورُ بهنّ أستجدي ضنينا

    وأستعدي على شجوي خليَّا

    I circle around them, begging gifts from a miser,

    and seek aid against my grief from one untouched by love.

  9. فيا بأبي وعزَّ أبي فداء

    لغيري الحبُّ يُبذَلُ أو إليَّا

    Ah, my father be their ransom—precious is my father as a ransom!

    Is love bestowed on another, or on me?

  10. نواعمُ من وجوهٍ بين جمع

    إلى البطحاءِ رحتُ بها شقيَّا

    Tender beauties of face, between Jamʿ

    and al-Batha: I went there, miserable because of them.

  11. وشماءُ الغدائر من سُلَيمٍ

    يعلِّم عدلُ قامتها القُنِيَّا

    And a woman of Sulaym with high-piled tresses:

    the straightness of her stature teaches the spears.

  12. تناصعُ عِقدَها الشفّافَ عنقٌ

    لها وقصاءُ تنتهب الحلِيَّا

    A neck rivals her translucent necklace in brilliance—

    hers; and a short-necked beauty plunders the jewels.

  13. توحَّشُ يومَ تطلب سامريّاً

    وتأنس يومَ تجلبُ بابليَّا

    She grows wild when she seeks a Samiri,

    and companionable when she brings a Babylonian.

  14. إذا استرشفتَ أنقعَ شربتيها

    سقتك مصرَّدا وحمتْك ريَّا

    If you ask to sip the more thirst-quenching of her two drinks,

    she gives you a scant draught and denies you your fill.

  15. تعدُّ الشيبَ نعتا من ذنوبي

    فرُدِّي الوصلَ أو عُدِّي سِنِيَّا

    She counts gray hair as a mark among my faults;

    so restore our union, or count my years.

  16. وعاب العاذلون بها جنوني

    أهان الله أعقلَ عاذليَّا

    The reproachers faulted my madness for her;

    may God humiliate the wisest of my reproachers!

  17. وهبتُ لخُرقها في الحبِّ حلمي

    فمرَّت بي رشيدا أو غوِيَّا

    I surrendered my forbearance to her recklessness in love,

    and she carried me along, rightly guided or astray.

  18. ولم أك في العكوف على هواها

    بأوّلِ محسنِ يهوَى مُسِيَّا

    In my devotion to loving her, I was not

    the first kindly man to love a wrongdoer.

  19. ألا يا صاحبي النهضانَ إني

    أحبُّك لا الجثومَ ولا العيِيَّا

    O my energetic companion, truly

    I love you, not the sluggish or the inept.

  20. خليلي أنت ما طالعتَ عزمي

    وسراًّ في المطالب لي خفيَّا

    You are my friend so long as you discern my resolve

    and a secret of mine hidden in my pursuits.

  21. عَذِيري منك تزعمني أميرا

    عليك وتنتحيني خارجيَّا

    Who will defend me against you? You call me a commander

    over you, yet attack me as a rebel.

  22. تنفِّلني البليِّة والرَّذايا

    وتغتصب النشائطَ والصفيَّا

    You allot me the worn-out beast and the worthless camels,

    and seize the choice spoils and the chief's selected share.

  23. فلا أرنيكَ تسأل بي قريبا

    وتسأل إن نأيتُك بي حفيَّا

    So let me not see you inquiring about me when near,

    and inquiring solicitously about me if I go far from you.

  24. وكايلَني بغير يدَيْ زماني

    فلم أعرف له صاعا سويَّا

    Time traded measures with me using hands unlike mine,

    and I found no fair bushel in its dealings.

  25. أخو وجهين تخبرُه وَقاحا

    وتُبصره بظاهره حيِيَّا

    Two-faced: when tested, you find it shameless,

    yet outwardly you see it as modest.

  26. وهوباً سالباً وأخاً عدوّاً

    بفطرته ومنقادا أبيَّا

    Generous and plundering, a brother and an enemy

    by its nature, compliant and defiant.

  27. فطِنتُ لخُلْقِه فزهدتُ فيه

    وبعضُ القوم يحسبني غبيَّا

    I discerned its character and lost desire for it,

    while some people think me foolish.

  28. لحا الله العراقَ وزهرتَيها

    حمىً يسترعفُ الأنفَ الحميَّا

    May God curse Iraq and its two blossoms!

    A preserve that makes the proud nose bleed.

  29. بلادٌ ما اشتهت خِصبا ولكن

    يكون على العدى مرعىً وبِيَّا

    Lands with all the fertility one could desire, yet

    a pestilential pasture for their foes.

  30. مؤنّثةُ الثرى والماءُ يُعدِي

    بحسن طباعها القدرَ الجريَّا

    A land with feminizing soil, whose water infects

    even bold fate with the excellence of its nature.

  31. أرى إبلي على الخيرات فيها

    تلُسُّ التُّربَ تحسبه النَّصِيَّا

    I see my camels seeking bounty there,

    licking the dust, mistaking it for desert grass.

  32. منخّسةً على الأعطانِ طردا

    ولا جَرْبَى طُردْنَ ولا سبيَّا

    Goaded and driven from the watering grounds,

    though neither mangy nor captive were they driven out.

  33. إذا ورَدَ الغرائبُ أقحمتها

    على الإقراب خيفتُها العِصيَّا

    When stranger camels come to drink, they are driven

    to approach by their fear of the sticks.

  34. حماها الوِرْدَ كلُّ بخيلِ قومٍ

    يكون بعرضِه فيها سخِيَّا

    Every miser among the people bars them from drinking,

    yet is lavish there with his own honor.

  35. إذا نسب الفضائلَ من أبيه

    ومنه نَزَعن عنه أجنبيَّا

    When he claims virtues from his father

    and himself, they recoil from him as a stranger.

  36. أقوم وصاحبي فأثيرُ عنه

    بواركَها البوازلَ والثنِيَّا

    I rise with my companion and rouse from beside him

    the kneeling camels, mature and young alike.

  37. فما ندري أثرناها مطايا

    نواحلَ أو بريناها قِسِيَّا

    We cannot tell whether we have roused them as mounts,

    gaunt ones, or carved them into bows.

  38. فحنَّت أو فقطَّعها صَدَاها

    صباحَ الذلِّ إن شرِبت مَرِيَّا

    They moaned—or their thirst tore them apart—

    at humiliation's dawn, even if they drank wholesome water.

  39. ولاحملت بلادٌ لم تلِقْني

    وإيَّاها العهادَ ولا الوليَّا

    And may no land that failed to bind me

    to itself bear recurrent showers or following rain.

  40. دعوتُ لها العريبَ ورهطَ كسرَى

    فلا القُربَى حمِدتُ ولا القَصِيَّا

    I summoned the Arabs and Khusraw's people to their aid,

    yet praised neither the near nor the distant.

  41. ونامتْ نُصرة الأنباطِ عنها

    فنبّهتُ الغلام القيصريَّا

    The Nabataeans' aid slumbered, neglecting them,

    so I roused the Caesarean youth.

  42. فهبَّ فقام يُلقي الضيمَ عنها

    كريمَ العُودِ أروَعَ شمَّريَّا

    He sprang up and rose to cast oppression from them,

    noble in stock, splendid, swift to act.

  43. يعارض دونها فيسدُّ عنها

    طريقَ البغي أرقمَ عالجيَّا

    He stands in their defense, blocking from them

    the path of tyranny, like a speckled serpent of ʿAlij.

  44. أصمّ إذا رقَوه عن وداد

    عَصَى الحاوين والتقط الرُّقِيَّا

    Deaf when they charm him away from affection,

    he defies the snake-charmers and swallows their spells.

  45. لقد راودْتُ ناشزة الأماني

    على رَجُلٍ تكون له هَدِيَّا

    Indeed, I coaxed rebellious hopes

    to become a bride for a man.

  46. تَقِرُّ لديه ساكنةً حشاها

    وتألفُ عنده الأمر العَصِيَّا

    They settle beside him, calm in their depths,

    and in his presence grow familiar with the intractable.

  47. ورضتُ صِعابَها لجما وخزما

    مطيعَ الرأس فيها والعَصِيَّا

    I tamed their unruly ones with bridles and nose-rings,

    both the obedient-headed and the rebellious among them.

  48. فما اختارت سوى المختارِ خِدناً

    كفيلا في الصّعاب لها كفيَّا

    They chose none but al-Mukhtar as their companion,

    a capable guarantor for them in hardship.

  49. أهبتُ به فلم أهزُز كَهاما

    إلى غرضي ولم أزجر بطيَّا

    I called upon him, and did not brandish a blunt blade

    for my purpose, nor urge a sluggish mount.

  50. وكان أخي وقد عرَضتْ هَناتٌ

    وفَى فيها وليس أخي وفيَّا

    He was my brother when troubles arose,

    faithful in them, though my own brother was not.

  51. وقام بنصر حُسن الظنّ فيه

    مَقاما يُزلق البطلَ الكميَّا

    He rose to vindicate my good opinion of him

    in a stand that would make an armored champion slip.

  52. حظيتُ به أثيثَ النبتِ كهلا

    بآيةِ يومَ أعرفه فتيَّا

    I enjoyed his favor, luxuriantly grown in maturity,

    as foretold when I knew him as a youth.

  53. وكنتُ ذخَرتُه لصباحِ يومٍ

    فقيرٍ أن أكون به غنيَّا

    I had kept him in reserve for the dawn of a day

    of need, that through him I might be rich.

  54. فما كذَبتْ تباشيرُ ارتيادي

    به قِدْما ولا كانت فريَّا

    The first glad signs of my seeking him out did not lie,

    long ago, nor were they fabricated.

  55. كأني إذ بعثتُ وراءَ حاجي

    به أطررتُ نَصلا فارسِيَّا

    It was as though, when I sent him after my needs,

    I had loosed a Persian arrowhead.

  56. رعَى سلَفَ المودّة لم يخنها

    ولم يك مع تقادمها نسِيَّا

    He preserved our former affection and did not betray it,

    nor was he forgetful despite its long duration.

  57. وبات يضمُّها من جانبيها

    وذئبُ الغدر يرصدها ضريَّا

    He spent the night embracing it on both sides,

    while the ravening wolf of treachery lay in wait for it.

  58. وقد عادَ الوفاءُ يُعَدُّ عجزا

    وذكرُ العهد ديناً جاهليَّا

    Although fidelity has come to be counted weakness,

    and remembering a pledge a pre-Islamic creed.

  59. وجاهدَ أعزلا وقضى ديونا

    يماطلني الزمانُ بها مليَّا

    He struggled unarmed and paid debts

    that Time had long delayed paying me.

  60. أبا الحسَن انبلجتَ بها شِهابا

    على ظلُمات إخواني مُضِيَّا

    Abu al-Hasan, through them you shone forth like a meteor,

    bright above the darkness of my brothers.

  61. خبرتُهمُ فكنتُ بهم قليلا

    وهم كُثْرٌ فكنتُ بك الثرِيَّا

    I tested them: through them I had little,

    though they were many; through you I became rich.

  62. هُمُ نسَلوا الخوافِيَ القُدامَى

    فطرتُ بها أُزيرِقَ مَضرَحيَّا

    They plucked out the coverts and the primary feathers;

    on these I flew, a blue-gray, broad-winged eagle.

  63. حططتُ عليك أوساقي وظهري

    بهنّ موقَّعٌ عُرّاً وعِيَّا

    I set my loads upon you, while my back

    was chafed by them with sores and exhaustion.

  64. فكنتُ العَوْدَ لامَتْناً شديدا

    عزمتُ به ولا قلبا جريَّا

    I was the aged camel, with no strong back

    to rely upon, nor any courageous heart.

  65. كأن مآربي بسواك تبغِي

    ولاءَ القيظِ يختبطُ الرُّكِيَّا

    It is as though my wishes, sought through anyone but you, seek

    the friendship of midsummer as it lashes the wells.

  66. فلا زالت بك الدنيا تريني

    طريقَ إصابتي وضِحاً جليَّا

    May the world, through you, never cease to show me

    the way to my success, bright and clear.

  67. وتَقسِم من بقائك لي زماني

    على نقصانه الحظَّ السنيَّا

    And may it grant my days, from your continued life,

    a splendid share, despite their dwindling.

  68. متى تتعنّس الدنيا عجوزا

    موقَّصةً وتتركهُ صبيَّا

    Whenever the world ages into a spinster,

    broken-necked, may it leave him a youth.

  69. وطارت طائراتُ رِضاي تسرِي

    بوصفك رائحاتٍ أو غُدِيَّا

    The winged creatures of my satisfaction flew, traveling by night

    with your praise, departing at evening or morning.

  70. حبائرُ يحسبُ اليمنيُّ منها

    يذارعُك الرداءَ العبقريَّا

    Embroidered cloths, from which a Yemeni imagines

    he is measuring you a richly patterned cloak by the cubit.

  71. تسُدُّ مطالعَ البَيضَا عُلُوّاً

    وتنفُذُ تحتَ مَغربِها هُوِيَّا

    They fill the rising places of the bright sun in their ascent,

    and pass beneath its setting place in their descent.

  72. يحدِّث حاضرا عنهنّ بادٍ

    ويُطربُ مَشرِقيّ مغرِبيَّا

    A desert dweller tells a townsman of them,

    and an easterner delights a westerner.

  73. صوادرُ عن مواردَ صافياتٍ

    أبحتُك حوضَها فاشرب هنيَّا

    They issue forth from clear watering places;

    I have granted you their pool, so drink with delight.

  74. لأقضيَ فيك حقَّ الشكر شيئاً

    كما قضَّيتَ حقَّ الودِّ فيَّا

    That I may discharge toward you some measure of the duty of thanks,

    as you fulfilled toward me the duty of affection.