1. دعاها معقَّلةً بالعراقِ

    إلى أهل نجدٍ هوى مطلَقُ

    She was called, tethered in Iraq,

    toward the people of Najd by an unfettered longing.

  2. فباتت تماكس ثِنيَ الحبا

    لِ منها الكراكرُ والأسؤقُ

    All night they wrestled with the doubled ropes—

    her chest-calluses and shanks.

  3. فيأبَى عليها المريرُ الفتيلُ

    ويُسمح ذو الرُّمَّةِ المخلقُ

    The strong, tightly twisted cord refuses her,

    while the worn, frayed tether gives way.

  4. تحنُّ ويا عجباً أن تحن

    نَ لو أنها سائلٌ يُرزقُ

    She yearns—how strange that she should yearn!

    If only she were a supplicant granted sustenance.

  5. وما هي إلا بروقُ المنى

    خِلاباً وما السفحُ والأبرقُ

    And it is nothing but the lightning-flashes of wishes,

    deceptive—and what are the slope and the stony ridge?

  6. فهل لمجعجعها أن يروحَ

    لَوَ اَنّ الرواحَ بها أرفقُ

    Can the one confining her set out,

    if departing would be gentler for her?

  7. مراتعُها أمسِ أمرَى لها

    وتربُ معاطنها أرفقُ

    Her pastures yesterday were more nourishing for her,

    and the soil of her watering-rests was gentler.

  8. أتت بابلاً ونبت بابلٌ

    بها وبكى المشئمَ المعرِقُ

    She came to Babylon, but Babylon proved inhospitable

    to her; the Iraq-bound traveler wept for the Syria-bound.

  9. فخلِّ لها طُرقَها والظلا

    مَ تحلُمُ في السير أو تخرُقُ

    So leave her her roads and the darkness,

    whether she travels prudently or recklessly.

  10. وإن كذبتْ هاديات النجوم

    فإنّ لها مُقلاً تصدقُ

    Even if the guiding stars prove false,

    she has eyes that tell the truth.

  11. عسى رقُّها في ديار الخمول

    إذا شارفت عزَّها يُعْتَقُ

    Perhaps her bondage in the lands of obscurity

    will end in freedom when she nears her glory.

  12. وقم أنت فاسبق بها المدلجين

    فعفوُ المياه لمن يسبِقُ

    Rise yourself, and on her outstrip the night travelers;

    the choicest water belongs to whoever arrives first.

  13. فإما اعتذرتَ وإما بلغتَ

    فحظُّك غايةُ من يلحقُ

    Either you will offer an excuse, or you will reach your goal;

    your share is the goal of whoever catches up.

  14. كم النوم تحت ظلال القنوع

    وفوق القذى جفنُك المطبَقُ

    How long will you sleep beneath the shade of contentment,

    your eyelid shut over grit?

  15. تهُبُّ عليك رياحُ المنى

    فتَروَى بما أنت مستنشقُ

    The winds of wishes blow upon you,

    and you quench your thirst with what you breathe in.

  16. وخِلفُ العلا وأفاويقُها

    لغيرك يُصبَح أو يُغبَقُ

    The teat of eminence and its successive milk-yields

    are another's morning or evening draught.

  17. وكم تستقيمُ فتمشي الحظوظُ

    وحظُّك أعمى الخُطى مُزلقُ

    How often fortunes straighten themselves and stride on,

    while your fortune walks blindly, stumbling!

  18. تُخفَّضُ من حيثُ تبغي العلا

    وتُحرَمُ من حيث تَسترزِقُ

    You are brought low where you seek high station,

    and denied where you seek provision.

  19. ترودُ لنفسك غيرَ المَرادِ

    فرِجلٌ سعت ويدٌ تُخفقُ

    You seek out for yourself what is not your desire;

    a foot has striven, while a hand comes back empty.

  20. مطالبُ تُنفِقُ فيها الزمانَ

    ومن صُلبِ عمرك ما تُنفِقُ

    Pursuits in which you spend time,

    and what you spend comes from the very substance of your life.

  21. وحولك حيث ترى راعياك

    ثرىً منبتٌ وحياً مغدِقُ

    And around you, wherever you look, your two patrons

    are fertile earth and copious rain.

  22. ودارٌ تعزُّ على أهلها

    ولم تتقلقل بك الأينقُ

    And a dwelling dear to its people,

    without the she-camels having jostled you.

  23. وأسماع أبناء عبد الرحي

    م تُصغي وأبوابُهم تُطرَقُ

    The ears of the sons of Abd al-Rahim

    listen, and their doors are knocked upon.

  24. وأنجمهم لك رعياً تضيء

    فتوري وشمسُهُمُ تُشرِقُ

    Their stars shine in watchful care for you,

    kindling light, while their sun rises.

  25. وباسم الوزير فعذ بالوزي

    ر يُفتَح بابُ الندى المغلَقُ

    In the minister's name—seek refuge with the minister—

    the closed door of bounty opens.

  26. ألم تر للناس في فترةٍ

    وقد أكلَ الأحلمَ الأخرقُ

    Did you not see the people's plight in a time of weakness,

    when the reckless devoured the most forbearing?

  27. ومن ركب الشرَّ طالت يداه

    وطارت وَخُودٌ به معنِقُ

    Whoever rode evil found his hands growing long,

    and a fleet, swift-striding camel flew along with him.

  28. وفي كلّ سرحٍ أبو جعدةٍ

    مكانُ الرُّعاةِ به يُنعَقُ

    In every grazing herd stood Abu Ja'da,

    calling to the flock in the shepherds' place.

  29. تَجَشُّمُهُ رحضُ ما دنَّسوا

    وإحسانُه جمعُ ما فرَّقوا

    His arduous undertaking is to wash away what they sullied,

    and his beneficence to gather what they scattered.

  30. وكنتَ تغيبُ فتشرَى الأمو

    رُ ثمّ تعودُ فتستوسقُ

    You would be absent, and affairs grew unruly;

    then you returned, and they fell into order.

  31. حَمَى شرفُ الدين أطرافَها

    ومن خلفها طاردٌ مرهقُ

    Sharaf al-Din protected their flanks,

    while behind them came a pursuer pressing hard.

  32. وأضغاث أرسانها في الرقابِ

    نَواصل بالكفّ لا تعلقُ

    The tangled halters about their necks

    slipped loose from the hand and would not hold.

  33. فقوَّمَ والذئبُ مستأسدٌ

    وعدّل والفحلُ مستنوقُ

    He set things straight while the wolf acted the lion,

    and restored order while the bull-camel acted the she-camel.

  34. كريمٌ تصلصلَ من طينةٍ

    أعان المُطيبَ بها المعبقُ

    A noble man, formed from ringing clay,

    whose fragrance aided its perfumer.

  35. رأت عينُ ساسانَ فيها النمو

    وَ وهي على كفّه تشرقُ

    Sasan's eye saw growth within it,

    as it shone upon his palm.

  36. فشجَّرها شرفاً لاحقاً

    إذا هجَّن النسب الملصَقُ

    So he gave it branches of continuing nobility,

    where a tacked-on lineage would bring disgrace.

  37. تلألأُ في أفقها أنجمٌ

    بحاشيتَيْ بدرها تُحدِقُ

    Stars glitter upon its horizon,

    encircling its full moon on either side.

  38. تودّ البحارُ لأصدافهن

    نَ لو هي عن مثلها تُغلَقُ

    The seas wish for their shells

    to close around the like of those stars.

  39. رعاك مليكٌ رعى الملكَ منك

    بعينٍ على الضيم لا تُطرِقُ

    A king guarded you, guarding the kingdom through you,

    with an eye that does not lower before injustice.

  40. وأنقذه بك فانتاش وه

    و محترِشٌ ما له مَنفَقُ

    And rescued it through you, plucking it free while it

    was hunted, with no escape-tunnel.

  41. حملتَ الوزارة حملَ المخفِّ

    وقد أثقلتْ غيرَك الأوسُقُ

    You bore the ministry like one lightly laden,

    though the loads weighed others down.

  42. وكم عالجوها بخُرِق الأكفّ

    ورأيُك في طبِّها أحذقُ

    How often they treated it with clumsy hands,

    while your judgment was more skillful in its cure.

  43. وسعتَ بصبرك إصلاحَها

    وصدرُ الزمان بها ضيّقُ

    Your patience embraced its reform,

    while time's breast was straitened by it.

  44. وأخَّرهم عنك إذ قدّمو

    ك أنك تفرِي الذي تخلُقُ

    What left them behind you, when they placed you first,

    was that you cut out what you had measured.

  45. وتَرتُقُ ما فَتقته الرجالُ

    ولا يرتُقون كما ترتُقُ

    You stitch together what men have torn apart,

    and they do not stitch as you do.

  46. فكونوا لها كلما عُطّلتْ

    حلىً منكم القُلبُ والأطوُقُ

    Whenever it is left unadorned, be for it

    adornments—bracelets and neck-rings of yourselves.

  47. وزدْ شرفاً أنت يا تاجَها

    ولا افترق التاجُ والمفرِقُ

    And increase in honor, you, its crown;

    may the crown never part from the head.

  48. يريد سواكم ثناءً بها

    فتأبَى عليه وتستطلقُ

    Someone other than you seeks praise through it,

    but it refuses him and breaks free.

  49. ويستروح الناسُ أثوابَها

    وأردانُها بكم أعبقُ

    People breathe the fragrance of its garments,

    and its sleeves are more fragrant through you.

  50. علوتَ فما تنتحيك الصفاتُ

    بسهمٍ ولو أنه مغرِقُ

    You have risen so high that descriptions cannot reach you

    with an arrow, even one shot at full draw.

  51. فسيَّان في مدحك الناجم ال

    مُعذَّرُ والمنتهِي المفلقُ

    So in praising you, equal are the rising poet—

    still faltering—and the consummate master.

  52. إذا جدتَ أنطقتَ من لا يَبين

    وإن قلتَ أخرست من ينطقُ

    When you give generously, you make the inarticulate speak;

    when you speak, you silence those who speak.

  53. فقد شكّ ربُّ الكلام البليغ

    أيكسد عندك أم يَنفُقُ

    The master of eloquent speech has come to doubt

    whether it will go unsold with you or find a market.

  54. فداك وكيف له لو فداك

    طليقٌ بروعته موثَقُ

    May he ransom you—but how could he, if he tried?—

    a free man, fettered by his fright.

  55. تَكنَّفُه مانعاتُ البلا

    د وهو على أمنها يَفرَقُ

    The land's defenses surround him,

    yet even in their safety he is afraid.

  56. يخال سيوفَك يخطفنهُ

    ومن دونه البابُ والخندقُ

    He imagines your swords snatching him away,

    though the gate and moat stand between him and them.

  57. ويعلم أنّ القنا في يديك

    يراه على البعد أو يرمُقُ

    He knows that the lances in your hands

    see him from afar, or watch him.

  58. وكيف تحيلُ خفايا الشخوص

    على أسمرٍ لحظُهُ أزرقُ

    How could the concealment of bodies outwit

    a brown lance whose gaze is blue?

  59. تسمَّعْ لها تستخفّ الحلي

    مَ منها الطلاوةُ والرونقُ

    Listen to these verses: even the sober-minded are swept away

    by their sweetness and radiance.

  60. وِهادُ الكلامِ وأجبالُه

    طريقٌ بحافرها يُطرقُ

    The valleys of speech and its mountains

    form a road trodden by their hoof.

  61. نوافثُ في عُقَد المانعين

    فكلّ يبيسٍ بها مورقُ

    They blow upon the knots of those who withhold,

    and through them every dry thing sprouts leaves.

  62. سوائر بالعرض سيرَ النجوم

    لها مغربٌ ولها مشرقُ

    They travel across the expanse like the stars;

    they have a setting and a rising.

  63. دعاةٌ بحمدك في الخافقيْن

    لها بك ألويةٌ تخفقُ

    They proclaim your praise in the two horizons;

    through you, they have banners that flutter.

  64. لك السكبُ من سُحبها والعهاد

    وعند العدا الحصَبُ المصعِقُ

    Yours are the downpour of their clouds and their recurring rains;

    for enemies, the deadly shower of stones.

  65. يكيس بها والدٌ منجبٌ

    إذا وَلَدَ الشاعرُ المحمِقُ

    Through them, a father of noble offspring proves wise,

    when the poet who fathers fools gives birth.

  66. بقيت وقد فنِيَ القائلون

    عليها وما حَزَني لو بقُوا

    I have endured, though the poets have perished

    over these verses; what would grieve me if they endured?

  67. تُذكِّركم فِيَّ حفظَ العهود

    وإن لم يضع عندكم مَوثِقُ

    They remind you to keep your pledges to me,

    though no binding pledge is neglected in your keeping.

  68. تحاشيكُمُ أن أُرَى ظامئاً

    أحوم وواديكُمُ مُتأقُ

    They deem you above letting me be seen thirsty,

    circling about while your valley brims.

  69. ويوحشها أنَّ ربعي على

    تجدُّد دولتكم مُخلِقُ

    They are distressed that my dwelling, amid

    the renewal of your rule, is worn and decaying.

  70. وأني بمضيعةٍ مثلُكم

    على الفضل من مثلها يُشفِقُ

    And that I am in a place of neglect—men like you

    fear such a place for excellence.

  71. ترى الناسَ لم يُسلفوا مثل ما

    لها وهي تهبِط قد حلَّقوا

    These verses see people who have offered nothing like what

    they have—yet those people have soared while the verses sink.

  72. وفي الحقّ والحكَمُ العَدْلُ أنت

    إذا لحقوا أنها تَلحقُ

    In fairness—and you are the just judge—

    if they catch up, these verses should catch up too.

  73. أمنتُ عليك صروفَ الزمانِ

    وأخطأك القدَرُ الموبقُ

    I have no fear for you from time's vicissitudes;

    may ruinous destiny miss you.

  74. ودارت لك السبعة الجارياتُ

    بما تستحبُّ وتستوفقُ

    May the seven coursing planets revolve for you

    with what you desire and deem auspicious.

  75. وعُدَّ أُلوفاً لك المهرجان

    يُجدُّ السنين كما يُخلقُ

    May Mihrjan be counted for you in thousands,

    renewing the years as it wears them out.

  76. يزورك مسترفداً سائلاً

    فيغمره سيبُك المغدِقُ

    It visits you seeking largesse, asking,

    and your copious bounty overwhelms it.

  77. ويُذهله وجهُك المستنيرُ

    عليه ومجلسُك المونِقُ

    Your radiant face dazzles it,

    shining upon it, as does your delightful gathering.