1. رَدَّ عليها النومَ بعد ما شَرَدْ

    إشرافُها على شَرافٍ من أُحُدْ

    Sleep, after fleeing, was restored to them

    by their looking out upon Sharaf from Uhud.

  2. وضمَّها منشورةً مَجرى الصَّبا

    وعَطَنَ الدارِ وطِينةَ البلَدْ

    Scattered as they were, they were gathered by the east wind's course,

    and the home's watering ground and the homeland's clay.

  3. فعطَفَتْ كلَّ صليفٍ ناشزٍ

    على الخِشاشِ وعلى لين المَسَدْ

    Then they bent every stiff, rebellious neck

    to the nose-peg and the supple twisted cord.

  4. يقودها الحادي إلى حاجته

    وهمُّها أخرى إليها لم تُقَدْ

    The camel-driver leads them toward his need,

    but their desire is another, toward which they were not led.

  5. وإنما تيَّمها بحاجرٍ

    أيّامُها بحاجرٍ لو تُستَردْ

    What enthralled them at Hajir was only

    their days at Hajir—if only those could be restored—

  6. وصالحاتٌ من ليالٍ أخلقتْ

    عهودُها وهي مع الذِكْرَى جُدُدْ

    and goodly nights whose

    pledges have worn away, though in memory they are new.

  7. يادين من أهل الغضا سقامُها

    ووجدُها بمدّعٍ ما لم يجِدْ

    O debt owed by the people of al-Ghada—their sickness,

    and their passion for one who claims what he has never felt,

  8. وحفظُها عهدَ ملولٍ ماطلٍ

    يذكر ما استرعَى وينسَى ما عَهِدْ

    and their keeping faith with a fickle procrastinator,

    who remembers what he entrusted, but forgets what he pledged.

  9. وكم على وادي الغضا من كبِدٍ

    يحكم فيها بسوى العدل الكَمَدْ

    How many a liver along the valley of al-Ghada

    is ruled by grief with something other than justice!

  10. ومن فؤادٍ بَددٍ تلفِظُه

    ولائدُ الحيّ مع الحصا البَدَدْ

    And how many a shattered heart is cast away

    by the camp's maidens with the scattered pebbles!

  11. وصارمٍ ما شَقِيَ القَيْنُ به

    مذ سلَّه غُنجُ اللحاظِ ما غُمِدْ

    And many a keen blade no smith ever toiled over,

    which, since coquettish glances drew it, has never been sheathed.

  12. ومن غزالٍ لا يُقِلُّ رِدفُه

    ضعفاً وفي حباله عُنقُ أَسَدْ

    And many a gazelle unable to lift its rump

    from weakness, yet a lion's neck lies in its snares.

  13. وقامة لو لم يكن لشكلها

    فعلُ القناة لم تملْ ولم تمِدْ

    And a stature that, were its form not endowed

    with a spear-shaft's action, would neither bend nor sway.

  14. بانات وادٍ مذ حَمَتْ شجراءَهُ

    رماحُ قيسٍ ما اختُلي ولا عُضِدْ

    Moringa trees in a valley whose thickets, since guarded

    by Qays's spears, have neither been mown nor lopped.

  15. تلاوَذُ الريحُ بكلِّ مرهفٍ

    غصنٍ إذا قام وحِقْفٍ إن قعدْ

    The wind seeks shelter beside each slender one,

    a branch when standing, a curved dune when seated.

  16. حبائب بالخيْف في مَلاعبٍ

    هنّ النعيمُ وهي جنّاتُ الخُلُدْ

    Beloved women at al-Khayf, in places of play:

    they are bliss, and those places gardens of eternity.

  17. سقتْ دموعي حَرُّها ومِلحُها

    عيشاً بها بالأمس طاب وبَرَدْ

    My tears—their heat and their salt—watered

    a life there that yesterday was sweet and cool.

  18. لو كان لي على الزمان إِمْرَةٌ

    بطاعةٍ قلتُ أعدْها لي أعِدْ

    Had I authority over time,

    and were it obedient, I would say: 'Restore them to me—restore them!'

  19. يا راكباً تدوسُ للرزقِ به

    حرَّ الثرى والليلَ وجناءُ أُجُدْ

    O rider, in pursuit of livelihood, beneath you she treads

    the burning earth and night—a stout-cheeked, strong-backed camel.

  20. ترى الطريقَ عَرضَهُ وطُولَه

    لقُطبها بين ذراعٍ وعَضُدْ

    She sees the road, its breadth and length,

    as a mere span between forearm and upper arm beneath her saddle.

  21. تطوي السُّرى طيَّ الرياح لا تُرَى

    سائلةً أين المَدَى وما الأَمَدْ

    She folds up the night journey like the winds; never is she seen

    asking, 'Where is the limit, and what is the journey's end?'

  22. كأنّها من خِفّةٍ من مسّها ال

    أرضَ على أربَعِها لا تعتَمِدْ

    So light is she that she seems, in touching the

    earth, not to put her weight upon her four feet.

  23. تطلب نُجْحَ حاجها بجَهْد من

    أقسمَ لا يطلُبُ إلا ما يَجِدْ

    She seeks fulfillment of her needs with the effort of one

    who swore to seek only what he could obtain.

  24. اِرجِعْ وراءَ فاسترحْ وأَعفِها

    ما كلُّ حظٍّ لك منه أن تَكُدّْ

    Turn back, take your rest, and spare her;

    not every share of fortune requires your toil.

  25. مَطرَحُ عينيكَ غِنَى مقترِفٍ

    كفى بني الحاجاتِ شُقَّاتِ البُعُدْ

    Within your sight lies a seeker's enrichment,

    sparing those in need the hardships of distant journeys.

  26. بجانب الزوراء قصرٌ قصدُهُ

    بحرٌ إذا أعطى الغِنَى لم يقتصِدْ

    Beside al-Zawra stands a palace: to seek it

    is to seek a sea that never stints in granting wealth.

  27. أيدي بني عبد الرحيم مدُّه ال

    دائمُ والبحرُ يَغيضُ ويَمُدّْ

    The hands of the sons of Abd al-Rahim are its

    perpetual tide, while the sea ebbs and flows.

  28. قد أفعموه وأباحوا وِردَه

    مخلَّداً عَذْباً فمن شاء وَرَدْ

    They have filled it to the brim and opened its watering place,

    everlasting and sweet; whoever wishes may come to drink.

  29. قومٌ إذا لم تَلْقَ منهم واحداً

    وإن لقِيتَ الناسَ لم تَلْقَ أحدْ

    A people such that, unless you meet one of them,

    though you meet all mankind, you have met no one.

  30. صانوا حمى أعراضِهم ومالهُم

    وَذِيَّةٌ على الطريق تُنتقَدْ

    They guarded the sanctuary of their honor, while their wealth

    is a blood-price on the road, paid out in cash.

  31. وعَقَدوا لكلّ جارٍ ذمّةً

    وذمّةُ المال بهم لا تنعقدْ

    They pledged protection to every neighbor,

    yet with them no pledge safeguards wealth.

  32. هم دبَّروا الأرضَ فلم يُعيِهِمُ

    بثقلها تدبيرُها ولم يَؤُدْ

    They governed the earth and were not wearied

    by governing it for all its weight, nor overburdened.

  33. ملوكُها اليومَ وآباؤهُمُ

    ملوكُها وما على الأرض وَتِدْ

    Its kings today; their fathers

    were its kings when no peg yet stood upon the earth.

  34. تمطَّقوا السؤدُدَ في مهودهم

    من حَلَمٍ ما أَرضعتْ من لم يَسُدْ

    They savored lordship in their cradles,

    from teats that never suckled one who did not lead.

  35. وطوّحوا وهم جِذاعٌ فُصُلٌ

    بالقارح البازل والقَرْم الأشَدّْ

    And while still younglings, newly weaned, they toppled

    the mature horse, the full-grown camel, and the mightiest breeding male.

  36. وكلَّما نازعهم منازعٌ

    سلَّمَ مختاراً لهم أو مضْطَهَدْ

    Whenever a rival contested with them,

    he yielded to them willingly or under compulsion.

  37. ولا ومَنْ قاد الصِّعابَ لَهُمُ

    وأوجدوا الفضلَ بهم وقد فُقدْ

    No, by Him who made the unruly submit to them—

    and through them excellence was restored after being lost—

  38. وأظهرَ الآيةَ في اشتباههم

    بأساً وجوداً وعناءً وجَلَدْ

    and who revealed the wonder of their likeness

    in valor, generosity, endeavor, and endurance:

  39. ما تَلِدُ الأرضُ ولو تحفَّلتْ

    مثلَ كمالِ الملكِ والأرضُ تَلِدْ

    the earth cannot bear, even were her udders full,

    the like of Kamal al-Mulk—though the earth does bear.

  40. رعَى بني الدنيا على اختلافهم

    منفرداً بما رعاه مستبِدّْ

    He tended the sons of this world despite their differences,

    alone and sovereign in the care he undertook.

  41. لا مستشيرٌ يُبصر الشورى له

    رأياً ولا منتصِحٌ فمرتَفِدْ

    He is no seeker of counsel, looking to consultation for

    an opinion, nor one who seeks advice and thereby aid.

  42. وَحْدَةُ ذي اللِّبدةِ لا يُفقره

    عَناؤه بنفسه إلى العَدَدْ

    Solitary as the maned lion, he is not driven

    by his own exertions to depend on numbers.

  43. تُحرِّم النومَ المباحَ عينُه

    إِزاء كلِّ خَلَّةٍ حتى تُسَدّْ

    His eye forbids itself the sleep allowed it,

    facing every gap until it is filled.

  44. لا مُغلَقُ الرأي ولا مضطربُ ال

    أحشاءِ تحت حادثٍ من الزُّؤُدْ

    Neither baffled in judgment nor trembling in his

    inward parts beneath a terrifying event.

  45. إذا أصاب فرصةً لعزمه

    صمَّمَ لا يسوّفُ اليومَ بغدْ

    When he finds an opportunity for his resolve,

    he presses on, never postponing today until tomorrow.

  46. مباركُ النظرةِ مَن أبصره

    مصطبحاً بوجهه فقد سَعِدْ

    Blessed is the sight of him; whoever beholds him,

    taking his face as a morning draught, has found good fortune.

  47. لو صيغت الأيّامُ من أخلاقه

    لم يعترضْها كَدرٌ ولا نَكَدْ

    If the days were fashioned from his character,

    no gloom or misery would disturb them.

  48. لم يُسمِه الملكُ الكمالَ أو رأى

    عن عفوه نقصانَ كلِّ مجتهِدْ

    The king did not name him 'Perfection' until he had seen

    how every striver fell short of his effortless excellence.

  49. ولا أرادته العلا أباً لها

    إلا وقد أفلحَ منها ما ولَد

    Nor did high glory desire him as a father

    until what he had begotten of it had prospered.

  50. أقرّ بالفضل له حاسدهُ

    ولو رأى وجهَ الجحود لجَحَدْ

    Even his envier acknowledged his excellence,

    though, had he seen a way to deny it, he would have denied.

  51. أفقره الجودُ وإن أغناه أن

    ساد به ولم يَسُدْ مَن لم يَجُدْ

    Generosity impoverished him, though it enriched him in that

    he became a lord through it; none became a lord who did not give.

  52. فلا يزلْ على الزمان منكُمُ

    مسلَّطٌ يَفرِي الأمورَ ويقُدّْ

    So may there ever be among you, over time,

    one empowered to shape affairs and cut through them.

  53. ولا تَبدَّلْ بسواكم دولةٌ

    أنتم على أرجائها سِتر يُمَدّْ

    May no dynasty replace you with others,

    you who are a covering spread over its bounds.

  54. ولا رأى سريرُها وسرجُها

    مِن غيركم مَن يمتطِي ويقتَعِدْ

    And may its throne and saddle never see

    anyone but you mount and take his seat.

  55. وكنتَ أنت باقياً مساوِقاً

    بعمره وعزِّه شمسَ الأبَدْ

    And may you endure, keeping pace

    in life and glory with the sun of eternity.

  56. تَسبِي العطايا لك كلَّ حُرّةٍ

    لولا نداك لم تكن لتُعتَبَدْ

    Your gifts capture for you every freeborn maiden

    who, but for your bounty, would never be enslaved—

  57. بِنْتِ الخدور في الصدور رضَعتْ

    ثديَ النُّهى ونشأتْ من الكَبِدْ

    a daughter of curtained chambers, who suckled within the chest

    at reason's breast, and grew from the liver.

  58. لم تُمتَهنْ بلفظةٍ يلفظُها

    من شرِّها السمعُ ولا معنىً يُرَدّْ

    She has never been debased by a word spat out

    by the ear for its vileness, nor by a rejected meaning.

  59. يَرقِي بها ودَّ القلوبِ ساحرٌ

    ما شاء بالنفثةِ حلَّ وعقدْ

    A sorcerer uses her to charm the hearts' affection,

    loosening and binding at will with a breath.

  60. كل لسانٍ ثنويٌّ مشرِكٌ

    وهو لكم في شعره فردٌ صمدْ

    Every tongue is a dualist, a polytheist,

    yet he, in his verse for you, is unique and self-sufficient.

  61. ما دار مذ دار الكلامُ ناطقٌ

    بمثلها ولا جرتْ في الصحْفِ يدْ

    Since speech began to circulate, no speaker has uttered

    her like, nor has a hand written such verse upon pages.

  62. تغشاك منها كلَّ يومٍ تحفةٌ

    نخبةُ ما قال الخبيرُ أو نقدْ

    Each day there comes to you from her a gift,

    the choicest of what the expert has spoken or appraised.

  63. رآك دون الناس أولى بالذي

    بالغ فيهِ من ثناء واجتهدْ

    He deemed you, above all others, most deserving of

    the praise he carried to its utmost with all his effort.

  64. ما نافقتْك مِدحةٌ ولم يَقلْ

    فيك غلوَّ الشعرِ إلا ما اعتقدْ

    No panegyric has flattered you falsely, and he has spoken

    no poetic exaggeration of you except what he believed.