1. رعَتْ بين حاجِرَ والنَّعفِ شهرا

    جَميما وعبَّتْ شآبيبَ غُزْرا

    They grazed between Hajir and al-Na'f for a month

    on fresh herbage, and drank deep of copious showers.

  2. مِراحاً محلَّلةً عُقْلُها

    ترى الخصبَ أوسعَ من أن تُجِرَّا

    Frisking freely, their hobbles loosened,

    they found pasture too abundant to stop and chew the cud.

  3. مكرمةً عن عِصِيّ الرُّعاةِ

    فإن كان لابدَّ ردعٌ فزجرا

    Spared the shepherds' sticks,

    if restraint was unavoidable, a shout sufficed.

  4. ولا ظُعُنٌ ثَمّ مرحولةٌ

    تجرُّ الجنوبَ ولا ضيفَ يُقْرى

    No saddled caravan mounts were there

    dragging their flanks, nor any guest to be fed.

  5. إلى أن غدا الهضبةَ ابنُ اللَّبو

    ن فيما تَرَى العينُ والنابُ قصرا

    Until the young camel became a hill

    to the eye, and the aged she-camel a palace.

  6. فكان على ذاك شَمُّ السَّفا

    ولسُّ الهشيم وإن كان مُرَّا

    Yet, despite that, sniffing grass-awns

    and eating dry herbage, bitter though it was,

  7. وماءٍ تَعرمَضُ أوشالُهُ

    ببابلَ أشهَى اليها وأَمْرى

    and water whose scant trickles grew algae-covered

    in Babylon were sweeter to them and more wholesome.

  8. بلادٌ منابتُ أوبارها

    عليها ربَتْ يوم تُنْزَى وتُذرَى

    A land where their wool first grew;

    there they were raised, bred, and shorn.

  9. وأفلاؤها ومساقيطُها

    تَقامَصُ فيها قَلُوصاً وبَكْرا

    Their calves and prematurely born young

    frisked there as young she-camels and young males.

  10. وتُحمَى بأرماحِ فرسانِها

    إذا شُلَّت الإبْلُ طرداً وطَرَّا

    They are protected by their horsemen's spears

    when the camels are driven off, pursued, all together.

  11. وفيها الكواعبُ والمحصَنا

    تُ من مقتنيها عَواناً وبِكرا

    There too are full-breasted maidens and chaste

    women among their owners, matrons and virgins.

  12. نجومُ قبيلٍ إذا ما طلعن

    أغرنَ النجومَ وإن كنَّ زُهْرا

    Stars of a tribe, whenever they rise,

    they make the stars jealous, bright though those stars are.

  13. وكلّ ثقيلةِ حملِ الإزار

    خفيفةِ ما ضمَّ عُنْقا وخَصْرا

    And every woman whose skirt carries a heavy load,

    yet is slender about neck and waist,

  14. ترى الغصنَ تحسبه في النسيم

    أخاها وإن كُسِيَتْ يوم يعرَى

    sees a branch and thinks it, swaying in the breeze,

    her brother, though she is clothed when it stands bare.

  15. أمنها وإن نام ليلُ الوشاة

    وعاد المَواقدُ في الليل حُمْرا

    Was it from her, though the slanderers' night lay asleep,

    and the hearths had turned red again in the night,

  16. ومرَّ يصوِّبُ سرحُ النجوم

    خيالٌ ألمَّ ولا حينَ مَسرَى

    and the grazing herd of stars passed, sinking low,

    that a phantom came, when it was no hour for night travel?

  17. ألمَّ بمعتنقٍ ساعديْه

    يطارح منها الأمانيَّ ذِكرا

    It came to one embracing his own forearms,

    trading memories of her with his wishes.

  18. فما رابه من صعيد الغوي

    ر إلا تحوّلهُ الليلَ عِطْرا

    Nothing startled him in the earth of al-Ghuwayr

    except its turning, that night, into perfume.

  19. ولما أضاء الذي حوله

    تطلَّع يحسَب ظمياءَ بدرا

    And when what lay around him shone,

    he gazed up, taking Zamya for a full moon.

  20. فللّه بابلُ نفّاثةً

    وإن ضرّت الحلم سحراً وخمرا

    What a marvel of God is Babylon, breathing spells,

    though it harms reason with sorcery and wine!

  21. على أنها منزلٌ لا يكا

    د يحمِل في غالب الأمر حُرَّا

    Yet it is a dwelling that can scarcely

    support a freeborn man, as things generally go;

  22. ومزلقةٌ بالفتى لا تكون

    لذي حاجةٍ وابنِ فضلٍ مَقَرَّا

    a slippery place for a young man, never

    a settled home for one in need or a man of merit.

  23. إلى كم أطامنُ عُنْقي بها

    خُمولا وأعرُكُ جنبيَّ فقرا

    How long must I bow my neck here

    in obscurity, and chafe my flanks in poverty?

  24. وأتبعُ إلفي وحزمي يقول

    وراءَك في غير ذا المِصر مِصرا

    I follow my attachment, while my resolve says,

    'Turn away: outside this city there is another city.'

  25. كفى الناس لؤماً بمثلي يضي

    ع فيهم ويطلبُ منهم مَفَرَّا

    It is baseness enough for people that one like me goes to waste

    among them, and seeks an escape from them.

  26. فَلِمْ يغمز الدهرُ حملاً علي

    يَ ما لك أبعدك اللّه دهرا

    Then why does Time press its burden upon

    me? What ails you? May God banish you, Time!

  27. أمن أجل أني بفضلي وسع

    تُ أهلَكَ توسعني منك شرَّا

    Is it because my excellence made room for

    your people that you lavish your own evil upon me?

  28. وما زلتُ أحفِل بالغدرِ منك

    وأنكر جورَك حتى استمرَّا

    I kept taking your treachery to heart,

    and denouncing your injustice, until it became constant.

  29. ولو قد وفت لعميد الكفا

    ةِ أيّامُه لم أنل منك غدرا

    Had 'Amid al-Kufat been served faithfully

    by his days, I would have suffered no treachery from you.

  30. إذن لوقتنيَ حصداءُ منه

    تُطير سهامَك ثَلْماً وكَسرا

    Then close-knit armor from him would have shielded me,

    sending your arrows flying, notched and broken.

  31. وكنتُ أعزَّ حِمىً أن أضامَ

    وأمنعَ في حَرَم الأمن ظَهرا

    I would have been too well sheltered to suffer wrong,

    with my back better guarded in safety's sanctuary.

  32. وردَّك عنّي ولا الطود فَلَّ

    بكفيك منّي ولا الليثُ فرّى

    You would have been driven from me—a mountain you could not break

    with your hands, a lion you could not rend—

  33. عوائد ما أسلفتْني يداه

    على نائباتك غوثاً ونصرا

    by renewed favors his hands had once bestowed,

    as rescue and help against your calamities.

  34. لئن كنتَ أسحلتَ في كفّه

    من العهد حبلاً فتيلاً مُمَرَّا

    Though you have unraveled in his hand

    the covenant's rope, once plaited and tightly twisted,

  35. وأصبحتَ تنهَدُ بغياً إليه

    بشهباءَ بيَّتَّهَا أمسِ مَكرا

    and now rise against him in aggression,

    with a gray host you readied last night in guile,

  36. فلم تُنحِ إلا على المكرماتِ

    ولا هِضتَ إلا السماحَ المبرَّا

    you have struck at nothing but noble deeds,

    and broken nothing but unblemished generosity.

  37. لغادر جهلُك قلبَ العلا

    خفوقاً بها وحشى المجدِ حَرَّى

    Your folly has left nobility's heart

    throbbing with this, and glory's entrails burning.

  38. ضممتَ عليه جَناحَ العُقوق

    فُرحتَ بها قد تأبَّطتَ شرّا

    You folded the wing of ingratitude over him,

    and rejoiced in it, with evil tucked beneath your arm.

  39. فسل عنه كيدَك يا دهرُ كيف

    ثناك ثباتاً وأعياك صبرا

    Ask your own plotting about him, Time: how

    his firmness turned you back, his patience exhausted you;

  40. وكيف حشَدتَ له وارتقيتَ

    فلم تستطع طودَه المشمخِرّا

    and how you mustered against him and climbed,

    but could not overcome his towering mountain.

  41. وَفَى ناهضاً بك حتى رددتَ

    صروفَك عنه رَذايا وحَسرَى

    He stood up fully against you, until you turned

    your reversals away from him, spent and exhausted.

  42. وما كنتَ والأَسَدُ الوَدرُ أنتَ

    لتُعلِقَ بالحرِّ ناباً وظُفْرا

    You—you foul lion—could never

    fasten fang or claw upon a noble man.

  43. ولكنّها دولةٌ أعرضتْ

    ودنيا تَنَقَّلُ مَرَّاً ومَرَّا

    But it is a reign that has turned away,

    and a world that shifts, again and again.

  44. هو الحظّ يعقِل من حيث جُن

    نَ والمالُ يرجعُ من حيث مَرَّا

    Fortune regains its reason where it went mad,

    and wealth returns from where it passed.

  45. وخيرُ بنيك الذي إن نقَص

    تَ من حاله ازداد مجداً وفخرا

    The best of your sons is he who, when you diminish

    his circumstances, grows in glory and pride.

  46. وما كَنَزَ المرءُ خيراً له

    من الحمدِ والحسبِ العِدِّ ذُخرا

    A man has stored no treasure better for himself

    than praise and deep-rooted ancestral honor.

  47. إذا سلم العرضُ عرضُ الكريم

    وعزّ فلا وفَرَ اللّهُ وَفْرا

    If honor—the noble man's honor—is safe

    and unassailable, may God preserve no wealth!

  48. لعلّ مُجعجِعَها أن يطيلَ

    لها في الأزمَّةِ سَحباً وجَرَّا

    Perhaps her confiner will lengthen

    her lead, pulling and drawing on the reins,

  49. ويتركها وسواءَ الطريق

    تساقُ إلى غايتيها وتُجرَى

    and leave her to the middle of the road,

    to be driven and run toward her two goals.

  50. فتأتي ويا قربَها من مُنىً

    يقول لها الدهر صفحاً وغَفْرا

    Then she will come—how near she is to wishes fulfilled!—

    with Time saying to her, 'Pardon and forgiveness!'

  51. مبيناً بما قد جنى تائباً

    إليك بسالفِ ما قد أصرَّا

    confessing what he has done, repentant

    toward you for what he once persisted in.

  52. ترى للندامةِ في صحفتي

    ه سطراً مبيناً وللذلِّ سطرا

    You will see remorse upon his two pages,

    a clear line, and another line of abasement.

  53. لعمري لئن صوّحتْ دوحةٌ

    لقد أعقبت غُصُناً منك نَضْرا

    By my life, if a mighty tree has withered,

    it has left behind a fresh branch in you,

  54. وسيعَ الظلالِ على قومه

    شهيَّ الجنَى ناعماً مسبَكِرَّا

    spreading wide shade over his people,

    sweet in fruit, tender, tall and straight;

  55. رِباطاً لشملِهمُ أن يشِذَّ

    ودَعْماً لسقفهِمُ أن يَخِرَّا

    a bond to keep their company from scattering,

    a support to keep their roof from falling.

  56. بك انتظم العقدُ من بعد ما

    تهاوَى فعطِّلَ جيداً ونَحْرا

    Through you the necklace was restrung after

    it fell apart, leaving neck and bosom bare.

  57. ضممتَ قَواصيَهم بعد ما

    تعاطَوْا عصا البين صَدْعاً وقَسْرا

    You gathered their distant members after

    they took up separation's staff, torn and driven apart.

  58. وكنتَ لهم كأبيك الكريم

    حُنُوَّ الرءوم وعَطفاً وبِرَّا

    You were to them like your generous father,

    in a loving mother's tenderness, affection, and kindness.

  59. فلم يهوِ طودٌ وأنتَ الكثيبُ

    ولا مات زيدٌ إذا كنت عَمْرا

    No mountain has fallen, while you are its dune;

    nor has Zayd died, when you are Amr.

  60. أطافوا بناديك واستحلبوك

    فأحسنتَ حَوْطاً وأغزرتَ دَرَّا

    They gathered at your assembly and sought milk from you;

    you guarded them well and poured forth abundant milk.

  61. وما ضرَّهم أنهُم يعدَمو

    ن غيثاً وقد وجَدُوا منك أثرى

    It did not harm them that they lacked

    rain, having found in you something more abundant.

  62. مَخايلُ كنتُ توسَّمتُها

    قديماً وعيَّفتُها فيك زَجْرا

    These were signs I had discerned

    long ago, and read in you through augury.

  63. وأيقنَ صدرِيَ أنّي أراك

    لأهلك وجهاً وللناس صَدْرا

    My heart was certain I would see you

    your family's leading face, and foremost among people,

  64. بما كنتَ أبعدَهم هِمّةً

    وأمتنَهم في الملمّات أَسْرا

    since your ambition reached farthest among them,

    and your mettle was firmest in calamities;

  65. وأضيقَهم عُذْرةً في السؤال

    وأوسعَهم ليلةَ القُرِّ قِدْرا

    you were least ready with excuses when petitioned,

    and had the widest cooking-pot on a freezing night;

  66. وأجلَى إذا الشُّبُهاتُ اختلط

    ن رأياً وأمضَى لساناً وأجرَى

    clearest, when uncertainties grew tangled,

    in judgment, keenest of tongue, and most fluent.

  67. أمور إذا اجتمَعتْ للفتى

    أراد به اللّهُ في العزِّ أمرا

    Traits which, when gathered in a young man,

    show that God intends him for some great honor.

  68. سُدِ اليومَ أبناءَ عبد الرحيم

    فأنت غداً سيّدُ الناس طُرَّا

    Lead today the sons of Abd al-Rahim;

    tomorrow you are lord of all people.

  69. وثقْ ببشائِرَ تُملَى عليَّ

    فما كذِّبتْ لِيَ في الخير بُشرى

    Trust the glad tidings dictated to me:

    no good tiding has ever lied to me.

  70. أنا ابنُ الوفاءِ الذي تعلمو

    نَ لم أنوِ نَكْثاً ولم أطوِ غمْرا

    I am that son of fidelity whom you know:

    I never intended betrayal or harbored rancor.

  71. قسيمُكُمُ إذ أساء الزمانُ

    كما كان قاسَمكم حين سَرَّا

    Your partner when Time dealt harshly,

    just as I shared with you when it brought joy.

  72. حُليّاً على عَطَل المهرجا

    ن يُعصَبْنَ تاجاً ويُرصَفْنَ شَذْرا

    Jewels upon an unadorned Mihrjan,

    bound into a crown and set as golden beads.

  73. فإن تك وقتاً أخلَّتْ بكم

    فربَّ انقطاعٍ وما كان هَجْرا

    If for a time they have failed you,

    many an interruption was never abandonment.

  74. ولولا تلاعبُ أيدي النوى

    بكم ما أغبَّتْ ثناءً وشُكرا

    Were it not for the hands of separation toying

    with you, their praise and thanks would never have lapsed.