1. خُدَعُ الزمانِ مودّةٌ من ثائرِ

    ومُنَى الحياةِ وتيرةٌ من غادرِ

    Time's deceits are affection from an avenger;

    and life's hopes are a betrayer's accustomed practice.

  2. تغترُّ بالباقين منَّا والذي

    فَرَسَ المقدَّمَ رابضٌ للغابرِ

    You are beguiled by those of us who remain, yet the one who

    devoured the first lies crouching for the survivor.

  3. وإذا ذَوى من دَوحةٍ غصنٌ فيا

    سَرْعانَ ما يُودَى بآخرَ ناضرِ

    And when a branch of a great tree withers, oh,

    how swiftly another flourishing branch is destroyed!

  4. يا عاشقَ الدنيا النجاءَ فإنّها

    إن ساعدتْ وصَلتْ بنيَّة هاجرِ

    O lover of the world, flee, for she,

    if she favors you, joins you with the intent of one who will forsake you.

  5. لا تَخدَعنَّك بالسرابِ فلم تدع

    ظنّاً يُرجِّم فيه وجهُ السافرِ

    Let her not fool you with a mirage; she has left

    no room to speculate about her unveiled face.

  6. واردد لحاظَك عن زخارفها تفُزْ

    إنّ البلاءَ موكَّلٌ بالناظرِ

    Turn your glances from her finery, and you will triumph;

    for calamity is assigned to the beholder.

  7. خَذَل المحدِّثَ نفسَه بوفائها

    تصريحُها بالغدرِ في ابن الناصر

    The man who assured himself of her faithfulness was let down by

    her open declaration of treachery toward Ibn al-Nasir.

  8. مشت المنونُ إليه غيرَ محصَّنِ ال

    جَنَباتِ واغتالته غيرَ محاذرِ

    Death came to him while he had undefended

    flanks, and slew him while he was unwary.

  9. ولو انتحتْه لأنذرتْه وإنما

    شبَّ الفجيعةَ أن أُصيبَ بعاثرِ

    And had she aimed directly at him, she would have warned him; what

    kindled the tragedy was that he was struck by one who stumbled.

  10. صَرعتْه مسبِلَة الكِمامِ وإنما

    يقع التحفُّظُ من ذِراعَيْ حاسرِ

    She felled him with her sleeves lowered; it is only

    against a man with bared arms that one takes precautions.

  11. لم يُنجهِ البيتُ المطنَّبُ بالكوا

    كبِ والمعمَّدُ بالهلالِ الزاهرِ

    The house could not save him, guyed to the

    stars and pillared by the shining crescent.

  12. والنسبةُ العلياءُ إن هي شَجَّرتْ

    زلِقتْ معارجُها بكلِّ مُفاخرِ

    Nor his exalted lineage: if it branches into a tree,

    its ladders slip beneath every boaster.

  13. وعصائبٌ مضريّةٌ قرشيّةٌ

    خُلقوا لحفظِ وشائجٍ وأَواصرِ

    Nor bands of Mudar and Quraysh,

    men created to preserve kinship ties and bonds,

  14. يتراكضون إلى تنجُّزِ ثأرِهم

    ولو انه عند الغمام السائرِ

    racing one another to exact their vengeance,

    even were it among the passing clouds.

  15. من كلِّ أبلجَ مِنكباه لواؤه

    بضفيرتيْه السمهريَّةِ ضافرِ

    Each a bright-browed man, his shoulders his banner,

    braiding Samhari spears with his two plaits.

  16. بَرْدُ النسيم إذا تربَّع عنده

    حَرُّ الهجيرِ إذا عرا في ناجرِ

    He is the breeze's coolness to one who spends spring with him,

    the heat of midday when he visits in Najir.

  17. أَنِسٌ بأسبابِ الطلابِ كأنه

    ولو امتطى النكباءَ غيرُ مُخاطرِ

    At ease with the means of pursuit, as though,

    even astride a crosswind, he were taking no risk.

  18. كلاَّ ولا أغنتْه عفّةُ نفسه

    عن عاجلٍ يُرضِي سواه حاضرِ

    No! Nor was he saved by his soul's abstinence

    from present pleasures, ready at hand, that gratify others,

  19. ولقاؤه شهواتِهِ ببصيرةٍ

    معصومةٍ عنها وذيلٍ طاهرِ

    or by facing his desires with insight

    immune to them, and with an unstained hem.

  20. نرجو لصالحنا تطاوُلَ عمره

    تعبٌ رجاءُ ولادةٍ من عاقرِ

    We hope for long life for the righteous man among us;

    vain toil is the hope of birth from a barren woman.

  21. لو خُلِّد ابنُ البَرِّ أو أمِنَ الردَى

    لعفافه لم يولَد ابنُ الفاجرِ

    If the righteous man's son were immortal, or safe from death

    because of his chastity, no sinner's son would have been born.

  22. أو كان يَسلم بالشجاعة ربُّها

    لم تَطوِ مقبوراً حَفيرةُ قابرِ

    Or if courage could keep its possessor safe,

    no gravedigger's pit would enfold a buried man.

  23. بالكُرهِ فارق سيف عمرٍو كفّه

    وتقلَّصت عن رمحه يدُ عامرِ

    Unwillingly, Amr's sword left his palm,

    and Amir's hand withdrew from his spear.

  24. سقت الغيوثُ أبا الحسين ثراك ما

    سقت الحسينَ أباك عينُ الزائرِ

    May the rains water your earth, Abu al-Husayn, as long as

    the visitor's eye waters al-Husayn, your father.

  25. ومن الغرام وفيه ماءٌ هامعٌ

    منه دُعايَ له بماءٍ قاطرِ

    And it is love—though water pours there

    from love itself—that makes me pray for dripping water for him.

  26. أبكيك لا ما تستحقُّ وجهدُ ما

    تَسَعُ الصبابةُ أن تسيلَ مَحاجري

    I weep for you, not as you deserve; the utmost

    yearning can manage is for my eye-sockets to stream.

  27. وأُشارك النُّوَّاحَ فيك بأنّني

    أرثيك فالتأبين نَوحُ الشاعرِ

    And I join the mourners for you, in that I

    elegize you: eulogy is the poet's wailing.

  28. وأَمَا وبدرَيْ هاشمٍ وَلَدَيْكَ ما

    مبقيهما ذكراً له بالداثرِ

    Indeed, by Hashim's two full moons, your two sons, never

    can he fade who leaves them behind as his remembrance.

  29. إن لا يكونا نسلَ ظهرِكَ فالذي

    نشراه بابنِ الظَّهر ليس بناشرِ

    If they are not the offspring of your loins, what

    they have revived would not come to life through a son of the loins.

  30. وإذا الفتى ضعُفتْ مؤازرةُ ابنه

    في الأمر فابنُ الأختِ خيرُ مؤازرِ

    And when a man's son's support proves weak

    in affairs, his sister's son is a better supporter.

  31. أبواك وابناك الفخارُ بأسرِهِ

    والمجدُ يورَثُ كابراً عن كابرِ

    Your parents and your two sons are pride in its entirety;

    and glory is handed down from one great man to another.

  32. لا تحسبَنَّ الموتَ راع حماهما

    فالسارقُ المغتالُ غيرُ القاهرِ

    Do not think death has cowed their sanctuary;

    for the thief who kills by stealth is not a conqueror.

  33. أقسمتُ لو لحِقَاك قبلَ وصلوه

    ما كان بينهما عليك بقادرِ

    I swear: had they reached you first, they would have confronted him;

    he could not have prevailed against you between them.

  34. مَنْ مُبلِغٌ حَيّاً يُجَمِّعُ عِزُّهُ

    غَرْبَىْ حُسامِ بني الحسين الباترِ

    Who will tell a clan whose honor unites

    the two edges of the cleaving sword of al-Husayn's sons:

  35. صبراً وإن فُرِك العزاءُ فإنّه

    كنزُ الثوابِ ذخيرةٌ للصابرِ

    Patience, though consolation be loathed, for it is

    a treasure of reward, a reserve for the patient.

  36. هو حُكمُ عدلٍ لا يُردُّ وكان ما

    يَهِنُ القلوبَ لو انه من جائرِ

    It is a just decree that cannot be reversed; it would not

    weaken hearts if it came from an oppressor.

  37. حفِظَ العلا لكما مشيِّدُ عرشها

    بكما فلا معمورَ بعد العامرِ

    May high honor be kept for you both by him who raises its throne

    through you both—for no dwelling survives its builder.

  38. وإذا جَرَتْ ريحُ الحوادث عاصفاً

    فلتنحرِفْ عن ذا الخِضمِّ الزاخرِ

    And when the wind of calamities blows in a gale,

    let it turn aside from this surging ocean.

  39. وكفَى حسودَكما الشقيَّ علاجُهُ

    غيظ الهجينِ من العتيقِ الضامرِ

    And enough for your wretched envier is his struggle

    with a half-bred horse's rage at a lean thoroughbred.

  40. لا غرَّني منه السكوتُ فإنه

    خوفَ العقابِ سكينةٌ في نافرِ

    May his silence not deceive me, for it is

    stillness in a skittish creature, born of fear of punishment.