1. ينام على الغدر من لا يَغارُ

    ولا يُظلمَ الحرُّ فيه انتصارُ

    Whoever feels no jealousy sleeps upon betrayal.

    Nor is a free man wronged while he can defend himself.

  2. علَيَّ اختيار اختيارُ الحبيبِ

    وإن خانني فإليَّ الخِيارُ

    The choice of the beloved is a choice laid upon me;

    and if he betrays me, the choice is mine.

  3. ملكتُ فؤادي على بابلٍ

    وعقَّ أخاه الفؤادُ المُعارُ

    I held my heart in check against Babylon,

    and the borrowed heart betrayed its brother.

  4. وفيمن سمحتُ به للحُمو

    ل أبيضُ ليلٍ سُراه نهارُ

    Among those I freely yielded to the caravans was

    a fair one—a night whose night-journey is day.

  5. إذا شكرتْ حُقْبُهُ خصرَه

    تظلَّم من مِعصَميْه السِّوارُ

    When his girdles praised his waist,

    the bracelet complained of his wrists.

  6. وبدرٌ وما عُدَّ من شهره

    سوى هجره والتجنِّي سِرارُ

    And a full moon: nothing of his month was reckoned

    moonless except his abandonment and unjust reproach.

  7. تطلّعَ يُتبِعني مقلتي

    ه مختمراً من حُلاه الخِمارُ

    He peered out, following me with his two eyes,

    the veil itself veiled by his adornments.

  8. وكنتُ الحليمَ وفي مثلها

    تخِفُّ الحلومُ ويهفو الوقارُ

    Yet I remained forbearing; in such circumstances

    reason grows frivolous and dignity falters.

  9. أُحبُّ الجفاءَ على عزِّةٍ

    ولا أحمل الوصلَ والوصلُ عارُ

    I love estrangement with dignity,

    and will not bear union when union is shame.

  10. قَضيتَ وتهوَى ويرضَى الفتى

    بطيفٍ يزور وربعٍ يُزارُ

    You have decreed as you desire; a young man is content

    with a phantom that visits and a dwelling to visit.

  11. وهبَّتْ تلوم على عفّتي

    وتحذر لو قد كفاها الحِذارُ

    She rose to reproach me for my self-restraint,

    and fretted—if only caution had sufficed her!

  12. تقول القناعةُ موتُ الفتى

    إذا أُلِفتْ والحياةُ اليسارُ

    She says, “Contentment is a young man's death

    when it becomes habitual; wealth is life.”

  13. وما الناسُ لو أنصفتني الحسا

    بَ والأرضُ إلا صديقٌ ودارُ

    People—if you reckoned fairly with me—

    and the earth are nothing but a friend and a home.

  14. وما ارتبتُ حتى رأيتُ اليمي

    نَ تُعقَد في الحقِّ عنها اليسارُ

    I did not doubt until I saw the right hand

    replaced by the left when truth was pledged.

  15. وتَطمعُ بالشعر لي في الغنى

    متى نَصح الطمعَ المستشارُ

    She hopes that poetry will bring me wealth;

    when has an adviser ever counseled greed wisely?

  16. ولم تدرِ أنّ المساعي الطوا

    لَ آفتُهن الحظوظُ القِصارُ

    She did not know that lengthy endeavors

    are blighted by meager shares of luck.

  17. وما علمُ طبِّك من علّتي

    وصبريَ والكرمُ الإصطبارُ

    What does your medicine know of my ailment

    and my patience? Nobility is steadfast endurance.

  18. إذا لم يُبَيِّنْ أَسىً أو أُسىً

    فكيف يَبينُ غنىً وافتقارُ

    If it reveals neither sorrow nor solace,

    how should wealth and poverty become apparent?

  19. خَبَرتُ رجالاً فما سرَّني

    على الودّ ما كشفَ الإختبارُ

    I tested men, and it did not please me

    what the test disclosed of their affection.

  20. ولما غلِقتُ برهن الوفاء

    لهم تركوني بنجدٍ وغاروا

    When I was held forfeit by the pledge of loyalty

    to them, they left me in Najd and descended to the lowlands.

  21. فلا يُبعد اللّهُ من ظلمهم

    أخلاَّءَ حَصُّوا جَناحي وطاروا

    May God not banish, despite their injustice,

    friends who plucked my wing bare and flew away.

  22. وجرَّبتُ حظِّي بمدح الملوك

    مِراراً وكلّ جناها مُرارُ

    I tried my fortune in praising kings

    time after time, and all its fruit was bitterness.

  23. وكم من مُقامٍ توقَّرتُ في

    ه طاروا له فرحاً واستطاروا

    How many a scene where I kept my composure,

    while they flew with joy and soared in delight!

  24. وخفَّتْ مسامعُ هنَّ الجبالُ

    وجفَّتْ أناملُ هنَّ البحارُ

    Ears that were mountains grew light,

    and fingers that were seas ran dry.

  25. وأُخرَى ولم يأتني نفعُها

    ويا ليت لم يأتِ منها ضِرارُ

    And another matter, whose benefit never reached me—

    if only no harm had come from it either!

  26. إذا ما دعوتُ زعيمَ الكفا

    ةِ أدركني الماءُ والخطبُ نارُ

    Whenever I called upon the leader of the capable,

    water came to my rescue while the ordeal was fire.

  27. وقام لها ناهضَ المنكِبيْن

    يُقلَّصُ عن قدَميْه الإِزارُ

    He stood up to it, his shoulders braced,

    his robe drawn up above his feet.

  28. إذا خاض نَقْعَيْ حِمىً أو حِجاً

    تفَرَّج عن حاجبيْه الغمارُ

    When he plunged into the dust-clouds of defense or reason,

    the engulfing tumult parted before his brows.

  29. كريمٌ تبرَّعَ بالنصر لي

    وبالخيلِ من دون نصري انتشارُ

    A noble man who freely offered me aid,

    while the horsemen were scattered, short of coming to my aid.

  30. أَبَى أن أضامَ وردَّ الفِرارَ

    عليّ وأقصى سلاحي الفِرارُ

    He refused to let me be wronged and ruled out flight

    for me, though flight was my last weapon.

  31. بلا قَدَمٍ تتقاضاه لي

    فتُرعَى له ذمّةٌ أو ذِمارُ

    With no prior favor of mine to demand it of him,

    and oblige him to honor a pledge or bond of protection.

  32. بلى في التجانس حقٌ جناه

    عليّ وجارُك بالجنس جارُ

    Yet affinity did create a claim

    upon me: your neighbor in kind is a neighbor indeed.

  33. عجبتُ لباغيَّ أن أسترَقَّ

    وكسرَى أَبِي ولساني نِزارُ

    I marveled at the one who wished to enslave me,

    when Khosrow is my father and my tongue is Nizar.

  34. أرادَ لنقصٍ به بذلَهُ

    وربحيَ في بيع عِرضي خَسارُ

    From a flaw in himself, he sought its surrender;

    yet my profit in selling my honor is loss.

  35. أمانٍ أصابت له في سواي

    وخابت معي والأماني قِمارُ

    Wishes that found their mark for him with others

    failed with me; wishes are a gamble.

  36. دمُ الفضلِ ثارَ بِهِ أن يُطَلَّ

    فتىً لا ينام وللمجدِ ثارُ

    For excellence's blood, lest it go unavenged, arose

    a youth who never sleeps while glory has a blood-debt.

  37. قؤولٌ إذا الألسنُ المطلَقا

    تُ قيَّدَها حَصَرٌ وانكسارُ

    A ready speaker, when tongues once free

    are fettered by speechlessness and defeat.

  38. يُرَى فَوْرُهُ واصفاً غَوْرَهُ

    وهل يصفُ النارَ إلا الشّرارُ

    His outward surge is seen revealing his depths;

    what describes fire but its sparks?

  39. كفى الدولتين عناءُ الحسي

    ن مَن يُستشارُ ومَن يُستجارُ

    Husayn's exertion has sufficed the two states—

    the one consulted, the one sought for refuge.

  40. وقُلِّبتا وإليه مصي

    رُ أمريْهما وعليه المَدارُ

    Both were turned about; to him lies the return

    of their affairs, and on him everything revolves.

  41. وقمتَ ودون المَقام الحميدِ

    مزالقُ يصعُبُ فيها الفَرارُ

    You stood firm; before the praiseworthy station

    lie slippery places where escape is hard.

  42. وقبلكَ قد جرَّبوا واجتَنَوا

    وبعدَك وانتصحوا واستشاروا

    Before you, they had tried and reaped;

    and after you, sought counsel and consulted.

  43. وحلَّوا بسيماك مَن جرَّدو

    ه لو قُطِعتْ بالحُليِّ الشِّفارُ

    They decked in your insignia one they had stripped bare—

    as if ornaments could cut through blades!

  44. فذاك مُدِلٌّ على عجزه

    يُؤمَّرُ وهو عِيالٌ يُمارُ

    That man is conceited despite his incapacity,

    made a commander though a dependent who must be provisioned.

  45. طريرُ العِيانِ صديُّ اللسانِ

    خُطَا لفظِهِ خطأٌ أو عِثارُ

    Sleek in appearance, rusty of tongue;

    each step of his speech a blunder or a stumble.

  46. إذا نشر الكِبرُ أعطافَه

    طوت بشرَه الغَرَماتُ الصِّغارُ

    When pride spreads his sides wide,

    petty expenses fold away his cheerful face.

  47. لثوب الرياسةِ ضيقٌ علي

    ه معْ وُسْعِ أثوابهِ وانشمارُ

    The robe of leadership fits him tightly,

    and rides up, though his own robes are ample.

  48. غريبٌ إذا أن فيها انتسب

    تَ أدلَى به نسبٌ مستعارُ

    A stranger, when you trace your lineage within it,

    he is brought forward by a borrowed pedigree.

  49. جزتك عن المُلك يومَ الجزاء

    وعن فخره يومَ يُجزَى الفخارُ

    May you be repaid for kingship on recompense's day,

    and for its glory when glory receives its due,

  50. غوادٍ من الحمدِ والإعتراف

    غوارفُ من كلِّ عذبٍ غِزارُ

    by morning clouds of praise and acknowledgment,

    drawing richly from every sweet source.

  51. تجودك نَعماءَ تزكو النفو

    سُ فيها وتَغْنَى عليها الديارُ

    They shower you with bounty; souls flourish

    within it, and dwellings grow rich through it.

  52. وعنّي سوائرُ إما تحطُّ ال

    رواةُ وقاطنةٌ حيث ساروا

    And from me, verses that travel wherever the

    reciters alight, yet dwell wherever they journey.

  53. عذَارَى يُجلَّى لهنَّ الجمالُ

    ويُخلعُ في حبِّهنّ العذارُ

    Virgins, for whom beauty is unveiled,

    and for love of whom the bridle is cast off.

  54. يُخَيَّلُ ما نشرَتْ من علاك

    عياباً متى نشرتْها التِّجارُ

    What they unfold of your eminence appears

    like trunks of wares when merchants unpack them.

  55. إذا حَبَّرتْ أمّهاتُ القري

    ض أخبارَها وبنوه الكبارُ

    When the mothers of poetry richly compose

    their accounts, along with its great sons,

  56. تمنَّوا بجهدِهم عفوَها

    على ما سَبَوا غيرَهم أو أغاروا

    they long, with all their striving, for these verses' effortless grace,

    despite the others they have taken captive or raided.

  57. يُقرُّ لمجدك إِكثارُها

    بما سلَفتْ أنّه الإقتصارُ

    Their abundance admits before your glory

    that all they have offered is but little.

  58. فإن شفعَ العبدُ في مذنبٍ

    نجت وجروحُ الأماني جُبارُ

    If the servant intercedes for an offender,

    they are saved; the wounds of hopes go uncompensated.

  59. وإن بلغَ الشكرُ حقَّ امرىء

    فغايتُها مَعَك الإنتصارُ

    And if gratitude reaches a man's full due,

    their utmost aim with you is vindication.