1. أُعاني هوىَ ليلى وكيفَ أعاني

    وأدنو إلى منْ ليْسَ بالمتداني

    I suffer for love of Layla—and how I suffer!

    And I draw near to one who will not draw near.

  2. وأرعى لها أيامَ إذ هيَ جارتي

    وإذ خدْرُها المضروبُ قيد عَيَاني

    And I cherish for her sake the days when she was my neighbor,

    And when her pitched, curtained tent was within my sight.

  3. وما خُنْتُ ليْلي يَعَلمُ الله عهدَها

    ولا مِلْتُ للواشي غداةَ لحاني

    Nor did I betray Layla's pledge—God knows.

    Nor did I heed the slanderer the morning he reproached me.

  4. ولا غيّرتني شقةٌ البُعْدِ بعدَها

    إذا غيَّر الإِخوانَ جورَ زمانِ

    Nor did the long stretch of separation change me after her departure,

    When time's cruelty changed friends.

  5. ولا اعتدتُ تسيدَ الجفونِ وإنما

    جفتني ليلى والمنامُ جفاني

    Nor was I accustomed to sleepless eyelids; rather,

    Layla forsook me, and sleep forsook me.

  6. دعاها الهوىَ لما دعاني الهوى لها

    فَلبَّتْ كما لبَيْتُ حينَ دَعاني

    Love called her when love called me to her,

    So she answered, as I answered when it called me.

  7. وكم من مُحبٍ وهو غيرُ مُحَبَّب

    وحَان على من لا يَرق لحالي

    And how many a lover is not himself beloved,

    And one tender toward someone who has no pity for my plight.

  8. خليليّ من سَعدِ بن بنت رقدتما

    وبتُّ أشيمَ البرق وهو يماني

    My two friends from Sa'd ibn Bint, you both slept,

    And I spent the night watching the lightning that came from Yemen.

  9. فلو كنتما مِثلي مشوْقينِ أوْ معي

    لأَشْجاكُما مَسْراهُ حينَ شجاني

    Had you both, like me, been longing, or been with me,

    Its nightly passage would have grieved you both when it grieved me.

  10. أعِينَا على ما بي مِنْ الهمّ وأشكرا

    على ذاك من عافاكما وبلاني

    Help me bear the grief within me, and give thanks

    For that to the One who spared you both and afflicted me.

  11. فإن خليلي من يقاسمني الأسَى

    ويشركني في نائب الحَدثان

    For my friend is one who shares my sorrow

    And shares with me in time's afflictions.

  12. أتتني من القيل اليماني هدّة

    تُشَيِّبُ رأسَ الأسود بن قُنان

    A thunderous crash came to me from the Yemeni ruler,

    Enough to gray the head of al-Aswad ibn Qunan.

  13. وزأرة ضرغام ببيشة لودعا

    بنجران لانْدَقَّت سقوفَ عُمان

    And a lion's roar in Bishah—had it sounded

    In Najran, the roofs of Oman would have shattered.

  14. ومن أنا حتّى أجحد ابن مَعُيبْدٍ

    ندآه وكم ابرٍ لذاك أتاني

    And who am I to deny Ibn Mu'aybid

    His bounty, when so much kindness from him has reached me?

  15. ومن أنا حتّى أجحد الشمسَ ضوءها

    وأغمطُ جودَ الغيث ذي الهملان

    And who am I to deny the sun its light,

    And belittle the bounty of rain pouring in torrents?

  16. ومَا كان مني في أبي بكرِ ما رَووا

    ولكنَّ شأني عنه أحقرُ شأني

    What they reported concerning Abu Bakr never came from me;

    But beside him my standing is utterly insignificant.

  17. أأركبُ أمواجُ الهلاكِ تعمداً

    وأفتحُ شدقي والرّماحُ دواني

    Would I deliberately ride the waves of destruction,

    And open my mouth while spears are close at hand?

  18. وآكلُ لحم الأفعوانِ تشبّعاً

    ولو مَسَّ جلدي جلدَهُ لكفاني

    And eat a great serpent's flesh to fill myself,

    When merely touching its skin with mine would be enough?

  19. واكفرُ احسانَ الذي في زمانِهِ

    عرفتُ وأعمى الحاسدين دُخَاني

    And deny the kindness of him in whose time

    I became known, and my smoke blinded the envious?

  20. وأجدعُ أنْفي وهو موضعُ نخوتي

    وأقطعُ كفي عامداً ببناني

    And cut off my nose, though it is the seat of my pride,

    And deliberately sever my hand with my own fingers?

  21. أمَا والذي حج الملبُّونَ بيتَه

    على مضمراتٍ كالقسيّ حواني

    Indeed, by Him whose House the chanting pilgrims visited,

    On lean mounts, curved like bows,

  22. لما سَطّرتْ ذاك الكلامَ أناملي

    ولا قال مَا قال الوشاة لِساني

    My fingertips never wrote those words,

    Nor did my tongue say what the slanderers claimed.

  23. ولكنّهم أولادُ يعقوبَ أقْبلوا

    بذئبٍ وثوبٍ حَوله الدمُ قان

    But they, like Jacob's sons, came forward

    With a wolf and a garment ringed with crimson blood.

  24. وَغَرّوا وضروا يومَ ذاك وأوهِموا

    وأخطوا طريق الحقِ بعدَ بَيَان

    And they deceived and harmed that day, and were misled,

    And missed the path of truth after it was made clear.

  25. ومِنْ عجبٍ أنْ تستحل محارمي

    بخط فلان أو بقول فلان

    And it is strange that you should deem my sacred rights violable

    On the strength of so-and-so's writing or so-and-so's words.

  26. وقد قيل بالبطحاء أحمد ساحرٌ

    وقال أناسٌ للمهيمن ثان

    And in al-Batha Ahmad was called a sorcerer,

    And some said the Guardian had a counterpart.

  27. وصوَّر أصحابُ المسيح كمثله

    صليباً وروحُ الله ليس بفان

    And the followers of the Messiah fashioned in his likeness

    A cross, though God's Spirit does not perish.

  28. فلا حول منها فعلةً شقت العصَا

    وسخطٌ أتى من غير زلةِ جاني

    No power avails against it—a deed that split the staff,

    And wrath that came without an offender's fault.

  29. أفيْكة أفّاكٍ رماني وأتقىَ

    محالاً رماه الله حينَ رماني

    A liar hurled his fabrication at me and took cover—

    A false charge! May God strike him as he struck me.

  30. وللحق وجهق لا يُردُّ وإنّما

    كلامُ العِدَا ضربٌ من الهذيان

    And truth has a face that cannot be denied; rather,

    The enemies' talk is nothing but a kind of delirium.

  31. عليك أبا بكر سلامٌ ولم تزل

    مغانيك للزُّوّارِ خيرَ مغانْ

    Peace be upon you, Abu Bakr; as ever,

    Your dwellings are the finest of dwellings for visitors.

  32. معافَى من الأسواء ترقى إلى السُّهى

    وتبقى وتُسْقَى الغيث كلّ أوان

    Spared from misfortunes, may you rise to Suha,

    And live on, and be watered by rain at every season.

  33. قدِمتُ وصحبي بين ناهٍ يَرُدّني

    وأخَرُ يُرخى للمسير عِنَاني

    I came, my companions divided between one dissuading me and trying to turn me back,

    And another who loosened my reins for the journey.

  34. وفي النفس أشواق وفي القلب هيبة

    وإنّ الهوى والخوف مختلفان

    And in my soul were longings, and in my heart was awe,

    And indeed, love and fear are at odds.

  35. وخلفي يا ابن الأشعرين صبية

    كزُغْبِ القطا كلٌّ يود يراني

    And behind me, O son of the Ash'arites, are children,

    Like downy sandgrouse chicks, each longing to see me.

  36. وشيخٌ حَنته النائبات وشَيْخَةٌ

    يَعزّ عليهم إن يَشطَ مكاني

    And an old man bent by calamities, and an old woman;

    It pains them if my dwelling is far away.

  37. وقد راعهم ما قلتِ فيّ وكُلّهم

    على خده عيناه تنْهملان

    And what you said about me has alarmed them, and every one of them

    Has tears from both eyes streaming down his cheek.

  38. تصدق عليهَم أو عليَّ لأجلهم

    وسَكِّنْ قلوباً جمّةً الخفقان

    Be charitable to them, or to me for their sake,

    And still hearts that beat so wildly.

  39. وأمِّنْ فكم أمنتَ رَوْعةَ فاقر

    وأطْلِقْ فكم أطلقتَ كُربة جانَى

    Grant safety—how often you have stilled a needy man's terror!

    And grant release—how often you have relieved an offender's distress!

  40. وعِش عمرَ نوحٍ في سمَاحة تبّعٍ

    تنال من الأيّامِ كل أمانَي

    And live Noah's lifespan with Tubba's generosity,

    May you gain from the days all you desire.