1. دَمعٌ جَرى فَقَضى في الرَبعِ ماوَجَبا

    لِأَهلِهِ وَشَفى أَنّى وَلا كَرَبا

    Tears flowed, paying at the dwelling what was due

    To its people—but how could they heal? They soothed no anguish.

  2. عُجنا فَأَذهَبَ ما أَبقى الفِراقُ لَنا

    مِنَ العُقولِ وَما رَدَّ الَّذي ذَهَبا

    We turned aside, and it took away what separation had left us

    Of reason, yet did not restore what had gone.

  3. سَقَيتُهُ عَبَراتٍ ظَنَّها مَطَراً

    سَوائِلاً مِن جُفونٍ ظَنَّها سُحُبا

    I watered it with tears that it mistook for rain,

    Flowing from eyelids that it mistook for clouds.

  4. دارُ المُلِمِّ لَها طَيفٌ تَهَدَّدَني

    لَيلاً فَما صَدَقَت عَيني وَلا كَذَبا

    This is the dwelling of her whose visiting phantom threatened me

    By night; my eye was not truthful, nor did the phantom lie.

  5. ناءَيتُهُ فَدَنا أَدنَيتُهُ فَنَأى

    جَمَّشتُهُ فَنَبا قَبَّلتُهُ فَأَبى

    I kept it distant, and it drew near; I drew it close, and it withdrew.

    I caressed it, and it recoiled; I kissed it, and it refused.

  6. هامَ الفُؤادُ بِأَعرابِيَّةٍ سَكَنَت

    بَيتاً مِنَ القَلبِ لَم تَمدُد لَهُ طُنُبا

    The heart fell madly in love with a Bedouin woman who settled

    In a tent within the heart, though she stretched no tent-rope for it.

  7. مَظلومَةُ القَدِّ في تَشبيهِهِ غُصُناً

    مَظلومَةُ الريقِ في تَشبيهِهِ ضَرَبا

    Her figure is wronged when it is compared to a bough;

    Her saliva is wronged when it is compared to thick white honey.

  8. بَيضاءُ تُطمِعُ فيما تَحتَ حُلَّتِها

    وَعَزَّ ذَلِكَ مَطلوباً إِذا طُلِبا

    Fair-skinned, she stirs desire for what lies beneath her robe,

    Yet that, when sought, is difficult to attain.

  9. كَأَنَّها الشَمسُ يُعيِي كَفَّ قابِضِهِ

    شُعاعُها وَيَراهُ الطَرفُ مُقتَرِبا

    She is like the sun: the hand of one who would grasp it is baffled

    By its radiance, though the eye sees it close at hand.

  10. مَرَّت بِنا بَينَ تِربَيها فَقُلتُ لَها

    مِن أَينَ جانَسَ هَذا الشادِنُ العَرَبا

    She passed us between her two age-mates, and I said to her,

    'How did this young gazelle come to be kin to the Arabs?'

  11. فَاِستَضحَكَت ثُمَّ قالَت كَالمُغيثِ يُرى

    لَيثَ الشَرى وَهوَ مِن عِجلٍ إِذا اِنتَسَبا

    She burst out laughing, then said, 'Just as al-Mughith is seen

    As the lion of al-Shara, though by ancestry he belongs to Ijl.'

  12. جاءَت بِأَشجَعَ مَن يُسمى وَأَسمَحَ مَن

    أَعطى وَأَبلَغَ مَن أَملى وَمَن كَتَبا

    She invoked the bravest of named men, and the most generous who

    Ever gave, and the most eloquent of those who dictated and those who wrote.

  13. لَو حَلَّ خاطِرُهُ في مُقعَدٍ لَمَشى

    أَو جاهِلٍ لَصَحا أَو أَخرَسٍ خَطَبا

    If his thought entered a man unable to walk, he would walk;

    Or an ignorant man, he would come to his senses; or a mute, he would give an oration.

  14. إِذا بَدا حَجَبَت عَينَيكَ هَيبَتُهُ

    وَلَيسَ يَحجُبُهُ سِترٌ إِذا اِحتَجَبا

    When he appears, his majesty veils your eyes;

    Yet no curtain conceals him when he secludes himself.

  15. بَياضُ وَجهٍ يُريكَ الشَمسَ حالِكَةً

    وَدُرُّ لَفظٍ يُريكَ الدُرَّ مَخشَلَبا

    A face so white it makes the sun seem pitch-black,

    And pearls of speech that make pearls seem mere glass beads;

  16. وَسَيفُ عَزمٍ تَرُدُّ السَيفَ هِبَّتُهُ

    رَطبَ الغِرارِ مِنَ التَأمورِ مُختَضِبا

    And a sword of resolve whose onrush brings the sword back

    With its edge wet, stained with heart's blood.

  17. عُمرُ العَدوِّ إِذا لاقاهُ في رَهَجٍ

    أَقَلُّ مِن عُمرِ ما يَحوي إِذا وَهَبا

    An enemy's life, when he meets him in battle-dust,

    Is shorter than the life of what he owns when he gives it away.

  18. تَوَقَّهُ فَمَتى ما شِئتَ تَبلُوَهُ

    فَكُن مُعادِيَهُ أَو كُن لَهُ نَشَبا

    Beware of him; whenever you wish to test him,

    Be his enemy, or be wealth in his possession.

  19. تَحلو مَذاقَتُهُ حَتّى إِذا غَضِبا

    حالَت فَلَو قَطَرَت في الماءِ ما شُرِبا

    His savor is sweet until he grows angry,

    Then it changes: were it to drip into water, that water could not be drunk.

  20. وَتَغبِطُ الأَرضُ مِنها حَيثُ حَلَّ بِهِ

    وَتَحسُدُ الخَيلُ مِنها أَيَّها رَكِبا

    And the earth covets the fortune of the spot within it where he settles,

    And horses envy whichever of them he rides.

  21. وَلا يَرُدُّ بِفيهِ كَفَّ سائِلِهِ

    عَن نَفسِهِ وَيَرُدُّ الجَحفَلَ اللَجِبا

    And with his mouth he does not turn his petitioner's hand

    Away from himself, though he repels a clamorous host.

  22. وَكُلَّما لَقِيَ الدينارُ صاحِبَهُ

    في مُلكِهِ اِفتَرَقا مِن قَبلِ يَصطَحِبا

    And whenever a dinar meets its fellow

    In his possession, they part before they can become companions.

  23. مالٌ كَأَنَّ غُرابَ البَينِ يَرقُبُهُ

    فَكُلَّما قيلَ هَذا مُجتَدٍ نَعَبا

    Wealth, as though the raven of parting were watching it;

    Whenever someone says, 'Here is a seeker of gifts,' it caws.

  24. بَحرٌ عَجائِبُهُ لَم تُبقِ في سَمَرٍ

    وَلا عَجائِبِ بَحرٍ بَعدَها عَجَبا

    A sea whose marvels have left, in evening tales

    Or in the marvels of any sea, no further cause for wonder.

  25. لا يُقنِعُ اِبنَ عَليٍّ نَيلُ مَنزِلَةٍ

    يَشكو مُحاوِلُها التَقصيرَ وَالتَعَبا

    Ibn Ali is not content to attain a rank

    Whose pursuer complains of falling short and fatigue.

  26. هَزَّ اللِواءَ بَنو عِجلٍ بِهِ فَغَدا

    رَأساً لَهُم وَغَدا كُلٌّ لَهُم ذَنَبا

    The sons of Ijl waved the banner through him, and he became

    Their head, while all others became their tail.

  27. التارِكينَ مِنَ الأَشياءِ أَهوَنَها

    وَالراكِبينَ مِنَ الأَشياءِ ما صَعُبا

    Those who abandon the easiest of things

    And ride into whatever is difficult;

  28. مُبَرقِعي خَيلِهِم بِالبيضِ مُتَّخِذي

    هامِ الكُماةِ عَلى أَرماحِهِم عَذَبا

    Veiling their horses with bright swords, making

    Armored warriors' heads tassels upon their spears.

  29. إِنَّ المَنِيَّةَ لَو لاقَتهُمُ وَقَفَت

    خَرقاءَ تَتَّهِمُ الإِقدامَ وَالهَرَبا

    Indeed, if Death met them, she would halt

    Bewildered, mistrusting both advance and flight.

  30. مَراتِبٌ صَعِدَت وَالفِكرُ يَتبَعُها

    فَجازَ وَهوَ عَلى آثارِها الشُهُبا

    Ranks that rose, with thought following them,

    And, on their trail, it passed the bright stars.

  31. مَحامِدٌ نَزَفَت شِعري لِيَملَأَها

    فَآلَ ما اِمتَلَأَت مِنهُ وَلا نَضَبا

    Merits that drew upon my poetry, that it might fill them,

    Yet in the end they were not filled by it, nor did it run dry.

  32. مَكارِمٌ لَكَ فُتَّ العالَمينَ بِها

    مَن يَستَطيعُ لِأَمرٍ فائِتٍ طَلَبا

    Noble deeds of yours, by which you outstripped all the world;

    Who can pursue what has passed beyond reach?

  33. لَمّا أَقَمتَ بِإِنطاكِيَّةَ اِختَلَفَت

    إِلَيَّ بِالخَبَرِ الرُكبانُ في حَلَبا

    When you settled in Antioch, there came in succession

    To me in Aleppo riders bringing the news.

  34. فَسِرتُ نَحوَكَ لا أَلوي عَلى أَحَدٍ

    أَحُثُّ راحِلَتَيَّ الفَقرَ وَالأَدَبا

    So I journeyed toward you, turning aside for no one,

    Urging on my two mounts, poverty and literary learning.

  35. أَذاقَني زَمَني بَلوى شَرِقتُ بِها

    لَو ذاقَها لَبَكى ما عاشَ وَاِنتَحَبا

    My time made me taste an ordeal that I choked on;

    Had it tasted it, it would have wept and sobbed as long as it lived.

  36. وَإِن عَمَرتُ جَعَلتُ الحَربَ والِدَةً

    وَالسَمهَرِيَّ أَخاً وَالمَشرَفِيَّ أَبا

    And if I live on, I shall make war my mother,

    The Samhari spear my brother, and the Mashrafi sword my father;

  37. بِكُلِّ أَشعَثَ يَلقى المَوتَ مُبتَسِماً

    حَتّى كَأَنَّ لَهُ في قَتلِهِ أَرَبا

    With every disheveled warrior who meets death smiling,

    So that he seems to have a desire to be slain.

  38. قُحٍّ يَكادُ صَهيلُ الخَيلِ يَقذِفُهُ

    عَن سَرجِهِ مَرَحاً بِالغَزوِ أَو طَرَبا

    A man of pure stock, whom horses' neighing nearly flings

    From his saddle, in delight at raiding or in rapture.

  39. فَالمَوتُ أَعذَرُ لي وَالصَبرُ أَجمَلُ بي

    وَالبَرُّ أَوسَعُ وَالدُنيا لِمَن غَلَبا

    So death is more excusable for me, and patience more becoming to me;

    And the open land is wider, and the world belongs to whoever prevails.