1. خُطوبٌ لقد أَربَت فليس لها حَدُّ

    كُروبٌ لقد عمَّت فليسَ لها عَدُّ

    Calamities have grown excessive; they have no limit.

    Sorrows have spread everywhere; they cannot be counted.

  2. مصائبُ شَتَّى جُمِّعَت في مُصيبةٍ

    كجنسٍ حَواهُ دُونَ أَنواعهِ ردُّ

    Diverse misfortunes have been gathered into one calamity,

    like a genus encompassed by a negation, apart from its species.

  3. رَماني زَماني عن قِسِيِّ مُلِمَّةٍ

    بسهمٍ مُصيبٍ لا يَكادُ لهُ صردُ

    My fate shot at me from the bows of calamity,

    with an arrow that strikes its mark and scarcely ever misses.

  4. ويُمكِنُ أن يَرتَدَّ حُكمٌ من الوَرَى

    ولكنَّ حُكمَ اللَه ليس لهُ ردُّ

    A judgment made by mortals may be overturned,

    but God's decree admits no reversal.

  5. وما عاصمٌ للمرءِ من مِخلَب الرَدَى

    ولو خَبَّأتهُ بينَ أنيابها الأُسدُ

    Nothing shields a person from death's claw,

    even if lions hid him between their fangs.

  6. مَصابٌ سقاني كأسَ صابٍ مُذُ الصِبا

    وموتُ الصِبا خَطبٌ يلينُ لهُ الصَلدُ

    A calamity has made me drink a cup of bitter sap since youth;

    and death in youth is a calamity that softens solid rock.

  7. أَلا كُلُّ صَعبٍ دون ذا الخَطبِ هَيِّنٌ

    وكل أجيجٍ دونَ هذا اللَظَى بَردُ

    Lo, every hardship is easy beside this calamity,

    and every blaze is cool beside this flame.

  8. وأَكتُمُ ما بي والدموعُ مَنَمَّةٌ

    فأَنَّى التواري والخفيُّ بها يبدو

    I conceal what ails me, but tears are tale-bearers;

    so how can I hide, when through them the hidden appears?

  9. أَعومُ ببحرٍ من هُمومٍ تتابعت

    وصبري لهُ جَزرٌ ودمعي لهُ مدُّ

    I swim in a sea of worries that have followed one another,

    and my patience has its ebb, my tears their flood tide.

  10. تَنازَعَني ضِدَّان فَقدُ تجلُّدي

    ووجدُ همومٍ ذابَ من حرّها الكِبدُ

    Two opposites have contended over me: the loss of my fortitude,

    and the presence of sorrows whose heat has melted my liver.

  11. فقلبي على جمر الأَسَى متقلبٌ

    ودمعي على الخدَّينِ يجري ويمتدُّ

    My heart turns over on the embers of sorrow,

    and my tears run down both cheeks and flow on.

  12. وجفنٌ قريحٌ لا يُلِمُّ غِرارُهُ

    وصَيِّبُ دمعٍ ما لسائلهِ ردُّ

    And a wounded eyelid knows not even a moment's sleep,

    and a downpour of tears whose flow cannot be stopped.

  13. كأَنَّ جفوني عُلّقت بحواجبي

    لذلك عندي خَيَّمَ الهمُّ والسُهدُ

    It is as though my eyelids were hung from my eyebrows;

    therefore worry and sleeplessness have camped with me.

  14. وأَعظمُ بلوائي تَشَفّي حواسدٍ

    وأَطماعُ أَعداءٍ على محني تعدو

    The greatest of my afflictions is the gloating of the envious,

    and enemies' greedy hopes that prey on my trials.

  15. أَبَى الدهرَ ألَّا مِحنتي وبليَّتي

    فأُفرغَ منهُ في النِكايةِ لي الجُهدُ

    Time has refused all but my ordeal and affliction;

    so its effort was poured into doing me harm.

  16. فما ليَ منهُ مُنقِذٌ أو مخلِّصٌ

    سِوَى مَن اليهِ يَرجِعُ الحَلُّ والعَقدُ

    I have no rescuer or deliverer from it,

    save him who holds the power to loose and bind.

  17. سليلُ كرامٍ عبقريٌ ممجَّدٌ

    لهُ الفخرُ والافضال والعِزُّ والمجدُ

    A scion of the noble, exceptional and glorified,

    his are pride, bounty, honor, and glory.

  18. أميرٌ لهُ الأمر المُطاعُ رُسومهُ

    فليسَ لهُ مما يُحاوِلُهُ بُدُّ

    A prince vested with command, whose ordinances are obeyed;

    so what he seeks to accomplish must come to pass.

  19. شِهابيُّ أصلٍ قد علا الشُهبَ سُؤدُداً

    شريفٌ منيفٌ ما لهُ في الوَرَى نِدُّ

    Shihabi by descent, he has surpassed the shooting stars in eminence,

    noble and exalted, with no equal among mankind.

  20. أبو مُلحِمَ المرجى بكل عظيمةٍ

    أريبٌ مهيبٌ لا يُنازِعُهُ ضِدُّ

    Abu Mulhim, relied upon in every grave affair,

    wise and awe-inspiring, challenged by no adversary.

  21. وحِلمِكَ يا مَن أنت في الناس مُفرَدٌ

    وياذا الذي اقنومهُ الجوهر الفردُ

    By your forbearance, O you who are unique among mankind,

    and O you whose essence is the indivisible substance,

  22. لَأَنتَ مُنَى قلبي وغايةُ مأربي

    وأنت هُوَ الآمال والسُؤلُ والقصدُ

    you are indeed my heart's desire and the goal of my longing;

    you yourself are my hopes, my desire, and my aim.

  23. تعزَّ عن ابنتك المصونة ناظراً

    إلى ابنٍ كما ترضى ولكنهُ عبدُ

    Take comfort for your cherished daughter by looking

    to a son such as would please you, though he is a servant.

  24. فلو أن ترى يوماً يُشيِّعها الوَرَى

    وأصواتهم منها الشوامخُ تنهدُّ

    If you were to see, one day, the people escorting her funeral,

    and their cries making the towering heights collapse,

  25. ولي مدمعٌ يجري دماً وحُشاشةٌ

    تَشُبُّ بها نارٌ وكِبدٌ بهِ وَقدُ

    while my eye streams blood, and the remnant of my life

    has a fire blazing within it, and my liver burns,

  26. لقلتَ أَلا يا قومُ رِقُّوا لنائحٍ

    فقيدِ حبيبٍ قد أضرَّ بهِ الفَقدُ

    you would say: 'Lo, O people, have pity on a mourner,

    bereft of a beloved, whom loss has grievously harmed.'

  27. ومن قد رَعَى سَمعاً لِبَثِّ منايحِي

    تَعلَّمَ منهُ كيف وُرقُ الحِمَى تشدو

    Whoever has lent an ear to the outpouring of my laments

    has learned from it how the gray doves of the sanctuary sing.

  28. فلم أَرَ وِرداً قطُّ مَورِدُهُ الرَدَى

    ولم أرَ سيفاً والتُرابُ لهُ غِمدُ

    For never have I seen a water-seeker whose watering place was death,

    nor have I seen a sword with the earth for its sheath.

  29. ولم أرَ بدراً دونها غاب في الثَرَى

    ولم أرَ شمساً قبلها ضمَّها لحدُ

    Nor have I seen a full moon, other than her, vanish into the soil,

    nor, before her, a sun embraced by a grave.

  30. وعِزِّكَ قد عزَّ العَزا ولَوَ أنَّني

    أَبِيتُ ببيتٍ دونهُ الجَنَّة الخُلدُ

    By your honor, solace is hard to find, even if I

    were to spend the night in a house that outshines everlasting Paradise.

  31. تقاصَرَني دهري فقصريَ صافرٌ

    ورَبعيَ خِلوٌ لا يُلِمُّ بهِ وَفدُ

    My fate has diminished me, so my palace stands empty;

    and my dwelling is deserted, visited by no delegation.

  32. كفاني لجبرِ الكسر لحظةُ راحمٍ

    بلحظِ الرِضَى يوماً يقومُ بهِ الوعدُ

    A compassionate person's glance would suffice to mend my brokenness,

    with a look of favor, one day, by which the promise is fulfilled.

  33. فإِن تَرَني في مُقلةٍ تَمَّ لي المُنَى

    وان تلقَني في صِنوها تمَّ لي السعدُ

    If you look upon me with one eye, my wishes are fulfilled;

    and if you meet me with its twin, my good fortune is complete.

  34. فخُذ بيدي ان رفعتُ اناملي

    اليك وقلبي الرجا فيك مشتدُّ

    So take my hand if I raise my fingertips

    toward you, while hope in you grows strong within my heart.

  35. فانِّيَ ممن يعتزي لجنابكم

    وهَب انني عافٍ فسَمحك لي رفدُ

    For I am among those who profess allegiance to your lordship;

    and suppose I am a petitioner: your generosity is my support.

  36. فدُونكَ بِكراً نقدُها المثلُ ان تَجُد

    بها غيرَ مأمورٍ كفانيَ لا النقدُ

    So take a maiden, whose payment is her like; if you bestow

    her, unbidden, that will suffice me—not money.

  37. فانك عِزّي عندَ ذُلّي وجابري

    بكسري ولي في كل نائبةٍ سندُ

    For you are my honor in humiliation, and my restorer

    in my brokenness, my support in every calamity.

  38. فيا ذا الذي قد عمَّني بِرُّ فضلهِ

    فطيماً صغيراً مُنذُ ما ضمَّني مهدُ

    O you whose gracious bounty has encompassed me,

    as a little weanling, ever since a cradle enfolded me,

  39. بَقِيتَ بَقاءَ الدهرِ تزجُرُ بأسَهُ

    وأمرك مطواعٌ وحُكمك ممتدُ

    may you endure as long as Time, restraining its violence,

    your command readily obeyed, and your rule far-reaching,

  40. وشانك منصورٌ وشانيك مخذلٌ

    وقلبك مسرورٌ وضدُّك مكمدُّ

    your cause triumphant, and your hater forsaken,

    your heart rejoicing, and your adversary grief-stricken,

  41. مَدَى الدهر ما اثنت على فضلك الوَرَى

    واعبق من ذكراكم المِسكُ والنَدُّ

    for all time, as long as humankind praises your bounty,

    and musk and incense grow fragrant from the remembrance of you.