1. إذا ما جاءَ شيطانُ القريضِ

    لكيْ يهديكَ قافيةً ووزْنا

    If ever the demon of verse comes

    to give you rhyme and meter,

  2. وأنهارًا من الدّمعِ وذكرىْ

    ورتلًا من قواميسٍ ومعْنى

    and rivers of tears, and remembrance,

    and a procession of dictionaries, and meaning,

  3. وصرْحًا من قواريرٍ ولجّا

    وليلًا من أهازيجٍ ومغْنى

    and a palace of glass, and a deep sea,

    and a night of chants and song,

  4. وأكوانًا من الوهمِ ومُلْكا

    وأمتعةً وأشْرعةً وسُفْنا

    and universes of illusion, and dominion,

    and baggage, and sails, and ships,

  5. وأقداحًا من النّورِ وثغْرا

    وأطباقًا من السّحرِ وعيْنا

    and goblets of light, and a mouth,

    and platters of enchantment, and an eye

  6. على وجهٍ سماويٍّ لأُنثى

    ترىْ في عينِها يُمناكَ يُمنى

    on a woman's heavenly face,

    in her eye you see your right hand as right,

  7. بجفنٍ يرسلُ الألوانَ شتّى

    سبقْتَ الجنَّ لو ميَّزت لوْنا

    with an eyelid sending forth colors of every kind—

    you would outstrip the jinn if you could distinguish a color,

  8. عدا لونِ هوىً يستلُّ سهْما

    من الرّمشِ لقوسٍ فاق جفْنا

    except the color of passion that draws an arrow

    from the lashes, for a bow surpassing an eyelid.

  9.  عسى ألّا تغالبَهُ وإلّا

    فإنّك بالهزيمةِ سوف تُمْنى

    May you not contend with him; otherwise,

    you will surely suffer defeat.

  10. تصيبُ سهامُهُ الرّوحَ فتعرىْ

    منَ الثّوبِ الّذي أعياك سَجْنا

    His arrows strike the soul, leaving it bare

    of the garment that exhausted you as a prison.

  11. يمُدُّ إليكَ قوسًا ثمّ نبْلا

    لتصطادَ أتمّ القولِ حُسْنا

    He holds out to you a bow, then arrows,

    so you may hunt down speech of consummate beauty,

  12. ليشربَ من معانيكَ ويغْشى

    إذا أطلقتَهُ قلبًا وأُذْنا

    so it may drink of your meanings and envelop—

    when you release it—a heart and an ear,

  13. وجُمهورًا من الأنْجامِ منْ عرْ

    شِكَ المسْكوبِ من نورٍ تدَنَّى

    and an audience of stars, from your thro—

    —ne, poured from light that drew near,

  14. لكيْ يُنسيكَ بالتهْليلِ دُنيا

    إذا أسْمعتَهُ ممّا تسنَّى

    so it may make you forget the world with cheers,

    when you let it hear whatever comes readily.

  15. وكم ليلاءَ فيها النّجمُ أغنَى

    عن الإنسانِ أو منْ كانَ جِنَّا

    And on many a dark night, the star has sufficed

    in place of a human or one of the jinn,

  16. عدا من كانَ منّا إذ تأسَّى

    بمن بأبي فراتٍ قد تكنَّى

    except one of us, when he took his example

    from one who had taken the byname Abu Furat,

  17. وقالَ اتْلُ عليهِمْ من قريضٍ

    بهِ الحلْمُ من الأنفاسِ أدْنى

    and said: Recite to them some verse

    in which the dream is nearer than breath,

  18. به الشّركُ أقلُّ الراي حشْدا

    ودينُ اللهِ أعلَى الدّينِ شأْنا

    in which polytheism is the view with the smallest following,

    and God's religion ranks highest among religions,

  19. وأرضُ العُربِ خيرُ الأرضِأحنى

    غدا الذئبُ بها للشّاةِ إبْنا

    and the Arabs' land is the best of lands, most tender;

    there the wolf became a son to the ewe,

  20. وذو علمٍ أتمُّ النّاسِ حظًّا

    من الدُّنيا بهِ الأوطانُ تُبْنى

    and one with knowledge is the most fortunate of all

    in this world; through him homelands are built.

  21. به لمّا يزلْ قيسُ يُغنِّي

    على أبوابِ ليْلى كيْ تمُنّا

    In it, Qays has not yet ceased singing

    at Layla's doors, that she may grant her favor.

  22. وهل للعشقِ في دُنياكَ معْنى

    إذا قيسُ بليلىْ ما تغنَّى؟

    And is there any meaning to love in your world

    if Qays does not sing of Layla?

  23. وأنذِرْ كافرًا بالشّعرِ فنّا

    وبشِّرْ مُؤمنًا بالشّعرِ خِدْنا

    And warn one who disbelieves in poetry as art,

    and give glad tidings to one who believes in poetry as a companion,

  24. وقلْ لهُما بأنّ البيتَ أبْقى

    من الدّنيا الّتي حتمًا ستفْنى

    and tell them both that a verse endures longer

    than the world, which will certainly perish.

  25. فمنْ لانَ لنا قلبًا وغنّى

    جعلنا صدرهُ للشّعر كِنّا

    For whoever grew tenderhearted toward us and sang,

    we made his breast a shelter for poetry.

  26. إذا ما قالَ بيتا نيلَ خُلْدا

    فكانَ لهُ من النّسيانِ حِصْنا

    Whenever he uttered a verse, he was granted immortality,

    and it became his fortress against oblivion.

  27. ومن لمْ يستجِبْ وازدادَ عِنْدا

    كفاهُ أنّهُ المطْرودُ مِنّا

    And whoever did not respond and grew more obstinate,

    it is enough for him that he is cast out from among us.

  28. وسلْ نجمًا حبيبًا ناءَ فجْرا

    عن النّوءِ وما ألهاهُ عنّا

    And ask a beloved star that rose at dawn

    about the stars' rising and setting, and what distracted it from us.

  29. وسلْ نجمًا عن الجمعِ توانَى

    عن الشرقِ لمَ الشّرقُ تأنَّى

    And ask a star that lagged behind the gathering

    about the East: why has the East tarried?

  30. ولُمْ فجرًا أمِلْنا أن يحنّا

    فكان الليلُ إذْ طالَ أحنّا

    And reproach a dawn we hoped would be tender,

    yet night, as it lengthened, was more tender.

  31. فمنهُ لا تعُذْ باللهِ ظنّا

    بأنّكَ تطردُ الملْعونَ لَعْنا

    So do not seek refuge in God from him, thinking

    that by cursing you will drive away the accursed,

  32. فيرحلُ عنكَ مُحتجًّا بأنّ

    عليْها من يرى الإحسانَ دَيْنا

    then he leaves you, protesting that

    on this earth are those who regard kindness as a debt.

  33. وتبكِيْ بعدَها وتئنُّ أنّا

    لفقدِكَ صاحبًا عِشتَ تمنَّى

    And afterward you weep and let out groans

    for losing a companion you lived longing for,

  34. ومن أوفىْ بوعدِهِ ما أخلّا

    وأعطىْ يومَ ضنَّ الغيرُ ضنَّا

    and one who was true to his promise and never failed,

    and gave the day others held back so stingily.

  35. فلا مخلوقَ أوفىْ منهُ خلّا

    ولا خلّاقَ أكثرَ منه عوْنا

    So no creature is a truer friend than he,

    nor any creator more helpful than he.

  36. ملاكٌ هُوْ، بأجنحةٍ وربِّي

    فيا تعسَ الّذي سمّاهُ جِنَّا

    He is an angel with wings, by my Lord,

    so woe to whoever called him a jinn!