أما اشتَفى كاشحٌ ولا حاسد

من دنفٍ بات ليلَه ساهِد

Neither yearning nor envious of the slain of Dunf,

Who spent the night wakeful and vigilant,

كأنما النومُ حين جانَبه

غضبان من طولِ وجدِه واجِد

As if sleep had shunned him in anger

At his prolonged passion and ardor,

يحلفُ لا عادَ أو يعود إلى

حال التَّسلي وليس بالعائِد

Swearing never to return or lapse

Into the habit of tranquility, not to recur,

إن التي أصبحَت تودِّعُني

ودمع عينيَّ فيهما جامِد

She who bid me farewell at dawn,

With tears congealed in my eyes,

لم يُحبَسِ الدمع في جُفونهما

إلا ليبقى الهوى بلا شاهِد

My tears were dammed in their lids

Only to leave love without a witness,

ما أدَّعي بعدَ ذابها كَلفاً

نمَّت على الخَلق حيلة الجاحِد

After her loss, I feign no more coyness,

Deceit blossomed over people like the disavower,

قمتُ بقلبٍ قد قام يُقلقُه

وداعُها فهو قائمٌ قاعِد

I rose with a heart anxious and distressed

By her farewell, thus it rose seated,

يسعى إلى موقفِ الفِراق وما

أحسنَ صيدٌ يسعى إلى صائِد

Seeking the stance of parting, and what

Fine game seeks its own hunter,

أضلَلتُ قلبي روحتُ أنشدُه

وليتَ شعري من ينشد الناشِد

I led my heart astray, reciting verses to it,

Would that I knew who recites to the reciter!

وقد تبيَّنتُ أن مسلكَنا

وإن تناءت ديارُنا واحِد

And I realized that our paths,

Though our abodes differed, were one,

كأنَّنا والفراقُ خيلُ وغىً

تخالفَت سربةً على حامِد

As though we and parting were destrier horses

Scattered in a herd on barren land,

تزرع شرّاً ولن ترى عَجباً

كزارعٍ زرعُه له حاصِد

You plant evil and will not behold wonder,

Like a planter whose harvest is his reaper,

عاقدةً رأيها على قدرٍ

من شأنِه حلُّ عقدةِ العاقِد

Resolute in her view of a decree,

That would undo the knots of the binder,

ثم انثنَت إذ رأته خائبةً

طريدةً يستحثُّها الطارِد

Then she turned away, disappointed,

Hounded, driven by the driver,

يسقطُ مرَّانُها فيحطمُه

بالطعن فيها شيطانُها المارِد

Her boughs fall, so he breaks them

With blades, her defiant devil,

من يردِ الماء حيث كان إذا

كان عليه ما يمنعُ الوارِد

Who would dam water where it had flowed

If barriers prevented the flow?

يروِ عليه قبلَ الرِّواء به

صَوارماً ليسَ تشربُ البارِد

He rains upon it, before overflowing,

Swords that do not drink the cold,

ما بالُها أثبت القلوب لها

يظل عند اهتزازِها شارِد

Why did she fix hearts to her

To wander at her slightest stir?

هل هيَ إلا من السيوفِ وهل

يُسعدُها غير ذلك الساعِد

Is she anything but a sword? And who

Could bring her joy but the armed?

أبدى أبو الجيش يومَ طاعَن عن

حاميةِ الجيشِ حنة الوالِد

Abu al-Jaysh once showed, when protecting

The brave from harm, a father’s warmth,

تستجلبُ المستميحَ راحتُه

إلى نَداها فيقصدُ القاصِد

He draws the cowardly wretch

To his help, so the seeker finds his goal,

يا قائلاً فاعلاً لساعتِه

ما غيرُه ما طلٌ به واعِد

Saying, acting in his hour

Nothing but what makes it promising,

وماجداً كدتُ أن أكونَ بما

وصفتُه من خلالِه ماجِد

And, Majid, I almost became, by what

I described of his mettle, myself praiseworthy,

مضى السحابُ الذي تجاودُه

فامسِك وإن عاد جودُه عاوِد

The rain cloud that you disputed has passed,

So refrain, though its rain should recur.