لا مُقصِرٌ عَن هَوىً وَلا سال
ولا جرَت سَلوةٌ عَلى بالِي
No laggard from my love, no slacker;
No fleeting notion ever crossed my mind.
وَإِن تَولَّيتُ عَنكُم فعَلى
قَلبي لَكُم مِن غَرامِه والِ
And if estranged I be now from all of you,
My heart for you still yearns, to love inclined.
ما ناظِرٌ ناظِرٌ إِلَى سَقَمي
مِنكُم وَلا وَاقِفٌ عَلى حالِي
No watcher looking on my state of woe,
No friend to understand what plagues my mind;
طَمَستُ ما لِلحِسانِ مِن بَصَري
فيكُم وأوقَرتُ ما لِعُذَّالِي
I veil mine eyes from all that’s fine and fair,
And dwell upon the wrongs they have designed.
وَكَم جُفونٍ مَقتُولَةٍ سَقَماً
رُميتُ مِن أَسرِها بِقَتَّالِ
How many tear-drenched eyelids have I seen,
From sickness slain by hands that tyrants bind!
لا واجِدٌ راحَةَ المَنونِ وَلا
سُرورَ يَومٍ قَلبي بِه خالِ
No rest, no joy in death has heart of mine,
That, when at peace, is yet with torment lined.
رَخيصُ بَيعِ الوِدادِ حينَ يَرى ال
مبتاعُ أَنَّ الَّذي اشتَرى غالِ
Love’s easy to sell when buyers understand
The wares they’ve purchased are beyond their means.
ذو نَفَسٍ كُلَّما عَلا انخَفَضَت
هِمَّتُه قَبلَ قَصدِها عالِ
The higher that man’s spirit seems to soar,
The lower bows his soul before his dreams.
أصبَحَ بِالمكرُماتِ وهيَ بِه
كُلٌّ أَخو لَوعَةٍ وبلبالِ
Honors he’s garlanded with woes galore,
Each kindred to the other, twined and twined.
ذو عَزَماتٍ إِذا هِيَ اشتعَلَت
فكلُّ خَطبٍ بجَمرِها صالِ
Resolve, when flaming in his heart, sets all
Affairs afire; each matter feels Fate’s wind.
مُستَنقذي مِن يَدِ الزَّمانِ أَخو
رَأيٍ لِصَرفِ الزَّمانِ مُغتالِ
Delivered am I by wise counsel’s hand
From Time’s injustice and his plots unkind.
وَكُلَّما سَوَّدَت يَدي مِدَحاً
رَأى نَداهُ تَبييضَ آمالي
Yet praise inscribed by me but blackens it;
Its whiteness is my hopes brought low I find.
وَلا تَكونُ العَلياءُ عالِيةً
إِلا لِمَن بَيتُ مالِه خالِ
None lofty but those bankrolls bulge and swell;
The empty-pursed know heights they’ll never find.
لا يا ابنَ داودَ لَستُ مِن نَفرٍ
كلٌّ لما قَد هَويتَه قالِ
Not of disciples, David’s son, am I,
Who say what most delights the master’s mind.
قاصِدُهُم يَبتَغي نَوالَهم
ظَمآنَ حَيثُ السُّرى إِلى آلِ
Their goal’s to gain their bounty and esteem,
Like thirsty men who hasten to drink their fill.
كَأَنَّني إِذ أَتَيتُ أمدحُهُم
طَرقتُ أَعمارَهُم بِآجالِ
When praising them, I feel my life has knocked
Against their lifetimes that my death will kill.
