أَرأَيتَ ما سَبَقَت إِلَيهِ مَخائِلي

في حُبِّ هَذا الخائِفِ المُتَحامِلِ

I saw what my thoughts had attained

In loving this fearful complaining one

ما كُنتُ أَدري ما يَكونُ وإنَّما

غَلَبَ الدَّلالُ فَصارَ بَعضَ دَلائِلي

I did not know what would happen, but

Infatuation prevailed, so it became one of my signs

ويريبُني أنَّ الوُلاةَ تَسرَّعوا

مَع كُلِّ مُعتَدِلٍ بِحُكمٍ مائِلِ

And it worries me that the governors were quick

To side with every moderate with an unfair rule

يَبدو فتُلزِمُهم مَحاسِنُ وجهِهِ

أَن يُلزِموا المَقتولَ ذَنبَ القاتِلِ

His beautiful face appears so they have to

Blame the victim for the killer’s crime

فَإِذا قَضَى رَجُلٌ يُقالُ مَضى بِه

أَجَلٌ نَعم أَجَلٌ ولَيسَ بآجِلِ

So if a man passes away, they say he died

Of fate, yes fate, not of injustice

أنتَ ابتَدأتَ وما صَبرتَ ولَم يكُن

ليَهيجَ قَولي أَو تَهيجَ بَلابِلي

You started it and did not have patience and there was

No provocation from me or from my confused state

سَأَقومُ مُنتَصِراً وأبلغُ قائِلاً

إِن كانَ يَبلغُ قائِلٌ مِن فاعِلِ

I will stand victorious and speak out

If words can reach from a speaker to a doer

يا ساكِنَ الطَّرفِ احتَفِظ مِن طَرفِه

إِن كُنتَ تَرغَبُ في سِلاحٍ كامِلِ

O resident of the gaze, beware of his gaze

If you wish for fully armed protection

دَع ثَغرَهُ في الثَّغرِ قُوتاً واعطِني

رِزقَ المُقيمِ بِهِ وزادَ الرَّاحِلِ

Leave his mouth as strength in the mouth and give me

Sustenance to stay with and provision to travel

ولربَّ خمرٍ داؤهنَّ مخامِرٌ

وغَلائِلٍ مَحشُوَّة بغَوائِلِ

By some wines their harm is the drinkers

And twisting hidden by twisters

يَنظُرنَ وَخزاً في القُلوبِ وَتارَةً

غَمزاً وَراءَ الذَّاهبِ المُتَغافِلِ

They look with frowns in the hearts and sometimes

Winks behind the back of the unsuspecting passerby

بِأَسِنَّةٍ سُودٍ بِغَيرِ عَوامِلٍ

رُكِّبنَ في بيضٍ بِغَيرِ حَمائِلِ

With black tongues without interventions

Placed in innocent whites without burdens

ضَربٌ مِن الحدثانِ حَدَّثَ نفسَه

منِّي غَداةَ لَقيتُه بِالباطِلِ

A young man talked to himself about me

When I met him the next day with falsehood

فيما يُقاتِلُ إِذ بَدا عَلَم الهُدى

وعَلي بن محمَّدِ بن مُقاتِلِ

As he fights, the flag of truth appeared

And Ali son of Mohammed son of the fighter

تَجري المَواهِبُ كالمَواكِبِ حَولَهُ

بِوَسائِل مِنَّا وغَيرِ وَسائِلِ

Gifts flow around him like processions

With means from us and other means

فَرَأَيتُهُ من بَعد ما حفَّت بِه

خَيلُ المَطامِعِ عادَ كالمُتَثاقِلِ

I saw him after the horses of greed surrounded him

He returned as heavily burdened

وكَذا الندى عِندَ النَّوائِبِ كالرَّدى

سيما إذا أَمسَى جوارَ السائِلِ

And so help in adversities is like harm

Especially if it stays with the questioner

وسَماءِ مَجدٍ كالسَّماءِ نُجومُها

كنُجومِها بَل هُنَّ غَيرُ أَوافِلِ

And a sky of glory, its stars

Are like its stars, rather they do not set

جَعلَ المَكارِمَ كالمَعارِجِ وارتَقَى

فيهنَّ حتَّى نالَها بِالنَّائِلِ

He made virtues like ladder steps and climbed

Them until he reached the climber

هِمَمٌ تَضرُّ بِأَهلِها فَكَأَنَّها

طالَت ليَأخُذَ أَهلَها بِطَوائِلِ

Ambitions that harm their owners, as if

They are long so as to afflict them with difficulties

مِن مَعشَرٍ كَرمُوا فَقَلَّ عَديدُهُم

ومآثِرُ الكُرَماءِ غَيرُ قَلائِلِ

Of a generous group, their number is few

And the good deeds of the generous are not few

كلٌّ لَهُ حِجرُ الرِّئاسَةِ مَولِدٌ

بِمراضعٍ مِن سِلكِها وقَوابِلِ

Each has the stone of leadership as a birthplace

With wet nurses from its race and midwives

فإِذا نَشا فيها وأَنشَأ سُنَّةً

في النَّاسِ كانَ عَلى سَبيلٍ سابِلِ

So if he grows up in it and starts a custom

Among the people, he will be on a flooding course

وكأنَّما آباؤُهُم أَبناؤُهُم

خَلَطَ الثَّناءُ أَواخِراً بِأَوائِلِ

It is as if their fathers are their sons

Praise confused the late with the early

فَلئِن طَلعتَ فَما أَنيتَ غَريبَةً

فَيُقالَ كَيفَ طُلوعُ هَذا النازِلِ

If you rise, you will not be a stranger

And it will be said, how is the rising of this newcomer

خاصَمتُ فيكَ المالَ حتَّى إِنَّه

قَد صارَ يَهجرُني وكانَ مُواصِلي

I disputed with money until it

Started to abandon me though it kept me company

مِن أَجلِ أَنِّي قُلتُ إِنَّكَ عادِلٌ

فيما قَضَيتَ وقالَ ليسَ بِعادِلِ

Because I said you are fair

In what you decided and it said it is not fair