بعدتَ وما حكمُ البِعادِ بعادلِ

أما مِن نصيبٍ فيك غيرُ البعادِ لي

You went away, yet separation's rule is not just

Is there no share for me in you but separation?

طوى خالَكَ المسكيَّ عنِّي وخدَّكَ ال

جميلَ غداةَ الجزعِ وَخْدُ الحمائلِ

You folded your musky cheek from me and your

Beautiful cheek the day my anguish appeared and the cheeks of the young women.

وأسقطْتَني لمّا ظننتُكَ واصلاُ

كأنِّيَ حرفُ الراءِ في لفظِ واصلِ

You dropped me when you thought I was a companion

As if I were the letter 'ra' in the word 'companion'.

وأوحَشني ربعٌ لأهلكَ مُقفرٌ

فلذتُ بقلبٍ من جَوى الشوقِ آهِلِ

And a quarter of your family, desolate, made me lonesome

So I clung to a heart burning with the embers of passion.

وغادرتَ عَيني كالغدير بطلعةِ

هِيَ الروضُ غِبَّ السارياتِ الهواطل

You left my eyes like a pond at dawn

It is the meadow missing the flowing rivers.

فكنْ جامعاً بينَ الغَديرِ ورَوْضة

ليخضرَّ لي عَيْشي وأحظى بطائِلِ

So be a unifier between the pond and the meadow

That my life may grow green and I may obtain good fortune.

ومَن لي بأنْ يخضرَّ عيشي والنّوى

دُوَيهةٌ تصفرُّ منها أنامِلي

And who can make my life grow green when my intentions

Are withered palms from which my days slip.

أسرَّكَ مني أنَّ هجركَ مُدنفي

وغرَّك مني أنَّ حبكَ قاتِلي

You were secretly pleased that parting from me is harmful

And you were fooled that my love kills me.

بحسبِكَ أنَّ البَينَ راشَ نبالَه

وفوَّقَها نَحوي فأصمَتْ مقاتلي

It is enough for you that separation spread its arrows

And directed them at me, so they were silenced as warriors.

وخوَّفني ماءٌ منَ العينِ نازلٌ

عمىً هو من ماءٍ إلى العينِ نازِلِ

You frightened me with water falling from the eye

Blindness which, from water to the eye, descends.

وخطبٌ سمينٌ مثلُ رِدفِكَ ذقتُهُ

بجسمٍ نحيفٍ مثلِ خَصركَ ناحلِ

You indulged in juicy discourse like your buttocks

While I, with a lean body like your slender waist, abstained.

فهبني خِلالاً ثمَّ هبني تَداخُلاً

خلالَ ثناياكَ العذابِ المناهلِ

So instill in me intimacy, then intimacy's mingling

Through the folds of your torment, the gushing springs.

ومُذ أَعلقتْني الأربعونَ حِبالَها

تراءَتْ لعيني الأرضُ كِفّةَ حابِلٍ

Since the fourty knots tied me in their ropes

The earth appears to my eyes like a whirling sieve.

وما شَعَراتيْ البيضُ إلا مشاعلٌ

ومِن نارِ قلبي نورُ تلك المشاعلِ

And my white hairs are only torches

With the fire of my heart the light of those torches.

وما الشيبُ إلا شائبُ الصّفوِ بِالقَذى

ولا وخطُه إلا نذيرُ الغَوائلِ

And graying is but graying of youth with motes

And its line only the warner of departing youth.

يردٌّ قناة القدِّ قوساً ويَنْتضي

على الوفَراتِ السُّودِ بيضُ المَناصِلِ

It bends the canal of old age into an arc and glistens

White amidst the black currents with the swords unsheathed.

ولولا حَصادُ العُمرِ لم تكُ تَنْثني

لدى الكِبرِ القاماتُ مثلَ المناجلِ

And were it not for the harvest of life, the bodies would not

Stoop in old age like sickles.

وغيم شبابٍ جادَ رَوضَ مسرَّتي

فزالَ وفعلُ الغيمِ ليسَ بزائلِ

A cloud of youth provided the meadow of my joy

But it passed away, and the act of clouds is not everlasting.

ففي مَقلتي وَدْقٌ صَدوقٌ بفَيضِهِ

وفي عارضي برقٌ كذوبُ المَخائِلِ

In my brain is a pounding throb from its outpouring

And in my temples a lightning like the false lightning of blinks.

سقى اللهُ أيامَ الصّبا فهي حقّها

لبان ضروعٍ للنعيمِ حَوافلِ

God watered the days of youth - it was their right -

With milk of overflowing breasts for bliss in legions.

وطّرب أُذْنَيْها بنغمةِ مَعْبَدٍ

وحرَّكَ عِطْفَيْها بخَمرةِ بابِلِ

And delighted their ears with the melody of song

And stirred their gazes with the wine of Babylon.

وعشّبَ مَرْعاها كساحةِ مُجْتد

حبَتْهُ يد الشيّخ الأجل بنائِلِ

And gave pasture, like the field of a warrior,

Which the hand of fate harvested, for it to fade.

وليسَ نظامُ الملكِ إلاّ سحابَةٌ

يشيمُ حَياها كلُّ حافٍ وناعِلِ

The order of the kingdom is but a cloud

From which the life of all vanishes, settler and roamer.

فكالبحرِ إلاّ أنّهُ غيرُ آسنٍ

وكالبدرِ إلا أنَّهُ غيرُ آفِلِ

It is like the sea, but calmer,

And like the moon, but less waning.

ذَراهُ ربيعٌ للرجاءِ إذا شَتا

وفيهِ لقاحٌ للأماني الحَوافِلِ

Its spring, when it dawns, arouses hope

And in it is pollen for wishes in multitudes.

إذا الركبُ زمُّوا عِيسَهم عن فِنائِهِ

وشَدُّوا قُتودَ النّاجِياتِ المَراقِلِ

When people depart from its courtyard

And unleash the saddled she-camels' leading ropes,

رأيت العِبابَ البجرَ ينشرْنَ شُكرَهُ

وإنْ كانَ تَشكوهُ ظُهورُ الرَّواحِلِ

I saw the female servants spreading its generosity

Even if their backs complain of the howdahs.

فأوْهامُهم من مَدحِه في دقائقٍ

وأَحكامُهم من مَنْحِهِ في جَلائِلِ

So their imaginations of praising its subtleties

And their judgments of its gifts are glorious.

وأكرمُ شيءٍ عندَهُ صوتً سائِلٍ

وأَهْونُ شيءٍ عندَهُ قَوْلُ عاذِلِ

The most noble thing to it is a begging voice

And the lowliest thing to it is the word of a critic.

هو الحسَنُ المَوْصوفُ بالحُسنِ فِعلُهُ

نَدِي الكفِّ طلقُ الوجْهِ لدْنُ الشّمائِلِ

It is perfect in description and deed

Open-handed, gentle-faced, refined in traits.

أشمُّ طويل الباع مستغزر الّلهى

أغرّ عريض الجاه جمُّ الفضائل

I smell the scent of one tall in stature, distracted by amusement

Delicate, broad in prominence, complete in virtues.

فتىً أنستْ منهُ الوِزارَةُ رُشْدَها

إذِ استْتَودعتْهُ المهد أيدي القوابل

A young man the ministry forgot its wisdom over

When the midwives entrusted him to the cradle.

توسّدَ حجرَ الأكرِمينَ أُولي النُّهى

وألقَم ثديَ المُحصّناتِ الغَوافِلِ

He pillowed on the rock of the generous elite

And suckled at the breasts ofprotected women in multitudes.

فجاءَ كما يلفي وزرُّ قميصِهِ

على مُستقِلٍّ بالمَعالي حُلاحِلِ

So he came just as his ministerial gown would befittingly clothe

One naturally disposed to the heights wrapped in slippers.

لهُ اللهُ من قَرمٍ إلى المجدِ سابقٍ

وبالخيرِ أمّارٍ وللمَيرِ باذِلِ

May God give him success leading to glory

And an omen of good and open-handedness.

ولِلملْكِ مِعوانٌ وللمُلكِ حارِسٌ

وللدَّرِّ حَلاَّبٌ ولِلنُّصحِ ناخِلِ

And a helper for the kingdom, a guard for the monarchy

A churner for wealth, and a palm bearing sincerity.

إذا خطَّ كفَّ الوَشْيِ فَضلةَ ذَيْلِهِ

حَياءًُ وغضَّ الجفْنَ نَورُ الخَمائلِ

If he waves the palm of favor the train of his garment

Trails shyly and the eyelid's light dims from bashfulness.

وإنْ سلَّ صمصامَ الفَصاحةِ ناطقاً

تحيّرتَ في تَطبيقِهِ للمَفاصِلِ

And if he loosens the mouthpiece of eloquence, speaking

You become perplexed in applying joints to it.

به اخْضرَّ عُودُ الدَّهرِ واهتزَّ نَبْتُهُ

ودُلَّ على مَقْصوده كلُّ فاضِلِ

Through him the sprigs of time grew green and its herbs trembled

And every noble pointed to his purpose.

أذُمُّ عليهِ الدَّهرَ إذ حلَّ بَرْكُهُ

عليَّ وحَسّاني كُؤوسَ البَلابِلِ

I blame time as its blessing descended upon me

And made me drink from its cups of unending charity.

وزَلزلَ رُكني فانهدمْتُ لهدِّهِ

وقد هدَّمَ الأركانَ هدُّ الزَّلازِلِ

It shook my pillar and I collapsed from its shaking

As the shaking of tremors crumbles pillars.

فطارَتْ عَصافيري وشالَتْ نَعائمي

وهاجَتْ شَياطيني وفارَتْ مَراجلي

My birds scattered, my standards flipped

My demons raged, and my bronze pots boiled.

وكيفَ أرى نفسي مَداسَ مناسِمٍ

تُطامِنُ منِّي أو مُناخَ كَلاكِل

And how can I see myself trodden by feet

Pacified from me or like the resting place of anklets.

وخَلفيَ أولادٌ وخلفي رائثٌ

على عاجِزات النهض حُمر الحواصل

Behind me are children and behind me a life

Upon incapacitated palms the reddest dye.

وقد أطمعتْني منهُ قُدْمَةُ خِدْمتي

ودعْوى انتماءٍ أُكِّدَتْ بالدَّلائل

And the gift of my service made me hope for it

And a claim of belonging emphasized by evidence.

ولي أملٌ غضُّ الشبابِ طَريُّهُ

وذاكَ لشيبٍ في نَواصي وسائلي

And I have hope the folly of youth will depart

That's the nature of white hair in sidelocks and forelocks.

وصحبةُ أيامٍ مضَتْ وكأنّما

هواجِرُها تُكْسى ظِلالَ الأصائِلِ

And companionship of days past, as if their

Migrants are clothed in the shade of origin.

ليالٍ لبِسْناها ومِسْنا تَجمُّلاً

بِها فوجدنْاها رقاقَ الغَلائِلِ

Nights we wore and touched in beautification

And found them subtle in their stratagems.

وكم لي فيهِ من سَوارٍ سوائِرٍ

حوالٍ على الأحوالِ غيرِ عَواطِلِ

And how many intimate times I have with it

Moments beyond all moments, endless.

قوافٍ كأني لاعبٌ من نَسيبِها

بعطشانةِ الزنّارِ رَيّا الخلاخِلِ

Periods, as if I'm a player with their rhythms

Thirstily with the tinkling of anklets, freely with their bells.

مُغرّرةٌ في كلِّ نادٍ رُواتُها

مُصنِّجَةٌ في كل وادٍ جَلاجلي

Tantalizing in every club, its stories

Melodious in every valley, my anklets.