أَمِن رُسومِ دِيارٍ هاجَكَ القِدمُ

أَقوَت وَأَقفَرَ مِنها الطَفُّ وَالعَلَمُ

Is it from the ruins of an abode that your footsteps were stirred,

More barren and desolate than the dunes and the banners?

وَما يُهيجُكَ مِن أَطلالِ مَنزِلَةٍ

عَنّي مَعالِمَها الأَرواحُ وَالدِّيَمُ

What rouses you from the remnants of a ruined dwelling

Are its landmarks, the spirits and the sands.

بِئسَ الخَليفَةُ مِن جارٍ تَضِنُّ بِهِ

إِذا طَربتَ أَثافي القَدرِ وَالحُمَمُ

What a wretched neighbor, whose cooking pot you complain of,

When the cauldrons and furnaces are stirred.

دارُ الَّتي كادَ قَلبي أَن يُجَنَّ بِها

إِذا أَلَمَّ بِهِ مِن ذَكرِها لَمَمُ

The house that almost drove my heart insane,

When affliction from the memory of it stabs me.

إِذا تَذكَّرها قَلبي تُضَيِّفَهُ

هَمٌ تَضيقُ بِهِ الأَحشاءُ وَالكَظَمُ

When my heart recalls it, grief hosts it,

Straitening the chest and throttling the gullet.

وَالبَينُ حينَ يَروعُ القَلبَ طائِفُهُ

يُبدي وَيُظهِرُ مِنهُم بَعضَ ما كَتَموا

And separation, when its phantom terrifies the heart,

Reveals some of what they concealed.

إِنّي اِمرُؤٌ كَفَّني رَبّي وَأَكرَمَني

عَنِ الأُمورِ الَّتي في غَبِّها وَخَمُ

I am a man whom my Lord has enabled and honored,

From the matters whose essence is ambiguous and knotted.

وَإِنَّما أَنا إِنسانٌ أَعيشُ كَما

عاشَ الرِجالُ وَعاشَت قَبليَ الأُمَمُ

I only live as men have lived before me,

And as nations lived before me.

ما عاقَني عَن قُفولِ الجُندِ إِذ قَفَلوا

عِيٌّ بِما صَنَعوا حَولي وَلا صَمَمُ

Nothing prevented me from returning with the troops when they returned,

Blind to what they did around me, deaf and mute.

وَلَو أَرَدتُ قُفولاً ما تَجَهَّمَني

إِذنُ الأَميرِ وَلا الكِتابِ إِذ رَقَموا

Had I wanted to return, neither the permission of the prince

Nor the records when they departed would have frowned upon me.

إِنّي لَيَعرِفُني راعي سَريرِهُمُ

وَالمُحدِجونَ إِذا ما اِبتَلَّت الحُزُمُ

The keeper of their beds and those petitioning at night

Know me when situations get tough.

وَالطالِبونَ إِلى السُلطانِ حاجَتَهُم

إِذا جَفا عَنهُمُ السُلطانُ أَو كَزَموا

And those seeking their needs from the Sultan

When the Sultan distances himself from them or they are rebuked.

فَسَوفَ تُبلِغُكَ الأَنباءَ إِن سَلِمَت

لَكَ الشَواحِجُ وَالأَنفاسُ وَالأَدَمُ

The rumors will reach you, if roads,

Breaths and steps remain safe.

إِنَّ المُهَلَّبَ إِن أَشتَقَ لِرُؤيَتِهِ

أَو أَمتِدحهُ فَإِنَّ الناسَ قَد عَلِموا

Verily the outcast—if he longs for seeing him

Or praises him—people have already known

إِنَّ الأَريبَ الَّذي تُرجى نَوافِلُهُ

وَالمُستعَانُ الَّذي تُجلى بِهِ الظُلَمُ

That the reliable one whose supererogations are hoped for

And the one sought for aid against darkness

إِنَّ الكَريمَ مِنَ الأَقوامِ قَد عَلِموا

أَبو سَعيدٍ إِذا ما عُدَّت النِعَمُ

Is the generous one from all people as they have known

Abu Sa’eed when bounties are counted

وَالقائِلُ الفاعِلُ المَيمونُ طائِرُهُ

أَبو سَعيدٍ وَإِن أَعداؤُهُ رَغِموا

And the fortunate successful sayer

Is Abu Sa’eed even if his enemies object

كَم قَد شَهِدتُ كِراماً مِن مَواطِنِهِ

لَيسَت بِغَيبٍ وَلا تَقوالُهُم زَعَموا

How much grace have I witnessed from his traits

Not absent, nor are their words mere claims

أَيّامَ أَيّامَ إِذ عَضَّ الزَمانُ بِهِم

وَإِذ تَمَنّي رِجالٌ أَنَّهُم هزَموا

Days, O days when time bit them

And when men wished they were defeated

وَإِذ يَقولونَ لَيتَ اللَهُ يُهلِكُهُم

وَاللَهُ يَعلَمُ لَو زِلَّت بِهِم قَدَمُ

Saying, “May Allah destroy them,”

And Allah knows had their feet slipped

أَيّامَ سابورَ إِذ ضاعَت رَباعَتَهُم

لَولاهُ ما أَوطَنوا داراً وَلا اِنتَقَموا

Days of Sabur when their squares (fighters) were lost

Were it not for him they would not have settled a land or sought revenge

إِذ لَيسَ شَيءٌ مِنَ الدُنيا نَصولُ بِهِ

إِلّا المَغافِرُ وَالأَبدانُ وَاللُّجُمُ

Since nothing in life do we gain footing with

Save forgiveness, bodies and determination

وَعاثِراتٌ مِنَ الخَطَيِّ مُحصَدَةً

نُفضي بِهِنَّ إِلَيهِم ثُمَّ نَدَّعمُ

And some stumbles into sin we harvest

Which we unload onto them then buttress