أُسَلِّمُ للأَيَّامِ أَم لا أُسَلِّمُ

وأَحمِلُ ظُلْمَ الدَّهْرِ أَمْ أتظَلَّمُ

Shall I submit to the days, or shall I not submit?

Shall I bear the injustice of time, or shall I protest?

بَكَيتُ على شِعْرٍ أُصيبَ كما بكى

على مالكٍ لمَّا أُصيبَ مُتَمِّمُ

I wept over poetry that was stricken, as Malik wept

When his property was stricken, completing his elegy

تَعزَّيْتُ عن نَيْلِ الثَّراءِ بِفَضْلِهِ

وما مُعْدِمٌ أثرى من الفَضْلِ مُعْدِمُ

I was consoled for not attaining wealth through its merit

For no destitute man was made wealthy through merit

أُجانِبُ فيه لذَّتي ومَكاسبي

وأهجُرُ فيه النَّومَ والناسُ نُوَّمُ

I distance my pleasure and gains from it

And forsake sleep for it while people slumber

إذا ما المعاني أَومَضَتْ لي بُروقُها

وساعَدَها وَشْيُ الكَلامِ المُنَمنَمُ

When meanings flash their lightning bolts at me

And the delicate wording of prose aids them

رَأَيْتُ التهابَ الحَلْيِ في جِيدِ غادَةٍ

تَرائِبُها من تَحتِهِ تَبَتَسَّمُ

I saw the glow in the cheek of a lovely gazelle

Her dimples smiling beneath it

نِظامٌ منَ السِّحْرِ الحلالِ مُخَيِّلٌ

لِسامِعِهِ أنَّ الكَواكِبَ تُنظَمُ

An enchanting order of halal magic

That makes its listener believe the stars are strung together

فَلمَّا اغتَدَى كالسَّيفِ أَخلَصَ صَيْقَلٌ

ظُباه وكالرُّمْحِ انتحاه مُقَوِّمُ

When it grew fierce as a sword, a polisher honed it

And straightened it like a spear made straight

وعاذَتْ برَيَّاه النُّفوسُ كأنَّه

نَسيمٌ على أيدي الصَّبا يُتَنَسَّمُ

Souls seek refuge in its breeze as though it were

A soft wind in the hands of the morning breeze

تَحلَّى به قَوْمٌ سِوايَ فكذَّبوا

وهل يَلِدُ الشُّهْبَ المَلامِحِ أدهَمُ

A people my equal adorned themselves with it but denied it

Does the shooting star give birth to dark features?

وشُنَّتْ عليه للمَجانينِ غارَةٌ

فأصبحَ نَهباً بينَهم يُتَقَسَّمُ

Against it was launched by the insane a raid

So it became among them divided spoils

هي الغارَةُ العُظمى التي بسيوفِها

أُبيحَ حِمى الآدابِ وهو مُحرَّمُ

It was the greatest raid whose swords

Made violating the sanctity of literature lawful though forbidden

أرى الجَوْرَ قد عَمَّ الأنامَ بأَسْرِهِمْ

فلا عَدْلَ إلا للظُّبا حينَ تَحكُمُ

I see injustice has spread among all people

So there is no justice but when wolves judge

أَيُدْفَعُ عن حَلْيِ البَلاغَةِ مُعْرِبٌ

ويَرْفُلُ في وَشْيِ الفَصاحَةِ أَعْجَمُ

Will an eloquent one protect the ornament of rhetoric

While the vulgar boast in the delicacy of eloquence?

هوَ النَّقَدُ المسلوبُ من غارَةِ الوَغَى

ولكنَّهُ في غارَةِ الشعرِ ضَيْغَمُ

It is criticism robbed by the raid of chaos

But in the raid of poetry it is impregnable

يَفوتُ الحديدُ النَّابِ والظِّفرِ إن سَطا

فما ضَرَّه إن راحَ وهو مُقَلَّمُ

Steel misses the fang and claw if it extends

So how could it be harmed if it goes clipped?

دَعُوا الأْنجُمَ الزُّهْرَ التي أَعجَزَتْكُمُ

لمَطْلِعِها ما دامَ للشعرِ أنجُمُ

Leave the blooming stars that confounded you

As long as poetry has stars at its rising

ولا تُحْفِظُوا رَبَّ الحِفاظِ لأنَّه

حَلَتْ لكُمُ أخلاقُه وهو عَلْقَمُ

Do not preserve the Preserver of preservers for His traits

Have dissolved for you and He is intractable

يَمُجٌّ لكم شهدَ الكَلامِ لِسانُه

وما مَجَّ يَوماً قبلَه الشَّهْدَ أَرقَمُ

His tongue oozes poisoned honey for you

And no honey was ever so poisoned before it

رَدَدْتُ سِهامَ الذَّمِّ عنكم مُذَمَّماً

وبعضُ قوافي الشِّعْرِ سَهْمٌ مُسَمَّمُ

I deflected the arrows of blame from you though pierced

And some rhymed verse is an arrow feathered

رَأيتُكُمُ مَوتَى فكَفْكَفْتُ غَربَها

وهل ناظرَ الأمواتَ حينَ تَكَلَّم

I saw you dead so I checked my sobbing

Does one who sees the dead speak when they mumble?

وإن تَسْأَلوني قَطرةً من مَحاسنٍ

فحَوضيَ من ماءِ المحاسنِ مُفعَمُ

If you ask me for a drop of virtues

My pool is filled with the water of virtues