خَلِيلِىَّ لاَ لاَ تُبدِيَبا لِىَ التَّلَكِيَا

وَعُوجَا عَلَى تِلكَ المَنَازِلِ وَأبكِيَا

My friend, do not reveal my misery to me

And weep over those dwellings and wail

وَسُحَّا مَصُونَ الدَّمعِ في عَرصَاتِهَا

وَمُرَّا عَلَى آى الدِّيَارِ وحَيِّيَد

And pass gently, with tears hidden in the watering places

And pass by the ruins of the abodes and greet them

وِإن بَلِيَت إِلاَّ ثَلاَثاً خَوَالِداً

ونُؤياً وآريًّا وَأودَت بِهَا الرِّيَا

If only there remained three everlasting things:

Sleep, a gazelle, and a winding stream

وغَيَّرَ بعدَ الحَيِّ إِذ نَحنُ جِيرَةٌ

مَعَالِمَهَا حَتَّى كَسَاهَا البِلَي الحَيَا

It changed after life, while we were neighbors

Its landmarks, until the hoary darkness clothed it

فَإِنَّ لَهَا حَقَّ البُكَاءِ عَلَيكُمَا

وَقَد كَانَ رَبعُ الحِبِّ لِلدَّمعِ مُجرِيَا

It has a right to weep over you both

For a quarter of love belonged to shedding tears

ألَم تَرَيَا الأطلالَ مَا هِي إِنَّهَا

طُلُولُ اللِّوَى دَهرَ اللِّوَى المُتَوَلِيَا

Did you not see the ruins - they are

The heights of longing, the everlasting ruins

فَلَيسَ وَفاءً منكما أن تَسَلَّيَا

بِهِنَّ وَلاَ أن تَسألاني التَّسَلِيَا

It is no loyalty in you two to be consoled

By them, nor to ask me for consolation

فإِن أنتُمَا حَيِّيتُمَا كُلَّ مَربَعٍ

وأَبنتُمَا مِن رَسمِهَا المُتَعَفِّيَا

For if you two lived, you rebuilt every square

And its effaced design, and put out

وأبدَيتُمَا مَا اكتَنَّ مِن لاعِجِ الهَوَى

وأطفأتُمَا الأشجَانَ عَنِّ غَنِّيَا

What was concealed of the blazes of passion

And extinguished the flames of my singing

فَقَد أبدَت الأطلالَ مَا كُنتُ مُخفِياً

وأخفَآ إدِكَارُ اللَّهوِ مَا كُنتُ مُبدِيَا

So the ruins revealed what I had kept hidden

And the denial of passion hid what I had revealed

فَقَالاَ وَقَد أغرَى الجَوَى بي بَرحَهُ

وأبدَى الأسىَ مَا كَانَ مُختَفِياً بِيَا

They said, and the weather stirred in me its dormancy

And revealed what had been hidden in me

أتصبُو وَقَد لاَحَت بِفَودِكَ شَيبَةٌ

وَطِرفُ التَّصابي والصَّبَابَةِ عُرِّيَا

Do you pine while gray hair has appeared on your temples

And the youth and adolescence of your eyelids are bare?

فَقُلتُ الهَوَى العُذرِيُّ مِنهَا أصَابني

أمَا بِالهَوَى العُذِرِيِّ يُقبَلُ عُذريَا

So I said, the passion with an excuse has afflicted me

Is the passionate blamed for what excites his passion?

وَتُشبِهُ في الخَطِّ الشَّيبةُ شَيبَةً

ونَفسُ الفَتَى في الفَهمِ تَقفُو التَّمَنِيَا

And in writing, gray hair resembles a gray hair

And the soul of a youth equals wishes in understanding

أعِيدَا إِلَى فَودَىِّ مِن نَظَرَيكُمَا

لَعَلَّ الذي حَلَّ الشَّبِِيبَةُ فَودِيَا

Restore to my cheeks with your glance

Perhaps what has replaced my youth my cheek will restore

لَقَد لاَمني في حُبِّ مَن تَامَ حُبُّهَا

فُؤَادِىَّ حَتَّى أن أَطَلتُ التَّشَكِيَا

You blamed me for loving one whose love

My heart exhausted, until I prolonged complaining

خَلِيلٌ خَلِىٌّ لاَ يَمِيلُ ِإلَى الهَوَى

فَقُلتُ لَهُ دَع عَنكَ لَومِى وخَلِيَا

A friend, a bosom friend who does not incline toward passion

So I said to him, leave off blaming me and be my comrade

أيَا لاَئِمِى في الوَجدِ أغرَيتني بِهِ

ألَم تَرَ لَومَ الصِّبِّ لِلصَّبِّ مُغرِيَا

O you who blame me for ardor, you have provoked me to it

Have you not seen the ardent blamed for provoking ardor?

إِذَا رُمُتُ مِن حُبِّ الرَّبَابِ تَفَصِّياً

أبَت لِىَ أيَّامُ اللّوَى تَفَصِّيَا

When I refrain from love of the beloved I precisely

Cannot, the days of passion do not allow refraining

تَبَدَّت لَنَا يَوماً تُشَيِّعُ جَارَةً

لَهَا وَهىَ في أَبهَى الحُلِىِّ تَبَدِّيَا

One day a neighbor appeared to me, bidding farewell

To her, and she was appearing in the most splendid adornment

فَهِمتُ بِهَا حَتَّى تَرَدَّيتُ في هُوىً

حَوَالِىَّ وَجداً وَاستَطبَتُ التَّرَدِيَا

So I was fascinated with her until I stumbled into a passion

Encompassing me, ardent love, and I began to stumble

فَلَمَّا رَأتني شَفني ألَمُ الهَوَى

وَلَم أكُ ِإلاَّ بِالصَّبَابَةِ مُدلِيَا

So when she saw me, the pain of love recognized me

And I had nothing but adolescence to lean upon

ومُصطَانُ دَمعِى قَد تَدَلَّى صَبَابَةً

بِنَحرِى وَرَاءَت دَمعِىَ المُتَدَلِّيَا

And the streams of my tears flowed down my breast, adolescently

Behind my tears, flowing down

تَثَنَّت بِدِعصٍ فَوقَ دِعصٍ فَخِلتُهَا

مِنَ ألبَانِ غُصناً نَاعِماً مُتَثَنَيَا

She swayed with a subtly bending branch above a branch, so I imagined her

A tender, bending bough of saplings

وَلاَحَت فَخِلتُ البَدرَ غُرَّةَ وَجهِها

ضِيَاءً وَمَا لِلبَدرِ ذَاكَ مِنَ الضِّيَا

And the full moon of her face appeared, radiance

While the full moon has no such radiance

وَنَصَّت فَأَبدَت جِيدَ أُمِّ جِدايَةٍ

فَقُلتُ مَهَاةٌ هِى أم أُمُّ طَلاً هِيَا

She glanced, and revealed the cheek of Umm Jiday's mother

So I said, is she deluded or is she mother of a lost one?

وَأبدَى ثَنَايَاهَأ إختِلاَسُ ابتِسَامِهَا

أَقَاحِى رَوضٍ واللَّثَاتِ رُوَيزِيَا

And the stealing of her smile revealed

Meadows of chamomile and slopes of basil

تَصَدَّت لَهَا أُخرَى مُنَاوِيَةً لَهَا

وقَد أنكَرَ الرَّاءُونَ مِنهَا التَّصَدِيَا

Another faced her, rivaling her

And the onlookers rejected her facing thus

كَمَا تَصَدَّى لِى زَنِيمٌ مُذَمَّمٌ

يُحَاوِلُ في حَولِ القَصَائِدِ شَأوِيَا

As a despised rival faced me

Who aspires in poetry circles to rival me

ويَزعُمني مِثلَ الأُلَى أَحدَ قُوابِه

وَخَالُوهُ في شَأوِ القَرِيضِ مُحَلِّيَا

And claims I am, like the camels, one of his she-camels

And his peers in the craft of poetry load me

أيَا وَغدُ لا تَفخَر فَلَستَ بِشَاعِرٍ

وَلَم تَكُ مِمَّن بِالجَزَالَةِ حُلِّيَا

Tomorrow do not boast, for you are no poet

And have never been adorned with eloquence

دَعِ الشِّعرَ إِنَّ الشِّعرَ لَستًَ مِن أهلِهِ

وَلَم تَستَطِع عِندَ التَّحَدِّى التَّحَدِيَا

Leave poetry, for you are not one of its people

And cannot face the challenge if challenged

تَأَسَّ بِمَن نَاوَيتُ قَبلَكَ فَانثَنَوا

خَزَايَا وَوَلَّوا مُدبرِينَ تَأَسِّيَا

Be warned by those I warned before you, so they slunk away

In defeat and fled in retreat, warned

وَكُلُّ امرِئٍ وَافَاكَ أَمِن مُعَزِّزاً

بِتَهنِئِةٍ فَالآن يَأتِي مُعَزِّيَا

And everyone who agreed with you came as one honored

With congratulations, and now comes consoling

فَمَا أنتَ إِلا البُخلُ والجَهلُ والجَفَا

لِذَلِكَ سَاكَنتَ الجُفَاةَ والأَغبِيَا

You are nothing but stinginess, ignorance and coldness

That is why you lived with the cold-hearted and the foolish

فَواللهِ مَا كُنتَ المُجَلَّى في المَدَى

وَمَا كُنتَ إِن رُمتَ السِّبَاقَ مُصَلِيَا

By God, you have never been the polished one in the period

Nor if you raced were you the winner

خُلِقتَ غَوِيًّا في الغَوَايَةِ قَافَياً

غَوِيًّا لِمِنهَاجِ الغوي مُتَقَفِّيَا

You were created deviant in deviance, rhyming

Deviantly in the method of the deviant, rhyming

وَصَلتَ حِبَالَ الأَغبِيَاءِ غَبَاوَةً

وَصَرَّمتَ حَبلَ الأَولِيَاءِ والأتقِيَا

And you tied the ropes of fools in foolishness

And broke the rope of saints and the pious

وَحُزتَ مَعَ الجَهلِ المُرَكَّبِ وَالخَنَا

وَسُوءَ الطِّبَاعِ العُجبَ والكِبرَ والرِّيَا

And you allied with layered ignorance and wickedness

And bad morals, pride, arrogance and pretentiousness

وَأبدَلتَ مِن نَهجِ الهُدَى مَنهَجَ الهَوَى

وَهَوناً وأبدَلتَ الوَقَاحَةَ بِالحِيَا

And you substituted for the path of guidance the path of passion

And frivolity, and replaced decency with shamelessness

وَعُوِّضتَ مِن كَسبِ المَعَالِى تَطَفُّلاً

وَأخذَكَ مَالَ المُسلِمينَ تَعَدِّيَا

And you were compensated for gaining loftiness with begging

And seizing the wealth of Muslims came to you

تَعَلَّقتَ بِالدَّجَالِ تَرجُو تَرَقِياً

وهَيهَاتَ مِنهُ أن تَنَالَ تَرَقِيَا

You clung to the anti-Christ aspiring to advancement

While it is far from him that you should gain advancement

فَمَا نِلتَ إِلاَّ شِقوَةً وَضَلاَلَةً

وَفِسقاً عَلَى جَهرٍ وسِحراً وسُغنِيَا

You attained only misery, heresy,

Open sinfulness, sorcery and singing

ومَا كُنتَ مِن حَلىِ العُلاَ مُتَحَلِّياً

وَمَا كُنتَ عَن خِزىِ الخَنَا مُتَخَلِّيَا

You were never one adorned with the finery of sublime traits

Nor one free of the shame of disgrace

فَأصبَحتَ في المَخزَاةِ لاَمُتَخَلِّياً

عَنِ العَارفي آنٍ وَلاَ مُتَحَلِّيَا

So you woke up despised, not free

Of the ignoble, nor adorned with the excellent

وَلَم تُرَ يَوماً طُولَ دَهرِكَ صَائِماً

وَلَم تُرَ يَوماً في الزَّمَانِ مُصَلِّيَا

You never saw fasting a day in your lifetime

Nor praying one day in time

وَلَم تَشتَغِل ِإلاَّ بِبَطنِكَ دَائِماً

وَلَستَ لِمَا أدَّى الرِّجَالُ مُؤَدِّيَا

You did not busy yourself but with your stomach always

And you do not fulfill what makes men real men

عَداني عَن هَجوِ المُذَمَّمِ أنني

إِذَا حُكتُ شِعراً رَائِقَ الحَوكِ مُندِيَا

It distracted me from lampooning the despised one, that I

When I compose poetry articulated in binding

وأَهدَيتُه مِثلَ الجُمَانِ مُنَظَّماً

جَزِيلَ مَعَانٍ وَاضِحاً مُتَبَدِّيَا

And I present it like necklaces, organized,

Abundant in meaning, lucid, evident

تَفَيَهقَ بِاللَّحنِ الرَّكِيكِ وَخَالَهُ

كَمِثلِ الذي أهدَيتُ أصبَحَ مُهدِيَا

He babbles it in ragged melody, though I presented

What I presented, it appeared presented to him

وأني إِن بَالَغتُ في صِرفِ هَجوِهِ

وَمَزَّقتُه مِن أصلِه كُنتُ مُطرِيَا

And that if I am excessive in dispelling his lampoon

And tear him apart from his source, I would be showering

فَهَاكَ رَوِيًّا رَائِقاً وقَصِيدَةً

مُنَمَّقَة ً أحسَنتُ فِيهَا التَّمطِيَا

Refined, in which I perfected refinement

Send back an answer free of clumsiness

فَارسِل جَواباً سَالِماً مِن رَكَاكَةٍ

وَسُوءَ اتَّزَانٍ واجعَلَنَّ الرَّوِىًّ يَا

And poor composure, and make the ode, O you