واسكب مَدمَعَ العَينَينِ وأذرِ

وغَادِرهُ مَدَى الأيامِ يَجرِي

Pour the tears of the eyes and scatter

And leave it to flow through the days

فَذِي دُورُ الفَتَاةِ غَدَت يَبَاباً

حَكَت وَحياً بَدَا في ضِمنِ سَطرِ

For the cycles of youth have become dilapidated

It told tales and life appeared in lines

فلا تَصُنِ الدُّمُوعَ بِها بَل أذرِ

بمَدمَعٍ مُستَهِلٍّ غَيرِ نَزرِ

So do not restrain the tears with it, but scatter

With copious uncapped tears

وقُل لِلاَّئِم الاَّ حِيكَ هَلاَّ

كَفَفتَ العَذلَ إِنَّ العَذلَ يُعرى

And say to the blamer, enough, do not blame

Stop the rebuke, rebuke is laid bare

فَكُفَّ اللَّومَ إني حِبُّ خُودٍ

أهِيمُ بِهَا على صَحوي وسُكرِى

So stop the blame, for I love the fair one

I ramble about her in my sobriety and drunkenness

ولا وَصلَ يُتَاحُ اليَومَ إِلاَّ

خَيَالاتٍ وإِلاَّ الطيف يَسرِى

No connection is afforded today except

Fantasies, or a specter that flows

وهَاتِيكَ المَنَازِلُ غَادَرَت في

سُوَيدَاءِ الفُؤَادِ صَلاَءَ جَمرِ

And those abodes have been deserted in

The pitch-blackness of my heart, embers

ودَاءُ الحُبِّ لاَ يَشفِيهِ إِلاَّ

تَدَانٍ أو وِصَالٍ بَعدَ هَجرِ

And the disease of love is only cured

By being close, or union after separation

وإلاَّ نَصُّ عِيسٍ يُعمُلاَتٍ

لِكُلِّ مَفَازَةٍ بَهمَاءَ تفري

Else the miracle of Jesus works

For every desolate ruin

وإلاَّ مَدحُ مَلجَاِ كُلِّ عَانٍ

ومَن هُوَّ المُعَدُّ لِكُلِّ أمرِ

And else, praising the refuge of every weak

And He who is prepared for every matter

أيَا غَيثَ الضِّعَافِ ومَن نَدَاهُ

كمَوجِ البَحرِ بل بِالبَحرِ يُزرِى

O rain of the weak, and who calls upon Him

Like the wave of the sea, nay with the sea He is sated

ألاَ لاَزِلتَ تَكشِفُ كُلَّ ضُرٍ

وعَن ذِى الفَقرِ تُذهِبُ كُلَّ فَقرِ

Lo, you still uncover every harm

And from the utterly poor you remove every poverty

وتَسقِى كُلَّ ذِى جَهلٍ مُرِبٍّ

كُئُوسَ العِلم لاَ شُهد وخَمرِ

And give drink to every ignorant lost soul

The leaders of knowledge without wine or nectar

أَيَا مَن فَاقَ أهلَ الشِّعرِ طُرًّا

وشُعرُ سِوَاكَ أمسَى غَيرَ شِعرِ

O You who surpassed the people of poetry in flight

And Your poetry has ended up not being poetry

عَلَى أنَّ القَرِيضَ اليَومَ أضحَى

لُقًى في نَازِحِ الأقطَارِ قَفرِ

Since poetry today has become

Cast in the deserts of the lands, a wasteland

فَلاَ تَفخَر بِعِلمِ أبٍ وجَدٍّ

فَعِلمُ أَبٍ وجَدٍّ غَيرُ فَخرِ

So do not boast in the knowledge of a father or ancestor

For the knowledge of fathers and ancestors is no boast

ألاَ يَا طَالِباً في الشِّعرِ شَاوِي

تَأَخَّر وَيكَ إِنَّك لَستَ تَدرِى

Lo, O you who aspires in poetry foolishly

Hold back, you do not know

مُبَارِى قَد جَهِلتَ الأمرَ جِدًّا

فَمَا لِلذِّيبِ والوِردُ الهِزَبرِ

My peer you have been utterly ignorant of the matter

So what business does the wolf have with the fragrant rose

تُهَدِّدني بِشِعرٍ كُلَّ آنٍ

وما الأشعَارُ إلا تَحتَ قَهرِ

You threaten me with poetry every instant

Yet poems are but under compulsion

فَمَا إِن تُدركُ الأَوتَأرُ مني

ألاَ إني لَدَرَّاكٌ لِوِترِآ

I will not cease to send them to you

Until they are buried in a grave in the wilderness

ألاَ يَا مُهدِى الأشعَارَ نَحوي

لقد أبدَأتَ وَيكَ بِأمرٍ إِمرِ

Lo, O you who guides poetry to prosody

You have begun, my friend, a difficult matter

فَهذِى بِنتُ فِكرٍ قد أتَتكُم

مُهَذَّبَةً تُضِىءُ كَضَوءِ بَدرِ

So this is the daughter of reason who has come to you

Well-mannered, shining like the full moon

تُزَفُّ إليكَ تَطلُبُ مَهراً

وغَيرُك مِنهُ لا تَرضَى بِمَهرِ

She is presented to you seeking a dowry

And none other than you she will accept as a groom

فَخُذهَا حَاكِيا فِيهَا حُلاَهَا

حُلَى عَذرَاءَ مِن ذَهَبٍ

So take her, composing her adornments upon her

The adornments of an untouched maiden of gold

تَهَيَأ لِلقَرِيضِ فَسَوفَ تُرمَى

بِكُلِّ قَصِيدَةٍ شَنعَاءَ بِكرِ

Prepare for poetry, you will soon be pelted

With every hideous ode, untouched

ولاَ أنفَكُّ أُهدِيهَنَّ حَتَّى

تُوَدَّعَ في الفَلاَةِ بَقَعرِ قبر

And I will not cease to send them to you

Until they are consigned in the wasteland to a grave

وحتى تَترُكَ الأشعَارَ قَسراً

وتُلفي مُهَاجِراً بِخَنًى وسُكرِ

And until you leave poetry forcibly

And are wrapped in sorrow and drunkenness

على الهَادِى صَلاَةٌ مَا سَرَت في

مُتِيهَاتِ التَّنَائِفِ نُجبُ سَفرِ

Blessings upon the Guide so long as they flowed in

The meandering paths of vicissitudes, a clear spring