لا اللّهو شابَ ولا عهدُ الصّبا دَرسا
ففيم يُضْمر قلبي لوعةً وأسى
Youth has not faded, nor youthfulness passed away,
So why does my heart harbor sadness and pain?
ما عَرَّسَ الهَمُّ في قلبٍ يزفّ لهُ
في كلِّ يومٍ لأَبكار المُنى عُرسَا
Sorrow has pitched its tent in a heart that welcomes it,
And prepares a wedding every day for new sorrows.
ولن يُصيبَ سروراً غير مجتلَبٍ
باللّهو من لم ينعّم جسمُه بِئسا
No joy that is not forcibly seized
Comes to one whose body misery has worn out.
فاغْنَمْ زمانك إنَّ العيشَ أرْغدُه
ما كان من غفلات الدّهر مخْتَلسَا
So enjoy your time, for the happiest life
Is what is secretly snatched from the ravages of Fate.
يسْلو الحزين إذا ما نشْوَةٌ حدثت
حتى إذا ما صحا من سكرة نكسَا
Sorrow consoles the grieved one when joy comes his way,
Until sobering up from intoxication, he recoils.
يا حبّذا بهجة الرّيعان جاعلةٌ
من الأنيس لغزلان الفلا أنسا
How wonderful is the vitality of spring, making
An intimate friend, for the deer of the meadows, of revelry!
ودرَّ درُّ نديم هبٌ يحسب أن
قد ضاع من عمره في الليل ما نغسا
A boon-companion complains that from his life
Much time vanishes wastefully during the night.
واللّيل قد مُزّقت منه جلاببُه
واستشعر الأفقُ عند السُّحرة الغلسَا
The night has torn off its cloaks,
And at dawn, the horizon takes on a faint glow.
ترشفَ التربُ من طَلَّ النَّدى بللاً
واستنشق الرّوض من ريح الصّبا نَفَسا
The earth drinks deep drafts of dew,
And the garden breathes in the breeze of morn.
وأعينُ الزَّهر والنُّوار شاخصةٌ
فيهن لؤلؤ دمعِ العَين قد قَرَسا
The eyes of flowers and basil are awake,
In them are pearls—the tears of eyes that have just opened.
وذو ذوائبَ تجني من عوارضهِ
عَلا ومن شفتيه الظَّلم واللَّعَسا
One with dangling tresses collects
Sublimity and darkness from his lips.
يسعى بصفراء في الإبريق تحسبهُ
من لونها في دَم الجريال قد غُمَسا
He hurries with a blonde in a jug, which by her complexion,
You would think she had just been dipped in the blood of a partridge.
إذا النّديم من السّاقي تناولها
أهدى إلى فمه من كفه قبَسا
When the boon-companion takes her from the cupbearer,
He passes her from his palm to his mouth as an offering.
ما ينصف الكاس مرتاحاً ليشربها
حتّى إذا ضحكت في وجهه عَبَسا
He does not do justice to the goblet, relaxing until
She smiles in his face and he frowns.
يا حبذا الرَّاح تنفي حقدَ شاربها
برقة القلب إن بعض القلب قَسَا
How wonderful is the wine that dispels the spite of its drinker
Through the tenderness of heart, if part of the heart has hardened!
وربما أحدثت في نفسه طرباً
وربما أورثته سَلوة وأسَى
At times it engenders rapture in his soul,
And at times leaves him tranquil and woeful.
كأنَّ فيها سَجايا من بني عمرٍ
غُرُّ طواهِرُ لما تعرف الدُّنَسَا
As if in it were traits of the sons of ʻUmar,
Virtuous knights who never knew vileness.
أنظر إلى القمرين الزَّاهرين إذا
ذهلٌ ويعربُ ما بين الملا جَلَسَا
Look upon the two resplendent moons when
They are drunk, and pass the wine-jug between them!
كلاهما سيدٌ صَلتُ الجبين له
وجهُ كريمٌ بيُمن الله قدْ غَرَسا
Each is a lord whose forehead I bow to,
A noble face, by God's grace, made prominent.
سهلُ الخليقة في ناديّه جَذَلٌ
يوم الكريهة يُلفى بأسلاشَهِسَا
Easygoing in his circle, ardent when challenged,
The day of evil he is clad in coats of mail.
ماضي الجنان غُداة الرَّوع تبصره
لشاً يغادر ليثَ الغاب مُفْترسَا
Bold in the morning after fright, you see him
A lion abandoning the forest, on the prowl for prey.
أنطقتُمُ الشّعْر قدماً يا بني عُمَرٍ
يُثْني عليكم ولولا جودكم خَرسَا
I have brought poetry forward, O sons of ʻUmar,
To praise you—without your generosity it would be mute.
جادت غمائمُ جَدواكم فما تركت
في مطْلَب وسؤال موضعاً لَبسَا
The clouds of your nobility pour forth without cease,
Leaving no place for ambiguity in wish and request.
وأنتم كرماً أظهرتم عَلماً
للْمَجد والجود لولا سعيكم طُمسَا
And you, in your nobility, have shown a banner
For glory and munificence—without your striving it would be effaced.
يُرجَى حباكم ويخشى من صواعقكم
يوماً إذا عارض من أفقكم حَبسَا
Your love is hoped for, and your lightning is feared
One day, should it flash forth from your horizon.
يهديكم للمعالي نورُ فضلكم
وفي الحضيض لئام تخبط الدَّلسَا
The light of your merit guides you to the heights,
While in the lowlands the vile flounder about.
تسعى الجوارح في مرسوم أمركم
كأن في كل عضوٍ حُبّكم غُرَسا
The limbs exert themselves according to your command,
As if your love in each limb had taken root.
يا أيّها السيّدان الماجدان لقَد
أولتُماني براً واسعاً سَلِسا
O you two excellent nobles,
You have favored me with smooth and easy kindness.
قد عاد عُود يساري من نوالكم
ريَّان غَضًّا ولولا ذاكما يبسا
My complicity regained from your bestowal
Is verdant, though without you two it would wither.
ألبستماهُ بميسُور الغنى ورقاً
فظلّ يهتَزُ في مخضَرّ ما لبسَا
You have clothed it in ample means and greenness,
So it sways on perpetually green.
