أَيْنَما كنتَ تُمَنَّي وَتَعِدْ

جارَ بي فيكَ هوايَ وَقَصدْ

Wherever you wish and promise

My passion for you remains steadfast

يا جليداً لم يَدَعْ لي جَلَداً

هل لِيَوْمِ الصبِّ مِنْ بُعْدِكَ غَدْ

O frosty one who left me no respite

Can there be a tomorrow without you?

لا أشاجيك وقد بَرَّحْتَ بي

دُوْنَكَ اليومَ فَذَرْني والسَهَد

I won’t beseech you after you’ve abandoned me

Today, leave me be and let me wander

اتئدْ مِنْ قبلِ أنْ توديَ بي

ثم لا يَنْفَعُنِي أَنْ تَتَّئِد

Go back before you lead me to my ruin

Then, it won’t help that you go back

نَقَضَ العهدَ الذي كانَ عَهِدْ

لم أَقُلْ وَاصَلَ حتى قُلْتُ صَدْ

You broke the pact that was a covenant

I didn’t say “stay connected,” but I said “turn away”

مرحاً بين النصابي والصبا

كلما لا عتبه بالحب جد

Playfully, between wakefulness and sleep

Whenever passion has no blame in love

هزَّ منه الحسنُ يثني عطفه

لو يكونُ الغصنُ لدناً لم يَزِد

His beauty shakes, bending his charm

If the branch were pliant, it wouldn’t increase

وجلا الإدلالُ منه منظراً

قام بالعُذَّالِ فيه وقعد

And the flirtation in it increases, appearing

Standing with coyness in it, and sitting

وَأَدارَ الموتَ في لحظِ رشاً

كلما شاءَ انْتَحى قلبَ أَسَد

And death wanders in a fleeting glance

Whenever he wishes, the heart of a lion turns

يا شقيقَ النَّفْسِ رأياً وهوىً

أنتَ في قلبيَ رُوْحٌ وجسد

O soulmate in opinion and passion

You are my soul and body in my heart

أَمُضِيْعِي بينَ هَجْرٍ ونَوىً

وعلى ذاك فمالي عَنْكَ بُد

Shall I be lost between estrangement and intimacy

When I have no alternative but you?

علَّمَتْ عيناكَ عينيَّ الهوى

فأنا منكَ ومني في كمد

Your eyes taught my eyes passion

So I am yours and mine in concealment

رامَ من أُبْغِضُ مني خُطَّةً

طال ما ناضلت عنها مَنْ أوَد

One who hates me schemed

I struggled against it for one I love

دونَ سِرّي منْ حِفاظي عَزْمَةٌ

صَدَرَ المِقْدَارُ عنها وَوَرَدْ

Protecting my secret is my determination

Fate diverted from it and it landed

قد رميتُ الدَّهْرَ منْ حيثُ رَمَى

فَسَلِيهِ أيُّنا كانَ أشد

I have spurned fate from where it spurned me

So ask which of us was harsher

وأخذتُ الناسَ عن هاكَ وها

بالتي إلا تُجَوَّزْ لا تُرَد

And I took people for granted

With that which if not crossed cannot be repelled

وطويلِ الليلِ مُسْتَوْفِزِهِ

يَتَلظَّى بين خَوْفٍ وومد

And the prolonger of the night provoking me

Writhing between fear and expectance

كلما حدث عني نفسه

حل أثناء حباه وعقد

Whenever it talked about itself

It came between its love and knotting

قد تَعاطَاني وَدُوني حَتْفُهُ

رُبَّما أوْدَى الفتى منْ حيثُ ود

It conspired against me and plot my doom

Sometimes one’s beloved may destroy one

يا خليليَّ ولا واللهِ ما

طِبْتُ نفساً قطُّ عنها لأحد

O my friend, by God I never

Pleased any soul that I pleased for another

أدركاني ما أرى أن تُدْرِكا

سَدَّت البَلْوى مناديحَ الجسد

Realize what I see, that anxieties have shut off

The channels of my body

وأعِدَّاني لأُخْرى مِثلِها

ليس للإنسان إلا ما أعَد

And prepare me for another like it

Man has nothing but what is prepared

لا يَغُرَّنكَ شيءٌ بائدٌ

إنه لو كانَ شيئاً لم يَبِدْ

Let no fleeting thing deceive you

If it were anything, it would not perish

سدَّدَ الموتُ لأعمارِ الورى

فَلْيَعِشْ مَنْ شاءَ ما عاشَ لُبَد

Death has limited the lives of people

So let whoever lives live his span

أنا من عزِّكَ يا يَنَّاق في

ذِرْوَةِ العَلْيَا إلى الرُكْنِ الأَشَد

I am, because of your honor, O praised one

At the pinnacle of the highest to the firmest pillar

أُقْتُلُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ يا حُسَّدي

قد نَمَى المالُ وقد أَثْرَى العدد

Kill yourselves, O envious ones

Wealth has grown and numbers have increased

وكفاني نُوَبَ الدهرِ فتىً

لم يزلْ منهُ عليهنَّ رَصَد

And the vicissitudes of fate sufficed me as a man

Who did not stop watching over them

طلبَ السؤددَ حتى نالَهُ

بطلٌ شَيحْانُ أو خَصْمٌ أَلَدْ

Seeking glory until he attained it

A fearless hero or a stubborn opponent

قلْ لمن أَذْعَنَتِ الدُّنيا لهُ

لا تَمَتَّعْتَ بِها إنْ لم تَسُد

Say to the one subdued by the world

You will not enjoy it if you do not block it

نعمَ رِدْءُ الموتِ بأسٌ أو ردى

كلما أوعدَ خَطْبٌ أو وعد

Yes, the garment of death is adversity or affliction

Whenever it promises loss or promise

فإذا لذَّ لك العيشُ فَصُلْ

وإذا أَعْجَبَكَ المالُ فَجُد

So if living delights you, then be diligent

And if wealth pleases you, then strive

وإذا تُدْعَى لمجدٍ فاحْوِهِ

إنما العَاجِزُ مَنْ لا يَسْتبد

And if you are called to glory, then protect it

Only the incapable is he who does not dictate

كاعتزامِ ابنِ عبيد اللهِ لا

هَوَّنَ القُرْبَ ولا هابَ البُعُد

Like the determination of the son of Ubaydallah

He neither diminished the proximity nor feared the distance

طبَّقَ الآفاقَ منهُ عَارِضٌ

ذو شآبيبَ تَهَادَى أو تَهُد

A companion blanketed the horizons because of him

With flames that swayed or subsided

فإذا شيتَ فشُؤْبُوبُ حياً

وإذا شيتَ فشؤبوبُ بَرَدْ

When you wish alive and vigorous

And when you wish, cooled down

ألمعيٌّ والقضايا شُبَهٌ

أوْحَدِيٌّ وصروفُ الدهر حُد

Brilliant, while matters are ambiguous

Decisive, while turns of fate are limited

قُلَّبِيُّ القلبِ مشدودُ القُوَى

لم يَغِبْ غائبُهُ إلا شَهِدْ

Fickle of heart, firm of strength

None of his absent was present but witnessed

رابطُ الجأشِ وقد جَدَّتْ به

عَزَماتُ الدهر منْ هَزْلٍ وَجِد

Binding determination, though the resolves of fate

Have been serious with him out of earnestness and fervor

ارْجُهُ يوماً وَخَفْهُ حِقْبَةً

فبأَخطار العدا راش الأوَد

Thrust him one day and conceal him for some time

With the hazards of enemies the dear one is gored

وادْعُ نَجْلَيهِ إذا لم تَدْعُهُ

فَعَلى ذلك أَنْشَا مَنْ وَلد

And call both his sons if you don’t call him

For upon that were those who gave birth set up

أَسدا عرِّيسةٍ بدرا دُجىً

بلغا كُنْهَ النُّهى قَبْلَ الأشُد

A lion, a groom, a full moon by night

They reached the essence of glory before maturity

شدَّ هذا في المعالي أزْرَ ذا

مثلما نِيطَتْ ذراعٌ بِعَضُد

This one tightened in great deeds the belt of that one

As an arm bound with a shoulder

لستُ للسُّبَّاق إن لم يَسبقا

في مدى كلِّ طِرادٍ مَنْ طَرَد

I am not for the competitor if they don't outdo

In the breadth of every fleeing one who flees

وطئا تُرْبك إنْ لم يَرثا

مجدك الموروثَ عن جَدٍّ فجد

They stepped with pride if they don’t inherit

Your inherited glory from an ancestor, so strive

هذه شِنْشِنَةٌ من أَخْزَم

وسواءٌ مَنْ نَفَى أو مَنْ جَحَد

This is the sharpness of Akhzam

It’s equal whether one denies or disbelieves

اقضِ مُشْتطاً على كلِّ هوىً

واجرِ مُسْتَولٍ على كلِّ أمد

Judge asking for more than any passion

And prevent an aggressor against any purpose

إن أُصِبْنَا فإليكَ المُشْتَكى

أو أَصَبْنَا فعليكَ المُعْتَمد

If we are struck, then you are the complainant

Or if we strike, then you are the one we depend on

أوْ نَبَتْ دنيا على عادتها

فعلى دنياك نَعْلُو وَنُعَد

Or if the world sprouts as is its habit

Then by your world we rise and tally

وَفِدَاكَ اليومَ من أَرْشَدْتَهَ

فأَبَى إلا عِنَاداً أَوْ فَنَد

Your day is redeemed from one you guided

But who refused except disobedience or enmity

كلُّ مغلوبٍ على أَكثرِهِ

لا رأى حَزْماً ولا قال سَدَد

Every vanquished by his excesses

Has seen no wisdom or said no justice

غاظَهُ أَنْ لم يَنَلْ ما نلتَهُ

حيثُ لم يجهدْ ومن حيثُ جهد

It irritated him that he did not attain what you attained

Where he did not struggle and from where he struggled

يا سراجَ الفخرِ يا غايتَهُ

دعوةً لم تُبْقِ في العَيْشِ نكد

O lantern of pride, O its pinnacle

An invocation that left no misery in life

هذه فانشطْ إليها مِدَحي

تَنْفُثُ الآدابَ سِحْراً في العُقَد

This is my praise, so be lively towards it

It breathes courtesy like magic into compositions

كلُّ عذراءَ إذا أَهْدَيْتُهَا

لم تَرِدْ قوماً ولم تَخْصُصْ بلد

Every maiden, when I present her with it

Does not refuse a people or discriminate a country