أما الزمانُ فلا أشْكو ولا أذَرُ
لا يَصْنعُ الدهرُ ما لا يَصْنعُ القدر
As for time, I make no complaint, no reproach,
Fate makes what time cannot make.
لو أنْ حظّيَ من دنيايَ أُمْنَحُهُ
جاءتْ إليَّ الليالي وهي تعتذر
If my share of this life were granted to me,
The nights would come to me apologizing.
ماذا أقولُ وقد أخنى على جِدَتي
رَيْبُ الزمانِ وخطبٌ كلُّهُ ضرَر
What can I say when the treachery of time has let me down
And all its events have brought but harm?
تأبَى خلائِقُهُ إلا مُنَاقَضَتي
حتى كأنّيَ في لَهْوَاتِهِ صَبْرُ
Its nature seems eternally bent on opposing me
As if I am destined to endure its whims.
حَسْبي من الدّهْرِ أن لو صاب مقصده
ما كان مُعْتَمداً بالكُلْفَةِ القَمرُ
Sufficient for me that if fate had its way,
The full moon itself would not keep its appointments.
لا تُنْكِروا ذُرْأةَ الأيام فيّ فقد
أبْدى العِيانُ لكم ما ضَيَّعَ الخَبَرُ
Do not deny time's gradual corruption in me;
What the days concealed, now appears plain to see.
لو كان بالقَدْرِ يَسْمُو مَن له خَطَرٌ
ما كانَ يَسْكُنُ قَعْرَ اللجَّةِ الدُّرَرُ
It suffices to mourn the days gone by
When one can bear it with patience.
أوْ كانَ يُرْزَقُ بالعقل اللبيبُ لما
كانتْ تعيشُ إذنْ من جهلها البقرُ
So cease prolonging the farewells,
For a flame cannot last without kindling.
إن البُزاةَ إذا ما نُكّسَتْ هَزأتْ
منها العصافيرُ والصدّاحةُ القُمُر
How I have warned against the fire, had warning helped
Or had caution protected me from its burning!
وَحسْبُ نَدْبٍ من الدنيا إذا عتبت
أن يَسْتَقِلّ به من صَبْرِه أمَرُ
And hands I have stretched forth to separate us
Neither remaining nor entirely pushing away.
فما مواصلةُ الأغمادِ واصلةٌ
ما لا يقوم على إمضائه السُّمُر
I made the turns of fate arbitrate, though indeed
They were no part of its reckoning.
كم قد حَذِرْت النّوى لو كان يَنْفَعُني
أو كان يعْصِمُني منْ وقْعِها الحذر
It was as if, when you built my tear ducts,
My tears melted carnelian or made barren land bear fruit.
وإن كفّاً رمتْ بيني وبينهمُ
بالبينِ عنهمْ لَمَا تُبْقي ولا تَذَر
How I wish I had the burning thirst of a true believer,
That cannot be quenched by mere remembering.
وَحكّمَتْ فيهمُ صَرْفَ الردى ولقد
كانوا وما إن به مِنْ ذِكْرِهِ كدر
The scent of a sympathetic soul is pure in the beauty
Of one like him, more than one diseased or sightless.
كأنَّ دمعيَ لما بِنْتُمُ مقةً
ذابَ العقيقُ به أو أَثمَرَ الشَّقِرُ
His softness could almost make him bleed, wounded
When thoughts pass through the limits of his beauty.
وحبَّذا لَوْعَةٌ في جَنْبِ مُعْتَقِدٍ
ما لا تَبُوحُ به في قلبه الذِّكَرُ
God has not charged the steadfast with the rage
That He has charged that tender heart and room.
وطيبُ مُرْتَشَفٍ في حُسْنِ مُؤْتَلِفٍ
في مثلِ مُرْتَعَفٍ أوْدَى به النظر
Nor has any brave warrior on the day of battle
Drawn his sword like that gazelle drew her veil.
يكادُ يَنْقَدُّ من لينٍ وَيَجْرَحُهُ
أنْ صُرِّفَتْ في تَنَاهِي حُسْنِهِ الفِكر
Nor has any sickness in one lovesick
Wrought havoc like parting and wakefulness have wrought in me.
ما حمل الله في الانجاد من عضب
ما حمل القلب ذاك الدل والخفر
Think not that my tears are water freely flowing
From my eyes, but sparks ignited by my agony.
ولا انتضى صارماً يوم الوغى بَطَلٌ
كما انْتَضَى من ظُبَاهُ ذلك الحور
O messenger, convey my greetings to them
And you will be well rewarded, without effort.
ولا عتا سَقَمٌ في جِسْمِ ذي شَجَنٍ
بمثلِ ما عاثَ فيَّ البينُ والسهر
And say to them there that passion has burdened me,
With greetings to you, company of friends!
لا تحسبُوا أدْمُعي ماءً تجودُ به
عيني ولكنَّه مِنْ لوعتي شرر
His sweet gifts pour down through the clouds
Announcing themselves to eyes and ears.
يا حادياً نَحْوَهُمْ بلّغْ تحيتنَا
لُقّيتَ خيراً ولا يَشْعُرْ بكَ السَّفَر
O rain, O lion, O noble one, O minister,
O star, O planet, O sun, O moon!
وقلْ هنالكَ إن الصبَّ حمله
عنه السلام إليكمْ أيها النَّفر
You whose army never marched on a land
But made the nomads and the townsmen tremble.
تأتي مواهبُهُ المعسولُ ساكبُهَا
عن السّحاب يعيها السّمْعُ والبصر
If this valour could be portrayed in one picture,
You would be the claws and the victory in it, no doubt.
يا غيثُ يا ليثُ يا فضّال يا وَزَرُ
يا نجمُ يا كوكبٌ يا شمسُ يا قمر
How often have you pierced the blackest night with dawn,
With the Pleiades arrayed and the Great Bear scattered.
أنت الذي لم يَقُدْ جيشاً لمنزلة
إلا وزُلْزِلَ عنها البدوُ والحضر
No stars but spears resemble it,
No dawn but the naked blades bursting forth.
إن كان صُوِّرَ هذا البأسُ في صِفَةٍ
فإنت لا شكَ منها النابُ والظفر
You attacked them with forces from your brigade,
Whose titles were resolve and courage.
ورُبّ ليلٍ من النقع اخترقت ضحىً
والهصر منتظمٌ والهام منتثر
No orator stood before the tribes reciting
The facts of the case but the sword that tells all.
ولا نجومَ سوى الأرماحِ تشبهه
وليس فجرٌ سوى التحجيلِ ينفجر
Why are you bothered by the silence his words impose
When his signs are eloquent lessons?
رماهمُ بكتابٍ من كتيبته
عنوانُهُ واسْمُهُ الأحجالُ والغُرر
The horizons yielded before him willingly
With horses charging and swords striking sparks.
ولا خطيبَ لدى الأقوام يُنْشِدُهُمْ
شرحَ القضيّةِ إلا الصارمُ الذكر
No wonder time relented before him,
For even rock can drip with honey.
ماذا يضرُّك من إدمانِ منطقِه
للصمتِ في مأزق آياتُهُ العبر
And the stars of good fortune might respond to him
Without clouds being moved by entreaty or rain.
قد أعْرَبتْ دونه الآفاقُ مُنْهلَةً
والخيلُ مرسلةً والسيفُ ينتقر
Eloquence fails before you, acknowledging
How eyesight fails before the radiance of Capella.
لا غَروَ أنْ سمحتْ كفُّ الزمانِ به
فقد يجودُ بِعَذْبِ السَّلْسَلِ الحجر
How can I now describe one whose world surpassed
The minds of men, leaving no trace or mark?
وقد تجيبُ نجومُ السّعْدِ عنه فلا
يَعْرُو السحابَ بها طلٌّ ولا مطر
His achievements encompassed existence itself, so none
Could disparage him except that he was human.
يَحِيدُ عنك لسانُ القول معترفاً
كما يَحِيدُ لنور الجَوْنَةِ البصر
If you are pleased, Western fortune prospers, and if
You turn away one day, miserable is the tale and news.
وكيف وصفُك حالاً فاتَ عالمها
حدّ العقول فلا عينٌ ولا أثر
Do not spurn him with disdain that would encircle him
With the necklace of the outcast; he lacks no merit.
طالتْ مآثرُهُ كُنْهَ الوجودِ فلا
يَعيبُهُ ويكَ إلا أنه بشر
His virtues surpassed the essence of being, so none
Could fault him, except that he was mortal.
إذا رضيتَ نبا غربُ الزمان وإن
أعرضت يوماً فبئس الذكرُ والخبر
When he is pleased, the West rises; when he turns away,
Wretched are the chronicles and reports.
لا تَقْذِفَنْهُ بِأعْراضٍ يُطَوِّقُهُ
طَوْقَ الهجين فما في باعِهِ قِصَر
Do not reject him with disdain that would adorn him
With the necklace of the shunned, for he lacks no merit.
