أما والهوى وَهْوَ إحْدَى المِلَلْ

لقد طَالَ قَدُّكَ حتى اعتدلْ

Though passion is but one of life's vanities,

Your stature has grown until it reached its zenith.

وأَشرَقَ وجْهُكَ للعاذلاتِ

حتَّى رأتْ كيفَ يُعْصى العَذَلْ

Your face shone brightly for those who blamed you

Until they saw how difficult it was to blame.

ولم أَرَ أفتكَ من مُقْلَتَيْهِ

على أنَّ لي خِبْرَةً بالمُقَل

Yet I have not seen eyelashes more deadly than yours

Though I'm quite familiar with eyeliner.

كحلتَهُما بهوىً قاتِلٍ

وقلت الهوى خَتْلُهُ في الكَحَل

You lined them with a fatal passion

And said that the ruin of passion is in kohl.

وأني وإن كنت داهنتني

لأعلم كيف تكون الحبل

And though I pretend to be experienced,

I know full well how to string a rope.

ولستُ أُسائِلُ عينيك بي

ولكنْ بعهد الرِّضي ما فعل

I do not question your eyes about me,

But about the pact of acceptance - what happened?

ولم أرَ أبْعَدَ من مَطْلَبٍ

إذا أُبْتَ عنه بحظٍّ قَتَلْ

I have not seen a more impossible pursuit

When it is denied by a deadly fortune.

سَقَتْكَ ولو بدما مُهْجَتي

نجومُ الوَغى أو نجومُ الكِلَل

The stars of turmoil or the stars of nightfall

Could water you, even with my blood.

فقد كَذَبَتْني نُجُومُ السماءِ

أو كَذَّبَ الثورُ عنها الحمل

The stars of the sky have lied to me

Or the Taurus on their behalf has lied to Aries.

ارى الحبُّ أوَّلُهُ شهوةٌ

تُسَلَّطُ أو غِرَّةٌ تُهتَبَل

I see that love begins with desire

Unleashed or an infatuation that is toyed with.

وآخِرُهُ سَقَمٌ مُدْنِفٌ

هو الموتُ أو هو مِنْهُ بَدَل

And it ends with a chronic illness

Which is death or something like it.

ألهفِي على زَمَنٍ راهقٍ

سَرضتْ لحظاتُكَ فيه عِلَل

I yearn for the days of my exuberant youth

When your glances in them were afflictions.

ولهفي على نظرةٍ بالكثيبِ

أَعْطَيْتُ غيّي بها ما سَأل

And I yearn for a glance at the sand dunes

When I gave my love through it what he asked.

أَبتْ أن ترد عليَّ الشبابَ

وردتْ عليَّ الهَوَى والغزل

Youth refused to return to me

While passion and poetry returned.

وَوَصْلث الكواعبِ بَعْدَ المشيبِ

مَرضامٌ تُقَصّرُ عنه الحِيَل

And you reached the flirtations after old age

Stratagems that fall short of overcoming them.

أُعَلَّلُ فيكَ بما لا يكون

وأُغْبَطُ مِنكَ بما لمْ أنَلْ

I rationalize you with what cannot be

And I congratulate you on what I have not attained.

أمَا بيننا حَكَمٌ عادل

ولو أنّه زمني مَا عَدل

Is there not a fair judge between us

Even if he is my lifetime that has not been fair?

أيُنْصِفُ منكَ وأنت الحياةُ

وَيُعْدِي عليكَ وأنت الأَجَل

Would he be fair to you while you are life

And unfair to you while you are death?

ولكنْ تهحاملَ لما ضعفتُ

فهلاَّ وَفَى وَلَهُ مُحْتَمَلْ

But you have persecuted me when I was weak

Why not fulfill while there is room for tolerance?

ويا ضيعتا بين رَبْعٍ عَفَا

وخلٍّ جفا وَشَبَابٍ رَحَل

O the one I missed between bygone friends

And solitude that parted and youth that departed

وبي معشرٌ حَسَدُوني العُلا

صُدُورُهُمُ كصدورِ الأسَل

And my peers envied me for my excellence

Their hearts like the hearts of foxes

تَقَطعُ دونيَ ألحاظُهُمْ

فما تستطيعُ رياحُ السَّبَل

Their glances cut me off

So the winds of the roads cannot reach me

إذا ما رأونيَ لم ينبسوا

وإن غبت ضجُّوا بهلاَّ وَهَلْ

If they see me they do not speak

And if I am absent they clamor “Alas!” and “Woe!”

وغضبانَ إن سُؤتُهُ حالني

إليك وإن العلا لم تحل

And they get angry if the highborn ask about me

To you - and excellence did not befit you

وقد عرَفَ المجدَ لا شك فيه

ولكن تبالَهْ كي لا يُبَلْ

And he knew glory, no doubt

But neglected it so as not to wilt

تمنَّى وسَامَحَني في الطِّلابِ

وقال وأفْرَدَني بالعمل

He wished me well in my request

And singled me out for the job

قَسمنا الحظوظ وَحَاكَمْتُهُ

إلى المجدِ روَّى بنا وارتجَلْ

We split fortunes and I appointed him

To glory – he set out at a run and got ahead

فأصبحتُ كالناجِ تحتَ الجبين

وأصبح كالفَقْعِ تحت الأظَل

So I became like the bright star on the forehead

And he became like the splash under the shade

أجِدَّك ما يستفيقُ العذولُ

ميتَ العزائمِ حيَّ الأمل

I will prepare you when the virgin gets up

Dead in determination, alive in hope

تَوَانَى فلما شأتْهُ العُلاَ

صَبَا في تَعَنُّتِه أو شُمِل

He hesitated so when glory raised him

He poured in his obstinacy or was laden with it

وليس بِثَانِيْهِ عن شَأْوِهِ

ولو أنَّهُ في مَداهُ الزَّلَل

None can match his glory

Even if he is in its extended meadows

ارى الدهر جهَلَني ما علمتُ

على حينَ عَلَّمْتُهُ ما جَهِل

I see time has not known me since I knew it

While I taught it what it did not know

لَوَانشي وأقسمتُ لا أقْتَضيه

إلاّ بسيفِ الأميرِ الأجل

I vow I will not demand it

Except by the sword of the eternal Prince

وقد بَرِئَتْ منهُ تلكَ الجفونُ

تَلَدَّدُ بينَ الطُّلى والقُلَل

Those eyes have been cleared of it

Wavering between hills and mounds

وقد جالَ موتٌ يُسَمَّى الفرنْدَ

عللا مَتْنُهُ وكأنْ لم يَجُل

And a death called the French disease has circulated

Debilitating its body as if it did not mature

وَسَالتْ عليه نفوسُ الكماةِ

فأشكلَ أكثرَ مما اشْتَكَل

And the souls of the whole world poured over it

Making it more intricate than it tangled

كوشمِ عِذَارٍ على وَجْنَةٍ

إذا لاح مَاراكَ فيه الخجل

Like the tattoo of a young maiden on a cheek

When it appears, diffidence mixes into it

تتايَهَ ظاهرُه بِالحُلِيِّ

وقد جُنَّ باطنُهُ بالعَطَل

Its exterior wanders into jewelry

While its interior is infected with unemployment

وللشمسِ سُلْطانُها بالهجيرِ

وإن حَسُنَت في الضّحى والأصُل

The sun has its sultanate at sunrise

Be it beautiful at dawn or in origin

وقد تَضْحَكُ الراحُ بعد المزاجِ

عنِ الحُسْنِ بين الحُلَى والحُلَل

Joy may laugh after pleasure

About beauty among trinkets and garments

ولكن تَحَنَّى بها قَبْلَهُ

ولو مَزَجُوها بِخَلْسِ القُبَل

But it leaned toward it before

Even if they mixed it with the saliva of kisses

يَصُوْرُ العيونَ إليها النحولُ

إذا نَبَتِ العينُ عَنْ مَن نَحَل

Emaciation depicts it to the eyes

When the eye arises from whom it descended from

فكم من رفيقٍ تَخَطّيْتُهُ

ولو عَزَمَ الأمْرَ يوماً لحل

How many a friend have I skipped over

Who would have reconciled if deciding one day

وقد تقتضي هذه المفرداتُ

معانيَ تَقْصُرُ عنها الجُمَل

These terms may require

Meanings beyond what sentences can encompass

إذا صُلْتَ يوماً نبا المَشْرفيُّ

وإلا فإنَّ العُلا لم تَصُل

If you reconcile one day with the notable tribes

Or else excellence has not reconciled

هل الموتُ تَرْمي به أو تَرُدُّ

فَمَنْ شاءَ عَزَّ وَمَنْ شاءَ ذل

Does death discard him or repeal him?

So whoever wills gains prominence and whoever wills is debased

أيا فارسَ الخيلِ والبأسُ ظَنٌّ

يُرَجَّمُ أو ظِنَّةُ تُنْتَحل

O horseman of steeds and war, it is assumed

Either fame or an assumption to be taken

وقد شَمَّر الموتُ عن ساقِهِ

على ما حسبتَ به من كسل

And death rolled up its sleeve

As you calculated from its laziness

وأعربتِ الحربُ عن حالِها

فماتَ الجبانُ وعاشَ البطل

And war clarified its situation

So the coward died and the hero lived

وأومضتِ البيضُ في عارضٍ

من الموتِ ما عنَّ حتى رَحَل

And white glimmered in a cheek

From death, diffusing until it departed

سَقَى الأَرْضَ أكثرَ منْ رِيِّها

على أنَّه ليس فيه بَلَل

It quenched the earth more than its irrigation

While having no moisture within

وَسَدَّ على الشمسِ آفاقَها

ولو ضَحَيتْ لم تَجِدْ فيه ظل

And eclipsed the sun from its horizons

Beaming, but finding no shade in it

ليهنِ الجزيرةَ إهلالها

إلى دولة عَبَدتَهْا الدول

To restore the peninsula it demolished

To a state whose cycles it worshiped

هببتَ إليها مع المشرفيّ

وكنتض أحَقَّ بِسَبْقِ العَذَل

You set out to it with the notable tribes

Yet you were most worthy of precedence

وقد راغَ قومٌ عن المكرماتِ

ولكنهم خُلِقُوا من عجل

A group of people turned away from kindness

But they were created hasty

فَسَحْتَ لها والنوى غَرْبَةٌ

تضيقُ الرِّحالُ بها والرِّحَل

You made way while the intention was unfamiliarity

The journeys there are too narrow for travels

وقد علمتُ حين لبيتها

بأيِّ قُوَى ماجدٍ تَنصل

And I knew when I sensed its approach

With what powerful, glorious this renunciation was done

هو الجدُّ لا غَفَلاتُ الملوكِ

بين الأَناةِ وبين العَجَل

It is seriousness, not the heedlessness of kings

Between purposefulness and haste

ولا خَوْضُهُمْ غمراتِ المُحَالِ

يستنجدونَ عسى أو لعل

Nor their confusion in the depths of impossibilities

Seeking rescue – perhaps or maybe

فَسَعْدَكَ يستنجحُ الطالبونَ

وإن رَغِمَ المُشْترِي أو زُحَل

Good fortune has been granted to those who request you

Even if the buyer sulks or pulls back

وإيَّاكَ يمتدحُ المادحونَ

شَتَّى المآربِ شَتَّى السبل

And you are the one the panegyrists praise

Of various interests and various paths

وأنت أخذتَ العلا بالسيوفِ

جادَ الزمان بها أو بخل

You have taken the high ground with the swords

Time has granted it or been stingy of it

طلعتَ عليهم طُلُوع المنونِ

فألْقَوْا بأيدي الوَنَى والفَشَل

You appeared to them like the rise of death

So they let go of the reins of demise and failure

بعزم كظنِّ الأديبِ الأريبِ

وجيشٍ كَذَيْلِ الأَياةِ الخَصِل

With determination twisting if they implicated it

It fulfilled and if they tasked it, it carried

وهمة أَلْوَى إذا ضَمّنُوْهُ

وَفَى وإذا حَمّلُوهُ حَمَل

Its money gets divided among the impoverished

So if there is surplus, then the surplus is his

تُقَسَّمُ أمْوَالُهُ في العُفَاةِ

فإن فَضَلَتْ فَلَهُ ما فَضَل

And its swords wreak havoc among the enemies

So if they are thirsty, then the afflictions are upon it

وتنهلُ أسيافُهُ في العداةِ

فإن ظَمِئَتْ فَعليه العَلَل

Ask the sea about its generosity when it raged

And its shores about its violence when it lurked

سلِ البحْرَ عن جُودِهِ إذ طما

وَشَطَّيْهِ عن بَأْسِهِ إذ أطَل

It manifested between both its states

So ask it, has it seen a sea or a mountain?

تَجَلَّى له بين حاليهما

فَسَلْهُ أبحرٌ رَأى أمْ جبل

And it used to recognize it out of ignorance of it

But when it saw it, it foretold or recoiled

وقد كان باراه جَهْلاً به

فلما رآهُ نَبَا أو نَكَل

And it deliberately avoided its extent for it

Either to be valued or to see who is debased

وَعَمْداً تَجَافَى له عَنْ مَدَاهُ

ليعتزَّ أو لِيَرى منْ أذَل

Abu Bakr, repay those debts

For time has caused harm beyond what lingered

أبا بكرٍ اقتضِ تلك الديونَ

فقد أبأَسَ الدهرُ مما مَطَل

You sought the heights in the shadows of spears

As staves have been lacking in the shadows of turbans

تَوَخَّ العُلا في ظلالِ الرِّماحِ

فقد أعوزتْ في ظِلالِ الكِلل

And guard the sanctity of the kingdom from violation

Especially for kingdoms to be debased

وَصُنْ حَرَمَ الملك أنْ يُسْتَباح

فسيما الممالكِ أنْ تُبْتَذَل

I see that every army loves conquest

So from where has the man fallen short?

أرى كلَّ جيشٍ يحبُّ الغِلاَبِ

فمنْ أين قصَّر عَنْهُ الرجل

I thanked you with the gratitude of lively meadows

That you have frequented between softness and firmness

شَكَرْتُكَ شُكْرَ الرياضِ الحيا

تَعَاهَدَها بين وَبْلٍ وَطَل

I have alleviated the sorrow of the envious by mentioning you

If he died it would neither increase nor diminish

أطَلْتُ بذكرِكَ غَمَّ الحسودِ

فلو ماتَ ما زادَ أو ما عضل

My illness walks slowly during my times of weakness

Which are humiliation while it sees them as laziness

يسيرُ غليّ على فَتْرَةٍ

هي الذُلُّ وهو يَراها الكَسَل

Abu Bakr secured the lives of Muslims

For oppression had trickled down upon them and overflowed

تَدَارَكْ أبا بكرٍ المسلمينَ

فقد نَهِلَ الضيمُ منهمْ وَعَل

You were entrenched in the ways of magnanimity

Of vast overtures and an immense abode

تَغَلْغَلْتَ في طُرُقِ المَكْرُماتِ

ضخمَ الدَّسَائع رَحْبَ المحل

So time stood by you, aromatic

And generosity walked with you the course of an exemplar

فقامَ بكَ الدهر طيبَ النَّدى

وسار بك الجودُ سَيْرَ المثل