قِف بِالرسومِ الخاليات مخاطباً
وَاِجعل أَنينك للمطيّ مجاوبا
Stand by the deserted ruins addressing them
And make your moaning answer the rider
دمنٌ بِها كم قد غدوت محبّبا
ولكَم لثمت بِها الغزالة كاعِبا
How beloved it became with those who have dwelt in it
And how many gazelles kissed it as a frolicsome place
بانَ الأحبّة مِن مَعالِمها وقد
جَعَلوا الهوادجَ للخرادِ مَراكبا
The loved ones departed from its landmarks when
They made the howdahs for lizards to ride in
أَمسَت كَخوفِ العيرِ أَوحش منزلاً
وَعَفت عِراصاً بَعدَهم وَملاعبا
It became like the fear of a caravan, a most desolate abode
And it grew into barren ground after them and playgrounds
وَلَقد وقفتُ فكنتُ جسماً حاضراً
ما بينَ أربُعهم وَقلباً غائبا
Indeed I stood there so I was a body present
Yet my heart was absent between the four of them
يوماً نودّعهم وَنحنُ منَ الجَوى
نذري بِأنملِنا الدموعَ سَواكبا
One day we bid them farewell while out of passion
With our fingers we poured down tears in torrents
وَتَرى ظعائِنَهم غداةَ البينِ في
لججِ السرابِ طوافياً ورواسبا
You see their gazelles the morning after separation in
The mirage of the desert floating and pausing
يُجلين لِلأبصارِ حين تحمّلوا
منهم شموساً في الخدورِ غَواربا
Brightening the sights when they carried
Suns in howdahs and litters
سارَت بهنّ العيسُ ترفلُ فاِغتدت
منّا القلوبُ لِركبهنّ جَنايبا
The caravan departed in which they rode beautifully so
Our hearts became enflamed for their riding she-camels
بيضُ الترائبِ لَم يَزلن حَبايبا
منّا للبّاتِ القلوبِ نَواهِبا
White like the pleiades they never ceased being darling
To our hearts spending the night wakeful
أَطمَعنَنا منهنّ وصلَ إِياسنا
فَتخالهنّ فَواركاً وَحَبائبا
They made us hope for union though they despaired us
Deeming them constantly departing and drawing away
وَبسمنَ عن بردٍ تحلّ عقوده
مِن أن يصير لهنّ سلك ناقبا
They smiled despite the cold that melts its knots
Lest it become for them a piercing wire
بردٌ يذيبُ ولا يَذوبُ وكلّما
قارنتهُ للّثمِ كنت الذائِبا
A cold that melts but does not dissolve, and whenever
I joined it for a kiss, I was the melter
كَم قَد نَعمت بهنّ مُختلياً ولم
أَخشى حَسوداً كاشِحاً ومُراقبا
How much did I delight in them in seclusion and I feared not
An envious backbiter watching and observing
أيّام لم يعبث بنا زمنٌ وَلَم
نَسمع غرابَ البينِ فينا ناعبا
Days when time did not toy with us and we heard not
The crow of separation cawing in us
وَذَوائِبي غربيبة أَلوانها
وَرياضُ لهوٍ لَم يزلنَ خَصائبا
And my gazelles, dappled are their colors
And meadows of playfulness that were always fertile
أَسفاً لأيّامٍ مَضَت أسفاً لها
ولّى الشبابُ وَما قَضيتُ مَآرِبا
Alas for days gone by! Alas for them!
Youth turned away and I gained no goals
ما إن رجوتُ منَ الزّمانِ مَغانماً
إِلا وقَد فَاجأت خطباً نائبا
No sooner did I hope for gains from fate
Except it surprised me with afflictions suddenly visiting
ما جادَ فِكري في مَذاهبِ حُكمهِ
مُتصفّحاً إلّا رَأيت عَجائبا
My mind never wandered in its methods of rule
Except I saw wonders
ما شمتُ منهُ مَخايلاً إلّا وَقَد
هَطلت مَواطر ودقهنّ مَصائبا
I never rejoiced in it except showers poured down
And disasters struck them as calamities
كَم بارقٍ للظنّ يَبدو صادقاً
وَيلوحُ في عينِ الحَقيقةِ كاذِبا
How many flashes seeming true to guess
Shine in the eye of truth as lies
لا تَأمننَّ الناسَ كَيداً واِحذَرن
ممّن تَراهُ مُسالماً وَمحاربا
Do not trust people in treachery and beware
Of those you see as peaceful yet they wage war
وَاِصرف لَهم باب الوبالِ ولا تلن
للناسِ ما دامَت حَياتك جانبا
And turn away from them the door of harm and do not incline
To people as long as your life keeps its side
كم واثقٍ بالناسِ حتّى ما أَتت
نوبُ الزمانِ غَدوا عليهِ نوائِبا
How many who trusted in people until the turns
Of fate turned against him in afflictions
سَلني عنِ الدنيا تَجدني مخبراً
عَنها فَصيحاً في المَقالةِ خاطِبا
Ask me of the world, you will find me well-informed
About it, eloquent in speech, a sermonizer
عاشرت أحداثَ اللّيالي مثلَ ما
أَحصيتُهنّ مآكلاً ومشاربا
I experienced the events of the nights just as
I enumerated them, places of eating and drinking
وَضربت في الأرضين حتّى جلت في
أَقطارهنّ مَشارقاً ومَغاربا
And I roamed the lands until I comprehended in
Their regions easts and wests
وَعددت لِلآنامِ صبراً طائلاً
وَعزيمةً تَمضي وَرأياً صائبا
And I prepared for the days abundant patience
And resolve that goes forth and a right opinion
وَرقيتُ في أفقِ المطالبِ لامساً
مِنها شموساً وُضّحا وَكواكبا
And I rose in the horizon of aspirations touching
Suns that shone clearly and planets
وَعلقتُ بِالزاكي أبي العربِ الّذي
عمّ الأنامَ غوايلاً وَرَغائبا
And I clung to the most honorable of Arabs whom
Peoples universally admire and covet
ملكٌ يَخالُ العدلَ ديناً قيّماً
وَيَرى عَليه الجودَ فَرضاً واجبا
A king who deems justice a valued religion
And views generosity upon it an obligation
وفتىً مَتى تقصدهُ في طلبِ الغِنى
تَقصِد جواداً لِلمَواهبِ واهبا
And a young man whom if you seek in request of wealth
You seek a generous giver of gifts and presents
تَحظى الملوكُ عُلاه إِذ هيَ قبّلت
مِن راحَتيهِ أَناملاً وَرَواجبا
Kings are fortunate: his highness when
His fingers and palms they kiss
ما سارَ نَحوَ عُلاه طرسُ كتابه
إِلّا وَقَد هَزم الكتاب كَتائبا
None of the pages of his writings marched
Toward his loftiness except the pages were defeated in companies
ما في سَماء علاه مرّ مخاطب
إِلّا وَأتبعهُ شِهاباً ثاقبا
None in the sky of his loftiness passed by an orator
Except he followed him with a piercing meteor
كَم سُلّ منهُ على الخطوبِ مهنّد
عَضبٌ وَأَمضى في الخطوبِ مَضاربا
How many insolent ones from him in calamities angrily stirred
A lion whom when the fox stirs his spear
أَسدٌ إِذا ما هزّ ثعلبَ رمحهِ
صارَت لَه أسدُ العرينِ ثَعالبا
The lions of the den become foxes
He left the enemies in war an arena in which his
تَركَ العدا في الحربِ ميداناً تثي
رُ بِهِ فَوارسه دَماً وغياهِبا
Horsemen stir up blood and dark clouds
And he shed their blood in a copious ocean
وَدماهم منه ببحرٍ زاخرٍ
لَجب تلاطمَ بِالدروعِ غَوارِبا
The surging of armor clashed in waves
A sea that surges with waves forgiving and waterspouts
بَحراً يموجُ مغافراً وبواتراً
وَلَهاذماً وضَراغماً وَشَوازبا
And destroyers and charging stallions and young camels
And he clothed them in garments of slaughter so they awoke
وَكَساهمُ حللَ النجيعِ فَأَصبَحوا
صَرعى لذؤبانِ الفلاةِ مآدبا
As carrion for the hyenas of the wasteland
In a battlefield in which he hurls the swords as flashing light
في عارضٍ يذرُ السيوفَ بَوارقاً
وَالنبلَ وبلاً وَالعجاجَ غياهِبا
And arrows as calamities and stones as dark clouds
O you who established alive the clouds of his generosity
يا مَن أَقامَ حياً غمائمَ جودهِ
لِلناسِ عَن ودقِ الغَمائمِ نائِبا
For people despite the flowing of the clouds
Listen to the words of a poet who became
اِسمع مقالةَ شاعرٍ أَضحى عَلى
صَرفِ اللّيالي وَالحَوادثِ عاتِبا
Displeased with the nights and events blaming them
And calling you to reconcile them, and so reconcile their dispute with gifts and presents
وَنَداكَ يصلح بينهنّ وَتينه
فَاصلح خصامهما ندىً وَمَواهِبا
