لِمن مربع بالسفحِ أَقوت ملاعبه

وأصبحَ في مغناه ينعبُ ناعبُه

To whom belongs the square at the valley's slope,

Its playgrounds now desolate and lacking hope,

عَفى غير مشجوجِ القذالِ وأَورق

أَقامت كمثلِ الورق منه مناصبُه

Unkempt yet still flourishing and evergreen,

Its pillars standing where they have always been,

وَأَضحت به بعدَ الخليط أوانساً

رباربه مُذ فارَقته ربارِبُه

Companioned after separation by thoughts rife,

Since the day it lost the friend that was its life,

فكم فيه قد جرّرتُ ذيلَ شَبيبتي

وكم رامقَتني بالودادِ كَواعِبُه

How often here my tail of youth I've dragged,

How often by its love and ardour I've been snagged,

وَأغيد معسول المراشفِ لم يزل

يُعاتِبُني عند اللّقا وَأُعاتبُه

That meadow sweet which cups of wine would fill

Still chides me when we meet, and I it still,

شرحتُ له حالي وما قد لقيتهُ

غَداةَ بهِ للبين جدّت ركائبُه

I told it of my state and what I have seen,

The day its mounts were parted from its green,

وَخاطبتهُ مستخبراً فَتكشّفت

سرائرهُ من حيث كنتُ أُخاطِبُه

I spoke to it, its secrets then revealed,

From where I stood, conversing with its field,

حَبيبٌ إِذا حاولتُ تَقبيلَ صدغهِ

قَضت لسعها في القلبِ منه عقارِبُه

A lover, when I try to kiss his cheek,

Stings my heart with pangs from venoms in his reek,

ثلاثٌ على غصن وَدعص بروده

وتطوى على ليلٍ وصبحٍ جلاببُه

Three on a branch, in leaves their robes entwine,

Their wraps enfold the night and morning shine,

أَغار عليه من قلائدهِ إذا

تحلّت بها لبّاته وترائبُه

I envy it its necklaces which grace

Its soft neck, perfumed, from its resting place,

فَيا حسنهُ لمّا مَشى متهزّعاً

وَقَد ماس في بردِ الصبا وهو ساحِبُه

Ah, its beauty walking with faltering feet,

Shivering in the cold wind which it must greet,

يحاكي نهارُ الوصلِ غرّة وجههِ

وَيشبه ليل الهجر منه ذوائبُه

The day of union is the radiance of its face,

The night of separation are its robe's creases,

وَيثقله عند النهوضِ إذا نَوى

قياماً ركيم الردفِ حين يجاذبُه

Rising, it struggles under its heavy load,

As its crupper fights against its goad,

أَلا أَيّها الظبيُ الّذي قد أَذاقَني

هَوى كأسهِ لا يسأم السقم شارِبُه

O you, the gazelle, who made me taste the wine,

Of passion, which does not diminish with each sip of mine,

أَما قبلة لي منك أطفي ببردها

من الوجدِ جمراً مُحرقات لواهِبُه

Won't you give me a kiss with which I'll smother

The embers your love caused, flames in me to further?

أَرى الناس شتّى في الطباعِ وإنّما

طباعُ الفتى تنقادُ ممّن يصاحبُه

I see people differ in nature and soul,

But one's nature is shaped by company's role,

فَلا تغترر بِالناس واِختر أبرّهم

فَليس يساوي صادق البرّ كاذبُه

Do not be fooled by people, choose the most righteous one,

For nothing equals the truthful and honest one,

وَكم ألّ قفر ظنّ ماء جَرى وكم

تَراءت لمقباسِ الظلامِ حباحبُه

How often has a mirage been mistaken for a stream,

And darkness' lantern for a star's gleam!

وَقَد يعرفُ الأيّامَ مَن كان دائماً

تُسالمه أيّامهُ وتحارِبُه

One's days may be known by who is his friend and his foe,

Who greets him each morn and who strikes at him each blow,

وَتفرضُ عذب العيشِ كرهاً مورّعاً

للذّاته من ودَّعته شبائِبُه

Pleasure is marred by discontent's vicious strangle,

When the locks of youth begin to mottle and tangle,

يُناهبني صرف الزمان فإنّما

ظفرتُ به من عيشتي وأناهبُه

Fortune steals from my life all that I have earned,

Yet I wrest from fortune all that I have learned,

فَليت حياها ساعَفتني وساعَدت

بِما أنا من صعب المطالب طالبُه

Would that life could grant me all that I desire,

For I seek the difficult things I aspire,

أراني أُمنّي النفسَ منّي تعلّلاً

بِعيش مَضى عنّي وفاتَت أطايبُه

I find myself wishing for a past now gone,

Its pleasures and joys no longer live on,

وَآملُ فضلاً ليس يدرك كونه

وَهل ردّ شخب الضرعِ في الضرع حالبُه

I hope for things impossible to obtain,

Can the teat give back milk once sucked from its vein?

وَمبتسم أَحوى يزيد تبسّماً

بهِ كلّ أحوى يسكبُ الدمعَ ساكبُه

Smiling he turned, and my smile turned to flowing tears,

As darkness's wings did their mystery unfurl,

تبسّم مفترّاً وحمحمَ باكياً

وَجُنح الدجى مسترخيات غياهِبُه

Sighing, he spurred his steed, as a farmer would race,

His robes heavy with rain back home to his place,

يسحّ ويهمي مستهلّاً كأنّما

أَكفّ فلاح قَد حَوتها سحائِبُه

Generous, though drought dried the rain from men's wells,

His robes still poured rain where people did dwell,

جوادٌ إِذا ما المزنُ أَمسكَ قطره

عنِ الناسِ أَغنت ممحليه غياهِبُه

The realm's justice he kept, his rule he made wide,

Bringing those distant closer to his side,

أَقام حدودَ العدلِ في الملكِ آنس

أباعدهُ في عدلهِ وأقاربُه

He shared all he had, gave money away,

Which no palm had before his benevolent day,

وَفرّق ما يحوى منَ المال واهباً

وَما مسّت الدينار يوماً رَواحِبُه

He filled praises with glory and generosity,

Wherever fine traits and virtues could be,

حلائله عزّ المحامدِ وَالثنا

مَتى ما يُحالل والمعاني حبائِبُه

The nights' turns reveal what is and what will be,

As if the nights themselves wrote his decree,

صروفُ الليالي تَقتضي ما يريده

كأنّ الليالي كتبهُ وَكتائبُه

None in heaven could spy on him, no prying thing,

Save the stars which peered out from under its wing,

وَما في سماهُ اِستسرق السمع ماردٌ

مِن الخلقِ إلّا اِستوعرته كواكبُه

Had he unleashed his might against time, none would remain

To rise up again, all would be made plain,

وَلَو أَنّه أَلقى وأَرسل بطشهُ

على الدهرِ ما في الناس نابت نوائبُه

A raincloud pouring heavy rain on the just,

And on the wicked, only bolts to disgust,

سَحابٌ على العافي يصبّ هباته

وَتَنصبُّ منه لِلبغاةِ مصائبُه

With no one drawing sword, it seemed to advance,

To smite his foes with its lighting and lance,

وَكادَت على الأعداءِ مِن غيرِ ضاربٍ

تَصول عوالي سمره وقواضبُه

You have courted glory and rightly so,

Both your beginning and end honour will know,

أساحب ذيلَ المَكرُمات ومَن عَلت

مَراتب أربابِ المَعاني مَراتِبُه

Against the enemy, you have boldly set loose,

A sword sharpened with purpose its edge to produce,

سَعيتَ لِكسبِ المجدِ سعياً موفّقاً

أَوائلهُ مَحمودةٌ وَعَواقِبُه

None but you wears victory's mantle now unfurled,

None but you is the winner declared in this world,

وَجردتَ لِلأعداءِ سَيفاً مهنّداً

مِنَ العزمِ عضباً ماضيات مضارِبُه

You have sought glory and succeeded in gaining it,

Both your efforts and results show true merit.

وَلا فخرَ إلّا أَنت لابسُ بردهِ

وَلا حمدَ إلّا أَنت في الناسِ كاسبُه