وَما كُنتُ مِمَّن أَلجَأَتهُ خَصاصَةٌ

إِلَيكَ وَلا مِمَّن تُغُرُّ المَواعِدُ

I was not of those whom adversity

Has driven to seek refuge in you, nor of those tempted by trysts.

وَلَكِنَّها الأَطماعُ وَهيَ مُذِلَّةٌ

دَنَت بي وَأَنتَ النازِحُ المُتباعِدُ

Rather it was ambition which debases

That brought me close while you kept your distance.

أَتَحبِسُني في غَيرِ شَيءٍ وَتارَةً

تُلاحِظُني شَزراً وَأَنفُكَ عاقِدُ

Do you detain me for no reason, while at times

You pay me slight heed, and yet you remain aloof?

فَإِنَّكَ لا كَاِبنَي فَزارَةَ فَاِعلَمَن

خُلِقتَ وَلَم يُشبِهُها لَكَ والِدُ

You are not like the sons of Fazarah, so know

You were created unlike them, your father being different.

وَلا مُدرِكٌ ما قَد خَلا مِن نَداهُما

أَبوكَ وَلا حَوضَيهِما أَنتَ وارِدُ

None can attain the heights reached by your parents,

Neither you nor others who come to their drinking places.

وَإِنَّكَ لَو سامَيتَ آلَ عُطارِدٍ

لَبَزَّتكَ أَعناقٌ لَهُم وَسَواعِدُ

Had you contended with the House of Utarid

You would have been brought low by them, by their strength.

وَمَأثِرَةٌ عادِيَّةٌ لَن تَنالَها

وَبَيتٌ رَفيعٌ لَم تَخُنهُ القَواعِدُ

An inherited glory you'll never attain

Nor a noble house whose foundations you did not lay.

وَهَل أَنتَ إِلّا ثَعلَبٌ في دِيارَهِم

تُشَلَّ فَتَعساً أَو يَقودُكَ قائِدُ

Are you not but a fox in their abode

To be shackled, hapless, or led on a tether?

أَرى خالِداً يَختالُ مَشياً كَأَنَّهُ

مِنَ الكِبرِياءِ نَهشَلٌ أَو عُطارِدُ

I see Khalid strutting proudly like

A snarling lion or flaming meteor.

وَما كانَ يَربوعٌ شَبيهاً لِدارِمٍ

وَما عَدَلَت شَمسَ النَهارِ الفَراقِدُ

Rabia was never the peer of Darim

Nor did the sun of day rival their splendor.