عَفا مِن سُلَيمى ذو سَديرٍ فَغابِرُ

فَحَرسٌ فأَعلامُ الدَّخولِ الصوادِرُ

The one from Sulaima with lofty dignity has forgiven, so the gloom departed,

And so the guards withdrew, and the signs of entry were removed,

نَظَرتُ بِوادي الغَمر واللَّيلُ مُقبِلٌ

يَرِفُّ رَفيفَ النَّسر والشَّوقُ طائِرُ

I looked towards Wadi al-Ghamr as night was approaching,

The breeze fluttering with the cry of the eagle and yearning soaring high.

قَضى اللَّهُ في بَعضِ المَكارِهِ لِلفَتى

بِرُشدٍ وَفي بَعضِ الهَوى ما يُحاذِرُ

God has decreed for the youth in some troubles,

Guidance, and in some desires that which must be avoided.

أَلَم تَعلَمي أَني إِذا الإلفُ قادَني

سوى القَصدِ لا أَنقادُ والإِلفُ جائِرُ

Do you not know that when intimacy leads me,

I follow nothing but the right path, and intimacy is misleading?

شَرِبنا بِثُعبانٍ مِن الطَّود بَردَها

شِفاءً لِغَمٍّ وَهيَ داءٌ مُخامِرُ

We drank from a serpent in Mount Tawd, its coldness

A cure for sorrow, though it is a lingering affliction.

لَياليَ دُنيانا عَلينا رَحيبَةٌ

وإِذ عامِرٌ في أَولِ الدَّهرِ عامِرُ

Our nights reproached us, once flourishing, now desolate,

Though in the beginning of time it was inhabited and flourishing.

وَقَد كُنتُ في بَعضِ الصّباوَةِ أَتَّقي

أُموراً وأَخشى أَن تَدورَ الدَّوائِرُ

In my rash youth I used to fear

Things that might happen and the turning of fate.

وأَعلَمُ أَني إِن تغطّيتَ مرَّةً

مِنَ الدَّهرِ مَكشوفٌ غِطائي فَناظِرُ

And I know that if you cover me once,

From fate I am exposed, my covering stripped away.

وَما خِلتُنا إِذ لَيسَ يَحجزُ بَينَنا

وَبينَ العِدى إِلا القُنيّ الخَواطِرُ

We were not without protection, for naught stood between us

And harm but the shields of thought.

وَوَصلُ الخُطا بالسَّيفِ والسَّيفُ بالخُطا

إِذا ظَنّ أَنَّ السَّيفَ ذو السَّيفِ قاصِرُ

The sword is linked to tyranny, and tyranny to the sword

When the sword believes the sword’s holder falls short.

وَقَد يَركبُ الأَمرَ الذي لَيسَ حالُهُ

إِذا ما أَضافَتهُ إِليهِ الضَّرائِرُ

And an affair one is not equipped for

May be taken on if disasters drive one to it.

إِلى أَن نَزلنا بِالفَضاء وَما لَنا

بِهِ مَعقِلٌ إِلا الرِّماحُ الشَّواجِرُ

Until we arrived at the open plain, our only refuge

The tall spears, naked blades.

أَتانِيَ عَن كَعبٍ مَقالٌ وَلَم يَزل

لِكَعبٍ يَمينٌ مِن يَديّ وَناصِرُ

News came to me from Ka’b, who has never ceased

To be my right hand and my champion.

لأَعتَرضن بِالسَّهلِ ثُمَ لأَحدُوَن

قَصائِدَ فيها لِلمَعاذيرِ زاجِرُ

I will waylay on the plain, then rush

Odes in which blame's deterrent thunders loud,

قَصائِدَ تَستَحلي الرواةُ نَشيدَها

وَيَلهو بِها مِن لاعبِ الحي سامِرُ

Odes which reciters will proudly chant

And which the playful gallant will delight in.

يَعَضُّ عَليها الشَّيخُ إِبهام كفِّهِ

وَتخزَى بِها أَحياؤُكُم والمقابِرُ

The elder bites his thumb at them in censure

And your livelihoods and tombs are shamed by them.