ما لاِبنة السَّعْدي ما تُسْلَى

تَبلى مودتُها ولا تَبلَى

What ails the daughter of Sa'd, that she finds no solace?

Her affection wears out, but does not wear away.

قالتْ سَمعتَ العَذْلَ قلتُ لها

حُباً لذكركِ أَسمعُ العَذْلا

She said "Did you hear the censure?" I said "For love of your mention I listen to censure."

Don't be anxious for your love about virtue.

لا تَجزعي بهواكِ عن عُرُضٍ

غَلَبَ النَّسَاءُ عليَّ واستَولى

Women have overcome me and taken control.

Youth is a wild colt I have mounted,

انَّ الشبابَ صِبىً أَصبتَ بهِ

وبثكلِهِ دُعيَ الرَّدى ثكلا

And because of him, destruction was called a ruin.

Oh how I miss the tryst though days have rendered it vain,

يا حبَّذَا الميعادُ تخلِفُهُ

أَيام كنتُ للبِّها شُغْلا

When I was preoccupied with sending messages.

And the poetry I knew has changed,

وتغيرُ الشَّعْر الذي عَهِدَتْ

قد غيرَ الهِجْرانَ والوَصْلا

Separation and union have changed it.

So its whiteness, if it has become motes,

فبياضُه انْ كانَ صارَ قَذَىً

فيما يكون سَوادُه كُحْلاً

Is made into kohl by its blackness.

I yearn for a kingdom I was passionate about,

لهفي على مُلكٍ فُجِعْتُ به

كان المشيبُ لملكه عضزْلا

When gray hair for his kingdom was but an unkempt lock.

The rising sun cannot ascend,

ما تستقلُّ الشَّمسُ طالعةً

الا ذكرتُ لها بِها مِثْلا

Except that I liken it to her visage.

And stops I have no excuse for, ever,

ومواقفاً لا عُذرَ لي أَبَداً

ان كنتُ أَعلمُ أَيُّها أَجْلى

If I know, O most sublime.

So sheathe your sword after your audacity,

انْ فُلَّ حدِّي بعدَ جُرأَتِهِ

فالسيفُ مرهوبٌ وانْ فُلاَّ

For the sword inspires awe even when sheathed.

And a young man who assumed the burden of calamity

وفتىً تَحَمَّلَ ثِقلَ نائبةٍ

عنِّي وكان لحملها أَهْلا

From me, though fit to carry that load.

My hands were too short for what I have for him,

قضصُرَتْ يدي عمَّا لديَّ له

فرأى عليَّ لنفسهِ الفضْلا

So he saw for himself the superiority.

Consider if I had known of it,

أنظر فاني لو شَعَرْتُ بها

لوضعتُ عن سَيْسَائِك الثِّقْلا

I would have removed the burden from your slender frame.

And the caprices of fate would have granted me respite,

ولكان ريبُ الدَّهْرِ يُمهلُني

لو قلتُ يومئذٍ له مهْلا

If I had said to it then, "grant me respite."

And its consequences will follow me,

وعسى عواقبُه ستعقبني

فأَزيد أَو أُولي كما أَولَى

So I will increase or diminish as it diminished or increased.

The night does not travel with its stars,

الليلُ لا أَسْرى بأَنجمِهِ

لولاي كان بحليها عُطْلا

Had it not been for her visage adorning it.

And I met the dawn, it asked me about it

ولقد لقيتُ الصبحَ يسأَلني

عنه فما وليتُ اذْ ولَّى

So I did not turn away when it turned away.

And I built a cairn over calamity,

وبَنَيتُ برداً فوقَ نائبةٍ

بتنوفةٍ لا تعرف الظِّلاْ

With a small rock that knows no shade.

Its honey bees befriend me,

سِرحانُها العسَّالُ يألَفني

كالسهمريِّ يُصاحب النَصْلا

Like arrows accompanying pinion feathers.

Their schemes penetrated so I faced them

نَفَذَتْ مكائدُه فظاهرني

بالكيدِ اذ عييتُه خَتْلا

With schemes when guile failed me.

What is the way to association,

كيف السبيلُ الى مُواصَلةٍ

تُدني الديارَ وتجمعُ الشَّمْلا

That brings the abode near and unites kin?

While the Buyids, after their intimacy,

وبنو بويهٍ بعد ألفَتِها

تتعاورُ الخَطِّيَّ والنَبْلا

Vie in villainy and archery.

It is they who have crammed wars with every

وهم أَزمَّتنَا الذينَ بهم

نُقتاسُ انْ جِداً وانْ هَزْلا

Young lion that tears apart the billows or is set free.

And with every wrongful, wrathful tyrant

لَقحوا الحروبَ بكل مُلْجَمَةٍ

تَتَقَحَّمُ الغَمراتِ أَو تُخلَى

They have made him justice among themselves.

And with Muhnad, his nature has enriched him

وبكل أظمى جائرٍ حَنِقٍ

جعلوه فيما بينهم عَدْلاً

From renewing after him a scabbard.

Arrogance, which makes the forbearing forget

ومهندٍ أغناه طابعه

عن ان يجدد بعده صَقْلا

What forbearance holds, so he rides ignorance.

Succors of Ahmad's nation have overcome

عَصَبِيَّةٌ ينسى الحليمُ لها

ما في الاناةِ فيركبُ الجَهْلا

The views of men, so be an arbiter for it.

Draw near to your brother, and do not obey those

أَغياثَ أُمةِ أَحمدٍ غلبتْ

رأَيَ الرجِالِ فكن لها فَصْلا

Who forbade you to befriend family.

Have you considered, if his wish were to approach me,

قاربْ أَخاكَ ولا تطع نفراً

منعوكَ أَنْ تتأَلفَ الأَهْلا

Who would have more right to mourn him?

So race to meet water brought to you both,

أَرأَيتَ انْ طَرقَتْ منيَّتُهُ

من ذا يكونُ بثكلهِ أَولَى

Uplifting the great, and wetting the small.

Why not, when he came to you confessing

فاستبقِ ماءَ مَطاً جرى بكما

رفعَ الكبيرَ ورشحَ الطِّفْلا

Sins, make him feel at home?

So refrain from mercy yet have mercy,

هلاَّ وقد وافاكَ معترفاً

بالسيئات أَقلْتَهُ أَهْلا

When you saw your dear humbled.

There is no experience after the old age of a man,

فتكفَّ عن رحمٍ وترحمُها

لما رأَيتَ عزيزها ذَلاً

Trials surely mature the mind.

Leave this one for its closeness a connection,

ما بعدَ شيبِ المرءِ تجربة

انَّ التجاربَ تعمرُ العَقْلا

And purpose for another that severed the rope.

Put the nomads wherever you put them,

دعْ هذهِ لدنوها صِلَةً

واعمدْ لاخرى جَزَتِ الحبْلا

They hunt gazelles and small deer.

It is as if I see them wink

وضع الأعاربَ حيثما وضعوا

تتصيدُ اليُربوعَ والحِسْلا

The wink of the squint-eyed, mocking the one-eyed.

Their elders are erased by their young,

فكأنني بهم وقد غَمَزوا

غمزَ الثقافِ موارِناً عُصْلا

For the ignorance they brought upon them.

Like one stumbling, whose misstep

يَلْحَى كبارَهم صغارُهم

فيما جَنوه عليهم جَهْلا

Ensnared a foot, so it necessitated a sandal.

Be like Sapur, the day he healed

كالعَاثرِ استشرتْ بزلتهِ

قَدَمٌ فأَلزَمَ دنبَها النَّعْلا

The rage in chests and attained kingship.

And exiled troops after they had eaten

كُنْ مثلَ سابورٍ غَداةَ شَفَى

غيظَ الصُّدُورِ وأَدركَ التبْلا

The land of Saad and its people whole.

By God, the worth of Sinan, who made

ونفى اِياداً بعدما أَكلوا

أَرضَ السوادِ وأَهلَه أَكْلا

Rods and spearheads into gravel.

It passed the generous, rising,

لله درُّ سنابِكٍ جَعَلَتْ

رضم المخارم والصُّوى رَمْلا

As if it had severed its rope through him.

Follow them, and despite their cunning,

مرتْ على الجُودي طَالِعَةً

وكأَنما قطعتْ به حَبْلا

Twenty thousand adolescent recruits.

And it set out to Najd, leaving no

لحقوهم وعلى مهارتِهم

عشرون أَلفَ مراهقٍ عُزْلا

Branch for its inhabitants, or root.

Days when they were like dogs in it,

وَسَمَتْ الى نجدٍ فما تركتْ

فرعاً لساكنِهِ ولا أَصْلا

While the Banu Uqayl herded camels.

All delighted by his misery,

أَيام كانت كالكلابِ بهِ

وبنو عُقيلٍ تعقِل الاِبْلا

The best of lands to him is the most barren.

They love their brother with half his urine,

من كلِّ مسرورٍ بشقوته

خيرُ المواطنِ عنده الأَخلى

If he honors the riding beast or makes it kneel.

And the thirsty one counts it generosity,

يَحبو أَخاه بشطر بولتهِ

انْ عزَّ ماءُ الركبِ أَوقَلاَّ

While the lowly is not made more lowly by lowness.

Reform your tribes, they have surely spoiled,

ويَعُدُّها الظمآنُ مكرمةً

والرذلُ لا يستزذلُ الرَّذْلا

By that you reform the knot and solution.

أَصلح أُهيلَكَ اِنَّهُمْ فَسَدُوا

تُصلحْ بذاكَ العَقدَ والحَلا