لِمَنْ ظعنٌ سوائِرٌ كالحِرَاجِ

رَمى الحَادي بها عُرضَ الفِجَاجِ

For whom are flowing robes like silk curtains,

Cast by fate upon the expanse of the deserts,

تَنَازَعْنَ الدُّجى ولَبِسنَ منه

خَميصَةَ مُعْلَمِ الطَّرفينِ دَاجِ

They contended with darkness and from it dawned

A shirt whose edges were fringed by the dawn light,

أَاِنْ صاحَ الغرابُ بآلِ سُعْدَى

جَزعْتَ وكلُّ آَمْنٍ لانْزِعَاجِ

If the raven cries over the abode of Sa'dah

You become anxious while all else remain undisturbed,

عشيةَ فارقتكَ ولم تُودعْ

وأَينَ من الوَداعِ طِلابُ حاج

One evening I left you without bidding farewell,

But where is farewell needed for seekers of union?

فما وَجَدْ بها وجدي فَتَاةٌ

أُصِيْبَ شَقيقُها يومَ الهِيَاجِ

So I found no solace in her, a delicate damsel

Whose brother was slain on the day of turmoil,

غدا في فتيةٍ ثكلوا مناهم

ولاقوا فورةَ الطَّعنِ الخِلاجِ

On the morrow among the youths who lost their loved ones

And met with the heat of piercing, deadly lances,

تعارضتِ الغلولُ على ارتياعٍ

لتسأَلَ عن أَخيها كلَّ نَاجِ

The rolling folds contended in perturbation

To ask about her brother each wailing woman,

أَرى النَّسْرين وهي ترى سُهيلاً

مُغِذ الأُمَّهاتِ عن النِتاجِ

I look upon Capella, and it looks upon Suhail,

Feeder of mothers, from the newborn separated,

وبين النَّسْرِ والنَّجْمِ اليَماني

كما بين الأَسنةِ والزُّجَاجِ

And between the star and star of al-Yaman

Is as between the spearpoint and mirror image,

فلا يُدنيكَ الاَّ مُدنياتٌ

أَنِفنَ من التأوّه والضِجَاجِ

So none may approach you but noble ladies

Who disdain sighing and loud lamentations,

ملكنَ على المفاوزِ كلَّ تِيْهٍ

خَفِيّ السَّمْتِ مُنْخَرِقِ الفِجَاجِ

They ruled the desolate valleys and every wilderness

Of hidden trails and cleft ravines,

كأَطرافِ الرِّماحِ مُسدَّدَاتٍ

الى ثُغَرِ الهَواجرِ والدَّياجِي

Like spear-tips, leveled,

At the cheeks of maidens and chaste ladies,

دَمُ الأَجوافِ بعدَ حليّ نجدٍ

رواجع جِرَّةِ القُلُصِ النَّواجِي

The blood of maidens after the necklaces of Nejd

Were displaced by the pulling of the twisted ropes,

دَفَعْنَ ذَلاذِلَ الظلماءِ حتى

بدَا منهن وِرْدٌ ذو انبِلاجِ

They repelled the slaves of darkness until

From them appeared a bouquet with gleaming flowers,

وقد شَرَدَتْ نُجُومُ الليلِ منهُ

شُرودَ الخاذلاتِ من النَعَاجِ

And the stars of night were scattered by it

Like sheep scattered by their shepherd,

جَوافل والسُّها من آلِ نعشٍ

مكانَ القُرطِ من أُذنِ المناجِي

Companies of cavalry from the clan of Na'sh

Took the place of earrings on the ear of the beloved,

وأَعرضتِ العَوائدُ واستدارتْ

عواطف ما يَعُجنَ الى مَعَاجِ

The returning messengers turned away

From passions that ferment into affliction,

كأَنَّ البدرَ تعلوه الثُّريَّا

مليكٌ فوقهُ خَرَزَاتُ تَاجِ

As if the full moon wore above it the Pleiades

A sovereign over which jeweled crowns shine,

يُحيي الليلَ وهو له عدوٌّ

كما يلقاكَ بالبِشْرِ المُدَاجي

It greets the night though night is its enemy

Just as you greet me though I make you suffer,

دَعَاني للغِنَى فَصَدَدْتُ عنه

فتىً أَعيا مقالِدَه رِتَاجِي

He called me to wealth but I turned away,

A youth who could not grasp the reins of his mount,

وما يُدْرِيه ما عدَمي وَوفرِي

وما مقدارُ فَقْرِي واحتياجِي

He knows not what I lack and what abounds in me

Nor the extent of my poverty and need,

كلا الحالينِ رامَ أَبو شُجَاعٍ

فلم يظْفَر بحزني وابتهاجي

Abu Shujaa tried both conditions

But grasped neither my joy nor my sorrow,

لَعَمرُ أَبيكَ انَّ بني تميمٍ

أَحقُ بأَنْ يُسَامِحَهُمْ لجاجِي

By your father's life, the clan of Tamim

Most deserves that I make peace with them,

وقبلكَ ما عصيتُ ثِقافُ سعدٍ

فزادَ ثقافُ سعدٍ في اعوجاجِي

And before you none of Thaqaf ibn Sa'd's kin

Disobeyed me, so Thaqaf ibn Sa'd increased my crookedness,

سأُهدي لابنِ حَمْدٍ مُحكماتٍ

من الكلمِ المصونِ بلا مِزَاجِ

I will gift to Ibn Hamd's son some wise sayings

Of words guarded without corruption,

أَلا للهِ والعَلياءِ قومٌ

أَهابَ بوردِ جارِهم المُحَاجِي

Lo! By God and the virtuous, a people

Who esteem the rose garden of their neighbor,

لجأتُ فأَيُّ عصمةِ مستجيرٍ

عَلِقْتُ بِحُجْرَتيه وأيُّ لاجِ

I sought refuge so which refuge of one seeking protection

Did I cling to, and which shelter gave me peace?

وَعَوَّدَني الهُجُومَ على نَدَاهُ

كريمٌ لا يُخَيِّبُ ظنَّ رَاجِ

And your noble one accustomed me to charge against spears

A generous man who never disappoints one who hopes,

له وجهٌ يَشِفُّ البِشْرُ فيهِ

شفيفَ البابليةِ في الزُّجَاجِ

His face brings joy, the smile upon it

Is like light upon Babylonian glass,

فقل لبهاءِ دولةِ آل كِسْرى

أَعنْ حَسَنٍ عنيتَ بمن تُناجي

Say to the splendor of Al-Kisra's family

"Aid Hasan whom you addressed in intimacy,"

ستذكره انِ اندَرعتْ خُطُوبٌ

تجلُّ عن التثبُّطِ والرَّواجِ

You will remember him if events donned

Their mantles, negating depression and grief,

وأَيُّ الناسِ مثلُ أَبي عليٍّ

اذا فَجَأَتْ بروعتها الفواجي

And which person is like my father 'Ali

If natural talents surpass expectations?

أَقَلُّهُمُ بما يَحوي سروراً

وأَبصرُهم بكيٍّ أَو نِضَاجِ

He who contains in life the least joy

And is most perceptive of misery or mirth,

رِشَاءٌ نُطْتَهُ والوِرْدُ نَهْرٌ

الى ذاتِ العَراقي والعِنَاجِ

A flowered meadow is my visit to him and roses a river

To one with an Iraqi accent and bent branches,

يُريكَ سِوَاكَ وهو اليكَ دَانٍ

دُنُوَّ الأَيمِ قَصْداً في انعِرَاجِ

He shows you nothing but kindness though he is yours

Forever devoted in his inclination,

به انفرجتْ هُمومُكَ بعدَ ضِيْقٍ

وغاياتِ الهُمومِ الى انِفرَاجِ

Through him your anxiety was relieved after distress

And tribulations reached their conclusion,

ويومَ البَصْرةِ استَلَبَتْ يَدَاهُ

رميضَ الشفرتينِ عن الوداجِ

And the day at Basra his hands stripped away

The flinging to and fro of the two swords,

وقد رَبَضتْ لوثبتها رجالٌ

تَحامَوا عَدوةَ الأَسدِ المُهَاجِ

And men crouched to leap, lions

Against the enemy's assault like angry lions,

وذلك اِنْ شكرتَ له مُقامٌ

أَقر قرارَ عينِكَ في الحِجَاجِ

And so reward him with an abode

To soothe your eye in the Hijaz,

وبالأهوازِ قادِ مسوماتٍ

طَفَحْنَ من المَحاني والشِّراجِ

At Ahvaz leading spirited horses

Who gushed forth from the troughs and paddocks,

اذا مَرَّتْ سنابكُها بقاعٍ

خلعن عليه أرديةَ العَجَاجِ

When their hybrids passed through a land

They adorned it with gowns of varied colors,

تخايلَ في المراكزِ كلُّ رمحٍ

كأَنَّ سِنَانَهُ لَهَبُ السِّراجِ

Prancing at the halting places, every spear

As if its point were the flame of a lamp,

فذاكَ فتىً تنالُ الكأسُ منه

وتعرِفُ همَّه المقلُ السَّواجي

That is the youth from whom goblets are passed

And his care is known to intimate friends,

فانكَ لا تَرى في العيشِ فَرقاً

يُرى بين العُذُوبةِ والأُجَاجِ

For you see no difference in life

Between sweetness and bitterness,

وأكثرُ هذه الشهواتِ خبلٌ

وأَمراضٌ تُدَاوى بالعِلاجِ

Most of these passions are madness

And illness cured only by remedies,

وكلُّ الناسِ غيرُكَ يا بن حمدٍ

وغَيري خائفٌ للدَّهرِ راجِ

All people other than you, Ibn Hamd,

And other than I fear the fickle days,

وليس لأَننا فيهِ سَواءٌ

وبعضُ القومِ يَمْدَحُ وهو هَاجِ

It's not because we're equal in them

Though some praise while in rage,