فقَدتُكَ دَهراً كنتُ أفزَعُ فقدَهُ

يُكلّفُني من كلِّ صَعبٍ أشَدَّهُ

I lost you for an age, bearing the heaviest of burdens in your absence.

I obeyed you in a body exposed to every piercing blade that strips the sword of its edge.

أطعتُكَ في جِسْمٍ يُعرِّضُ جَنبَهُ

لكلِّ مَهزٍ يَسلُبُ السيفَ حَدَّهُ

And if he was a slave who does not anger his Lord,

You are a master who shows no mercy to his slave.

وإنْ كانَ عبداً ليس يُغضبُ ربَّهُ

فإنّكَ مولى ليسَ يَرحَمُ عَبْدَهُ

Oh my friend, descendant of Tameem ibn Khindif!

Among people are those whose tears their grief cannot conceal.

ألا يا نَديمي من تميمِ بنِ خِندِفٍ

من الناسِ من لا يكتُم الدمعُ وجدَهُ

It pains me if she I craved nearness to knew my longing,

So that a string of pearls, long protected, would come undone.

يَعزُّ على من لمتُهُ لو علمتُهُ

تَبدُّدُ دُرٍّ طالما صانَ عِقدَهُ

Pour me some cups from my tears, and sing to me

About the heat of a breast whose coolness I once belittled.

أدِرْ لي كؤوساً من دُموعي وغَنني

على حَرِّ صدرٍ كنتُ أحقِرُ بَردَهُ

The full moon is a darling who kisses his foot,

And I magnify him above kissing his cheek.

وبدرُ تمامٍ بِتُّ ألثُمُ رِجلَهُ

وأُكْبِرُهُ عن أنْ أُقَبِّلَ خَدَّهُ

I fell for everything about him that he loves,

Even his injustice, so I fall for his rejection.

تَعَشَّقْتُ فيه كلَّ شيءٍ يَودهُ

من الجورِ حتى بتُّ أعشَقُ صدَّهُ

The night comes to me pushing its chest,

Repeatedly tearing its cloak.

تَخطى إليَّ الليلُ يدفَعُ صَدرهُ

مِراراً وأحياناً يمزِقُ بُرْدَهُ

I'm amazed by him hiding his mystery and his face,

With him the world shines and after him the sun.

عَجِبْتُ لهُ يُخفي سُراه ووَجْهُهُ

به تُشرِقُ الدُنيا وبالشّمسِ بَعْدَهُ

And I need an ignorance in his union,

So who will I trust with reason in his presence?

ولابدّ لي من جَهلَةٍ في وِصالِهِ

فَمن لي بخلٍّ أُودِعُ الحِلْمَ عِنْدَهُ

People are nothing but stingy with their inheritance,

And stingier than them is he whose promise you seek.

وما النّاسُ إلاّ باخِلٌ بتُراثِهِ

وأبخَلُ منه منْ تطلّبتَ عَهْدَهُ

I gave you my love, O Ali ibn Taghlib,

Though you did not keep kinship and its love safe.

منحتكَ ودّي يا عليُّ بنَ تغلِبٍ

وإنْ أنتَ لم تَحْفَظْ لإلفِكَ وُدَّهُ

How many a friend whose nearness I craved,

I tested until I craved his distance!

فكمْ من خليلٍ ما تمنيتُ قُربَهُ

فجربتُهُ حتى تمنيتُ بُعْدَهُ

My soul demands of me every great feat

With which I'd shake the times and its glory.

تُطالبُني نفسي بكلِّ عظيمة

أرُدُّ بها صدرَ الزّمانِ وزَنْدَهُ

A man has no stratagem in the accidents of fate,

If his bad luck meets his good luck.

وما للفتى في حادثِ الدّهْرِ حيلة

إذا نَحسُهُ في الشيءِ قابلَ سَعْدَهُ

I see the determination of a man become gloom and regret

When God does not make his effort prosper.

أرى هِمَمَ المرءِ اكتئاباً وحسرةً

عليه إذا لم يُسْعِدِ اللهُ جدَّهُ

And my heart authenticates everything I suspect,

If I unload my worries onto it, it is distressed.

ويَصدُقُني في كلِّ ظنٍ أظُنُّهُ

فُؤادٌ إذا أمطيتُهُ الهمَّ كَدَّهُ

It is angry over a determination and a sword, both

The brothers of a confidence - if disorder touched it, it would guide it.

وغَضبانَ من عزمٍ وسيفٍ كلاهُما

أخو ثقةٍ لو مَسّ ثَهلانَ هَدَّهُ

Oh, my excuse is an inattentive time,

Its cunning foxes by force overwhelm its lions.

ألا مَن عَذيري من زمانٍ مُغَفَّلٍ

ثعالبُهُ بالجَدِّ تَقهَرَ أُسْدَهُ

Shall I drink pure wine in it while its people's blood

Equals honey for me?

أأشرَبُ فيه الصّابَ صرفاً وأهلُهُ

دِماؤهُم عندي تُعادِلُ شُهْدَهُ

They claimed I resented them,

But my resentment is only for fate itself.

وقد زعموا أنّي حنِقْتُ عليهِمُ

وما حَنَقي إلاّ على الدّهْرِ وحْدَهُ

My mounts ascended every ascent on the day of battle,

And every spear that makes the heart quiver.

فدتْ صاعداً يومَ الوَغى كل صَعْدَةٍ

وكلُّ سِنانٍ يجعَلُ القَلبَ وكدَهُ

So I do not fear fate after grasping its robes -

Let fate reach its extent!

فلستُ أخافُ الدّهرَ بعد تشَبُّثي

بأثوابِهِ فليبلغ الدّهْرُ جَهْدَهُ

I threw it in its throat as if it was

A sword that left its sheath at dawn.

رميتُ به في نحرِهِ وكأنّهُ

حُسامٌ غداةَ الرّوعِ فارق غِمْدَهُ

And it ruled me until if I asked it for my youth

After old age had turned with it, it would return it.

وحكّمني حتى لو أني سألته

شَبابي وقد ولّى به الشيبُ رَدَّهُ

So who is like Hatim in generosity - if Hatim

Saw him tomorrow seeking his aid?

فمَنْ حاتِمٌ في الجودِ لو أنّ حاتِماً

رآه غَدا في النّاسِ يَطلُبُ رِفدَهُ

One is generous, his promise preceding his action,

Another generous, his action preceding his promise.

وذاكَ جوادٌ يَسبِقُ الوعدُ فعلَهُ

وهذا جوادٌ يسبِقُ الفِعْلُ وعدَهُ

And if not for poetry's failure to fully describe him,

I'd think poetry passionately loves his glory.

ولولا قصورُ الشعرِ عن كنهِ وصفِه

لكنتُ أظنُّ الشعرَ يَعشَقُ مَجْدَهُ

It obeyed him in praising him, reiterating,

And its angers at others, readying.

أطاعَتُه في مدحهِ مستعيدَة

وغضباتُهُ في غيرهِ مُسْتَعدَّهُ

So O you - if I singled you out from your soldiers,

I'd see the heights and praise as your troops.

فَيا مَنْ إذا أفردْتُهُ من جُنودِهِ

رأيتُ المَعالي والمَحامِدَ جُنْدَهُ

I raved about this rain until I exposed it,

And you built asceticism in doing favors.

لهجت بهذا الغيثِ حتى فَضحتَهُ

وبنيتَ في فعلِ المكارمِ زُهْدَهُ

If you have ripened his breast with anger,

How many a master you've wearied with jesting!

فإنْ كنتَ قد أنضجتَ بالغيظِ صَدرَهُ

فكم سيداً أتعبتَ بالهزلِ جَدَّهُ

A suckling in war whose swaddling you untied,

He panicked and terror did not restrain him.

ومسترضعٍ في الحربِ شُدَّ قِماطُهُ

فحُلَّ ولما يَنقضِ الرُّعبُ شَدَّهُ

He who runs with blood thinks it is his share

And reckons the flanks of steeds his cradle.

يَظنُّ الذي يَجري من الدّمِ دَرَّهُ

ويحسَبُ أكنافَ السّوابقِ مَهْدَهُ

You struck the top of his head with your sword’s blade

And made the birds in pieces his quilt.

ضربتَ بنصلِ السيفِ قِمةَ رأسِه

وصيرتَ في شتّى من الطيرِ لَحْدَهُ

And bolder than him, his heart has watched,

Frightened by you until you threw your spear as his barrrier.

وأشجعُ منه قد تَفرّجَ قلبُهُ

لخوفكَ حتى رمتَ بالرمحِ سَدَّهُ

My ambitions reach, O son of Mahallab, an end

With which I'd win the wager and stake it all.

أَنل هِمَمي يا ابن المهلَّبِ غايةً

أبذّ بها قبَّ الرّهانِ وجُرْدَهُ

Leave what the flies speculate of poetry

And seek what possesses poetry’s purpose.

ودعْ عنكَ ما طنّ الذّبابُ بمثلِه

من الشِّعرِ واقصِدْ مالكَ الشّعرِ قَصْدَهُ

When does he praise beauty - far from him such praise -

Since beauty is not blameworthy and deserves praise?

متى يمتَدِحْ حُسناً وحاشاهُ مَدحُهُ

فما الحُسْنُ مذموماً وقد جازَ حَمْدَهُ