سَقى اللهُ أيامَ الصّبابةِ والخَبْلِ

ودَهْراً رُمِينا فيهِ بالحَدَقِ النُّجْلِ

God watered the days of my youth and folly,

And an era in which I was pelted with starry eyes.

وصحبة فتيانٍ كأنّ وجوهَهمْ

وأخلاقَهم صُبحٌ تنفّسَ عن وَبْلِ

And the company of young men whose faces

And morals were a dawn exhaling its scent after the rain.

فَزعتُ إلى يأسي فلم أسلُ عنهُمُ

إذا اليأسُ لم يسلُ المحبَّ فما يُسلي

So I fled to my despair, without asking about them,

Since despair does not console the lover, so what can console me?

وحَيّا تحياتِ الوَداعِ ووَقْفَةً

وجدتُ بها ما لم يَجدْ أحَدٌ قَبْلي

And I bid farewells of farewell and a stance,

In which I found what no one had found before me.

تلافيتُ فيها قَسْوةَ الهجرِ بالبُكا

وداويتُ فيها عِزّةَ الحُبِّ بالذلِّ

I endured therein the harshness of separation with crying,

And healed therein the glory of love with humiliation.

عَشيّةَ استعدِي على البيْنِ مُسعِداً

تكاثِرُ في أرشاشِها عَدَدَ الرّمْلِ

One evening, ready yourself for the separation with happiness,

As its stars multiply, equal to the number of sands.

فيا بينُ حُلْ بيني وبينَ عَواذِلي

إذا لم تَحُلْ بينَ المطيّةِ والرّحْلِ

O separation, come between me and my eyelids,

If you do not come between the rider and his mount.

ويا دمْعُ لا تهتِكْ عليّ سَرائِري

فلو شئتُ يومَ البينِ كذّبتُ ما تُمْلي

And O tear, do not divulge my secrets about me,

For if I wanted, on the day of separation, I would have denied what you make me recite.

آتَحرِمُنا يا رَبُّ بالحِلمِ والنُّهى

وتَرزُقُ قوماً بالسّفاهَةِ والجَهْلِ

Keep us away, O Lord, with patience and deterrence from sins,

And sustain a people with foolishness and ignorance.

فلا تَبْتَلينا بالحَياةِ فإنّنا

خُلِقنا رِجالَ الجِدِّ في زَمَنِ الهزْلِ

So do not test us with life, for we

Were created as men of conviction in an era of frivolity.

نفرُّ إلى حَرِّ الغَرامِ من القِلى

ونَهْرُبُ من روحِ الفَراغِ إلى الشُّغْلِ

We flee to the heat of passion from boredom,

And escape from the spirit of emptiness to business.

ورَكبٍ على الأكْوارِ عللتُ والدُّجى

تروّحُ أردافَ النّجومِ على رِجْلِ

An evening I rode my she-camels while it was still dusk,

The buttocks of the stars fanning my feet.

لتَعلَقَ في الدُّنيا علائِقَ حاجةٍ

مكابرةً أوْ بالتّرفّقِ والخَتْلِ

In order to have attachments to life out of need,

Stubbornly or with kindness and flexibility.

ألا من لعيشٍ لا يَعودُ إذا مضى

ودهرٍ مَلولٍ لا يَدومُ على وصْلِ

Alas! One who lives a life that does not return once gone,

And an afflicted fate that does not last in reconciliation.

يَجودُ ليَثْني ناظِري نحوَ جُودِه

أكلُّ عطاءٍ يمنَحُ النّاسُ من أجْلي

He is generous to make my looks turn toward his generosity,

The most generous giver who grants people because of me.

فَيا دَهْرُ قد حاولتُ عندكَ مَطمَعاً

فحَقُّكَ أنْ تُعْطي وتُسْرِفُ في البذْلِ

So O fate, I have coveted a hope from you,

And it is your right to give and be excessive in generosity.

ظَفِرْتُ ولولا صاعدٌ ما رأيتني

أمُدُّ إلى الآمالِ كَفاً بلا نَصْلِ

I succeeded, and had there not been an ascent, you would not have seen me

Stretch out my hopes - a hand without fingers - to ambitions.

لَما طالتِ البيْداءُ حينَ قصَدتُهُ

هَوىً لمسيري أو ضِراراً على إبلي

When the desert was long, as I headed there,

A passion for my journey or harm upon my camels.

كسوتُ لُغامَ العيس لَمعَ سَرابِها

فَماجَ كَموجِ البَحْرِ يُزبِدُ أو يَغْلي

I clothed the delusions of mirages, its illusion shone,

Seething like the waves of the sea, frothing or boiling.

تنكَّبُنا هَوجُ الرّياحِ كأنّها

تُحاذِرُ أنْفاسَ المُخزَّمَةِ البُزْلِ

The gusts of wind avoided us as if they

Feared the breaths stored in the fragile body.

بَناتُ قِسيّ للحُداةِ وراءَها

تَرنُّمُ أوْتار القِسيّ على النّبْلِ

Daughters of the bow for shooting arrows, behind it

The strings of the bow sing on the arrows.

تَراها على طولِ الفَلاةِ كأنّها

تَدِبُّ دَبيبَ الكاسِيات من النّمْلِ

You see it the length of the wasteland as if it

Creeps like the creeping of the small ants.

وإنّ نجومَ الليلِ تَمرُقُ في الدُّجى

وتحسِبُها تَنصاعُ فيهِ على مهْلِ

And the stars of the night shine in the darkness

And you would think they move slowly therein.

تخطّتْ أكفَّ الباخِلينَ فعرّسَتْ

بأروعَ معشوقِ الشّمائِلِ والفِعلِ

It surpassed the palms of the stingy, so it became engaged

To the most beautiful beloved of traits and deeds.

يُفرِّقُ ما بينَ المَكارِمِ والغِنى

ويجمَعُ ما بينَ الشّجاعةِ والعَقْلِ

It differentiates between virtues and wealth,

And unites what is between courage and reason.

هو الماءُ للظمآنِ والنّارُ للقِرى

وحدّ الظُّبى في الحرْبِ والغيثُ في المحْلِ

It is water for the thirsty and fire for the cold,

And the limit of zebras in war and rain in times of need.

حَباني ولم أستحبهِ متطولاً

يَرى جودَهُ بعد السّؤالِ من البخْلِ

It liked me without my liking it long,

Seeing its generosity after asking it insistently.

وأنّى اهتدتْ جَدوى يديكَ لخلّة

سترتُ أذاها عن عدُوِّي والخِلِّ

And how did the usefulness of your hands guide you to vinegar

Whose harm I hid from my enemy and close friend?

سَرَتْ كانقضاضِ النّجمِ في غلَسِ الدُجى

إلى مضجعي حتى وصلتُ بها حَبلي

It moved like the falling of a star in the darkness of night,

Until it reached my bed, so I grasped it with its ropes.

سأشْكُرُ ما أوْلَيتني من صَنيعةٍ

ومِثلُ الذي أوليتَ يَشكُرُهُ مِثْلي

I will thank what attention you gave me,

And the like of what you gave, the like of me thanks.

ويكفُرُكَ النّعْماء قومٌ غرستَهُمْ

فلم يُثْمِروا غيرَ الضّغينَةِ والغِلِّ

And the blessings repay you, O people you planted,

Who did not produce anything but hatred and malice.

عِيالٌ على الأعْداءِ والجدبِ جامحٌ

وخيلٌ تُغادي بالقَنازِ من النَقْلِ

Dependants on the enemies and militant during drought,

And horses that leave early with travel supplies on the carriages.

حَمَلْتَ جناياتِ المكارمِ فيهمُ

على ظهرِ عودٍ لا يُتَعْتَعُ بالحَمْلِ

You carried upon them the crimes of virtues,

Upon a thin rod that cannot carry a load.

ولم تكُ لمّا أحدَثَ الدّهْرُ نكبَةً

بمفترسٍ للحادِثاتِ ولا أكْلِ

And when fate brought about an affliction,

You were not there to witness the incidents nor eat.

كشَفْتَ لها ثَغْراً نَقيّاً وساعِداً

حَمياً وعَيناً لا تَنامُ على ذَحْلِ

You exposed to it a pure gap and a helpful hand,

Protective and an eye that does not sleep due to grief.

كأنّ حُزُونَ العيشِ عندكَ سَهلةٌ

وشتّانَ ما بينَ الحَزونَةِ والسَّهْلِ

As if the sorrow of life to you is easy,

And far is what is between sorrow and ease!

وما وجدَ الأعْداءُ عهدَكَ خائِناً

وعقدَكَ إلاّ وهو يُعْقَدُ بالحَلِّ

And the enemies did not find your covenant betraying,

Nor your pact except that it is fulfilled honestly.

تركتَ لهمْ صَحنَ الرِّهانِ ونَقْعَهُ

وفُزْتَ بغاياتِ السّوابقِ والخَصْلِ

You left them the field of betting and its stakes,

And won the purposes of the preceding and the feats.

كما تركَ الظّبيُّ المُنَفَّرُ ظِلَّهُ

لقانِصِه لو كانَ يَقنعُ بالظِّلِّ

As the fleeing zebra left its shadow

To its hunter, if only it had sufficed with the shadow!

ولو شِئْتَ لما أثقبَ الكيدُ نارَهم

سَدَدْتَ فروجَ النّارِ بالحَطَبِ الجَزْلِ

And had you willed, guile would not have pierced their fire,

You would have closed the holes of the fire with ample firewood.

لبلّتْ أنابيبَ الرِّماحِ فَوارسٌ

يَفِرونَ من ذُلِّ الحياة إلى القَتْلِ

The tubes of the spears became filled, so horsemen

Flee from the humiliation of life to death.

خِفافٌ إلى الهَيْجاءِ خرسٌ عن الخَنا

وأسيافُهم في الهامِ تنطِقُ بالفصْلِ

Horses swift to the turmoil, silent from misdeeds,

And their swords in the scabbards speaking of the verdict.

ولكن ثَنيتَ الجهلَ بالحِلمِ فانثَنى

ومثلكَ من قادَ الجموحَ على رِسلِ

But you bent ignorance with patience, so it bent,

And who is like you having led recklessness with the bridles?

تتبّعْ بنيّات الضّغائِنِ بالأذى

فقد أفسَدَ الأعداءَ أخذُكَ بالفَضْلِ

You pursue the structures of resentments with harm

For your enemies have been corrupted when you take with kindness.

من الحِلْمِ في بعضِ الأمورِ مَهانةٌ

إذا كانَ لا يَنهى عدوكَ عن جَهْلِ

In some matters, patience is disgrace,

If it does not deter your enemy from ignorance.

وكنتَ حُساماً غيّرَ الدّهْرُ لونَهُ

فحادَثْتَهُ من جُودِ كَفِّكَ بالصّقْلِ

And you were a sword whose color time changed,

So you conversed with it from the generosity of your palm with sharpening.

ووَفْدٌ كدَفّاعِ السَّحابةِ زارَني

بلا عِدَةٍ من راحتَيْكَ ولا مَطْلُ

And a delegation, like the driving of clouds, visited me,

Without preparation from your rest or duration.

حظيتَ به عندَ المَكارِمِ والعُلا

وغيرَُ يَحْظى بالمَلامَةِ والعَذْلِ

You gained through it virtues and highness,

While others gain blame and exclusion.