يا عينُ والعاشقونَ قد عَشِقُوا
ولا كما ضاعَ جَفْنُكِ الغَرقُ
O eye, though lovers fell in love
My eyelid lost like a drowned man
تَحظى بطيفِ الكرى العُيونُ وما
طيفُكِ الاّ الدُّمُوعُ والأَرَقُ
Eyes enjoy the specter of wine - but not
Your specter except tears and sleeplessness
بناسكٍ يَستحلُ سفكَ دَمي
وليسَ بَينى وبينَه حَنَقُ
A sanctimonious man who sanctions shedding my blood
While no hatred lies between us
غلَّ على وجهه غلالتَه
كالشمسِ وارى جبينَها الشَّفَقُ
Darkness shrouds his face
Like the sun and I see its redness set
وزائرٍ لم يَعِبْ زيارتَه
الاَّ هِزَبرُ الاحشاءِ والفَرَقُ
A visitor whose visit brought nothing
But the shivering of my innards and separation
معتجرٌ بالظلامِ مسترقُ ال
خطوِ يعفى آثارَهُ السَّرَقُ
Cloaked by darkness, stealthily walking
His tracks covered by the thief
جعلتُ بينى وبينه بعدما
ضاقَ دنوٌ منا وَمُعْتَنَقُ
After closeness between us grew narrow
I set between us a desert with no tracks
بيداءَ لا يُهتدى بأَنجمِهَا
ولا يُراعى من أُفقها أُفقُ
A waterless desert with no stars to guide
No horizons to keep in sight
لم أَكُ في تِيهها بمرتبكٍ
تشاجرتْ في طنونهِ الطُّرُقُ
I was not lost in its confusion
Where roads tangled in echoes
أَشجُّ مجهولَهَا وأَلحبُها
بطائشِ اللبِّ حلمُه نَزَقُ
I yearn for its unknown and am tempted
By my reckless heart, its dream is little
مضطلعٌ بالدجى حقيبتُه
ماذي في مَسِيْسها زَلَقُ
Lying in the darkness, his bundle
Sliding smoothly with no friction
لما قَضى داود قالَ لها
أَنتِ عيونُ الجرادِ أَمْ حَلَقُ
When David finished he said to it
Are you locusts' eyes or a necklace?
وصارم في الضرابِ نفحته
يتبعها المنكبانِ والعُنُقُ
His blow in striking is like perfume
Followed by shoulders and neck
ومن نطاقِ الجوزاءِ مُطَّرِدٌ
كأَنها في كعوبهِ نَسَقُ
Expelled from Al-Jawzaa's belt
As if it, on his heels, were chased
لم تَر عينى فيمنْ رأَيتُ من ال
فتيانِ خِرقاً تَضُمُّهُ الخِرَقُ
My eyes never saw among the youth I saw
A patch to cover a patch
مثل أَبى شاكرٍ اذا امتنعَ ال
قطرُ وعز النضارُ والوَرِقُ
Except Abu Shaker, when rain held back
And trees had little green leaves
أَكمى وأرمى منه بصارمةٍ
لا تتقيها الدُّروعُ الدَّرَقُ
I charge and throw at him bitterly
Impenetrable to pierce his armor
ما تصنَعُ البيضُ بالجماجمِ ما
تصنعُ هذي الاقلامُ والوَرَقُ
What can the innocent do with skulls
What can these pens and paper do?
منقبضٌ في النوالِ منبسطٌ
مبتهجٌ بالمقامِ منطلِقُ
Tight-fisted yet generous
Happy with his position, free
لم يكُ بيني وبينَه سَبَبٌ
الا ارتفاعُ المرامِ والخُلُقُ
No connection between us
Except competing ambitions and manners
في مرضةٍ عادَني فكانَ من ال
حُمى شِفاءً بحرانُها العَرَقُ
When he visited me sick, the fever's
Heat cured with his sweat's irrigation
وا أَسفي كيف لم أَصُنْهُ عن ال
قصدِ بقصدي لو كانَ بي رَمَقُ
Oh my sorrow that I could not protect him
From intending harm, if I had any strength
زارَ فحيّا وعادَ منتشياً
في عِرضه من ثنائنا عَبَقُ
He visited me, greeted me, and left happy
Our praise perfuming his honor
تغذى به أَلسنُ الرواةِ كما
تُغذى بهِ في المَهارق الحَدَقُ
Fed to the storytellers thereby
As it feeds gazelles in the meadows
سَريرةٌ للعُلا فطنتَ لَهَا
يَبْلَهُ عنها الملوكُ والسُّوَقُ
A secret to the eminent; you intuited it
Kings and markets perplexed by it
ما كان فيهم سواكَ منتبهٌ
ليس على جَفنِ عينهِ طَبَقُ
None of them had insight except you
No sleep on the eye's lid
جادَ ابنُ عيسى بالوُدُّ مبتدئاً
والوُدُّ بينَ الكرامِ مُتَّفِقُ
Issa's son greeted me kindly
Affection lies between the generous
ذو شَبَهٍ في الجيادِ مصمتَة
اذا المقاريفُ شَانَها البَلَقُ
Of horse-like bearing, though silent
When laurels are his right
لا صَلَفُ العجزِ من شمائِلِهِ
ولا التصدي منه ولا المَلَقُ
No unmanliness or hypocrisy in his traits
And no pliability or bending
من آل سَاسَانَ بيضةُ الملكِ والسْ
سُؤدَد عن ناظريه ينفلِقُ
An egg of kings and glory manifested
Dazzling to beholders splitting
قومٌ عليهم يُجيرُ جارُهُمُ
فالعِزُّ الاَّ في دارِهم قَلِقُ
A people whom their neighbor takes refuge in
Glory moves only in their homes
بالعَضْبِ نالوا ما يطلُبونَ وبال
ضربِ على الفارسيّ تصطَفِقُ
With rage they gained what they seek and with
Striking the Persians' skulls cracked
فما يَخالون أَنهم جُبروا
وأَنهم يأخذونَ ما رُزِقوا
They think not they were forced
And that they take what they were given
هم خَبطوا دوحةَ الزمانِ كما
عن فَنَنِ الغُصْنِ يُخبَط الوَرَقُ
They slapped the cheek of time so hard
Like slapping the paper by the branch's art
حتى اذا استوشقَتْ نوائبه
عادوا له يرتقون ما فَتَقُوا
Until when fate's disasters flared
They returned rising above what fate ripped
ولا يَسُوسُونَ بالفَظَاظَةِ وال
جري اذا نابَ دونَهُ العُنُقُ
Without decadence or fleeing when
Necks turn away seeking escape
تُشرِقُ أَسيافُهم وأَوجُههم
فكلُّها في الظِّلامِ تأتَلِقُ
Their swords shine as their faces do
Each of them glittering in the darkness
هم يُطلِقون العُناة انْ زَهقوا
أَو يُؤثِرون العُفاةَ انْ طَرَقُوا
They release the guilty when they perish
Or pardon the innocent who stumble
ما خُلِقوا مُتعَةً لأَنفسِهِم
وانَّما القومُ للنَّدى خُلِقُوا
They were not created for their own pleasure
Rather, this people were made for glory
