لا يَتلافى المُشْفِي على عَطَبهِ
وعاسلاتُ الرماحِ تحْدِقُ بِهْ
The wounded knight does not conceal his wound
While the spears' blades stare at him
أَلا كريمٌ يَذودُ عنه كما
يذودُ عن أَهِله وعن نَشبِهْ
Oh how noble to defend him as
He would defend his family and homeland
يشرع في نحرِهِ السِّنانُ ولا
يشرعُ كفُّ العَدوِّ في سَلَبِهْ
The swords plunge into his neck yet
The enemy's palm does not dare to plunder him
يسعى الفتى في الحياةِ مُجْتَهِداً
وانما سعيُه الى عَطَبِهْ
The young man strives hard in life
Yet his efforts lead him to his demise
كراكبِ الخِمْسِ غيرَ مُتَّئِدٍ
يُقَرِّبُ منه الوُرُوْدَ في قُربِهْ
Like a rider of five but without reigns
Destiny brings misfortune ever closer to him
وهلْ حياةٌ للمرءِ نافعةٌ
تنفُدُ في كدِّهِ وفي تَعبِهْ
What benefit is there to a life
Spent laboring and toiling in vain
من لم تؤدبهُ نفسُه قَعَدَتْ
هِمَّتُهُ بالكثيرِ من أَدبِهْ
He whose soul did not discipline him
His aspirations diminish despite his sophistication
قد وعظَ الدهرُ كلَّ ذي أَملٍ
يَهْرُبُ من صِدْقِهِ الى كذِبِهْ
Fate preaches to all hopefuls
That sincerity leads often to deceit
لو أَنَّ شيئاً من صَرفهِ عَجَبٌ
كانَ غرورُ الرجالِ من عَجبِهْ
If fate were ever wondrous
Men's arrogance would stem from their pride
مستيقظٌ لا يَرى مُحَاربَهُ
ونائمٌ لا ينام عن طَلَبِهْ
Awake, he sees no opponents
Asleep, he never rests from his quest
يلهو عن الشُّغلِ بالفَراغِ ومنْ
يسألُ حظَّ السَّعيدِ عنْ سَببِهْ
He is distracted from work by idleness
And asks the fortunes of the happy about their secret
يتعب فيه بكلِّ جارِحَةٍ
فنحنُ لا نستريحُ من تعبِهْ
He tires every limb
Yet we cannot rest from his fatigue
مَن رفعَ الهمَ عن مَطامِعِهِ
أَرفعُ من دُرِّهِ ومن ذَهَبِهْ
He who lifts ambition from his hopes
Is higher than his pearls and his gold
ما لِحَمَامِ الأَراكِ منتشياً
يَحْسَبُ شَوقي والحُزْنُ من جَلبِهْ
What makes the doves cheerfully gather
When my passion and sadness call them
بل رامَ في الحُبِّ أَنْ أُساعدهُ
وأَينَ جِدِّيَ في الحُبِّ من لَعِبِهْ
But this one aspires in love to aid me
While my dedication to love is but play to him
لا وجلالِ العُلا وتُربةِ اس
ماعيلَ ما لمته على طَربِهْ
No - by the majesty of the Most High
What ecstasy is not stirred by his charm?
وهلْ يلامُ الفَتى على خُلقٍ
كانَ قبيلَ الرضاعِ يلهجُ بِهْ
Why blame a man for a nature
He had before he was weaned from milk?
وبالحُسَامِ الذي حمائِلُه
لُدْنُ القَنا والسيوفُ من قُربِهْ
By the sword whose blows
Were as quick as lightning and sharp as razors
أَعني الذي حارَ فيهِ واصفُه
كافي الكفاةِ المظلومَ في لقبِهْ
The sword that perplexed its own describer
The overlooked, the wrongfully blamed knight
لهفي على الفارسِ الذي كانتْ ال
أَقلامُ من سُمْرهِ ومن قُضبِهْ
My friend for whom pens wrote
With amber and eagle feathers
عَهْدي به تأنس العُفَاةُ بهِ
ويستعيذُ الأَعداءُ من رَهْبِهْ
In him familiarity was found by strangers
And enemies took refuge from his awe
ما قُضُبُ الهندِ في نُحُورِهُمُ
أَمضي ببطنِ القِرطاسِ من قَصبِهْ
Not even Indian reeds could compare
To the eloquence of his writing
أَينَ الاشاراتُ والبلاغةُ وال
ايجازُ في لفظهِ وفي كتبِهْ
Where are the gestures, rhetoric and concise style
In his words and in his books?
وأَينَ من يهتدي الهداةُ به
زالَ فزالَ الجَدْيُ عن قُطُبِهْ
Where are the guides who seek direction
From his unchanging, ever fixed pole?
نالَ من المكرمَاتِ غايتَهَا
مُنْتَسِبُ ينتَمي الى نسبِهْ
He attained the highest honors
As one inheriting noble lineage
مَنْ شَرَفُ النفسِ والفعال لهُ
نارُ زِنادٍ تُغنيهِ عن حَطَبِهْ
The nobility of soul and deed are his
His nature needs no fuel for fire
لا يظهرُ البِشْرُ في رِضَاهُ ولا
يُعرفُ وجهُ القُطُوبِ في غَضَبِهْ
Mortal souls do not show pleasure in his approval
Nor can the axis show anger on its face
يُحْسَبُ جوعان من صداه وقد
يُحسَبُ حيناًظمآنَ من سَغَبِهْ
His voice makes you think he is starving
At times it makes you think he is thirsty
على مَجالِ الزمانِ معترضاً
يحولُ من سَرجهِ الى قَتَبِهْ
Blocking the path of time
He alternates between stallion and mare
تهلِكُ ريحُ الشمالِ اِنْ عصَفَتْ
في ركضهِ والجَنوبُ في خببِهْ
The north wind destroys when it rages
Against his galloping, the south against his cantering
الجو والأرض والفضاء معاً
تضيقُ عن قصده ومُضطربِهْ
The atmosphere, the earth and space
Are cramped by his ambitions and perturbed state
للشمس في أَوْجِهَا اذا صَعَدَتْ
مرتبةٌ في الدنوِّ من رتبِهْ
The sun has a lower status
When it rises to its highest estate
يعلم والحمدُ من مكاسبه
أَنْ ليس حمدٌ الاَّ لمكتسبِهْ
He knows, praise be to God, that his gains
Are only through what he attained by himself
انْ كانَ رزقُ الحريصِ يطلُبهُ
فما به حاجةٌ الى طلبِهْ
If the lot of the covetous is sought by them
What need has He to seek it?
ما لُؤلُؤُ البحرِ في مواهبه
الا كما يضمحلُ من حَببِهْ
The pearls of the sea among his gifts
Wither like the shells that bore them
ليتَكَ تدري وأنتَ مقتدرٌ
بعدَكَ ما نابتِ النوائب بِهْ
If only you know, you who are able
After you, what fate does to the helpless
اِنَّ خُراسانَ جاشَ مِرجلُها
وعادَ رئبالُها الى كَلَبِهْ
Khurasan boiled with turmoil
And its wolves returned to their dogs
وانتفضَ المُلكُ بعدَ مَاسِكشهِ
أَيُّ رباطٍ للعَظْمِ من عَصَبِهْ
The kingdom was shaken loose
What ligament can hold the bone to its sinew?
اِذاً لروعتها بذي لَجَبٍ
يَصْخَب مَرْوُ البلادِ في صَخَبِهْ
To whose roar will the land clamor
And multiply its din in tumult?
لا يدفعُ الناسُ ما قَضاهُ ومَنْ
يدفعُ صوبَ السَّحَابِ عن صَبَبِهْ
Man cannot withstand what is ordained
Who would dare to shield the clouds from pouring?
قالوا عليلٌ فقلتُ ليتَ بِنَا
ذاكَ الذي يشتكيهِ عن نَصَبِهْ
They said, "He is sick," I said, "Would that
We had what he complains of in his agony."
مِنْ حَسَدِي فيه ما أَلم بهِ
أَحْسُدُ أَعضاءَهُ على وصبِهْ
I envy him what pains him
I envy his limbs their visitation
يا ليتني كنتُ من ملابسهِ
في التربِ أَولا فكنتُ من تُرَبِهْ
Would that I were among his clothes
In the earth or even among his soil
ما لزمانٍ عَدا عليهِ عَدّتْ
عليه أُمُّ الربيقِ من نُوبِهْ
What era that transgressed against him
Did the days of wellbeing forget their passing?
يأخذُ ساداتنا ويتركُنا
مستشفياً بالحُكاكِ من جَرَبِهْ
It takes away our nobles and leaves us
Healing our itching rashes in desperation
لا صَحِبَ العيشَ بعدَهُ أَحدٌ
واستَلَبَ القطعُ كفَّ مُسْتَلبِهْ
None lived well after him
And loss snatched the palm from the loser’s grip
