إلام انتظاري بالوصال ولا وصل

وحتام لا تدنوإليّ ولا اسلو

What is the purpose of my waiting for union when there is no union,

And you will certainly not come near me, nor will I be tranquil.

وبين ضلوعي زفرة لو تبوّأت

فؤادك ما ايقنت ان الهوى سهل

And in my ribs there is a sigh, if it took residence

In your heart, you would not be certain that passion is easy.

جميلا بصب زاده الناي صبوة

ورفقا بقلب مسه بعدك الخبل

Beautifully the flute pours its drink at daybreak,

And gently upon a heart touched by your madness after you.

اذا طرفت منك العيون بنظرة

فايسر شيء عند عاشقك القتل

If eyes glance at you with a look,

Then the easiest thing for your lover is death.

امنعمة بالزورة الظبية التي

بخلخالها حلم وفي قرطها جهل

It is a blessing with the roe doe, who

With her anklet has a dream and in her earring ignorance.

ومن كلما جردتها من ثيابها

كساها ثيابا غيرها الفاحم الجثل

And whoever undressed her of her clothes

Dressed her in other clothes, the tall, strong young man.

سقى المزن اقواما بوعساء رامة

لقد قطعت بيني وبينهم السبل

Mazin gave some people to drink at Wase'a well,

Indeed, between me and them the roads have been cut off.

وحبا زماناً كلما جئت طارقا

سليمى اجابتني الى وصلها جمل

And I loved for a time, whenever I came visiting

Suleima answered me to her union with a camel.

تود ولا اصبو وتوفي ولا أفي

وانأى ولا تنأى واسلوا ولا تسلو

You want, and I do not desire, you are faithful, and I do not fulfill,

You keep away, and I do not keep away, you ask for peace, and I do not ask for peace,

اذ الغصن غضر والشباب بمائه

وجهد الرضا من كل نائبة عطل

For the branch is green, and youth is in its water,

And striving for consent from every affliction is in vain.

ومن خشية النار التي فوق وجنتي

تقاصران بدنو بعارضي النمل

And from fear of the fire which is above my cheeks

They shrink at its approach like ants.

بروحي من ودعتها ومدامعي

كسقط جمان جذ من سمطه الحبل

With my soul since I bid it farewell and my tears

Like ripe fruits pulled down by the rope.

كأن قلاص المالكية نوخت

على مدمعي فارفض مذثورا الابل

As if the shepherds of the Malikis spent the night

Weeping upon my eyes, so sweep away the scattered camels.

وما ضربت تلك الخيام بعالج

لقصد سوى ان لا يصاحبني العقل

And I did not set up those tents with tent poles

Except for no other reason than so reason would not accompany me.

وخرق كأن العيس فيه إذا خطت

تسابق ظلا أو يسابقها الظل

And a tear, as if the Pleiades were in it, when I drew

Racing a shadow, or it races the shadow.

يسمن بنا الانضاء حتى كأننا

حبارى دجا أو ارضنا معنا قفل

The goat udders fatten us until we are as if

We are pregnant she-camels, or our land is locked up with us.

اذا عرضت لي من بلاد مذلة

فايسر شيء عندي الوخد والرحل

If the land of humiliation presents itself to me,

Then the easiest thing for me is departure and the saddlebags.

وليس اعتساف البيد عن مربع الأذى

بذل ولكن المقام هو الذل

Avoiding the harm of the wilderness is not

Generosity, but rather remaining is humiliation.

ولا انا ممن ان جهلت خلاله

اقامت به القامات والأعين النجل

Nor am I one whom if I am ignorant of his merits,

Encampments and eyes of gazelles would stay with him.

فكل رياض جئتها لي مرتع

وكل اناس اكرموني هم الاهل

For every meadow I come to is a pasture for me

And every people who honored me are family.

ولي باعتماد الأبلج الوجه راشد

عن الشغل في آثار هذا الورى شغل

And I have confidence in the bright faced, rightly guided

In avoiding preoccupation with the traces of this dusty world.

همام رست للمجد في جنب عزمه

جبال جبال المجد في جنبها سهل

Ambitions rested in the side of his determination

Like mountains, mountains of glory beside him are easy.

وليث هياج ما غنين جفونه

من الكحل الا والعجاج لها كحل

And a provoked lion whose eyelids are not enriched

By kohl except that kohl adorns them.

يقوم مقام الجيش ان غاب جيشه

ويخلف حد النصل ان غمد النصل

He takes the place of an army if his army is absent

And exceeds the edge of a sword if the sword is sheathed.

زكت شرفا اعراقه وفروعه

وطابت لنا منه الفضائل والفعل

His lineage and branches were purified,

And virtues and deeds were made good for us through him.

إذا لم يكن فعل الكريم كاصله

كريما فما تغني المناسب والاصل

If the action of the noble is not like his origin,

Then lineage and origin do not benefit.

من النفر الغر الذين تاففوا

مدى الدهر ان يأتي ديارهم البخل

Of the vile people who have banded together

Throughout time, so that their homes will not reach stinginess.

كرام إذا راموا فطام وليدهم

على الثدى خطوا البخل فانفطم الطفل

Nobles, when they decide to wean their child

From the breast, they take the path of stinginess, so the child is weaned.

ليوث اذا صالوا غيوث إذا هموا

بحور إذا جادوا سيوف افاسلوا

Lions when they roar, clouds when they intend

Seas when they are generous, swords when they are unsheathed,

وان خطبوا مجدا فإن سيوفهم

مهور وأطراف القنا لهم رسل

And if they seek glory, then their swords

Are dowries, and the tips of their spears are messengers.

إذا قفلوا تنأى العلا حيثما نأوا

وإن نزلوا حل الندى أينما حلوا

When they depart, glory keeps away wherever they go,

And dew descends wherever they camp.

توالت على كسب الثناء طباعهم

فاعراضهم حرم واموالهم حل

Their natures follow gaining praise

So their possessions are forbidden and their wealth is permitted.

أمولاي اني مضوا ففيك سما العلا

وقامت قناة الدين وانتشر الفضل

My patron, they passed away, so in you the elevation of glory remained

And the canal of religion was established and virtue spread.

وان يك قد اقضى الزمان بسالم

فانك روض الوبل ان ذهب الوب

And if you spend the time in peace

Then you are a meadow of basil when the basil is gone.

لاليك ارتمت فينا قلوص كأنها

قسي باسفار كأنهم نبل

Because of you flocks gathered in us as if they are

Arrows shot by a skilled archer.

وما زجر الانضاء سوطى وانما

اليك بلا سوق تساوقت الابل

And the reprimanding of the she-goats was not my whip, but rather

To you without driving the camels came of their own accord.

يمينك لا اقضى الزمان بها حيا

وكهفك لا أودى الزمان به ظل

Your right hand, I will not spend the time except alive by it,

And your cave, I will not spend the time in it as shade.

وكل لحاظ لست انسانها قذى

وكل بلاد لست صيبها محل

And every glance whose person I am not weary of

And every land whose downpour I am not a place of.