أثابَ وأقصرَ عن جهلهِ

وعرَّى المَطيَّةَ من رَحلهِ

He shortened ignorance and lengthened wisdom,

And stripped the folly from his saddlebags,

وألبسَهُ الشيبُ ثوبَ النهى

وذادَ الغوانِيَ عن وَصلهِ

And old age clothed him in the garb of prohibition,

And lusts fended off his union.

وما سرَّهُنَّ بخور العذا

رِ منهُ حتى المطا كهلهِ

Nor did censers of aloes wood please him,

Not until his locks turned grey.

وكانَ الشبابُ له صاحباً

على جدِّهِ وعلى هَزلهِ

And youth was his companion

In jest and earnest,

فَعاصاهُ حينَ أطاعَ المَشي

بَ وأضحى الصبا ليس من أهلهِ

But disobeyed him when he obeyed decrepitude

And youth ceased to be one of his people.

وأعدى الزمانُ بهِ صرفه

كما كانَ يحطِبُ في حبلهِ

And time estranged him by its vicissitudes

As it used to wreck his rope.

وبدلَ من حالهِ حالةً

تليهِ ومن كانَ من قبلهِ

And it changed his condition to a condition

That followed him, as did those before him.

كذاكَ الفتَى وكَذا العاذِلا

تُ ترحضُ قادمَتي نعلهِ

So is the case of the bachelor

Whose sandals brush away both footprints.

وأيُّ أخي عسرةٍ أوغنىً

طواهُ الجديدُ فلم يَبلهِ

And what barefoot or well-shod brother

Did new clothes fail to wear out?

سَيبلى الجديدُ ويَبلى البلي

ويذهبُ ما كانَ من نسلهِ

New clothes wear out and the worn wears away

And what was of his descendants passes.

أقلِّي ملامك إِنِّي امرؤٌ

حريبٌ معَ الدمعِ في سبلهِ

Reproach me little, for I am a man

At feud with tears along their course.

وعِشتُ بِحالينِ في كرِّه

على خصبهِ وعلى محلهِ

And I lived well and ill, detesting

Both fertile and barren states.

وذقت بكفي في حالتي

من صابهِ وجنى نحلهِ

And I tasted with my hands, in my two states,

The honeycomb and the bees’ harvest.

فلم أكتئِب عندَ وَعثائهِ

ولم أمرحِ العيشَ في سهلهِ

So I was neither saddened during tribulations

Nor overjoyed at the easy life.

فكنتُ كمن أحرزَ المكرما

تِ وأنسبُ فَرعاً على أصلهِ

Thus was I like one who gains favors

And traces noble lineage to its root.

أحبُّ الكريمَ وأجزي اللئي

مَ بسجلِ اللئامِ على فعلهِ

I love the generous and requite the vile

With the register of meanness for their acts.

وكلّ امرئٍ متحت كفُّهُ

ستَشربُ ما كانَ في سجلهِ

And every man finds beneath his palm

What was inscribed in his register.

يعودُ الملامُ إلى أهلهِ

ويبدا الثناءُ إلى أهلهِ

Blame returns to its people,

And praise reverts to its people.

فَهذا لِهذا وَهذا لذاك

على جُودهِ وعلى بُخلهِ

This is for this, and that is for that,

For generosity or stinginess.

بعضبٍ كَذي النونِ أو ذِي الفقارِ

تزلُّ الأوابدُ عن نَصلهِ

With a swipe of the canines or back molars

Fangs are bared by lions for the kill.

إذا ما انتضتهُ مُهماتُه

لِهَذِّ الضرائبِ من جدلهِ

When worries rouse him,

For these taxes from his wrangling,

رأيت لهُ رَونقاً كالس

سِوارِ باليدِ يُخبرُ عن فضلهِ

I saw him having the sheen like bracelets

On the arm, telling of his virtue.

تباري الذئابُ عداه الضراب

مزيل للوصلِ عن وصلهِ

Wolves contend with him, rending the bonds

Of union from his union.

إذا أَعمدته يدا فكن

بناه الضَّمير على صقلهِ

When you strengthen him, be as he whose conscience

Built him upon his burnishing.

يعبرُ عني ولا مسهبٌ

ولا عازبُ الحلمِ عن جهلهِ

Bolder than he when the bold

Cannot withstand the might of his kicking.

مدلٍّ بعزمٍ يقينِ الظنو

نِ يبدِّدهُ رائِيا عقلهِ

He has a dwelling in the abode of guardians

To ward off the hand of fate from his transfer.

جريء الجنانِ كحدِّ السنا

نِ في نقضِ أمرٍ وفي فتلهِ

Impregnable protector, preventing

Time from one worthy of protection.

وما الليثُ في غيلهِ مخدراً

على سيدهِ وعلى ختلهِ

A brother's brother, if his call extends him

And if miserliness shortens him from a roast, it shortens him.

يمنعُ عقوتَهُ بالطِّرادِ

ويَنفي بها الضَّيم عن شبلهِ

So is the noble, brother of the generous,

Who gathered glory from its plains.

بأجرأ منه إذا ما الشجا

عُ لم يحتمله قوى زجلهِ

O protected treasures and most generous

Squared in liberality in his giving!

بدارِ الحفاظِ له منزلٌ

يذودُ يدَ الدَّهرِ عن نقلهِ

Son of the rain-shower's brother Thabit

Whose like is never pointed to.

منيعُ الحِمى مانعٌ للزما

نِ من يبلهُ صالحاً يُبلهِ

Munificent, honored, and most generous,

The halters show his saddlebags.

أخو الأخِ إن مَدَّهُ ندبُهُ

فإِن يقصهِ عن قِلىً يقلهِ

Nobly named, and in his palm

A brother of fate gains sanctuary through him.

كَذاك الكريمُ أخو الأكرَمي

نَ ومن جمع المجدَ من سهلهِ

To you, a reply cloaked by a man

Who loves the noble for his excellence.

ألا أيها المحرزُ المكرماتِ

والمربعُ الجود في بذلهِ

So I am not like one who seeks dew extending

To state a matter to its settlement.

سليلُ شقيقِ الندى ثابتٍ

ومن لا يشارُ إلى مثلهِ

Rather, I saw you worthy

Of my solid love for bearing it.

سَماحاً وَعزاً وأكرومةً

تدلُّ العِقالَ على رَحلهِ

For the love of the noble returns to the vile

And enfeebles his shoulder for bearing it.

سَمِيُّ النبي ومن كفهُ

تجيرُ أخا الدهرِ من أجلهِ

And I, from God, enjoy favor

And Him I ask for His bounty.

إليكَ جوابٌ لفاهُ امرؤٌ

يحبُّ الكريمَ على فضلهِ

فَلستُ كَمَن مد يبغي الندى

لإبداء أمرٍ إلى حلِّهِ

ولكن رأيتكَ مستأهلاً

لودّي قوياً علَى حملهِ

فودُّ الكريمِ يعودُ اللئيم

ويَضعفُ رُكناهُ عن حملهِ

وإنِّي من اللهِ في نعمةٍ

وإياهُ أسألُ من فضلهِ