ألا فتىً يسألُ قلبي مالَه

ينزو إذا برق الحمى بدا لَه

O youth, my heart asks, what is his fault?

It gleams when the fever of love appears to it

أصبوةٌ إلى رخيٍّ بالُهُ

عن وجده تسقي البروقُ بالَه

Yearning for the cheek of a gazelle its wounds

The lightning heals its wounds with its rain

وهبه شامَ بارقاً تُبلّه

أرواحُه فكيف شامَ خالَه

And it bestowed on him a night of lightning that adorns him

His souls thus how did the night be his ornament?

خاطفه كما اخترطت صارماً

جاذب جهدُ قينهِ صِقالَه

It seized him as a drawn sword

The strength of its sheath pulling its polish

فهبَّ يرجو خبراً من الغضا

يُسنده عنه فما روى لَه

So it rages wishing for news from the beloved

That would console it but nothing quenched its thirst

أراد نجداً معه ببابلٍ

إرادةً هاجت له بَلبالَه

It wanted help with it in Babel

A desire that boiled in its mind

وانتسم الريح الصبا ومن له

بنفحةٍ من الصَّبا طُوالَه

And it smelled the morning breeze but who

With a breeze from the morning has its long life?

وبالنخيل نائمٌ عن أرَقي

ما استعرض الليلَ وما استطالَه

And it sleeps by the palm trees not caring

That the night may drag on and on

أحببتُ فيه كلَّ ما أحببته

حتى تعشَّقت له عُذّالَه

I loved in it everything I loved

To the point of falling for its ruins

أصغَى إلى الواشي فحلَّ عهدَه

والغدرُ ما غيَّر عندي حالَه

It listened to the slanderer so it broke its vow

And betrayal never changed my view of it

وملّني على النوى ولم أكن

أحذرُ معْ بعاده ملالَه

And it bored me of vows while I

Didn’t expect without its distance, its boredom

مرَّ وبقَّاني أغادي ربعَه

بجسدٍ يحسَبه تِمثالَه

It passed and left me spending its quarters

With a body it thinks is its statue

ولا أكون كلِفاً بحبّه

ما لم يناحل بدَني أطلالَه

And I won’t care about its love

Unless its ruins start conversing with me

ويومَ ذي البان وما أسأرتُ من

ذي البان إلا أن أقول مالَه

And on the day of scattering and I didn’t dislike

Anything from the day of scattering except saying what’s its fault?

وأفرختْ عن فِتنٍ جفونُه

سبَتْ مهاةَ الرمل أو غزالَه

And its eyelids hatched ongoing chaos

Like the blink of an antelope or gazelle

لا والذي لو عرف النَّصف حنَا

على أسير الشوق أو أوى لَه

No, by Him, if the half learned the affection

Of the prisoner of passion or pitied him

لولا خشوعي لهواه لم يدُسْ

ظهرَ الثرى من اجتدى نوالَه

Without my humility to its love it wouldn’t

Tread the ground of the one who sought its attainment

مشى فيا سبحان من عدّله

غصناً ويا سبحان من أمالَه

It walked, glory to the One Who Reformed it

A branch, and glory to the One Who Bent it

إلا بنو عبد الرحيم فالندى

يعدّهُمْ قبيله وآلَه

Except the clan of Abdul Rahim so the dew

Counts them as its tribe and folks

قومٌ بأسمائهم استغنى الذي

أقسمَ لا يسأل خلقاً مالَه

A people who by their names sufficed

The One Who Swore He doesn’t ask people their money

مبارَكو الأوجه تلقى بهمُ

غرّة شهر الخِصب أو هلالَه

Happy faces, the crescent of fertile month meets them

Or its new moon or its crescent

إن أخلف الربيعُ واستخلفهم

على العباد فعلوا فعالَه

If spring is late and they succeed it

In serving people, they act properly

أو أثبتت أخلاقَ قوم نعمةٌ

كانوا سيوفَ الدهر ورجالَه

Or good manners of a people prove a blessing

They were the swords of time and its men

واستُخرجوا من طينة كانت بهم

عنصرَ بيت الفخر أو صَلصالَه

And were created from clay in which

The essence of the pride’s house or its pottery

بنى عليها يَزْدَجرْدُ لهمُ

ما كان كِسرَى قبلَه بنى لَه

Yazdegerd built on it for them

What Kisra didn’t build before him

صفَّتهم الأيام حتى استخلصت

منهم سلافَ المجد وزلالَه

Time lined them until it extracted

From them the excellent ancestors and its pure drink

يرى أبٌ من ابنه أنجب ما

سرَّ ابنَ غيل أن يرى أشبالَه

A father sees in his son the best

Son of Gheel wishing to see his cubs

لو ذارعَ الأفقَ غلامٌ منهمُ

ببيته لنالَه وطالَه

If a lad of theirs sought the horizon

With his home he’d attain it and live long in it

أو طالع السؤددَ من ثنيّةٍ

لعمِّه أبصر منها خالَه

Or climbed the Sodad from a small hill

He’d see his maternal uncle from it

وانتفض الملكُ فسلَّ منهمُ

مهنداً صيَّره كمالَه

And the kingdom shook so it slipped from them

A sliding kingdom its perfection made it slip

ألقى إليه حبلَه فقاده

على السواء فهدى ضُلّالَه

It handed over its reins so it led it

Right, guiding its misguidance

أبلجُ لا تُبصرُ من هيبتهِ

جمالَه حتى ترى جلالَه

Dazzling, you cannot see its beauty

Until you see its majesty and splendor

تنهال أطواد الخطوب حوله

فلا ترى منهن خطباً هاله

Misfortunes’ edifices crumble around it

And none of them weakens it

شدَّ على الدولة ضبطاً فهي لا

تُجذَبُ مذ ناط بها حبالَه

It tightened its grip on the state so it no longer

Sways when it tied it with its ropes

قام لها وقام غيرانَ بها

وزارةً ما صلَحت إلا لَه

It stood for it, and others envied it

With rule, none proper but it

خائفةً تطلب من يجيرها

في الناس حتى عُلِّقت أذيالَه

Fearful, seeking who’d protect it

Amongst people until it held on to its train

ولم تزل من قبل أن يقَبَلها

تُكثرُ في العطف بها سؤالَه

And it kept asking it for kindness

Before accepting it and complying to its request

فظفِرتْ بمن سلَتْ كلّ أبي

غدرٍ بها مذ رُزقت وصالَه

So it succeeded with one whose father

Betrayed it since it attained its company

من بعد ما دارت زماناً صدَّه

بوجهه واحتملت دلالَه

After time had turned away from it

Facing it and bearing its flirtation

أقرَّها تدبيره في منصبٍ

لو زاله المقدارُ ما أزاله

His management appeased it in a position

If fate had removed it, it wouldn’t have removed it

بالصارمَيْن سيفِهِ ورأيِهِ

نال من اشتراطها ما نالَه

With its two swords, his sword and his opinion

He attained from its blackmail what he attained

وكرمٍ لو كاثر السُّحبَ به

لوازن القُطارَ أو لكالَه

And generosity, if the clouds competed with

It’d equal the trains or surpass them

إذا سقى البحرُ المحيطُ ملحَه

سقى السؤالَ معذِباً سَلسالَه

If the endless sea salted its salt

It’d water the questioning chains

تدفُّقٌ يريك ما أناله

تحت يديه وادياً أساله

An outpour you see what

It attained under its hands, an openly pouring valley

لا يألم الفقرَ الذي محَّضه

يوماً إذا عمّ الغنى سُؤَّالَه

It doesn’t blame the poverty it purely extracted

If wealth generally spreads its questioning

ولا يبالي أملاً فات إذا

بُلِّغ كلُّ طالبٍ آمالَه

And doesn’t care for a missed hope if

Every seeker attains his hopes

حبَّبه إلى النفوس خُلُقٌ

لو ذاقه عدوُّه حلا لَه

A manner loved it to the souls

If its enemy tasted it, it’d be sweet to him

وبشرُ وجه لو سكبتَ ماءَه

في كأسه حسبته جِريالَه

And a face, if you poured its water

In his cup, you’d think it a stream

والحلم حتى لو وزنتَ حلمَهُ

إلى أبانَ لم يزنْ مثقالَه

And patience, even if you weighed its patience

Against anything, it wouldn’t weigh a gram

مشت على محجَّةٍ سويّةٍ

أفعالُه تابعةً أَقوالَه

It walked a straight path

Its actions following its words

وقوَّد الناسَ بحبلِ عادلٍ

لم ينتكث مذ ولِيَ انفتالَه

And it sparked people with a just rope

Never severing since taking charge

فمحسنٌ يرجو النجاةَ عنده

إلى مسيءٍ يتّقي نَكالَه

So the benefactor hopes for salvation with it

And the wrongdoer fears its punishment

والناس بين آمنٍ وخائف

كلٌّ يرى حاضرةً أعمالَه

And people are between safe and worried

Each seeing his works present

مَن حاملٌ ألوكة من ظالع

مخفّفٍ يبُثُّها أثقالَه

One carrying light burdens from the Ascendant

To relieve its heavy weights

قريبةُ المطرَح لاجِيادَه

في طُرقها يُنضِي ولا جِمالَه

The disposal is near, it doesn’t straighten its rein

Or care for its camel, so it lets it roam

يستأذن السؤددَ في إدآبها

والمجدَ حتى يَلِيَا إيصالَه

Seeking permission from Sodad, it enters and from glory

Until it attains its company

قل للوزير إن أصاخ سمعَه

إلى الهوى المظلومِ أو وعَى لَه

Say to the minister, if he lends his hearing

To the oppressed passion, or understands it

يا لَمحبٍّ مغضَبٍ لو أنه

في حبكم مستعذِبٌ خَبالَه

O you who love if you

Were gentle with your love its madness would leave

لوجدَّ في أن يستقيل ساعةً

من الغرام بك ما استقالَه

You’d find solace an hour

When you are done with love for you

تَغيَّرُ الأحوال بالناس ولا

يغيِّر الوجدُ بكم أحوالَه

Conditions change amongst people but

Passion for you doesn’t change them

نُسِي فما يخطِرُ يوماً ذكرُهُ

ببالكم وقد شغَلتم بالَه

Forgotten, never occurs to

Your minds preoccupied from it

ومُلَّ غيرَ واصلٍ وإنما ال

مملولُ من كاثركم وصالَه

And tired of other visitors while only

The untired is he who attained your company

تركتموه والزمانَ وحدَهُ

ملاقياً بغدره أهوالَه

You left it alone with time itself

Facing its betrayal and terrors

مُخاوضاً بمُنَّةٍ مضعوفةٍ

بحارَه مُزاحماً جبالَه

Struggling with a disavowed blessing

Its sea challenging its mountains

منتَبذاً نبذَ الحصاة إن جفا

أو زار لم يُحفَلْ به إحفالَه

Shunned, shunned like pebbles, if it parted

Or visited, it wasn’t regarded warmly

أين زماني الرطبُ فيكم ترِبتْ

يدُ زمان قلَّصتْ ظِلالَه

Where is my moist time amongst you? The hand

Of time diminished its shadows

وعهديَ التالدُ فيكم ما الذي

بدّلَه عندكُمُ أو غالَه

And my time grown amongst you, what

Changed it to you or was of value to it?

ها أنا أبكيه فهل من رِدَّةٍ

لفائتٍ على فتىً بكى لَه

Back for one gone for a lad who cried for it?

And that human I was accustomed to

وذلك البشر الذي ألفتُهُ

منك حفِيًّا بِيَ ما بدا لَه

From you keeping me company, didn’t appear to it

And clothes, beauty wearing them

ومَلبسٌ هو الجمالُ لم تزل

تكسوه لِمْ سلبتني سِربالَه

Why did you strip me of its gown?

God, O people of dew, if one of rank

اللهَ يا أهل الندَى في رجلٍ

إن فات عزَّ أن تروْا أمثالَه

Is lost, it’s hard to see the likes of him

The pregnant earth never gives birth

لا تلدُ الأرضُ الولودُ أبداً

لنصرِ أحسابكُمُ أخا لَه

To aid your clans with a brother to him

You are my spring, so if you thirst

أنتم ربيعي فإذا أعطشتُمُ

أرضيَ من يَبُلُّ لي بِلالَه

My land, who can wet it with its moisture?

How can one travel your praise

كيف يكون مثلاً في صدّكم

مسيِّرٌ في مدحكم أمثالَه

And match it while none match it?

It covered the dusk with what it sent

قد طبّق الغبراءَ ما أرسلَهُ

فيكم وليس تاركاً إرسالَه

To you, not ceasing to send it

Of all neglected, its share is upon it

من كلّ متروكٍ عليه شوطه

قد سلَّم السبقُ له خِصالَه

The precedence handed to its characteristics

The unfortunate cannot catch up with it

لا تطمع النكباءُ أن تُدْرِكَهُ

ولا يدُ الجوزاء أن تنالَه

Nor can time attain it

People gather upon professing its oneness

يجتمع الناسُ على توحيدهِ

ويجلس الإفصاحُ إجلالا لَه

And eloquence sits in awe of it

So everything else is an idol

فكلّ مسموعٍ سواه وثَنٌ

يَضِلُّ من يعبُدُه ضَلالَه

Misguiding those who worship it in its misguidance

I recite it enjoyably seeking its like

أُنشِدُه مستعذباً لمثله

في زمني كأَنّ غيري قالَه

In my time, as if none but me said it

It visits you every day of pride

يزوركم في كلّ يومِ غِبطةٍ

يختالُ في دوركم اختيالَه

Strutting in your houses with its strutting

You recognize the merit of your approach

تَعَرَّفونَ فضلَ إقبالكُمُ

إذا رأيتم نحوكم إقبالَه

When you see its approach towards you

And you knew its honesty foretelling

وقد عرفتم صدقَهُ مبشِّراً

ويُمنَهُ إذا زجرتم فالَه

And its blessing if you shunned its separation

So multiply its verses by the number

فكاثروا أبياتَهُ بعددٍ

من عمركم وسايروا محالَه

Of your lifetime, and keep pace with its places

And employ the fates in your command

واستخدموا الأقدارَ في أمركُم

تسمعُه وتُسرعُ امتثالَه

Hearing you and hastily complying

For you is the rule it adorned

لكم من المُلك الذي أطابَه

قاسِمُه بالعزّ وأطالَه

Dividing honor and prolonging it

Earned by your striving to supremacy

مكتسبٌ بسعيكم إلى العلا

حتى يكون حلوُهُ حَلالَه

Until its pleasure becomes legitimate

And the days' betrayal of your enemy

وغدرة الأيامِ لعدوِّكم

أولَى لمن عاداكُمُ أولى لَه

Or anyone hostile to you, is more deserving of it