قالوا رَضيتَ قلتُ ما أجَدَى الغَضَبْ
ما غالبَ الدهرُ فتىً إلا غَلَبْ
They said you're satisfied, I said what's the use of rage
No one ever defeated fate except by accepting it
كيف أبالي قُبْحَ ما خيَّبني
إذا علمتُمْ كيفَ أجملتُ الطلَبْ
Why would I care about the ugliness of what disappointed me
When you know how beautifully I sought my goal
إذا أجتهدتُ لم يَعبْني فعلُهُ
ما لم يَجِبْ وما قَضَيتُ ما وَجَبْ
If I strive, its outcome does not weary me
What is not destined will not happen, and what is destined must
يلومني على الهُزال راتعٌ
يحسَبُ ما أسمنَهُ مما أكتسبْ
A complainer blames me for leanness
Thinking what fattened him I acquired
ومن يَرَأْ مِن بِلَّة الخِصْبِ دَرَى
أنّ الحظوظَ منحةٌ بلا سَبَبْ
One who sees the markings of fertility should know
Fortune is a gift with no cause
للّه ما أبضرَني بزَمَني
لو سَلِمَ المَجلومُ من عَيْبِ الأزبّْ
By my time, nothing made me whiter
If the blamed one is safe from the flaws of manners
جَنبايَ للحَمْلِ وجاء لائما
أملسُ لم يَقْمِص لعضَّات القَتَبْ
Stay away from carrying burdens, and come blaming
I am smooth, bites of adversity do not stick to me
جرِّبْ كما جرَّبتُ في الناس تجِدْ
أصدقَ ظنِّك الذي فيهم كذبْ
Try as I have tried among people and you will find
Your assumption about them was most true
تستحفل الضَّرعَ فإن لامستَه
عاد بَكِيئاً جلدُه بلا حلَبْ
You scorn the udder, yet if you touch it
Its skin returns cracked without milk
إنك ما أستعففتَ أنتَ المُجْتَبَي
وما نطفت فأنتَ المُجْتَنَبْ
You didn't seek to be chosen, but you were
And you weren't planted, yet you were avoided
نذيرةٌ فلو قبلتَ نُصحَها
تَوقَّ مَن تأمنُ وأهجرْ مَن تُحِبّْ
An advice, if you accept it, beware those you trust
And leave those you love
كم من أخٍ ملأتُ كَفَّىَّ به
أحسبُ في الوفاء غيرَ ما حسبْ
How many brothers I filled my hands with
Thinking they were loyal, unlike what I assumed
حَمَلتُه أطوى حياءً عيبَهُ
كما حملت جلديك الجربْ
I carried their shame, too shy to expose it
As my skin carried its scabies
وحالياتٍ من جَمالٍ ونَسَبْ
نفَّرهُنّ عَطَلى من النشبْ
Pure women of beauty and lineage
Whose gathering was ruined by vulgarity and baseness
بَكَرْنَ إشفاقاً يعبنَ مَقعَدي
على الخمول ما لهذا لا يثبْ
Crying over my stillness, why doesn't he budge
We see him down, and see those below him
نراه تحتاً ونرى مَنْ تحتَه
في الفضل فَوْقاً يا لَهذا مِن عَجَبْ
Higher in merit, what a wonder!
Hasn't his manners brought him all good?
أَمَا جَنَى خيرا له آدابُهُ
أعاذكُنَّ اللّهُ مِن شرِّ الأدبْ
May God protect you from the evils of manners
He who delayed me from reaching the first
هو الذي أخَّرني مَشَارفَ ال
سبق فأظمَا شفتي على القَرَبْ
So I muted my lips from drinking
Don't be fooled by the son of Ayyub if
لا تغْتَرِرنَ بابن أيّوبَ إذا
أُعْجِبَ منه بالصفايا والنُّخَبْ
You're impressed by his candor and refinement
He is one you see, but not every ore is gold
فإنه ممَّن ترينَ واحدٌ
وليس كلُّ معدنٍ عرقَ الذهبْ
Some people seek him out, but their efforts
In an arena where the foremost is the tailed
يطلبه قومٌ وما أجتهادهم
في حلبةٍ مُدركُ رأسٍ بذَنَبْ
Everyone whose lineage branched out
His abdomen was valid, with uncles and father
أكلُّ من تشجَّرتْ نسبَتُهُ
صحَّ له البطنانِ من خالٍ وأبْ
His hand and soul helped him
With generosity, charity, corruption and confusion
وساعدَتْهُ يدُهُ ونفسُهُ
بالفضل والبذل فسادَ ووَهَبْ
Move away, the lion's roses don't belong in the thorny forest
And don't let pretentiousness appeal to you
تزحزحوا فليس من أوطانكم
للأسَد الوَرْدِ عن الغاب الأَشِبْ
So you think everyone who spoke is eloquent
Leave our pens be if you retreat
ولا يروقَنَّكُمُ تشادُقٌ
فتحسبون كلَّ مَن قالَ خَطَبْ
When the adept satirist chooses to write
Those who leave swords while they're embers
دَعُواقنا الأقلامِ إن نكصتُمُ
لحاذقِ الطعنِ إذا شاء كَتَبْ
Are fettered captives to the butcherer's cane
A people, when the fire of turmoil ignites for them
من تاركي السيوفِ وهْي زُبَرٌ
شدائدٌ أسرَى لجزّارِ القَصَبْ
Squads, they tumble them like books
If criticized they don't rush, or if asked they don't stand
قومٌ إذا نار الوغى شَبَّتْ لهم
كتائبا فَلُّوا شَباها بالكُتُبْ
Turning to face the pursuer
Their backs are not for gossip, if mentioned one day
إن شووِروا لم يَعجيلوا أو سُئلوا
لم يَقِفوا تلفُّتاً إلى العُقُبْ
And their salt is not on the saddles
And Muhammad eliminated their traces
لا ظَهرهُمْ لِغِيَبةٍ إن ذُكروا
يوما ولا مِلحهُمُ على الرُّكَبْ
Testifying the noble is son of the noble
So windows of propriety remain
وقَصَّ آثارَهُمُ محمدٌ
شهادةٌ إِنَّ النجيبَ أبنُ النُّجُبْ
Through which the envious is choked, or the lover pleased
No favor was thanked, no sincere affection
فلا تَزَلْ نوافذٌ صوائبٌ
يُصمَى بها الحاسدُ أو يَرضَى المحبُّ
Appeared, safe from doubt
The Nayrouz and Eid don't coincide, no
ما شُكِرتْ صنيعةٌ أو ظَهَرتْ
مودّةٌ خالصةٌ من الرِّيَبْ
Remote or near closeness between them
You take what you want from both of their luck
وأختلف النيروزُ والعيدُ وما
توافقا في بُعُدٍ ولا قُرُبْ
Suggesting and arbitrating, and you straighten up
And visitors who sweetened their edges through
تأخذ ما تشاء من حظَّيْهما
مقترحاً محتكما وتَنْتَصِبْ
Mentioning you, which if absent, would not please you
Concubines with the winds, those
وزائراتٍ طَيَّبَتْ أعطافَها
منك بذكرٍ لو عَدَاك لم تَطِبْ
You inclined to, or companions with the clouds
Every girl whose warrior leaned toward me
جَوارياً مع الرياح بالذي
أوليتَ أو سَوارياً مع السُّحُبْ
And languished into my bosom, unyielding
A free soul meets you from a horseman
كلُّ فتاةٍ قرّ لي شِمَاسُها
وذَلَّ في فوديَّ منها ما صَعُبْ
The daughter of kings and a mouth of Arabs
She is quenched, so if something delighted her soul
تلقاك نفسا حرّةً من فارسٍ
بنتَ الملوكِ وفماً من العَرَبْ
You would have heard the rapture in her rhymes
My enemies are relieved when I say this
تُروَى فلو أطربَ شيءٌ نفْسَهُ
لق سمعتَ من قوافيها الطرَبْ
And your enviers if you rise above fatigue
أَضحَى وراحَ حاسدي إن قلتُها
وحاسدوك إن علوتَ في تَعَبْ
