أخْلقَ الدهرُ لِمتى وأجّدا

شعَراتٍ أرينني الأمرَ جِدَّا

Time has created qualities in you, for how long will it last?

My hair has shown me plainly that matters are serious.

لم يزلْ بي واشي اللياي إلى سم

ع معير الشباب حتى استردّا

My youthful ringlets accompanied me to the age of forty,

Then their blackness, which colored my life, began to fade.

صِبغةٌ كانت الحياةَ فما أف

رُقُ أوَدى دهري بها أو أردَ

I have never complained of the turning of my fate,

Even though my lifetime with it has declined and wasted away.

يا بياض المشيب بِعْنِي بأيّا

مك ليلاً نضوتَه مسوَدَّا

O whiteness of old age, weep for the nights of my youth

That you darkened when they were bright.

يا لها سرحةً تَصاوَحُ تَنّو

ماً وعهدي بها تَفاوَحُ رَندا

O the sauntering of a gazelle, capricious and playful,

While my time with her bounded and cavorted.

لم أقل قبلها لسوداءَ عطفاً

واقتراباً ولا لبيضاءَ بُعدا

Never before her did I show affection or draw near a brunette,

Nor keep away from a blonde out of disdain.

عدَّتِ الأربعون سنَّ تمامي

وهي حلّت عُرايَ عَقداً فعَقدا

When I reached the fullness of forty years,

Her knotted locks began to come undone.

بَانَ نَقْصِي بأن كَملتث وأحسس

ضُعفي لمّا بلغتُ الأشُدّا

My diminishment was revealed when she reached perfection,

And I felt my weakness when she attained full growth.

رجعتْ عنّيَ العيون كما تر

جعُ عن حاجب الغزالة رُمْدا

The eyes turned away from me as the gaze turns away

From a wounded gazelle stumbling blindly on.

ليت بيتاً بالخَيْفِ أمسِ استضفنا

قَرانَا ولو غَراما ووَجْدا

Would that one night that we visited the lowlands as a pair,

Even in turmoil and distress!

وسقاةً على القليب احتساباً

عوّضونا اللّمى شِفاءً وبَرْدا

And servers giving us cooled wine in the heat,

Who replaced our thirst with health and coldness.

راح صحبي بفوزة الحجِّ يحدو

ن وعَنسي باسم البخيلةِ تُحدَى

My friends left, glorying in pilgrimage,

While my isolation prides itself on parsimony.

ولحاظي مقيَّداتٌ بسلعٍ

فكأنّي أضللتُ فيه المَجْدَا

My clothes are restrictions of modesty,

So I seem to have lost nobility in them.

ربَّ ليلٍ بين المُحصَّب والخَيْ

ف لبسناه للخلاعةِ بُرْدا

O Lord of a night between travel and encampment

When we put on our garments out of destitution!

وخيامٍ بسَفح أُحْدٍ على الأُق

مار تُبْنَى فحيِّ يا رب أُحْدَا

And tents pitched on the side of Uhud

Whose peak please build up, O Lord, anew!

لا عدا الرَّوْحُ في تِهامةَ أنفَا

ساً إذا استُروِحتْ تمنَّيتُ نجدا

Nothing remains for my soul in Tihama

When I seek rest there, I yearn for Nejd.

وأعان الرقادُ حَيْرةَ طَرفٍ

لم يجِدْ في الطّلاب يقظانَ رُشْدا

Slumber relieves the confusion of an eye

That cannot find wakeful wisdom in petition.

نمتُ أرجو هنداً فكلَّ مثالٍ

خَيَّلَتْ لي الأحلامُ إلاّ هندا

I slept hoping for India - whatever dream

Imagined for me was naught but India.

عَجباً لي ولابتغائي مَودّا

تِ ليالٍ طباعُها لِيَ أعدَا

Strange is my longing for the nights' affection!

Their nature has harmed me and plotted against me.

نطَقَتْ في نفوسها وتعفَّف

تُ فما وُدُّ من يَرَى بك صدّا

They whispered to themselves and were chaste,

For no lover welcomes your company.

أجلبتْ جِلدتي عريكةُ دهري

فرمَى بي وقام أملسَ جِلْدا

The scratching of fate flayed me,

So it discarded me, smooth-skinned.

كلّ يومٍ أقولُ ذمّاً لعيشي

فإذا فاتني غداً قلتُ حَمْدا

Each day I blame my life, but if tomorrow passes,

I will say "Thanks" for it.

زفراتٌ على الزمان إذا استب

ردتُ منها تنفُّساً زدن وَقْدا

Sighs at fate - if I gain breath from them,

I add more fuel and stoke their heat.

يا لَحَظِّي الأعَمى أما يتلقَّى

قائداً يبتغِي الثوابَ فيُهْدَى

O my blind fortune! Does it not meet

A guide who seeks reward and so is guided?

يا زمانَ النفاقِ مالك زاد

اللّهُ بيني وبن أهلك بُعدا

O time of hypocrisy! May God increase the distance

Between me and the people of your abode.

مَن عذيري من صحبة الناس ما أخ

فَرَها ذمّةً وأخبثَ عهدا

Who can excuse me from the company of people? It did not

Conceal its shameful nature and fouled our pact.

كم أخٍ حائم معي واصلٍ لي

فإذا خَلَّفتْ به الحالُ صدَّا

How many brothers roamed with me, how many friends were true!

But when circumstances parted us, they turned away.

وصديقٍ سَبْطٍ وأيّامه وُسْ

طَى فلمّا انتهتْ تقلَصَ جَعْدا

And a noble friend whose days were fortunate -

When they ended he recoiled, curled up.

ليته غيرَ منصِفٍ لِيَ إسعا

داً على الدهر منصفٌ لِيَ وُدّا

Would that he had not favored me with justice

So that time might treat me fairly and show me love!

وإذا لم تَجِدْ من الصبر بُدَّاً

فتعزَّلْ وَجِدْ من الناس بُدَّا

And when you find no escape from patience,

Withdraw yourself, and escape the people.

يدفع اللّهُ لي ويَحمي عن الصا

حِبِ فَرداً كما وَفَى لِيَ فردا

God will defend me and protect me from the companion

Who rejects me, just as He fulfilled it for me once before.

أَجِنَتْ أوجهُ الرجالِ فما أن

كَرتُ من بِشر وجههِ العذبِ وِرْدا

Men's faces have frowned, but never did I reject

A face of radiant cheer and roses.

كيفما خالَفتْ عِطاشُ أماني

نا إليه كان النميرَ العِدَّا

Whenever my ambitions opposed His will,

Rebellion was the constant disorder.

مَلَكَ الجودُ أمرَهُ فحديث ال

مال عن راحتيه أعطَى وأجدَى

Kindness has ruled; when talk of wealth

Distracted it from comfort, it gave generously and helped.

زد لجاجاً إذا سألتَ وإلحا

حاً عليه يزِدْك صبراً ورِفْدا

Increase your stubbornness if you ask, and insist

Upon Him - it will give you more patience and provision.

لا تَرَى والمياهُ تُعطى وتُكدِى

حافراً قطّ في ثراه أكدَى

You will never see, though water is given and flows,

Any hoof made dirtier in its course.

كلما عرَّضَتْ له رغبةُ الدن

يا توانى عنها عَفافاً وزُهدا

Whenever worldly greed was displayed before it,

It refrained virtuously, with detachment.

كثَّر الناسٌُ مالَها واقتناها

سِيَراً تَشرف الحديثَ وحَمْدا

The people have multiplied its wealth and gained it,

Provisions that ennoble discourse and merit praise.

لحقتْه بغاية المجد نفسٌ

لم تحدِّد فضلاً فتبلغ حدّا

A spirit that did not limit excellence reached

The heights of glory but did not attain any limit.

عدَّت الفقر في المكارم مُلكاً

وفَناءَ الأيّام في العزّ خُلدا

It reckoned destitution a possession of virtues

And the passing of time in might an eternity.

وأبٌ حَطَّ في السماء ولو شا

ء تخَطّى مكانَها وتعدَّى

A father who, had he wished, could have surpassed

The heavens' realm, transcending its bounds.

من بهاليلَ أنبتوا ريشة الأر

ضِ وربُّوا عِظامَها والجِلْدا

Of the Abbasids who cultivated the world’s plumage

And nurtured its bones and skin -

أرضعتْها أيديهمُ دِرَّة الخِص

ب فروَّت تِلاعَها والوُهْدا

Their hands suckled it, a precious pearl,

And watered its slopes and valleys.

بين جَمٍّ منهُمُ وسابورَ أقيا

لٌ يعدُّون مَولد الدهر عَدَّا

Between a throng of them and Sapor were generations

Who reckoned the birth of time as false.

لهمُ حاضرُ الممالك إن فا

خر قومٌ منها بقَفرٍ ومَبدَى

They took the excuse of fate in hand and blocked

The passes of oppression, hunting lions.

أخذوا عُذرةَ الزمان وسدُّوا

فُرَجَ الغِيلِ يقنصون الأُسْدا

The course of justice in their achievements is narrated,

While the excellence of their management is lauded.

سيَرُ العدلِ في مآثرهم تُر

وَى وحسنُ التدبير عنهم يؤدَّى

And when the years grew gloomy and the earth

Showed its dusty face in decay,

وإذا اغبّرتِ السنونَ وأبدَى

شَعثُ الأرض وجهَها المُربَدَّا

They dispelled decline through prosperity and restored

The condition, leaving monuments behind them.

طردوا الأَزْلَ بالثراء وقاموا

أَثر المحلِ يخلُفون الأَنْدَا

They crowned an embryo and their descendants in maturity

Succeeded the elders of the people as youths and beloveds.

تُوِّجوا مُضغةً وساد كهولَ ال

ناس أبناؤهم شباباً ومُردا

Time enumerated chief after chief among them,

And al-Husayn a grandfather - and so a chief.

عدَّد الدهرُ سيّداً سيّداً من

هم وعدَّ الحسينُ جَدَّاً فجدَّا

It prevented people from competing with you in generosity,

Their winding course, while your course is direct.

حَبَسَ الناسَ أن يُجاروك في السؤ

دُدِ تعريجُهم وسَيْرُك قَصدا

And it protected the kingdom from stumbling in opinion;

You administered its affairs with total control.

ووقَى المُلكَ زَلّةَ الرأي أن صر

تَ بتدبير أمرِهِ مستبِدّا

You have a day from it of settlement with war

That throws back early Advancements completely routed.

لك يومٌ عنه مِرَاسٌ مع الحر

بِ يردُّ السوابقَ الشُّعْرَ جُرْدا

Upon it you ride fate like a mount, on its back,

Into victory, taking the nights as soldiers.

تركبُ الدهرَ فيه ظَهْراً إلى النص

ر وتستصحبُ الليالِيَ جُندا

A day in which you see the destitution of visitors

As obstinate adversaries through your decree.

وجدالٌ يوماً تَرَى منك فيه

فِقَرُ الوافدين خَصْماً ألدَّا

Every unbroken colt, your eloquence in its track

Overtakes it - the thoroughbred overtakes the dapple-coat.

كلّ عَوصاءَ يسبِق الكَلِمُ الهدَّ

ارُ في شوطها الجوادَ النَّهُدا

I am that freeman whom your sorcerous qualities

Have made your slave, O prince, through passion!

أنا ذاك الحرُّ الذي صيَّرتْه

لك أخلاقُك السواحرُ عبدا

Suspended by love for you, my hands tied

With a rope - distance only adds another knot.

مُعلِقٌ من هواك كفِّي بحبلٍ

لم يزده البعادُ إلا عَقْدا

Longing has controlled my heart; since separation came between us

Stretching far, I complain of remoteness though it is unjust.

مَلكَ الشوقُ أمرَ قلبي عليه

مذ غد البينُ بيننا ممتدَّا

Were it not for the sweetness of nearness I would not suffer distance.

Would that one who carries the weak into danger

أشتكي البعدَ وهو ظلمٌ ولولا

لذّة القربِ ما أَلمِتُ البُعدا

Would convey my camel litter to you and guide it!

My eyes would gain relief, even for an hour with you,

ليت من يحملُ الضعيفَ على الأخ

طارِ ألقَى رَحلي إليك وأدَّى

For after it I will not glance again.

And in estrangement, so the rhymes convey

فتروّت عيني ولو ساعةً من

ك فإني من بعدها لا أَصْدَى

Greetings to you from me - they pass by night and day.

Every maiden who outshines the sun in brilliance

وعلى النأيِ فالقوافي تحيّا

تُك منّي تسري مَراحا ومَغْذَى

And conceals the embers of night in her face's glow,

Whose body is untouched by any hand,

كلّ عذراء تفضَح الشمسَ في الصب

ح وتُورِي في فحمة الليل زَندا

Nor has the delicacy of her glances been made common -

The dangles of her necklaces were offered to you;

لم تُدنَّس باللمس جسماً ولم تَص

بُغْ لها غَضّةُ اللواحظِ خدَّا

To the springtime it offers roses.

From her the greeting and longing come to you -

أَرِجاتُ الأعطاف مُهدىً جَناها

لك يُهدِي إلى الربيع الوَردْا

One is complained of, the other pleasant to receive.

Visit the beauty of her neck with my ring,

فتلقَّ السلامَ والشوقَ منها

ذاك يُشْكَى وذا يطيبُ فيُهدَى

And tailor an ornament for the feast night.

And accept from fate what it has often rejected

واحْبُ جيدَ النيروز منها بطوقي

ن وفصِّل لليلة العيدِ عِقْدا

And tossed over its shoulder in reversal.

I do not care if I lose you, but when

وتسلَّم من الحوادث ما ك

رّ على عَقْبه الزمانُ وردَّا

My eyes behold you, I see no loss.

ما أبالي إذا وجدتُك مَنْ تَف

قِدُ عيني لا أبصرتْ لك فَقدَا