كَرِّرْ أحاديثَ الجُفاة ورَدِّدِ

فلَرَبّما يشفى بها قلبي الصّدي

Repeat the words of the harsh ones and chant them,

Perhaps my blocked heart may be cured by them.

غِرْنَا أنجَدْ ركبُهم يوم النَّوى

نفْسُ المغيرِ فِداءُ نَفْسِ المُنجد

We thought their mounted party helped on the day of intention,

The soul of the changer is the ransom of the soul of the helper.

مَا بي على تلك الهوادج إذْ سرت

تَحْوي الجَمَال على الجَمَال الوُخّدِ

I have no interest in those white camels when they marched,

Bearing beauty over scattered beauty.

تحوي مآزرها القنا فوق النّقا

والحسنُ في المتأوّدِ المتَلبِّدِ

Their howdahs contain the spears above the sheaths,

And beauty in the adorned and clad.

وتريك وَجَ الصِبح أبيضَ مسفرٍ

من تحتِ شعْرٍ كالدُّجُنّة أسودِ

You see the cheek of dawn white and radiant

From under hair black like black dye.

رقدتْ وأسهَرُ في الغرامِ ومن يَبِت

حِلْفَ الصَّبابةِ والأسى لم يرقدِ

She slept while I stay awake, burning with love. And whoever spends the night

With the oath of youth and sorrow has not slept.

وأضاعَتِ الودَّ القديم وما رعَت

ذممي ولا عهدي القديم ولا يدي

She lost the old love and did not heed

My responsibility, nor my old pact, nor my hand.

بالله يا ابنةَ مالكٍ بعْدَ النّوى

رِقى لمضْطَربِ الحشاشَةِ مُعْمدِ

By God, O daughter of Malik, after intention

Solace the disturbed stranger.

كُنّا وأهلُكِ جيرةً برُبَى الغضَا

زمنَ الصِّبا والشمل لم يتَبَدّدِ

We and your family were good neighbors in the meadows of Ghadha

In the days of youth when kinship was not yet severed.

لو كان يُسْعدني الزمَانُ بردّه

لكنّ صرفَ الدهرِ ليس بمُسْعِدِ

If time would allow me to regain it by its return

But the turn of fate does not make one fortunate.

أسفي ومَا أسفي يعيد لما مضَى

هيهاتَ مَا قد فات غيرَ مَعَوّدِ

My regrets do not restore what is past.

Alas! What is gone does not recur.

يا راكباً واللّيلُ مُسْوَدُّ الدُّجا

يطوي المهَامِه فدْفَدا في فدفِد

O rider, while the night is darkening,

Folding its hems, stumbling in its stumbling,

بنجائبٍ قد صَار غَايةُ قصدها

وقصيدِها في ابن الرهيب محمد

With camels that have reached their journey’s end,

And whose ode is in Ibn al-Rahib Muhammad,

تَلْقَى بساحةِ بيته مَا تشتهي

مِن طيّبِ المرعى وطيبِ الموردِ

You will find in the courtyard of his abode what you desire

Of good pasture and good water-spring,

شيخ الطريقةِ والشريعةِ والتُّقَى

بحْرُ النّدى والجودِ بل بدر النّدِي

Shaykh of the path, law, and piety,

A sea of dew and generosity, nay a full moon of prophecy,

كهف اليتامى والأرامل عُصْمَةٌ

للمُلْتجي ومَلاَذ كلّ مطَّردِ

A cave for orphans and widows, a protection

For the resorter and refuge of every outcast,

مولاَي يا حصني لكلِّ مُلِمّةٍ

في النائبات وذَابِلي ومُهَنّدي

My master, O my fortress against every calamity

In adversities, and my tottering and stumbling,

مَن لم يكنْ في اليومِ يحمي سِرْبَه

لم يَحْمِه يومَ القيمةِ في غَدِ

Whosoever does not today protect his flock

Will not be protected by him tomorrow.

إني هَلَكتُ وأنتَ عني مُعرْض

وَتركتَ حسن تفقدي وتعهدي

Lo! I am destroyed while you neglect me

And forsake your wonted inquiry and care of me.