دعاني ودادُ المدُلجين دعَاني

فما لي عنها بالسُّلوّ يَدان

The affection of the enchantresses calls me, calls me,

Yet I cannot restrain my hands from them.

بدِت يوم نعمانٍ وتحتَ قناعِها

دُجَى الليل والأصباحُ مجتمعان

She appeared one day of bliss, and beneath her veil

Were the darkness of night and the dawn together.

رمتني بسهمٍ من قسىّ جُفونها

فديتُ يدَ الرامي غداة رماني

She shot me with an arrow from her cruel eyelids.

I ransom the hand of the archer the next morning she shot me.

وفي خدها وردٌ هممتُ بَقطْفِهِ

ولكنّ سيفَ المقلتين حماني

On her cheek was a rose I intended to pluck,

But the sword of her glancing eyes protected me.

يقول رِفَاقي ما لدمعِك مُسْبلاً

فقلت فراقُ الخيريّن شجاني

My friends say, why are your tears pouring down?

I said, parting from loved ones wounds me.

فليت ليالي الغور عُدْن وَعَاودَتْ

وليتَ أرى ليلى وليتَ تراني

If only the nights of al-Ghor were a paradise and would return,

And if only I could see Layla and she could see me,

وليتَ خبائي حولَ أطناب أهلها

وليت ابنةَ البَكري قَيْدَ عياني

And if only my tents were around the area of its people,

And if only the daughter of al-Bakri were in my captivity.

فقد تقربُ الأحبابُ بعد تباعدٍ

كما تبعدَ الأحبابُ بَعْدَ تدَاني

For loved ones may come closer after distance,

Just as loved ones may distance after coming close.

أعاذلُ لا تكثر عليَّ فلم يكُنْ

دهاكَ الهَوى العذريّ حينَ دهاني

Reproacher, do not reproach me much, for it was not

Passion that destroyed you when it destroyed me.

لقد طال بالغور التهاميّ مَلْبثي

وكنتُ حليفَ العِيس والمذملان

My stay in al-Ghor has indeed been long,

And I was a confidante of disappointment and dejection.

وبالشرق لي والغَرب كلُّ قصيدة

كعِقدِ فريدٍ او كسمط جُمَان

In the East and the West, every ode of mine

Is like a unique necklace or ripe fruits.

ومذ كنت لا أطلب نوالَ مُبخّلٍ

ومذ كنت لم أنزل بدار هوان

And since I have never sought the gift of a miser,

And since I have never stayed in an abode of disgrace.

كفاني جودُ الشاوري محمَّدٍ

جوادٌ كفاه الله حينَ كفاني

The generosity of Muhammad al-Shawari sufficed me,

A generous one whom God sufficed when he sufficed me.

أزورُ ابن عَبد الله من أبعد المدَى

فالقى جفاناً فوق كلِّ جِفان

I visit the son of Abdullah from the furthest distance,

So I meet bare ground above all bare ground,

وأبيض من همدانِ يُخشى ويُرتجى

ليوم طعامٍ أو ليومِ طعَان

And a white one from Hamdan who is feared and hoped for

On a day of food or on a day of hunger.

أبا سَعدُ أنتم وسَط همدان غرة

وراسٌ وإن حلت بكل مكان

O Abu Sa'd, you are the best of Hamdan indeed,

A head, even if it landed in every place.

نصرتم عليَّاً يوم صِفِين بالقَنَا

فأثنى عليكم والرماحْ دوان

You supported Ali on the day of Siffin with spears,

So he praised you while the spears were bent.

وما بات جارق عندَكم بمذللٍ

ولا بات ضيفٌ عندَكم بهوان

No neighbor stayed with you while humiliated,

No guest stayed with you while disgraced.