مُنىً كُنَّ لي أَنَّ البَياضَ خِضابُ

فَيَخفى بِتَبيِيضِ القُرونِ شَبابُ

Wishes were that for me whiteness is dye

Wishes they were to me—that white hair was but dye, / So youth might be hidden by the whitening of the locks.

So youth is concealed as time makes hair grey

Nights when my temples were a lure to the fair, / A boast to them, but to me, such boasting was a flaw.

لَيالِيَ عِندَ البيضِ فَودايَ فِتنَةٌ

وَفَخرٌ وَذاكَ الفَخرُ عِندِيَ عابُ

Nights beside the white one are tempting for me

How then can I blame today what I once desired? / Or complain of the very prayer that has been answered?

Boasting which boasting with me is a disgrace

One hue cleared away another, guiding every path, / Just as the lifting fog reveals the light of day.

فَكَيفَ أَذُمُّ اليَومَ ما كُنتُ أَشتَهي

وَأَدعو بِما أَشكوهُ حينَ أُجابُ

How can I blame today what I desired before

Within this body dwells a soul that grays not with age, / Though the face be etched with lines like spear-points.

And complain of what I bemoan when I'm called

It bears a claw, should the claw I ready grow dull, / And a fang, should no fang remain within the mouth.

جَلا اللَونُ عَن لَونٍ هَدى كُلَّ مَسلَكٍ

كَما اِنجابَ عَن ضَوءِ النَهارِ ضَبابُ

Beauty has vanished guiding every course

Time may alter what it wills of me, save this soul; / I reach the furthest span of age, yet she remains a maiden.

As sunlight's radiance is concealed by mist’s drape

Truly I am a star by which my companions guide their course, / Whenever clouds intervene to veil the other stars.

وَفي الجِسمِ نَفسٌ لا تَشيبُ بِشَيبِهِ

وَلَو أَنَّ ما في الوَجهِ مِنهُ حِرابُ

A soul within me doesn't age with its aging

I have no need of homelands; no longing stirs me / To return to any land from which I have departed.

And if what's on the face from it is but a harbinger

Nor need I the camels' trot, though they yield it freely, / For if they refuse, an eagle sits upon their saddles.

لَها ظُفُرٌ إِن كَلَّ ظُفرٌ أُعِدُّهُ

وَنابٌ إِذا لَم يَبقَ في الفَمِ نابُ

It has a nail if no nail do I own

I parch with thirst yet show the water no desire, / Though the sun itself drips slaver upon the caravan.

And a tooth if no tooth in my mouth remains

I hold a place for secrets that no boon companion reaches, / A depth to which even wine can find no path.

يُغَيِّرُ مِنّي الدَهرُ ما شاءَ غَيرَها

وَأَبلُغُ أَقصى العُمرِ وَهِيَ كَعابُ

Time may change me but not it

The damsel gets an hour of my time, but then between us / Lies a vast desert crossed for ends other than romance.

And I reach my life's edge while it’s still potent

For love is naught but folly and a greedy hope, / Wherein a heart exposes itself only to be struck.

وَإِنّي لَنَجمٌ تَهتَدي بِيَ صُحبَتي

إِذا حالَ مِن دونِ النُجومِ سَحابُ

I'm a star, my company is guidance

Let hearts other than mine be targets for the fair, / And fingers other than mine carry the wine-cups.

When clouds obstruct the stars’ tablature

We have abandoned every pleasure to the spear-points, / And find no sport save in the wielding of them.

غَنِيٌّ عَنِ الأَوطانِ لا يَستَفِزُّني

إِلى بَلَدٍ سافَرتُ عَنهُ إِيابُ

Independent of homelands, I'm not lured

We turn them to the thrust atop our sturdy steeds, / Till the very joints shatter from the force of the blow.

To a land I traveled from without return

The most honored seat in this world is a swift steed's saddle, / And the best companion in all of time is a book.

وَعَن ذَمَلانِ العيسِ إِن سامَحَت بِهِ

وَإِلّا فَفي أَكوارِهِنَّ عُقابُ

And not to blame maidens’ coquetry

A vast ocean is Abu al-Misk, the boundless deep, / Who over every other sea holds surge and swell.

Or they meet from me wrath and pain

He transcends the scope of praise, until it seems / That the highest eulogy offered him is but an insult.

وَأَصدى فَلا أُبدي إِلى الماءِ حاجَةً

وَلِلشَمسِ فَوقَ اليَعمُلاتِ لُعابُ

I make do without water though I'm thirsty

Enemies contended with him, then bowed in submission, / Just as necks contend against the sharp-edged swords.

And the sun up on peaks has ample shine

You find Abu al-Misk most often in his battle gear, / When robes shield nothing but the iron beneath.

وَلِلسِرِّ مِنّي مَوضِعٌ لا يَنالُهُ

نَديمٌ وَلا يُفضي إِلَيهِ شَرابُ

A secret part of me cannot be known

You find his chest most broad when behind him lies / The volley and the thrust, and before him the strike.

By a companion or revealed by wine

His judgment is most piercing when he issues a decree / That leaves the kings of the earth in raging wrath.

وَلِلخَودِ مِنّي ساعَةٌ ثُمَّ بَينَنا

فَلاةٌ إِلى غَيرِ اللِقاءِ تُجابُ

An hour with the cheek then we are parted

His virtue alone drives the people's obedience to him, / Even were he without the tools of bounty and punishment.

By desolation till we again entwine

O Lion, within whose form dwells a true lion's soul, / While many a seeming lion holds but the spirit of a cur.

وَما العِشقُ إِلّا غِرَّةٌ وَطَماعَةٌ

يُعَرِّضُ قَلبٌ نَفسَهُ فَيُصابُ

Love but greed and craving

O you who seize your due right from the hands of Time, / One such as you is granted his due and held in awe.

A heart exposing itself then anguish finds

We have a claim against Time that it stubbornly withholds; / Conciliation has grown scarce, while grievance grows long.

وَغَيرُ فُؤادي لِلغَواني رَمِيَّةٌ

وَغَيرُ بَناني لِلزُجاجِ رِكابُ

Another heart for flirts is like an easy prey

Yet days may forge a noble habit in your presence, / And barren times may flourish and be inhabited.

And another waist for glass is soft and fine

There is no true dominion but you; the kingdom is mere surplus, / As though you are the sword within it, and it the sheath.

تَرَكنا لِأَطرافِ القَنا كُلَّ شَهوَةٍ

فَلَيسَ لَنا إِلّا بِهِنَّ لِعابُ

We leave the canal's edges every wantonness

I find my eyes cooled and gladdened by my nearness to you, / Even if that nearness be mingled with distance.

Remaining but to toy with them and pine

Does it profit me that the veils between us are raised, / If a barrier still stands before the hopes I placed in you?

نُصَرِّفُهُ لِلطَعنِ فَوقَ حَوادِرٍ

قَدِ اِنقَصَفَت فيهِنَّ مِنهُ كِعابُ

We turn it to stab atop chests

I offer few greetings, loving that which burdens you least, / And I keep silent, that no answer may be required.

Wherein from it bits and pieces intertwine

Yet the soul has needs, and you possess sharp insight; / To that insight, my very silence is eloquence and speech.

أَعَزُّ مَكانٍ في الدُنى سَرجُ سابِحٍ

وَخَيرُ جَليسٍ في الزَمانِ كِتابُ

Most precious place in the world is a rider’s saddle

I am not one who seeks a bribe in exchange for love; / Weak is the affection that demands a reward.

And time’s best company is a book fine

I wished only to prove to those who blame me / That my judgment in loving you was true and right.

وَبَحرٌ أَبو المِسكِ الخِضَمُّ الَّذي لَهُ

عَلى كُلِّ بَحرٍ زَخرَةٌ وَعُبابُ

A sea is Abu Musk the profound

And to teach those who opposed me—they going east, I west— / That I have seized the victory, while they have failed.

Above all seas with surge and clouds high

Dispute runs in all things save you: that you are unique, / That you are the lion, while other kings are but wolves.

تَجاوَزَ قَدرَ المَدحِ حَتّى كَأَنَّهُ

بِأَحسَنِ ما يُثنى عَلَيهِ يُعابُ

Exceeding praise until it is as though

And that were you compared, a reader might misread / 'Wolves' as 'flies'—and in that error, hit upon the truth.

Critiqued when best praise of it is applied

The praise bestowed on men is part truth, part void, / But praise of you is truth entire, with no falsehood within.

وَغالَبَهُ الأَعداءُ ثُمَّ عَنَوا لَهُ

كَما غالَبَت بيضَ السُيوفِ رِقابُ

And enemies overcame it then addressed it

If I gain your friendship, then wealth is of no account, / For all that lies above the dust is merely dust.

As white swords overcame necks in battle's tide

Were it not for you, I would be but a wanderer, / With a new town and new companions for every day.

وَأَكثَرُ ما تَلقى أَبا المِسكِ بِذلَةً

إِذا لَم تَصُن إِلّا الحَديدَ ثِيابُ

Oft faced Abu Musk with humiliation

But you are the world to me, in beloved form, / So from you I have no path, save the one returning to you.

When naught but iron clothes one's form and pride

وَأَوسَعُ ما تَلقاهُ صَدراً وَخَلفَةٌ

رِماءٌ وَطَعنٌ وَالأَمامَ ضِرابُ

Broadness met him of chest and endurance

Stabbing, spearing, ahead swords collide

وَأَنفَذُ ما تَلقاهُ حُكماً إِذا قَضى

قَضاءً مُلوكُ الأَرضِ مِنهُ غِضابُ

His rule, when ordained, most effective

Kings of earth from it rage and terror abide

يَقودُ إِلَيهِ طاعَةَ الناسِ فَضلُهُ

وَلَو لَم يَقُدها نائِلٌ وَعِقابُ

Obedience of people to him led by his merit

Even lacking both gain and agony's guide

أَيا أَسَداً في جِسمِهِ روحُ ضَيغَمٍ

وَكَم أُسُدٍ أَرواحُهُنَّ كِلابُ

O you lion in body but pig in soul

And how many lions in souls are curs in hide

وَيا آخِذاً مِن دَهرِهِ حَقَّ نَفسِهِ

وَمِثلُكَ يُعطى حَقَّهُ وَيُهابُ

Taking your fair share of fortune

The like of you gets his right and is dignified

لَنا عِندَ هَذا الدَهرِ حَقٌّ يَلُطُّهُ

وَقَد قَلَّ إِعتابٌ وَطالَ عِتابُ

For us with time a right it obscures

Reproach has waned and blame became wide

وَقَد تُحدِثُ الأَيّامُ عِندَكَ شيمَةً

وَتَنعَمِرُ الأَوقاتُ وَهِيَ يَبابُ

Days may breed in you an aura

And eras rejuvenate which are debris

وَلا مُلكَ إِلّا أَنتَ وَالمُلكُ فَضلَةٌ

كَأَنَّكَ سَيفٌ فيهِ وَهُوَ قِرابُ

No king but you and kingship is surplus

As if you're a sword and it but a scabbard's side

أَرى لي بِقُربي مِنكَ عَيناً قَريرَةً

وَإِن كانَ قُرباً بِالبِعادِ يُشابُ

My closeness grants me a eye serene

Though a closeness blemished with distance's tide

وَهَل نافِعي أَن تُرفَعَ الحُجبُ بَينَنا

وَدونَ الَّذي أَمَّلتُ مِنكَ حِجابُ

Does it benefit that veils lifted between us

When between what I hope from you a veil resides

أُقِلُّ سَلامي حُبَّ ما خَفَّ عَنكُمُ

وَأَسكُتُ كَيما لا يَكونَ جَوابُ

I give you greetings of concealed love

And silence so no response can abide

وَفي النَفسِ حاجاتٌ وَفيكَ فَطانَةٌ

سُكوتي بَيانٌ عِندَها وَخِطابُ

In the soul needs, in you insight

My silence clarifies and words collide

وَما أَنا بِالباغي عَلى الحُبِّ رِشوَةً

ضَعيفٌ هَوىً يُبغى عَلَيهِ ثَوابُ

I don't force love a bribe

Feeble in passion, to be swayed by a prize

وَما شِئتُ إِلّا أَن أَدُلَّ عَواذِلي

عَلى أَنَّ رَأيِي في هَواكَ صَوابُ

I just wanted to show off my lover

That my view of passion for you is right

وَأُعلِمَ قَوماً خالَفوني فَشَرَّقوا

وَغَرَّبتُ أَنّي قَد ظَفِرتُ وَخابوا

And tell a people who differed and gloated

I was victorious and they were contrite

جَرى الخُلفُ إِلّا فيكَ أَنَّكَ واحِدٌ

وَأَنَّكَ لَيثٌ وَالمُلوكُ ذِئابُ

Consensus was broken but in you alone

You're unique, a lion, while kings are parasites

وَأَنَّكَ إِن قُويِستَ صَحَّفَ قارِئٌ

ذِئاباً وَلَم يُخطِئ فَقالَ ذُبابُ

And if you are weighed you are lions

Misread by a reciter who said but flies

وَإِنَّ مَديحَ الناسِ حَقٌّ وَباطِلٌ

وَمَدحُكَ حَقٌّ لَيسَ فيهِ كِذابُ

While people's praise is truth and lies

Yours is truth without falseness inside

إِذا نِلتُ مِنكَ الوُدَّ فَالمالُ هَيِّنٌ

وَكُلُّ الَّذي فَوقَ التُرابِ تُرابُ

If I gain your affection wealth is easy

All above dust to dust is allied

وَما كُنتُ لَولا أَنتَ إِلّا مُهاجِراً

لَهُ كُلَّ يَومٍ بَلدَةٌ وَصِحابُ

Without you I'd be just an émigré

Each day a home and friend beside

وَلَكِنَّكَ الدُنيا إِلَيَّ حَبيبَةً

فَما عَنكَ لي إِلّا إِلَيكَ ذَهابُ

But you make the world beloved to me

So, save to you from you there's no guide