بِأَبي الشُموسُ الجانِحاتُ غَوارِبا

اللابِساتُ مِنَ الحَريرِ جَلابِبا

With the suns setting their wings aflutter

I would ransom my father for those suns setting in the west,

Garbed in silk, their dresses a-flutter,

Those clad in silk, dragging their flowing robes,

المَنهِباتُ قُلوبَنا وَعُقولَنا

وَجَناتِهِنَّ الناهِباتِ الناهِبا

Ravishing hearts and minds entire,

Who plunder our hearts and pillage our reason,

Their bewitching gardens plundering plunderers.

While their cheeks despoil the very spoiler himself.

الناعِماتُ القاتِلاتُ المُحيِيا

تُ المُبدِياتُ مِنَ الدَلالِ غَرائِبا

Delicate, murderous charmers

The soft, the slayers, the givers of life,

Displaying coquetries strange and wonderful;

Revealing the strange wonders of their coquetry.

حاوَلنَ تَفدِيَتي وَخِفنَ مُراقِباً

فَوَضَعنَ أَيدِيَهُنَّ فَوقَ تَرائِبا

They try my ransom but espy a guard

They sought to ransom me, yet feared the watcher’s eye,

So place their hands upon their hips indignant.

And pressed their hands upon their heaving breasts.

وَبَسَمنَ عَن بَرَدٍ خَشيتُ أُذيبَهُ

مِن حَرِّ أَنفاسي فَكُنتُ الذائِبا

They smile through an icy front fearing

They smiled, revealing hailstones I feared I might dissolve

I'll melt it with my fiery breath.

With the heat of my sighs—yet it was I who melted away.

يا حَبَّذا المُتَحَمَّلونَ وَحَبَّذا

وادٍ لَثَمتُ بِهِ الغَزالَةَ كاعِبا

I yearn for the tolerant; I yearn

Oh, how beloved are those who depart, and how beloved

For a valley where I can kiss a fawn indifferent.

The valley where I kissed the gazelle in her youth.

كَيفَ الرَجاءُ مِنَ الخُطوبِ تَخَلُّصاً

مِن بَعدِ ما أَنشَبنَ فِيَّ مَخالِبا

How can I hope to escape from distress

How can one hope for escape from calamity,

Now that it has sunk its claws in me?

Once it has sunk its talons deep into my flesh?

أَوحَدنَني وَوَجَدنَ حُزناً واحِداً

مُتَناهِياً فَجَعَلنَهُ لي صاحِبا

It has isolated me and found but sadness one,

They singled me out, finding a singular sorrow,

Unending, made it my comrade.

Boundless and vast, which they made my sole companion.

وَنَصَبنَني غَرَضَ الرُماةِ تُصيبُني

مِحَنٌ أَحَدُّ مِنَ السُيوفِ مَضارِبا

It set me up as a target for archers;

They set me as a target for the archers, struck by

Misfortunes sharper than swords assault me.

Trials with edges sharper than the blades of swords.

أَظمَتنِيَ الدُنيا فَلَمّا جِئتُها

مُستَسقِياً مَطَرَت عَلَيَّ مَصائِبا

Life has denied me water so when

The world parched me with thirst, yet when I came

I asked it rained calamities upon me.

Seeking a drink, it rained down disasters upon me.

وَحُبِيتُ مِن خوصِ الرِكابِ بِأَسوَدٍ

مِن دارِشٍ فَغَدَوتُ أَمشي راكِبا

Of saddlebags' thongs they fashioned me shoes black

In place of fine mounts, I was gifted black leather,

And made me amble as though I rode a mount.

Of Darish make—so I journey now, riding my own feet.

حالٌ مَتى عَلِمَ اِبنُ مَنصورٍ بِها

جاءَ الزَمانُ إِلَيَّ مِنها تائِبا

When did fortune's vicissitudes make Ibn Mansur aware?

A plight that, once known to the son of Mansour,

Repenting, time has come to me on bended knee.

Will compel Time itself to come to me in repentance.

مَلِكٌ سِنانُ قَناتِهِ وَبَنانُهُ

يَتَبارَيانِ دَماً وَعُرفاً ساكِبا

A king whose aggression and hostility vie,

A king whose spear-point and fingertips

Spilling blood competed in noblesse oblige.

Vie to shed blood and pour forth overflowing grace.

يَستَصغِرُ الخَطَرَ الكَبيرَ لِوَفدِهِ

وَيَظُنُّ دِجلَةَ لَيسَ تَكفي شارِبا

He belittles the mighty danger to receive his guests

He deems the greatest reward too small for his guests,

Deeming the Tigris insufficient for all to imbibe!

And thinks the Tigris river insufficient to quench one thirst.

كَرَماً فَلَو حَدَّثتَهُ عَن نَفسِهِ

بِعَظيمِ ما صَنَعَت لَظَنَّكَ كاذِبا

Were you to tell him of his own magnanimity, thinking you a liar,

Such is his nobility, were you to speak to him of his deeds,

Ask of his courage, beware his minister-

And their greatness, he would surely deem you a liar.

سَل عَن شَجاعَتِهِ وَزُرهُ مُسالِماً

وَحَذارِ ثُمَّ حَذارِ مِنهُ مُحارِبا

Beware and beware again- make your address mild

Ask of his courage, and visit him in peace,

For death's nature and disposition are thus defined:

But beware, oh beware, to meet him in war.

فَالمَوتُ تُعرَفُ بِالصِفاتِ طِباعُهُ

لَم تَلقَ خَلقاً ذاقَ مَوتاً آيِبا

None born has met it and lived to describe it as

For though Death’s nature is known by description,

Gentle or meek or soft or mild.

You have never met one who tasted it and returned.

إِن تَلقَهُ لا تَلقَ إِلّا قَسطَلاً

أَو جَحفَلاً أَو طاعِناً أَو ضارِبا

Whether you meet it attacking, defending, yearning, desiring,

If you meet him, you meet only the dust of battle,

Asceticing, dying, mourning or weeping!

Or a vast army, thrusting spears and striking swords,

أَو هارِباً أَو طالِباً أَو راغِباً

أَو راهِباً أَو هالِكاً أَو نادِبا

Gaze at mountains and you will espy them

Some fleeing, some pursuing, some beseeching,

Louring over plains like mares impetuous.

Some terrified, some dying, and some wailing in grief.

وَإِذا نَظَرتَ إِلى الجِبالِ رَأَيتَها

فَوقَ السُهولِ عَواسِلاً وَقَواضِبا

Gaze at plains and you will espy them below mountains

If you look to the mountains, you will see them

Stallions fretting restively in vales.

Riding over the plains as bristling spears and blades.

وَإِذا نَظَرتَ إِلى السُهولِ رَأَيتَها

تَحتَ الجِبالِ فَوارِساً وَجَنائِبا

A crow that has shed from its steel essence

And if you gaze upon the plains, you will see them

To smile the black of cast iron ancient or freshly wrought.

Beneath the mountains, filled with knights and steeds.

وَعَجاجَةً تَرَكَ الحَديدُ سَوادَها

زِنجاً تَبَسَّمُ أَو قَذالاً شائِبا

So day seems mantled in its gloomy dark

And a cloud of dust whose blackness the iron has turned

And lances twinkle like stars eminent.

Into smiling Zanj, or the graying hair of age.

فَكَأَنَّما كُسِيَ النَهارُ بِها دُجى

لَيلٍ وَأَطلَعَتِ الرِماحُ كَواكِبا

With it disasters have camped in regiment

As though the day were clothed in the darkness

And men marshalled to fight in squadrons close.

Of night, wherein the spears rise up like stars.

قَد عَسكَرَت مَعَها الرَزايا عَسكَراً

وَتَكَتَّبَت فيها الرِجالُ كَتائِبا

A lion leading lions, for him lions scramble prey

Calamities have pitched their camp alongside his,

While in rank impeding sight or ken.

And within it, men have formed their deadly ranks.

أُسُدٌ فَرائِسُها الأُسودُ يَقودُها

أَسَدٌ تَصيرُ لَهُ الأُسودُ ثَعالِبا

High they raised him above access by any

Lions whose prey is other lions, led by

And titled him my personal chamberlain!

A Lion before whom all other lions turn to foxes.

في رُتبَةٍ حَجَبَ الوَرى عَن نَيلِها

وَعَلا فَسَمَّوهُ عَلِيَّ الحاجِبا

For utmost munificence named him 'spendthrift'

In a station he has barred all others from attaining,

And for wresting souls named him 'usurper'!

Ascending until they named him Ali, the Chamberlain.

وَدَعَوهُ مِن فَرطِ السَخاءِ مُبَذِّراً

وَدَعَوهُ مِن غَصبِ النُفوسِ الغاصِبا

He who exhausted the brilliant their plenty

They called him a squanderer for his boundless giving,

And fatally challenged time to try its worst.

And for his seizing of souls, they called him the Usurper.

هَذا الَّذي أَفنى النُضارَ مَواهِباً

وَعِداهُ قَتلاً وَالزَمانَ تَجارِبا

Frustrator of hopes however cherished

This is he who annihilated gold through his gifts,

Who rarely suffers a palm returned empty!

His foes through slaughter, and Time through experience.

وَمُخَيِّبُ العُذّالِ فيما أَمَّلوا

مِنهُ وَلَيسَ يَرُدُّ كَفّاً خائِبا

He whom present I saw just as absent I saw

He disappoints the critics in what they hope to find,

Like the moon- regard it straight and it hits your eye a beam oblique.

Yet never turns away a suppliant hand empty.

هَذا الَّذي أَبصَرتُ مِنهُ حاضِراً

مِثلُ الَّذي أَبصَرتُ مِنهُ غائِبا

Like the sea casting its pearly essence to nears

This is the one whom I beheld when present,

While sending those afar clouds big with rain!

Matching exactly the image I held when he was absent.

كَالبَدرِ مِن حَيثُ اِلتَفَتَّ رَأَيتَهُ

يُهدي إِلى عَينَيكَ نوراً ثاقِبا

Like the sun blazing in the sphere's heart high, its brilliance

Like the full moon: wherever you turn, you see him

Illumines realms in east and west aligned!

Sending forth a piercing light into your eyes.

كَالبَحرِ يَقذِفُ لِلقَريبِ جَواهِراً

جوداً وَيَبعَثُ لِلبَعيدِ سَحائِبا

Sires of nobles it denigrates, the profligate it censures

Like the sea, casting pearls to those who are near,

As it reproaches every generous lord.

In bounty, and sending rain-clouds to those afar.

كَالشَمسِ في كَبِدِ السَماءِ وَضَوؤُها

يَغشى البِلادَ مَشارِقاً وَمَغارِبا

They vie in glory, your glory they blame

Like the sun in the zenith of the sky, whose light

And faults in you imaginary they acclaim!

Envelops the lands, from the east to the west.

أَمُهَجِّنَ الكُرَماءِ وَالمُزري بِهِم

وَتَروكَ كُلِّ كَريمِ قَومٍ عاتِبا

"Here am I!" to haters' rancour I respond

O you who shame the generous and eclipse their fame,

"We shall tell of wonders we see by your side!"

Leaving the noblemen of every tribe in envious complaint,

شادوا مَناقِبَهُم وَشِدتَ مَناقِباً

وُجِدَت مَناقِبُهُم بِهِنَّ مَثالِبا

Shrewd forethought for a novel tomorrow

They raised their structures of virtue, but you raised such heights

Fearless attack regardless of consequence.

That beside yours, their virtues appear as mere flaws.

لَبَّيكَ غَيظَ الحاسِدينَ الراتِبا

إِنّا لَنَخبُرُ مِن يَدَيكَ عَجائِبا

Largesse of wealth - if seekers vied to exhaust it

I am at your service, O constant torment of the envious,

You would spend it ere they could gain audience!

For truly we witness wonders flowing from your hands.

تَدبيرُ ذي حُنَكٍ يُفَكِّرُ في غَدٍ

وَهُجومُ غِرٍّ لا يَخافُ عَواقِبا

Take from these, my praises, what I can manage-

The prudence of a sage who ponders the morrow,

Do not oblige me to praises obligated.

And the assault of a youth who fears no consequence.

وَعَطاءُ مالٍ لَو عَداهُ طالِبٌ

أَنفَقتَهُ في أَن تُلاقِيَ طالِبا

I was stunned by your feats and excepting them

And a bestowal of wealth so vast, that if a seeker missed it,

What would leave the guardian angel shocked and recording!

You would spend that very wealth just to find one who seeks.

خُذ مِن ثَنايَ عَلَيكَ ما أَسطيعُهُ

لا تُلزِمَنّي في الثَناءِ الواجِبا

Accept from my praise what little I can offer,

And do not hold me to the impossible duty of full praise.

فَلَقَد دَهِشتُ لِما فَعَلتَ وَدونَهُ

ما يُدهِشُ المَلَكَ الحَفيظَ الكاتِبا

For I am astounded by your deeds—when even a fraction

Would amaze the recording Angel who guards the scroll.