أَقَلُّ فَعالي بَلهَ أَكثَرَهُ مَجدُ
وَذا الجِدُّ فيهِ نِلتُ أَم لَم أَنَل جَدُّ
The least of my deeds—let alone the greatest—is glory; / And this striving is true striving, whether I attain my goal or not.
I shall claim my right with spear-points and veterans / Who seem like beardless youths from how long they remain veiled.
سَأَطلُبُ حَقّي بِالقَنا وَمَشايِخٍ
كَأَنَّهُمُ مِن طولِ ما اِلتَثَموا مُردُ
Heavy when they clash, light when they are summoned, / Many when they charge, yet few when they are counted.
And thrusts that make all other thrusts seem null, / And strikes whose heat turns scorching fire to cold.
ثِقالٍ إِذا لاقَوا خِفافٍ إِذا دُعوا
كَثيرٍ إِذا شَدّوا قَليلٍ إِذا عُدّوا
If I wish, I am encircled on every swimming steed / By men to whom death tastes as sweet as honey.
I denounce the people of this age to the age itself; / Their most learned is dull-witted, their most prudent a knave.
وَطَعنٍ كَأَنَّ الطَعنَ لا طَعنَ عِندَهُ
وَضَربٍ كَأَنَّ النارَ مِن حَرِّهِ بَردُ
Their noblest is a dog, their sharpest-eyed is blind, / Their most vigilant sleeps like a leopard, their bravest is an ape.
It is part of life’s misery for the freeborn soul / To face a foe whose friendship he cannot escape.
إِذا شِئتُ حَفَّت بي عَلى كُلِّ سابِحٍ
رِجالٌ كَأَنَّ المَوتَ في فَمِها شَهدُ
In my heart is weariness of this world, though I have not drunk my fill, / And from its alluring beauties, though they draw near, I turn away.
My sole companions among men are grief and a tear, / Shed for the loved one lost—yet these two never leave me.
أَذُمُّ إِلى هَذا الزَمانِ أُهَيلَهُ
فَأَعلَمُهُم فَدمٌ وَأَحزَمُهُم وَغدُ
Tears persist within my lids, as though my eyelids / Were a cheek for the eye of every weeping mourner.
Indeed, a mere sip of water suffices me, / And I endure thirst as the desert ostriches endure.
وَأَكرَمُهُم كَلبٌ وَأَبصَرُهُم عَمٍ
وَأَسهَدُهُم فَهدٌ وَأَشجَعُهُم قِردُ
I strike toward my goal just as the spearhead strikes, / And fold up the distance as the swift camel folds the track.
I hold my soul too high to answer with backbiting; / For gossip is the exertion of those with no power to exert.
وَمِن نَكَدِ الدُنيا عَلى الحُرِّ أَن يَرى
عَدُوّاً لَهُ ما مِن صَداقَتِهِ بُدُّ
I pity certain folk for their stuttering ignorance, / And excuse their hatred, for they are my very opposites.
I am withheld from all but Ibn Muhammad / By favors he bestowed, too vast for gratitude to hold.
بِقَلبي وَإِن لَم أَروَ مِنها مَلالَةٌ
وَبي عَن غَوانيها وَإِن وَصَلَت صَدُّ
They flowed without a promise, yet before they came, / His noble nature was a promise, though no word was spoken.
The sword forged in India—my companion—journeyed / To the sword forged by God, not by Indian smiths.
خَليلايَ دونَ الناسِ حُزنٌ وَعَبرَةٌ
عَلى فَقدِ مَن أَحبَبتُ ما لَهُما فَقدُ
When he saw me approaching, he stirred in welcome, / A blade whose every facet is a cutting edge.
I had never seen, before this, the sea walking toward a man, / Nor a human whom lions rose up to embrace.
تَلَجُّ دُموعي بِالجُفونِ كَأَنَّما
جُفوني لِعَيني كُلِّ باكِيَةٍ خَدُّ
As if the stubborn bows obey him out of love, / Or shun the touch of any fingers but his own.
He nearly strikes the mark before the shot is fired, / And holds the power to recall the arrow in its flight.
وَإِنّي لَتُغنيني مِنَ الماءِ نُغبَةٌ
وَأَصبِرُ عَنهُ مِثلَ ما تَصبِرُ الرُبدُ
He drives it through the knot, though it be tighter / Than a black hair hidden in the blackest night.
My soul for him who is not swayed by deception, / Though the ruses and designs be manifold.
وَأَمضي كَما يَمضي السِنانُ لِطِيَّتي
وَأَطوي كَما تَطوي المُجَلِّحَةُ العُقدُ
He whose distance is poverty, whose nearness is wealth; / Whose honor is a free lord, and whose wealth is a slave.
He initiates acts of kindness unbesought, / And withholds them from those whose blame is actually praise.
وَأَكبِرُ نَفسي عَن جَزاءٍ بِغيبَةٍ
وَكُلُّ اِغتِيابٍ جُهدُ مَن مالُهُ جُهدُ
He scorns to mention the envious, deeming them beneath him, / As if, among creation, they had not yet been created.
Enemies feel safe from him, not from his weakness, / But because his vengeance is measured only by the sin.
وَأَرحَمُ أَقواماً مِنَ العِيِّ وَالغَبا
وَأَعذِرُ في بُغضي لِأَنَّهُمُ ضِدُّ
If Sayyar ibn Mukram has passed away, / Then you are the rose water that remains when the rose is gone.
He and his sons are gone, and you alone inherit their virtue; / A thousand, when summed together, make but a single one.
وَيَمنَعُني مِمَّن سِوى اِبنِ مُحَمَّدٍ
أَيادٍ لَهُ عِندي تَضيقُ بِها عِندُ
Theirs were radiant faces and generous hands, / Abundant knowledge and tongues of eloquence.
And green mantles, and authority obeyed, / And planted brown spears, and sleek, high-bred steeds.
تَوالى بِلا وَعدٍ وَلَكِنَّ قَبلَها
شَمائِلُهُ مِن غَيرِ وَعدٍ بِها وَعدُ
As long as I live, they have not died, nor their forebears— / Tamim ibn Murr, and Udd, the son of Tabikha.
What appears is but a fraction of what I mention, / And what is seen is but a fraction of what lies hidden from me.
سَرى السَيفُ مِمّا تَطبَعُ الهِندُ صاحِبي
إِلى السَيفِ مِمّا يَطبَعُ اللَهُ لا الهِندُ
Through him I rebuke those who blame me for my devotion; / For the best of creation deserves the love of the best.
So stand aside from Ali and his paths, / You sons of baseness, that the mighty king may pass.
فَلَمّا رَآني مُقبِلاً هَزَّ نَفسَهُ
إِلَيَّ حُسامٌ كُلُّ صَفحٍ لَهُ حَدُّ
It is not in your nature to contend for glory, / Just as musk and incense are not found in common soil.
فَلَم أَرَ قَبلي مَن مَشى البَحرُ نَحوَهُ
وَلا رَجُلاً قامَت تُعانِقُهُ الأُسدُ
كَأَنَّ القِسِيَّ العاصِياتِ تُطيعُهُ
هَوىً أَو بِها في غَيرِ أُنمُلِهِ زُهدُ
يَكادُ يُصيبُ الشَيءَ مِن قَبلِ رَميِهِ
وَيُمكِنُهُ في سَهمِهِ المُرسَلِ الرَدُّ
وَيُنفِذُهُ في العَقدِ وَهوَ مُضَيَّقٌ
مِنَ الشَعرَةِ السَوداءِ وَاللَيلُ مُسوَدُّ
بِنَفسي الَّذي لا يُزدَهى بِخَديعَةٍ
وَإِن كَثُرَت فيها الذَرائِعُ وَالقَصدُ
وَمَن بُعدُهُ فَقرٌ وَمَن قُربُهُ غِنىً
وَمَن عِرضُهُ حُرٌّ وَمَن مالُهُ عَبدُ
وَيَصطَنِعُ المَعروفَ مُبتَدِئً بِهِ
وَيَمنَعُهُ مِن كُلِّ مَن ذَمُّهُ حَمدُ
وَيَحتَقِرُ الحُسّادَ عَن ذِكرِهِ لَهُم
كَأَنَّهُمُ في الخَلقِ ما خُلِقوا بَعدُ
وَتَأمَنَهُ الأَعداءُ مِن غَيرِ ذِلَّةٍ
وَلَكِن عَلى قَدرِ الَّذي يُذنِبُ الحِقدُ
فَإِن يَكُ سَيّارُ بنُ مُكرَمٍ اِنقَضي
فَإِنَّكَ ماءُ الوَردِ إِن ذَهَبَ الوَردُ
مَضى وَبَنوهُ وَاِنفَرَدتَ بِفَضلِهِم
وَأَلفٌ إِذا ما جُمِّعَت واحِدٌ فَردُ
لَهُم أَوجُهٌ غُرٌّ وَأَيدٍ كَريمَةٌ
وَمَعرِفَةٌ عِدٌّ وَأَلسِنَةٌ لُدُّ
وَأَردِيَةٌ خُضرٌ وَمُلكٌ مُطاعَةٌ
وَمَركوزَةٌ سُمرٌ وَمُقرَبَةٌ جُردُ
وَما عِشتُ ما ماتوا وَلا أَبَواهُمُ
تَميمُ بنُ مُرٍّ وَاِبنُ طابِخَةٍ أُدُّ
فَبَعضُ الَّذي يَبدو الَّذي أَنا ذاكِرٌ
وَبَعضُ الَّذي يَخفى عَلَيَّ الَّذي يَبدو
أَلومُ بِهِ مَن لامَني في وِدادِهِ
وَحُقَّ لِخَيرِ الخَلقِ مِن خَيرِهِ الوُدُّ
كَذا فَتَنَحَّوا عَن عَلِيٍّ وَطُرقِهِ
بَني اللُؤمِ حَتّى يَعبُرَ المَلِكُ الجَعدُ
فَما في سَجاياكُم مُنازَعَةُ العُلى
وَلا في طِباعِ التُربَةِ المِسكُ وَالنَدُّ
