واحرَّ قَلباهُ مِمَّن قَلبُهُ شَبِمُ
وَمَن بِجِسمي وَحالي عِندَهُ سَقَمُ
Oh, how my heart burns for one whose heart is cold, / For one who treats my sickly state with indifference.
Why do I conceal a love that has wasted my frame, / While the nations feign a passion for Sayf al-Dawla they do not feel?
مالي أكَتِّمُ حُبّاً قَد بَرى جَسَدي
وتَدَّعي حبَّ سيفِ الدَولَةِ الأمَمُ
If indeed we are united by love for his shining star, / Would that we might share the bounty by the measure of our love.
I have visited him when Indian blades were sheathed in peace, / And gazed upon him when the swords were dripping blood.
إن كانَ يَجمَعُنا حبٌّ لِغُرَّتِهِ
فليتَ أنَّا بِقَدْرِ الحبِّ نَقتسِمُ
He was the finest of God’s creation to behold, / And the finest trait within the finest man was his noble character.
The escape of the foe you sought is a victory in truth; / It holds regret for him, but within it lie blessings for you.
قَد زُرتُهُ وسيوفُ الهندِ مُغمَدَةٌ
وقد نظرتُ إليه والسُيوفُ دَمُ
Intense terror has fought on your behalf, / And your majesty achieved what warrior knights could not.
You have burdened yourself with a task not required: / That no land nor mountain peak should offer them concealment.
فَكانَ أحْسنَ خَلق الله كلِّهِمُ
وكانَ أحسنَ مافي الأحسَنِ الشِّيَمُ
Is it that whenever you seek an army and it turns to flee, / Your high ambitions drive you relentlessly in its wake?
Your duty is but to rout them on every battlefield; / No shame falls upon you if they choose to flee.
فوتُ العدوِّ الذي يَمَّمْتُه ظَفَرٌ
في طيّه أسَفٌ في طيّه نِعَمُ
Do you deem no victory sweet unless it be a triumph / Where white blades and flowing locks embrace in death?
O most just of men, save in your dealings with me! / In you lies the dispute, yet you are both adversary and judge.
قد نابَ عنكَ شديدُ الخوفِ واصْطنَعَتْ
لكَ المهابةُ ما لا تَصنعُ البُهَمُ
I seek God’s protection for your discerning eyes, / Lest they mistake a swelling sickness for healthy prowess.
Of what use is sight to a man of this world, / If light and darkness appear the same to his eyes?
ألزَمتَ نفسَكَ شيئاً ليس يَلْزَمُها
أن لا يوارِيَهمْ أَرضٌ ولا عَلَمُ
The throng that fills our gathering shall surely know / That I am the finest man whom feet have ever borne.
I am he whose literature the blind can see, / And whose words have made the deafest hear.
أكُلَّما رُمتَ جيشاً فانْثَنى هَرَباً
تَصرَّفَت بكَ في آثارِه الهِمَمُ
I sleep with eyelids full, untroubled by the weaving of rhymes, / While others stay awake, struggling and disputing over them.
Many a fool has been emboldened in his folly by my smile, / Until a predatory hand and mouth descended upon him.
عليكَ هَزمُهُمُ في كلِّ مُعتركٍ
وما عليكَ بِهِمْ عارٌ إذا انهزَموا
If you see the lion’s fangs bared low, / Do not be so foolish as to think the lion smiles.
Many a soul—my own soul ransomed for its owner’s grief— / I have rescued on a steed whose back is a sacred sanctuary.
أما تَرى ظَفراً حُلْواً سِوى ظَفَر
تَصافحَتْ فيه بيضُ الهِندِ واللمَمُ
His hind legs in the gallop move as one, his forelegs strike as one, / Acting precisely as the rider’s hand and foot desire.
And a sharp blade I bore as I rode between two armies, / Striking until the waves of death crashed all around.
يا أعدلَ الناسِ إلا في معامَلتي
فيكَ الخِصامُ وَأنتَ الخَصْمُ والحَكَمُ
The horses, the night, and the desert know me well, / As do the sword, the spear, the parchment, and the pen.
I have kept company with wild beasts in the wastelands, alone, / Until the very hills and dunes marveled at my endurance.
أعيذُها نظراتٍ منكَ صادقةً
أن تَحْسبَ الشَّحمَ فيمَن شَحْمُهُ وَرَمُ
O you whom it grieves us deeply to depart from, / Finding anything to replace you is but finding nothingness.
How fitting it would have been for us to receive your honor, / Had your decrees regarding us been just and fair.
وما انتفاعُ أخي الدُّنيا بناظرِهِ
إذا استَوَت عندَهُ الأنوارُ والظُّلَمُ
If the words of our jealous foes have brought you joy, / Then a wound brings no pain if it brings you pleasure.
Between us—if you would but heed it—is a bond of knowledge, / And among men of intellect, such bonds are sacred covenants.
سيَعلَمُ الجمعُ ممَّن ضمَّ مَجلسُنا
بأنَّني خيرُ مَن تسعى بهِ قَدَمُ
How often do you seek a flaw in me only to fail, / While God and noble virtue abhor what you attempt?
How far are flaws and inadequacy from my honor! / I am the celestial Pleiades, while these foes are but graying age.
أنا الذي نظَر الأعمى إلى أدبي
وأسْمعَت كلماتي مَن بهِ صَمَمُ
I wish the cloud that rains thunderbolts upon me / Would divert its bolts to those who enjoy its gentle showers.
I see that separation demands of me a journey at every stage, / A burden no swift camel can easily sustain.
أنامُ مِلْءَ جُفُوني عن شوارِدِها
ويَسْهَرُ الخلقُ جرَّاها وَيَختَصِمُ
If my camels leave Mount Dumayr upon our right, / Then bitter regret shall surely befall those I leave behind.
If you depart from a people who had the power / To prevent your leaving, it is they who have truly departed.
وجاهلٍ مدَّه في جهلِهِ ضَحِكي
حَتّى أتَتْه يدٌ فرَّاسةٌ وفَمُ
The worst of lands is a place where no friend is found, / And the worst of earnings is that which brings disgrace.
The worst quarry my hand has ever hunted / Is one where the noble falcon and the vulture are deemed the same.
إذا رأيتَ نيوبَ الليث بارزةً
فَلا تَظُنَّنَّ أنَّ اللَيثَ يبتَسِمُ
In what strange tongue do these rabble recite their verse, / Passing muster with you, though neither Arab nor Persian?
This is my admonition to you, yet it is purely love; / Encased in pearls of speech, though it consists of mere words.
وَمُهجةٍ مُهجتي مِن هَمّ صاحبها
أدركْتُها بجَوادٍ ظهرهُ حَرَمُ
رِجلاه في الرَّكضِ رجلٌ واليدانِ يدٌ
وفعلُه ما تريدُ الكفُّ وَالقَدَمُ
ومُرهَفٍ سِرتُ بين الجَحْفَلينِ بهِ
حتى ضَربتُ وموجُ الموتِ يَلتَطِمُ
الخيلُ والليلُ والبيداءُ تَعْرِفُني
والسيفُ والرمحُ والقرطاسُ والقَلمُ
صَحِبتُ في الفلواتِ الوحشَ مُنفرِداً
حتى تعجَّبَ مني القُورُ والأكَمُ
يا مَن يَعِزُّ علينا أن نُفارقهم
وِجْدانُنا كل شيءٍ بعْدَكُم عَدَمُ
ما كان أخلقنا منكم بتَكرمَةٍ
لو أنَّ أمرَكُمُ مِن أمرِنا أمَمُ
إن كانَ سرَّكمُ ما قال حاسدُنا
فما لجُرح إذا أرضاكُمُ ألَمُ
وبيننا لَو رعيتُم ذاك مَعرفةٌ
إن المعارِفَ في أهلِ النُّهى ذِمَمُ
كَم تَطلُبونَ لنا عيباً فَيُعجِزُكُم
وَيَكرَهُ اللهُ ما تأتونَ والكَرَمُ
ما أبعدَ العيبَ وَالنقصانَ عن شَرَفي
أنا الثُّريا وذانِ الشيبُ والهَرَمُ
ليتَ الغمامَ الذي عندي صواعقُهُ
يُزيلُهُنَّ إِلى مَن عندَهُ الدِّيَمُ
أرى النَّوى يَقتضيني كلَّ مرحلَةٍ
لا تَستقلُّ بِها الوَخّادَةُ الرُّسُمُ
لئنْ تَرَكْنَ ضميراً عن ميامِنِنا
ليَحْدُثَنَّ لِمَنْ وَدَّعتُهم نَدَمُ
إذا ترحَّلتَ عن قومٍ وقد قدَروا
ألا تُفارِقهُمْ فالرَّاحلونَ هُمُ
شرُّ البلادِ مكانٌ لا صديقَ بهِ
وشرُّ ما يَكسِبُ الإنسانُ ما يَصِمُ
وشرُّ ما قنَّصَتْه راحتي قَنَصٌ
شُهْبُ البُزاةِ سواءٌ فيه والرَّخَمُ
بأي لفظٍ تَقولُ الشعرَ زِعْنِفَةٌ
تَجوزُ عندَك لا عُرْبٌ ولا عَجَمُ
هذا عتابُكَ إلّا أنَّهُ مِقَةٌ
قد ضُمِّنَ الدُرَّ إلّا أنَّهُ كَلِمُ
