أَرَقٌ عَلى أَرَقٍ وَمِثلِيَ يَأرَقُ

وَجَوىً يَزيدُ وَعَبرَةٌ تَتَرَقرَقُ

Sleepless night upon sleepless night for one like me

Sleeplessness upon sleeplessness, and one like me lies awake, / With passion mounting and a tear that glimmers in the eye.

Yearning increasing and tears flowing

The heavy toll of longing is clearly seen in this: / An eye deprived of slumber and a heart that throbs in pain.

جُهدُ الصَبابَةِ أَن تَكونَ كَما أَرى

عَينٌ مُسَهَّدَةٌ وَقَلبٌ يَخفِقُ

I strive to be as I wish

No lightning flashes, nor does any bird trill its song, / But that I turn away with a heart full of yearning.

With eyes lowered and a pounding heart

I have tasted a fire of passion that would extinguish / The intensity of hell-fire, causing it to weary of its burning.

ما لاحَ بَرقٌ أَو تَرَنَّمَ طائِرٌ

إِلّا اِنثَنَيتُ وَلي فُؤادٌ شَيِّقُ

No lightning flashed or bird sang

I used to chide the lovers until I tasted their cup, / And now I wonder how one can die without having loved.

Except my heart quivered, being so sensitive

I absolved them and realized my sin was simply this: / I mocked them, and so I faced the very fate they met.

جَرَّبتُ مِن نارِ الهَوى ما تَنطَفي

نارُ الغَضى وَتَكِلُّ عَمّا تُحرِقُ

I've experienced fire of passion not extinguished

O children of our father, we inhabit transient homes / Where the raven of separation forever croaks its doom.

By fire of anger, giving up on what it burns

We weep over this world, yet there is no gathering / Brought together by fate that did not eventually disperse.

وَعَذَلتُ أَهلَ العِشقِ حَتّى ذُقتُهُ

فَعَجِبتُ كَيفَ يَموتُ مَن لا يَعشَقُ

And I blamed the lovers until I tasted it

Where are the mighty Chosroes, the tyrants of old? / They hoarded vast treasures, yet neither wealth nor owners remained.

So I wondered how one dies who doesn’t love

From every king whose armies once choked the open plains, / Until he fell, and a narrow grave encompassed him alone.

وَعَذَرتُهُم وَعَرَفتُ ذَنبِيَ أَنَّني

عَيَّرتُهُم فَلَقيتُ فيهِ ما لَقوا

I excused them and knew my fault was

Silent when called upon, as if they never knew / That speech was once their lawful and absolute right.

I criticized them and got what they got

Death is approaching while souls are precious gems, / And he who is deluded by his possessions is a fool.

أَبَني أَبينا نَحنُ أَهلُ مَنازِلٍ

أَبَداً غُرابُ البَينِ فيها يَنعَقُ

Oh how remote are our dwellings

Man lives in hope, for life is sweet to the taste; / Age brings dignity, while youth is rash and wild.

The separation raven always cawing in them

I wept for my youth while my locks were still jet black, / And while the luster of my face was bright and clear.

نَبكي عَلى الدُنيا وَما مِن مَعشَرٍ

جَمَعَتهُمُ الدُنيا فَلَم يَتَفَرَّقوا

We cry for this world though no group

Mourning its loss before the day of its departure, / Until I nearly choked upon the tears of my own eyes.

Was united by it and did not disperse

But as for the sons of Aws bin Ma'n bin al-Rida, / They are the noblest to whom travelers drive their camels.

أَينَ الأَكاسِرَةُ الجَبابِرَةُ الأُلى

كَنَزوا الكُنوزَ فَما بَقينَ وَلا بَقوا

Where are the breakers and mighty tyrants

I proclaimed God's greatness around their homes when I saw / Suns rising from within them, though no East was there.

Who hoarded treasures but neither remained nor endure

I marveled at a land beneath the rain-clouds of their hands, / Whose very rocks somehow fail to burst into leaf.

مِن كُلِّ مَن ضاقَ الفَضاءُ بِجَيشِهِ

حَتّى ثَوى فَحَواهُ لَحدٌ ضَيِّقُ

Of all whose vast armies the earth confined

The sweet fragrance of their praise wafts through the air, / A scent inhaled deeply in every gathering place.

Till it, being narrow, confined them in cramped graves

Scents with the breath of musk, yet possessing a wild nature: / They refuse to diffuse their fragrance for anyone but them.

خُرسٌ إِذا نودوا كَأَن لَم يَعلَموا

أَنَّ الكَلامَ لَهُم حَلالٌ مُطلَقُ

Mute when called as if they know not

O you who seek a man like Muhammad in our age, / Do not weary us by chasing a phantom that cannot be caught.

Speech is permitted to them without limit

The Merciful has never created another like Muhammad, / And I suspect that such a one He will never create.

وَالمَوتُ آتٍ وَالنُفوسُ نَفائِسٌ

وَالمُستَغِرُّ بِما لَدَيهِ الأَحمَقُ

And death comes while souls are precious

O you who grant abundant wealth, yet deem yourself / The one receiving charity when I accept your gift;

And foolish is he who feels secure in what he owns

Let the clouds of your generosity pour down upon me, / But gaze on me with mercy, lest I drown in the flood.

وَالمَرءُ يَأمُلُ وَالحَياةُ شَهِيَّةٌ

وَالشَيبُ أَوقَرُ وَالشَبيبَةُ أَنزَقُ

And man hopes while life is tempting

That son of a whore lied when he said in his ignorance: / "The noble ones are dead," while you live and thrive.

And old age venerable and youth most weak

وَلَقَد بَكَيتُ عَلى الشَبابِ وَلِمَّتي

مُسوَدَّةٌ وَلِماءِ وَجهِيَ رَونَقُ

Yes, I cried for my youth when my beard

Darkened, and the radiance of my face faded

حَذَراً عَلَيهِ قَبلَ يَومِ فِراقِهِ

حَتّى لَكِدتُ بِماءِ جَفنِيَ أَشرَقُ

I was wary of it before we parted

I almost made my eyelids shine with my tears

أَمّا بَنو أَوسِ اِبنِ مَعنِ اِبنِ الرِضا

فَأَعَزُّ مَن تُحدى إِلَيهِ الأَينُقُ

The clan of Aus, son of Ma’n, son of Rida

Is the proudest when pretty ones comes to them

كَبَّرتُ حَولَ دِيارِهِم لَمّا بَدَت

مِنها الشُموسُ وَلَيسَ فيها المَشرِقُ

I exalted around their abodes when

Suns rose from them while the east isn’t in them

وَعَجِبتُ مِن أَرضٍ سَحابُ أَكُفِّهِم

مِن فَوقِها وَصُخورُها لا تورِقُ

I’m amazed by a land whose palms’ clouds

Are above it while its rocks do not sprout

وَتَفوحُ مِن طيبِ الثَناءِ رَوائِحٌ

لَهُمُ بِكُلِّ مَكانَةٍ تُستَنشَقُ

Fragrant praises waft from them

In every sublime place to be smelled

مِسكِيَّةُ النَفَحاتِ إِلّا أَنَّها

وَحشِيَّةٌ بِسِواهُمُ لا تَعبَقُ

Musky exhalations but beastly to

Other than them, without any scent

أَمُريدَ مِثلِ مُحَمَّدٍ في عَصرِنا

لا تَبلُنا بِطِلابِ ما لا يُلحَقُ

Do we desire the like of Muhammad in our time

Do not seek from me the unattainable

لَم يَخلُقِ الرَحمَنُ مِثلَ مُحَمَّدٍ

أَبَداً وَظَنّي أَنَّهُ لا يَخلُقُ

The Compassionate did not create the like of Muhammad

Never, and I think He will not create his like

يا ذا الَّذي يَهَبُ الجَزيلَ وَعِندَهُ

أَنّي عَلَيهِ بِأَخذِهِ أَتَصَدَّقُ

O You who grants abundantly and from whom

I in taking from him give charity

أَمطِر عَلَيَّ سَحابَ جودِكَ ثَرَّةً

وَاِنظُر إِلَيَّ بِرَحمَةٍ لا أَغرَقُ

Rain upon me from your clouds of generosity bountifully

And look upon me with a mercy without drowning

كَذَبَ اِبنُ فاعِلَةٍ يَقولُ بِجَهلِهِ

ماتَ الكِرامُ وَأَنتَ حَيٌّ تُرزَقُ

The ignorant son of Fa’ila lies saying

The generous died while you, living, are sustained