وَاحَـرّ قَلْبـاهُ مـمّنْ قَلْبُـهُ شَبِـمُ
وَمَنْ بجِسْمـي وَحالي عِنـدَهُ سَقَـمُ
Oh, how my heart burns for one whose heart is cold as ice, / While in his eyes, my very being and my state are mere infirmity.
Why must I hide a love that has worn my body thin, / While crowds of nations falsely claim they love Sayf al-Dawla?
ما لي أُكَتِّمُ حُبًّا قَدْ بَـرَى جَسَـدي
وَتَدّعي حُبّ سَيفِ الدّوْلـةِ الأُمَـم ُ
If indeed we are united by love for his shining face, / Would that we might share his bounty by the measure of our love.
I have visited him when the Indian blades were sheathed in peace, / And gazed upon him when those very swords were dripping blood.
إنْ كَـانَ يَجْمَعُنَـا حُـبٌّ لِغُرّتِـهِ
فَلَيْتَ أنّـا بِقَـدْرِ الحُـبّ نَقْتَسِـمُ
He was, of all God’s creation, the fairest sight to see, / And the fairest part of that fair form was his noble character.
The enemy’s escape, though you pursued him, is a victory: / Within it lies regret, yet folded within that is a grace.
قد زُرْتُهُ وَسُيُـوفُ الهِنْـدِ مُغْمَـدَةٌ
وَقـد نَظَـرْتُ إلَيْـهِ وَالسّيُـوفُ دَمُ
Terror struck on your behalf, and your majesty achieved / What even the bravest warriors could not achieve alone.
You have bound yourself to a vow that binds no other king: / That neither land nor mountain peak shall hide them from your wrath.
فكـانَ أحْسَـنَ خَلـقِ الله كُلّهِـمِ
وَكانَ أحسنَ ما فِي الأحسَنِ الشّيَـمُ
Must it be that whenever you seek an army and it turns to flee, / Your high ambitions drive you relentlessly upon its tracks?
Your duty is but to rout them on every battlefield; / No shame falls upon you if they choose the path of flight.
فَوْتُ العَـدُوّ الـذي يَمّمْتَـهُ ظَفَـرٌ
فِـي طَيّـهِ أسَـفٌ فِي طَيّـهِ نِعَـمُ
Do you deem no victory sweet unless it be a triumph / Where white Indian blades shake hands with enemies' severed locks?
O most just of men, save in your dealings with me alone: / You are the source of my dispute, at once my adversary and my judge.
قد نابَ عنكَ شديدُ الخوْفِ وَاصْطنعتْ
لَكَ المَهـابَـةُ ما لا تَصْنَـعُ البُهَـمُ
I pray your penetrating, truthful eyes be saved from error, / From mistaking for healthy fat what is merely a swollen tumor.
Of what use is sight to any man who walks this earth, / If light and darkness appear to him as one and the same?
ألزَمْتَ نَفْسَكَ شَيْئـاً لَيـسَ يَلزَمُهـا
أنْ لا يُـوارِيَهُـمْ أرْضٌ وَلا عَـلَـمُ
This assembly shall surely know, and all whom we have met, / That I am the finest soul ever to walk upon two feet.
I am he whose verses the blind have come to see, / And whose words have made themselves heard even to the deaf.
أكُلّمَا رُمْتَ جَيْشـاً فانْثَنَـى هَرَبـاً
تَصَرّفَـتْ بِـكَ فِي آثَـارِهِ الهِمَـمُ
I sleep with eyelids fully closed, untroubled by my rhymes, / While others stay awake all night, struggling to grasp their meaning.
Many a fool has been emboldened in his folly by my laughter, / Until the lion's striking paw and jaws closed in upon him.
عَلَيْـكَ هَزْمُهُـمُ فِي كـلّ مُعْتَـرَكٍ
وَمَا عَلَيْـكَ بِهِمْ عَـارٌ إذا انهَزَمُـوا
When you see the lion’s fangs bared low and sharp, / Do not, for a moment, believe the lion is smiling.
Many a life—which my own life cares to spare— / I have overtaken on a steed whose back is a sacred sanctuary.
أمَا تَرَى ظَفَراً حُلْـواً سِـوَى ظَفَـرٍ
تَصافَحَتْ فيهِ بِيضُ الـهِنْدِ وَاللِّمـمُ
His hind legs strike as one in the gallop, his forelegs move as one, / Responding instantly to what my hand and heel command.
With a slender blade I rode between the clashing hosts, / Striking until the waves of death crashed all around me.
يا أعدَلَ النّـاسِ إلاّ فِـي مُعامَلَتـي
فيكَ الخِصامُ وَأنتَ الخصْمُ وَالحكَـمُ
The horses, the night, and the desert know me well, / As do the sword, the spear, the paper, and the pen.
I have kept company with wild beasts in the empty wastes, alone, / Until the very hills and mounds marveled at my endurance.
أُعِيذُهـا نَظَـراتٍ مِنْـكَ صادِقَـةً
أن تحسَبَ الشّحمَ فيمن شحمـهُ وَرَمُ
O you, from whom parting is a grief too hard to bear, / Everything I find after losing you is merely nothingness.
How worthy we were of some honor at your hands, / If only your regard for us matched our devotion to you.
وَمَا انْتِفَـاعُ أخـي الدّنْيَـا بِنَاظِـرِهِ
إذا اسْتَوَتْ عِنْـدَهُ الأنْـوارُ وَالظُّلَـمُ
If the slander of our envious foes has brought you joy, / Then I feel no pain from a wound that gives you pleasure.
Between us—if you would but heed it—is a bond of knowledge, / And among men of wisdom, such bonds are sacred covenants.
سَيعْلَمُ الجَمعُ مـمّنْ ضَـمّ مَجلِسُنـا
بأنّني خَيـرُ مَنْ تَسْعَـى بـهِ قَـدَمُ
How often do you seek a flaw in me, only to fail in the quest? / God detests what you do, as does all nobility.
How far are flaws and inadequacy from my honor! / I am the Pleiades, while they are but gray hair and decay.
أنَا الذي نَظَـرَ الأعْمَـى إلى أدَبـي
وَأسْمَعَتْ كَلِماتـي مَنْ بـهِ صَمَـمُ
I wish the cloud that hurls its thunderbolts at me / Would cast them instead upon those who enjoy its gentle rains.
I see that exile demands I travel every distant path, / Journeys so hard that even the swiftest camels cannot bear them.
أنَامُ مِلْءَ جُفُونـي عَـنْ شَوَارِدِهَـا
وَيَسْهَـرُ الخَلْـقُ جَرّاهَـا وَيخْتَصِـمُ
If we ride on and leave the mountain of Dumayr upon our right, / Bitter regret shall surely fall on those I leave behind.
If you depart from a people who had the power / To keep you from leaving, it is they who have truly departed.
وَجاهِلٍ مَـدّهُ فِي جَهْلِـهِ ضَحِكـي
حَتَّـى أتَتْـه يَـدٌ فَـرّاسَـةٌ وَفَـمُ
The worst of lands is a place where no true friend is found, / And the worst of earnings is that which brings disgrace.
The worst prize my hand has ever hunted is a catch / Where the noble falcon is confused with the carrion bird.
إذا رَأيْـتَ نُيُـوبَ اللّيْـثِ بـارِزَةً
فَـلا تَظُـنّـنّ أنّ اللّيْـثَ يَبْتَسِـمُ
In what barbarous tongue does this rabble recite their verse, / Which you accept, though it be neither Arabic nor Persian?
This is a reproach to you, yet it is born of deep affection; / It is strung with pearls, though in form it is but words.
وَمُهْجَةٍ مُهْجَتـي من هَمّ صَاحِبـها
أدرَكْتُـهَا بجَـوَادٍ ظَـهْـرُه حَـرَمُ
رِجلاهُ فِي الرّكضِ رِجلٌ وَاليدانِ يَـدٌ
وَفِعْلُـهُ مَا تُريـدُ الكَـفُّ وَالقَـدَمُ
وَمُرْهَفٍ سرْتُ بينَ الجَحْفَلَيـنِ بـهِ
حتَّى ضرَبْتُ وَمَوْجُ المَـوْتِ يَلْتَطِـمُ
ألخَيْـلُ وَاللّيْـلُ وَالبَيْـداءُ تَعرِفُنـي
وَالسّيفُ وَالرّمحُ والقرْطاسُ وَالقَلَـمُ
صَحِبْتُ فِي الفَلَواتِ الوَحشَ منفَـرِداً
حتى تَعَجّبَ منـي القُـورُ وَالأكَـمُ
يَا مَـنْ يَعِـزّ عَلَيْنَـا أنْ نُفَارِقَهُـمْ
وَجدانُنا كُلَّ شـيءٍ بَعدَكـمْ عَـدَمُ
مَا كـانَ أخلَقَنَـا مِنكُـمْ بتَكرِمَـةٍ
لَـوْ أنّ أمْرَكُـمُ مِـن أمرِنَـا أمَـمُ
إنْ كـانَ سَرّكُـمُ ما قالَ حاسِدُنَـا
فَمَـا لجُـرْحٍ إذا أرْضـاكُـمُ ألَـمُ
وَبَيْنَنَـا لَـوْ رَعَيْتُـمْ ذاكَ مَعـرِفَـةٌ
إنّ المَعارِفَ فِي أهْـلِ النُّهَـى ذِمَـمُ
كم تَطْلُبُونَ لَنَـا عَيْبـاً فيُعجِزُكـمْ
وَيَكْـرَهُ الله مـا تَأتُـونَ وَالكَـرَمُ
ما أبعدَ العَيبَ والنّقصانَ منْ شَرَفِـي
أنَـا الثّرَيّـا وَذانِ الشّيـبُ وَالهَـرَمُ
لَيْتَ الغَمَامَ الذي عنـدي صَواعِقُـهُ
يُزيلُهُـنّ إلـى مَـنْ عِنْـدَهُ الدِّيَـمُ
أرَى النّـوَى يَقتَضينـي كلَّ مَرْحَلَـةٍ
لا تَسْتَقِـلّ بِهَـا الوَخّـادَةُ الرُّسُـمُ
لَئِـنْ تَرَكْـنَ ضُمَيـراً عَنْ مَيامِنِنـا
لَيَحْـدُثَـنّ لـمَنْ وَدّعْتُهُـمْ نَـدَمُ
إذا تَرَحّلْـتَ عن قَـوْمٍ وَقَد قَـدَرُوا
أنْ لا تُفـارِقَهُـمْ فالرّاحِلـونَ هُـمُ
شَرُّ البِـلادِ مَكـانٌ لا صَديـقَ بِـهِ
وَشَرُّ ما يَكسِبُ الإنسـانُ ما يَصِـمُ
وَشَـرُّ ما قَنّصَتْـهُ رَاحَتـي قَنَـصٌ
شُهْبُ البُـزاةِ سَـواءٌ فيهِ والرَّخَـمُ
بأيّ لَفْـظٍ تَقُـولُ الشّعْـرَ زِعْنِفَـةٌ
تَجُوزُ عِنـدَكَ لا عُـرْبٌ وَلا عَجَـمُ
هَـذا عِتـابُـكَ إلاّ أنّـهُ مِـقَـةٌ
قـد ضُمّـنَ الـدُّرَّ إلاّ أنّـهُ كَلِـمُ
