أُطاعِنُ خَيلاً مِن فَوارِسِها الدَهرُ

وَحيداً وَما قَولي كَذا وَمَعي الصَبرُ

I storm the cavalry of time alone

I duel with a cavalry whose rider is Time itself,

Though I say not so, and with me is patience

Alone—though I am not truly alone, for Patience stands with me.

وَأَشجَعُ مِنّي كُلَّ يَومٍ سَلامَتي

وَما ثَبَتَت إِلّا وَفي نَفسِها أَمرُ

My well-being grows bolder than me daily

And braver than I, each day, is my own survival,

And it is not affirmed but in itself the matter lies

For it stood firm only because it holds a secret destiny within.

تَمَرَّستُ بِالآفاتِ حَتّى تَرَكتُها

تَقولُ أَماتَ المَوتُ أَم ذُعِرَ الذُعرُ

I took on calamities until I left them

I grew so seasoned in calamities that I left them asking:

Saying, “Has death died or has panic panicked?”

"Has Death itself died, or has Panic been struck with fear?"

وَأَقدَمتُ إِقدامَ الأَتِيِّ كَأَنَّ لي

سِوى مُهجَتي أَو كانَ لي عِندَها وِترُ

And I attacked like one who comes attacking

I charged with the onset of a torrent, as though I possessed

As if I had none but my forehead or a lute's single string

A life other than this soul, or sought vengeance against it.

ذَرِ النَفسَ تَأخُذ وُسعَها قَبلَ بَينِها

فَمُفتَرِقٌ جارانِ دارُهُما العُمرُ

Let the soul take its capacity before they separate

Let the soul seize its full breadth before it departs;

For the neighbors' abode is the lifetime that parts

For parting awaits two neighbors whose dwelling is but a lifespan.

وَلا تَحسَبَنَّ المَجدَ زِقّاً وَقَينَةً

فَما المَجدُ إِلّا السَيفُ وَالفَتكَةُ البِكرُ

Think not glory is food and nourishment

Do not deem glory to be a wine-skin or a singing girl;

Glory is but the sword and the first steely onslaught

Glory is naught but the sword and the unprecedented strike,

وَتَضريبُ أَعناقِ المُلوكِ وَهامِها

لَكَ الهَبَواتُ السودُ وَالعَسكَرُ المَجرُ

The striking of the necks and minds of kings

And the cleaving of kings' necks and the crowns of their heads,

For you are the black tents and the red-stained hosts

Amidst black dust clouds and a sprawling, dragging army.

وَتَركُكَ في الدُنيا دَوِيّاً كَأَنَّما

تَداوَلُ سَمعَ المَرءِ أَنمُلُهُ العَشرُ

And leaves you sounding in the world as if

It is leaving behind a resonance in the world, as though

The fingers of a man passed around the hearing of folk

All ten fingers circulate within a man's ears to block the sound.

إِذا الفَضلُ لَم يَرفَعكَ عَن شُكرِ ناقِصٍ

عَلى هِبَةٍ فَالفَضلُ فيمَن لَهُ الشُكرُ

If merit raises you not from thanking an imperfect one

If virtue does not lift you above praising the deficient for a gift,

For a gift, then the merit belongs to him who gives thanks

Then true virtue belongs to the one receiving the praise.

وَمَن يُنفِقِ الساعاتِ في جَمعِ مالِهِ

مَخافَةَ فَقرٍ فَالَّذي فَعَلَ الفَقرُ

He who spends his hours amassing wealth

And he who spends his hours amassing wealth,

Fearing poverty, it is poverty that has worked

Out of fear of poverty—what he has done is poverty itself.

عَلَيَّ لِأَهلِ الجَورِ كُلُّ طِمِرَّةٍ

عَلَيها غُلامٌ مِلءُ حَيزومِهِ غِمرُ

Against the unjust my every arrowhead

I owe the oppressors a charge on every swift, high steed,

A lad whose throat-bag is filled with arrowheads

Ridden by a youth whose chest is filled with rancor,

يُديرُ بِأَطرافِ الرِماحِ عَلَيهِمِ

كُؤوسَ المَنايا حَيثُ لا تُشتَهى الخَمرُ

Whirling spear-points around them

Passing around among them, with the tips of spears,

Cups of death where wine is not coveted

Cups of death, in a place where wine is not desired.

وَكَم مِن جِبالٍ جُبتُ تَشهَدُ أَنَّني ال

جِبالُ وَبَحرٍ شاهِدٍ أَنَّني البَحرُ

How many mountains have I climbed that bear me witness:

How many mountains have I crossed that testify I am the mountains,

“No mountains am I, but the sea!”

And how many seas bear witness that I am the Sea?

وَخَرقٍ مَكانُ العيسِ مِنهُ مَكانُنا

مِنَ العيسِ فيهِ واسِطُ الكورِ وَالظَهرُ

And a desolate place where there dwelt Bedouins

And vast wastelands where the camels were to the desert

We now dwell between the center and the back

As we, upon their saddles and backs, were to the camels.

يَخِدنَ بِنا في جَوزِهِ وَكَأَنَّنا

عَلى كُرَةٍ أَو أَرضُهُ مَعَنا سَفرُ

Playing dice with us in its ridges as though

They trotted with us through its core, as though we moved

We were on a ball or its soil traveling with us

Upon a sphere, or as if the earth itself traveled with us.

وَيَومٍ وَصَلناهُ بِلَيلٍ كَأَنَّما

عَلى أُفقِهِ مِن بَرقِهِ حُلَلٌ حُمرُ

A day we reached by night, as though

And a day we joined to a night, as if there were

Its horizon bore red sleeves

Upon its horizon, from the lightning, robes of red.

وَلَيلٍ وَصَلناهُ بِيَومٍ كَأَنَّما

عَلى مَتنِهِ مِن دَجنِهِ حُلَلٌ خُضرُ

A night we reached by day, as though

And a night we joined to a day, as if there were

Borne on its surface, green robes from its shelter

Upon its expanse, from the gloom, robes of dark green.

وَغَيثٌ ظَنَنّا تَحتُهُ أَنَّ عامِراً

عَلا لَم يَمُت أَو في السَحابِ لَهُ قَبرُ

A rain we thought beneath which mighty ‛Amir

And a rainstorm under which we thought that 'Amir

Still lived undead or else a grave for him in the clouds—

Had risen and not died, or that his grave lay within the clouds.

أَوِ اِبنَ اِبنِهِ الباقي عَلِيَّ بنَ أَحمَدٍ

يَجودُ بِهِ لَو لَم أَجُز وَيَدي صِفرُ

The remnant of his descendant rubs hands with me: Ahmad's son

Or that his surviving grandson, 'Ali bin Ahmad,

Bestows though my hands are empty

Was bestowing it—even had I not passed by with empty hands.

وَإِنَّ سَحاباً جَودُهُ مِثلُ جودِهِ

سَحابٌ عَلى كُلِّ السَحابِ لَهُ فَخرُ

A cloud whose bestowal rivals his bestowal

Indeed, a cloud whose bounty matches his bounty

Upon all clouds it prides itself

Is a cloud that holds pride over all other clouds.

فَتىً لا يَضُمُّ القَلبُ هِمّاتِ قَلبِهِ

وَلَو ضَمَّها قَلبٌ لَما ضَمَّهُ صَدرُ

A knight whose heart grasps not his heart’s intentions—

A youth whose heart's ambitions no single heart can contain;

And if a heart did grasp them, no chest could hold them

If a heart could hold them, no chest could contain that heart.

وَلا يَنفَعُ الإِمكانُ لَولا سَخائُهُ

وَهَل نافِعٌ لَولا الأَكُفُّ القَنا السُمرُ

Storehouses do not profit without his free hand

Power would be of no avail were it not for his generosity,

And what profits if not the palm, plenteous, pure?

For are tawny spears of use without hands to wield them?

قِرانٌ تَلاقى الصَلتُ فيهِ وَعامِرٌ

كَما يَتَلاقى الهِندُوانِيُّ وَالنَصرُ

A conjunction wherein contracts and mighty ‛Amir meet

A conjunction wherein the lineages of Al-Salt and 'Amir met,

As the Indian aloe wood meets with Egyptian gums

Just as the Indian blade meets with Victory.

فَجاءا بِهِ صَلتَ الجَبينِ مُعَظَّماً

تَرى الناسَ قُلّاً حَولَهُ وَهُمُ كُثرُ

Thereat they brought the forehead’s pact revered

They brought him forth, smooth of brow and magnified,

You see the throngs few, though they are many

You see the crowds as few around him, though they are many.

مُفَدّى بِئاباءِ الرِجالِ سَمَيذَعاً

هُوَ الكَرَمُ المَدُّ الَّذي مالَهُ جَزرُ

Ransomed by the sires of men—far too precious!

May he be ransomed by the fathers of men—a noble chief,

The flowing flood that has no ebb

He is the rising tide of generosity that knows no ebb.

وَما زِلتُ حَتّى قادَني الشَوقُ نَحوَهُ

يُسايِرُني في كُلِّ رَكبٍ لَهُ ذِكرُ

Nor did I cease until longing led me toward him

I ceased not, until longing led me toward him,

Conversing on every leg of the trip mentioned

To have his fame journey beside me in every caravan.

وَأَستَكبِرُ الأَخبارَ قَبلَ لِقائِهِ

فَلَمّا اِلتَقَينا صَغَّرَ الخَبَرَ الخُبرُ

I thought news before meeting him too big

I deemed the reports of him great before we met,

But when we met, news was belittled by news

But when we met, the reality made the reports seem small.

إِلَيكَ طَعَنّا في مَدى كُلِّ صَفصَفٍ

بِكُلِّ وَآةٍ كُلُّ ما لَقِيَت نَحرُ

To you we charge, attacking all saddle-bags

Toward you we pierced the expanse of every barren plain,

With every patched coat the necks have met

With strong she-camels that conquer all they encounter.

إِذا وَرِمَت مِن لَسعَةٍ مَرِحَت لَها

كَأَنَّ نَوالاً صَرَّ في جِلدِها النِبرُ

If bit by a small sting, it circles around it happily

If they swelled from a gadfly's bite, they pranced for it,

As if gulping down the throw of dice on its skin

As if the stinging insect had wrapped a gift within their skin.

فَجِئناكَ دونَ الشَمسِ وَالبَدرِ في النَوى

وَدونَكَ في أَحوالِكَ الشَمسُ وَالبَدرُ

We came to you beyond sun and moon in our aim

We came to you, leaving the sun and moon behind in the wastes;

Beyond you in your states are sun and moon

Yet in your nature, the sun and moon fall short of you.

كَأَنَّكَ بَردُ الماءِ لا عَيشَ دونَهُ

وَلَو كُنتَ بَردَ الماءِ لَم يَكُنِ العِشرُ

As if you were the coolness of water—no life without!—

You are like the coolness of water, without which there is no life;

And if you were water’s coolness, the best part you would be!

Yet were you water's cool, no thirst would ever plague us.

دَعاني إِلَيكَ العِلمُ وَالحِلمُ وَالحِجى

وَهَذا الكَلامُ النَظمُ وَالنائِلُ النَثرُ

Knowledge, forbearance and prestige summoned me to you

Knowledge, clemency, and wisdom called me to you,

As did this rhymed prose and this free-flowing speech

Along with this verse in order, and your gifts like scattered prose.

وَما قُلتُ مِن شِعرٍ تَكادُ بُيوتُهُ

إِذا كُتِبَت يَبيَضُّ مِن نورِها الحِبرُ

Of the poetry I uttered, its very lines

And no poem have I uttered but that its very lines

Whiten with light when written in black

Seem to turn the black ink white with their radiance when written.

كَأَنَّ المَعاني في فَصاحَةِ لَفظِها

نُجومُ الثُرَيّا أَو خَلائِقُكَ الزُهرُ

As if its meanings were in the eloquence of its words

As if the meanings within their eloquent wording

The stars of Orion or your creation’s blooms

Were the stars of the Pleiades, or your own shining traits.

وَجَنَّبَني قُربَ السَلاطينِ مَقتُها

وَما يَقتَضيني مِن جَماجِمِها النَسرُ

And spared me the hatred of getting near sultans

My loathing for sultans has kept me far from their courts,

And what their skulls’ eagle would stipulate of me

Along with the debt of skulls I owe the waiting vulture.

وَإِنّي رَأَيتُ الضُرَّ أَحسَنَ مَنظَراً

وَأَهوَنَ مِن مَرأى صَغيرٍ بِهِ كِبرُ

Indeed I saw harm fairest in semblance

For I have seen that hardship is fairer in appearance

And slightest from beholding some small man big with pride

And easier to bear than the sight of a small man filled with arrogance.

لِساني وَعَيني وَالفُؤادُ وَهِمَّتي

أَوُدُّ اللَواتي ذا اِسمُها مِنكَ وَالشَطرُ

My tongue, mine eye, my heart and wishes

My tongue, my eye, my heart, and my ambition—

I love the maiden whose name half has your name

I love these very attributes in you, and share them too.

وَما أَنا وَحدي قُلتُ ذا الشِعرَ كُلَّهُ

وَلَكِن لِشِعري فيكَ مِن نَفسِهِ شِعرُ

I alone did not say all this verse

I am not the only one to have composed all this verse;

But this poetry had in you something of itself

But my poetry, inspired by you, has composed poetry of its own.

وَماذا الَّذي فيهِ مِنَ الحُسنِ رَونَقاً

وَلَكِن بَدا في وَجهِهِ نَحوَكَ البِشرُ

And what had some charm in it?

Whatever splendor of beauty lies within it

But shown on its face toward you was a smile

Is but the joy that appeared upon its face as it turned to you.

وَإِنّي وَإِن نِلتُ السَماءَ لَعالِمٌ

بِأَنَّكَ ما نِلتَ الَّذي يوجِبُ القَدرُ

Even were I to obtain heaven I would know

And I, though I may reach the heavens, know well

You obtained not what fate warrants

That you have not yet received what your true worth demands.

أَزالَت بِكَ الأَيّامُ عَتبى كَأَنَّما

بَنوها لَها ذَنبٌ وَأَنتَ لَها عُذرُ

Through you time did away with blame as though

Through you, the Days have ceased their censure, as though

For time itself there was a crime and you, its excuse

Her other sons were her sin, and you are her redemption.