حاشى الرَقيبَ فَخانَتهُ ضَمائِرُهُ

وَغَيَّضَ الدَمعَ فَاِنهَلَّت بَوادِرُهُ

The censor betrayed him, so his conscience stung him,

He sought to evade the watcher, but his heart betrayed him,

And he held back his tears, but they flowed forth.

He stifled his tears, yet their torrents poured forth.

وَكاتِمُ الحُبِّ يَومَ البَينِ مُنهَتِكٌ

وَصاحِبُ الدَمعِ لا تَخفى سَرائِرُهُ

He who hides his love, the day they parted, was distraught,

The concealer of love, on the day of parting, is undone,

While he who sheds tears cannot disguise his inner feelings.

And he who weeps cannot keep his secrets hidden.

لَولا ظِباءُ عَدِيٍّ ما شُغِفتُ بِهِم

وَلا بِرَبرَبِهِم لَولا جَآذِرُهُ

Were it not for the captivating charms of a fawn, I would not have fallen for them,

Were it not for the gazelles of the tribe of 'Adi, I would not be enthralled,

Nor for their alluring eyes and faces.

Nor captivated by their herd, were it not for the fawns within.

مِن كُلِّ أَحوَرَ في أَنيابِهِ شَنَبٌ

خَمرٌ يُخامِرُها مِسكٌ تُخامِرُهُ

The pearls between the lips of the wild cows are wine,

Each one with wide, dark eyes, and a coolness upon the teeth,

Mingled with musk that mingles with it.

Like wine infused with musk, and musk infused with wine.

نَعجٌ مَحاجِرُهُ دُعجٌ نَواظِرُهُ

حُمرٌ غَفائِرُهُ سودٌ غَدائِرُهُ

Sheep, pretty, with lowered eyes, and black, bashful, gazing,

With skin so fair around eyes so intensely black,

Red, with fluttering eyelids, and black, with languishing eyes.

Red are his veils, and jet-black are his braided locks.

أَعارَني سُقمَ عَينَيهِ وَحَمَّلَني

مِنَ الهَوى ثِقلَ ما تَحوي مَآزِرُهُ

The illness of his eyes has wearied me,

He lent me the languor of his eyes and burdened me,

And he has burdened me with passion too heavy for my burdens to carry.

With a passion heavy as the hips his sash embraces.

يا مَن تَحَكَّمَ في نَفسي فَعَذَّبَني

وَمَن فُؤادي عَلى قَتلي يُضافِرُهُ

Oh you who have power over my soul and torture me,

O you who hold sway over my soul and torment me,

And slay my heart though it would defend me!

And with whom my own heart conspires to slay me.

بِعَودَةِ الدَولَةِ الغَرّاءِ ثانِيَةً

سَلَوتُ عَنكَ وَنامَ اللَيلَ ساهِرُهُ

With the return of the glorious state a second time,

With the return of the glorious Dynasty once again,

I found solace from you, while the sleepless spent their nights awake,

I found solace from you, and the sleepless finally slept.

مِن بَعدِ ما كانَ لَيلي لا صَباحَ لَهُ

كَأَنَّ أَوَّلَ يَومِ الحَشرِ آخِرُهُ

After my nights had no dawn,

After a night that seemed to have no dawn,

As if the first day of the resurrection were its last.

As if its end were the very break of Judgment Day.

غابَ الأَميرُ فَغابَ الخَيرُ عَن بَلَدٍ

كادَت لِفَقدِ اِسمِهِ تَبكي مَنابِرُهُ

The prince left and goodness left the land.

The Prince departed, and goodness vanished from the land,

Its pulpits almost wept for want of his name.

Till its pulpits nearly wept for the loss of his name.

قَدِ اِشتَكَت وَحشَةَ الأَحياءِ أَربُعُهُ

وَخَبَّرَت عَن أَسى المَوتى مَقابِرُهُ

Even the settlements complained of missing the living,

Its dwellings complained of the desolation of the living,

And the tombs told of the sorrow of the dead.

And its graveyards spoke of the sorrow of the dead.

حَتّى إِذا عُقِدَت فيهِ القِبابُ لَهُ

أَهَلَّ لِلَّهِ باديهِ وَحاضِرُهُ

Until canopies were pitched over him,

But when the royal pavilions were raised for him there,

Both his rural and his urban subjects cried “God is most great!”

Both nomad and city-dweller raised their praise to God.

وَجَدَّدَت فَرَحاً لا الغَمُّ يَطرُدُهُ

وَلا الصَبابَةُ في قَلبٍ تُجاوِرُهُ

And joy was renewed that no gloom could dispel,

The city renewed a joy that grief cannot dispel,

Nor any youthful folly disturb in a heart it lodged with.

Nor lovesickness linger in any heart it dwells within.

إِذا خَلَت مِنكَ حِمصٌ لا خَلَت أَبَداً

فَلا سَقاها مِنَ الوَسمِيِّ باكِرُهُ

When Homs was devoid of you it did not remain devoid,

If Homs was void of you—may it never be void again!—

For he who rose early never watered it from the water-skin.

Then may the early spring rains never water its soil.

دَخَلتَها وَشُعاعُ الشَمسِ مُتَّقِدُ

وَنورُ وَجهِكَ بَينَ الخَلقِ باهِرُهُ

You entered it while the rays of the sun burned bright,

You entered the city while the sun's rays blazed,

And the light of your face shone among the people.

Yet the light of your face dazzled all creation more.

في فَيلَقٍ مِن حَديدٍ لَو قَذَفتَ بِهِ

صَرفَ الزَمانِ لَما دارَت دَوائِرُهُ

With a coat of mail that if you had hurled it

Within a legion of iron—were you to hurl it

Would have turned back the course of fate in its orbits.

Against Fate itself, Fate's wheel would cease to turn.

تَمضي المَواكِبُ وَالأَبصارُ شاخِصَةٌ

مِنها إِلى المَلِكِ المَيمونِ طائِرُهُ

The processions and the eyes pass looking

The processions pass, and eyes are fixed in awe,

To the auspicious king, good fortune its standard-bearer.

Gazing upon the King whose omen is ever blessed.

قَد حِرنَ في بَشَرٍ في تاجِهِ قَمَرٌ

في دِرعِهِ أَسَدٌ تَدمى أَظافِرُهُ

The full moon has declined in a mortal frame, his crown,

They marvel at a mortal man with a moon in his crown,

In his coat of mail a lion with bloodied claws.

And within his armor, a lion with bloodied claws.

حُلو خَلائِقُهُ شوسٍ حَقائِقُهُ

تُحصى الحَصى قَبلَ أَن تُحصى مَآثِرُهُ

Sweet are his qualities and his realities glorious.

Sweet is his nature, yet fierce is his reality;

Pebbles are counted before his glorious deeds are counted.

The pebbles of the earth could be counted before his feats.

تَضيقُ عَن جَيشِهِ الدُنيا وَلَو رَحُبَت

كَصَدرِهِ لَم تَبِن فيها عَساكِرُهُ

The world is too narrow for his troops, though it expand

The world is too narrow for his army, vast as it may be,

Like his chest none of his forces would be seen in it.

Yet were it as expansive as his heart, his legions would be lost within.

إِذا تَغَلغَلَ فِكرُ المَرءِ في طَرَفٍ

مِن مَجدِهِ غَرِقَت فيهِ خَواطِرُهُ

When the mind of a person delves into some

If a man's thought attempts to penetrate the fringe

Part of his glory, his own thoughts become drowned.

Of his glory, his mind drowns in the depths thereof.

تَحمى السُيوفُ عَلى أَعدائِهِ مَعَهُ

كَأَنَّهُنَّ بَنوهُ أَو عَشائِرُهُ

Swords protect his enemies as if

The swords burn with rage against his foes alongside him,

They are his sons or his tribes.

As if the blades were his own sons or kinsmen.

إِذا اِنتَضاها لِحَربٍ لَم تَدَع جَسَداً

إِلّا وَباطِنُهُ لِلعَينِ ظاهِرُهُ

When he prepares them for battle they leave no body

When he unsheathes them for war, they leave no body

Without displaying its insides to the eyes outside.

Without exposing its very innards to the eye.

فَقَد تَيَقَّنَ أَنَّ الحَقَّ في يَدِهِ

وَقَد وَثِقنَ بِأَنَّ اللَهَ ناصِرُهُ

Thus he was certain that the truth was in his hand,

For the sword knows for certain that Justice lies in his hand,

And he was confident that God was his supporter.

And trusts that God is assuredly his Helper.

تَرَكنَ هامَ بَني عَوفٍ وَثَعلَبَةٍ

عَلى رُؤوسٍ بِلا ناسٍ مَغافِرُهُ

He left the tribe of Banu ‘Auf and Tha‘labah

They left the skulls of the tribes of 'Awf and Tha'labah

As corpses without heads as their pardon.

As empty helmets resting upon bodiless heads.

فَخاضَ بِالسَيفِ بَحرَ المَوتِ خَلفَهُمُ

وَكانَ مِنهُ إِلى الكَعبَينِ زاخِرُهُ

He plunged into the sea of death behind them

He waded with his sword through the sea of death in their pursuit,

And it flooded up to his knees.

Though its crashing waves reached only to his ankles.

حَتّى اِنتَهى الفَرَسُ الجاري وَما وَقَعَت

في الأَرضِ مِن جُثَثِ القَتلى حَوافِرُهُ

Until his steed halted from the striking,

Until his charging steed halted, and its hooves

And no hooves trampled corpses on the ground before it.

Struck not the earth, but the piled corpses of the slain.

كَم مِن دَمٍ رَوِيَت مِنهُ أَسِنَّتُهُ

وَمُهجَةٍ وَلَغَت فيها بَواتِرُهُ

How much blood has its blade drunk,

How much blood has slaked the thirst of his spearheads,

And how many brains its sharp edges reached!

And how many souls have his sharp blades lapped up!

وَحائِنٍ لَعِبَت سُمرُ الرِماحِ بِهِ

فَالعَيشُ هاجِرُهُ وَالنَسرُ زائِرُهُ

How many skulls did the tips of spears play with!

And the doomed one, with whom the brown lances toyed—

So it lived and vultures visited it!

Life abandons him, and the vulture pays him a visit.

مَن قالَ لَستَ بِخَيرِ الناسِ كُلِّهِمِ

فَجَهلُهُ بِكَ عِندَ الناسِ عاذِرُهُ

Whoever says you are not the best of all people,

Whoever denies you are the noblest of all mankind,

Then his ignorance in your eyes should pardon him.

His ignorance of you is his only excuse before the world.

أَو شَكَّ أَنَّكَ فَردٌ في زَمانِهِمِ

بِلا نَظيرٍ فَفي روحي أُخاطِرُهُ

Or doubts that you are unique in their time,

Or if he doubts you are unique in this age, without peer—

Then let my soul be pledged against his.

Then upon my own soul, I would wager against him.

يا مَن أَلوذُ بِهِ فيما أُؤَمِّلُهُ

وَمَن أَعوذُ بِهِ مِمّا أُحاذِرُهُ

Oh you whom I seek refuge with

O you in whom I seek refuge for all that I hope,

For what I aspire to, and seek sanctuary from what I fear!

And in whom I seek shelter from all that I dread,

وَمَن تَوَهَّمتُ أَنَّ البَحرَ راحَتُهُ

جوداً وَأَنَّ عَطاياهُ جَواهِرُهُ

I imagined that the sea was your calm resort

You, whose palm I imagined to be the boundless sea

And that your gifts were its pearls.

In generosity, and whose gifts are its pearls.

لا يَجبُرُ الناسُ عَظماً أَنتَ كاسِرُهُ

وَلا يَهيضونَ عَظماً أَنتَ جابِرُهُ

People cannot set fractures that you will break,

No man can set a bone that you have broken,

Nor can they set fractures that you will heal!

Nor can they break a bone that you have set.