لي في الفصاحة حكمةٌ وبيانُ

وبلاغة لم يحوِها لقمانُ

I have wisdom and eloquence,

And rhetoric unmatched by Luqman.

ما الغرُّ مثلُ معاجم أيامهُ

ومحبَّك عرفت بهِ الأزمانُ

How strange are the lexicons of his time,

While your lover made eras recognize him.

مارستُ أحداث الزمان ومارست

مني محكاً لم يبِدِه قرانُ

I have experienced the events of time, and time

Has tested me with a touchstone unmatched by epochs.

كم قد عرفتُ الأمر قبل وقوعه

فكذاك جاءَ وهكذا الأذهانُ

How often did I know the matter before its occurrence!

Thus it happened, and so did minds comprehend.

مازلت أزجرُ طَرف كل مغَّيبٍ

حتى يلوحَ بوفقهِ العنوانُ

I still restrain the glance of every disappearing one,

Until hope appears on his horizon.

وأرى على صفحات وجه مخاطبي

ما قدْ تضمنَّه لي الكتمانُ

And I see on the pages of my addressee's face

What concealment had included for me.

والألمعيُّ جرى بمقلةِ قلبهِ

مالستقبلتهُ بخطبه الأحيانُ

And the shining one let his heart's pen

Flow with what future times had not received from his sermons.

وإذا دياجي الخطْب أسدل ثوُبها

أطلعت فجراً منه ليس يرانُ

And if the attire of my sermons lowers its garb,

It brings forth a dawn that cannot be seen.

جرّبت من ريب الزمان وصرفهِ

ما لم يجرب مثله سلطانُ

I have experienced from the wickedness of time and its vicissitudes

What no sultan has undergone the like of.

قلبت ناصبة الخطوب وخضت في

بحر التجارب والهجان هجانُ

I have overturned the structures of sorrows and delved into

The sea of tribulations and perils—peril upon peril.

وعَمَرت صدعةَ كل شر مضمرٍ

حتى أضاء بأفقهِ التّبيانُ

And I have filled the crevasse of every hidden evil

Until the dawn of elucidation shone from its horizon.

شيَم خُصصتُ بهنّ مُذ أنا يافع

من قادرٍ لم يخلُ منهُ مكانُ

Attributes I have been exclusively endowed with since my prime

By an Able One from whom no place is devoid.

فإذا قرضت فما زهير وطرفة

وإذا نطقت فما الفتى سحبانُ

Thus, when I compose poetry, I am no Zuhayr or Tarafa,

And when I speak, I am no youthful Suhban.

ولقد جرَين على لساني وُثَّباً

جري الأتيّ رمت به الأقرانُ

And flowing prose has coursed upon my tongue

Like the running of a beloved prey chased by hunting companions.

والعقلُ رأس الفضل غيرُ مشارك

وبه لعمرك يُعرف الرحمانُ

And the mind is the pinnacle of virtue without participation,

And through it, by your life, the Merciful is known.

لا تحسُدنَّ أخا البلادة عظمةً

فالعقلُ يغني عنكَ لا الجثمانُ

Do not envy, my oblivious brother, an ignorant man his loftiness,

For the mind suffices you—not the body.

والعقلُ بَعل للحياةِ ومنهما

نُتجَ الجمال ووُلد الإيمانُ

And the mind is the husband of life, and from the two of them

Beauty is brought forth, and faith is born.

ولطالما منعَ الكريمَ حياؤهُ

عَّما يرومُ بفعله الإنسانُ

And oftentimes, one's bashfulness prevents him

From that which man intends to do.

فاحفظ حياءك لا تبّددْ ماءَهُ

إنَّ المريقَ لمائه خَسرانُ

So guard your bashfulness—do not waste its waters—

For one who sheds its waters is lost.

ذلَّ امرءُ غبط الذليل بنعمةٍ

أخواه فيها ذلة وهوانُ

A man abased when fortune favors his brothers

Is abject, disgraced, and lowly.

لا تغبطنَّ سوى شجاعٍ باسل

خضعتْ لشدَّةِ بأسه الشجعانُ

Do not envy save a courageous hero

Whose might fierce warriors have surrendered to.

أو مُنعِمٍ بارى الرياحَ مواهباً

ولديه ذُمَّ العارض الهَّتانُ

Or a benefactor who has sown the winds his gifts

While having the blame of the fickle and deviant.

لا حمْدَ إلا لامرئ متطولٍ

بذلَ اللُّها والعرضُ منه مصانُ

There is no praise except for a man of great integrity

Who gives possessions while honor is protected from him.

وإذا الكريمُ كبت به أيامه

رفضته رفضَ الاجرب الإِخوانُ

And when days oppress a noble man,

His brothers reject him like an alien rejects his brothers.

والناس اعوان القويّ لذاته

وهمُ عليه إذا هوى اعوانُ

And people are assistants to the strong one by himself,

And are his supporters if he falls.

والمرتدي بالَّلومِ لم يرجح له

في الحمد لو ملك الورى ميزانُ

And one who wears the garment of blame—

If he owned the world's scale, it would not weigh in his favor for praise.

لا تشمتنَّ رديَّ قومٍ غالهم

صرف الردى وكما تدينُ تدانُ

Do not gloat at the misery of a people overcome

By the vicissitudes of misery—for as you judge, you will be judged.

لا يخدعنك للعذول خضوعُه

فخضوعه لمكيدةٍ برهانُ

Do not be fooled by the humility of the crafty one,

For his humility is a clever trick.

لو أظفرته يد المقادر لمحةً

بكَ لو يردَّ مراسه الإحسانُ

If the hand of fate empowered him over you a moment,

He would reject the stirrup of kindness if it returned to you.

واعذُر إذا اعتذر الصديقُ لزلةٍ

فقبول عذرِ أخي الوَفا إيمانُ

And accept the apology if a friend apologizes for a slip—

For to accept the excuse of a brother is faith.

واخفِضْ جناحكَ للرَّعية لاطفاً

بهمْ يعنكَ بلطفه الدَّيانُ

And fold your wing humbly for the commoners,

So the Compeller aids you by His gentleness.

وارمِ الطغاةَ بدردبيسٍ صَّمةٍ

لم يلقَ منها عن أولاك عيانُ

And pelt the tyrants with a barrage of deafness

From which their eyes will find no relief from it.

ما قادرٌ من لم يعنه جنانه

ما ناكص من لم يجبه جبانُ

One who is not helped by his wings

Cannot recoil—one who is not faced by cowards is no coward.

واغزُ العدوَّ فما غُزي في دارهم

قومٌ فقامَ لعزِّهم أركانُ

And attack the enemy—a people have not been attacked in their homes

And pillars of might stood up for their honor.

وإذا الفتى لم يغزُ يوماً خصمه

يُغزى ويهدم حوضُه ويهانُ

And when a warrior does not attack his foe one day,

He will be attacked, his courtyard destroyed, and disgraced.

لم تحوِ حقَّكَ بالمزاحِ فإنما

بالجَدِّ يحوي حقه الطعَّانُ

You do not gain your right with jest—rather

The serious gain their right from the critic.

وإذا تدانى الجحفلان فلا تكن

دَهشاً يرتعُك للسَّعير دخانُ

And when the two armies draw near, do not be

Dazed so the blaze of Hellfire stuns you.

وإذا ضربت فعضَّ عضَّةَ كادمٍ

ليفي عليك السيف وهو جبانُ

And when you strike, bite with the bite of a biter

So the sword will be loyal to you while it is a coward.

وإذا طعنتَ فألقِ نفسكَ عندها

حتى يثورَ بطعنها الخُرصانُ

And when you stab, throw yourself in the moment

Until its stabbing excites the horses.

وإذا تقاربتِ الكماة فلا تخمْ

قدَماً فيقدم مثله الأقرانُ

And when the two forces approach, do not step

A foot, or else the steeds will step like you.

إن الذي يلقاك مثلك فارساً

أو راحلاً ومعَ السَّنان سنانُ

For the one who meets you as a horseman

Or a rider with the spear—and spear to spear!

قَلْقِلْ حسامك قبل أن تستلَّهُ

في الغمد كي يتنبَّهَ الوسنانُ

Shake your sword before drawing it

From the scabbard, so the swordsman is alert.

واغضضْ بطرفك بعدما ترمي به

أقصى الكتيبةَ فالكميُّ معان

And glance with your eyes after you shoot

The furthest battalions—for the shooter is aiming.

واضْربْ إذا أمكنت هَبراً راسيا

فالهَبر لا تثبت له الأبدان

And strike the neck if you are able

For the neck cannot sustain bodies.

واطعن إذا ما شئت شَزراً نافذاً

فالشَّزر أنجح إِذ يعدُّ طعانُ

And stab with penetrating flechettes if you wish

For flechettes are more successful when a stabber stabs.

واكفُف جيوشك ثم إن يتنازعوا

أمْراً فيذهب أمرهم ويهانوا

Then curb your armies if they dispute

A matter, so their affair will fail and they will be disgraced.

وإذا أماتوا في الوغى أصواتهم

لم يفشلوا وبذا أتى القرآنُ

And if they mute their voices in the fray,

They will not fail—thus did the Qur’an come.

واعلم بأنَّ النصر يبعثه الذي

سجدت له في لجّها الحيتانُ

And know that victory is brought by Him

To whom the whales prostrated in their swelling seas.

يا خائضَ الغمَرات اعمل بالذي

قد قلته تخضعْ لك الفرسانُ

O you who wades into the deep waters, act upon what

I have said, so the horsemen will submit to you.

وأنا ابن نبهان بن كيكرب بن َمن

راش الأنامَ ومن له الإِحسانُ

I am the son of Nabhan the son of Kaykarib the son of the one

Who ruled the people and who has favor.

أغشى الوقيعة وهي بكر عابس

واعلُّ والحرب الزَّبون عَوانُ

I have suppressed al-Wa'iqa while she was a sullen virgin,

And I have built the highest rank’s staircase—and war is wanton.

ومدجَّج شهمِ الجنان تركتُه

ملقىً تنازع شلوه العِقبانُ

And I left the stalwart lions, thrown about,

Prey for the vultures’ necks to pick at.

وفوارس ثُبتِ القلوب هزمتها

فكأنها بفرارِها الظلمانُ

And I have defeated cavaliers of resolute hearts,

So it was as if their flight were the darkness of night.

ومواهبٍ تجْلي الهُمومَ وهبَتهُا

إذْ لا يُقال سِوايَ جادَ فُلانُ

And gifts that remove worries—I have granted them—

For none can say "So-and-so was generous" but me.

من مَعْشَر سُدلِ الاكفّ تنالهم

خِططَ الفَخار أبوهم قَحْطانُ

From a people who lowered the shoulders they are attained by

The plots of disgrace which their father Qahtan knew.

نَهَب الجِيادَ على الثَّناءِ لِعِلمِنا

أنَّ الثَّناءَ لخيلنا اثمانُ

The steeds have taken freely to praising our knowledge

That praise belongs only to our horses and their price.

مَنْ ذالهَ العزُّ المُؤثَّل غَيرنا

أمْ مَنْ لَه الأتخات والتيجان

Other than us, whom has abundant honor that wields power altered?

Or who possesses crowns and tiaras?

فَلنَا المَمالك والمراتِب والعُلى

والفَضل قدْ عَلمتْ بنا عدنان

For us are the kingdoms, positions, and ascendancy,

And preeminence—Adnan knew our merit.

كرماً ارثنا للفخارِ مظفَّرٌ

وبنى لنا درج العلى نبهانُ

Honor we inherited—victorious for glory—

And Nabhan built for us the staircase to ascendancy.

واخصنا ذو التاج حمير تاجَه

دون الملوك ونجلُه كهلانُ

And the crowned one singled us out, O people of Hamir,

Apart from kings, and his son Kahlân.