سَقَى مَضربَ الخَيمَاتِ مِن عَلَمَي نَجدِ

أَسَحُّ غَمَامَي أَدمُعِي وَالحَيَا الرَغدِ

He gave drink to the abode of tents from the standards of Najd

I diffuse my clouds and my tears and the plentiful life

وَقَد كَانَ فِي دَمعِي كفَاءٌ وَإِنَّمَا

يُجَفِّفُهَا مَا بِالضُّلوعِ مِنَ الوَقدِ

And my tears used to suffice, though

What is in the ribs dries them from the burning

فَإِن فَتَرت نَارُ الضُّلُوعِ هُنَيهَةً

فَسَوفَ تَرَى تَفجِيرَهُ لِلحَيَا العِدِّ

So if the fire of the ribs rests for a moment

You will see its outburst to the intense enmity

وَإِن ضَنَّ صَوبُ المُزنِ يَوماً فَأَدمُعِي

تَنوبُ كَمَا نَابَ الجَمِيعُ عَنِ الفَردِ

And if the arrows of sadness fail one day, so my tears

Take turns like all failed for one

وَإِن هَطَلا يوماً بِساحَتِهَا مَعاً

فَأروَاهُمَا مَا صَابَ مِن مُنتَهَى الوُدِّ

And if they both pour one day in its yard

Their watering reached the utmost affection

أَرَى زَفرَتِي تُذكَى وَدَمعِيَ يَنهَمِي

نَقِيضَينِ قَاما بالصِلاء وَبالوردِ

I see my sigh rekindled and my tears gushing

As two opposites stood for night and roses

فَهَل بالذِي أَبصَرتُمُ أَو سَمِعتُمُ

غَمامٌ بِلا أُفقٍ وَبَرقٌ بِلا رَعدِ

Is there in what you saw or heard

A cloud without horizon, or lightning without thunder

لِيَ اللَّهُ كَم أَهذِي بِنَجدٍ وَأَهلِها

وَمَا لِي بِهَا إِلا التَّوَهُّمُ مِن عَهدِ

Woe to me! How I rave about Najd and its people

And I have nothing for it but fancying from an era

وَمَا بِي إِلَى نَجدٍ نُزُوعٌ وَلا هَوَى

خَلا أَنَّهُم شَنُّوا القَوَافِي عَلَى نَجدِ

I have no tendency or love for Najd

Except that they unleashed rhymes about Najd

وَجَاءُوا بِدَعوَى حَسَّنَ الشِّعرُ زورَها

فَصَارَت لَهُم فِي مُصحَفِ الحُبِّ كَالحَمدِ

And they came with a claim that poetry embellished its fraudulence

So for them it became like praise in the scripture of love

شُغِلنَا بِأَبنَاءِ الزَّمانِ عَنِ الهَوَى

وَلِلدرعِ وَقتٌ لَيسَ يَحسُنُ لِلبُردِ

We were busy with the children of time from love

And time for armor is not good for the coat

إِلى اللَّهِ أَشكُو رَيبَ دَهرِي يُغصُّ بِي

نَوَائِبُهُ قَد أَلجَمَت أَلسُنَ العَدِّ

To God I complain of the harm of my time choking me

Its calamities have muzzled the tongues of enmity

لَقَد صَرفَت حُكمَ الفُؤَادِ إِلَى الهَوَى

كَمَا فَوَّضت أَمرَ الجُفُونِ إِلَى السُّهدِ

Indeed it has turned the rule of my heart to love

As it entrusted the matter of eyelids to sleep

أَمَا تَتَوَقَّى وَيحَها أَن أُصِيبَهَا

بِدَعوَةِ مَظلُومٍ عَلَى جورِهَا يُعدِي

Doesn’t it fear, woe to it, that I pray against it

With the supplication of a wronged one, exceeding in his injustice

أَمَا رَاعَهَا أن زَحزَحَت عَن أَكَارِمٍ

فِرَاقُهُمُ دَلَّ القُلُوبَ عَلَى حَدِّي

Didn't it notice that it alienated the generous

Whose absence guides hearts to my limit

أعاتِبُهَا فِيهم فَتَزدَادُ قسوَةً

أجدكَ هَل عَايَنتَ لِلحَجَرِ الصَّلدِ

I reproach it about them, so it increases in harshness

Did you witness any softness for solid rock

أمَا عَلِمَت أَنَّ القَسَاوَةَ نَافَرَت

طِبَاعَ بَنِي الآدَابِ إِلا مِنَ الرَّدِّ

Doesn’t it know that harshness has repelled

The disposition of the cultured except from response

إذا وَعَدَت يَوماً بتَألِيفِ شَملِنَا

فَألمِم بِعُرقوبٍ وَمَا سَنَّ مِن وَعدِ

If it promises one day to unite us

Then fulfill with shackles and the like of a promise

وإِن عَاهَدَت أَن لا تُؤَلِّفَ بَينَنَا

تَذكَّرت آثارَ السَّمَوأَلِ فِي العَهدِ

And if it vows never to reconcile us

I recall the traces of poison in the covenant

خَلِيلَيَّ أَعنِي النَّظمَ والنَّثرَ أَرسِلا

جِيادَكُما فِي حَلبَةِ الشُّكرِ والحَمدِ

My two friends, prose and poetry, send

Your steeds in the race of gratitude and praise

قِفا ساعِدَانِي إِنَّهُ حقُّ صَاحِبٍ

بَرِيء جِمام الكَتمِ مِن كَدَرِ الحقدِ

Support me, for it is the right of an innocent friend

Free of the bridle of concealment from the harm of hatred

بأيَّةِ مَا قَيَّدتُما أَلسُنَ الوَرى

بِذِكرِي فَيَا وَيحَ الكِنَانِي وَالكِندِي

With what have you tied the tongues of mankind

With mentioning me, so woe to the silent and the lampooner

فَأَينَ بَياني أَو فَأَينَ فَصَاحَتِي

إِذا لَم أُعِد ذِكرَ الأَكَارِمِ أَو أُبدِي

So where is my eloquence or where is my articulation

If I do not repeat the mention of the generous or express

فَيَا خَاطِري وَفِّ الثّنَاءَ حُقوقَهُ

وَصِفهُ كَمَا قَالُوا سِوَارٌ عَلَى زَندِ

Oh my mind, fulfill the praise its rights

And describe it as they said, a bracelet on a wrist

وَلا تُلزِمَنّي بِالتَّكَاسُلِ حُجَّةً

تُشَبِّبُهَا نَارُ الحَيَاءِ عَلَى خَدِّي

And do not oblige me with laziness an argument

Which the fire of shame kindles on my cheek

ثَكِلتُ القَوافي وَهيَ أَبناءُ خاطِري

وَغَيَّبَها الإِقحامُ عَنِّيَ في لَحدِ

I have weaned the rhymes and they are the sons of my mind

And preoccupation has distanced them from me in the grave

لَئِن لَم أَصُغ زهرَ النُّجوم قِلادَةً

وَآتِ بِبَدرِ التَمِّ واسِطَةَ العِقدِ

If I do not wear the flowers of stars as a necklace

And bring the full moon as a clasp for the necklace

إِلَى أَن يَقولَ السَّامِعونَ لِرِفقَتي

نَعَم طارَ ذاكَ السَقطُ عَن ذلِكَ الزَندِ

Until the listeners say to my group

Yes, that fallen one rose from that feeble one

أُحَيِّي بِرَيّاها جَنابَ اِبنِ سالِمٍ

فَيَقرَعُ فيهِ البابَ في زَمَنِ الوَردِ

I greet with its banner the side of Ibn Salim

So he knocks on the door at the time of returning