أَلَكم إلى ردِّ الشباب سبيلُ

أم عندكم لمشيبه تأويلُ

Is there a way back to youth restored?

Or do you have an interpretation for old age?

نُورٌ من الشعَراتِ ليتَ افولَه

فيها طلوعٌ والطلوعَ أفولُ

A light in the hair would that it never sets

In it is a rising, and every rising has a setting

ما كان يشفع لى فجدَّد هِجرةً

فِقدانُهُ لكنّه تعليلُ

What interceded for me has renewed estrangement

Losing it, though, is an explanation

يا ليته جَنَبَ الغرامَ وراءه

فيقالَ لا غِرٌّ ولا معذولُ

Oh, if only he had avoided passion behind him

So it would be said no harm and no fault

ها تلك أشجانى كما خلَّفتها

لعبَ الزمانُ بها وليس تحولُ

There are my passions as they were left behind

Time played with them and they underwent no change

يقتادُنى البرقُ اليمانِ كأنه

من عند إيماضِ الثغور رسولُ

Lightning leads me to faith as if

It were a messenger come from beyond the frontiers

وكأَنَّ قلبي والمهامهُ بيننا

جىٌّ على وادى العِضاهِ حُلولُ

And as if my heart and my worries between us

Were a torrent in the valley of al-`Udha pouring

تُفتِى براقِعُهم وما استفتيتُها

أنّ اللِّحاظَ إذا اختُلسنَ غُلولُ

Their litter curtains issue legal opinions though I did not consult them

That stolen privacy is thieving

اُنظر خليلى من قَرَارٍ هل ترى

قَطَنا فطَرفُ العامرىِّ كليلُ

Look, my friend, from a halt do you see

Any cotton? For the pupil of al-`Amri is sleepy

وحلفتُ ما بَصِرى بأصدقَ منكما

نظرا ولكنَّ الغرامَ دليلُ

And I swore my sight was no truer than you two

A look, but passion is proof

قالوا الديارُ وقد وقفت فزدانى

بثًّا رسومٌ رثَّةٌ وطلولُ

They said: The abodes—and I paused—so increase me

Perplexity, frail traces, and ruins

ونَشِقتُ خفّاقَ النسيم فما شفا

دائى وهل يشفِى العليلَ عليلُ

And I burst open the fluttering of the breeze but it did not heal

My malady, and can one diseased heal another diseased?

وكَرعتُ سَلسالَ الغدير وليس ما

بُلّ الشفاهُ به يُبَلُّ غليلُ

And I sipped the necklace of the brook but there is nothing

My lips sipped that slakes my thirst

يا ضالة الوادى أَحُثّ مطيَّتى

أم عند ظبِيِك في الكناسِ مَقيلُ

O stray of the valley, urge on my mount

Or does your gazelle in the thicket have a resting place?

عيناه أسلمُ لي ويُعجِبُ ناظرى

مُقَلُ كأن لحاظَهنُّ نُصولُ

Her eyes I handed over to her and my look admires

The kohl as if their glances were scrolling

مُقَلٌ لغِزلانِ الحِجازِ وسِحرُها

من بابلٍ مستجلَبٌ منقولُ

Kohl for the gazelles of the Hijaz and its magic

Is imported from Babylon, transported

ولقد طرقتُ البيتَ يُكره ربُّه

والشوقُ ليس يَعيبه التطفيلُ

And indeed I knocked at the abode—its lord dislikes it

Though yearning is not faulted for being importunate

أيظُنُّ من عَقَر النجائبَ قومُه

أ الدماءَ جميعَها مطلولُ

Would one who violates his people's sanctities think

That all bloodshed is permitted?

من دون سفكِ مدامعى ما شئت من

حِلْم ودون دمىِ تغولك غولُ

Without shedding my tears as you wish, such

Patience, and without shedding my blood your tyranny is tyranny

وأنا امرؤٌ لو مُدَّ من غُلوَائه

نطقى لقيل كلامُه تنزيلُ

And I am a man—were my poetry given free rein

It would be said his words are revelation

لا يطمع العظماءُ في مدحى ولا

طمَعى على أبوابهم معقولُ

The mighty do not covet my praise and

My hopes of their gates are not irrational

ولو استطعتُ لما اغتبقتُ بشَربةٍ

مما يَمُدُّ فُراتُهم والنيلُ

And if I could I would not have gulped a draft

Of what their Euphrates and Nile pour out

وإذا تأملتُ الرجالَ تفاوتت

قِيَما وميَّز بينها التحصيلُ

And when I consider people I find

Disparate values and acquisition distinguishes between them

بعضٌ همُ غُرر الجيادِ وبعضُهم

بين السنابك والصِّفاقِ حُجولُ

Some are the pick of steeds and some

Between the crupper and shin are jades

مِثل الِّحُلى دمالجٌ وخلاخلٌ

منه ومنه التاجُ والإكليلُ

Like jewelry—necklaces, anklets

Some of it, and some the crown and wreath

لولاهُمُ غرَبتْ شموسُ محاسنٍ

وهوَى ببدر المكرمَات أُفُولُ

Were it not for them the suns of beauties

Would have set and the full moon of glories set

تبًّا لهذا الدهر لا مِيزانُه

قِسْطٌ ولا في قَسمه تعديلُ

Away with this Time that has no balance

Or justice in its dealing or rectification

جَوْرٌ يساوى عالما متعالمٌ

فيه ويُشبِهُ فاضلا مفضولُ

Injustice that makes an educated man

Equal in it to an ignorant and an inferior to one noble

لا درَّ دَرُّ المرء يقطعُ دهرَه

رِخوَ الإزارِ وعزمُه مفلولُ

The person's worth does not advance his lifetime

Lax of belt and his resolve broken

الَبيدُ تزرعُها المناسمُ وهي لا

تدرى أعرضُ شَوطُها أم طولُ

The hyssop—the seasons plant it and it does not know

Whether its period is long or short

واليَعْمَلاتُ سياطُها وحذاؤها

نسبٌ نماه شَدقُم وجديلُ

And the violets—their lashes and sandals

Lineage the dew and rain nourished

فإذا كمالُ الملكِ سَحّ سحابُهُ

نبتَ الرجاءُ وأثمر المأمولُ

So when the perfection of dominion spreads its clouds

Hope sprouts and expectation bears fruit

سبقت مواهبُه المديحَ فظنَّ مَن

عجِلتْ إليه أنها بِرطيلُ

His gifts outstripped praise so one who

Hastened to him thought they were in bulk

عجِلٌ إلى المعروف يَحسبَ أنه

ظلٌّ إذا لم يغتنمه يزول

A hasty one to kindness thinks if

He does not seize it, it will disappear

كثُر الكلامُ به وفي أمثالهم

من قبله أ الكرام قليلُ

Much is said of him and the like of them

Though among the generous they are few

وإذا جرى في غايةٍ شهِدت له

أن لا مخلِّقَ في مَداه رسيلُ

And when he attains an extremity witness for him

That no guide can parallel his extension

ضلَّتْ ركائبُ من يؤمُّ طريقَه

إنّ العلاءَ سبيلهُ مجهولُ

The steeds of one who desires his path are confused

Truly lofty paths are unknown

يتوارث المجدَ التليدَ بمعشر

أدنَتْ فروعَهمُ إليه أُصولُ

Glory is inherited, aged, by a company

Whose branches reached out to its roots

جازوا على عَنَت الحسودِ فلم يجد

عيبا وماذا في النجوم يقولُ

They surpassed the stubbornness of enviers so he found

No fault, and what can the stars say?

لهمُ إذا كرمُ الطباعِ هززْتَهُ

نصلٌ وأنت الرونقُ المحلولُ

For them, when nature is generous, you brandished

A blade while you are pure sheen

وإذا انتهى نسبٌ إليك فإنه

فَلَقُ الصباح مع الضُّحى موصولُ

And if a lineage leads back to you it is

The dawn joined to the morn consolidated

ولقد شددتَ وَثَاقَ كلِّ مُلَّمةٍ

يُلوَى عليها مُبَرمٌ وسحيلُ

And you have tightened the bonds of every summation

Against which an orator and critic strain

وحمَيت أوطانَ الأمور وإنما

كانت غماما بالدماء تسيلُ

And you have protected the homelands of affairs, though only

Clouds from which blood flows used to protect them

وإذا التقت حِلَقُ البِطان فإنما

يكفيك ثَمَّ رسالةٌ ورسولُ

And when the circle of intimates meets, your

Sufficing then is an epistle and messenger

بدلا من القُب العِتاق ضوامرٌ

رُقشُ المتونِ صريرُهن صهيلُ

Instead of giving robes of honor, suits

Of mail whose clash is neighing

يَنبُتنَ مثل الروض إلا أنّه

ترعاه أسماعٌ لنا وعقولُ

They grow like a garden but for

Our hearing and minds watering them

ومن الصِّفاح البِيض كل صحيفةٍ

لنزاعها بالراحتين صليلُ

And from white steel each page

Clashing with its cover has tinkling

سحَبت لكَ الأيامُ ردائها

مَرَحا يدوم بقاؤه ويطولُ

The days have bared their forearms for you

Delighting, their existence lasting and prolonging

وتتابعت حِججٌ يؤرِّخ عصرَها

عُمرٌ به خُلدُ الزمان كفيلُ

And successive proofs follow each other, each

A lifetime in which Time's eternity is guaranteed

ينتابك النوروز يجنُب إِثَرهُ

أعوامَ سعدٍ كلُّهن صقيلُ

The Nawruz comes your way, after it keeping away

Years of felicity, all polished

هو خطةٌ همَّ المُصيفُ بقصدها

شوقا ونادى بالشتاء رحيلُ

It is a plan the summer hastened to with

Yearning, and winter called to depart

أخذ الربيعُ زمامه حتى استوى

في عارضيه نبتُه المطلولُ

Spring took its reins until its greenery stood

Even on both cheeks, loosened

بك أشرقت إيّامه فكأننا

في عصِر كِسرَى يَزْدَجِرْدَ نُزولُ

With you its days shone so it is as if we are

In Kisra's time—the lowering of the sunshades