شَطّتْ عليك لُبانةُ الصّدرِ

وحُرِمتَها من حيثُ لا تدري

She flashed her breast at you

And was made forbidden to you from where you know not

وطلبتَ عذراً للزّمان فلمْ

تعرف له شيئاً من العذرِ

And you sought an excuse from fate but found

Nothing of excuse for it

وفجعتَ في ظلماءَ داجيةٍ

بالنيّراتِ معاً وبالفجرِ

And you were anguished in the darkness of night

With the stars and dawn alike

وَمَضى الّذي طَمس الحِمامُ به

وَضَحَ الصّباح وغُرّةَ البدرِ

And he by whom the dove was erased is gone

Dawn has gleamed and the crescent of the moon become white

وطوى الرَّدى رغماً لآنِفِنَا

كلَّ المحاسن منه في القبرِ

And fate has folded against our will

All beauty from it in the grave

فَكَأنّنا مِن بعدِ مَصرعهِ

سَفْرٌ بلا زادٍ ولا ظهرِ

So it is as if after his death

A journey without provision or mounts

أَو مُرهَقون بكلِّ بائقةٍ

غُلبوا وقد جَهَدوا على الصَّبرِ

Or exhausted by every remainder

Vanquished though they persevered with patience

هِيمٌ يماطِلها الورودُ وقد

بَعُدَ المدى عشراً إلى عشرِ

Wandering, the flowers postpone them, and the

Distance is ten to ten

من ذا لمرْغَبةٍ ومَرْهَبَةٍ

فينا ومن للنّهي والأمرِ

Who is for desire and fear in us

And for prohibition and command?

ومُرَوّعِ شرد الحِذارُ به

ملآن من خوفٍ ومن ذُعْرِ

And terrified by the straying of caution by him

Filled with fear and panic

ومكارمٍ تدعُ الزَّمان بلا

شيءٍ من الإملاقِ والفقرِ

And generosity that leaves the times without

Any baseness or poverty

والخيلُ تنزو في الأعنّةِ كال

سيدان في دَيْمومةٍ قَفْرِ

And the horses descent in the slopes like

Masters in the desolation of waste

معروقةً بالشَّدِّ تحسبها ال

أشطانَ هاويةً إلى جَفْرِ

Goaded by zeal, you would think them not

Precipices plummeting into a pit

أُثنِي عَلَيكَ بِما صَنعتَ وكمْ

فاتَ الصّنيعُ مواقعَ الشّكرِ

I praise you for what you have done, though

Grace has evaded the places of thanks

وأكفُّ غَرْبَ الدمع مصطبراً

لو كان دمعٌ كُفَّ لا يجري

And I restrain the strangeness of my tear, persevering,

If only a restrained tear would not flow

أَنتَ الّذي لَم تَرضَ في شرفٍ

إلّا بِغُرِّ عقائلِ الفخرِ

You, who did not accept in honor

Save the pride of the lofty eminences

ومحوتَ محوَ الطِّرْسِ عن زمنٍ

أصبحتَ فيه مجاثمَ العُسرِ

And you erased the erasure of hardship from a time

In which you became the assemblages of ease

وجعلتَ مُعدِمَه كواجده

ومُقِلّه بالفضل كالمثري

And made its eliminator like its causer

And its diminisher in merit like its increaser

مِن مَعشرٍ لَم يَرتَضوا وَطَراً

في العزِّ إلّا قِمَّةَ النَّسْرِ

From a group who did not accept abasement

In honor except the peak of the eagle

وَإِذا دَعوتهُمُ لنازلةٍ

حشدوا عليك بقُرَّحٍ ضُمْرِ

And if they called them to an affliction

They rallied around you with a piercing point

وَبِكلّ مُلتَهبِ العزيمة في ال

بأساء صبّارٍ على الضُّرِّ

And with every fervent resolve in

Heroism, patient with harm

لَم يَمتَطوا كَتَدَ المَعابِ ولا

عقدوا مآزهم على وِزْرِ

They did not rely on the course of tribulation, nor

Tie their refuge to a burden

وإذا علا لهبُ الجمال بهمْ

وهبوا رُواءَ الحسن للبدرِ

And if the flames of Beauty rose in them

They would give the quenching of splendor to the moon

يُعطون في الإعسار من كَرَمٍ

مِثلَ الّذي يُعطونَ في اليُسرِ

They give in poverty from bounty

The like of what they give in affluence

وهّابُ مَشْبَعةٍ لمسغَبةٍ

غازونَ ظلّامونَ للجُزْرِ

Bestower of a sated one for a deprived one

Invaders, shelterers of islands

فَتَرى على حسّادِ نعمَتهمْ

يتلاحظون بأعينٍ شُزْرِ

So you see upon the enviers of their blessing

They glance with squinting eyes

يا صاحبيَّ على طَماعِيَةٍ

في العيش تُركبنا قَرا وَعْرِ

My friend, because of greediness

In living, bitterness and difficulty ride us

لا تَحسبا في الدّار عدْوَتَهُ

إنّ الرّدى أعدى من العُرِّ

Do not reckon its enmity in the house

For fate is more hostile than the soil

هي عادةٌ للدّهر واحدةٌ

فَاِصبِرْ لمُرِّ عوائد الدّهرِ

It is the custom of fate, one

So be patient with the practices of fate

بَقّى الّذي يبقى ويرجع في

كلّ الّذي أولى من البِرِّ

That which remains remains, and returns every

Good that is first from righteousness

إنْ كان سرّ فقد أساء شجىً

أو كان راش فإِنّه يَبْرِي

If it was a secret it has brought evil tidings

And if it smiled, then it is cured

سوّى الرَّدى بين المطاح على

طرق الرَّدى ومشيّد القصرِ

Fate has leveled between one fallen

On fate’s roads and one who built a palace

يا من يُقيل عِثارَ أرحُلِنا

كيفَ اِستَجبتَ لزلَّة العَثْرِ

O He who unburdens the stumbling of our feet

How have you responded to the slip of the stumble?

ألّا دَفعتَ وَقَد دَفعت إلى

وِرْدِ المنون بمالك الأَثْرِ

If only you had warded off and you have handed off

To the visit of death with the owner of the imprint

وَبأذرعٍ تَهوي بمُصْلَتَةٍ

بيضٍ وطائشةِ الخُطا سُمْرِ

And with arms that plunge fiercely

With white, straying imperfections

أَوَلستَ ولّاجاً على حَذرٍ

تكفيه خرّاجاً مِنَ القَهرِ

Or were you not a protector, wary,

Sufficed by little from the subjugation?

هَيهاتَ لَيسَ لِمن يُطيف بهِ

جيشُ المنيَّةِ عنه من فَرِّ

Alas – there is no escape for one encircled

By the army of death from it by flight

ما لي أراك بدار مَضْيعةٍ

تسري الرّفاقُ وأنت لا تسري

What is it I see you in a devastated abode

While comrades move on and you do not move on?

في هُوَّةٍ ظَلماءَ بين هُوىً

سُدَّتْ مطالعُهنَّ بالصَّخْرِ

In a dark cavity between an affection

Whose dawns have been blocked by stone

وَكأنَّما سُقّيتَ مُنعَقِراً

لا تَستَفيق سلافةَ الخمرِ

And it is as if you were made to drink forcibly

Without recovering from intoxication

زوَّدتنِي ومضيتَ مُبْتدِراً

حزّ المُدى ولواذعَ الجمرِ

You provided me and went hastily away

The difficulties of distance and burning embers

وَتَركتَني والدّهرُ ذو دُوَلٍ

أعشى اللّحاظِ مقلَّمَ الظُّفْرِ

And you left me while fate possesses cycles

I live my final days, stripped of my claws

أَرمي فَلا أصمي فإنْ رُمِيَتْ

جهتي رُميتُ معرّضاً نحري

I throw but do not hit, so if

My direction is thrown, I am exposed, my throat thrown

وأُصدُّ عن لُقيا العدوِّ وهل

ألقى العدوّ ولستَ في ظهري

And I block encountering the enemy, and what

Enemy do I meet while you are not behind me?

وَإِذا مَضى مَن كانَ يَعضدني

ويشدّ يومَ كريهةٍ أزْري

And when he who supported me passes

And backed me on a day of hardship, my aid

ويردّ عنِّي كلَّ طارقةٍ

ويخوض كلَّ ردىً إلى نصري

And repelled from me every assailant

And engaged with every adversity for my victory

فالحظُّ لِي أنْ لا أهيجَ وغىً

حتَّى أكون مسالماً دهري

Then my luck is not to ignite war

Until I have made peace with my fate

كَيفَ اللّقاء وَأنتَ رَهْنُ بِلىً

لا يُرتجى إلّا معَ الحَشرِ

How is the meeting when you are hostage to decay

With no hope save at the Gathering?

هَجرٌ وَلَكن لَيس يُشبِهُهُ

شيءٌ من الإعراضِ والهجرِ

Estrangement, but nothing resembles it

From aversion or estrangement

وَقَطيعةٍ ما كُنتُ أَحذَرها

إلّا عَليك فلم يَفِدْ حِذْري

And a separation I did not fear

Except from you, so my caution did not avail me

لا مُتعةٌ لي في الحَياةِ فَما

أَحياه بَعدكَ لَيسَ مِن عمري

There is no joy for me in life, so what

I live after you is not of my life

إِن لَم يَكُن كُلّي علَيكَ قضى

لمَّا قضيتَ فقد قضى شطري

If my entirety was not fulfilled by you

When you passed, half of me passed

فَاِذهَبْ كَما ذَهبَ الغَمام فَقدْ

مَلأ المذانِبَ منه بالقَطْرِ

Then go as the clouds went, and so

Filled corners with it in drops

وَخَلوتَ مِن عَيني بغير رضاً

منّي ولمّا تخلُ من سرّي

And you parted from me without pleasure

From me, nor did you part from my secret

ما زلتُ أَكتم منك شاجيةً

وبلابلاً صُمّاً عن الزّجرِ

I always concealed from you a yearning

And a silent, deaf nightingale

وَأُجِلُّه عَن أَن أَبوح بهِ

في نَظمِ قافيةٍ من الشّعرِ

And I distanced him from confessing it

In the meter of a verse of poetry

حَتّى اِنقَضى صَبري وَجاشَ كَما

جاش الهدير يهدّه صدري

Until my patience was exhausted and surged as

A torrent surges, agitated by my chest