نادمتُ طيفَكِ ليلةَ الرّملِ

والرّكبُ من وَسَنٍ على شُغلِ

I reproached your specter in the night of the sand

While the caravan took rest from the toil

فطنوا لهجركِ إذْ بخلتِ ضحىً

وعموا كرىً عن ساعة البذلِ

They were attentive to your estrangement when you were miserly with the morning

And they became blind to seeing at the time of generosity

بتنا نُجِدّ وكيف جدّ فتىً

مسترهنٌ في قبضةِ الهزلِ

We have become destitute, and how can an impoverished young man

Become wealthy while in the grip of jest?

أهدي الّتي خلقتْ كما اِقترحتْ

حسناً وما اِسترضته من دَلِّ

I present to her who was created as she desired

Beauty, though she did not accept it from me

كم قد أساءتْ وهي عامدةٌ

فجعلتها للحبِّ في حِلِّ

How often she did wrong intentionally

Making herself available to love

وَلَقَد درى من لا يُخادعني

أنّي صريعُ الأعينِ النُّجْلِ

And indeed, those who do not deceive me know

That I am lovesick for the beautiful eyes

إنّ الّذين ترحّلوا سَحَراً

قتلوا بذاك وما نَوَوْا قتلي

Those who traveled pre-dawn

Killed me by doing so though they did not intend to kill me

لم يحملوا يومَ الرّحيل سوى

قلبي العميد بهمْ على البُزلِ

When they left, they took nothing with them

Except my heart, steadfast in passion for them

وإذا رأيت جمالَ غانيةٍ

فهو الّذي سَرَقَتْه من جُمَلِ

And when I see the beauty of a singer

It is the one she stole from my perfection

بيضاء تفضح بالضّياء ضحىً

ودُجىً بفاحمِ شعرها الجَثلِ

A white woman who shames the dawn with her brilliance

And the darkness with the incense of her thick hair

وتنكّرتْ لمّا رأتْ وَضَحاً

متلهّباً في مَفرَقِي يغلي

She pretended not to see me when she saw me

Ablaze in the separation between us, burning

ولينني زمناً بهنّ فمذْ

شاب العِذارُ كتَبْنَ بالعَزْلِ

And she softened me for a time with love songs until

Youth was inscribed for me with isolation

فكمِ اِرتديتُ وذا الشّبابُ معي

بغديرةٍ وبمعصمٍ طَفْلِ

How often I wore it, and that youth was with me,

With a bracelet and an anklet of a child

فالآن ما يمشي لغانيةٍ

خَطْوي ولا تقتادها رُسْلي

But now, no gait of mine walks with a singer

Nor do my messages lead her

قُيّدتُ عنها بالمشيب كما

عَقِلَ الشَّرودُ الصَّعْبُ بالشُّكلِ

I am restrained from her by old age, just as

The difficult colt is restrained by the hobble

لا تُلزميني اليومَ ظالمةً

ما ليس من عَقْدي ولا حَلِّي

Do not obligate me today, wrongfully,

To what is not of my binding or loosing

إنّ المشيبَ وقد ذُمِمْت به

من فعل ربِّكِ ليس من فعلي

Grayness, which I have been blemished with,

Is from the doing of your Lord, not mine

ما إنْ نزلتُ عليه أرْحُلَه

وهو الّذي وافى إلى رَحْلي

I did not bring it down upon myself,

But He who brought it to my encampment

مَن مبلغٌ عنّي لأشكرَه ال

ملكَ العزيزَ وجامعَ الفضلِ

Who can inform Him for me, so I may thank

The King of Honor, the Assembler of Virtue

والفاعلَ الفعلاتِ ما عُهدتْ

بين الأنام وقائلَ الفَصلِ

And the Doer of deeds - never before

Known between people - and the Utterer of Judgment

أَنت الّذي سوّيتَ معتلياً

بالفخرِ بينَ الفَرع والأصلِ

You who set me straight, ennobled

Between branch and origin

للَّه دَرُّك في الهياجِ وقد

قامَ الحِمامُ به على رِجْلِ

May God reward you among the excited ones, while

The pigeons upon it stood on one leg

والحكمُ للسّمرِ الطّوالِ به

في القومِ أو للأبيضِ النَّصْلِ

And the judgment is for the longnecked brown ones among the people

Or for the white-speckled ones

والحربُ تعذِمُ كلَّ مُضْطَبِعٍ

بروائها بنيوبها العُصْلِ

And war makes grim every wide-chested one

With its leather coats and iron coats of mail

وهناك من شرّ القنا عَلَقٌ

كالطَّلِّ آونةً وكالوَبْلِ

And there, the evil of war is a burden

Like a sausage at times, and like mange at times

والطّعنُ يفتقُ كلَّ واسعةٍ

كالباب فاغرةٍ إلى الأكلِ

And the stab bursts open every leather coat

Like an open door for eating

في موقفٍ زلقٍ تشيب به

لو أبصَرَتْه مفارقُ الطِّفلِ

In a slippery stand, it grays the one who sees it,

Were she one who parts from a child

ملآن بالآسادِ ضاريةً

غصّان من خيلٍ ومن رِجْلِ

Filled with lions, attacking,

Branches among horses and men

كنتَ الأعزَّ به وقد خفضتْ

فيه رؤوس القوم من ذُلِّ

You were the most honorable among them, though

The people bowed their heads before you in humiliation

وسَقَيْتَ أُمّاتِ الكماةِ به

ضرباً وطعناً جرعةَ الثُّكلِ

And with it you gave the mothers of warriors to drink

Affliction - a draught of bereavement

حتّى كأنّك لا تخاف ردىً

أو لا تعاف مرارَةَ القتلِ

As if you do not fear violence

Or dislike the bitterness of death

كم قد فرجتَ وأنتَ محتقرٌ

لا ترتضي مِن ضَيّقٍ أَزْلِ

How often you gave relief while you belittled

Any constriction - you do not accept tightness

ونفختَ من كَرَمٍ قضى ومضى

روحاً لنا وقتلتَ مِن مَحْلِ

And you breathed from generosity a spirit for us that passed

And you killed some from their resting places

وأريتَنا أنّ الألَى سُطِرَتْ

نَفَحاتُهمْ كانوا أُولي بُخْلِ

And you showed us that marked ones

Were more stingy in their outpourings

قد كان في قلبي وأنت على

شكواك مثلُ صوائبِ النَّبْلِ

In my heart, while you were complaining,

Were straight shots like arrows

وكأنّني لمّا سمعتُ به

حيرانُ ممتلئٌ من الخَبْلِ

And it was as if, when I heard of it,

I was confused, full of stupidity

ولو اِنّني أسطيع فِدْيَتَها

لفديتُها بالنّفسِ والأهلِ

And if only I could afford redemption

I would redeem it with my soul and family

وحملتُ ثِقْلاً لاِمرئٍ حملتْ

طولَ الزّمانِ يميُنه ثِقْلي

And I carried a burden no person carried

For so long - you are my strong right hand

أنتمْ إذا خفتُ الأذى عُصُري

وإذا ضَحيتُ فأنتمُ ظِلّي

You - if I fear harm, you are my champions,

And if I am struck, you are my blades

وإذا ضُربتُ فأنتُمُ جُنَنِي

وإذا ضَربتُ فأنتُمُ نَصْلي

And if I thirst, from your pools is my drinking,

And from your rain barrels my irrigation

وإذا ظمئتُ فمن غديركمُ

نَهلي ومن جَدْواكُم عَلِّي

And indeed, I am done with all matters together -

Your praise and your panegyrizing are my occupation

ولقد فرغتُ من الأمور معاً

وثناؤكمْ ومديحكمْ شُغلي

And you are from a people - when they promise

They surpass in violating and procrastinating

ولأنتَ من قومٍ إذا وعدوا

سفّوا عن الإخلافِ والمَطْلِ

They pushed the stars from their positions

And walked upon the eagles with sandals

زحموا الكواكبَ عن مراكزها

ومشوا على النَّسْرين بالنَّعْلِ

And rugged terrain was like the exposed hillsides when

They crossed a distance, and sadness like the plains

والوعرُ كالجردِ المبين إذا

قطعوا مدىً والحَزْنُ كالسَّهْلِ

O master, there is no equal to match you -

There is no other like me in loyalty to you

يا مالكاً لا مثلَ يعدلُه

ما في ولائك آخَرٌ مثلي

Nothing of me was in the hands of mortals -

Now take me from me - all my love

ما كان بعضي في يَدَيْ بشرٍ

فالآن خذْ منّي هوىً كُلّي

And listen to a poem whose rhymes I speak

Which he dictates to me about you what he dictates

وَاِسمَعْ مديحاً بتّ أنظمه

يمليه منك عليَّ ما يُملي

I made it precious for an age, and since

My peace depended on you, I made cheap what I made precious

أغليتُه دهراً ومذ عَلِقتْ

بك راحتي أرخصت ما أغلي