أحبابَنا عودوا علينا عَوْدَةً
واجروا على نَسَقٍ مع الخُلصَانِ
Beloved of ours, return to us once more,
and follow the same course as faithful friends.
فلربما نَزعَ الخليطُ إلى الحِمَى
وتداعَتْ الورْقاءُ للأفْنانِ
Perhaps the departing companions may yearn for the homeland,
and the wood pigeon call the branches to one another.
فعلامَ وعدُكمُ استحالَ تمادياً
والشوقُ لا وانٍ ولا متواني
Why, then, has your promise turned into endless delay,
while longing neither wearies nor grows slow?
إيهِ بعيشِكم فما حالَ الوَفا
من بعد ليّكمُ على الحدثانِ
Come—by your lives, what has become of fidelity,
after all your evasion through time’s vicissitudes?
أمّا أنا فيدي نفضتُ عن المُنى
إِنْ كنَّ لا تفْضي إِلى استحسانِ
As for me, my hand has shaken itself free of hopes,
if they lead to no pleasing end.
لكنني ألوي الصديقَ إِلى الحجى
ليَّ العِنانِ بمقْوَلي وبَناني
Yet I would turn my friend toward sound reason,
turning the reins with my words and my fingers.
بعض التماسُكِ أيّها الخلُّ الذي
مَدّ الجناحَ وهَمَّ بالطيرانِ
Hold fast a little, O friend who
spread his wing and was about to fly.
قاطعْتَ من بعدِ التواصلِ بُرْهةً
وصدفتَ عن شتّى من العِرفانِ
After our communion, you broke away awhile,
and turned from every form of kindness.
ورعيتها هَمَلاً وما بالعهد مِن
قِدَمٍ وجُدتَ ولستَ بالخَوّان
You left the bond to wander untended, though the covenant
was long-standing; you were generous, and are no traitor.
خفّضْ عليك وعد إلى شِيَمِ الوفا
فالودُّ محمودٌ بكلِّ لِسانِ
Take it gently, and return to the ways of fidelity:
affection is praised by every tongue.
ما هكذا شِيمُ الكرامِ وإِنّها
أمَمٌ وحَسْبُكَ شاهد الإِدغانِ
Such are not the ways of noble men; those ways
lie near at hand—and concealed rancor is witness enough.
فاقصر بعيشكَ واعتقلها حِكْمَةً
فالمرْءُ بالخُلَصَاءِ والخلاّنِ
So desist, by your life, and grasp this as wisdom:
a man is sustained by faithful friends and companions.
لا تَجْحَدَنَّ على الصديقِ حقوقَهُ
هُوَ أوّل وهيَ المَحلّ الثَاني
Never deny a friend his rights:
he is the first, and she holds the second place.
