ظُلامَةَ مَن أَعَدَّكَ لِلَّيالي
وَمَن أَثنى بِفَضلِكَ غَيرَ آلِ
Darkness, who readied you for the nights?
And who but the virtuous extolled your favor?
أَيا ثِقَةَ الثِقاتِ أَصِخ فُواقاً
لِتَسمَعَ ما يَشُقُّ عَلى المَعالي
O most trusted of trusts, prick up your ears,
To hear what vexes the exalted.
أَما أَنا مُثبِتُ الحُجَجِ القَواضي
لَكُم بِالمَجدِ في الحِجَجِ الخَوالي
As for me, I assert compelling proofs
Of your glory in eloquent arguments.
وَمُفرِدُكُم لِلا سَبَبٍ بِشُكرٍ
تَعالَمَهُ المُعادي وَالمُوالي
You alone, for God's sake with gratitude,
Are known to friend and foe alike.
ثَناءٌ لَم أَشُبهُ بِاِختِلاقِ
وَوَصفٌ لَم أَشِنهُ بِاِنتِحالِ
My praise is not fabricated,
Nor my depiction forged from fantasies.
إِلَيكُم دونَ ذا الخَلقِ اِعتِزائي
وَعَنكُم كانَ صَدّي وَاِعتِزالي
To you beyond all people my pride clings,
From you my resolve and seclusion sprang.
وَقَد سَمِعَ الوَرى في كُلِّ أَرضٍ
وَلَيسَ المَينُ مِن شِيَمي مَقالي
The world has heard in every land
That vileness is no trait of mine.
إِذا ذُكِرَ البُيوتُ عَدا قُصَيّاً
فَآلُ أَبي عَقيلٍ خَيرُ آلِ
When houses but Qusay's are named,
The family of Abi Uqayl is best.
وَأَنتَ أَعَزُّهُم جاراً وَنَفساً
وَأَغلَبُهُم عَلى شَرَفِ الخِلالِ
You are their noblest kin and soul,
And strongest in honorable traits.
عَلَوتَهُمُ بَناناً في العَطايا
وَفُتَّهُمُ ثَباتاً في النِضالِ
Your heights excel their gifts,
Your steadfastness surpasses theirs in strife.
أَلَستَ اِبنَ المُنَبّي عَن سَجايا
بِهِنَّ تَفاوَتَت قِيَمُ الرِجالِ
Are you not the son of Munabbih, whose merits
Mark the worth of all men thereafter?
يَظَلُّ جَنابُهُ مَأوى الأَماني
وَيُمسي بابُهُ مَلقى الرِحالِ
His abode remains hope's refuge,
His door where all journeys end.
يُحَكِّمُ في الذَخائِرِ سائِليهِ
وَيَمنَعُهُم مِنَ الأَسَلِ الطِوالِ
To petitioners he rules with bounty.
Saving them from hands grasping and long.
وَذاكَ الوَفرُ بالٍ وَهوَ باقٍ
بِهَذا الشُكرِ باقٍ وَهوَ بالِ
Such plenty persists despite calamity,
Lasting through gratitude despite the plight.
وَإِنَّكَ في اِكتِسابِ الحَمدِ حَقّاً
لِتَأتي سابِقاً وَأَبوكَ تالي
You truly gained praise through merit,
A precursor, while your father trails behind.
تَحَيَّفَني الزَمانُ بِكُلِّ فَنٍّ
فَما أَنفَكُّ مِن داءٍ عُضالِ
Time has diseased me with every art,
And ceaseless ills allow no rest.
وَأَعوَزَتِ الأَمانَةُ فيهِ حَتّى
تَخَوَّفَتِ اليَمينُ مِنَ الشِمالِ
Loyalty in it grew so sparse
That right and left hand guard against each other.
وَأَذهَبَ كُلَّ ما أَحوي ضَياعاً
فَها أَنا ذا بِنارِ الفَقرِ صالِ
All I possessed is lost,
And here am I, inflamed by poverty.
وَقَد أَودَعتُ ما أَبقى صَديقاً
فَعَرَّضتُ البَقِيَّةَ لِلوَبالِ
What little remained I gave a friend for safekeeping,
Exposing the remnants to ruin.
وَقَصَّرَ عَن أَمانَتِهِ كَأَنّي
طَلَبتُ الوَخدَ مِن جَمَلٍ ثَقالِ
As if entrusting beauty to a lumbering camel,
Seeking smoothness from roughness personified.
فَلا تَركُن إِلى زَمَنٍ خَؤونٍ
لِآمِلِهِ سَريعِ الإِنتِقالِ
So do not cling to ominous times,
Swift to change the hopeful's state.
فَما يَكُ فيهِ مِن خَيرٍ وَشَرٍّ
قَليلُ اللَبثِ مُنتَظَرُ الزَوالِ
In them, of good and evil, a little lingers,
Quick to pass, soon to decline.
لَقَد ضَلَّ اِمرُؤٌ رامَ اِهتِضامي
وَلَستُ مُشايِعاً أَهلَ الضَلالِ
A man has strayed, aspiring to subdue me,
Yet I accompany no people astray.
وَأَقدَمَ مَن بَغى إِغضابَ مِثلي
عَلى أَمرٍ ثَناهُ عَلى مِثالِ
He who sought to provoke one such as I
Proceeded on a course his like proscribed.
وَتِلكَ حُكومَةٌ عَزَّت مَراماً
فَما خَطَرَت لِذي ظُلمٍ بِبالِ
That is a rule whose might revered ambition,
Never occurring to the unjust of mind.
سَقى ذو العَرشِ رُهبانَ النَصارى
وَجادَهُمُ بِمُنهَلِّ العَزالي
The Lord of the Throne sustained Christian monks,
Blessed them from asceticism's spring.
فَما مَنَعوا الوَدائِعَ مودِعيها
لِضَربٍ مِن ضُروبِ الإِعتِلالِ
They refused no deposits by their keepers,
For any kind of questionable gain.
وَلا شَدّوا أَكُفَّهُمُ عَلَيها
لِتُؤخَذَ بِالخُصومَةِ وَالجِدالِ
Nor did they clench fists over them,
To seize through lawsuit and contention.
كَتَبتُ إِلَيهِ أَعطِفُهُ بِذُلٍّ
فَأَضرَبَ عَن مَقالٍ أَو فِعالِ
I wrote him gently dissuading,
But he ignored any words or deeds,
وَما قَرَأَ الكِتابَ وَلا كِتاباً
بِهِ عُرِفَ الحَرامُ مِنَ الحَلالِ
Read no Scripture, nor any book,
By which the lawful is known from forbidden.
وَما أُسميهِ إِبقاءً لِوُدٍّ
سَلا عَنهُ وَما أَنا عَنهُ سالِ
I named him not, to keep affection,
But asked him not, nor he me.
وَإِن كانَ الوِدادُ اليَومَ بَينَ ال
رِجالِ كَوُدِّ رَبّاتِ الحِجالِ
If intimacy among men today is like love
Between lizard and wall, what of it?
وَلَمّا سيلَ فِيَّ وَفاضَ جوداً
أَحالَ عَلى التَعَلُّلِ وَالمِطالِ
When his flood surged, pouring generosity,
He turned to excuses and delays.
فَشَدَّ بِذا قُوىً ضَعُفَت حَياءً
وَسَدَّ طَريقَ صَبري وَاِحتِمالي
So he gained by weakness what timidity lost,
Closing off my path of patience and endurance.
وَأَنتَ إِذا عَدا باغٍ سِلاحي ال
حَصينُ وَإِن عَرا خَطبٌ ثِمالي
While you, if any foe attacks my arms,
Are an unassailable fortress, though fate assails me.
وَأَمرُكَ نافِذٌ فينا فَأَطلِق
بِمَحضِ العَدلِ حَقّي مِن عِقالِ
Your command permeates us, so deliver
My due, for justice' sake untainted.
فَإِنَّكَ لا تَمَلُّ العَدلَ بَينَ ال
خُصومِ وَلا تَميلُ وَلا تُمالي
You do not tire of even justice among disputants,
Nor lean to one side, nor favor.
لَقَد آلَت بِيَ الدُنيا فَقُبحاً
لِما صَنَعَت إِلى هَذا المَآلِ
Oh how time has vilified me, for what it did,
To this wretched state and bitter end!
وَغالَ الدَهرُ مَنزِلَتي وَوَفري
فَأَرخَصَ مِن مَديحي كُلَّ غالِ
And the days made light of my status and plenty,
Deeming my praises cheaper than all that's cheap.
مَضى الكُرَماءُ صانوا ماءَ وَجهي
بِما بَذَلوهُ عَن ذُلِّ السُؤالِ
The generous are gone, guarding my face,
With what they spent safe from vile begging.
وَها أَنا بَعدَهُم في الناسِ أَبغي
كَريماً يَشتَري شُكري بِمالي
Now after them among the people I seek
A generous one to buy my gratitude with wealth.
أَرى الأَكدارَ يَشرَقُ شارِبوها
فَواشَرَقي مِنَ الماءِ الزُلالِ
I see the base shining bright, their drinkers beaming.
While my gleam from pure water is denied.
لَعَلَّكَ يا اِبنَ عَبدِ اللَهِ تَرعى
قَديمَ الوُدِّ أَو تَرثي لِحالي
Perhaps, son of Abdullah, you will heed
Long affection, or lament my state,
وَلا تَحبِس جَميلَكَ عَن مُوالٍ
لَكُم وَلِنَشرِ فَضلِكُمُ مُوالي
And not withhold your bounty from a loyal one,
To you, and spreading your superior merit.
وَفي الأَمرَينِ مِن مَنعٍ وَبَذلٍ
فَإِنّي شاكِرٌ في كُلِّ حالِ
In both withholding and giving
I am thankful, in any case.
وَماذا القَولُ تَمهيداً لِظُلمي
وَمِثلُكَ لا يَميلُ إِلى المِحالِ
Why speak more of my injustice?
One like you inclines not to the absurd.
وَلَيسَ بِغامِضٍ وَأَبيكَ أَمري
فَأَنسُبَهُ إِلى جَورِ اللَيالي
My affair is clear, not opaque, though your father's is,
So I attribute it to the injustice of time.
وَلَولا فاقَةٌ فاقَت فَعاقَت
لَصُنتُ عُلاكَ عَن هَذا المَقالِ
If it weren't for want, that grew and raged,
I'd have shielded your loftiness from this talk.
سَأَترُكُ ذي البِلادِ بِلا اِختِيارٍ
وَأَهجُرُ أَهلَها لا عَن تَقالِ
I will reluctantly leave this land,
Not by choice, and abandon its people.
بِحالٍ لَو تَأَمَّلَها عَدُوّي
لَساهَمَني الرَزِيَّةَ أَو رَثى لي
In a state, if my enemy but saw it,
He would grieve for me, or mourn me.
فَزَوِّدني بِما تَأتي حَديثاً
سَيُروى في العِراقِ وَفي الشَمالِ
So provide me with sufficient provisions
To be talked of in Iraq and Syria alike.
فَإِنّي فُقتُ غَيلاناً مَقالاً
يَسيرُ وَأَنتَ أَكرَمُ مِن بِلالِ
For I have been impoverished of camels and speech,
While you are more generous than Bilal.
أَدامَ لَكَ العُلى وَالنَصرَ مَولىً
إِلَيهِ في حِراسَتِكَ اِبتِهالي
May God, to whom in your protection is my plea,
Grant you enduring supremacy and triumph!
