هذا اللّوى لا حُطّ منه لواءُ

يرتاد عنه هوىً وهواءُ

This passion cannot be diminished,

It seeks love and desire.

فاحْلُل عقودَ الدمعِ في عقداتِه

إن جرّعَتْك غرامَك الجَرعاءُ

Unravel the tears' knots into its knots,

If its love has made you drink the bitter cup.

والعبْ بعِطفِك كالقضيب فإنما

أهدَتْ بوارِحَها لك البُرَحاءُ

Play with your cloak like a wand, for

Its limbs have gifted you open spaces.

لم يبقَ من آثارِ أنجُمِ غِيدِه

إلا الدموع فإنها أنواءُ

Of the traces of his shining stars, nothing remains

Except tears, for they are lights.

جعلوا الحُماةَ حِماهُم وترحّلوا

فبحيثُ ما حلّوا ظُبىً وظِباءُ

They made the protectors their protection and migrated,

So wherever they settled were gazelles and mountain goats.

وتكنّسوا قصَبَ الوشيجِ وتفعل ال

سّمراءُ ما لا تفعلُ السّمراءُ

They swept the reed beds and the black did

What the black does not do.

هذي المنازلُ كالمنازل فاسألوا

عن بدرها فلقد دجَتْ ظلماءُ

These dwellings are like dwellings, so ask

About their full moons, for they have darkened.

ذُمَّ الفِراقُ وما علقْتَ بذمّةٍ

من سلوةٍ فمتى يُذمّ لقاءُ

Blame separation, though you have not bound

Any agreement of solace, so when will gathering be blamed?

لله ذاك العيشُ إذ لا بيننا

بينٌ ولا عاداتُنا عُدَواءُ

That life is for God, for between us

There is no enmity and our habits are not hostile.

والجوّ صافٍ والمواردُ عذبةٌ

والروضُ نضْرٌ والنسيمُ رُخاءُ

The air is clear, the springs are sweet,

The meadows verdant, and the breeze gentle.

ولقد نزعتُ عن الغرامِ فشاقَني

أرَجٌ نماهُ مندلٌ وكِباءُ

I tried to remove passion but it clung to me,

A man pulled at it and so did an old woman.

هبّتْ صَبا نجدٍ وهبّ لي الصِّبا

فتلاقَتِ الأهواءُ والأهواءُ

The zephyr of Najd blew, and youth blew for me,

So passions met passions.

ماذا على العذّال أن خلعَ الهوى

عُذري وعُذري غادةٌ عذراءُ

What fault is it of the critic that he stripped

My excuse away and my excuse is an innocent damsel?

بل كيف يحسنُ بي الهوى ومحلّهُ

دون الحضيضِ ودونيَ الجوزاء

Rather, how can love suit me and its abode

Is below the lowly, and I below the Gemini?

يا حبّذا رِيُّ الكئيب من الظّما

لا حبّذا أروى ولا ظَمياءُ

Would that the rain of clouds sates me, not

Would that I sate and not the thirsty.

هو منكِبُ العزمِ الذي لو أنّهُ

ريحٌ لقالوا إنها النّكْباءُ

It is the shoulder of resolve which if

It were a wind, they'd say it was fate.

ولديّ فكرٌ إن تبلّج نورُه

شهد الذكاءُ بأن ذاك ذُكاءُ

And I have a thought which if its light shines forth

The intelligent would witness it is intelligence.

ألقى القريضُ له مقالدَ أمره

فاختارَ وهو المانعُ كالأبّاءُ

Fate cast its ropes and he chose,

And he prevents like an unwedded person.

كم بيتِ شعرٍ قد علا بنيانُه

بيتاً دعائمُ سَمكِه العلياءُ

How many a verse whose structure is raised

By pillars, its highest being the lofty.

يُحيي به الأمواتَ بعد فنائها

ولربّما ماتت به الأحياءُ

It brings the dead to life after their demise

And sometimes it kills the living by it.

ألفاظه كالشهبِ إلا أنها

في كل خطبٍ فيلقٌ شهباءُ

Its words like meteors except

In every discourse, a shower of meteors.

والى سَراةِ بني عديٍّ أنتمي

في حيثُ تُنمى العزةُ القعساءُ

And I belong to the elite of Bani Uday,

Where glory grows stout.

قومٌ همُ غُررُ الزمان وأهله

والعالمونَ جِبلّةٌ دهماءُ

A people who are the caves of the age and its people,

And a people naturally courageous.

يتورّدون الخطبَ وهو مهالكٌ

ويبادرون الحربَ وهي فناءُ

They fetch orations though it is perilous

And hasten to war though it is demise.

ويخاطبون بألسنِ البيضِ التي

من دونها يتلجلجُ الخُطباءُ

They address with tongues of blades which

Without them the orators would stammer.

من كل أروعَ ضاربٍ بحسامه

رأس الكميّ إذا التظَتْ هيجاءُ

With each well-aimed sword that

Severs the head of the tyrant when the clamor arises.

ناءٍ مناطُ نجادِه فكأنه

من تحت منعقِد اللواءِ لواءُ

A shoot whose origin is protected, as though

Under the standard's fold there is a standard.

متناسبِ الأجزاءِ أجمعُ صدرِه

قلبٌ وأجمعُ قلبِه سوداءُ

Proportionate in all limbs, his chest

A heart, and his heart altogether dark.

إن تظلِم الأفدارُ فهو مهنّدٌ

أو تُظلِم الأخطارُ فهو ضياءُ

If the horizons darken, he is a flame,

Or if dangers darken, he is a light.

يصبو الى نار الوغى فيُشبُّها

بأناملٍ منها يفيضُ الماءُ

He rushes to the fire of turmoil, likening it

To fingers from which water overflows.

ويهزّه هزَجُ الصهيل كأنما

حكمتْ عليه القهوةُ الصّهباءُ

The neighing din shakes him as though

The grey mare judged against him.

أبناء لخمَ الأكرمينَ عصابةً

لا ينثنون وفي الثّباتِ ثناءُ

The sons of honored Lakhm, a group

Who do not waver and in firmness lies praise.

نشروا أمام خميسِهم أحسابَهم

في الحرب وهي الرايةُ البيضاءُ

They spread their accounts before their Khamis

In war, which is the white banner.

أخذوا عن النعمان شرعَ مكارمٍ

دامَتْ لضيفِهم بها النِّعْماءُ

They took from Al-Nu'man a canon of virtues

By which bounty lasted for their guest.

ضربوا بمُستنِّ الركابِ قبابَهم

فتساوتِ الغُرباءُ والقُرباءُ

They struck their abodes with travelers' whips, so

The stranger and the near were equal.

وتحكّم الضيفانُ في أموالهم

حتى كأنهمُ لهم شُركاءُ

And the two guests controlled their wealth

As though they were their partners.

يخشاهم ريبُ الزمان فجارُهم

لم يدْرِ في السّراءِ ما الضرّاءُ

The shame of time fears them so its sinner

Did not know in ease what distress was.

نسبٌ لو انّ الزهرَ في إشراقِه

لتشابَه الإصباحُ والإمساءُ

A lineage, if bloom were in its shining

Dawn and dusk would resemble one another.

أبهى من القمر المنير وإنما

أقوالُ عبد الله فيه عُواءُ

More magnificent than the shining moon, but

The words of Abdullah about it are howling.

أملفّقَ الأحسابِ جِئ بقبيلة

تُنمى لها ولو انّها العنقاءُ

I have gathered the accounts, so come with a tribe

To which the eloquent assign nobility even if it is a female ostrich.

زوّرْ كعادتك القديمة نسبةً

واتركْ عديّاً وامضِ كيف تشاءُ

Forge as is your old habit a lineage

And leave Udayy and go as you wish.

وأظنّ أمكَ يا مذَبذبُ خلّطَتْ

فالناسُ فيك جمعُهم خُلَطاءُ

And I reckon your mother, o wavering one, mixed

So people altogether are your mixed-race.

لا تنكرنّ ففي قريضك عُجمةٌ

ألفاظُه أبداً بها شُهداء

Do not deny, for in your poem there is solecism,

Its words will forever testify against you.

نظِّفْه من خطأٍ ولحنٍ فاحشٍ

واذهبْ تصوّبْهُ لك العلماءُ

Cleanse it of terrible mistakes and solecisms

And go, let the scholars correct it for you.

وانقُلهُ مضبوطَ الحروفِ فطالما

صحّفْتَ ما نظمَتْ لك الشعراءُ

And transmit it fully voweled for too often

You misspelled what the poets composed for you.

واردُدْ سهامك في صميمك إنما

تتناضلُ الأمثالُ والأكفاءُ

And direct your arrows into your core, for

Only equals and peers compete.

أعُبَيْدُ ما خابَ امرؤٌ عونٌ له

عونٌ إذا ما هزّتِ اللأواءُ

Ubayd, no man has lost who has a supporter

When banners tremble.

ولقد نزعتْ لأمةٍ نبطيّة

تُبديك آنفةً لها الفُصَحاءُ

And zeal has roused for a Nabataean tribe

To show you enmity, o eloquent one.

أعُبيدُ ما لجريرَ فيك جريرةٌ

لو بصّرتْك طريقَها الآراءُ

Ubayd, Jarir has no grudge against you

If views showed you his path.

غرّتك بارقةُ اللقاءِ فخفتَها

خوراً ولم تهطِلْ عليك سماءُ

The lightning of meeting deceived you, so you feared it

As a mountain gap though no clouds poured upon you.

وسألتَ في إنجاءِ نفسك عندما

ظنّيتَ جُبناً أنهم مُدحاءُ

And you asked in delivering yourself when

You supposed cowardice that they were panegyrists.

فركبتَ قادمةَ الفرارِ وضاقتِ ال

غبراءُ في عينيك والخضراءُ

So you mounted the departing camel and the horizons narrowed

In your eyes, both dusty and green.

وتركتَ كمالك يا لئيمُ ولم يكنْ

للمال إلا المعشرُ الكرماءُ

And you left your perfection, o despicable one, though

The cattle were only for the generous community.

قد كان من نهبٍ فعاد لأصلِه

في فضلِه وكذلك الأشياءُ

It was from plunder so returns to its origin

In his bounty, and so are things.

ها إنّ ظِلفَك ساقَ حتفَك عنوةً

مُتْ حسرةً قد حاقَ فيك الداءُ

Behold, your misdeeds have led your ruin by force.

Die in sorrow, for illness has befallen you.

لا تُصلحُ النعماءُ سيرةَ مُفسدٍ

إصلاحُ سيرةِ سيرِه البأساءُ

Virtuous deeds do not improve the conduct of a corrupt one;

Improving the conduct of his walk are calamities.

والله أعلمُ بالعبادِ وحكمُه

عدلٌ ورُبّ شقاً وفيه شِفاءُ

And God knows best about worshippers, and His judgment

Is just, and perhaps in agony lies healing.

ومعرّضينَ لخاطري عِرضَيهِما

والنارُ لا تقوى بها الحَلْفاءُ

And they turned their backs on my feelings,

And the fire cannot be kindled by allies.

أغضيْتُ عيني عنهما حتى لقد

خلنا بجهل أنها عمياءُ

I ignored them until we were ignorant in folly

That they were blind.

والأصدقاء إذا همُ لم يُنصَفوا

فاعلَمْ بأنهم هم الأعداء

And if friends are not equitable,

Know them to be enemies.

إن لم يقُمْ بالعدل ميلُ ودادِهم

فلديّ في أثر العتابِ هِجاءُ

If the inclination of their love does not stand with justice,

Then I have blame in the wake of reproach.

وعداوة الشعراء ما سمعوا به

فليفعلوا من بعد ذا ما شاءوا

And the enmity of poets, what they have heard of it,

So let them do after this what they wish.