ترحَّل من هوِيت وكل شمسِ

ستكْسِفُ أو ستغرب حين تُمسي

I bid farewell to my identity as each sun

Will rise or set as dusk approaches

وما ألهاك عن ذكرى حبيبٍ

كعدِّك أمسَ يومٍ بعد أمس

And nothing distracts you from the memory of a lover

Like your absence yesterday after the day before

رأيتُ الدهر يجرح ثم يأسو

يؤسِّي أو يعوِّضُ أو يُنَسِّي

I saw time wound then despair

Despair or compensate or make me forget

أبت نفسي الهُلاع لرزء شيءٍ

كفى شجواً لنفسي رزءُ نفسي

My soul refused to yearn for the loss of anything

Enough anguish for my soul is the agony of my soul

أتهلعُ وحشةً لفراقِ إلفٍ

وقد وطنتُها لحلول رَمْس

I yearn in longing for the loss of intimacy

And I had accustomed it to the arrival of sunset

سأتخذ الزَّماعَ خليل صدقٍ

يرادفني على وجناءَ عَنس

I will take happiness as a sincere friend

Who accompanies me in the barren wilderness

إلى ملك يَهشُّ إلى المعالي

ولا يبتاع مكرمةً ببخس

To a king who aspires to greatness

And does not buy honor at a loss

أبي أيوبَ قرم بني زُريقٍ

وكل قبيلة تسمو برأس

My father Ayyub, the perfection of Bani Zuraiq

And every tribe prides itself on its leader

بَدا فبدت مَخايلُ من كريمٍ

طويل الباع أروعَ غير نكس

So it appeared the thoughts of a generous one

Tall in stature, more graceful, never dejected

كأن عَجاج موكبه تجلَّى

هناك بوجهه عن قَرنِ شمس

As if the procession of his cavalry materialized

There through his face from the horn of the sun

يحفُّ بشخصه من أقربِيه

غيوثُ مَفاقرٍ وليوثُ بأس

Protected by his closest relatives

Rescuers of adversities and lions of might

مَرَوا دِرَرَ الحروب دماً وقاسوا

من الهيجاء ضِرساً بعد ضرس

They tasted the pearls of wars as blood and endured

From clamor, molars after molars

فما نيلتْ أنوفهُمُ بذمٍّ

ولا رِيمت رؤوسهُمُ بعَكس

So their noses were not tainted with blame

Nor were their heads tossed with rejection

تراهم في النديِّ إذا نَدَوه

كأن حلومهم هضباتُ حَرْس

You see them in glory when it calls them

As if their flesh were the hills of Al-Hars

وإن لاقيتَهم في يوم روعٍ

لقيت الجن في أشباح إنس

And if you meet them on a day of calamity

You meet jinn in human ghosts

همُ الجبل الذي لو زال يوماً

لأضحى الملكُ لا يُرسيه مُرْسي

They are the mountain which if fallen one day

The kingdom would become without anyone to establish it

ألم يَرني الأمير حبستُ شعري

عليه ولم أُذِله بمدح جِبس

Did the prince not see me? I contained my poetry

To him and did not disgrace him with rigid praise

ولم أكُ شارباً إلا بعذب

وإن أعطِشت خمساً بعد خمس

And I was not a drinker except of the sweetest

And if I thirsted five after five

فداه معاشرٌ نكَّبتُ عنهمْ

وما أفديه بالعرَض الأخس

He is ransomed by a group I turned away from

And I do not ransom him with the vilest honor

إذا امتُدِحوا وإن لم يُستثابوا

حسبتَ وجوهَهم طُليت بوَرْس

When they are praised even if not rewarded

You would think their faces were painted with yellow orpiment

وما جَربتُهم إلا بغيري

وما استخشنتُ جانبهم بلمسي

And I have not tested them except by others

And I did not rub against their side with my touch

إليه بعثتها ترمي بشخصي

ولم أكُ قبل ذاك لها بحِلس

To him I sent it to cast my person

And I was not for it before a councilor

على ثقةٍ بأن لها لديه

مُناخاً بالسعادة غير شأس

With confidence that with him it has

A climate of happiness not dire

وأن سَيريش ما أبريه منها

بشحم مثل هُدَّاب الدِمَقس

And that it will inform him of what I absolve him of

With fat like the hump of a young camel

وكان إذا عَراه الحق أعطى

بخمس من أنامله وخمس

And if the truth stripped him he would give

With five of his fingers and five

عطايا بين بشر واعتذارٍ

وليست بين إذلالٍ وعبس

Gifts between people and apology

And not between humiliation and frowning

أهابت بالرجاء لُهَى يديه

إليَّ إليَّ لات أوانَ يأس

They approached hoping the charms of his hands

To me, to me the times of despair called out

لعَمْرُ محامد حُمِلت إليه

لمَا بيعت بضائعُها بوكْس

By the life of praises carried to him

When its goods were sold with distress

جعلتُ على ملوك الأرض طُراً

مجازَ مطيتي وعليه حَبْسي

I made the kings of earth seem low

The range of my steed and on it my imprisonment