أحباءَنا ما كان لي عنكُمُ صبرُ

وهل لِصبورٍ عن أحبَّتِه عذرُ

Our loved ones, I had no patience being away from you

And what excuse can the patient have from his loved ones?

فيا ليتَ شِعري عنكُمُ كيف كنتُمُ

وكيف التي من وجهها يطلعُ البدر

I wish I knew how you all were

And how was she whose face the full moon rises from

ومَن نشرها مِسْكٌ وألحاظها سحرُ

ومَبسِمُها درٌّ وريقتها خمر

And whose perfume is musk and whose glances are magic

And whose smile is pearls and whose complexion is wine

وقد زَعَمتْ ألّا تزالَ كعهِدنا

وإن طال بي غَيْب وطال بها العُمْر

She claimed she would stay as we knew her

Though my absence grew long and her life grew longer

وإني لأخشى والزمانُ مُغيِّرٌ

على النأْي يوماً أن يميل بها الغدر

And yet I fear, as time is ever changing

That one day betrayal may make her heart turn

وكيف بمُشتاقٍ تضمَن جسمَه

على شوقِه مِصرٌ ومُهجَتَه مِصْر

How can a longing soul contain in his body

His insistence to stay and his will to leave

أقام لحرب الزَنج في دار غربة

حوادثُها في أهلها القتل والأسر

He stood to fight the black hordes in a foreign land

Whose affairs were killing and capture

ومن دونه هولٌ ومن تحته ردىً

ومن فوقه سيفٌ ومن تحته بحر

Beneath him horror and around him ruin

Above him a sword and beneath him the sea

إذا شام برقاً لاح من نحو أرضه

تَضايقَ عما ضَمَّ من وَجدِه الصبر

When he saw a flash of lightning in the direction of his land

He was troubled by the grief he had contained with patience

وبَلَّتْ دماً مِنْ بعد دمع رداءه

لدى خلوات منه أجفانُه الغُزر

And shed blood after the tears had soaked his mantle

When he was alone his heavy eyelids wept

وإن رام من حَدِّ البطيحة مَطلعاً

ثَنَتْ شأوَهُ عنه المواصير والجِسر

And if he tried to rise above the battlefield

The chains and the bridge held back his endeavor

كفى حزناً أن المُقِلَّ مُشَرَّدٌ

وذو الخفض في أحبابه مَن له وَفر

It is sorrow enough that the sheltered is exiled

And the noble among loved ones is the one abandoned

إذا كان مالي لا يقوم بهمَّتي

سماحاً وإن أوفَى على عُسرتي اليُسر

If my wealth cannot support my ambition

With generosity even if ease later follows hardship

ففيمَ اجتهادي في محاولة الغنى

وما للغنى عند الجواد به قَدْر

Why then my striving to seek riches?

For the generous, wealth itself is of no worth

يفوز بجمع المال من كان باخلاً

وما ليَ إلا الحمدُ من ذاك والشكر

He who is miserly wins by gathering money

While for me there is only thanks and gratitude

وما أنا إلا محرزُ المجد والعلا

وذلك كَنزي لا اللُجَيْنُ ولا التبر

I am but a guardian of glory and sublimity

That is my treasure, not pearls or ruins

فإن يقض لي اللَهُ الرجوعَ فإنه

علَيَّ له أن لا أفارقَكُمْ نذر

If God destines my return, then it is binding upon me

That I never separate from you all again

ولا أبتغي عنكم شُخوصاً وفُرقةً

يَدَ الدهر إلا أن يُفرِّقَنا الدهر

I seek no distance nor division from you

Only time itself could divide us

فما العيش إلا قربُ من أنت آلِفٌ

وما الموتُ إلا نأيُهُ عنكَ والهجر

Life is nothing but closeness to those you know well

And death but the separation and loss