ما طولُ عَذلِكِ لِلمَحِبُّ بِنافِعِ
ذَهَبَ الفُؤادُ فَلَيسَ فيهِ بِراجِعِ
How long will you blame your lover, when blaming does no good?
My heart is lost, and will not now return to what it should.
فُنِّدتِ حينَ طَمِعتِ في سُلوانِهِ
هَيهاتَ لا ظَفَرٌ هُناكَ لِطامِعِ
You rose high when you thought to reach its dwelling-place;
But no! No triumph there for one who seeks with haste.
فَدَعيهِ حَيثُ يَطولُ ميدانُ الصِبا
كَيما يَجُرُّ بِهِ عِنانَ الخالِعِ
Leave him where the field of youth is wide and free,
So he may wander on, the rein held loose and negligently.
ماذا يُريبُكِ مِن فَتىً عَزَّ الهَوى
فَعَنا لِنَخوَتِهِ بِذِلَّةِ خاضِعِ
What fault in one passion's slave if he avoids your chains,
Or what but truth in one whose troth the sword of parting cleaves?
هَل غَيرَ أَن مَحضَ الوَفاءَ لِغادِرٍ
أَو غَيرَ أَن صَدَقَ الوِصالَ لِقاطِعِ
None knows the torment of his eyes in wakefulness
Who has not known the sweet of whispered love when darkness grieves.
لَم يَهوَ مَن لَم يُمسِ قُرَّةَ عَينِهِ
سَهَرُ الصَبابَةِ في خَلِيٍّ هاجِعِ
Woe for the days, whose pledge the years have rendered vain,
When I was duped by mirage gleam and fraud of desert rain.
واهاً لِأَيّامٍ خَلَت ما عَهدُها
في حينَ ضَيَّعَتِ العُهودَ بِضائِعِ
A time of pearls of dew in rose leaves folded up,
When, if the loved one chid for rashness, youth pled pardon for the fault.
زَمَنٌ كَما راقَ السَقيطُ مِنَ النَدى
يَستَنُّ في صَفَحاتِ وَردٍ يانِعِ
What care I for a world where the dream's luminary lies,
Where the dune writhes in vapor breath beneath deceiving skies?
أَيّامَ إِن عَتَبَ الحَبيبُ لِهَفوَةٍ
شَفَعَ الشَبابُ فَكانَ أَكرَمَ شافِعِ
Not to be quenched my yearning for the honeyed sting
Till I can probe the hive anew, the perforated comb to wring.
ما لي وَلِلدُنيا غُرِرتُ مِنَ المُنى
فيها بِبارِقَةِ السَرابِ الخادِعِ
Who will convey from me when gone the news if I am dead,
That I had no regard for self when friendly counsels called and said?
ما إِن أَزالُ أَرومُ شُهدَةَ عاسِلٍ
أُحمى مُجاجَتَها بِإِبرَةِ لاسِعِ
For baseness I have raised a rampart of disdain
To shed its shadow on the march and progress of the years.
مَن مُبلِغٌ عَنّي البِلادَ إِذا نَبَت
أَن لَستُ لِلنَفسِ الأَلوفِ بِباخِعِ
May Fate be crushed that turned and fled: I did not run
Behind him; never was I found his footsteps dogging, to begin.
أَمّا الهَوانُ فَصُنتُ عَنهُ صَفحَةً
أَغشى بِها حَدَّ الزَمانِ الشارِعِ
Not all the wish to drink one drop from off the lips
Can bring the name of rich to him whom true contentment trips.
فَليُرغِمِ الحَظَّ المَوَلِّيَ أَنَّهُ
وَلّى فَلَم أُتبِعهُ خُطوَةَ تابِعِ
God who protects the dispossessed shall be my stay,
For oft, when Terror bared its claw, He turned its cutting edge away.
إِنَّ الغِنى لَهُوَ القَناعَةُ لا الَّذي
يَشتَفُّ نُطفَةَ ماءِ وَجهِ القانِعِ
A king who knew that glory comes of high resolve
Stirred up his strength to act, and men his deeds with pleasure solve.
اللَهُ جارُ الجَهوَرِيِّ فَطالَما
مُنِيَت صَفاةُ الدَهرِ مِنهُ بِقارِعِ
A noble nature is a flower in bloom; the thorn
May never master it, but mocks itself, and lives forlorn.
مَلِكٌ دَرى أَنَّ المَساعِيَ سُمعَةٌ
فَسَعى فَطابَ حَديثُهُ لِلسامِعِ
He said, My rival shall not rob me of success,
And spread his infinite domain, munificence to profess.
شِيَمٌ هِيَ الزَهرُ الجَنِيُّ تَبَسَّمَت
عَنهُ الكَمائِمُ في الضَحاءِ الماتِعِ
Calm in the gifted one, as though a lion there
Crouched dandling cubs, beneath a sturdy mountain overhanging his lair.
أَغرى مُنافِسَهُ لِيُدرِكَ شَأوَهُ
فَشَآهُ بِالباعِ الطَويلِ الواسِعِ
Sweet the possession to the friend; if rival claim,
The poison shall its consumer shrivel, eating like a flame.
ثَبتُ السَكينَةِ في النَدِيِّ كَأَنَّما
تِلكَ الحُبا ليثَت بِهَضبِ مَتالِعِ
O Thou whose justice comprehends all other things below,
Scarce could we live enclosed, with walls so thin, so poor, so low.
عَذبُ الجَنى لِلأَولِياءِ فَإِن يَهِج
فَالسَمُّ يَأبى أَن يَسوغَ لِجارِعِ
To Thee forever yearning, prostrate or erect,
From Thee we hold an easy life, a refuge circumspect.
يا أَيُّها المَلِكُ الَّذي حاطَ الهُدى
لَولاكَ كانَ حِمىً قَليلَ المانِعِ
Then lavish from Thy store an ampler share of bliss
Upon their heavenly revenue of bows and prayers and praise in this.
أَنِسَ الأَنامُ إِلَيكَ فيهِ فَهُم بِهِ
مِن قائِمٍ أَو ساجِدٍ أَو راكِعِ
The best of months rose crescent, and Thou chosest best
Of lands its noblest, most propitious rising to attest.
مُتَبَوِّئونَ جَنابَ عَيشٍ مونِقٍ
مُتَفَيِّئونَ ظِلالَ أَمنٍ شائِعِ
فَلتَضرِبَن مَعَهُم بِأَوفَرِ شِركَةٍ
في أَجرِهِم مِن موتِرٍ أَو شافِعِ
خَيرُ الشُهورِ اِختَرتَ عِندَ طُلوعِهِ
خَيرَ البِقاعِ لَهُ بِأَسعَدِ طالِعِ
