نَعَم تِلكَ بَينَ الوادِيَينِ الخَمايِلُ
وَذَلِكَ شاءٌ دونَهُنَّ وَجامِلُ
Yes, those are the beauties between the two valleys,
And that is a charming flock beneath them.
فَما كُنتُ إِذ بانوا بِنَفسِكَ فاعِلاً
فَدونَكَ مُت إِنَّ الخَليطَ لَزائِلُ
I was not their equal when they appeared with your soul,
So below you I died, though this mixture will disappear.
كَأَنَّ اِبنَةَ القَيسِيِّ في أَخَواتِها
خَذولٌ تُراعيها الظِباءُ الخَواذِلُ
It is as if the daughter of Qays among her sisters
Is a gazelle watched over by hunting cheetahs.
قُشَيرِيَّةٌ قَترِيَّةٌ بَدَوِيَّةٌ
لَها بَينَ أَثناءِ الضُلوعِ مَنازِلُ
AFLuttering, shivering, Bedouin girl,
With resting places between her ribs.
وَهَبتُ سُلُوّي ثُمَّ جِئتُ أَرومُهُ
وَمِن دونِ مارُمتُ القَنا وَالقَنابِلُ
I gave up my revelry, then came to arouse it,
And without contention I thrust lances and spears.
هَوانا غَريبٌ شُزَّبُ الخَيلِ وَالقَنا
لَنا كُتُبٌ وَالباتِراتُ رَسائِلُ
How often an alien with piebald horses and spears,
We have books, and the parting ones are messages.
أَغَرنَ عَلى قَلبي بِخَيلٍ مِنَ الهَوى
فَطارَدَ عَنهُنَّ الغَزالُ المُغازِلُ
Passions roused my heart with an army of love,
So the flirting gazelle fled from them.
بِأَسهُمِ لَفظٍ لَم تُرَكَّب نِصالُها
وَأَسيافِ لَحظٍ ماجَلَتها الصَياقِلُ
With arrows of words whose blades were not yet forged,
And with glances like swords burnished by whetstones.
وَقائِعُ قَتلى الحُبِّ فيها كَثيرَةٌ
وَلَم يَشتَهِر سَيفٌ وَلا هُزَّ ذابِلُ
On them many slain lovers, though no famous sword was drawn,
Nor any firm-knotted rope was loosened.
أَرامِيَتي كُلَّ السِهامِ مُصيبَةٌ
وَأَنتِ لِيَ الرامي وَكُلّي مَقاتِلُ
My Aramean, all the arrows hit their mark,
While you are my archer and I your warrior.
وَإِنّي لَمِقدامٌ وَعِندَكِ هائِبٌ
وَفي الحَيِّ سَحبانٌ وَعِندَكِ باقِلُ
And I am valiant, though timid in your presence,
Gallant among the living, yet tranquil with you.
يَضِلُّ عَليَّ القَولُ إِن زُرتُ دارَها
وَيَعزُبُ عَنّي وَجهُ ما أَنا فاعِلُ
Speech goes astray when I visit her abode,
And evades me, though I know what I would say.
وَحُجَّتُها العُليا عَلى كُلِّ حالَةٍ
فَباطِلُها حَقٌّ وَحَقِّيَ باطِلُ
Her unquestionable proof, in every case,
Makes her wrong right and my right wrong.
تُطالِبُني بيضُ الصَوارِمِ وَالقَنا
بِما وَعَدَت جَدَّيَّ فِيَّ المَخايِلُ
She charges me with the whites of the sword blades and spears
For what the fate lines in me promised.
وَلا ذَنبَ لي إِنَّ الفُؤادَ لَصارِمٌ
وَإِنَّ الحُسامَ المَشرَفِيِّ لَفاصِلُ
I am not to blame if my heart is keen,
The sword is sharp and the slim steed fleet.
وَإِنَّ الحِصانَ الوالِقِيَّ لَضامِرٌ
وَإِنَّ الأَصَمَّ السَمهَرِيَّ لَعاسِلُ
Yet time has warded off its disasters from me
As the debtor fends off the importunate creditor.
وَلَكِنَّ دَهراً دافَعَتني خُطوبُهُ
كَما دَفَعَ الدَينَ الغَريمُ المُماطِلُ
When I remember days gone by and call them back,
I milk tears while they are departing throngs.
وَأَخلافُ أَيّامٍ إِذا ما اِنتَجَعتُها
حَلَبتُ بَكِيّاتٍ وَهُنَّ حَوافِلُ
Had the world been gained by merit I would have granted it
Virtues that would encompass it and virtues that would remain.
وَلَو نيلَتِ الدُنيا بِفَضلٍ مَنَحتُها
فَضائِلَ تَحويها وَتَبقى فَضائِلُ
But time runs its course, however it has run,
Casting down its noble deeds and raising up the low.
وَلَكِنَّها الأَيّامُ تَجري بِما جَرَت
فَيَسفُلُ أَعلاها وَيَعلو الأَسافِلُ
It rarely meets with open-handed cordiality,
And I fear the day is near when even the cordial shall be few.
لَقَد قَلَّ أَن تَلقى مِنَ الناسِ مُجمَلاً
وَأَخشى قَريباً أَن يَقِلَّ المُجامِلُ
I am not brusque-faced with a friend,
Nor one who says to a guest, “Are you leaving?”
وَلَستُ بِجَهمِ الوَجهِ في وَجهِ صاحِبي
وَلا قائِلٍ لِلضَيفِ هَل أَنتَ راحِلُ
Rather, drink your fill in meadows of your choice,
Though you ask for life spans that none can request.
وَلَكِن قِراهُ ما تَشَهّى وَرِفدُهُ
وَلَو سَأَلَ الأَعمارَ ماهُوَ سائِلُ
He who pardons every sinner
Shall attain from us what no means can attain.
يَنالُ اِختِيارَ الصَفحِ عَن كُلِّ مُذنِبٍ
لَهُ عِندَنا مالا تُنالُ الوَسائِلُ
We have the final word on the matter, in our breasts
Towering over the over-reaching necks of the foe.
لَنا عَقِبُ الأَمرِ الَّذي في صُدورِهِ
تَطاوَلُ أَعناقُ العِدى وَالكَواهِلُ
Our small ones are great in kindness,
Our last ones the first in excellence.
أَصاغِرُنا في المَكرُماتِ أَكابِرٌ
أَواخِرُنا في المَأثُراتِ أَوائِلُ
If I spend a day in which I find no companion,
Or speak a word and find none to converse with me.
إِذا صُلتُ يَوماً لَم أَجِد لي مُصاوِلاً
وَإِن قُلتُ قَولاً لَم أَجِد مَن يُقاوِلُ
