خَلُقَ الشَبابُ وَشِرَّتي لَم تُخلَقِ

وَرَمَيتُ في غَرَضِ الزَمانِ بِأَفوَقِ

Youth was created, but not my naughtiness,

Youth has frayed and faded, yet my spirit remains unfrayed,

And I shot arrows at the target of time.

Though I have shot at Time's target with an arrow broken and decayed.

تَقَعُ السِهامُ وَرائَهُ وَكَأَنَّهُ

أَثَرَ الخَوالِفِ طالِبٌ لَم يَلحَقِ

The arrows fall behind it as though

My shafts fall short of the mark, as though they were

It were the track of ants that couldn't be reached.

Seeking those left behind, unable to catch the fleeing blur.

وَأَرى قُوايَ تَكاءَدَتها رَيثَةٌ

فَإِذا بَطَشتُ بَطَشتُ رِخوَ المِرفَقِ

And I see my strength diminished by laziness,

I see my strength besieged by a dragging slowness,

Then when I exert it, it is flabby at the elbow joint.

So when I strike, I strike with a feeble, slackened elbow.

وَلَقَد غَدَوتُ بِدُستُبانٍ مُعلَمٍ

صَخِبِ الجَلاجِلِ في الوَظيفِ مُسَبَّقِ

And I went out early with marked, known weapons

Yet often I went forth early with a distinguished falcon,

Of noisy, clanking chains, already prepared.

Bells clamoring upon its shank, always first in the race.

حُرٌّ صَنَعناهُ لِتُحسِنَ كَفُّهُ

عَمَلَ الرَفيقَةِ وَاِستِلابَ الأَخرَقِ

A free man whose palm we made skillful

A noble bird we trained, that his talons might master

At woman's work, and gaining booty from the coward.

The gentle touch of a friend and the violent snatch of a brute.

يَجلو القَذى بِعَقيقَتَينِ اِكتَنَّتا

بِذَرا سَليمِ الجَفنِ غَيرَ مُخَرَّقِ

It removes grit with two dear pupils

He clears his sight with twin agate eyes, sheltered deep

Of the eyelids of Salim, not pierced.

Beneath the brow of a sound eyelid, unpierced and whole.

أَلقى زَآبِرَهُ وَأَخلَقَ بَزَّةً

كانَت حِياكَةَ صانِعٍ مُتَنَوِّقِ

It cast off its burdens and made a cloak

He cast off his molting down and wore out his old garb,

That had been tailored by a careful artisan.

Which was the weaving of a craftsman of exquisite skill.

فَكَأَنَّهُ مُتَدَرِّعٌ ديباجَةً

عَن قالِصِ التُبّانِ غَيرَ مُسَوَّقِ

So it is as though armored in brocade

He seems now armored in a coat of shimmering brocade,

From an uncompressed mattress, not patched.

Wearing short breeches that leave the shank bare.

وَإِذا شَهِدتَ بِهِ الوَقيعَةَ أَقلَعَت

عَنهُ الغَيابَةُ وَهوَ حُرُّ المِصدَقِ

And if you witness it in battle, flight

And when you witness him in the fray, the dust clears

Leaves it, while it remains valiantly truthful.

To reveal him, striking true and bold in the attack.

فَتَرى الإِوَزَّ فُوَيتَ خَطمِ مُشَيَّعٍ

غَرثانَ أَنشاطِ الشَواكِلِ سَودَقِ

You see the lance avoid the nostril of its guide

You see the geese just before the beak of this valiant hunter,

Who urges on the active, black horses.

Famished, with flanks quivering, and eyes sharp as hawks.

يَعتامُ جِلَّتَها وَيَقصُرُ شَؤوَها

بِمُؤَنَّفٍ سَلبِ الشَباةِ مُذَلَّقِ

Their necks darken and their zeal shortens

He singles out the largest of the flock and cuts short their flight,

At a cultivated, eloquent poet's satires,

With a tapered beak and talons honed to a deadly edge.

حَتّى رَفَعنا قِدرَنا بِنِضائِها

فَاللَحمُ بَينَ مُؤَزَّرٍ وَمُوَشَّقِ

Until we raised our worth through their shame

Until we hoisted our cooking pot, filled with their abundance,

So the flesh lies between being bound and ripped open.

The meat divided into distinct cuts and strips for drying.

هَذا أَميرُ المُؤمِنينَ اِنتاشَني

وَالنَفسُ بَينَ مُحَنجَرٍ وَمُخَنَّقِ

By this Commander of the Faithful I was revived

It is the Commander of the Faithful who has rescued me,

While my soul lies between choking and being strangled.

When my soul was caught between the throat and the noose.

فَاِقذِف بِرَحلِكَ في جَنابِ خَليفَةٍ

سَبّاقِ غاياتٍ بِها لَم يُسبَقِ

So hurl your mount next to a caliph

So cast down your saddle in the sanctuary of a Caliph,

Who surpassed goals that none had surpassed before.

Who surpasses all goals, yet is himself unsurpassed.

نَفسي فِداأُكَ يَومَ وابِقَ مُنعَماً

لَولا عَواطِفُ حِلمِهِ لَم أُطلَقِ

My soul be your ransom on a day of noble deed—

May my soul be your ransom on the day of Wabiq, O Benefactor;

If not for the restraint of his patience, I would not be freed.

Were it not for the grace of his clemency, I would not be free.

حَرَّمتَ مِن لَحمي عَلَيكَ مُحَلَّلاً

وَجَمَعتَ مِن شَتّى إِلى مُتَفَرِّقِ

You forbade yourself my flesh though lawful to you

You forbade yourself the shedding of my lawful blood,

And gathered together from diverse places the scattered.

And gathered together the scattered fragments of my life.

إِنّا إِلَيكَ مِنَ الصَليتِ فَداسِمٍ

طَلَعَ النِجادَ بِنا وَجيفُ الأَينُقِ

We are charging from Sali towards you, intensely

We journeyed toward you from al-Salit and Dasim,

The noble souls and carrion of the sheep mounts.

As the trotting she-camels ascended the highlands with us.

يَتبَعنَ مائِرَةَ المِلاطِ كَأَنَّما

تَرنو بِعَينَي مُقلِتٍ لَم تَفرَقِ

They follow the course of sodden fur as though

They follow a mare with quivering flanks, gazing out

The eyes of a short-necked ewe were focused on it.

With the eyes of a wild doe that knows no fear.

خَنساءُ تَرعى جَوذَراً بِخَميلَةٍ

وَبِها إِلَيهِ صَبابَةٌ كَالأَولَقِ

Khanssa tends a small spark with dried wood

A snub-nosed doe nursing her fawn in a lush thicket,

And by it for him a blaze like burnt patches.

Bound to him with a love as fierce as madness.

حَتّى إِذا وَجَدَتهُ لَم تَرَ عِندَهُ

إِلّا مَجَرَّ إِهابِهِ المُتَمَزِّقِ

Until when she found him, she did not see with him

Until she found him, and saw nothing remaining

Anything but the worn edge of his tattered cloak.

But the trail of his torn and scattered hide.

يَأبى لِهارونَ الخِلافَةَ عُنصُرٌ

مَحضٌ تَمَكَّنَ في المُصاصِ المُعرِقِ

Unser refuses the caliphate to Harun

A pure lineage secures the Caliphate for Harun alone,

With pure, rooted establishment in the bloody incisors.

An essence unblemished, deep-rooted in noble ancestry.

مَلِكٌ تَطيبُ طِباعُهُ وَمِزاجُهُ

عَذبُ المَذاقِ عَلى فَمِ المُتَذَوِّقِ

A king whose nature and constitution are pleasant,

A King of distinct character and tempered nature,

Sweet to the taste in the mouth of the taster.

Sweet to the taste of any who would test his worth.

يَلقى جَميعَ الأَمرِ وَهوَ مُقَسَّمٌ

بَينَ المَناسِكِ وَالعَدُوِّ الموفِقِ

He takes on every matter while occupied

He confronts all affairs, dividing his attention

Between rituals and the successful enemy.

Between sacred rituals and the crushing of foes.

يَحميكَ مِمّا تَستَسِرُّ بِفِعلِهِ

ضَحِكاتُ وَجهٍ لا يُريبُكَ مُشرِقِ

It protects you from what you hide in doing

He protects you from the consequences of your secret deeds,

The smiles of a face that does not make you doubt when shining.

With the smiles of a radiant face that casts no doubt.

حَتّى إِذا أَمضى عَزيمَةَ رَأيِهِ

أَخَذَت بِسَمعِ عَدُوِّهِ وَالمَنطِقِ

Until when its purpose is resolved, it takes

But when he executes the resolve of his judgment,

Both the hearing of its enemy and logic.

It seizes the hearing and speech of his enemy.

إِنّي حَلَفتُ عَلَيكَ جَهدَ أَلِيَّةٍ

قَسَماً بِكُلِّ مُقَصِّرٍ وَمُحَلِّقِ

I swear to you by the effort of the loftiest

I have sworn a solemn oath regarding you,

Oath, by all who fall short and all who ascend.

By every pilgrim who trims his hair or shaves his head:

لَقَدِ اِتَّقَيتَ اللَهَ حَقَّ تُقاتِهِ

وَجَهَدتَ نَفسَكَ فَوقَ جَهدِ المُتَّقي

You have revered God as is due His reverence

That you have feared God with true and righteous fear,

And strived, yourself, beyond the effort of the reverent.

And strived beyond the striving of the most pious.

وَأخَفتَ أَهلَ الشِركِ حَتّى إِنَّهُ

لَتَخافُكَ النُطَفُ الَّتي لَم تُخلَقِ

You frightened the idolaters until indeed

You have struck such terror into the hearts of polytheists,

The liquid drops fear you that are not yet created.

That the very seed yet unformed in the womb fears you.

وَبِضاعَةُ الشُعَراءِ إِن أَنفَقتَها

نَفَقَت وَإِن أَكسَدتَها لَم تَنفُقِ

And the merchandise of poets, if you spend it

The merchandise of poets, if you but grant it currency,

It is spent; and if you make it worthless, it has no value.

Will prosper; but if you spurn it, it holds no value.