أَيُها المُنتابُ عَن عُفُرِه

لَستَ مِن لَيلي وَلا سَمَرِه

O you who are chosen from among the best,

O visitor returning from his dusty lair,

You are not of my night or its conversation.

You belong neither to my night nor its evening tales.

أَذودُ الطَيرَ عَن شَجَرٍ

قَد بَلَوتُ المُرَّ مِن ثَمَرِه

I protect the birds from the trees,

I drive the birds away from a tree,

And I have tasted the bitter fruit.

Whose bitter fruit I have already tasted.

فَاِتَّصِل إِن كُنتَ مُتَّصِلاً

بِقُوى مَن أَنتَ مِن وَطَرِه

So join if you are one who joins

So join yourself, if you must be joined,

With the strength of one whom you are from his scent.

To the cords of one who desires you.

خُفتُ مَأثورَ الحَديثِ غَداً

وَغَدٌ دانٍ لِمُنتَظِرِه

I fear the oft-repeated talk tomorrow,

I feared the tales that might be told tomorrow,

And tomorrow brings what is expected.

And tomorrow is near for he who waits.

خابَ مَن أَسرى إِلى بَلَدٍ

غَيرِ مَعلومٍ مَدى سَفَرِه

He who travels to an unknown land is lost,

Failed is the one who journeys to a land,

However far his journey.

When the span of his voyage is unknown.

وَسَّدَتهُ ثِنيَ ساعِدِهِ

سِنَةٌ حَلَّت إِلى شَفرِه

And his two arms are hampered

He made a pillow of his folded arm,

By an old age that has reached his eyelids.

As slumber settled upon his eyelids.

فَاِمضِ لا تَمنُن عَلَيَّ يَداً

مِنُّكَ المَعروفَ مِن كَدَرِه

So go ahead, do not do me favors

Go then, and do not burden me with a favor,

Your kindness to me is from his bitterness.

For your kindness is marred by its turbidity.

رُبَّ فِتيانٍ رَبَأتُهُمُ

مَسقِطَ العَيّوقِ مِن سَحَرِه

I have raised many young men

Many young men have I watched over,

From the place where snakes fall from their burrows.

Where Capella sets at the break of dawn.

فَاتَّقوا بي ما يُريبُهُمُ

إِنَّ تَقوى الشَرِّ مِن حَذَرِه

So fear me what makes them doubt,

Through me they warded off what they feared,

Indeed, piety is protection from evil.

For the shield against evil is caution itself.

وَابنُ عَمٍّ لا يُكاشِفُنا

قَد لَبِسناهُ عَلى غَمَرِه

A cousin does not confide in us

And a cousin who does not show his true face,

We have dressed him in his stupidity.

Though we endured him despite his hidden rancor;

كَمَنِ الشَنآنُ فيهِ لَنا

كَكُمونِ النارِ في حَجَرِه

How much hatred in him towards us

Hatred lay concealed within him against us,

Like the ember in its stones.

Like fire lying dormant within the flint.

وَرُضابٍ بِتُّ أَرشُفُهُ

يَنقَعُ الظَمآنَ مِن خَصَرِه

And a milking she-camel whose udder

And nectar of saliva I spent the night sipping,

Quenches the thirsty from its skin.

Quenching the thirsty with its coolness.

عَلَّنيهِ خوطُ إِسحِلَةٍ

لانَ مَتناهُ لِمُهتَصِرِه

My mount made easy for the rider

Offered to me by a slender, graceful branch,

Its back bent for the one holding the reins.

Whose sides yielded to the one who bent them.

ذا وَمُغبَرٍّ مَخارِمُهُ

تَحسِرُ الأَبصارُ عَن قُطُرِه

This one with dusty cheeks

All this, while I traversed a dusty wasteland,

Eyes avert from his drivel.

Where eyes grow weary scanning its expanse.

لا تَرى عَينُ المُبينِ بِهِ

ما خَلا الآجالَ مِن بَقرِه

The discerning eye sees in him

The sharpest eye sees nothing therein,

Nothing but cowardice from his cows.

Save for the herds of wild oryx.

خاضَ بي لُجَّيهِ ذو حِرَزٍ

يُفعِمُ الفَضلَينِ مِن ضَفرِه

One with a guarded domain plunged me

A sturdy mount plunged through its depths with me,

Into the abundant goodness of his shore.

Straining the straps of his girth with his might.

يَكتَسي عُثنونُهُ زَبَداً

فَنَصيلاهُ إِلى نَحرِه

His camel covers itself with foam

His beard becomes clothed in white foam,

So we lead it by its nostril.

That flows from his jowls down to his chest.

ثُمَّ يَعتَمُّ الحِجاجُ بِهِ

كَاعتِمامِ الفوفِ في عُشرِه

Then the pilgrims lose it in the crowds

Then his brow is crowned with it like a turban,

Like losing chicks among the fluff.

As white blossoms crown the 'ushr plant.

ثُمَّ تَذروهُ الرِياحُ كَما

طارَ قُطنُ النَدفِ عَن وَتَرِه

Then the winds scatter it

Then the winds scatter it away,

Like cotton blown off the spindle.

Like teased cotton flying from the carder's bow.

كُلُّ حاجاتي تَناوَلَها

وَهوَ لَم تَنقُص قُوى أَشَرِه

He fulfilled all my needs

He conquered all the demands of my journey,

And his strength was not diminished.

While his spirited strength remained undiminished.

ثُمَّ أَدناني إِلى مَلِكٍ

يَأمَنُ الجاني لَدى حُجرِه

Then he brought me to a king

Until he brought me into the presence of a king,

Where the criminal is safe at his court.

In whose sanctuary even the offender finds safety.

تَأخُذُ الأَيدي مَظالِمَها

ثُمَّ تَستَذري إِلى عُصُرِه

Hands take their injustices

Hands reclaim their rightful dues,

Then seek excuses until sunset.

Then seek the shelter of his protection.

كَيفَ لا يُدنيكَ مِن أَمَلٍ

مَن رَسولُ اللَهِ مِن نَفَرِه

How can hopes not bring you close

How could he not bring you closer to your hope,

When the Messenger of God is among his comrades?

When the Messenger of God is of his kin?

فَاسلُ عَن نَوءٍ تُؤَمِّلُهُ

حَسبُكَ العَبّاسُ مِن مَطَرِه

Ask for rain you hope for,

So forget the rain-stars you gaze upon in hope;

Al-Abbas is enough for you from its rain.

Al-Abbas suffices you, surpassing their showers.

مَلِكٌ قَلَّ الشَبيهُ لَهُ

لَم تَقَع عَينٌ عَلى خِطَرِه

A king the like of whom is rare,

A king whose equal is rarely found,

No eye has fallen on the like of him.

No eye has ever beheld his match.

لا تُغَطّى عَنهُ مَكرُمَةٌ

بِرُبى وادٍ وَلا خَمرِه

No favor is concealed from him

No noble deed is hidden from his view,

In the open country or its wine.

Neither in the valley hills nor in the thickets.

ذُلِّلَت تِلكَ الفِجاجُ لَهُ

فَهوَ مُختارٌ عَلى بَصَرِه

Those rough roads are smoothed for him

The mountain passes have been humbled before him,

As he chooses with his eyesight.

So he chooses his path with clear vision.

سَبَقَ التَفريطَ رائِدُهُ

وَكَفاهُ العَينَ مِن أَثَرِه

His guide surpassed negligence,

His vigilance outpaces negligence,

And the eye sufficed instead of his track.

And he needs no spy to track the trail.

وَإِذا مَجَّ القَنا عَلَقاً

وَتَراءى المَوتُ في صُوَرِه

And when the battle squeezed in

And when the spears spit forth clots of blood,

And death appeared in its forms,

And Death reveals itself in all its forms,

راحَ في ثِنيَي مُفاضَتِهِ

أَسَدٌ يُدمى شَبا ظُفُرِه

He went into the fold of his overflowing

He charges forth, clad in the folds of his mail,

A lion who bloodies the claws of youth.

A lion with blood upon his sharp claws.

تَتَأَيّا الطَيرُ غُدوَتَهُ

ثِقَةً بِالشَبعِ مِن جَزَرِه

Birds take their breakfast

The birds of prey await his morning march,

Trusting in the plenty from his prey.

Confident of a feast from his slaughter.

وَتَرى الساداتِ ماثِلَةً

لِسَليلِ الشَمسِ مِن قَمَرِه

And you see the nobility

You see the nobles standing in attendance,

Of the descendant of the sun from his moons.

Before the scion of the Sun and the Moon.

فَهُمُ شَتّى ظُنونَهُمُ

حَذِرَ المَكنونِ مِن فِكَرِه

So they vary in their guesses,

Their thoughts are scattered in confusion,

Wary of the hidden from his thoughts.

Fearful of what lies hidden in his mind.

وَكَريمُ الخالِ مِن يَمَنٍ

وَكَريمُ العَمِّ مِن مُضَرِه

The generous one from Yemen,

Noble in maternal lineage from Yemen,

And the generous one from Mudar.

And noble in paternal line from Mudar.

قَد لَبِستَ الدَهرَ لِبسَ فَتىً

أَخَذَ الآدابَ عَن عِبَرِه

You have worn time like a youth

You have worn the cloak of Time like a youth,

Who took etiquette from its lessons.

Who learned wisdom from its harsh lessons.

فَاِدَّخِر خَيراً تُثابُ بِهِ

كُلُّ مَدخورٍ لِمُدَّخِرِه

So hoard goodness for which you will be rewarded,

So store up good deeds that will bring reward,

Every hoarded thing is for its hoarder.

For every hoard returns to the one who hoarded it.