أَقَشيبَ رَبعِهِم أَراكَ دَريسا

وَقِرى ضُيوفِكَ لَوعَةً وَرَسيسا

By chancing upon their tribe-parts, I saw you rugged,

And found your visit’s neighborhoods parched and bitter.

وَلَئِن حُبِستَ عَلى البِلى لَقَد اِغتَدى

دَمعي عَلَيكَ إِلى المَماتِ حَبيسا

Though you are confined amidst dilapidation, my tears for you

Have been imprisoned till death, an inmate.

فَكَأَنَّ طَسماً قَبلُ كانوا جيرَةً

بِكَ وَالعَماليقَ الأُلى وَجَديسا

So it would seem as if, before, they were neighbors

Around you, the wicked giants and lowly.

وَأَرى رُبوعَكَ موحِشاتٍ بَعدَها

قَد كُنتَ مَألوفَ المَحَلِّ أَنيسا

And I see your pastures desolate afterwards,

After you had been familiar company, a boon companion.

أَتُرى الفِراقَ يَظُنُّ أَنّي غافِلٌ

عَنهُ وَقَد لَمَسَت يَداهُ لَميسا

Does separation think I am unaware of it

When its hands have touched, grabbed at me directly?

رودٌ أَصابَتها النَوى في خُرَّدٍ

كانَت بُدورَ دُجُنَّةٍ وَشُموسا

A herd that straying stars have struck hobbled

They had been gleaming, radiant pearls.

بيضٌ تَدورُ عُيونُهُنَّ إِلى الصِبا

بِكَأَنَّهُنَّ بِها يُدِرنَ كُوُوسا

Whites whose eyes circle toward Sibā,

As if by it they understand astronomy’s secrets.

وَكَأَنَّما أَهدى شَقائِقَهُ إِلى

وَجَناتِهِنَّ بِها أَبو قابوسا

And as if he had gifted his daisies to

Their gardens through him—Abū Qābūs.

قَد أوتِيَت مِن كُلِّ شَيءٍ بَهجَةً

وَدَداً وَحُسناً في الصِبا مَغموسا

You were given the delights of everything

Embroidered and beautiful in youth immutably.

لَولا حَداثَتُها وَأَنِّيَ لا أَرى

عَرشاً لَها لَظَنَنتُها بِلقيسا

Were it not for its novelty, since I see no

Throne for it, I’d have thought it Bilqīs.

أَيهاً دِمشقُ فَقَد حَوَيتِ مَكارِماً

بِأَبي المُغيثِ وَسُؤدُداً قُدموسا

Oh Damascus! For you have contained splendors

Through Abū l-Mughīth and esteemed ancient wonders.

وَأَرى الزَمانَ غَدا عَلَيكِ بِوَجهِهِ

جَذلانَ بَسّاماً وَكانَ عَبوسا

And I see time tomorrow become sullen of face toward you

When it had been smiling and was now sulky.

قَد بورِكَت تِلكَ البُطونُ وَقُدِّسَت

تِلكَ الظُهورُ بِقُربِهِ تَقديسا

Those bellies were blessed, those backs sanctified

Through its nearness, sanctified with sanctity.

فَصَنيعَةٌ تُسدى وَخَطبٌ يُعتَلى

وَعَظيمَةٌ تُكفى وَجُرحٌ يوسى

So a craft is pursued and a case is pleaded

And a great thing gets done and a wound is bandaged

الآنَ أَمسَت لِلنِفاقِ وَأَصبَحَت

عوراً عُيونٌ كُنَّ قَبلَكَ شوسا

Now it has become, for hypocrisy, wide open

Eyes that, before you, had been bashfully lowered

وَتَركتَ تِلكَ الأَرضَ ظِلّاً سَجسَجاً

مِن بَعدِ ما كادَت تَكونُ وَطيسا

And you left that land obscure shadows

After it had almost become a quagmire

لَم يَشعُروا حَتّى طَلَعتَ عَلَيهِم

بَدراً يَشُقُّ الظُلمَةَ الحِنديسا

They were not aware until you rose upon them

A full moon rending the pitch-black darkness

ما في النُجومِ سِوى تَعِلَّةِ باطِلٍ

قَدُمَت وَأُسِّسَ إِفكُها تَأسيسا

There is in the stars nothing but fabricated nonsense

Established and founded on falsehood as its basis

إِنَّ المُلوكَ هُمُ كَواكِبُنا الَّتي

تَخفى وَتَطلُعُ أَسعُداً وَنُحوسا

Indeed, kings are our stars which

Hide and rise more fortunate or ill-omened

فِتَنٌ جَلَوتَ ظَلامَها مِن بَعدِ ما

مَدّوا عُيوناً نَحوَها وَرُؤوسا

There were tribulations whose darkness, after

They had extended their eyes and heads toward it, deceived

حَربٌ يَكونُ الجَيشُ فَضلَ صَبوحِها

وَيَكونُ فَضلُ غَبوقِها الكُردوسا

A war whose army is the cream of its daybreak

And the cream of its sunset is the Kurdish forces

غُرمُ اِمرِئٍ مِن روحِهِ فيها إِذا

ذو السِلمِ أُغرِمَ مَطعَماً وَلَبوسا

The love of a man whose soul therein, when

The owner of the turban loves food and clothing

كَم بَينَ قَومٍ إِنَّما نَفَقاتُهُم

مالٌ وَقَومٍ يُنفِقونَ نُفوسا

What a difference between a people whose expenditures

Are wealth, and a people who expend souls

سارَ اِبنُ إِبراهيمَ موسى سيرَةً

سَكَنَ الزَمانُ لَها وَكانَ شَموسا

The son of Ibrāhīm Mūsā walked a path

For which time settled and was tranquil

فَأَقَرَّ واسِطَةَ الشَآمِ وَأَنشَرَت

كَفّاهُ جَوراً لَم يَزَل مَرموسا

So he anchored the coast of Shām and spread out

His palms wrongdoing that did not cease to be trampled

كانَت مَدينَةُ عَسقَلانَ عَروسَها

فَغَدَت بِسيرَتِهِ دِمَشقُ عَروسا

The city of ‘Asqalān had been its bride

So, through his conduct, Damascus became the bride

مِن بَعدِما صارَت هُنَيدَةُ صِرمَةً

وَالبَدرَةُ النَجلاءُ صارَت كيسا

After Hunaydah had become an old ruin

And shining Naḍlā’ had become bags

فَكَأَنَّهُم بِالعِجلِ ضَلّوا حِقبَةً

وَكَأَنَّ موسى إِذ أَتاهُم موسى

So it was as if with the calf they had erred an epoch

And as if, when Mūsā came to them, [he was] Mūsā

وَسَتُشكَرُ النُعمى الَّتي صُنِعَت وَلا

نِعَمٌ كَنُعمى أَنقَذَت مِن بوسى

And favors will be thanked that were done, and there are no

Favors like the favors that saved from the kisses (of swords)

أَلوى يُذِلُّ الصَعبَ إِن هُوَ ساسَهُ

وَيُلينُ جانِبَهُ إِذا ما سيسا

He twists to humiliate the unyielding, if he confronts him

And he softens his side, if he be led

وَلِذاكَ كانوا لا يُرأَّسُ مِنهُمُ

مَن لَم يُجَرَّب حَزمُهُ مُرؤوسا

And for that reason, none were made their chief

Unless his resolve had first been tested, supervised

مَن لَم يَقُد فَيَطيرَ في خَيشومِهِ

رَهَجُ الخَميسِ فَلَن يَقودَ خَميسا

One who, when the smells of Thursday heat his nostrils, is undaunted—

That one will lead on a Thursday.

أَعطِ الرِياسَةَ مِن يَدَيكَ فَلَم تَزَل

مِن قَبلِ أَن تُدعى الرَئيسَ رَئيسا

Give over rule from your hands, for you will not cease

To be called “the chief” before you are called “chief.”

ماذا عَسَيتَ وَمِن أَمامِكَ حَيَّةٌ

تَقِصُ الأُسودَ وَمِن وَرائِكَ عيسى

What will you do, and before you a snake

That attacks the lions, and behind you, a staff?

أَسَدانِ شَدّا مِن دِمَشقَ وَذَلَّلا

مِن حِمصَ أَمنَعَ بَلدَةٍ عِرّيسا

Two lions roared from Damascus, and they humbled

The most unassailable of cities, Ḥimṣ

تَخِذَ القَنا خيساً فَإِن طاغٍ طَغى

نَقَلا إِلى مَغناهُ ذاكَ الخيسا

They took Qanā for something vile, so if a rebel rebels

They transferred him to the place for that vile thing.

أَسقِ الرَعِيَّةَ مِن بَشاشَتِكَ الَّتي

لَو أَنَّها ماءٌ لَكانَ مَسوسا

Quench the flock from your sweetness, which,

If it were water, would have been drunk to repletion

إِنَّ الطَلاقَةَ وَالنَدى خَيرٌ لَهُم

مِن عِفَّةٍ جَمَسَت عَلَيكَ جُموسا

Indeed, affability and dew are better for them

Than a chaste woman who has cloistered herself upon you

لَو أَنَّ أَسبابَ العَفافِ بِلا تُقىً

نَفَعَت لَقَد نَفَعَت إِذاً إِبليسا

If the causes of chastity without piety

Had benefited, they would have benefited Iblīs!

هَذي القَوافي قَد أَتَينَكَ نُزَّعاً

تَتَجَسَّمُ التَهجيرَ وَالتَغليسا

These rhymes have come to you, plucked

Taking the forms of censure and fraud

مِن كُلِّ شارِدَةٍ تُغادِرُ بَعدَها

حَظَّ الرِجالِ مِنَ القَصيدِ خَسيسا

From every trite thing that leaves thereafter

For men’s share of the poem miserable pickings

وَجَديدَةَ المَعنى إِذا مَعنى الَّتي

تَشقى بِها الأَسماعُ كانَ لَبيسا

And novel meanings—for the meanings that

Ears suffer with have been insipid

تَلهو بِعاجِلِ حُسنِها وَتَعُدُّها

عِلقاً لِأَعجازِ الزَمانِ نَفيسا

They play with the urgency of their beauty and count it

A hook for the wonders of time, precious

مِن دَوحَةِ الكَلِمِ الَّتي لَم تَنفَكِك

يُمسي عَلَيكَ رَصينُها مَحبوسا

From the inkpot of speech that has not ceased

To beguile you, its sturdy composition has been imprisoned

كَالنَجمِ إِن سافَرتَ كانَ مُواكِباً

وَإِذا حَطَطَت الرَحلَ كانَ جَليسا

Like a star: if you travel, it will keep pace

And if you camp, it will be a companion

إِنّا بَعَثنا الشِعرَ نَحوَكَ مُفرَداً

وَإِذا أَذِنتَ لَنا بَعَثنا العيسا

We have sent poetry alone toward you

And if you permit us, we will send troops

تَبغي ذُراكَ إِذا أَسِنَّةُ قَعضَبٍ

أَردَينَ عِرّيفَ الوَغى المِرّيسا

You seek your firebrand when the mouths of short spears

Make the inciter of tumult, the announcer, vile