يا بُعدَ غايَةِ دَمعِ العَينِ إِن بَعُدوا
هِيَ الصَبابَةُ طولَ الدَهرِ وَالسُهُدُ
O remoteness, goal of tearful eyes, if they are remote
It is youthfulness, long life and blaze
قالوا الرَحيلُ غَداً لا شَكَّ قُلتُ لَهُم
اليَومَ أَيقَنتُ أَنَّ اِسمَ الحِمامِ غَدُ
They said: “Departure is inevitable tomorrow,” I said to them
Today I was sure that the name of the pigeon is tomorrow
كَم مِن دَمٍ يُعجِزُ الجَيشَ اللُهامَ إِذا
بانوا سَتَحكُمُ فيهِ العِرمِسُ الأُجُدُ
How much blood that makes the army helpless, when
They appear, the palm trees will judge it
ما لِاِمرِئٍ خاضَ في بَحرِ الهَوى عُمُرٌ
إِلّا وَلِلبَينِ مِنهُ السَهلُ وَالجَلَدُ
A person who dared the sea of passion has no life
Except that separation from it is easy and flexible
كَأَنَّما البَينُ مِن إِلحاحِهِ أَبَداً
عَلى النُفوسِ أَخٌ لِلمَوتِ أَو وَلَدُ
It is as if separation from its insistence is forever
A brother of death upon the selves or a son
تَداوَ مِن شَوقِكَ الأَعصى بِما فَعَلَت
خَيلُ اِبنِ يوسُفَ وَالأَبطالُ تَطَّرِدُ
Your passion healed the most defiant with what it did
The horses of Ibn Yusuf and the heroes hurry
ذاكَ السُرورُ الَّذي آلَت بَشاشَتُهُ
أَلّا يُجاوِرَها في مُهجَةٍ كَمَدُ
That happiness which its splendor declined
Not to dwell with it in any imagination
لَقيتَهُم وَالمَنايا غَيرُ دافِعَةٍ
لِما أَمَرتَ بِهِ وَالمُلتَقى كَبَدُ
You met them while the fates were not preventing
What you ordered and the battlefield was liver
في مَوقِفٍ وَقَفَ المَوتُ الزُعافُ بِهِ
فَالمَوتُ يوجَدُ وَالأَرواحُ تُفتَقَدُ
In a standstill, death stood still with it
So death is found and the spirits are missed
في حَيثُ لا مَرتَعُ البيضِ الرِقاقِ إِذا
أُصلِتنَ جَدبٌ وَلا وِرَدُ القَنا ثَمَدُ
Where there is no pasture for the thin eggs when
Arid and the plants of the palms withered
مُستَصحِباً نِيَّةً قَد طالَ ما ضَمِنَت
لَكَ الخُطوبُ فَأَوفَت بِالَّذي تَعِدُ
With an intention that has long assured
You of disasters, so it fulfilled what it promises
وَرُحبَ صَدرٍ لَوَ أَنَّ الأَرضَ واسِعَةٌ
كَوُسعِهِ لَم يَضِق عَن أَهلِها بَلَدُ
And a vast chest, if the vast earth
Was as vast as it, no country would be too narrow for its people
صَدَعتَ جِريَتَهُم في عُصبَةٍ قُلُلٍ
قَد صَرَّحَ الماءُ عَنها وَاِنجَلى الزَبَدُ
You cracked their bulk in a small group
The water cleared from it and the foam emerged
مِن كُلِّ أَروَعَ تَرتاعُ المَنونُ لَهُ
إِذا تَجَرَّدَ لا نَكسٌ وَلا جَحِدُ
The most horrifying thing that death fears for him
When he strips down, no decline and no denial
يَكادُ حينَ يُلاقي القِرنَ مِن حَنَقٍ
قَبلَ السِنانِ عَلى حَوبائِهِ يَرِدُ
He almost, when he meets the spears angrily
Returns upon their necks before the teeth
قَلّوا وَلَكِنَّهُم طابوا فَأَنجَدَهُم
جَيشٌ مِنَ الصَبرِ لا يُحصى لَهُ عَدَدُ
Few, but good they were, so they were supported
By an army of patience that has no number
إِذا رَأَوا لِلمَنايا عارِضاً لَبِسوا
مِنَ اليَقينِ دُروعاً ما لَها زَرَدُ
When they saw the fates wearing armor
They wore certainty shields that have no plates
نَأَوا عَنِ المَصرَخِ الأَدنى فَلَيسَ لَهُم
إِلّا السُيوفَ عَلى أَعدائِهِم مَدَدُ
They avoided the slightest cry, so they have nothing left for them
Except the swords upon their enemies assistance
وَلّى مُعاوِيَةٌ عَنهُم وَقَد حَكَمَت
فيهِ القَنا فَأَبى المِقدارُ وَالأَمَدُ
Mu’awiyah dismissed them and the palm trees judged for him
But destiny and term refused
نَجّاكَ في الرَوعِ ما نَجّى سَمِيَّكَ في
صِفّينَ وَالخَيلُ بِالفُرسانِ تَنجَرِدُ
What saved you in fright saved your idol in
Siffin and the horses charging the horsemen
إِن تَنفَلِت وَأُنوفُ المَوتِ راغِمَةٌ
فَاِذَهب فَأَنتَ طَليقُ الرَكضِ يا لُبَدُ
If you slip away and the snouts of death are defeated
Then go away, you are free to run, Oh Lubad
لا خَلقَ أَربَطُ جَأشاً مِنكَ يَومَ تَرى
أَبا سَعيدٍ وَلَم يَبطِش بِكَ الزُؤُدُ
No creature more binding in fright than you when you see
Abu Saeed and the morning did not show its sharpness to you
أَما وَقَد عِشتَ يَوماً بَعدَ رُؤيَتِهِ
فَاِفخَر فَإِنَّكَ أَنتَ الفارِسُ النَجُدُ
Since you lived a day after seeing him
Then pride yourself, for you are the noble knight
لَو عايَنَ الأَسَدُ الضِرغامُ رُؤيَتَهُ
ما ليمَ أَن ظَنَّ رُعباً أَنَّهُ الأَسَدُ
If the ferocious lion saw him
He would not think it was fear, but that he is the lion
شَتّانَ بَينَهُما في كُلِّ نازِلَةٍ
نَهجُ القَضاءِ مُبينٌ فيهِما جَدَدُ
Great is the difference between them in every situation
The course of fate is evident in both, renewed
هَذا عَلى كَتِفَيهِ كُلُّ نازِلَةٍ
تُخشى وَذاكَ عَلى أَكتافِهِ اللِبَدُ
This one has every difficulty feared
Upon his shoulders, while the other has upon his shoulders spears
أَعيا عَلَيَّ وَما أَعيا بِمُشكِلَةٍ
بِسَندَبايا وَيَومُ الرَوعِ مُحتَشِدُ
I worry and I do not worry about a problem
In Sindibad and the day of fright gathering
مَن كانَ أَنكَأَ حَدّاً في كَتائِبِهِم
أَأَنتَ أَم سَيفُكَ الماضي أَمِ الأَحَدُ
Who was the most courageous among their battalions?
Is it you or your passing sword or the edge?
لا يَومَ أَكثَرُ مِنهُ مَنظَراً حَسَناً
وَالمَشرَفِيَّةُ في هاماتِهِم تَخِدُ
No day is more beautiful than it in scene
And Al-Mushrifiya in their zeal distorts
أَنهَبتَ أَرواحَهُ الأَرماحَ إِذ شُرِعَت
فَما تُرَدُّ لِرَيبِ الدَهرِ عَنهُ يَدُ
You snatched their souls with the spears when they were pulled out
So they are not retracted by the doubt of fate from him
كَأَنَّها وَهيَ في الأَوداجِ والِغَةٌ
وَفي الكُلى تَجِدُ الغَيظَ الَّذي نَجِدُ
It is as if while in the wombs, it was twisted
And in the kidneys it finds the anger that we find
مِن كُلِّ أَزرَقَ نَظّارٍ بِلا نَظَرٍ
إِلى المَقاتِلِ ما في مَتنِهِ أَوَدُ
From every light-blue blinker without sight
To the fighter, nothing of its text or prominent neck
كَأَنَّهُ كانَ تِربَ الحُبِّ مُذ زَمَنٍ
فَلَيسَ يُعجِزُهُ قَلبٌ وَلا كَبِدُ
It is as if it was the dust of love from ancient times
So neither a heart nor a liver fails it
تَرَكتَ مِنهُم سَبيلَ النارِ سابِلَةً
في كُلِّ يَومٍ إِلَيها عُصبَةٌ تَفِدُ
You left them a way of fire flowing
To it each day a group guided
كَأَنَّ بابَكَ بِالبَذَّينِ بَعدَهُمُ
نُؤيٌ أَقامَ خِلافَ الحَيِّ أَو وَتِدُ
It is as if after them, your door
Is a beam residing unlike the wall or a peg
بِكُلِّ مُنعَرَجٍ مِن فارِسٍ بَطَلٍ
جَناجِنٌ فِلَقٌ فيها قَناً قِصَدُ
With every turn of a brave knight
There are ripped saddles in them, he sought the palm trees
لَمّا غَدا مُظلِمَ الأَحشاءِ مِن أَشَرٍ
أَسكَنتَ جانِحَتَيهِ كَوكَباً يَقِدُ
When one gloomy in intestines advanced in evil
You settled his two fluttering wings like a guiding planet
وَهارِبٍ وَدَخيلُ الرَوعِ يَجلُبُهُ
إِلى المَنونِ كَما يُستَجلَبُ النَقَدُ
A fugitive, and a stranger to fright brings him
To death as the cash is being summoned
كَأَنَّما نَفسُهُ مِن طولِ حَيرَتِها
مِنها عَلى نَفسِهِ يَومَ الوَغى رَصَدُ
It is as if his soul from the length of its confusion
Upon itself the day of battle monitored
تَاللَهِ نَدري أَالإِسلامُ يَشكُرُها
مِن وَقعَةٍ أَم بَنو العَبّاسِ أَم أُدَدُ
By God we know, does Islam thank it?
From the Battle of Waqah, or the Abbasids or Udad?
يَومٌ بِهِ أَخَذَ الإِسلامُ زينَتَهُ
بِأَسرِها وَاِكتَسى فَخراً بِهِ الأَبَدُ
A day in which Islam took its adornments
Fully, and the forever prided with it
يَومٌ يَجيءُ إِذا قامَ الحِسابُ وَلَم
يَذمُمهُ بَدرٌ وَلَم يُفضَح بِهِ أُحُدُ
A day that comes when judgment is established and no
Full moon blames it and no one is disgraced by it
وَأَهلُ موقانَ إِذ ماقوا فَلا وَزَرٌ
أَنجاهُمُ مِنكَ في الهَيجا وَلا سَنَدُ
The people of Muqan, when they suffered no burden
Saved them from you in turmoil, no helper and no pillar
لَم تَبقَ مُشرِكَةٌ إِلّا وَقَد عَلِمَت
إِن لَم تَتُب أَنَّهُ لِلسَيفِ ما تَلِدُ
No polytheist remains but she knew
If she does not repent, it is to the sword what she gives birth
وَالبَبرُ حينَ اِطلَخَمَّ الأَمرُ صَبَّحَهُم
قَطرٌ مِنَ الحَربِ لَمّا جاءَهُم خَمَدوا
And the brave one when the matter aggravated, he scolded them
A drizzle of war, when it came to them, they extinguished
كادَت تُحَلُّ طُلاهُم مِن جَماجِمِهِم
لَو لَم يَحُلّوا بِبَذلِ الحُكمِ ما عَقَدوا
Their skulls almost melted off their heads
If they did not decide to pay the rule, they would not have tied
لَكِن نَدَبتَ لَهُم رَأيَ اِبنِ مُحصَنَةٍ
يَخالُهُ السَيفُ سَيفاً حينَ يَجتَهِدُ
But you called them Ibn Muhasina’s opinion
His sword sees it as a sword when it strives
في كُلِّ يَومٍ فُتوحٌ مِنكَ وارِدَةٌ
تَكادُ تَفهَمُها مِن حُسنِها البُرُدُ
Every day, your conquests come to you
They almost understand it from its beauty, the cold
وَقائِعٌ عَذُبَت أَنباؤُها وَحَلَت
حَتّى لَقَد صارَ مَهجوراً لَها الشُهُدُ
And events whose news was delicious and settled
To the point that honey has been abandoned for it
إِنَّ اِبنَ يوسُفَ نَجّى الثَغرَ مِن سَنَةٍ
أَعوامُ يوسُفَ عَيشٌ عِندَها رَغَدُ
Indeed, Ibn Yusuf saved the borders from a year
Joseph’s years are pleasant living there
آثارُ أَموالِكَ الأَدثارِ قَد خَلُقَت
وَخَلَّفَت نِعَماً آثارُها جُدُدُ
The effects of your scattered money created
And left good effects whose effects are renewed
فَاِفخَر فَما مِن سَماءٍ لِلنَدى رُفِعَت
إِلّا وَأَفعالُكَ الحُسنى لَها عَمَدُ
So pride yourself, there is no heaven for dew raised
Except your good deeds are its pillars
وَاِعذِر حَسودَكَ فيما قَد خُصِصتَ بِهِ
إِنَّ العُلى حَسَنٌ في مِثلِها الحَسَدُ
And forgive your envious ones for what you were distinguished with
Supremacy is goodly in its like, envy
