قِف بِاللَواحِظِ عِندَ حَدِّك

يَكفيكَ فِتنَةُ نارِ خَدِّك

Rein in your glances at your limit—your blade’s edge;

the beguiling fire of your cheek is enough for you.

وَاِجعَل لِغِمدِكَ هُدنَةً

إِنَّ الحَوادِثَ مِلءُ غِمدِك

And grant your scabbard a truce,

for calamities already fill your scabbard.

وَصُنِ المَحاسِنَ عَن قُلو

بٍ لا يَدَينِ لَها بِجُندِك

And guard those beauties from hear—

—ts with no strength against your army.

نَظَرَت إِلَيكَ عَنِ الفُتو

رِ وَما اِتَّقَت سَطَواتِ حَدِّك

They looked toward you in langu—

—or, and did not fear the onslaughts of your edge.

أَعلى رِواياتِ القَنا

ما كانَ نِسبَتُهُ لِقَدِّك

The loftiest tale in the lore of spears

is the one that traces its lineage to your stature.

نالَ العَواذِلُ جَهدَهُم

وَسَمِعتَ مِنهُم فَوقَ جَهدِك

The reproachers did all they could,

and you heard from them more than you could bear.

نَقَلوا إِلَيكَ مَقالَةً

ما كانَ أَكثَرُها لِعَبدِك

They carried a report to you,

most of which was untrue of your servant.

قَسَماً بِما حَمَّلتَني

فَحَمَلتُ مِن وَجدي وَصَدِّك

I swear by what you made me bear—

and I bore it—my passion and your rebuff:

ما بي السِهامُ الكُثرُ مِن

جَفنَيكَ لَكِن سَهمُ بُعدِك

what ails me is not the many arrows from

your eyelids, but the arrow of your distance.