تَعيب عَليَّ مَألوف القَصابة

وَمَن لَم يَدرِ قَدرَ الشَيء عابَه

You blame me for my usual butchery,

And he who knows not a thing’s worth finds fault with it.

وَلَو أَحكَمت مِنها بَعض فَنٍ

لَما استبدلت مِنها بالحجابة

Had you mastered even a little of the art,

You would not have substituted veil for slaughter.

لعمرك لَو نَظَرت إِليَّ فيها

وَحَولي مِن بَني كَلبٍ عصابه

By your life, were you to look on me there

With a horde of Kalb's sons around me, bandits,

لَهالك ما رَأَيت وَقُلت هَذا

هَزبرٌ صَير الأَوضام غابه

You would be confounded and say "This is

Hazebr, who makes desolation the wilds."

وَلَو تَدري بِها كَلفى وَوَجدي

عَلمت عَلام تَحتملُ الصَبابة

And did you know my power and experience,

You would know why savagery bears the disasters.

لَقَد شهدت لَنا كلب وهرٌ

بِأَن المَجد قَد حزنا لبابه

The she-wolf Kallab bore witness for us

That glory has mourned the closing of its door.

إِذا طلع الوَليد لَنا رَضيعاً

رَأَيت بِوَجهِهِ سيما النَجابه

When Al-Walid is born to us as a suckling babe,

You see in his face the marks of the noble.

وَإِن بَلَغَ الفِطامَ فَذاكَ لَيث

هَزبرٌ كاسر للحرب نابه

And when he reaches weaning, that is a lion,

Hazebr, breaker of battle, biting.

إِذا ما نَحنُ نازَلنا قَبيلاً

رَأَيت المَوت قَد أَمضى حِرابه

When we make war on a tribe,

You see death has shot its arrows.

فَتَكنا في بَني العنزيّ فَتكاً

أَقر الذُعر فيهم وَالمَهابه

So we wrought havoc among the Banu 'Anaza,

Spreading terror and awe among them.

أَبدنا شَبيهم وَمَتى ظَفَرنا

بِغُرٍ شَبَّ لَم نَرحَم شَبابه

We destroyed their graybeards, and when we conquered

A lad with down on his cheek, we had no mercy for his youth.

وَلَولا نَحنُ لَم تَجد المَنايا الس

بيلَ إِلى بَنيها المُستَطابه

Had it not been for us, death would not have found

A way to its choice beloved ones.

وَهَل جملٌ بَدا إِلّا حملنا

عَلَيهِ حَملَةً هَتَكَت حِجابه

Did a camel ever appear that we did not

Attack with a raid that tore its veil?

صَفَعنا بالشفار قَفاه حَتّى

فَريناهُ وَمَزَقنا اهابه

We slapped their heads with our swords until

We made them flee, tearing their garments.

وَلَم نُقلع عَن الثَورىّ حتّى

مَزَجنا بِالدَم القاني لُعابه

Nor did we cease from the Thawri until

We mixed shed blood with their spittle.

إِذا ما لانَ عود الناس يَوماً

وَخَرَّ فَعودَنا فيهِ صَلابه

When men's spears fail one day

And ours prevail mightily,

نُريق دَماً وَلا حرج عَلَينا

وَمَن نَقتلهُ لا نَخشى عِقابه

We shed blood without shame,

And he whom we kill, we fear no vengeance for him.

وَيُبرز واحِدٌ مِنا لِأَلفٍ

فَيفنيهم وَتلك مِن الغَرابه

One of us goes out against a thousand

And destroys them - that is nothing strange.

وَمَن يَغتَر مِنهُم بِاِمتِناعٍ

فَإِن إِلى سَواطِرنا إِيابه

He who trusts to be safe from us

Will return to our mercy.

بِناءُ المَجد لا شيدُ المَباني

وَجدُّ السَيف لا جَدُّ الكِتابه

Glory is built by daring, not raising buildings,

And the sword's edge, not the pen's, is serious.

وَرِثنا المَجد عَن قرمٍ فَقَرمٍ

فَلَيسَ لِغَيرِنا تُعزى نِجابه

We inherited glory, clan after clan,

So its nobility cannot be attributed to other than us.

وَحُزنا في النَقاوة كُلُ فَن

فَلَيسَ بِغَيرِنا تَصبو ذُبابه

And we were preeminent in purity in every art,

So none but us aspired to its goals.

أَبا الفَل الوَزير أَجب نِدائي

فَفَضلك ضامِنٌ عَنكَ الإِجابه

O father of excellence, the vizier, hear my call!

For your superiority guarantees response.

وَاِصغاءً إِلى شَكوى شَكورٍ

أَطلتَ عَلى قَصَابتِهِ عِتابه

And hearken to the complaint of one grateful

For your reproach of his butchery.

جَلاه الدَهر بِالأَرجاء ظُلماً

وَأَنشب ظفره فيهِ وَنابه

Fate exiled him unjustly to the wilds,

And extended its claw to grasp him.

لعمرك ما تَرَكت الشَعر حَتّى

رَأَيتُ البُخل قَد أَمضى شهابه

By your life, I did not abandon poetry

Until I saw meanness extend its flame,

وَحَتّى زُرت مُشتاقاً حَميمي

فَأَظهر لي التَجَهُم وَالكَآبه

And until, yearning for an intimate friend,

I visited him, and he showed gloom and moroseness,

وَظَن زِيارَتي لِطُلاب نيل

فَنافرني وَغَلظ لي حِجابه

Thinking I visited in order to gain something,

So he was aloof and closed his door tight.

وَذو الهِمَم العَلية مِن تجافى

وَجَنَّب كُل مَن يَبغى اِجتِنابه

But he of high resolves turns aside

From all whose company he would avoid.

لَقَد حجب النَدى المألوفُ وَجهاً

وَحَط اللُؤم عَن قَصدٍ نِقابه

Kind companionship has hidden its face,

And villainy has lowered over a noble intention its veil.

وَصارَ الجود لَفظاً دونَ مَعنى

وَصرنا بِالمُنى نَرتادُ بابه

Generosity has become a word without meaning,

And we vainly frequent its door.

إِذا ما قيل هَذا بَحرُ جودٍ

وَرَدتُ فَلَم أَجد إِلّا سَرابه

Whenever it is said "This is a sea of generosity"

I go and find only a mirage.

وَكانَ الشعر أَحسَن ما يُحلّى

بِهِ أَهل الدَعارة وَالدَعابة

Poetry was the best adornment

For people of immorality and foolery.

فَصارَ بَنوه عِندَ الناس أَدنى

وَأَحقر في العُيون مِن الصؤابه

So its sons became the lowest of men

In people's eyes, viler than dogs.

إِذا ما شئت أَن تُشنأ فنظِّم

قَريضاً وَالتمس فيهِ الإِثابه

If you wish to gain standing, compose

Some poetry and seek reward through it.

وَلَما صارَ أَهل الأَرض طُرا

ذِئاباً صُرتُ مُفتَرِساً ذِئابه

When the people of the earth turned

To wolves, I turned to hunting wolves.

فَمن لَم أَستمله بِالقَوافي

وَكانَ البُخلُ بِالمَعروض دابه

He whom I could not make a client with verse

Because meanness was his nature in poetry,

نصبت للؤمه شرك اِحتيالي

وَصِدتُ لَهاهُ مِن باب القَصابه

I set for his villainy a cunning trap

And I crouched to leap on him from the butcher's stall.

وَلا حَرَج عَلى المُضطَر في أَن

يُصرف في تَخلصه خِلابه

There is no shame on the needy man

To employ his cunning in escaping.

يَذلل لي صِعابَ القَول طَبع

جَعَلتُ إِلى رِياضَتِهِ اِنتِدابه

A talent whose cultivation I devoted myself to

Makes the difficulties of poetic speech easy for me.

وَيَهتَز القَريض إِليّ عُجبا

مَتّى أَوجَفتُ في أَحَدٍ رِكابه

The poem dances to me in wonder

Whenever I spur someone with its meter.

وَهَل أَحَدٌ بِأَمضى فيهِ مني

وَأَنقذ سَهماً أَو أَقوى إِصابه

Is there anyone I surpass in it

Or whose arrow flies straighter than mine?

مَتى أَمدح أَشِد مَجداً أَثيلاً

يَد الأَيام لا تُمضى خَرابه

Whenever I praise one of mighty glory

Time's hand cannot destroy his glory.

وَلَو كُنتُ امرأً بِالذَم يُغرى

هَرقتُ عَلى مُرققه صِنابه

Had I been a man moved by blame

I would have poured upon the slanderer his chastisement.

وَلَكني شَئمتُ الذَم حَتّى

نَضَوت تَكَرُماً عَني ثِيابه

But I blamed slander until

Its garments were cast off from me in disdain.

وَرَبُّ الشعر ما لَم يَأس يَوماً

وَيَجرَح لا تَكون لَهُ مَهابه

By the Lord of poetry! Whoever does not despair

And whose flesh is torn will have no fear.

وَإِذ أَيقَظتَني وَنَدبت مني

إِلى قَصد الوَرى صَعبَ الإِنابه

When you awakened me and summoned me

To seek the path - difficult to turn into -

فَأَنت أَحَق مَسؤولٍ بِقَصدي

وَأَفضلُ مَن قَرَعت عَلَيهِ بابه

You have most right to my seeking

And are most deserving that I knock on your door.

وَقَد صَيَرت ما أَشكو كِتاباً

فَصير ما تَجود بِهِ جَوابه

So make what I complain of a book,

And make your generosity its answer.

وَإِلا فُرضةٌ منكم عَسى أَن

يَقال لَقَد ملا يَحيى جِرابه

Lest it be burdensome to you, it may be said

"Yahya has filled his purse."

مِن الأَوشال لجُّ البَحر طامٍ

وَفَيض السَيل مِن نقط السَحابه

With bounties like the abundant sea

And flood pouring from drops of clouds -

دَعاكَ دُعاء مُضطَرٍ غَريقٍ

وَيَرجو أَنّ دَعَوته مُجابه

The call of one drowning and desperate

Appeals to you, hopeful that you will answer.

إِذا اُنتُخب العَظيم لَكَشف جُلى

وَتَبليغِ المُنى كُنت اِنتِخابه

When the great are chosen to reveal glory

And attain what is sought, you would be the choice.

وَمِن تك سَهمه الماضي وَيَأمل

بِكَ الغَرضَ الَّذي يَهوى أَصابه

From you went forth the arrow that hit its mark before,

And through you he hopes for the aim he desires.

قَد أَظلم بِالحَوادث أُفق سَعدي

فَجلِّ بِشَمس عَونك لي ضَبابه

The horizon of my fortune is darkened by events,

So dispel for me its clouds with your sun.

وَضاقَ بِما طَواه السَعد ذرعاً

فَوَسع بِالَّذي أَرجو جَنابه

Narrow is what fate has folded,

So expand what your side has spread.

وَصِل رحم التَأدب بِالأَماني

فَإِن ذمامه أَدنى قَرابه

Join the tie of refinement to hopes,

For its rein is gentler than kinship.

تآلفنا عَلى نَسب كَريم

فَباب الشعر مِن باب الكِتابه

We are bound by noble lineage,

So the poetry's gate is the writing's gate.

كتبتُ بِهِ عَليل الجسم نَضواً

وَذو الأَسقام قَد يَعدو صَوابه

I wrote it when my body was sickly,

And he who is ill may keep to what is right.

وَمَوقِفُ حشر نَقدِ الشعر صَعب

فَيسّر عِندَ مَوقفه حِسابه

The halt of Judgment Day, poetry's agony, is hard,

So make its reckoning easy when it halts.

وَأَغضاءً عَلَيهِ فَلَيسَ صَقرٌ

يَجُرُّ الصَيد حَيث يَرى عِقابه

Overlook it, for it is no falcon

That drags its prey wherever it sees a perch.