دعوهُ يبكي لفقد خلانه

وهجر أحبابه وأخدانه

Let him cry for the loss of his friends,

And the departure of his loved ones and companions.

جيرانهُ أوحشوا منازله

فظل يبكي لفقد جيرانه

His neighbors deserted his homes,

So he kept crying for the loss of his neighbors.

أشجانهُ قيّضت له تلفا

فصار يدعى قتيل أشجانه

His branches have gathered for him ruin,

So he came to be called the slain of his branches.

أجفانه أبكت العيون دما

وأنحل الجسم غنج أحضانه

His eyelids cried blood,

And his body melted in his embrace.

سحر بألحاظه ومقلته

وكل عين منه أعنانه

He has enchanted with his glances and his eyelashes,

And every eye of his has hooks.

صفف أصداغه على يقق

تحمل وردا عليه رمّانه

He lined up his cheeks on acacia wood,

Bearing roses upon it scattering their seeds.

شقاوتي لم هويت من تلفي

خلف مواعيده وهجرانه

My wretchedness did not fall in love with him

Behind his promises and estrangement.

ألفاظه مازجت عبارتهُ

فصار إبليسُ بعض أعوانه

His words blended his eloquence,

So Iblis became one of his helpers.

مضارعٌ ماجن يهبهب من

تحت مراعيشه لمجّانه

A cunning magician who confuses from

Under his turban, intoxicated.

وزانه منه في موانسَةٍ

وخائفٌ منه ثقل أوزانه

His weight with him is in fellowship,

And fearful of him, the heaviness of his weights.

من شأنه هجر عاشقيه وما

بذل وصال المحبّ من شانه

It is his habit to estrange his lovers, and he does not

Give the intimacy of a lover his regard.

إذا تمشّى بحسن سمرته

وكسر أعطافه بأردانه

When he walks with the beauty of his conversation,

And sways his lean body in his gown.

قالت لباقاته لعاشقه

قول مبين بحسن تبيانه

His garments said to his lover

A clear saying in the beauty of its expression.

عوّذهُ بالله والقران وما

في طيّ يا سينه ورحمانه

Seek refuge in God, the Quran and whatever

Lies, O chest, and the Most Merciful.

إذا انثنى وانساب يجمعه

ما بين مرويّة وكتّانه

When he bends over and glides to bring together

What is between fennel and cotton.

صاح العزا بالهوى فأسلمهُ

فاستكتم الدمع نفيُ كتمانه

The call of passion surrendered him,

So the tears concealed the denial of concealment.

سألتهُ قبلةً فضَنّ بها

وتاه في كبرهِ وعدوانه

I asked him for a kiss, but he refused

And went astray in his arrogance and aggression.

ثمَ انثنى كالمغيظ من حنقٍ

يعضُّ إبهامه بأسنانه

Then he turned away angrily out of resentment

Biting his thumb with his teeth.

وقال لي يا ضعيف ويلك من

دسّك قل لي يا نكس إخوانه

And he said to me, "Oh you weak one, woe to you

For your audacity, tell me, oh wretched of his brothers."

قلت له يا منيتي وجهك قد

أمرض قلبي بحسن ألوانه

I said to him, "Oh you who hurts me, your face has

Made my heart sick with the beauty of its colors.

وجهك كالبدر قد أضاء لنا

من تحت شعر زها بأفنانه

Your face is like the moon that illuminated for us

From under black hair the sides of his mouth."

وأنت سؤلي من الزمان فجد

عليّ في منّة قبح خلقانه

"And you, ask the days about me, and find

Upon me the ugliness of its creation as a blessing."

أتيته ثمّ قلت ذلك من

سرّ بهذا رمي بخذلانه

I came to him, then I said this is

A secret that exposed me to abandonment."

ثمّ تنصّفت وانتميت إلى

عبّاس في رهطه وفتيانه

Then I was fair and belonged to

Al-‘Abbas in his group and his young men.

وقلت في خالد وعطبته

قولا يوافي بحسن إحسانه

And I spoke about Khalid and his defect

A saying that meets with the beauty of his perfection.

خرّ كذا لي يقال في زمن

مدّ من هجري بطول هجرانه

So bow like this to me, it is said in a time

That stretched my estrangement with prolonged estrangement.

أنا الفتى الأحنف الذي خضعت

له وذلّت خدود أقرانه

I am the young man, the most loyal, who submitted

To him, and the cheeks of his peers humbled themselves.

أقرّ أهل السجون عن ثقة

بفضله في جميع بلدانه

The people of prisons acknowledged, confident

In his virtue in all countries.

نازوك قد مل من عقوبته

فيما مضى من قديم أزمانه

Delicate, who had enough of his punishment

In past times of old eras.

والبازعجيّ فهو يعرفهُ

وذم شيطانه لشيطانه

And al-Bazirji, he knows him,

And blamed his devil for his devil.

مقطب الحاجبين ترعدُ من

خوف دواهيه قلب سجّانه

Frowning, whose heart shakes

From fear of his afflictions, the jailer’s heart.

من ألف فلس وألف ألف عصا

لو أحصيت في أقل ديوانه

From a thousand coins and a thousand thousand sticks

If counted in the least of his registers.

وقفاتُهُ والولاةُ تسألهُ

أثبت من خالد وسيدانه

His stops, and the governors ask him

More steadfast than Khalid and his master.

إذا رأى السبع جاءهُ عجلا

من غير خوف لعرك آذانه

When he saw the lion, he came to him hastily

Without fear of the roar of his ears.

قد صوّر القرمُطيّ صورتهُ

من خوفه في جميع حيطانه

Al-Qaramiti depicted his image

Out of his fear on all his walls.

منجّم شاعرٌ له هممٌ

نيطت ببهرامه وكيوانه

An ingenious poet, his ambitions

Were tied to Bahram and Kayan.

تعليم ما في الكتاب فطنته

من شعره وديوانه

The insight of what is in the book, his poetry

And his compilation.

إن أنت واصلته وفيت إلى

سعادة لا تشوب أحزانه

If you befriend him and fulfill

The happiness that has no sorrows.

فقال يا صاحبي أصله

إذا فرح قلبي يحل بيرانه

So he said, "My friend, his origin,

When my heart rejoices, settles his open country."

وأنفق البيض في مواضعها

صرت له من اقل غلمانه

"And I spend the eggs in their proper places

I became for him the least of his boys."

أخصمني والذي أؤمّلُه

لعفوه في غد وغفرانه

"Argue with me, and the one I hope

For his forgiveness tomorrow and his pardon."

لا يعطف الحبّ بعد جفوته

غير مداوير كيس وزّانه

Love does not pity after his aloofness

Except for the steps of a wise merchant.