أَرى الشِعبَ فانظر دونَهُ هَل هَوَ الشِعبُ

وَذا السرب فانظُر عِندَهُ هَل هيَ العُرُبُ

I see the people, so look beneath them. Are they really the people?

And this herd, so look among them. Are they really the Arabs?

فأن أَنتَ آنَستَ الأَوانِس فاحتَرِز

لَهُنَّ فَكَم صالَت عَلى اللَتم الصَعب

So if you see the gazelles, then beware

For how often did they pray for the hard adversity?

وَحد عَن مَجال اللَحظِ بِاللحظ إِنَّها

إِذا عاهَدَت غَدرٌ وَإِن سالَمتَ حَربُ

And abstain from the range of glances with a glance, for they are

Treacherous if they make a covenant and warring if they make peace

ظِباءٌ إِذا شمنَ الظُبى مِن جُفونِها

تَعوَّدَ قَبلَ الضَربِ فيها الفَتى الضَربُ

Wolves when the male wolves sniff them from their eyelids

The young men have gotten used to beating them before beating them

صَوارِم وَالألحاظُ مِنها صَوارِم

فَهَذي بِلا وَصل وَهاتَيك ما تَنبو

Swords and their glances are swords

So these have no loyalty and those do not forewarn

وَما دامَ ذاكَ الحيُّ جارٌ لِحَيِّنا

فَدونَ حِجاب القَلبِ ما ضَمَّت الحُجُبُ

And as long as that living one is a neighbor to our living

Then beneath the veil of the heart is what the veils have concealed

أَأَحبابنا في وَصلِكُم وَبِعادكم

رَجاء وَخَوف هام بَينَهُما القَلبُ

Our loved ones, whether in union with you or separation

Hope and fear wandered between which afflicted the heart

وَإِنّي لألتَذُّ التَجَنّيَ في الهَوى

واعتَدُّ للأسعاف ما ساعف القَربُ

And I do enjoy evasion in love

And I see as branches what vicinity has branched

عَلى أَنَّهُ لا يَدخُل البَينُ بَينَنا

فَتَعذيبكم إِلّا بِهِ في الهَوى عَذبُ

That separation does not come between us

Except that your tormenting me with it in love is tormenting

وَقَد كُنتُ أَعطَيتُ الهَوى فَصل مَقودي

وَأَسخَطَت عَذّالي فَهَل رَضي الحِبُّ

And I had given love my bridled passion

And my blamers were angry, so did love approve?

إِلّا أَيهذا الراكِبُ المزمِعُ الَّذي

دَعاهُ المُحَيّا الطَلقُ وَالموضِعُ الرَحبُ

Except O you mounted traveler with purpose

Whom the greeter and open space have called

أَراكَ رَجوتُ العرف مِن حيث تَرتَجي

لَهُ فَهَداكَ العَرف حَيثُ اهتَدى الرَكبُ

I see you desired convention from where you desire it

So convention has guided you to where the riders are guided

عَلى لاحب لَم يَعرِفوا نَصَبَ السُرى

بِحَيث ابن مَحمود حَميد لَهُم نُصُبُ

To a beloved they did not know the difficulty of the journey

To where the son of Mahmoud, their praiseworthy friend, has erected monuments

بِحيث الجَواد الجعد يَستَرفِد النَدى

بِما لَم يَرد معن عَلَيهِ وَلا كَعبُ

To where the curly-haired generous one sips the dew

With what neither Ma'n nor Ka'b have attained

بِحَيث الأَمير السالميُّ الَّذي غَدَت

تَذُلُّ لَهُ صَعَب الجَماجِمِ وَالقُضُبُ

To where the peaceful commander, who the tough skulls

And clubs have submitted to him,

بِحيث النَدى لَو جادَت السُحب جودَهُ

عَلى الأَرضِ لَم يذكر بِساحتِها جدبُ

To where the dew, if the clouds poured his generosity on the land

Drought would not be mentioned in its plains

وَيَحتَقِر الهول الَّذي لَو تَمَثَّلَت

لَهُ الأَرض حَرباً ما ثَنَت شأوه الحَربُ

And he scorns the awe which if embodied as war on the land

Its enormity would not bend the war

فَتىً حَلَّ مِن قَحطان مَجداً تَلألأت

كواكِبُهُ فاشتاقها الشَرقُ وَالغَربُ

A young man descended from Qahtan in glory, whose stars

The east and west have yearned for

وَما طيىء الأَجيال إِلّا صَواعِقٌ

لِذا الفلك الدَوار وَهوَ لَها قُطبُ

And the generations are nothing but lightning

For this revolving dome, of which he is the axis

وَآل أَبي الذَوّادِ حسبك أَنَّهُم

إِذا استَنفَروا حَرب أَو انتَجَعوا سُحُبُ

And the family of Abi Duwad, it suffices you that they

When called to war or when the clouds gather

أَو استرفَدوا أَعطوا أَو استَغفِرواعفوا

أَو استُنهُضوا قاموا أَو استَصرَخوا هَبّوا

Or when they request they give, or when pardoned they pardon

Or when roused they rise, or when called they come hastily

أَكفهم سبط وأَعراضِهِم حمىً

وَأَحلامهم طود وَأَموالهم نَهبُ

Their palms are generous and their honor zealous

And their dreams are lofty and their wealth plunder

وَأوجههم سعد وَلَكن سيوفهم

إِذا امتَشَقَت أَودَت بِسَطوَتِها الغُلُبُ

And their faces joyous, but their swords

When unsheathed destroy with their dominance the defeats

شُموسٌ كأَنَّ الأَرضَ حَيثُ تَدَبَّرَت

لَها أُفُقٌ وَالشَرقُ إِذ شَرَقَت غَربُ

Suns that when they rise on the land

It is as if it has a horizon and the east when they rise is west

لِشبّانِهِم حلم الكهول وَشيبهم

عَلى كُل جَد مُقبِل في العُلى رتبُ

Their youth have the patience of elders and their old have

For every serious matter they undertake exalted ranks

وَتلقى المَعالي وَالسماحُ وَليدَهم

فَيَسمو كَما يَسمو وَيَحبو كَما يَحبو

And loftiness and benevolence are born in them

So they rise as they rise and love as they love

وواسِطة العقد اليَمانيِّ في النَدى

حميد بن مَحمود وَنائِله العَذبُ

And the intermediary of the Yemeni necklace in munificence

Is Hamid son of Mahmoud, and its ripeness is plentiful

أَيا طيباً غَوث العُفاة دعاكَ مَن

مَوارده رتقٌ وَأَيَّامُهُ إِلبُ

O a refuge for the weak that called you, one whose

Resources are scarce and days lean

وَمِن كُل ما قَلَّ امرىء شكر نِعمة

حَداه لِسان بِالثَنا فيكِم رَطبُ

And from everything a man's gratitude for blessings has diminished

Its extent, the tongue with praise of you is moist

تَركتُ بِلادَ الشام رَهن مَكارِمٍ

أَضاءَت لَها تِلكَ السَباسِبُ وَالهضبُ

I left the Levant pledged to glories

Which those meadows and hills have illuminated

فَلَو أَنَّها اسطاعَت أَتَتكَ وَأَهلِها

فَقَد شفها شَوقاً إِلى ربعك الحُبُّ

So if only it could, it would come to you and its people

For yearning for your abode has cracked it from love

وَلَكِنَّها تَطوي مِن الشَوقِ مُهجَة

عَلى زَفَراتٍ ما زَوَت نارَها تَخبو

But it bears from yearning a protected wound

From sighs whose fires have not died out

فَيَقدِم بِالمثنى إِلَيكَ هَدِيَّةً

كَما يَتَهادى الراتِعَ الماءُ وَالعُشبُ

So it sends you in pairs as a gift

As water and vegetation exchange gifts