هوَ طَيْفُها وطُروقُهُ تَعْليلُ

فمَتى يفي لَكَ والوَفاءُ قَليلُ

Her phantom and her fragrance are excuses

When will fidelity suffice for you, though it is little?

وكأنّ زَوْرَتَهُ تألُّقُ بارِقٍ

هَتَفَتْ بهِ النّكْباءُ وهْيَ بَليلُ

Her visitation gleamed like flashing lightning

Misfortunes cried out to it, though they are insignificant

عَرَضَتْ لوامِعُهُ فطَرَّبَ مُجْدِبٌ

ومَضى فلا عِدَةٌ ولا تَنويلُ

Its radiance dazzled, so an emaciated man reeled

And it passed; neither number nor interpretation remained

أَأُمَيْمَ إنْ أشْبَهْتِهِ في خُلفِهِ

فالخُلْفُ يَقبُحُ وهْوَ منكِ جَميلُ

Do I censure, if her likeness in her absence

Resembles you? Absence is ugly, even coming from you, it is beautiful

ولهُ ابتِسامُكِ عنْ ثُغورٍ لمْ يَكُنْ

يُشْفى بهِنَّ منَ المُحِبِّ غَليلُ

You have her smile against mouths that have not

Healed the anguished lover’s sickness

والقَدُّ منْ مَرَحِ الصِّبا مُتأوِّدٌ

والطَّرْفُ منْ تَرَفِ النّعيمِ عَليلُ

The stature from the meadows of youth is bending

The eye from the leisure of bliss is sick

والخَصْرُ خَفَّ فلا يَزالُ وِشاحُهُ

قَلِقاً وما وارى الإزارُ ثَقيلُ

The waist has thinned, so its wrap still

Flutters, though the loincloth is not heavy

غُضّي منَ الإدْلالِ فهْوَ على النّوى

ما دامَ يَجْلِبُهُ المَلالُ دَليلُ

Be stern with indulgence, for as long as

Boredom attracts it, habit is its guide

ودَعي الوُشاةَ فكُلُّ ما مَحِلوا بِهِ

عِنْدَ اللِّقاءِ يُزيلُهُ التّأْويلُ

Leave the slanderers, for everything they have adorned

Meaning with, interpretation will remove at the meeting

ووَراءَ وَصْلِكُمُ القَصيرِ زَمانُهُ

هَجْرٌ كما شاءَ الغَيورُ طَويلُ

Beyond your brief union, its time

Is separation, however long the jealous one has made it

لو دامَ قَبْلَكمُ اجْتِماعٌ لم يَذُقْ

ألمَ افْتِراقٍ مالِكٌ وعَقيلُ

If a gathering before you had lasted, not tasting

The pain of parting, then Malik and Aqil would not have

ولَئِنْ صَدَدْتِ فَبينَنا مَجهولَةٌ

للرّكْبِ فيها رنّةٌ وعَويلُ

If you turn away, then between us is an unknown path

To travelers on it, there is ringing and wailing

تَسري بعَقْوَتِها الرّياحُ لَواغِباً

ولَهُنّ منْ حَذَرِ الضّلالِ ألِيلُ

The winds blow violently on it, terrified

And for them, avoiding straying is difficult

أنا والمَطيُّ وجِنْحُ لَيلٍ مُظْلِمٍ

ولديَّ إنْ نزَلَ الهَوانُ رَحيلُ

I, the steed, and the wing of a dark night

And for me, if disgrace descends, departure is escape

فالهَجْرُ أرْوَحُ والأماني ضلّةٌ

إنْ حالَ عَهْدٌ أو أرابَ خَليلُ

So separation is more fragrant, and hopes are errors

If an era passes or a friend nears

وتطَرُّفُ القُرَناءِ يَقبُحُ بالفَتى

لكنْ دَواءُ الغادِرِ التّبْديلُ

The alienation of friends is ugly in the youth

But the cure for the betrayer is substitution

هِمَمٌ تنقَّلُ بي فإنْ قَلِقَتْ بها

دارٌ نَضا عَزَماتيَ التّحْويلُ

Thoughts that make me toss - if they have disturbed

A house, determination changes them

وأبى لجِيدي أن يُطوَّقَ مِنَّةً

شَرَفٌ بَناهُ الأنْبِياءُ أثيلُ

And my neck refused to be collared with a favor

Nobility built by prophets, glorious

نطَقَ الزَّبورُ بفَضْلِهِ المَشْهورِ وال

قُرآنُ والتّوراةُ والإنْجيلُ

The Psalms sung of his renowned virtue but neither

The Quran, Torah, nor Bible

منْ مَعْشَرٍ لهُمُ السّماحَةُ شيمَةٌ

والمَجْدُ تِرْبٌ والنّجومُ قَبيلُ

From a people whose high-mindedness is a trait

And glory is soil and the stars a clan

لهُمُ المُعَلّى والرّقيبُ منَ العُلا

وبِهِمْ أفاضَ قِداحَهُنَّ مُجيلُ

Theirs is the Most High and the watcher from the ascension

By them the clouds poured forth their rain, beautiful

فرحَلْتُ والنّفْسُ الأبيّةُ حرّةٌ

والعَزْمُ ماضٍ والحُسامُ صَقيلُ

So I traveled, my soul brisk and free

Resolve resolved and the sword sharp

هلْ يُعْجِزَنّي والبِقاعُ فَسيحَةٌ

في هذه الأرْضِ الفَضاءِ مَقيلُ

Can it incapacitate me, and the horizons are vast

In this spacious earth - my camp settled?

بقَصائِدٍ قَسَتِ الليالي واكْتَسَتْ

مِنْها فرقَّتْ بُكْرَةٌ وأصيلُ

With odes the nights hardened and

From them, dawn and nightfall parted

إنْ شارَفَتْ أرْضاً تطلَّعَ نَحْوَها

أخْرى كأنّ مُقامَها تَحْليلُ

If it neared a land, it looked

To another, as if staying there was dissolving

خَضِلَتْ بدَجْلَةَ والفُراتِ ذُيولُها

فاهْتزَّ منْ طَرَبٍ إلَيْها النّيلُ

It let its trains flow in the Tigris and Euphrates

So the Nile swayed with yearning for it

وأزارَها ابْنَ الدّارِميِّ أبا الندىً ال

إكْرامُ والتّعْظيمُ والتّبْجيلُ

And the son of Darimi, Abu Nadha, girded it

With reverence, glorification, and honor

خَضَبَتْ مَناسِمَها إِلى عَرَصاتِهِ

خُوصٌ نَماها شِدْقمٌ وجَديلُ

It dyed its landmarks to its meadows

With reeds that Sidqim and Jadil grew

ولَكَمْ تَسافَهَتِ البُرونُ لمَطْلَبٍ

وتَناجَتِ الرُّكْبانُ أيْنَ تَميلُ

And how the letter carriers stammered for a quest

And the riders conferred - where does it incline?

فأقَمْنَ حيثُ المَجْدُ أتْلَعُ والندىً

جَمٌّ وظِلُّ المَكْرُماتِ ظَليلُ

So they stayed where glory is fresher and dew

Thicker, and the shade of favors is shady

ورَعَيْنَ حالَيَةَ الرّبيعِ ودونَها

جارٌ بِما تَعِدُ الظّنونُ كَفيلُ

And they pastured on the liveliness of spring, and around it

A neighbor with what hopes promise guarantor

ويُصيبُ أعْقابَ الأمورِ إذا ارْتَأى

عَفْواً وآراءُ الرِّجالِ تَفيلُ

And it attains the outcomes of affairs when it wishes

With pardon, though the opinions of men digress

وإذا الوَغى حَدَرَ الكُماةُ لِثامَهُ

ووَشى بسِرِّ المَشرَفيِّ صَليلُ

And when the fray intensifies, the silent draw their veils

And the noble man’s secret is guarded by the sharp-tongued

ورِماحُهُ تُوِّجْنَ منْ هامِ العِدا

ولخَيْلِهِ بدِمائِهمْ تَنْعيلُ

Its spears crown the zeal of enemies

And its horses in their blood are bridled

نُشِرَتْ رَفارِفُ دِرْعِهِ عنْ ضَيْغَمٍ

يَحْمي الحقيقَةَ والأسِنَّةُ غِيلُ

The scales of its armor were spread from a body

That protects the truth while tongues babble

هيهاتَ أنْ يَلِدَ الزّمانُ نَظيرَهُ

إنَّ الزّمانَ بمِثْلِهِ لَبَخيلُ

Alas! Time will never birth its equal

Time with its like is really stingy

فالضّيْفُ إلا عَنْ نَداهُ مُدَفَّعٌ

والجارُ إلا في ذَراهُ ذَليلُ

So the guest, unless driven away from his gifts

And the neighbor, unless humbled by its harm, is disgraced

نَفَضَتْ إِلى أفْيائِهِ لِمَمَ الرُّبا

أيْدي الرّكائِبِ سَيْرُهُنَّ ذَميلُ

Toward its slopes, the necks of riders hastened their pace

Their journey heavy with the trinkets of affluence

شَرِقَتْ بنَغْمَةِ شاعِرٍ أو زائِرٍ

ودَعا هَديرٌ فاسْتَجابَ صَهيلُ

It shone at the tune of a poet or visitor

And a murmur called, so a whinny responded

مَهْلاً فما دَنَتِ النّجومُ لِطامِعٍ

في نَيْلِهِنَّ وهَلْ إلَيهِ سَبيلُ

Wait! The stars do not come near for an ambitious one

In attaining them - is there a way to them?

وسَعَيْتُ للعَلْياءِ حتّى أيْقَنَتْ

أنّ الأوائِلَ سَعْيُهُمْ تَضْليلُ

And I sought the most high until I was certain

That the early strivers, their effort was misguidance

واهاً لعَصْرِكَ وهْوَ يَقْطُرُ نَضْرَةً

ويَميسُ تحتَ ظِلالِهِ التّأميلُ

Woe to your time, which drips with saplings

And thrives in its shade, hopes

فكأنّهُ وَرْدُ الخُدودِ إذا اكْتَسَتْ

خَجَلاً وكادَ يُذيبُها التّقْبيلُ

It is as if it were the cheeks' roses when modesty covered them

And almost melted them away with kisses

لَولا تأخُّرُهُ وقد أوْقَرْتَهُ

كَرَماً لنَمَّ بفَضْلِهِ التّنْزيلُ

If not for its delay - and you have dignified it

Generously - inspiration would have flourished through its grace

أينَ المَدى ولقد بَلَغْتَ منَ العُلا

رُتَباً تَرُدُّ الطّرْفَ وهْوَ كَليلُ

Where is the distance, when you have reached the highest

Ranks, at which sight turns away, though it is tired

وتَقابَلَتْ غاياتُها فتَماثَلَتْ

حتّى تعَذّرَ بَينَها التفضيلُ

Their utmost limits have met and equaled

Until preferring one over the other became difficult