لواعِجُ الحبِّ أُخْفيها وأُبْديها

والدّمْعُ يَنشُرُ أسراري وأطْويها

The pangs of love I hide and disclose

And tears reveal my secrets though I fold them

ولَوْعَةٌ كَشَباةِ الرُّمْحِ يُطفِئُها

تَجَلُّدي وأُوارُ الشّوْقِ يُذْكيها

A burning like a spearhead he quenches

My endurance, and the flames of yearning he kindles

إحدى كِنانَةَ حلّتْ سَفْحَ كاظِمةٍ

غَداةَ سالَ بظُعْنِ الحيِّ واديها

The doe of Kinaana came down the slope of Kazima

In the morning, wandering in the living valley

فلَسْتُ أدري أمِنْ دَمْعٍ أُرَقْرِقُهُ

أم مِنْ مَباسِمها ما في تَراقِيها

So I don’t know if it’s from tears that I shed

Or from her smile what’s in its loftiness

ذَكَرْتُ بالرَّمْلِ منْ حُزْوى رَوادِفَها

والعينُ تَمْرَحُ عَبرى في مَغانيها

I remembered in the sand dunes the cronies of her hospitality

While the eye frolics shedding tears in its songs

بحيث تُرْشَحُ أمُّ الخِشْفِ واحِدَها

على مَذانِبَ تَرْعى في مَحانيها

Until the mother of coquetry is perfumed

On the sides that graze in its pastures

دارٌ على عَذَباتِ الجِزْعِ ناحِلةٌ

تُميتُها الرّيحُ والأمطارُ تُحييها

A house on the moans of agony, pouring down

The wind kills it and the rain gives it life

حَيَّيْتُها وجُفونُ العينِ مُترَعَةٌ

بأدمُعٍ رَسَبَتْ فيها مآقيها

I greeted it while the eyelids were flooded

With tears that poured in it their tribulations

وقَلَّ للدارِ مني مَدْمَعٌ هَطِلٌ

وعَبْرَةٌ ظَلْتُ في رُدني أواريها

And for the house came from me a pouring tear

And a sobbing that remained in me concealing it

فقد نَضَوْتُ بها الأيّامَ ناضِرَةً

تُغْني عنِ السَّحَرِ الأعلى لَياليها

For I spent in it days fresh and thriving

Sufficing over the sublime the nights in their infinity

أزْمانَ أخْطِرُ في بُرْدي هَوًى وَصِباً

بلِمّةٍ يُعجِبُ الحَسْناءَ داجيها

Eras I risk in my infatuation, ardently in love

With a glance that captivates the beautiful, alluring her

فانْجابَ لَيلُ شَبابٍ كنتُ آلَفُهُ

إذ لاحَ صُبْحُ مَشيبي في حَواشيها

So the night of my youth that I was familiar with emerged

When dawned the grayness of my old age in its outskirts

يا سَرْحَةَ القاعِ رَوّاكِ الحَيا غَدَقاً

منْ ديمَةٍ هَطَلَتْ وُطْفاً عَزاليها

O plateau’s expanse, the alive watered you abundantly

From a cloud that poured habitually its showers

زُرْناكِ والظِّلُّ ألْمى فاسْتُريبَ بِنا

ولم يُنِخْ عندَكِ الأنْضاءَ حاديها

We visited you and the shadow was insipid so we were disappointed

And none relaxed in your company to guide them

ومَسْرَحُ المُهْرَةِ الدّهْماءِ مُكْتَهِلٌ

لو كانَ بالرّوضَةِ الغنّاءِ راعيها

And the theater of the dusky doe is laden

If the meadow had a shepherd herding it

لوَيْتُ عنهُ هِناني وهْيَ تَجْمَحُ بي

والبيضُ مُرْتَعِداتٌ في غَواشيها

I wish I could distract her from it while she winks at me

And the white orbs quiver in their sockets

مُهْرَ الفَزارِيِّ غُضَّ الطّرْفَ عن نُغَبٍ

يُرْوي بِها إبِلَ العَبْسيِّ ساقيها

The bridle of the excellent steed ignore the driving

That waters with it the camels of Al-Absi their waterer

فقد نَمَتْكَ جِيادٌ لا تُلِمُّ بها

حتى تَرى السُّمْرَ مُحْمَرّاً عَواليها

For thoroughbreds carried you not blaming them

Until you see the brown red in its athletics

كأنّ آذانَها الأقْلامُ جاريَةً

بِما نَبا السّيْفُ عنهُ في مَجاريها

As if their ears the calamus flows

With what the sword informed about in its channels

منها الندىً والرّدى فالمُعْتَفونَ رأَوْا

أرْزاقَهُمْ مَعَ آجالِ العِدا فيها

From it wishes and consent so the chosen ones saw

Their livelihood with the terms of time in it

بكَفِّ أرْوَعَ لم يَطْمَحْ لغايَتِهِ

ثَواقِبُ الشُّهْبِ في أعلى مساريها

With a palm not aspired to its peak

The tails of comets in its highest orbit

يُمْطي ذُرا الشّرَفِ العاديِّ همّتَهُ

مُلْقًى على الأمَدِ الأقصى مَراسيها

He walks slowly the motifs of glory accustomed his zeal

Casting over the farthest extent its milestones

ذو سُؤْدَدٍ كأنابيبِ القَنا نَسَقٍ

في نَجْدَةٍ من دِماءِ الصِّيدِ تُرويها

Of evenly proportioned figure as if the arcs of the bow flowing

In help from blood of game to water it

يُزْهى بها الدّهْرُ والأيّامُ مُشْرِقَةٌ

تهُزُّ في ظِلِّهِ أعْطافَها تيها

The days and eras flourish beautified by it

Swaying in its shadow their sides bending over

وعُصْبَةٍ مُلِئَتْ أسْماعُهُمْ كَلِماً

ظَلِلْتُ أخْلُقُها فيهِمْ وأَفْريها

And a band his hearing was filled with speech

I originated it in them and liberally granted it

أُوطَأْتُهُمْ عقِبي إذ فُقْتُهُمْ حَسَباً

بِراحَةٍ يرتَدي بالنُّجْحِ عافيها

I made them follow my footsteps when I surpassed them in merit

With ease wearing success and its wellbeing

فقُلِّدَ السّيْفَ يومَ الرّوعِ طابِعُهُ

وأعْطيَ القَوْسَ عندَ الرّمْيِ باريها

So he was collared with sword on the day of commotion its stamp

And was given bow when shooting its hurler

أرى أُهَيْلَ زماني حاوَلوا رُتَبي

وللنّجومِ ازْوِرارٌ عنْ مَراقيها

I see the dimwits of my time tried my ranks

And for the stars brooches over their orbits

وللصُّقورِ مَدًى لا تَرْتَقي صُعُداً

إليهِ أغرِبةٌ تَهْفو خَوافيها

And for the hawks a range eagles do not rise up

To it strange interlopers wandering their confusion

لولا مَساعيكَ لم أهْدِرْ بقافيَةٍ

يكادُ يَسْتَرْقِصُ الأسْماعَ راويها

Had it not been for your efforts I would have wasted a rhyme

That would almost make perceptive ears recoil

إذا وَسَمْتُ بكَ الأشْعارَ أَصْحَبَ لي

أبِيُّها فيكَ وانْثالَتْ قَوافيها

When I attribute the poems to you, their rhythm fares well with me

And its rhymes pour out in you