إلى من يُشارُ بهذا العَذَلْ

وقد رحَل القلبُ فيمن رَحلْ

To whom is this love poetry addressed,

When my heart has departed with the one who left?

يَقِلُّ معَ القُرْبِ تَنْويلُكمْ

وصَبْري على النّأيِ منكم أقَلّ

Your affections diminish as you draw near,

While my patience for your absence grows less.

ولم يَغْتِمضْ بالكرَى ناظري

ولكنّه بكَ عنك اشْتغَل

My eyes have not blinked away their tears,

But weep for you and pine in your absence.

أٌراقِبُ طَيفاً منَ الظّاعِنينَ

إذا هجَروا مُستهاماً وصَل

I watch the specters of the vanished beloveds

Who once drew near, now departed and gone.

وفي الحيِّ كُلُّ كليلِ اللِّحاظِ

يُطالِعُنا من خَصاصِ الكِلَل

In the abandoned camp, the dimmed eyes

Of the sleepless lovers gaze through the openings.

يُذيبُ الفؤادَ بتَعْذيبهِ

وأيْسَرُ أمْرِ الهَوى ما قَتل

Their yearning melts my heart with torment,

For the easiest thing in love is what kills.

ويَجْني علَيَّ بإعْراضِه

وماذا على ظالِمٍ لو عَدَل

And my lover wrongs me with his indifference;

What can be done with an unjust oppressor?

وسُودُ الذَّوائبِ بِيضُ الوجو

هِ صُفْرُ التّرائبِ حُمْرُ الحُلَل

The dark-haired gazelles and the white-faced does,

The yellow partridges and red foxes.

أَطعْنا لَهُنّ شفيعَ الصِّبا

ورُحْنا عُصاةً على مَن عَذَل

We appealed to the intercessor of youth,

And journeyed in rebellion against the one who spurned.

إلى أن أَمرَّ على شُرْبها

مِزاجُ الوَداعِ كُؤوسِ القُبَل

Until the wine of farewell mixed

Its draft within the cups of kisses.

فللّهِ ذاكَ الزَّمانُ الحميدُ

ولله تلكَ العُهودُ الأوَل

So praise be to that blessed time,

And praise be to those first covenants.

وقد راعَني أن بدَتْ شهبةٌ

كما أومضَتْ ظُبَةٌ من خِلَل

I was startled when a shooting star appeared,

Like the flash of lightning through an opening.

وليس الشّبابُ سوَى مَركَبٍ

إلى اللّهْوِ ما حَمّلوهُ حَمل

For youth is but a vessel

Bearing us to frivolity and foolishness.

فيا ليت أَطْرَبُ بعدَ المَشيبِ

لِحُسْنِ الغزالِ وطيبِ الغَزل

Would that I might enjoy in old age

The beauty of the gazelle and the grace of courtship!

على ذلك العَيْشِ منّي السَّلامُ

فما كان إلاّ خِضاباً نَصل

I bid farewell to that life,

Which was but mascara tinting the eyelids.

فلا السُّمْرَ أَهْوَى سوى ما يُهَزّ

ولا البِيضَ أَهْوَى سوى ما يُسَلّ

I love neither the dark wine nor the white,

Save what intoxicates or makes sleepy.

وما الفَخْرُ إلاّ لِذ رَونقٍ

نَضاهُ بِيُمْنَى يدَيهِ بَطَل

For pride belongs only to one

Who grasps the pearls in his right hand,

مُعرَّسُ قائمِه في يَدٍ

ومَسْرَى مَضاربِه في أَجَل

Whose tent poles are held in his grip

And whose striking place is predetermined.

يَزيدُ اتّقاداً بهُوجِ الخُطوبِ

ويُطفأ فيها اللّئيمُ الوَكِل

He grows more inflamed by the embers of battle,

While the coward is extinguished within it.

وتَخْبو الذُّبالُ بتلك الّتي

إذا عَصفتْ بالضِّرامِ اشْتَعل

The sparks are smothered by her

Whose fury sets the armor ablaze when she storms.

ولي مَنطِقٌ يَبهَرُ السّامِعينَ

إذا طالَ طابَ وإن قَلَّ دَلّ

My words dazzle the listeners

When prolonged, and persuasive though brief.

وعِرْضٌ يُباخلُ صَيْدَ الملوكِ

فلا يَبذُلونَ ولا يُبْتَذَل

My honor contends with the prey of kings—

I neither grant concession nor accept humiliation.

وصَبْرٌ على نَكَباتِ الزَّمانِ

ورَجْعٌ لقَوْلِ عسى أو لَعَلّ

I have patience for the tribulations of fate,

Hoping, "Perhaps it will be better."

أبا الفَرجِ اسْمَعْ نداءَ امْرئٍ

به ضَرَبوا في هَواكَ المَثَل

Abul-Faraj, hear the call of one

Who has become proverbial in your love.

وأَعرِفْ تَفاصيلَ ما مَرَّ بي

وأَصْغِ إلى بَعْضِ تلك الجُمَل

Recognize the details of what I have endured,

And listen to some of these phrases:

وآخِرُ عَهدي بظِلِّ النّعيمِ

صَفا لي بقُرْبِك ثُمَّ انْتقَل

My last enjoyment in the shade of bliss

Was your company, before it departed.

فودَّعْتُ مَجدَك لا عَن قلىً

وفارَقْتُ فضْلَك لا عَن مَلَل

I bid farewell to your glory, not out of boredom,

And left your excellence, not out of weariness.

وسار بنا زمَنٌ عاثِرٌ

بَطيءُ النُّهوضِ سَريعُ الزَّلَل

Time marched against us, stumbling,

Slow to rise, quick to fall.

وشَنُّوا الحُروبَ على أصفهان

لِيُخْرِجَ منها الأعزَّ الأذلّ

They launched attacks on Isfahan

To drive out the most honored of the disgraced.

وطال مُقامي على بابِها

وأشفقْتُ من هَوْلِ ما قد أظَلّ

My stay at its gates grew long

And I feared the enormity of the darkness that descended.

فعاودْتُ أرْجانَ مثْلَ الّذي

يَفِرُّ إلى غَرَقٍ من بَلل

So I returned to Arjan, like one who flees

Toward drowning from wetness.

وأصبَحْتُ في طَرَفٍ شاغِرٍ

كما لُزَّ في الكِفّةِ المُحْتَبَل

I found myself in a desolate place,

Pressured between two sides of the scale.

وشَدَّ على القَوسِ كلتا يدَيْهِ

فَصَبَّ السِّهامَ عليها زُحَل

He stretched his bow with both hands

And poured arrows upon it mercilessly.

فَضيَّعْتُ ما كان من تالدٍ

ولم أكتَسِبْ طارِفاً في العَمل

I lost what I had inherited

And gained no fleeting enjoyment from life.

وعُدتُ إليكَ أَجوبُ البِلا

دَ أَخبِطُ في سَهْلِها والجَبَل

I returned to you, wandering the distances,

Stumbling on the flat lands and the mountains,

إلى أن أَتيتُك بعْدَ العَناءِ

ولم يَبْقَ منّي إلاَّ الأَقَلّ

Until I came to you after tribulation,

With nothing left of me but the smallest part.

وما لم يَمَلَّ عِنادي الزَّمانُ

فحاشاك من نُصْرَتي أنْ تَمَلّ

Time has not wearied my stubbornness—

Far be it from you to tire of supporting me!

وهانَ على فَلَكٍ دائِرٍ

متى شاءَ إطْلاعَ نَجْمٍ أَفَل

It is easy for the revolving heavens

To bring forth a faded star when they wish.

وكم نقَص البَدرُ من مَرّةٍ

فقابَلَه الشَّمْسُ حتّى كَمَل

How often has the moon waned

Only to be faced by the fullness of the sun!

وكم قُلتَ ثُمّ فَعلْتَ الجميلَ

وما كُلُّ مَن قال قَولاً فعَل

How often you have said, then done good—

Not all who speak words will act them out.

وكم عَضّني زمَنٌ مُزمِنٌ

بنابٍ منَ الخَطْبِ فيه عضَل

How often a prolonged time has bitten me

With strong jaws full of calamities!

فلم يُحْيِ نَفْسي سِوى سابِقٍ

إلى الحَمْدِ وهْو الحكيمُ الأجلّ

None revived my soul except the swift one,

Race to praise—He is the Wise, the Eternal!

شفَى بالعطاءِ مَريضَ الرَّجاءِ

وطِبُّ العُلا فوقَ طِبِّ العِلَل

He healed the sick of hope through gifts,

The excellence of highness above the excellence of healing.

تَدارَكْ بقيّةَ نَفْسٍ قَضَتْ

وأحسِنْ تَلافِيَ هذا الخَلل

Make up for the remainder of a soul that is past,

And kindly compensate for this deficiency.

فأنت كما يَرتَضيهِ العَلاءُ

أخو الحَزْمِ يُبرِمُ مَهْما فتَل

You are as the enlightened desire,

The brother of wisdom, accomplishing whatever is decided.

فتىً طالَما قَلّبتْ كَفُّه

أُمورَ المَمالِك عَقْداً وحَلّ

A youth whose palm

Has long turned the affairs of kingdoms into necklaces and loosened knots.

فما فاتَهُ غَرَضٌ في الأناةِ

ولا نالَه زلَلٌ في العَجَل

No purpose eluded him in deliberation,

No slip befell him in haste.

وأَبيضُ مثْلُ الحُسامِ العَتيقِ

تَداوَلَهُ الدّهرَ أيدي الدُّول

White like an ancient sword,

Passed through the ages by the hands of kings.

يَحوزُ من الدّهرِ حُسْنَ الحديثِ

وكُلُّ جليلٍ سِواهُ جَلل

He possesses from time the beauty of speech,

While all others are lesser than he.

ويَستَرِقُ الرَّوضُ من خُلْقِه

ومن شَرَفِ الشِّعْرِ أن يُنْتَحل

The garden steals its bloom from his character,

And it is the nobility of poetry to be derived from him.

ويَقْتَبِسُ الغَيثُ من جُودِه

وقد يهَبُ المَرْءُ ما لم يُسَل

The rainclouds draw from his generosity,

Though a man may bestow what he was not asked.

رأَى حُسْنَ خُلْقِكَ عَصْرُ الرَّبيعِ

فما يَنْبُتُ الوَرْدُ إلاّ خَجَل

The springtime saw the beauty of your character,

And the roses bloom only in shyness before you.

وحَلَّت عُلاك نُحورَ الزّمانِ

وقد كان أَزْرَى بِهِنَّ العَطَل

Your exaltation settled the necks of the age,

Though they had been most inclined to abandonment.

فلا زِلتَ في زمَنٍ مُسْعِدٍ

ولا زلْتَ في عُمُرٍ مُقْتَبَل

You have remained in a fortunate time,

And you have remained in a promising lifetime.

فما هُزَّ حَدُّك إلاّ مضَى

ولا شِيمَ بَرقُك إلاّ هطَل

None blunted your blade but that it destroyed,

None sparked your lightning but that it struck.