أَن دَعاهُ داعي الصِبا فَأَجابَهُ

وَرَمى قَلبَهُ الهَوى فَأَصابَه

When youth's caller summoned him, he answered,

And desire struck his heart, hitting the mark.

عِبتَ ما جاءَهُ وَرُبَّ جَهولٍ

جاءَ ما لا يُعابَ يَوماً فَعابَه

You blame what came to him, though many an ignorant man

Came to what is blameless, and then blamed it.

لَيتَ شِعري غَداةَ يُغدى بِصُعدى

أَيُّ شَيءٍ مِن الرَبابِ أَرابَه

Would that I knew, tomorrow when he ascends to Saud,

What thing from bliss has delighted him!

أَهُوَ الجِدُّ مِن صَريمَةِ عَزمٍ

أَم هُوَ الهَزلُ في الهَوى وَالدُعابة

Is it seriousness of steely resolve,

Or jesting in love and play?

خَونُ عَينٍ لَم أَحتَسِبهُ وَقَلبٍ

لَم أَخَف يَومَ رامَتَينِ اِنقِلابَه

The treachery of an eye I never thought of,

Nor a heart whose fickleness one day I never feared.

باتَ يَخشى عَلى البِعادِ اِجتِنابي

شِقُّ نَفسٍ قَد كُنتُ أَخشى اِجتِنابَه

He lives in fear of my avoidance,

While I feared avoiding him.

صافِحاً عَن خَفِيِّ ذَنبٍ وَقَد صا

فَحتُ في ساعَةِ الوَداعِ خِضابَه

Clasping in pardon a secret sin, though he

Kissed farewell in the hour of parting.

رَشَأٌ إِن أَعادَ كَرَّ بِلَحظٍ

أَشعَلَ القَلبَ مُضنِياً أَو أَذابَه

A lightning glance, if he should repeat it,

Would ignite my heart, kindling or melting it.

لَم يَدَع بَينَنا التَباعُدُ إِلّا

ذَكرَةً أَو زِيارَةً عَن جَنابَه

Separation left between us only

A visiting of him or visit from him.

قَلَّ خَيرُ الإِخوانِ إِلّا مُعَزٍّ

عَن تَناءٍ أَو عائِدٌ مِن صَبابَه

Few good brothers remain but sympathizers

Or ones returning from revelry.

إِن تَسَلني عَن الشَبابِ المُوَلّى

فَهُوَ القارِظُ اِنتَظَرتُ إِيابَه

If you ask about lost youth,

It is the rains whose return I await.

غَضدُ عَيشٍ زالَت غَمامَتُهُ عَنـ

ـني وَمَن بِالغَمامَةِ المُنجابَه

The prime of a life whose clouds have lifted from me,

And from she in the clouds of her litters.

يَغنَمُ المُوجِزُ الهَجومُ عَلى الأَمـ

ـرِ وَيُكدي المُطاوِلُ الهَيابَه

The attacker profits by brevity in the matter,

While the procrastinator wearies from caution.

وَخَليلٍ دَعَوتُهُ لِلمَعالي

وَهِيَ دونَ الطُرّاقِ تَطرُقُ بابَه

And a friend I called to great deeds,

While he is below the Pleiades frequenting his door.

هَمَّ عَن دَعوَتي وَمَن ساءَ سَمعاً

في مَواضي أَمثالِهِم ساءَ جابَه

He was careless of my invitation, and whoever is hard of hearing,

In the meadows of their likes, evil is his answer.

عَجَبٌ مِنهُ يَومَ ذاكَ وَمِنّي

يَتَقَصّى بِالضاحِكِ اِستِغرابَهُ

Wondrous from him that day, and from me,

That he searches out mockery to express wonder.

لا تَخَف عَيلَتي وَتِلكَ القَوافي

بَيتُ مالٍ ما إِن أَخافُ ذَهابَه

Fear not for my household, nor those poems,

For property whose loss I never feared.

كَم عَزيزٍ حَرَبنَ مِن غَيرِ ذُلٍّ

مالَهُ أَو نَزَعنَ عَنهُ ثِيابَه

How many honored were warred on without disgrace,

With their wealth seized or stripped of their clothes!

قَد مَدَحنا إِيوانُ كِسرى وَجِئنا

نَستَشيبُ النُعمى مِن اِبنِ شَوابَه

We praised the hall of Chosroes and we came

To grow old getting scraps from Ibn Shawābah.

بَيتُ فَخرٍ كانَ الغِنى لَو يُوافي

زائِرُ البَيتِ عِندَهُ أَربابَه

A house of pride - if wealth had fulfilled

Its owner, its visitors would have lords.

وَإِذا ما أَلَطَّ بِالحَقِّ قَومٌ

فَمِنَ الحَقِّ أَن تَنوبَ القَرابَه

And when a people alloy the truth,

It behooves kinship to take the place of kinship.

أَنتُم مِنهُم خَلا ما لَبِستُم

بَعدَهُم مِن مُعارِ زِيِّ الكِتابَه

You are of them, apart from what you have put on

After them, of the plumage of the man of script and letters.

هِمَمٌ في السَماءِ تَذهَبُ عُلواً

وَرِباعٌ مَغشِيَّةٌ مُنتابَه

Aspirations in the heavens which rise high,

And wide horizons stretched out.

وَأُناسٌ إِن ضَيَّعَ المَجدُ قَومٌ

حَفِظوا المَجدَ أَن يُضيعوا طِلابَه

And people - if glory leaves some,

They preserve glory lest they leave those who seek it.

ما سَعَوا يَخلُفونَ غَيرَ أَبيهِم

كُلُّ ساعٍ مِنّا يُريدُ نِصابَه

They never sought but to follow their fathers.

Each of us seeking his share.

جَمَعَتهُم أُكرومَةٌ لَم يَجوزوا

مُنتَهاها جَمعَ القِداحِ الرِبابَه

They were brought together by a noble nature they never

Exceeded, gathering the brave lions.

خُلُقٌ مِنهُم تَرَدَّدَ فيهِم

وَلِيَتهُ عِصابَةُ عَن عِصابَه

A manner among them circulated among them,

Would that kinship were a committed band.

كَالحُسامِ الجُرازِ يَبقى عَلى الدَهـ

ـرِ وَيُفنى في كُلِّ عَصرٍ قِرابَه

As the keen sword remains through the ages

And perishes in every age a kinship.

ما تَسامَت أَخطارُ فارِسَ إِلّا

مَلَكوا الفَرعَ مِنهُم وَالذُؤابَه

The dangers of a horseman were never equaled but

They ruled branch and tree.

وَإِذا أَحمَدُ اِستَهَلَّ لِنَيلٍ

أَكثَرَ النَيلَ واهِباً وَأَطابَه

And when Ahmad commenced for a river,

He increased the river, bestowing, enhancing it.

أَرتَجي عِندَهُ فَواضِلَ نُعمى

ما اِرتَجاها الشَمّاخُ عِندَ عَرابَه

I hope for superabundance of bounty from him

Such as the rain-clouds never hoped for from desert-dwellers.

ماثِلٌ في أُرومَةِ المَجدِ تَرضى

مُنكَفاهُ إِلى النَدى وَاِنصِبابَه

He is fixed in the highlands of glory, content

That its margins incline toward dew and rain-clouds.

لَم يُغادِ الظَما وَلَم يَدرِ كَيفَ الرِيـ

ـيُ مَن لَم يُمطَر بِتِلكَ السَحابَه

He who never knew thirst or how to pasture

Will not be sated by those clouds.

إِن جَرى طالِباً نِهايَةَ فَخرٍ

أَحرَزَ السَبقَ فائِتاً أَصحابَه

If he runs seeking the limit of glory,

He will win the race, outstripping his companions.

وَمُضاهٍ لَهُ تَفَنَّنَ حَتّى

فايَضَ البَحرَ زاخِراً بِصُبابَه

And one who rivals him, excelling, until

He makes the sea overflow with its rain torrents.

قُلتُ هَب شَرَّ ما تُعاني وَقَد يُنـ

ـجيكَ مِن شَرِّ مَؤيِدٍ أَن تَهابَه

I said, take on the worst of what you suffer, and

To fear a supporter may save you from it.

وَمِنَ النَقصِ أَن تَشيدَ بِفَضلٍ

نِلتَ مَدخولَهُ وَنالَ لُبابَه

And it is a flaw to build up superior merit

You have access to while he profits by its cream.

إِن تُرِد نَقلَ بَيتِهِ لا يُتابِعـ

ـكَ شَرَوري وَلا يُطاوِعكَ شابَه

If you wish to convey his verse, do not be followed

By my evils, nor obeyed by his youth.

تَيَّمَتهُ عُرى الأُمورِ وَراقَتـ

ـهُ اِستِباءً لِلُبِّهِ وَخِلابَه

He cared for the bonds of affairs, excelling

In pleasing disposition and subtlety.

وَعَلَت أَريَحِيَّةٌ مِنهُ تُدنيـ

ـهِ لِأُنسٍ عَنِ الحِجى وَالمَهابَه

And a gentle dignity from him brings him down

To intimacy, from awe and dread.

سَلِسٌ بِالعَطاءِ حَتّى كَأَنّا

نَبتَغي عِندَهُ حِجارَةَ لابَه

Smooth in bestowal, as if we

Sought pebbles, not bounty, from him.

هُوَ لِلراغِبينَ عُمدَةُ آما

لٍ كَما البَيتُ لِلحَجيجِ مَثابَه

For hopeful pilgrims, he is the pillar of hopes,

As the house is for pilgrims a reward.