أَأَراكَ الحَبيبَ خاطِرُ وَهمِ

أَم أَزارَتكَهُ أَضاليلُ حُلمِ

Has a phantom thought of the beloved come upon you,

or have a dream’s delusions made the beloved visit you?

تِلكَ نُعمٌ لَو أَنعَمت بِوِصالٍ

لَشَكَرنا في الوَصلِ إِنعامَ نُعمِ

Nuʿm holds sway—if only she would favor us with union,

we would thank Nuʿm for the blessing of union.

نَسِيَت مَوقِفَ الجِمارِ وَشَخصا

نا كَشَخصٍ أَرمي الجِمارَ وَتَرمي

Has she forgotten our station at the Jamrat, the two of

us like one person—I pelting the pillars, and she pelting too?

إِذ وَدِدنا الحَجيجَ مِن أَجلِ ما تُف

تَنُ فيهِ أَرسالُ عُميٍ وَصُمِّ

when we cherished the pilgrims because among them were

whole companies blind and deaf?

حَيثُ جاهي في الغانِياتِ وَنَعتي

وَمَكاني مِنَ الشَبيبَةِ كَإِسمي

There stood my rank among the maidens, and my renown,

and my place among the young was like my very name.

ظَلَمَتني تَجَنُّباً وَصُدوداً

غَيرَ مُرتاعَةِ الجِنانِ لِظُلمي

She wronged me through avoidance and aversion,

while her heart felt no alarm at the wrong she did me.

وَيَسيرٌ عِندَ القَتولِ إِذا ما

أَثِمَت فِيَّ أَن تَبوءَ بِإِثمي

It comes easily to a deadly beauty, once

she has sinned against me, to shoulder my sin as well.

أَجِدُ النارَ تَستَعارُ مِنَ النا

رِ وَيَنشو مِن سُقمِ عَينَيكِ سُقمي

The fire I find is borrowed from

fire, and from your ailing eyes my ailment grows.

لَعِب ما أَتَيتِ مِن ذَلِكَ الصَد

دِ فَنَرضاهُ أَم صَريمَةُ عَزمِ

Is the rebuff you have dealt me through all this

mere play, to be accepted—or a firm resolve?

وَغَريرٍ يُلقي صُبابَةَ مُزنٍ

آخِرَ اللَيلِ في صُبابَةِ كَرمِ

Many a fresh-faced youth poured a cloud’s last shower

at night’s end into the final draught of wine—

بِتُّ عَن راحَتَيهِ شارِبَ خَمرٍ

وَكَأَنّي لِلسُقمُ شارِبُ سِمِّ

I passed the night drinking wine from his two palms,

as though, for my sickness, I were drinking poison.

وَبِحَقٍّ إِنَّ السُيوفَ لَتَنبو

تارَةً وَالعُيونَ بِاللَحظِ تُدمي

Swords, indeed, sometimes recoil,

while eyes, with a glance, draw blood.

حارَبَتني الأَيّامُ حَتّى لَقَد أَص

بَحَ حَربي مَن كُنتُ أَعتَدُّ سِلمي

The days have warred against me until, indeed, I have become

the enemy of one I once counted my peace.

غَيرَ أَنّي أُدافِعُ الدَهرَ عَنّي

بِإِحتِقاري لِصِرفِهِ المُستَذَمِّ

Yet I fend Time away from myself

by scorning its blameworthy reversals,

وَحَديثي نِفسي بِأَن سَوفَ أُكفى

حَيفَ قاضِيَّ وَاِستِطالَةَ خَصمي

and by telling myself that I shall be spared

my judge’s injustice and my adversary’s overbearing reach.

إِن أَخَسَّت تِلكَ الحَقائِقُ حَظّي

أَجزَلَت هَذِهِ الأَمانِيُّ قِسمي

If realities have made my fortune meager,

these hopes have made my share abundant.

وَإِذا ما أَبى الحَبيبُ مُؤاتا

تي تَبَلَّغتُ بِالخِيالِ المُلِمِّ

And if the beloved refuses to meet me,

I sustain myself with the haunting vision.

مِن عَطاءِ الإِلَهِ بَلَّغتُ نَفسي

صَونَها ثُمَّ مِن عَطاءِ اِبنِ عَمّي

By God’s bounty I have refreshed my soul,

to preserve its honor—and then through my cousin’s bounty.

كُلَّما قُلتُ أَيبَسَ المَحلُ أَرضي

وَلَيتَني غَمامَةٌ مِنهُ تَهمي

Whenever I say, “Drought has parched my land,”

I wish I were a cloud from him, pouring rain.

فَلَهُ مِن مَدائِحي حوكمُهُ الأَو

فى وَلي مِن نَوالِهِ الغَمرِ حُكمي

To him belongs the fullest due of all my praises,

and to me, from his brimming largesse, my rightful share.

كُلُّ مَشهورَةٍ يُؤلَفُ مِنها

بَينَ دُرِّيَّةِ الكَواكِبِ نَظمي

Every celebrated poem in which

my verse is strung among the radiant stars—

أَينَما قامَ مُنشِدٌ لاحَ نَجمٌ

مُتَلالٍ مِنها عَلى إِثرِ نَجمِ

wherever a reciter rises, a star appears,

gleaming among them, one star after another.

وَجَهولٍ رَمى لَدَيهِ مَكاني

قُلتُ أَقصِر ما كُلُّ رامٍ بِمُصمِ

Many an ignorant man belittled my standing before him—

I said, “Desist: not every archer deals a mortal wound.”

وَإِذا ما العَريضُ والى أَذاتي

كانَ خُرطومُهُ خَليقاً بِوَسمي

And when the bulky boor persists in harming me,

his snout is fit to bear my brand.

في بَني الحارِثِ بنِ كَعبِ بنِ عَمرٍ

سَيِّدُ الناسِ بَينَ عُربٍ وَعُجمِ

Among the sons of al-Ḥārith ibn Kaʿb ibn ʿAmr is

the lord of men, Arab and non-Arab alike.

بِأَبي أَنتَ عاتِباً وَقَليلٌ

لَكَ مِنّي أَبي فِداءً وَأُمّي

May my father ransom you, though you reproach me—and how little

would my father be as ransom for you, and my mother too.

لُمتَني أَن رَمَيتُ في غَيرِ مَرمىً

وَعَزيزٌ عَلَيَّ تَضِيّعُ سَهمي

You blamed me for shooting where there was no target,

though wasting my arrow is grievous to me.

إِن أَكُن حُبتُ في سُؤالِ بَخيلٍ

فَبِكَرهي ذاكَ السُؤالُ وَرَغمي

If I was disappointed in asking a miser,

I made that request against my will and despite myself.

وَالَّذي حَطَّني إِلى أَن بَلَغتُ ال

ماءَ ما كانَ مِن تَرَفُّعِ هَمّي

What brought me so low that I reached the

water was no lofty ambition of mine;

وَإِبائي عَلى مُمَلَّكِ أَرضي

ما طَوَلّاهُ مِن عَطائي وَشَكمي

nor was it my proud refusal before the sovereign of my land,

whom neither my giving nor my proud spirit could rival.

ثُمَّ حالَت حالٌ تُكَلِّفُني قِس

مَةَ حَمدي بَينَ الرِجالِ وَذَمّي

Then circumstances changed, forcing upon me a division

of my praise and blame among men,

فَأَرى أَينَ مَوضِعُ الجودِ في القَو

مِ مَكاني وَمَيَّزَ الناسَ عُدمي

so I might see where generosity lies among the people,

where my place is, and how my need distinguishes men.

فَعَلامَ التَشريبُ وَاللَومُ إِذ عِل

مَك فيما أَقولُهُ وَمِثلُ عِلمي

Why all this reproach and blame, when your knowledge

of what I say is equal to my own?

وَكَأَنَّ الإِعراضَ عَنّي قَضاءٌ

فاصِلٌ عَن أَلِيَّةٍ مِنكَ حَتمِ

It is as though your turning away from me were a judgment,

a final decree, sealed by a binding oath from you.

حينَ لا مَلجَأَ سِواكَ أُرَجّي

هِ تَجَهَّمتَني وَلَستَ بِجَهمِ

When I have no refuge but you on whom to set my

hope, you frown upon me—though you are not grim.

وَإِذا ما سَخِطتَ وَالمُخُّ رارٌ

رَقَّ عَن أَن يُطيقَ سُخطَكَ عَظمي

And if you grow angry while the marrow is soft,

my bone grows too frail to bear your anger.

لا تُجاوِز مِقدارَ سَطوِكَ إِن لَم

تَتَطَوَّل بِالصَفحِ مِقدارَ جُرمي

Do not go to the full extent of your power, if you will not

surpass the measure of my offense through pardon.

وَاِحتَرِس مِن ضَياعِ حِلمِكَ في الجَف

وَةِ وَالاِنقِباضِ إِن ضاعَ حِلمي

Guard against squandering your forbearance in estrangement

and withdrawal, if my own patience is lost.