تَحَرَّشَ الطَّرْفُ بَيْنَ الجِدّ واللَّعِبِ
أَفْنَى المَدَامِعَ بَيْنَ الحُزْنِ والطَّرَبِ
My eyes roamed between seriousness and playfulness
And shed tears between sadness and joy
إلى مَتَى أَنا أَدْعو كُلَّ مُقْتَربٍ
دَاني المَزارِ وأَبْكِي كُلَّ مُغْتَرِبِ
How long will I call out to every passerby
At my beloved's tomb and cry for every absent one
وَكَمْ أُرَدِّدُ في أَرْضِ الحِمَى قَدَمِي
تَرَدُّد الشكِّ بَيْنَ الصّدْقِ وَالكَذِبِ
How often do I tread in the land of yearning
Hesitating between truth and lies
لَوْ أَنكَرتْني بُيوتُ الحيِّ لاعْتَرفَتْ
مَواطىءُ العِيس لي في رَبْعِها اليَبَبِ
If the houses of the neighborhood disowned me
The traces in its open plains would recognize me
كأنَّني لم أُعَرِّسْ في مَضارِبها
ولم أَحُطَّ بِهَا رَحْلي ولا قَتَبي
As if I never wed in its dwellings
Nor pitched my tent or rested in it
ولم أغازِلْ فتاةَ الحيِّ مائِسةً
في رَوْضِها بين ذَاكَ الحَلْيِ والذَّهَبِ
Nor flirted with a lovelorn girl
In its meadows amidst that jewelry and gold
تُبْدِي النّفارَ دَلالاً وَهْيَ آنِسةٌ
يا حُسْنَ مَعْنَى الرِّضَا في صُورةِ الغَضَبِ
Showing coyness while being sociable
O, the beauty of consent in the face of anger
لَيْتَ اللّيالي الَّتي أولتْ بَشاشتُها
إن لَمْ تُدِمْ هِبة اللّذاتِ لم تَهَبِ
If only the nights that gifted me their cheerfulness
Did not take away the gift of pleasures if they did not last
ما بالهَا غلّبت حُزْني على فَرَحي
وَألْقتِ الحدّ بَيْنَ النّجْحِ والطَّلَبِ
Why did they make my sorrow overwhelm my joy
And put an end between success and pursuit
ما اخْتَصَّ بِي حادِثٌ مِنْهَا فأغْبَنُها
كَذاكَ شِيمَتُها في كُلّ ذِي أَدَبِ
Nothing singled me out among them and made me forget them
Such is their way with every person of finesse
وَقائِل والمطايا قَدْ أَخدّ بِها
سَيْر الدليلِ بِجدٍ غَيْر ذِي لَعِبِ
A speaker said while the camels were being loaded
"Guide the caravan seriously, not playfully"
حَتامٍ تُنْضِي وتُفْني العيسُ قُلْتُ لَهُ
نَيْلُ المناصِب مَوْقُوفٌ على النَّصَبِ
To Hatim who spends and finishes provisions I said
"Attaining high positions depends on enduring difficulties"
ما لي وللشّعراءِ المُنْكِري شَرَفي
وَفَوْقُ دُرِّهم ما تَحْتَ مُخْشَلبي
What business do I have with poets who deny my nobility
While above their worth is what is under my rags
إن غِبْتُ عَنْهُمْ تَباهوا في قصائِدهمْ
بِغَيْبِة الشمسِ تَبْدُو زِينَةُ الشهُبِ
If I am absent from them they boast in their poems
Of the sun's absence so the stars' beauty appears
