لا نالَ منكَ فؤادي ما يُرجّيهِ

إنه كَانَ طُولُ التَّنائي عنكَ يُسْلِيهِ

My heart cannot gain from you what it hopes for

As being away from you for so long gives it solace

سَلِ الصبَّابةَ عَنْ جسمي السَّقيم ولا

تَسَلْ سَقامي فإِنّ السُّقم يخفيهِ

Ask the cupbearer about my frail body, but do not

Ask about my sickness, for it hides it

ولا تَسَلْ غَير طرفي عَنْ مَدامِعِهِ

لا تأَخذِ الماءَ إلاّ من مجاريهِ

And do not ask anyone but my eyes about their tears

Take water only from its springs

أشكو إلى اللهِ وجداً ظَلْتُ أَكتُمُهُ

عَنْ عاذِلي ودموع العين تبديه

I complain to God of passion I have kept secret

From the one who blames me as my tears reveal it

وخاطراً قد تمادَى في غوايتِه

وزادَ حَتّى تمادَى في تماديهِ

And a soul that has persisted in its misguidance

And increased until it persisted in its persistence

وصَرَفَ دَهْرٍ أَصَابتني نوائبُهُ

بكلّ سَهْمٍ مِنَ الأَحداث تَبْريهِ

And fate struck me with its calamities

With every arrow of events to nurture it

سُقْياً لِدَهْرٍ مضَى لو كَأنَ سَاعدني

حَظِي لَكُنتُ بِهَذَا الدَّهرِ أَفْدِيْهِ

As sustenance for a past time as if my luck

Supported me, I would have ransomed this time with it

هَذَا الزّمانُ الّذي لاَ كانَ مِنْ زِمَنٍ

ولا سَقَاهُ مِنَ الوسْمِيّ سارِيْهِ

This is an era that was not of eras

And the branded did not water it from its cisterns

ماتَ الْوفاءُ وأَبناء الوفاءِ بهِ

فالْمجْدُ مِنْ بَعْدِهم أَقوتْ مغانيه

Loyalty died and the sons of loyalty in it

So glory after them is weaker than its songs

فأينَ مَنْ يَسْتَحقُّ المدحَ مُبْتَذِلاً

لِلْمالِ فيهِ فيوفِينَا ونُوفيه

Where is one who deserves praise offered to him

For money's sake, so we fulfill it and it fulfills us

لَهْفي عَلَى غُرَّ أَبْياتٍ مَدَحْتُ بها

مَنْ لَوْ هَجوتُ لأرخَصْتُ الْهجا فيهِ

I yearn for worthless verses I praised

One with, who if I lampooned, I would make lampooning him cheap

لَهْفِي عَلَى ثَوبِ عزٍّ نَشْرهُ عَطِرٌ

أَلْبَستُهُ لِشَقَائي غَيرَ أَهْلِيهِ

I yearn for the cloth of glory I donned, its scent dispersed

I clothed my misfortune with it, not one worthy of it

وأُفق نَظْمٍ تذيبُ الصّخر رقّتُهُ

أَطْلَعتُ فيه نجوماً مِنْ معانيهِ

And a horizon of poetry whose softness melts rock

In which I revealed stars from its meanings

حَبّرتُه في بخيلٍ نقشُ دِرْهمِهِ

اللهُ مِن أَعْين السّؤّال يَحْميهِ

I inked it for a miser, the engraving of his dirham

May God protect it from the eyes of beggars

تكادُ تسجدُ للدينار جَبْهَتُهُ

بخلاً ويعبدُه مِن دون بارِيهِ

His forehead almost bows down to the dinar miserly

And worships it besides its Creator

يودّ لو أنّ في آذانهِ صَمَماً

إذا دَعاهُ إلى المعروفِ دَاعيهِ

He wishes he were deaf if a caller

Called him to good, to hear his caller

لو جَاءَه المُصطفى مُسْتَشْفِعاً

بأمينِ الله في دِرهمٍ ما كانَ يُعطيهِ

If the Chosen One came interceding for him

By the Trustworthy of God over a dirham, he would not give it

لا المدحُ يُغْريه بالإِعطا لِسَائِلِهِ

ولا الهِجا عَن الحرمان يُثْنْيهِ

Neither praise tempts him to give his asker

Nor does blame turn him from deprivation

أزْهَى مِنَ الدِيكِ إذْ يمشي عَلَى صَلَفٍ

لَهُ جناحان مِنْ كِبرٍ ومن تِيهِ

Prouder than a rooster walking haughtily

With two wings of arrogance and straying

لا حِلم فيه ولا عَقلٌ ولا أدبٌ

ولا وفاء إلى المعروف يهديه

No forbearance in him, no intellect or manners

No loyalty to guidance leads him

يرومُ شأوَ العُلَى والبخْلُ يُقْعدهُ

كأنَّه طائرٌ قُصَّتْ خوافيْهِ

He aspires to highness while miserliness makes him sit

As if he is a bird whose wings are cut

يَرى التكبَّرِ من أسْنَى مَنَاقبهِ

ويحسَب البُخْلَ مِنْ أَعلَى مَعاليه

He sees arrogance as the epitome of merits

And considers miserliness the height of glories

فليتَ شِعري علَى ما فيه مِن صَلَفٍ

أكانَ مُنْتَظراً لِلْوحْيِ يأتيه

I wonder with all his insolence

Was he expecting revelation to come to him

قَلّدتْهُ لِشقائي في سعادتهِ

عقْداً مِنَ المدحِ قد راقَت لآليهِ

I presented him, for my misfortune in his bliss

A necklace of praise, its beads appealing to him

تودّ شمسُ الضّحى لو أنَها حليَتْ

بهِ وبَدَرُ الدّجى لَو كان يَحكِيهِ

The morning sun wishes it adorned itself with him

And the moon of night wishes it resembled him

مَنْ لِلزّهورِ بأن تحكي شمائِلَهُ

ومَنْ لِزُهْرِ الدَّياجي لَو تُضاهيهِ

Who will tell the flowers to portray his features

And the blossoms to equal him

وقائل لي أتهجوهُ فقُلتُ لَهُ

مَهلاً فإِنَّ هِجائي ليسَ يؤذيهِ

And someone told me to lampoon him, so I said

Gently, my lampooning will not hurt him

إنّي لأتلُو مَسَاويه فَيَحْسبُني

لفرطِ تَغْفيلِه أتلُو مَسَاعيهِ

I recite his equalities yet he reckons me

Due to his deep heedlessness, reciting his equals

قد كانَ مَدحي لَه ذَنباً شَقيتُ بهِ

فَصَار تكفِيرُهُ عَنّي هَجائِيهِ

My praising him was a sin I suffered with

So my lampooning him absolves me

يا هادماً بمَساويه بناء عُلىً

أبُوهُ دونَ ملوكِ الأَرض بانيهِ

O demolisher with his equalities a lofty edifice

Its builder is unmatched among earth's kings

حذار من نارِ فكرٍ أضْرِمَتْ لَهباً

ولا تَقِفْ لِعُبابٍ سَالَ واديه

Beware the fire of a thought whose flames kindled

And do not stand where torrents flooded its valley

فَما نَبَا سيفُ عَزمي حينَ أُعْمِلُهُ

ولا خَبَا زَندُ فِكري حين أُورِيهِ

For neither has the sword of my resolve erred when I wield it

Nor has the flint of my mind missed when I strike it

وما امْتَدحتك أَرْجو منك نيلَ غِنىً

لكِنْ قضاءٌ جرى في الكونِ ماضيهِ

And I did not praise you hoping to gain wealth from you

But fate that flowed in the universe fulfilled it

ولو أردْتُ غناءٌ لاَمْتَدحْتُ فتىً

ينالُ مَادِحُه أَقْصى أمانيه

And if I wanted riches, I would praise a lad

Whose praiser attains the utmost of his hopes