أقولُ لقلب هاجهُ لاعجُ الهوى

بصحراء مرْوٍ واستشاطت بَلابلُهْ

I say to a heart its passion inflamed, desire has maddened it

In a sandy desert where its affliction intensified

لدن غدوةً حالت شطون من النوى

وأقتم نائي الغور تُخشى مراحلهْ

Since an early morning when the spearheads of resolve turned away

And I stayed behind, fearing the stages of its dangerous paths

وضاقت خراسانٌ على معرق الهوى

كما أحرزتْ صيد الفلاةِ حبائلهْ

Khorasan narrowed for me because of the passion of love

As if the booty of the wilderness entangled its ropes

أعِني على فعل التَّصبر أنني

رأيت جميل الصبر يُحمدُ فاعلهْ

Help me to act with patience though I

Saw the beauty of patience praised by its doer

فلما أبى إلا غَراماً وصَبْوةً

أطعت هواكم واستمرت شواغلهْ

So when it insisted on passion and intoxication

I obeyed your love and busied myself with its concerns

وأجريت دمعاَ لو أصاب بسحِّه

رُبى المحل يوماً أنبت العشب هاطلهْ

And I shed a tear, if its downpour were to hit

The abode one day, it would grow green grass

هبوني أمرتُ القلب كتمان حبُكم

فكيف بجسم باح بالوجد ناحله

You ordered me to conceal my love in my heart

How then with a body that discloses anguish on its face?

وكنت أمرت العزم أن يخذل الهوى

وكيف اعتزام المرء والقلب خاذلُه

You commanded my will to abandon desire

How can a man determine when his heart has failed him?

تعلَّقتكم والعمرُ غَضٌّ نباتُهُ

وشرخ شبابي يغلب الحقَّ باطله

I clung to you while the life of youth was still fresh

And my youth was torn, right defeated by wrong

فكيف التِّسلي بعد عشرٍ وأربعٍ

أبى لي وفاءٌ لا تدبُّ مخاتلهْ

How can I be consoled after companionship and forty years

That refused me loyalty, no guile in it

أنا ابنُ مُثير العاطشات نهوضةً

بكل كميٍّ يسبقُ الموتَ بازلُهْ

I am the son of one who roused the thirsty to rise

With every brave one whose death outruns its appointed time

ومُوردها ماءَيْ غديرٍ وأنفُسٍ

مع الصبح حتى أسلمتهُ أصائله

And their watering place is my copious pool and breath

With the dawn until its camels came to it

وكاشف ذيل النقع عن بكر وائلٍ

وقد بَشمَ الشِّلو المعفَّرَ آكلُهْ

And the tail cover of the grazing herd is lifted from the early arrivals

And the gray-haired old man detected its smell

نمتني ملوكٌ من تميم بن خنْدفٍ

كرامٌ إذا ما الغيث أمسكَ وابله

I was raised by kings from Tamim son of Khindif

Nobles, when the rain held back its downpour

غطاريف أقيالٌ كأنَّ أكفَّهمْ

سحاب شتاءٍ أغفلته شمائله

Lofty fortresses as if their palms

Were a winter cloud from which its fringes disappeared

إذا ما احتبوا يوم الخصام حسبتهم

هضاب شرورى راسياتٍ كلاكله

If they were enraged on the day of battle, you would think them

Plateaus of evil, permanent through successive ages

وإن سحبوا خرصانهم لكريهةٍ

تباشر طُيَّارُ المَلا وعواسله

And if they unsheathed their swords for war

Destroyers of evil contact their sharp blades

لهم كلُّ حمراءٍ على مُشْمَخِرةٍ

يشيمُ سناها ابن السبيل وعادله

To them belongs every bay-colored one on a snorting camel

Whose teeth are bared by the wayfarer and one seeking justice

لبوسهُم في السَّلم ريْطٌ معسجد

وفي الحرب زغْفٌ سابغات ذلاذله

Their clothing in peace is a coarse burdah

And in war a doubly wrapped garment

كانَّ رباطَ الخيل حول بُيوتِهم

مُعرَّسُ حيٍّ قد أماطت عقائلهْ

Their horses’ reins around their homes

Were a decorated army that cast off its bonds

ترى كل منَّاعِ الحريم ببأسِه

كأنَّ هدير الراغياتِ مراجله

You see the guardian women terrified by their might

As if the neighing of mares were their cooking pots

نموني ولي ثارٌ أرومُ دِراكَهُ

بأرْعَن تهمي بالدماء مناصله

They raised me, and I have blood vengeance which I hope

To attain with spear thrusts that spill blood

سلوت العلى إن لم أرق علق الظبى

على القاع حتى تستحيل مناهله

I asked for loftiness, lest I walk on pebbles

Until its springs are transformed into meadows

بكل غلام يُنغِضُ العزُّ عِطفهُ

يموت به قبل الجراجِ مُنازله

With every youth whose honor is preserved by his restraint

He dies thereby before reaching his dwellings

وأقتحمُ الحيَّ اللَّقاح بجحفلٍ

تمطَّرُ ما بين البيوتِ صواهله

And I storm the living quarters with a massive army

Whose spears rain between the houses

يلوذُ بعفوي والشَّرى من خلاله

مُرمَّلةٌ تحت الظُّبى وأرامله

The humiliated seek my pardon through it

And the protected widows and their children

دجا عنده ليلٌ من النَّقْع حالكٌ

فسيحُ النواحي والنجوم عوامله

Darkened around him is a night of heavy rain

So the horizons and stars are its containers

وفرَّ القطا الكُدريُّ بعد جُثومهِ

فلا طيرَ إلا جارحٌ ومآكلُهْ

The cowardly raven fled after perching

So no bird remains except predators and their food

فتحمرُّ من بيض السيوف غروبها

وتصفرُّ من حامي الذمار أنامله

At dusk their eggs redden from the swords’ blaze

And their fingers yellow from the firebrands’ flames

فأثوي صريعاً أو تجلَّى عجاجتي

بنصرٍ عن الأمر الذي أنا آمله

So I will lie slain or my power manifests itself

With victory in the matter I hope for

عصيت الصبا حتى استُردَّ معارهُ

وكيف تصابي المرء والشيب شامله

I disobeyed youth until its glory was restored

And how can a man oppose old age that afflicts him?

وأجممت نفسي عن زخارف منظر

يُخاتلني في عفَّتي وأخاتله

I distanced myself from the adornments of appearance

That seduced my chastity and I seduced it

فللغيد هجرٌ مُطْمئنٌ وشاتُه

وللمجد وجدٌ لا تُطاعُ عواذله

So farewell to the love songs and their singers

And devotion has a rapture that its calamities cannot be resisted

كأنَّ ندى وجهي وحر عزيمتي

سُطا شرف الدين الجوادِ ونائله

As if the radiance of my face and the heat of my resolve

Were the honor of noble religion and its attainment

هُمامٌ يخاف الموت شدَّةَ بطشهِ

ويحسده دَرُّ الغَمام وحافلهْ

They are ambitions that fear the violence of death

And the downpour of clouds envy it

أشم تُباري الصبحَ غرةُ وجهه

طروبٌ إذا التفَّت عليه وسائلهْ

The brightness of his face rivals the dawn

A gentle drizzle when it flows over it and its channels

يُلاقي غروب البيض منه مُقحِّمٌ

عزائمه مطرورةٌ ومقاولُهْ

At sunset the whiteness of eggs meets him as he comes

His resolves unleashed and his undertakings

سريع القِرى لا تحمد الكوم ضيفه

ولكنه قد يحمدُ العيسَ واصِلهْ

Swift to visit, the heap of embers does not praise its guest

But he may praise the boughs and one who reaches them

إذا ما سرى نشر الخزامى عشيَّة

تهاداه أرواح الصَّبا وتُناقله

When the Pleiades rise in the evening

The spirits of youth circle and transmit them

على الخرق من فيحاء يجري نسيمها

رقيق الحواشي لطَّفْتهُ أصائله

From Faiha its breeze flows

Gentle in its borders, its branches refine it

أُتيحَ له من تَجْرِ صنعاء حيثما

أناخوا فضيضٌ مفْغماتٌ محاملهْ

From the perfume of Sanaa is made available to him wherever

They halted, so its pouches emit musk

ترنَّح مُسْتافٌ له وتضوَّعتْ

بناتُ المَلا كُثبانه وجراولُه

The civet greets him and the sand ridges heap up

Like its dunes and little hills

فعِرضُ ظهير الملك أطيب نفحةً

وأذكى إذا ما أحسن القول قائلُه

The breadth of the king’s back has the sweetest scent

And is most fragrant when excellent words are spoken

هو الهاطلُ المدرارُ يغينك سيبهُ

إذا الغيث عادي ساحة الحي سائله

He is the downpour, the coursing rain that enriches you if

The rain contends with the dwellings of the living, questioning them

يُرادي عداهُ منه قُنَّة مشرفِ

يُطاول رضوى حلمه ويُثاقله

His enemies confront him with the corner of a noble

That extends the pleasure of his forbearance and weighs him down

تُمرُّ سجاياه إذا سِيمَ سُبَّةً

وتعذب في بذل الوداد شمائله

His qualities flow gently when insulted

And painstakingly generous in affection are his traits

فصيحٌ يَطا وعْرَ المقالة مُسهلاً

يُقرُّ له يوم الجدالِ مُجادله

Eloquent, excelling in speech, fluent

On the day of debate, even his opponent concedes to him

يضيءُ لأمِّ المُشكلاتِ رويُّهُ

فتُرضى فتاويه وتُرضى مسائله

His judgment illuminates the mother of problems

So his legal opinions are approved and his questions

سكينةُ حلمٍ تُفرش الحيَّ بُرده

وسورةُ بأسٍ يختشيه مُصاولهْ

The tranquility of forbearance carpets the living quarters with its coolness

And the verse of power that its resolute ones fear

إذا اللفظةُ العوراءُ ندتْ لسمعهِ

طواها كريمٌ ساحب الذيل رافلهْ

When the shameless word cried out to his hearing

A generous one concealed it, trailing his garment

تشدُّ حُباهُ في النَّديِّ بماجدٍ

فواضلهُ فيَّاضةٌ وفضائلهْ

His generosity ties firmly with glory

So his hospitality is overflowing and his virtues

وأغيدُ ميَّاسٌ بعطْفِه

تُخاف عواديه وتُرجى فواضله

And I bid farewell to a faithful friend, his companionship

Feared in its separation but hoped for in its constancy

يَصفُّ سطورَ النِّقس في مطمئنَّة

كما اصطفَّ للملك المهيب قنابله

He lines up the registers of scores in calmness

As he lined up for battle the king, inspiring awe

كشفت به غمّاً بيومٍ عَصبْصبٍ

وقد فلَّلت حدَّ السيوف معابله

Through him I uncovered a care on a woeful day

When the sword blades were let loose and clashed

أبا حسنٍ هوْلٌ من الفضل باهرٌ

أتاك به مستفحلُ القول بازلُهْ

Abu Hassan, a magnificent feat of merit

Came to you powerfully convincing though young

على حين جورٍ من زمانٍ مُكلِّحِ

كسحبانه يوم التَّفاخر باقلُهْ

At a time of injustice by an era of decay

Like clouds of drizzle on the day of vying

فكن حيث ظنَّ المجد فيك فإنما

تُخبِّرُ عن سحِّ الغَمام مخائله

So be where glory thought of you, for only

Its clouds' downpour tells of its passages