أطْعتُ النُّهى في نجْدتي وبياني

فأصبح سيفي مُغمداً ولساني

I obeyed the prohibition in my support and eloquence

So my sword became sheathed and my tongue

وداريْتُ حتى قيلَ جُبْناً وربما

غَدا حازمٌ في أمره كجبانِ

And I went around until it was said cowardice and sometimes

A resolute person in his matter becomes cowardly

سجية مُنهي النفس عُذراً وناهض

بأعباءِ صرْفِ الدهر والحَدَثان

It is the nature of the one who prohibits the soul as an excuse and gets up

With the burdens of the vicissitudes of fate and occurrences

يُبيحُ الليالي والرجال تَهامُمي

وفاءً ومنْ لي عندهم بأمانِ

My virtues make the nights and men intimate

Out of loyalty, and who do I have reliability with them

إِذا أصبحت مني سجايا مُهَذَّبٍ

غَدا أملي ذا وقفةٍ وحِرانِ

When my commendable qualities appeared refined

My hopes became hesitant and confused

ويأربَّ عهدٍ حالَ من دون حِفْظه

أذىً ورَدىً في المُلتقي خصمان

And the period of a covenant passed without preserving it

Harm and harmony met in the arena, two adversaries

أبانَ نِفاقَ الحيِّ بعد انْتصارهِ

فلم تُلْفِ منهم صادقاً بمكانِ

After his victory, the alive one showed the hypocrisy

So you do not find a true friend anywhere

جشمتُ خِطار الموت دون وفائهِ

أو الفَقْرَ والحالانِ مُستَويانِ

I have seen the threats of death without his loyalty

Or poverty and the two conditions are equal

وصبرٍ تكادُ الشمُّ من حمل بعضه

تكونُ وهاداً وهي ذاتُ قِنانِ

And patience, some of its burden

Almost causes the tolerant one to collapse and it is of two bowls

نصبت له من رغبة الحمد كاهلاً

نَهوضاً بِعِبءِ المجد ليس بوانِ

I have set up for it from the desire for praise a shoulder

Standing with the burden of glory not weakening

واني وأبناء العراق أولي الغِنى

لمُجتمعا معنىً ومُفتَرقانِ

And I and the people of Iraq, foremost in wealth

United in meaning and separated in source

أسايرهُمْ ابهى حُليّاً وزيْنةً

ونرْجِعُ والحالانِ مُختلفانِ

I walk with them, most adorned and decorated

And we return while the two states are different

إِلى صَفِراتٍ من نعيمٍ خماصُها

تُكاثِرُ منْ نَعْمائهم بِبطانِ

To whistles of bliss, its essence

Increases from their blessings in the abdomen

تُطاردُ حاجاتي اليهم أُبِيَّتي

وتعلو غِناهم همَّتي بِتَغانِ

My needs chase them insistently

And their wealth makes my ambitions covet

إِذا عَطفتْني نحوهُمْ ألمَعيَّةٌ

وفَهْمٌ لَواني جَوْرهم وثَناني

If an intelligence inclined me toward them

And an understanding of their injustice and deviation from me

يودُّون فَضْلي ما كتمتُ مآربي

فانْ بُحْتُ ماتَ الودُّ بالشَّنآنِ

They love my excellence as long as I conceal my motives

So if I express them, affection dies with hatred

ويُصغى له ما لم يكن ذا لُبانَةٍ

فانْ كان لم تُنْصتْ له أذُنانِ

And an ear listens to what is indecent

If it is not decent, it will not listen

و لولا الوزيرُ الزَّينبيُّ رحلْتُها

تناهبُ تُرْبَ البيدِ بالوخَدانِ

And if it weren't for vizier Zainab

It roams the ruins of the desert wasteland

تُباري نعامَ القفر بُعداً عن الأذى

وتطوي عُقابَ الجوِّ بالطَّيرانِ

It competes with the ostrich of the desert in distance from harm

And folds the wings of the air in flight

إِذا ظمئت والوِردُ دانٍ تنكَّبتْ

حِذارَ الثفاتٍ نحوهُم بجِرانِ

When I am thirsty and roses are within reach, it avoids

Approaching them, fearing discord

تَمارحُ اِبَّانَ الفِراقِ مِراحَها

بنشْقِ نسيم الشِّيحِ والعَلَجانِ

It frolics during the time of separation in its meadows

By the breeze of the young tree and tamarisk

ولكنها شُدَّت من البأس والنَّدى

بأروعَ صفوِ العُنصرين هِجانِ

But it was tightened by power and bounty

With the finest elite of the two races

بأبيضَ من عُليا قريشٍ مُؤمَّلٍ

بيومِ نوال أو بيومِ طِعانِ

With the whitest of the high-born Quraish, hopeful

For the day of bestowal or the day of spears

بمُشركِ نفسي بالذي هو واجِدٌ

ولو ساعدتهُ حالةٌ لكَفاني

With my soul associating with Him who is present

Even if a condition assisted it would suffice me

كريمُ السَّجايا لا بغُمْرٍ مُضيعٍ

لحزمٍ ولا بالعاجز المُتَواني

Noble in nature not wasting time

For resolve and not for the hesitant weakling

يُباري مجنَّ الشمس نورٌ بوجهه

ويفْضلُ مُنْهَلَّ الحَيا ببَنانِ

It rivals the fountain of the sun in its light on its face

And surpasses the water of life with clairvoyance

يبيح الدجى والمحْل جوداً ونضرة

وقد سَدِكا وهْناً فَينبلِجانِ

It permits intimacy and refuge generously and prosperity

After they were blocked by weakness so they shine

جريءٌ إِذا الهوْجاءُ غيرُ جريئةٍ

رزينٌ إِذا الأحْكامُ غيرُ رزانِ

Brave when others are not brave

Dignified when judgments are not weighty

يُناطُ قميصاهُ ويٌلْوى رداؤهُ

على عاصفٍ من زعزعٍ وأبانَ

Its shirt is worn out and its cloak is folded

Against a storm of shaking and separation

يرى بتظنِّيه عواقبَ أمْرهِ

فأبْعدُها للألمعيَّةِ دانِ

It sees with its speculation the consequences of its matter

So it avoids them for the enlightened near

إِذا ما استجال الرأي في حل مشكلٍ

فاخبارهُ من صحَّةٍ كَعيانِ

When the opinion becomes manifest in solving a problem

Its information is of proven correctness like sight

يُعلِّم سُمْر الطعن والبيض بأسه

إِذا ما التقى في المأزق الفئتانِ

It teaches the swords of sarcasm and its white blades their might

When the two groups meet in the fray

فيمضي ويجري في النحور وفي الطلى

شَبا غيرِ خَطِّيٍّ وغيرِ يمانِ

So it goes forth and runs in the throats and in the hills

A young man without error and without deviation

وجونٍ من النَّقع المُثارِ دِلاصُه

ولمعُ الظُّبي بًرقانِ يأتلقانِ

And deadly battles whose essence

And the shining of the sword flash

كثيفٍ يُعيد الجوَّ أرضاً صليبةً

لها الجيشُ داحٍ بالطِّرادِ وبانِ

Dense that makes the atmosphere a hard ground

For which the army sprawls with spreading and separation

تشابه فيه وحْشُه وجيادُه

فسِيانِ فرطُ الركض والعَسلان

In it, its ferocity and its steeds resemble

Forgetfulness of running and honey are equal

وزاحمتِ الجُرْد المَذاكي ركابه

فكلُّ زمامٍ عاثرٍ بِعنانٍ

And its charging of learned war horses

So every tight rein stumbles with its bridle

يُظلُّ كُماةً في الدروعِ كأنما

تخُبُّ السَّعالي تحتهم برعانِ

It shades archers under armors as if

The quivers are rattling beneath them with their arrows

مساعيرُ لا يستكرهونَ منيَّةً

إِذا صرَّحتْ في المأزقِ المتَداني

Determined ones who do not dislike death

When it is declared in the narrow strait

أوانسُ بالحرب العَوان نفوسهمْ

كأنَّ رضاعاً بينهم بلِبانِ

Their souls are intimate with war, the closest intimacy

As if they were suckled by it in infancy

أعاروا نسيم اليوم حَرَّ ذُحولهم

فأخْصَرهُ الرمْضاءُ في الجولانِ

They lent the wind today the heat of their cauldrons

So the noon sun shortened it in coursing

وطارت بهم نحو اللقاء عزيمةٌ

تعلّم منها السَّبق كلُّ حِصانِ

And a determination carried them to the encounter

From which racing horses learn precedence

كشفت برأيٍ ذي صوابٍ ونجدةٍ

اليك بحمل المجدِ يصطحبانِ

With an opinion of correctness and support you revealed

To you the glory and its accompaniment come together

وهْبت دماء القوم للتَّرب والثَّرى

لأوجُههم عن سابقٍ وسِنانِ

And you granted the people's blood to the soil and the land

While their faces are from a predecessor and a maker

فأبلجُ من عَفْر المصارع أغْبرٌ

وأحْمَرُ من ماء الحناجر قانِ

So from the dust of battlefields a dusty redness appears

And a redness from the water of the throats, intensely red

حوى شرف الدين المعالي وحلَّقت

به همَّةٌ لم تُفْتَرعْ لِمُدانِ

The nobility of religion took the heights and a resolve circled

With it which was not cultivated for anyone submissive

فأصبح مأوى المُسْتجير وثروةَ ال

فقيرِ بِامْحالٍ وجَوْرِ زَمانِ

So it became the refuge of the persecuted and the wealth of

The poor in trial and injustice of time

من المالئي اُفْقِ السماء عشيَّةً

وصُبحاً بنقْعٍ ساطعٍ ودُخانِ

Filling the horizon of the sky in the evening

And in the morning with flowing, radiant smoke

مُوكَّلةٌ في سعيهمْ عَز مَاتُهمْ

بتفريغِ أجْفانٍ ومِلءِ جِفانِ

Appointed in their endeavor, those who died for its dignity

To empty bowels and fill graves

قلوبُ أعاديهمْ تباري بنودهُمْ

إِذا نُهدوا للغزو في الخَفَقانِ

The hearts of its enemies vie with its generosity

When they are invited to invade in the wavering

مصابيحُ ظلماء الدُّجى وأئمَّةُ ال

هُدى ودُعاةٌ قادةٌ لجِنانِ

Lamps of the darkness of night, imams of

Guidance, preachers, leaders of paradise

أتوا بك مُلفى آملٍ يبتغي الغنى

وعِصْمَةَ مذْعورٍ ومنشطَ عانِ

They came to you meeting a hopeful aspiring wealth

And safety of a panic-stricken and active poor

فهُنِّيتَ بالعيدِ الّذي أنت أوَّلٌ

لنا من سرورٍ وهو بعدك ثانِ

So you were congratulated on the feast which you are foremost

For us in happiness and after you second