وَأَرضَيتُ فيكَ الحُبَّ وَالحُبُّ جائِرٌ

وَأَغضَبتُ فيكَ العَزمَ وَالعَزمُ ناصِحُ

I was content with love in you, though love is unjust,

And I was angry with determination in you, though determination gives advice.

وَما مَرَّ بي يَومٌ مِنَ الأُنسِ جامِعٌ

وَلا فاتَني يَومٌ عَنِ الوَصلِ جامِحُ

No day of intimacy has passed me by completely gathered,

Nor has any day of separation avoided me completely separated.

وَيا طيبَ ما تُحنَى عَلَيهِ ضَمائِري

مِنَ الوُدِّ لَو أَنَّ الَّذي تَمَّ فاتِحُ

Oh, how good is what my conscience whispers tenderly

Of affection - if only what has passed were begun again -

يَشِفُّ عَلى مُستَجمِعِ اللَيلِ وَجهُهُ

وَما أَوجُهُ الإِحسانِ إِلّا مَصابِحُ

His face would shine in the darkness of the gathered night,

And the best of kindness is nothing but lanterns.

وَعانَدتُ أَيّامي بِيَومِ لِقائِهِ

فَما عُدَّ لَولاهُ مِنَ الدَهرِ صالَحُ

I struggled against my days with the day I would meet him,

So, without him, none of time seemed good.

يَقولونَ لي لِم أَنتَ لِلحُزنِ رازِحُ

فَقُلتُ عَلى القَلبِ الَّذي هُوَ نازِحُ

They say to me "Why are you so downcast?"

So I said "For the heart that has migrated."

وَكَم سُدَّ بابُ الرِزقِ عَنّي فَسُمتُها

أَنامِلَ لِلأَرزاقِ فيها مَفاتِحُ

And how often was the door of livelihood closed to me, so I called them

Fingers, with the means of livelihood being their keys.

كَأَنَّهُمُ لَم يَعلَموا أَنقَلبَهُ

جَريحٌ وَلا أَنَّ العُيونُ جَوارِحُ

It is as if they did not know his situation has changed

And that eyes are wounded.

فَحَمَّلتُهُم ما لا يُطيقُ فُؤادُهُ

فَقَد حُنِيَت مِن ثِقلِهِنَّ الجَوانِحُ

So I blamed them for what their hearts could not bear,

For wings drooped under their weight.

وَما ضَرَّني أَن بالَ في البَحرِ بائِلٌ

وَلا ساءَني أَن ناطَحَ الصَخرَ ناطِحُ

It did not hurt me that the confused babbled in the sea,

Nor did it pain me that the stubborn butted against rocks.

مَدائِحُ لَمّا أَشرَقَ الحَقُّ فَوقَها

تَبَلَّجَ إِنَّ الصِدقَ فيها مَدائِحُ

Eulogies - when the truth shone above them -

Glistened. Indeed, sincerity in them is eulogies.

وَلَولا رُواءٌ لِلرُواةِ لَبِسنَهُ

مِنَ الحَقِّ ما شَكّوا بِأَنِّيَ مازِحُ

Were it not for quenching the thirst of the reciters

They would have worn me out, doubting I joke.

جُزيتَ عَنِ المَعروفِ خَيراً وَ أَهلِهِ

فَإِنَّكَ قَد حَقَّقتَهُ وَهوَ طائِحُ

May you be rewarded well for kindness and its people

For you have realized it while it was fleeing.

أَأَطَمَعُ أَن يَجري عَلى السُّحبِ ساحِبٌ

وَآمُلُ أَن يَأتي عَلى البَحرِ سابِحُ

Do I hope that a cloud will float on clouds?

Or expect that a swimmer will come on the sea?

لَأَصلَحَت مِن حالي وقد كانَ رازِحاً

وَأَعجَزتَ شُكري بَعدَها فَهوَ رازِحُ

My state would have been improved, though it had been downcast,

And my gratitude would have been too feeble thereafter.

عَقائِلُ شُكرٍ أَعقَبَت يَومَ تُجتَلى

وَكَم عَقِمَت بَعدَ الجِلاءِ المَناكِحُ

Signs of gratitude followed the day you were revealed,

And how many wombs were barren after marriage!

فَقُل لِحَبيبِ الشِعرِ إِنَّ صَباحَهُ

وَرى مِنهُ ما تَروي العُصورُ الجَوامِحُ

Say to the beloved poet that his dawn

Sees what destroys violent times.

وَقَد فَنِيَت مِنّا عَلَيهِ المَدائِحُ

وَما فَنِيَت مِنّا عَلَيهِ المَنائِحُ

From us, eulogies have expired for him -

But invectives have not expired from us.

فَمُذ صانَ وَجهي صُنتُ فِكري لِمَدحِهِ

فَوَجهي لَهُ مِن قَبلِ فِكرِيَ مادِحُ

So I chaste guarded my thoughts to eulogize him

For my thoughts praise him through my face.

وَلَم أَنسَ ذاكَ اللُطفَ وَالبَحرُ مُخلِفٌ

وَلا نورَ ذاكَ البِشرِ وَالعَيشُ كالِحُ

I have not forgotten that gentleness though the sea forgets,

Nor the light of that good tiding though life is arid.