أرى العَنْقاءَ تَكْبُرُ أن تُصادا

فعانِدْ مَنْ تُطيقُ لهُ عِنادا

I see the proud she-camel disdain being hunted,

So resist whoever you can resist.

وما نَهْنَهَتُ عن طَلَبٍ ولكِنْ

هيَ الأيّامُ لا تُعْطي قِيادا

It was not my sighing that stopped me from seeking,

But it was the days that did not facilitate leading.

فلا تَلُمِ السّوابِقَ والمَطايا

إذا غَرَضٌ من الأغراضِ حادا

So do not blame the excellent camels or horses,

If a goal from the goals has deviated.

لعَلّكَ أنْ تَشُنّ بها مَغاراً

فتُنْجِحَ أو تُجَشّمَها طِرادا

Perhaps you undertake raids against it,

So you either succeed or chase it away scared.

مُقارِعَةً أحِجّتَها العَوالي

مُجَنّبَةً نَواظِرَها الرّقادا

Challenging its excuses gallantly,

While keeping its onlookers awake.

نَلومُ على تَبلّدِها قُلوباً

تُكابِدُ من مَعيشَتِها جِهادا

We blame on their hearts being insensitive

While they endure livelihood with struggle.

إذا ما النّارُ لم تُطْعَمْ ضِراماً

فأوْشِكْ أنْ تَمُرَّ بها رَمادا

When the fire is not fed wood

It is about to turn into ashes.

فظُنّ بسائِرِ الإخْوانِ شَرّاً

ولا تأمَنْ على سِرٍّ فُؤادا

So think ill of the rest of mankind

And do not trust the heart with a secret.

فلو خَبَرَتْهُمُ الجَوزاءُ خُبْري

لَما طَلَعَتْ مَخافَةَ أن تُكادا

If the nightingales had known my secret

They would not have come out fearing being trapped.

تَجَنّبْتُ الأنامَ فلا أُواخي

وزِدْتُ عن العدُوّ فما أُعادى

I avoided people so I do not confide,

And increased from the enemy so I do not fight back.

ولمّا أنْ تَجَهّمَني مُرادي

جَرَيْتُ معَ الزّمانِ كما أرادا

And when my purpose frowned at me,

I went along with time however it wanted.

وهَوَّنْتُ الخُطوبَ عليّ حتى

كأني صِرتُ أمْنحُها الوِدادا

And I made troubles easy on myself until

It was as if I was befriending them.

أَأُنْكِرُها ومَنْبِتُها فؤادي

وكيفَ تُناكِرُ الأرضُ القَتادا

Shall I deny it and the place of its growth is my heart?

And how can the land deny the rainclouds?

فأيّ النّاسِ أجْعَلُهُ صَديقا

وأيّ الأرضِ أسْلُكُهُ ارْتِيادا

So who of mankind shall I make a friend?

And which land shall I tread frequently?

ولو أنّ النّجومَ لديّ مالٌ

نَفَتْ كَفّايَ أكْثرَها انْتِقادا

And if I owned the stars’ wealth,

I would reject most of it being dispraised.

كأني في لِسانِ الدهْرِ لَفْظٌ

تَضَمّنَ منه أغْراضاً بِعادا

It is as if I am a word in the tongue of fate,

Which contained remote meanings.

يُكَرّرُني ليَفَهَمَني رِجالٌ

كما كَرّرْتَ مَعْنىً مُسْتَعادا

Men repeat me so they understand me,

As you repeat a recovered meaning.

ولو أنّي حُبِيتُ الخُلْدَ فَرْداً

لمَا أحبَبْتُ بالخُلْدِ انفِرادا

And if I loved immortality alone,

I would not have loved immortality in isolation.

فلا هَطَلَتْ عَلَيّ ولا بأرْضي

سَحائبُ ليسَ تنْتَظِمُ البِلادا

The clouds did not pour upon me or my land,

That do not cover all the countries equally.

وكم مِن طالِبٍ أمَدي سيَلْقى

دُوَيْنَ مَكانيَ السبْعَ الشّدادا

And how many seekers after me will face

In my place the seven severe ones.

يُؤجِّجُ في شُعاعِ الشمسِ ناراً

ويَقْدَحُ في تَلَهّبِها زِنادا

Kindling in the sun’s rays a fire,

And striking the flint to ignite it.

ويَطْعَنُ في عُلايَ وإنّ شِسْعي

لَيَأنَفُ أن يكونَ له نِجادا

Assailing my height, while my ambition

Disdains to have him as a confidant.

ويُظْهِرُ لي مَوَدّتَهُ مَقالا

ويُبْغِضُني ضَميراً واعْتِقادا

And he shows me his friendship in words,

While hating me in conscience and belief.

فلا وأبيكَ ما أخْشَى انتِقاضاً

ولا وأبيكَ ما أرْجو ازْديادا

No, by your father, I do not fear decline,

No, by your father, I do not hope for increase.

ليَ الشّرَفُ الّذي يَطَأُ الثُريّا

معَ الفَضْلِ الذي بَهَرَ العِبادا

Mine is the nobility that the noble person walks on,

With the excellence that dazzled people.

وكم عَيْنٍ تُؤَمّلُ أن تَراني

وتَفْقِدُ عندَ رؤيَتِيَ السّوادا

And how many eyes hope to see me,

And when they do they miss the Pleiades.

ولو مَلأ السُّهى عَيْنَيْهِ مِنّي

أَبَرَّ على مَدَى زُحَلٍ وزادا

And if he filled his eyes with me,

He would remain for the span of Suhail and more.

أفُلّ نَوائبَ الأيامِ وحْدي

إذا جَمَعَتْ كَتائِبَها احْتِشادا

I spend the adversities of days alone,

When its battalions gather fully.

وقدْ أَثْبَتُّ رِجْلي في رِكابٍ

جَعَلْتُ من الزَّماعِ له بَدَادا

And I have stood firmly in stirrups

Making the bridles for them reins.

إذا أوْطَأتُها قَدَمَيْ سُهَيْلٍ

فلا سُقِيَتْ خُناصِرَةُ العِهادا

When my two feet press down on them,

The girths of encirclement are not watered.

كأنّ ظِماءَهُنّ بناتُ نَعْشٍ

يَرِدْنَ إذا وَرَدنا بِنا الثِّمادا

As if their thirst were the daughters of a bier,

That come to us when we come to them with the water-skin.

ستَعْجَبُ من تَغَشْمُرِها لَيالٍ

تُبارِينا كواكبُها سُهادا

The dark nights will be amazed by their gloom,

With their stars keeping us company in wakefulness.

كأنّ فِجاجَها فَقَدَتْ حَبيباً

فصَيّرَتِ الظّلامَ لها حِدادا

As if their thick darkness lost a beloved,

So it made the darkness its mourning clothes.

وقد كتَبَ الضّريبُ بها سُطوراً

فخِلْتَ الأرضَ لابِسَةً بِجادا

And fate had written on it lines,

So the earth wore blackness.

كأنّ الزِّبْرِقانَ بها أسيرٌ

تُجُنِّبَ لا يُفَكُّ ولا يُفادى

As if Sirius the bright star was a prisoner in it,

In chains neither to be released nor ransomed.

وبعضُ الظاعِنينَ كقَرْنِ شَمْسٍ

يَغيبُ فإنْ أضاء الفَجْرُ عادا

And some of the lost ones like the sun’s horn

Disappear, and if dawn shines they return.

ولكِنّي الشّبابُ إذا تَوَلّى

فجَهْلٌ أنْ تَرومَ له ارْتِدادا

But I am youth, so when it turns away,

Ignorance is to expect its return.

وأحْسَبُ أنّ قَلْبي لو عَصاني

فَعاوَدَ ما وَجَدْتُ له افْتِقادا

And I reckon if my heart disobeyed me,

And returned what I used to miss it.

تذكَّرْتُ البِداوَةَ في أُناسٍ

تَخالُ رَبيعَهُمْ سَنَةً جَمادا

I remembered the uncouthness in people,

Whose spring appears to them a dry year.

يَصيدونَ الفَوَارِسَ كلَّ يومٍ

كما تَتَصَيّدُ الأُسْدُ النِّقادا

They hunt cavaliers every day,

As the lion hunts the impala.

طلَعْتُ عليهِمْ واليوْمُ طِفْلٌ

كأنّ على مَشارِقِهِ جِسادا

I was born to them and the day was a child,

As if its horizons were bodies.

إذا نَزَلَ الضّيوفُ ولم يُريحُوا

كرامَ سَوامِهمْ عَقَروا الجِيادا

When the guests descended and did not rest,

They hamstrung their mounts.

بُناةُ الشِّعْرِ ما أكْفَوْا رَوِيّاً

ولا عَرَفوا الإجازَةَ والسِّنادا

The builders of poetry did not suffice as transmitters,

Nor did they know authorization or chains of transmission.

عَهِدْتُ لأحْسَنِ الحَيّيْنِ وَجْهاً

وأوْهَبِهِمْ طريفاً أو تِلادا

I knew the best of people in face,

And most generous of them in entertainment or newborn child.

وأطْوَلِهِمْ إذا ركِبوا قَناةً

وأرْفَعِهِمْ إذا نزَلوا عِمادا

The tallest of them when they rode the canals,

And most towering when they descended ropes.

فتىً يَهَبُ اللُّجَيْنَ المَحضَ جوداً

ويَدَّخِرُ الحديدَ له عَتادا

A young man who pours forth pure generosity,

And stores iron for his equipment.

ويَلْبَسُ من جُلودِ عِداهُ سِبْتاً

ويَرْفَعُ من رُؤوسِهِمُ النِّضَادا

And he wears from the skins of his enemies a coat of mail,

And carries from their heads as banner poles.

أبَنَّ الغَزْوَ مُكْتَهِلاً وبَدْرا

وعُوّدَ أنْ يَسودَ ولا يُسادا

He scorned raiding as a mature warrior,

And was trained to rule and not be ruled.

جَهولٌ بالمَناسِكِ ليس يَدري

أغَيّاً باتَ يَفْعَلُ أم رَشادا

Ignorant of the rituals, he does not know

Whether he did good or evil in the morning.

طَموحُ السّيفِ لا يخْشَى إلهاً

ولا يَرجو القِيامَةَ والمَعادا

The ambition of his sword does not fear a god,

Nor hopes for resurrection and the return.

ويَغْبِقُ أهْلَهُ لبَنَ الصّفايا

ويَمْنَحُ قَوْتَ مُهْجَتِهِ الجَوادا

He waters his family with the milk of fresh bowls,

And gives the vigor of his sword edge to the steeds.

يَذودُ سَخاؤُهَ الأذْوادَ عنه

ويُحْسِنُ عن حرائِبِهِ الذِّيادا

His generosity wards adversity away from him,

And he treats well those seeking his protection.

يَرُدّ بتُرْسِهِ النّكْباءَ عنّي

ويجْعَلُ دِرْعَهُ تحْتي مِهادا

With his shield he repels setbacks from me,

And makes his coat of mail under me a mattress.

فبِتُّ وإنّما ألْقَى خَيَالاً

كمَنْ يَلْقَى الأسِنّةَ والصِّعادا

So I spent the night while having cast just a mirage,

Like one who casts evil omens and sparks.

وأطْلَسَ مُخْلِقِ السِّرْبالِ يَبْغي

نَوافِلَنا صَلاحاً أو فَسادا

The mocker of my sirwal wanted to take away

Our supererogatory acts for reform or corruption.

كأنّي إذْ نَبَذْتُ له عِصاماً

وَهَبْتُ له المَطِيّةَ والمَزَادا

It was as if when I threw him a whip

And granted him transportation and provision.

وبَالي الجِسْمِ كالذّكَرِ اليَماني

أفُلّ به اليَمانِيَةَ الحِدادا

The problem of my body is like the male ostrich,

I sent away the female ostriches in mourning with it.

طَرَحْتُ له الوَضِينَ فخِلْتُ أني

طرَحْتُ له الحَشِيّةَ والوِسادا

I relinquished to him the saddle cushions, so I thought

I relinquished to him the mattress and pillows.

وَلي نَفْسٌ تَحُلّ بيَ الرّوابي

وتأبَى أنْ تَحُلّ بيَ الوِهادا

And I have a soul that carries me to high places,

And refuses to carry me to low places.

تَمُدّ لتَقْبِضَ القَمَرَينِ كَفّا

وتَحْمِلُ كيْ تَبُذّ النجْمَ زادا

It extends its hand to grasp the two moons,

And carries so it can cast the star as provision.