بَعُدَ المزارُ فأنَّةٌ وتذكُّرُ

بعدَ الخليطِ وعبرةٌ تتحدَّرُ

After the tomb, there is sadness and remembrance

After the mixture and a tear drops down

ومولهٌ بينَ الطلولِ كأنَّهُ

ألِفٌ يخاطبُها وهنَّ الأسطرُ

And a lover between the hills as if

He is conversing with them while they listen

وصبابةٌ بينَ الجوانحِ كلَّما

ذُكِرَ الفراقُ فنارُها تتسعَّرُ

And a youth among the bosoms whenever

Separation is mentioned, his fire rages

لّلهِ قلبي كم يَلِجُّ به الهوى

فيبيتُ يُنجِدُ وجدُه ويُغَوِّرُ

My heart, how much passion dwells within

He spends the night moaning and his fervor intensifies

يرجو الوصالَ وتارةً يخشى النوى

فِالامَ يرجو في الغرامِ ويَحْذَرُ

He hopes for union but sometimes fears estrangement

So he hopes in love but remains cautious

يا قلبُ كم تصبو إلى زمنِ الحمى

وأهيلِه شوقاً وكم تتذكَّرُ

O heart how much you yearn for the days of ardour

And its tents, yearning while remembering

بانوا فقلبكَ حسرةً مِن بعدِما

بانوا على آثارِهمْ يتفطَّرُ

They left so your heart was left broken

After they left, following their traces while breaking

قلبٌ يقولُ لعاذليهِ على الهوى

كُفُّوا فميعادُ السُّلوِّ المحشرُ

A heart that says to those who blame it for passion

Enough, the time of gatherings is the Day of Resurrection

تُصبيكَ حوراءُ العيونِ غضيضةٌ

هيفاءُ مُخْطَفَةٌ وظبيٌ أحورُ

The doe-eyed darling rebukes you

She is delicate, pretty, a graceful gazelle

وكأنَّما هذي مهاةُ أراكةٍ

ترنو بيقفلها وهذا جؤْ ذَرُ

As if she is a free-roaming oryx

Glancing while the other is a mountain gazelle

ظبيٌ أرومُ الوصلَ منه ودونه ال

بيضُ القواضبُ والمشيجُ الأسمرُ

A graceful gazelle, I seek union with it while

The white hands, and the brown lips are forbidden

في حيث لا لمعُ البروقِ وسحبُها

اِلاّ القواضبُ والعجاجُ الأكدرُ

Where there is no lightning flash nor its clouds

Except the white hands and the gloomy brow

وفوارسٌ خاضوا الوغى وغمارَها

في حيث بحرُهمُ الحديدُ الأخضرُ

And knights who plunged into the din and its darkness

Where their sea is the green iron

والخيلُ تمزعُ والأسنَّةُ شُرَّعٌ

والبيضُ تُثلَمُ والقنا تتأطَّرُ

And the horses neigh and the swords are drawn

And the white blades are stained and the spears pierce

فظُبي الصوارمِ لا البروقُ لوامعٌ

في حيث سحبُ حُماتهنَّ العِثيَرُ

So my sword gazelles, not the lightning gives light

Where their cloudy manes are scattered

وغمامةُ الحربِ العَوانِ ملثةٌ

بسوى النصالِ كماتُها لا تُمطّرُ

And the cloud of war fumes

With nothing but the swords, its darkness does not rain

نشقوا رياحينَ الرماحِ حماسةً

فكأنَّما فيهنَّ مسكٌ أذفرُ

They tore through the fragrant breeze of spears eagerly

As if musk is embedded in them

مِن كلِّ فارسِ مَعرَكٍ يردُ الردى

اِلْفاً ويُطربُه الثناءُ فَيُنْشُرُ

With every horseman of battle who defends his people

And is delighted by praise so he spreads it

ونجائبٍ كلفنُهنَّ إلى الحمى

شوقاً تظلَّمَ منه مَرْتٌ أزورُ

And the women who yearned for them to the battle

A longing that blackened from it a bright complexion

أنضيتُ فيه الناعجاتِ فِانْ وفَتْ

كَفلَتْ تلاقينا العتاقُ الضمَّرُ

I gathered them, so if we meet

Our long-awaited reunion will be fulfilling

طمعاً بِعَوْدِ زمانِ أيامِ اللِّوى

ومُحَجِّرٍ سُقيَ الّلوى ومُحَجِّرُ

Hoping for the return of the days of passion

And a preserved and preserved enclosure

لا الظاعنونَ عنِ العقيقِ إلى الحمى

رجعوا ولا قلبي المعنَّى يَصبِرُ

Neither those who deviate from passion to the battle

Returned, nor can my weary heart be patient

تَخِذَ النزوعَ إلى الأحبَّةِ دَيْدَناً

فغدا وجامحُ شوقِه لا يَقصُرُ

It has made a habit of yearning for the loved ones

So it became restless and its fervor does not wane

لامَ العواذلُ في الغرامِ فما ارعوى

وجدي واِنْ جَنفَوا عليَّ فأكثروا

Do not blame me for my passion so if they wronged me

And increased their blame

سِيّانِ عندي بعدَما احتنكَ الهوى

وسَطا الغرامُأطولوا أم قصَّروا

It's all the same to me after passion

Befell me whether they lengthened or shortened

ولربَّ يومٍ للودَاعِ شَهِدتُه

حيرانَ تعترفُ الدموعُ وأُنكرُ

And how many days of farewell I witnessed

Perplexed, tears confess but I deny

كشفَ الفراقُ مِنَ الحياءِ قِناعَهُ

فطَفِقتُ لا أخشى ولا أتسَّترُ

Separation removed the mask of shyness

So I began to fear nothing and cease concealing

في موقفٍ ما فيه إلا أنفسٌ

ذابتْ فَسمَّوها دموعاً تَفطُرُ

In a stance with nothing but souls

That melted, so they called it falling tears

لا العذلُ يملكُ صبوتي فيردُّها

جبراً ومثلُ صبابتي لا تُجبَرُ

Neither can the blamer rein in my passion and force it back

Nor can the like of my fervor be coerced

كلاّ ولا وجدي القديمُ بمنتهٍ

عمَّنْ يُؤنَّبُ في هواه ويُزجَرُ

Never! And my old passion is not with regret

From he who is reproached for his love and rebuked

كلاّ ولا وِردُ الوصالِ وبردُه

حاشاه بعدَ صفائهِ يتكدَّرُ

Never! And the flowers of union and its nectar

Are too pure after its clarity to be muddied

ومدلَّهٍ أمستْ وشاةُ دموعِه

عنه تُحدِّثُ بالهوى وتُخبِّرُ

And a downpour from his tearful clouds

Talks to me of passion and informs me

وغدا تنفُّسُه يَنْمُّ بكلِّ ما

يُخفيهِ مِن سرِّ الغرامِ ويُظهِرُ

And his breath has come to subtly signify everything

He hides of the secret of passion and reveals

وتغيَّرتْ تلكَ الطلولُ وأهلُها

بعدَ النوى وهواه لا يتغيَّرُ

And those hills and their people changed

After estrangement while his passion does not change

هطلتْ سحابةُ دمعِه فيها فما

حَفَلَتْ وقد بَخِلَ السحابُ الممطرُ

The cloud of his tears poured on them but

They did not care while the rain-giving clouds were stingy

تُصبيهِ أغصانُ القدودِ موائلاً

ويشوقُه وردُ الخدودِ الأحمرُ

The branches of the curled-up hair tempt him

And the redness of the cheeks inflames him

ياليلُ طلتَ فِانْ تناقصَ بعدما

أفرطتَ صبري فالحنينُ موفَّرُ

O night you were long so decrease now that

You have exhausted my patience and yearning abounds

طمحٌ يزيدُ وأضلعٌ تَلْظَى هوًى

وصبابةٌ تقوى وصبرٌ يُقهَرُ

An ambition that increases and ribs that burn with love

And fervor that strengthens and patience that collapses

كم بتُّ بالليلِ الطويلِ مروَّعاً

وأخو السلوِّ ينامُ فيه وأسهرُ

How many nights I spent frightened in the long night

While the friend of seclusion sleeps but I stay up

زمنٌ عذيرايَ الصبابةُ والصِّبا

فيه ومغلوبُ الصبابةِ يُعذَرُ

A time when my passion and youth can be excused

And the overwhelmed by passion is pardoned

مَنْ لي وكافورُ المشيبِ مُنَوَّرٌ

لو دامَ مِن ليلِ الشبابِ العنبرُ

Where is the camphor of grey hair illuminated

If the ambergris of the night of youth lasted

ياأيُّها الشعراءُ هل مِن لا قطٍ

دُرّاً يسودُ به فهذا الجوهرُ

O poets do you have unmatched

Pearls with which this jewel can be adorned

وقفَ اختياركمُ عليه فما لَهُ

مُتَقَدَّمٌ عنه ولا متأخَّرُ

Your selection has focused on it for nothing

Precedes it or comes after it

هذا هو الشِّعرُ الذي لو أنَّه

ماءٌ لقالَ الناسُهذا الكوثرُ

This is the poetry which if it were

Water, people would say this is Al-Kawthar

ولو انَّه خُطَبٌ أرتِّبُ لفظَها

جُمعيَّةً لصبا اليها المنبرُ

And if it were a speech I would arrange its words

As an assembly so the minbar pours into it

عُرُبُ القصائدِ ما غدونَ شوارداً

وغدا النويُّ بهنَّ وهو معطَّرُ

The best of poems did not wander astray

And the composer became fragrant because of them

يزددنَ حسناً ما ترنَّمَ منشدٌ

بنسيبهنَّ وما تَكُرُّ الأعصرُ

They increase in beauty whenever a singer

Chants with their metre and the times recur

عزَّتْ على خطّا بهنَّ وكلُّ مَنْ

يستامهنَّ مطوَّقٌ ومسوَّرُ

They became too lofty for anyone to vie with them

And everyone who hears them has a halo and is honoured

مِن كلِّ قافيةٍ إذا غضغضتَها

عُبَّ الكلامُ كما تُعَبُّ الأبحرُ

From every rhyme when you shake it off

Speech becomes disturbed like the plentiful seas

عذراءَ بكرٍ في القريضِ غريبةٍ

بسوى النفوسِ كلامُها لا يُمهَرُ

An unsullied virgin in creation, a strange wonder

With nothing but the souls, her words cannot be learned

ما كنتُ أرضى أن يكون خليلَها

كسرى أنوشِرْوانَ والاِسكندَرُ

I would not be satisfied if her beloved were

Khosrow or Alexander