مضيتَ وخلَّفتني للأسى

عديمَ العزاءِ فقيدَ الأُسى

You went away, leaving me to sorrow,

Bereft of solace, bereaved of joy.

أعُدُّ الصديقَ عدوّاً ولا

ألذُّ الجليسَ ولا المجلسا

I count the friend as foe, and find

No sweetness in companion or in place.

أبا القاسمِ اغتصبتْكَ النَّوى

أم اخترتَ مَلْبَسَها ملبسا

O Abul-Kasim, did the parting spirits rob you,

Or did you choose their garb for your attire?

فسِرْتَ وأوحشتَ منْ لم تزلْ

له عند وحْشَتِهِ مُؤنِسا

You went your way, leaving your lonely friend

Forlorn, who once could call on you when lorn.

أخاً بات فيك يناجي المنى

فطوراً لعلَّ وطوراً عسى

A brother cried his wishes day and night

At dawn, perhaps today will bring relief;

وكان الزمانُ به رافقاً

فلمَّا قسَوْتَ عليه قسا

And when time favored him, it turned aside,

And when you hardened, it in turn grew hard.

لئن ظلَّ من وجده مُثْرياً

لقد ظلَّ من صبرِه مُفْلِسا

Who found you generous reaped ample fruit,

Who taxed your patience beggared his hope.

رماهُ الفراقُ على غِرَّةٍ

وكان إذا ما رمى قرْطَسا

Parting has cast me on rejection's shore,

Parting, which does confound the skilled in lore.

وأنطقَ عنه لسان الصِّبا

جوىً مثلُه يُنْطِقُ الأخرسا

The morning breeze for me doth speak your name,

As though it echoed in a calling voice.

أبا القاسمِ المكتَسي للعلا

مُحَبَّرَةً قَلَّ ما تُكْتَسى

O Scribe of learning, lustrous as the day,

How few are garbed as you are with renown!

عليك سلامُ فتىً غادرتْ

نواك ضُحى يومِهِ حِنْدِسا

On you my greetings rest, youth I betrayed,

Whose bright-lit morn eve's shadows overcast.

لو أَنَّ النوى قَبِلَتْ رشوةً

إِذاً لرشونا النَّوى الأنْفُسا

Had we but bribed the spirits with our souls,

Those precious souls we would have offered them!