أَمِنْكَ البرقُ إذ يسري

وَعِيرُ الليلِ مَوقُوفَهْ

Does the lightning frighten you, when it moves on

And the caravan of night is held back

كليلاً مثل ما تَطْر

فُ عينٌ جدُّ مَطْروفه

Like a night, as you let down

An intensely raining cloud

قلاصاً أَلَّفَتْهُ المز

ن إذ أَزْمَعْنَ تأليفه

I composed rhyming lines

When I decided to compose them

سطوراً كسطور الق

لم استوفيتَ تَحْريفَه

Like lines of writing

Whose distortion I exhausted

كأنْ قضبانُ تبرٍ في

نواحي الجوِّ مَرْصُوفَه

As if rods of willow in

The regions of air are arranged

وللمشعوفِ نفسٌ ب

وميضِ البرقِ مَشْعُوفَه

And the one with flickering light has a soul

Enraptured by the lightning’s flashes

ألا يا عرِّفي للص

بِّ إِن حاولتِ تعريفه

No! O you who would describe the dawn

If you tried describing it

فما أَبْعَدَ صرفي هم

ةً في اللهوِ مصروفه

How far my care is driven

To playfulness and frivolity

وكائنْ عَنَّف الدهرُ

فما استَشْعَرْتُ تَعْنيفَه

And though time has wronged me

I did not feel its oppression

قدي من دمعكِ المذرو

فِ لا كفكفتِ مَذْرُوفَه

My tears that flow

You did not stop their outpouring

أَإِنْ لاحتْ برأسي غُ

رةٌ للشَّيْبِ معروفَه

If a sign of old age appeared on my head

Which is known to grey hair

كأنْ ما لاح منها قط

نةٌ في الرأسِ مَنْدُوفه

It was as if whatever appeared on it

Was a patch of greyness stuffed in the head

عطفتِ من شباةٍ لم

تكنْ من قبلُ مَعْطُوفَه

You showed kindness from a youth

That was not kind before

وما إِلْف الفتى من شي

مةٍ ليستْ بمألوفَه

And the boy's getting used to something

Not customary, how remote!

وما أَبعدَتِ التوب

ةُ والصَّبوةُ تسويفَه

How far you postponed repentance

And evaded its undertaking!

عذيري مِن مَخُوف العذ

ل لا أَرهَبُ تخويفه

My excuse for fearing disgrace

I do not exaggerate its intimidation

ورعيي غِرَّةَ السِّربِ

يراعي غيدُهُ هيفَهْ

And my chastity keeps the honor

Of a clan that protects its sanctity

فمهما خفّف الجؤجُ

ؤَ أو حاولَ تَخْفيفَه

However much the drinker lightened up

Or tried to minimize it

تَسَرَّى الزِفُّ عن مكنو

نةٍ بالزِفِّ مَحفوفَه

The swaying gait flowed from an intoxicated one

Enveloped in swaying gait

وساقٍ قد كَفَتهُ حُم

رةُ الكأسِ تطاريفه

And a leg that reddish wine disabled

Twisting its twists

حوى التتريف حتى ل

شكا عطفاهُ تَتَريفه

It contained tottering until the shoulder joints

Almost disjointed from the twisting

فلاقانا وكفُّ الصب

حِ دونَ الليل مَكفوفه

We met at dawn, and the palm trees

At night were shrouded

فخلنا كأسَهُ من ور

دتَيْ خَدَّيه مَقطوفه

So we left its cup made

From your rosy cheeks plucked

وروضٍ أَبدَعَتْ تنمي

قَهُ المُزنُ وتَفويفَه

And a garden the vine dresser fashioned

And increased its irrigation

تدانت فَوقه متأ

قَةُ الأطباءِ مصفوفه

Above it the Pleiades inclined

Arranged in rows

فأضحكنَ الأقاحي عن

ثغورٍ غير مَرشوفه

Whereupon it made the gum plants smile

With mouths not yet watered

إذا ألَّفَ شذراً أح

كَم الناظمُ تأليفه

When the composer produces a subtle verse

And accomplishes its composition

عكفنا منهُ في أوط

فَ فيه الوحشُ مَعكوفه

We lurk in the wilderness in it

Wherein beasts lie hidden

بخاظٍ يتظنَّى مت

نَهُ الناظرُ زُحْلُوفَه

With a gurgle its observer supposes

Is its interior and hollow

مُمَرٍّ ترتضي تَحْني

بَهُ العينُ وتجويفَه

A grouse you desire its cooing

And the eye penetrates its depths

إذا استُقْبِلَ هَيْقٌ و

إذا استُعْرِضَ سُرْعُوفَه

When facing it is timid

And sideways overbold

يَرَى بالسَّوطِ رَقْشَاءَ

على الأقرابِ مَلْفُوفَه

It sees the whip marked with stains

Wrapped on the relatives

كخذروفِ الوليد اعت

ورتْ كَفَّاه خُذْرُوفه

Like Al-Walid's rough palms that fighting

Roughened his palms

ومنّي كلّ ملهوفٍ

على الحُضرِ ومَلهوفه

And I am the longing of every lovesick one

For the dwellings and the beloved

ترى صورتَه مخلو

سةَ الجُثْمانِ مَخطوفه

You see its incorporeal image

With a body snatched away

كأنْ أُظفورُه في الحُضْ

رِ إذ يَطعنُ غُضروفه

As if its claws in close combat

Are tearing its ribs

سنانٌ لم يُضِع تذلي

قَهُ القَينُ وتأنيفه

Teeth that did not neglect to file them

The whetstone and their arrangement

إذا أَنحى على الوحش

فمَجؤوفٌ ومَجؤوفه

If it turned on the beasts

It is terrifying and is terrified

لأسرع ما كفانا عَفْ

وُ ذيّالِكَ تَكليفَه

For the quickest that would suffice us the duty

Of serving you and its undertaking

أنا ابن الدهر قد أبلى

بيَ الدهرُ تصاريفه

I am the son of time that made me old

With its various transformations

فما إِن غضَّ من عرضِ

يَ قطميراً ولا فُوقه

So no matter how much it eroded my honor

Neither above nor beneath it

إذا أعسَفني في مط

لبٍ سهَّلْتُ تَعسيفه

When it was harsh to me in a request

I facilitated its coercion

بمن شَرَّفه اللهُ

فقد أحسنَ تَشريفه

By one whom God ennobled

He has perfected his ennoblement

بغيثٍ إِنْ عرى جَدْبٌ

وأمنٍ إن عرت خِيفه

With rain, if drought is bare

And security, if fear is uneasy

سأستكفي أَباطيلَ

زماني وأَراجِيفَه

I will be content with the vanities

Of my time and its nonsense

واستدفعُ جُهْدي بَخْ

سَهُ حظِّي وتَطْفِيفَه

And I will repel its torment with

My share and its lessening

عليَّ بنَ سليمانَ

كريمَ المجدِ غطريفه

Upon me is Ibn Sulayman

Of noble glory and lofty attainment

كرعنا منه في أَبحُ

رِ علمٍ غيرِ منزوفه

We quenched our thirst from him

In a sea of knowledge not depleted

وطالعنا رياضَ العل

م بالآدابِ محفوفه

And we witnessed the gardens of knowledge

Adorned with refinements

وأسرارُ المعاني دو

نها الأستارُ مَكْشُوفَه

And the secrets of meanings without

The veils removed from them

وأعباءُ الضلالاتِ

عن الأفهامِ مَقْذُوفَه

And the burdens of misconceptions

Cast from the minds

به نَاطَتْ عُرى آدا

بها البصرةُ والكوفَه

Through him the ties of its disciplines

Were tied, Basra and Kufa

وَعَنهُ صُنِّفَ العِلْمُ

الذي تَحمدُ تَصْنِيفَه

And from him was categorized the knowledge

You praise its categorization

إلى ما لم أصفْ مِنْ ش

يمٍ بالفضلِ مَوْصُوفَه

To what I did not describe, of attributes

Described with virtue