قَعَدَ الراضونَ بِالذُلِّ فَقُم
إِنَّما الماضي إِذا هَمَّ عَزَم
The contented sat in humiliation, so arise!
Only the resolute doer accomplishes when he intends.
ما مُقامي غَيرُ مُمضي نِيَّةٍ
دائِباً أَهدُرُ كَالفَحلِ السَدِم
My place is naught but going forth with resolve;
I constantly roar like a ragged old lion.
أَعرِضُ الآمالَ مَشفوفاً بِها
ثُمَّ أَنساها إِذا الخَطبُ أَلَمّ
I turn my hopes aside, obsessed with them,
Then forget them when adversity pains.
طالَ لَبثي سادِراً في غُمَّةٍ
وَقَديماً كُنتُ فَرّاجَ الغُمَم
Long has my stay been, wandering in gloom,
Yet long ago I was the lamp lighter of glooms.
لا أَلومُ الهَمَّ إِن لازَمَني
فَهُمومُ المَرءِ يَبعَثنَ الهِمَم
I do not blame care if it clings to me,
For a man's worries rouse his strength and zeal.
لَستُ بِالواني وَلَكِنّي فَتىً
ظَلَمَتهُ نائِباتٌ فَاِنظَلَم
I am not weak, but a man whom
Misfortunes have wronged, so he is wronged.
وَزَمانٌ شُرَّعٌ أَنيابُهُ
أَبَداً يَعرُقُنا عَرقَ السَلَم
And Time has bared its fangs,
Perennially making us sweat blood.
المَعازيلُ كِرامٌ عِندَهُ
وَالمَناجيبُ كَمَلفوظِ العَجَم
Sinful revels are honorable to it,
And admonitions like gibberish.
خَضَعَ الدَهرُ لَنا ثُمَّ نَبا
وَكَذا الدَهرُ إِذا سافَ عَذَم
Fate humbled itself before us, then rebelled,
Thus is the wont of fate, should it grow harsh.
أَنا مِن أَبنائِهِ في مَعشَرٍ
يَتَواصونَ بِإِخفارِ الذِمَم
I am one of its sons, among a folk
Who plot to subdue lofty souls.
إِن طَواني الغَيبُ عَن أَلحاظِهِم
مَزَقّوا عِرضِيَ تَمزيقَ الأَدَم
If absence has veiled me from their eyes,
They shred my honor like shreds of skin.
لا يُلاقونِيَ إِلّا خائِضاً
أَخطُمُ الأَقوالَ مِنهُم وَأَزُمّ
They meet me only argumentative,
Mouthing insults, and I am muzzled.
إِن تَراني مُطرِقاً عَن سَورَةٍ
كَقُبوعِ الصِلِّ أُغضي وَأُرِمّ
If you see me silent and aloof,
Like cooling embers, I smolder and glow.
فَهُمومي ساعِياتٌ جُهدَها
لَيسَ كُلُّ السَعيِ يَوماً بِالقَدَم
My cares are ever active, their effort
Not every day a forward step.
قَد يُجيبُ العِزُّ مَن أَقعَدَهُ
عَن طِلابِ العِزِّ خَوفٌ وَعَدَم
Glory may answer one it has laid low,
Fear and lack bar seekers of glory.
وَيُجيبُ الطالِبَ المُثري وَقَد
يُدرِكُ الشَأوَ أَخو العَجزِ الهَرِم
Yet the insistent seeker may attain it,
Or one whose vigor rivals the elderly's.
أَبقَتِ الأَيّامُ مِنّي صَعدَةً
تَزبُنُ العاجِمَ عَنها إِن عَجَم
Time has left in me a mettle
That turns back the un-Arabic speaker if he's un-Arabic.
وَإِذا زَعزَعَها الدَهرُ سَمَت
لَدنَةً تَنمي عَلى طولِ القِدَم
And if Fate shakes it, it will grow
Supple, lengthening with the stretches of Time.
لَستَ لِلزَهراءِ إِن لَم تَرَها
كَوُعولِ الهَضبِ يَعجُمنَ اللُجُم
You are no man for the blossoms if you have not seen them
Like the roar of plateau winds confusing the thickets.
تُستَجَنُّ البيدُ مِن فُرسانِها
بَينَ بَغدادٍ إِلى أَرضِ الحَرَم
The land is emptied of its horsemen,
From Baghdad to the sacred precincts.
بِعَجاجٍ يَملَأُ الأُفقَ دُجىً
وَطِعانٍ يَخضُبُ الأَرضَ بِدَم
With neighs filling the horizon with darkness
And spear-thrusts dyeing the earth with blood.
شُرَّعاً تَفتَرُّ عَن أَعناقِها
قُلَلُ القورِ وَغيطانُ الأَكَم
With heads tossing off the summits,
And flanks shaking off the robe's hem.
كَالرَدى أَقدَمَ وَالغَيثُ هَمى
وَالدُجى طَبَّقَ وَالسَيلُ هَجَم
They came like calamity, and the rain poured down,
The darkness gathered, and the torrents rushed.
حامِلاتٍ كُلَّ غَضبانٍ بِهِ
مِن لِمامِ الغَيظِ مَسٌّ وَلَمَم
Bearing every enraged man
With a burning glance and twisted lips.
كَالصُقورِ الغُلبِ أَلحاظُهُمُ
كَالجُذى يَلمَعنَ مِن خَلفِ اللُثَم
Their glances like hungry falcons -
Gleaming behind the visors.
بَدَّدوا ما جَمَعَ البَأسُ لَهُم
بِأَنابيبِ العَوالي في الكَرَم
They demolished what the valiant horde had built
With lofty pillars and generosity.
لَستُ بِالعاذِرِ جَدّي إِن هَوى
وَجُدودي في العُلى أَعلى الأُمَم
I will not offer excuses, ardently in love,
My ancestors the highest of nations.
وَبَناني خُلِقَت أَطرافُها
عَقِباً لِلرُمحِ طَوراً وَالقَلَم
My fingers were created to flank
The spearpoint as well as the pen.
لا يُرى مِثلِيَ إِلّا طالِباً
ذُروَةَ المِنبَرِ أَو قَعرَ الرَجَم
None are seen like me but either seeking
The dais' pinnacle or the pit's depth.
طامِحَ الرَأسِ عَلى أَعوادِهِ
أَو عَلى عالِيَةِ الرُمحِ الأَصَمّ
Aiming at the heads atop its poles,
Or the tall spearshafts' points.
خُطَّةٌ إِمّا عَلاءً أَو رَدىً
مُعجِلي أَن أَقرَعَ السِنَّ النَدَم
A strategy - either glorious or repelled,
My white hairs urging me to regret.
بِن مِنَ الناسِ بِعِزٍّ وَعُلىً
سَتُساويهِم غَداً بَينَ الرِمَم
I was born of men with glory and eminence-
Tomorrow their equals will be rubble.
هَبنِيَ الرُمحَ بِكَفَّي فارِسٍ
بَطَلٍ أَكرَهَهُ حَتّى اِنحَطَم
It brought me the spear in the grip of a horseman,
A hero who forced me until I broke.
هَبنِيَ العَضبَ ذَليقاً حَدُّهُ
ثَلَّمَ البيضَ ضِراباً وَاِنثَلَم
It brought me the supple blade whose edge
Has slit the egg with its blows and split it open.
أَتُراني دونَ مَن رامَ العُلى
في اللَيالي مِنذُ عادٍ وَإِرَم
Can you see me, except as one who sought the heights
On nights that have passed since `Ad and Iram?
وَدَنيٌّ ضارِعٌ عَن أَمرِهِ
أَخَذَ العُربَ بِتيجانِ العَجَم
I am near, contending for my right,
Seizing the Arabs' diadems for myself.
كَم أَبٍ لي جَدَّ في إِحرازِها
يَحرُقُ النابَ عَليها وَاِبنِ عَمّ
How many fathers have I, ancestors who burned
To win it, their sons and nephews!
طَلَبوها فَهَوى بَعضُهُمُ
وَرَمى بَعضٌ إِلَيها فَغَنِم
Some craved it and were abased,
Some aspired to it and triumphed.
صَبَروا فيها عَلى كُلِّ أَذى
وَلَقوا مِن دونِها كُلَّ أَلَم
They were patient under every harm because of it,
And met all agony apart from it.
إِن يَكُن مُلكٌ فَمِثلي نالَهُ
أَو يَكُن حَتفٌ فَإِنّي لَم أُلَم
If it be a kingdom, then one like me has gained it;
If it be death, then I have not felt pain.
إِنَّما يَهلِكُ مِنّي ماجِدٌ
يولِغُ السَيفَ عَراقيبَ النَعَم
Only a death in glory destroys me -
One who reddens the swords' blades with delight.
ناقِصُ الأَموالِ في بَذلِ النَدى
زائِدُ الخَطوِ إِلى ضَربِ القِمَم
Lavish, expending generosities,
Ever rising to the summits' ridge.
نَحنُ قَومٌ قَسَمَ اللَهُ لَنا
بِالرَزايا وَرَضينا بِالقَسَم
We are a people whom God allotted
Humiliations, and we consented to the decree.
إِنَّما قَصَّرَ مِن آجالِنا
أَنَّنا نَأنَفُ مِن مَوتِ الهَرَم
Only our lifespans fell short
Because we disdain to die of old age.
نِصفُ عَيشِ المَرءِ حُلمٌ وَالَّذي
يَعقِلُ العاقِلُ مِنهُ كَالحُلُم
Half a person's life is dream, and the
Reasonable man realizes it's like a dream.
