أَأَنكَرُ وَالمَجدُ عُنوانِيَه

وَمَخبُرَتي عِندَ أَقرانِيَه

Shall I deny my glory, known to my peers?

While others are known without any marks,

وَيُعرَفُ غَيري بِلا ميسَمٍ

مُبينٍ وَلا غُرَّةٍ ضاحِيَه

Or features that give light.

Curse this land that fooled me,

أَلا قاتَلَ اللَهُ هَذا الأَنامَ

وَقاتَلَ ظَنّي وَآمالِيَه

And my hopes into which it blew.

Time favours its slips,

وَدَهراً يُمَوِّلُ زَلّاتِهِ

وَلا يَدخَرُ العُدمَ إِلّا لِيَه

And stores perdition, just for me.

When equalled in anguish, it repeats the bitterness,

إِذا ما تَماثَلتُ مِن غَصَّةٍ

أَعادَ المِرارَ فَسَقّانِيَه

And makes me drink from its cup again.

If only my share of this age would end its blows on me!

فَيا لَيتَ حَظِّيَ مِن ذا الزَما

نِ رَدُّ نَوائِبِهِ الجارِيَه

An age whose youth surpassed the keenest orators.

I asked one who lived through life

زَمانٌ عَدا العَيُّ أَبناءَهُ

فَأَفصَحُ مِن ناطِقٍ راغِيَه

And tore apart my peers - where is that pliant youth?

Where are the white days of my life?

سُؤالاً فَهَل يُخبِرَن سالِفٌ

مِنَ العَيشِ قَطَّعَ أَقرانِيَه

Fate walked between me and demise,

Changing my state in the darkness.

أَلا أَينَ ذاكَ الشَبابُ الرَطي

بُ أَم أَينَ لي بيضُ أَيّامِيَه

I looked - and alas for her mother! -

A look at the white in my temple,

مَشى الدَهرُ بَيني وَبَينَ النَعي

مِ ظُلماً وَغَيَّرَ مِن حالِيَه

They say it invites youth, but I say it mourns it.

People have broken the rope of loyalty,

نَظَرتُ وَوَيلَ اُمِّها نَظرَةً

بِبَيضاءَ في عارِضي بادِيَه

And set their hearts on deceit and betrayal.

I count, in this age, my friend as my first enemy,

يَقولونَ داعِيَةٌ لِلشَبابِ

فَقُلتُ وَلَكِنَّها ناعِيَه

And those closest to me harm me most,

As do those near me, more than all people.

أَلا قَطَعَ الناسُ حَبلَ الوَفاء

وَأُولِعَ بِالغَدرِ خُلّانِيَه

How much shall I curb my resolve?

How long will the sheath eat away my sword?

وَصِرتُ أُعَدِّدُ في ذا الزَمان

صَديقِيَ أَوَّلَ أَعدائِيَه

By God, if my resolve had any power,

You'd hear of me wandering the land,

أَضَرُّ الأَنامِ لِيَ الأَقرَبون

وَأَعدى الوَرى لِيَ جيرانِيَه

Changing the state of all people.

I have become the prey of disasters -

إِلى كَم أُخَفِّضُ مِن عَزمَتي

وَكَم يَأكُلُ العَضبُ أَغمادِيَه

There is no shelter but in me.

My two friends - the darkness of night,

فَلِلَّهِ عَزمِيَ لَو أَنَّهُ

عَلى قَدرِ عَزمِيَ سُلطانِيَه

And the desert's thirst lead my steeds.

I set forth from the blood of war,

سَتَسمَعُ بي شارِداً في البِلاد

لِأَمرٍ أُغَيِّرُ إِنسانِيَه

And the sparks of clashing swords.

My arrows rattle on the necks

وَقَد أَغتَدي غَرَضَ النائِبا

تِ لا يُتَّقى الرَوعُ إِلّا بِيَه

Of the hillocks and lofty dunes.

Each endless day my pillars shake,

نَديما جَذيمَةَ لي في البِلاد

نَديمانِ وَالظُلمَةُ الداجِيَه

Groaning with the pain of separation.

At the yellow pools, the color of molten gold in the sand,

عَليقُ جِيادِيَ شَمُّ النَسي

مِ وَالظِمءُ سائِقُ أَذوادِيَه

I arrived before the tribes.

By God, my journey and my provisions!

دُفِعنَ فَمِن مُقلَةٍ بِالدُمو

عِ رَيّا وَمِن مُهجَةٍ صادِيَه

The darkness leaned away and the dawn appeared

Like a blonde wrapped in new robes.

يُطِرنَ سَوابِكَ جَعدِ اللُغام

عَلى القورِ وَالقُلَلِ السامِيَه

I see a darkness the men avoid,

Surrounded by towering sand dunes.

وَفي كُلِّ يَومٍ بِلا غايَةٍ

تُقَعقِعُ لِلبَينِ أَعمادِيَه

I will hurl myself into its terrors -

Either glory or perdition.

وَأَزرَقِ ماءٍ كَلَونِ الزُجا

جِ بِالرَملِ جُمَّتُهُ طامِيَه

I sleep satisfied in disgrace,

While my glory is stripped bare.

سَبَقتُ إِلَيهِ وُفودَ القَطا

فَلِلَّهِ سَيري وَإِغذاذِيَه

I herd the cattle without consulting

A creator or tribes to lead me astray.

وَقَد مالَ جُلُّ الدُجى وَالصَباح

كَشَقراءَ في جُدُدٍ عادِيَه

And I make do without gifts

Though death comes without meeting me.

أَرى غَمرَةً يَتَّقيها الرَجا

لُ مَحفوفَةً بِالقَنا طاغِيَه

I praised in verse and for reward,

My writings were accepted as poems.

سَأَلقى بِنَفسِيَ أَهوالَها

فَإِمّا العَلاءُ أَوِ الداهِيَه

So I declared blame until I left

Ugly gashes staining his honour.

أَنوماً أَلَذُّ عَلى ذِلَّةٍ

وَيَعرى مِنَ الذُلِّ أَضدادِيَه

Yet I did not satirize him in my rhymes,

But only the meter I employed.

وَأَرعى المُنى دونَ أَن أَستَشير

قَناً خالِقاً وَظُبىً فارِيَه

Would that these words could speak

To one with hearing ears!

وَأَعزَلَ ناءٍ عَنِ المَكرُمات

يَرى المَوتَ مِن دونِ لُقيانِيَه

Do not call hope misguided,

Sometimes the guide goes astray.

مَدَحتُ فَكانَ جَزاءَ المَديح

قَبولُ نِظامي وَأَشعارِيَه

The overbold may recoil,

As the bloody hand draws back.

فَصَرَّحتُ بِالذَمِّ حَتّى تَرَك

تُ شَنعاءَ مِن عِرضِهِ دامِيَه

وَلَم أَهجُهُ بِهِجائي لَهُ

وَلَكِن هَجَوتُ بِهِ القافِيَه

أَلا ما أُفَيصِحَ هَذا الكَلام

لَوَ اَنَّ لَهُ أُذُناً واعِيَه

فَلا يُذَمَمِ الأَمَلُ المُستَغِرُ

أَلا رُبَّما ضَلَّتِ الهادِيَه

وَقَد يَنكُلُ المُستَغيرُ الشُجا

عُ حيناً وَتُخطي اليَدُ الدامِيَه