1. Where is your youth? It has passed, held in praise.

    Leave the beautiful women if they desire estrangement,

  2. And have severed your bond after the first glance,

    And in this they are aloof toward your talk.

  3. Those days when poetry sprang forth in a gathering,

    Healing your ailment—or you spent the night lovesick.

  4. You hunted among the wild cows of human company, and chose

    A cup of wine resting still among them.

  5. Indeed, I drank their sweet saliva in my thirst,

    And, in ardent longing, their cooling affection.

  6. From every girl entering youth, as though she were

    An idol for a non-Arab, worshipped without end.

  7. She lowers her veil over the beauties of a radiant face,

    Like the full moon, richly adorned with safflower dye and necklaces.

  8. As though she looked with the eyes of a fawn,

    Bewildered, seeing another fawn driven away.

  9. Those watching her wonder when she walks:

    Does she flow, or walk before them with a swaying gait?

  10. She relaxed upon the slender bones beneath her haunches, then swayed,

    Like a bamboo cane, soft and pliant.

  11. As though she had drunk Babylon's choicest wine,

    In the Sahiriyya, mingled with spiced wine.

  12. Temptresses, perfectly formed, inclining toward youthful passion,

    And for whoever hunts her, she becomes a huntress.

  13. Her dyed garments outlined full haunches,

    And a slender, supple waist where the sash sat loose.

  14. Upon their upper chests their adornment seemed

    A drowsy sleeper tugging at a couch to make it bend.

  15. When her face appears to you, you hold it in awe,

    In wonder—and what a neck amid those necklaces!

  16. The place where necklaces sway is enough, for it is

    A throat that beautifies chrysolite and choice pearls.

  17. Even if they turn away, I have fulfilled a longing,

    And lived an age in comfort, singing merrily.

  18. And doll-like, sociable beauties among Muharriq's daughters,

    Dark-eyed, tender in face and skin,

  19. Sent me a gentle message: “Come to us;

    The watcher is absent, and you need fear no threat.”

  20. So I came to them with the messenger leading me,

    Joyful—and what a guide and guided one!

  21. When we met, they said: “Speak, for there has passed

    A year of hoping to see you seated beside us.

  22. Speak—the tale-bearers have fallen asleep; would that they

    Might remain asleep until the Resurrection!”

  23. I said, “Make requests about love”; they asked me for

    Choice tales for amusement, and recited verse.

  24. Until, when the prayer-caller prompted our parting,

    And I saw cheeks in the face of morning,

  25. Tears flowed, and they said: “You have fortitude

    To do without us; we hate to see you so unmoved.”

  26. So now that you have sobered—indeed, if I am seen

    Enamored, their affection will return anew.

  27. Do not disobey one of sound judgment and auspicious counsel,

    And good fortune lies in being rightly guided.

  28. Give pleasure to your friend without wearing down his face,

    And when you are asked, do not be a boulder.

  29. And a young man who guards his possessions yet covets

    What is in your hands when he sees you giving:

  30. I urged him to hold some of his possessions cheap

    One day, and honor himself, so he might become a chief.

  31. He drew near and brightened; then his face grew dark.

    He recognized the bond of loyalty, and it deepened his gloom.

  32. Tell the chiefs of Banu al-Ḥuṣayn that I

    Have garlanded them with my praises and been affectionate.

  33. I loaded their lordly, pampered camel with my poems,

    Swift-running ones, whose chanting delights the reciters.

  34. And when I mention Banu Qutayba,

    My soul begins urging me toward fresh poetry.

  35. Those who defend their protected households with their vigor,

    And benefactors, fathers and grandfathers alike.

  36. A people of noble brotherhood and might,

    Through which they never yield as prey to injustice.

  37. Their hearts reject abasement and baseness,

    And their hands, those seas, have refused to freeze.

  38. Perceptive in kindness, though not perceptive

    In wrongdoing; a friend knows their kindness comes again.

  39. You see upon them freshness and dignity,

    Nobility—and if they rule, you are safe from threats.

  40. Supporting one another in praiseworthy deeds and generosity,

    They do not suppose wealth grants everlasting life.

  41. As though, at the forefront of every peril, they were

    Lions that made battles their festival.

  42. They go forth amid circles of pleasure, and sometimes

    In musk that becomes another skin upon their skins.

  43. And, robed in honor above their clan, they became

    Front-runners, while Iraq's marzbans remained seated.

  44. A kingdom was built for them, its supporting pillar raised high,

    By a forebear who saw the Milky Way as a furrow.

  45. Zealous, his hearing and heart were deafened

    By the clang of iron with which he cleaves iron.

  46. The terrors of battle part around his head,

    A fierce warrior, striking at affairs alone.

  47. How many a cunning, crowned demon

    God has slain through him, each one rebellious!

  48. He led armies from al-Busayra against the foes,

    Until they reached a frontier in China, long-necked steeds:

  49. Horses lightly equipped, and horses unarmored,

    Seasoned steeds that do not struggle against their bits.

  50. They brought Ghawzak down from the strongholds of his might,

    At noon, and his assailant was favored by fortune.

  51. They took Nayzak's women as spoils and left him

    Carrion, and the band of Banu al-Ashall mown down.

  52. They carried their most august lord as a gift,

    Among the Shakiriyya, a captive bound in chains.

  53. They denied Khaqan the grazing-grounds, and he turned back,

    Hastily driving his grazing livestock, terrified.

  54. They made the slain, for cavalry bands and spears,

    After their fortified safety, a frequented watering-place.

  55. Those are noble deeds, not the stand of a shirker

    For whom a banked cloud flashed, so he deftly turned aside.

  56. Abu Qutayba is like him in battle's ordeal:

    He gives lavishly and kills the mighty champion.

  57. A king whose station grieves the enemy,

    He gives lavishly and kills the mighty champion.

  58. Fragments of heads are brought to him when he goes out at dawn,

    And when he returns at evening, a spur to his giving.

  59. Indeed, I say to returning travelers whom I saw

    Behind the frontier outposts, sharing verses:

  60. How is the emir toward a discerning visitor

    Who left his kin and the stranger far away,

  61. Out of affection, seeking bounty, and constant in companionship,

    Striving for a girl who wants ready money?

  62. Her companions refuse, and her family refuse,

    Anything but the highest; they have set him an arduous climb.

Sol 6.1