وَاللَهِ لَولا رِضى الخَليفَةِ ما
أَعطَيتُ ضَيماً عَلَيَّ في شَجَنِ
By God, but for the caliph's approval, I would not
have submitted to injustice against me in sorrow.
وَرُبَّما خيرَ لِاِبنِ آدَمَ في ال
كُرهِ وَشَقَّ الهَوى عَلى البَدَنِ
And sometimes the best is chosen for the son of Adam in
what he dislikes, while desire weighs upon the body.
فَاِشرَب عَلى أُبنَةِ الزَمانِ فَما
تَلقى زَماناً صَفا مِنَ الأُبَنِ
So drink despite time's blemish, for you will not
find an age free of blemishes.
اللَهُ يُعطيكَ مِن فَواضِلِهِ
وَالمَرءُ يُغضي عَيناً عَلى الكُمَنِ
God grants you some of His bounties,
and a man closes an eye to hidden rancors.
قَد عِشتُ بَينَ الريحانِ وَالراحِ وَال
مِزهَرِ في ظِلِّ مَجلِسٍ حَسَنِ
I have lived amid sweet basil, wine, and the
lute, in the shade of a pleasant gathering.
وَقَد مَلأتُ البِلادَ ما بَينَ يَع
بورَ إِلى القَيرَوانِ فَاليَمَنِ
And I have filled the lands, from Yaʿ-
būr to Kairouan and then Yemen,
شِعراً تُصَلّي لَهُ العَواتقُ وَال
ثيبُ صَلاةَ الغُواةِ لِلوَثَنِ
with verse to which pray the maidens and the
matrons, as the misguided pray to an idol.
ثُمَّ نَهاني المَهدِيُّ فَاِنصَرَفَت
نَفسي صَنيعَ الموفَّقِ اللَقِنِ
Then al-Mahdi forbade me, and away turned
my soul, as would one rightly guided and quick to learn.
فَالحَمدُ لِلّهِ لا شَريكَ لَهُ
لَيسَ بِباقٍ شِيءٌ عَلى الزَمَنِ
So praise be to God; He has no partner.
Nothing endures through time.
Sol 6.1