أَرى شُعَراءَ الناسِ غَيري كَأَنَّهُم

بِمَكَّةَ قُطّانَ الحَمامِ الأَوالِفِ

I see the poets of the people other than me as if they are

In Mecca the cotton-dealers of the familiar dovecotes,

عَجِبتُ لِقَومٍ إِن رَأَوني تَعَذَّروا

وَإِن غِبتُ كانوا بَينَ راوٍ وَجانِفِ

I am amazed at a people who if they saw me made excuses

And if I was absent they were amidst slanderers and deviants against me,

عَلَيَّ وَقَد كانوا يَخافونَ صَولَتي

وَيَرقَأُ بي فَيضُ العُيونِ الذَوارِفِ

They used to fear my fierceness

And the abundant flow of my penetrating eyes overwhelms them,

وَأَفقَأُ صادَ الناظِرينِ وَتَلتَقي

إِلَيَّ هِجانُ المُحصَناتِ الطَرائِفِ

And I pierce the bosoms of onlookers and

The passions of the shy, lovely maidens incline towards me,

وَلَو كُنتُ أَخشى خالِداً أَن يَروعَني

لَطِرتُ بِوافٍ ريشُهُ غَيرَ جادِفِ

And if I feared Khalid would alarm me

I would have flown with a bird whose feathers are not rowing,

كَما طِرتُ مِن مِصرَي زِيادٍ وَإِنَّهُ

لَتَصرِفُ لي أَنيابُهُ بِالمَتالِفِ

As I flew from the Egypt of Ziyad and he

Turns his tusks towards me with familiarity,

وَما كُنتُ أَخشى أَن أَرى في مُخَيَّسٍ

قَصيرَ الخُطى أَمشي كَمَشيِ الرَواسِفِ

And I did not fear that I would see in Mukhayyis

Walking with short steps like the walking of ostriches,

أَبيتُ تَطوفُ الزُطُّ حَولي بِجُلجُلٍ

عَلَيَّ رَقيبٌ مِنهُمُ كَالمُحالِفِ

I refused while the horses circled around me with jingling

A watcher among them following me like a confederate.