لي كِساءٌ أَنعِم بِهِ مِن كِساءِ

أَنا فيهِ أَتيهُ مِثلَ الكِسائي

I have a robe—how excellent a robe it is!

And in it I strut proudly, like al-Kisāʾī.

حاكَهُ العِزُّ مِن خُيوطِ المَعالي

وَسَقاهُ النَعيمُ ماءَ الصَفاءِ

Glory wove it from threads of lofty distinction,

and bliss watered it with the water of purity.

وَتَبَدّى في صِبغَةٍ مِن أَديمِ ال

لَيلِ مَصقولَةٍ بِحُسنِ الطِلاءِ

It appeared in a hue drawn from the skin of—

night, burnished to a beautiful sheen.

خاطَهُ رَبُّهُ بِإِبرَةِ يُمنٍ

أَوجَروا سَمَّها خُيوطُ الهَناءِ

Its maker stitched it with a needle of good fortune,

threading strands of happiness through its eye.

فَكَأَنّي وَقَد أَحاطَ بِجِسمي

في لِباسٍ مِنَ العُلا وَالبَهاءِ

Once it enfolds my body, I seem—

clad in loftiness and splendor.

تُكبِرُ العَينُ رُؤيَتي وَتَراني

في صُفوفِ الوُلاةِ وَالأُمَراءِ

I loom great in every eye; it sees me—

in the ranks of governors and princes.

أَلِفَ الناسُ حَيثُ كُنتُ مَكاني

أُلفَةَ المُعدِمينَ شَمسَ الشِتاءِ

Wherever I am, people grow fond of my presence,

as the destitute cherish the winter sun.

يا رِدائي وَأَنتَ خَيرُ رِداءٍ

أَرتَجيهِ لِزينَةٍ وَاِزدِهاءِ

O my hope—and you are the finest robe—

the one I desire for adornment and flourishing.

لا أَحالَت لَكَ الحَوادِثُ لَوناً

وَتَعَدَّتكَ ناسِجاتُ الجِواءِ

May events never alter your color,

and may the weavers of the air pass you by.

غَفَلَت عَنكَ لِلبِلى نَظَراتٌ

وَتَخَطَّتكَ إِبرَةُ الرَفّاءِ

May decay’s glances overlook you,

and the mender’s needle pass you by.

صَحِبَتني قَبلَ اِصطِحابِكَ دَهراً

بِدلَةٌ في تَلَوُّنِ الحِرباءِ

Before I took you as companion, for ages my companion was—

a suit whose colors changed like a chameleon.

نَسَبوها لِطَيلَسانِ اِبنِ حَربٍ

نِسبَةً لَم تَكُن بِذاتِ اِفتِراءِ

They traced it to the ṭaylasān of Ibn Ḥarb—

an attribution containing no falsehood.

كُنتُ فيها إِذا طَرَقتُ أُناساً

أَنكَروني كَطارِقٍ مِن وَباءِ

Whenever I wore it and came calling on people,

they failed to recognize me, as though plague had come knocking.

كَسَفَ الدَهرُ لَونَها وَاِستَعارَت

لَونَ وَجهِ الكَذوبِ عِندَ اللِقاءِ

Time eclipsed its color, and it borrowed—

the complexion of a liar’s face when confronted.

يا رِدائي جَعَلتَني عِندَ قَومي

فَوقَ ما أَشتَهي وَفَوقَ الرَجاءِ

O my robe, among my people you have raised me—

above all I desire and beyond all hope.

إِنَّ قَومي تَروقُهُم جِدَّةُ الثَو

بِ وَلا يَعشَقونَ غَيرَ الرُواءِ

Indeed, my people delight in the newness of a gar—

—ment, and love nothing but outward splendor.

قيمَةُ المَرءِ عِندَهُم بَينَ ثَوبٍ

باهِرٍ لَونُهُ وَبَينَ حِذاءِ

For them, a person’s worth lies between a robe—

dazzling in color—and a shoe.

قَعَدَ الفَضلُ بي وَقُمتُ بِعِزّي

بَينَ صَحبي جُزيتَ خَيرَ الجَزاءِ

Merit held me down, but through my prestige I rose—

among my companions. May you receive the finest reward.