أّخِي فَتْرَةُ السَّلُوَانِ جَاءَ رَسُولُهَا

وَقَدْ أَسْعَفَ النَّفْسَ الأبيّةَ سُولُهَا

My brother, the era of tranquility has come, its messenger has arrived

And its smoothness has relieved the obstinate soul

نَبَذْتُ الْهَوَى نَبْذَ الْجُفُونِ قَذَائَهَا

فَأَتْعَبَ مَنْ يَشْقَى بِنَفْسٍ جَهُولُهَا

I have discarded passion like eyelids discard their rheum

So it has wearied one who suffers with an ignorant soul

وَحَذَّرْتُهَا عُقْبَى الْخَلِيلِ فَإِنَّمَا

يَعُودُ بِإِخْلاَلِ عَلَيْهَا خَلِيلُهَا

And I warned it of the fate of the friend, for it is

Its unfaithfulness to its friend that returns to it

تَملّأْتُ بِالدُّنْيَا وَبِالنَّاسِ خِبْرِةً

فَأَحْقَرُ شِيْءٍ فِي عِيَانِي جَلِيلُهَا

I have filled myself with worldly and human experience

Yet the least significant thing to my eyes is the greatest of it

فَلَوْ أَنَّ رَضْوَى حُمِّلَتْ بَعْضَ هِمَّتِي

لَطَأْطَأَ مِنْ أَكُتَاِد رَضْوَى ثَقِيلُهَا

If I were to carry the burden of some of my ambition

The heaviness of that contentment would weigh down its load

إِذَا عُقِدَتْ كَفُّ الْفَتَى بِنَوالِه

فَشَرُّ عَتَادِي أَنَّنِي لاَ أُنِيلُهَا

When the palm of a young man clasps his scabbard

The worst of my belongings is that I do not draw it

وَإِنِّي لأَبْدِي لِلصَّدَيقِ تَغَاضِياً

يَغُضُّ عَلَى زَلاَّتِهِ وَيَقِيلُهَا

Yet I show leniency to a friend, overlooking

His slip and alleviating it

وَمَا ضَرَّنِي أَنِّي ثَوَيْتُ بِمَغْربٍ

إِذَا طَلَعَتْ أَنْوَارُ عِلْمِي يُحِيلُهَا

It did not harm me that I pitched camp in the Maghreb

When the lights of my knowledge rise, it deflects them

فَكَمْ طُحْلُبٍ يُخْفِي مِنْ الْمَاءِ صَفْحَةً

يَشِفُّ عَنْ الشَّيْءِ الْخَفِيِّ صَقِيلُهَا

So how much green algae hides the surface of water

That its slenderness reveals what is hidden beneath it

يُتَرْجِمُ عَنْ عَذْبِ الشَّرَابِ مَذَاقُهُ

وَيُعْرِبُ عَنْ عِتْقِ الْجِيَادِ صَهِيلُهَا

Its taste translates the sweetness of the drink

And its neighing expresses the freedom of the steeds