لَو لَم يُخالِط يَومَ بَينَكَ أَدمُعي

قاني دَمي ما كُنتُ إِلّا مدَّعي

If my tears did not mix with your days,

my blood would have merely claimed.

قَد صَحَّ عِندَكَ شاهِدٌ مِن عَبرَتي

فَسَلِ الدُجى وَنُجومَهُ عَن مَضجَعي

For you is a witness from my crying,

so ask the darkness and its stars about where I lie down.

عاقَبتَني بِجِنايَةٍ لَم أَجنِها

ظُلماً وَكَم مِن حاصِدٍ لَم يَزرَعِ

You punished me for a crime I did not commit,

unjustly, and how many reapers have not sown?

وَمنعتَ طَيفكَ مِن زِيارَةِ عاشِقٍ

حاوَلتَ مُهجَتَهُ فَلَم يَتَمَنَّعِ

And you denied your apparition from visiting a lover,

you tried to destroy him yet he did not resist.

وَأَمالَكَ الواشي وَلَولا غِرَّةٌ

كانَ الصِبى سَبَباً لَها لَم تخدَعِ

And the slanderer led you astray, were it not for folly,

the youth would not have been a reason that did not betray.

فَجَمَعتَ أَثقالَ الصُدودِ إِلى النَوى

فَوقَ المَلامِ إِلى فُؤادٍ موجَعِ

So you combined the heaviness of aloofness to yearning,

above reproach, to a heart in pain.

يا راحِلاً وَالقَلبُ بَينَ رِحالِهِ

يَقتادَهُ حِفظاً لِعَهدِ مُضَيّعِ

Oh you who travels while the heart between its saddlebags

guides it to preserve the lost covenant.

هَلّا وَقَفتَ عَلى مُحِبِّكَ حافِظاً

عَهدَ الهَوى فيهِ وُقوفَ مُوَدِّعِ

Why did you not stand by your lover protecting

the covenant of love in him the stance of one bidding farewell?

كَيفَ السَبيلُ إِلى السُلُوِّ وَلَم تُعد

عَقلي عَلَيَّ وَلَم تَدَع قَلبي مَعي

How is the path to peace while you did not prepare

my mind for me nor leave my heart with me?

فَسَقى زَماناً مَرَّ لي بِطُوَيلِعٍ

صَوبُ الحَيا وَسقى عِراص طُوَيلِعِ

So time that passed watered me with bitterness,

aiming at life and watering a long bitterness.

فَلَأَصبِرَنَّ عَلى الزَمانِ وُجَورِهِ

صَبرَ اِمريءٍ مُتَجَمِّلٍ لَم يَخضَعِ

Yet I will have patience over time and its injustice,

the patience of one dignified who did not submit.

وَلَأَلبسَنَّ مِنَ التَجَلُّدِ نَثرَةً

حَصداءَ تَهزَأُ مِن سَوابِغَ تُبَّعِ

And I will wear from composure a coat

of barrenness that mocks continuous following.

وَلَأَشكُرَنَّ حَوادِثاً قَذَفَت بِآ

مالي إِلى الملكِ الهمامِ الأَروَعِ

And I will thank tribulations that threw

my possessions to the most splendid king.

فَضَفا عَلَيَّ ظِلالُ أَبلَجَ ماجِدٍ

ضافي لِباسِ المَجدِ صافي المَشرعِ

So the shades of a shining white dawn draped me

adding the garb of glory, pure of intention.

وَرَأَيتُ أَحسَنَ مَنظَرٍ وَخبرتُ أَط

يَبَ مَخبرٍ وَحَلَلتُ أَرفَعَ مَوضِعِ

And I saw the best scene and experienced the most

pleasant tidings and settled the highest position.

في ظِلِّ وَضّاحِ الجَبينِ سَمَيذَعٍ

مِن نَسلِ وَضّاحِ الجَبينِ سَميذَعِ

In the shade of lordly bright-faced Samaidha

from the lineage of lordly bright-faced Samaidha,

الأَشرَفِ المَلكِ الَّذي بَذلُ النَدى

مِن كَفِّهِ طَبعٌ بِغَيرِ تَطَبُّعِ

the most noble king who offers generosity

from his palm, naturally without affectation,

مَلِكٌ لَهُ يَومَ الهياجِ مَواقِفٌ

مَشهورَةٌ لا يَدعيها مُدَّعي

A king who has on the day of turmoil renowned

stands not claimed by pretenders,

مُتَبَسِّمٌ في كُلِّ يَومٍ عابِسٍ

مُتَوَضِّحٌ في كُلِّ خَطبٍ أَسفَعِ

Smiling on every frowning day,

brightening in every overshadowed adversity,

يَروي حِرارَ السَمهَرِيِّ بِكَفِّهِ

يَومَ الوَغى مِن قَلبِ كُلِّ مَدرَّعِ

Quenching with his palm the heat of battle

from the heart of every armed man,

سِيّانِ عِندَ يَمينِهِ وَحُسامِهِ

في الحَربِ هامَةُ حاسِرٍ وَمُقَنَّعِ

Swords at his right hand and his resolute

horses in war, the concerning of one defeating and masked,

وَلَطالَما حَطَمَ الوَشيجَ بِكَفِّهِ

مِن بَعدِ حَشوِ الدرعِ بَينَ الأَضلُعِ

And he has often shattered armor with his palm

after the stuffing of the coat of mail between the ribs,

مَلكٌ مَتى اِستَسقَيتَ بَحرَ يَمينِهِ

جادَت عَلَيكَ بِديمَةٍ لَم تُقلَعِ

A king, if you seek rain from the sea of his right hand,

it pours on you with a shower that does not diminish,

حَسَنَت مَواقِعُها وَكَم مِن ديمَةٍ

جَهَلَت فَجادَت في سَباخٍ بَلقَعِ

Beautiful are its landmarks and how many a shower

erred so poured in a desolate plain.

وَلَطالَما غَشِيَ الوَغى بِثَلاثَةٍ

في ظَهرِ مَنسوبٍ يَطيرُ بِأَربَعِ

And often he overwhelmed the battle with three

in the back of a winged purebred.

بِأَصَمَّ مُعتَدِلٍ وَأَبيَضَ صارِمٍ

وَجَنانِ مَضّاءِ العَزيمِ مُشَيَّعِ

With a deaf white spirited and soul-piercing

bright-minded one escorted.

كَم مَوقِفٍ ضَنكٍ فَلَولا صَبرُهُ

فيهِ لِوَقعِ البيضِ لَم يَتَوَسَّعِ

How many a straitened stance, were it not for his patience in it

the eggs would not have had room to settle.

مِن مَعشَرٍ شَرَعوا السَماحَ وَأَرشَدوا

فيهِ العُفاةَ إِلى طَريقٍ مهَيعِ

Of a people who enacted benevolence and guided

the meek to a clear path.

وافيتُهُ وَالسَيلُ قَد بَلَغَ الزُبى

عندي وَوِردُ العَمررنقِ المُشرعِ

I came upon him while the torrent had reached perfidy in me

and the blossoms of life were dwindling.

فَبَلَغتُ مِن نُعماهُ ما لا يَنتَهي

أَملي وَلَم يَطمَح إِلَيهِ مَطمَعي

So I attained from his blessings that which has no limit

to my hopes and to which my ambitions did not aspire.

وَنَهى الحَوادِثَ أَن تُلِمَّ بِمَنزِلي

وَصُروفَ دَهري أَن تَطوفَ بِمَربَعي

And it made tribulations refrain from assaulting my abode

and the turns of fate from encircling my square.

مُتَبَرِّعٌ بِالجودِ قَبلَ سُؤالِهُ

وَالجودُ جودُ الباديءِ المُتَبَرِّعِ

Freely bestowing before being asked

and bestowal is the bestowal of the initiator.

فَغَدَوتُ أُنشِدُ جودَهُ مُتَمَثِّلاً

وَنَوالُهُ مِثلُ السُيولِ الدُفَّعِ

So I came to recite his bestowal extolling

and his bounty is like pouring floods.

وَلَقَد دَعَوتُ نَدى الكِرامِ فَلَم يجِب

فَلَأَشكُرَنَّ نَدىً أَجابَ وَما دعي

And I had called the echo of nobleness but it did not answer

so I thank an echo that answered and was not called.