أَرَبَّةَ الخِدر ذاتَ الرَيط والخُمُرِ

إليكِ عنّي فما التَشبيبُ من وطري

O maid of slender waist with wine and draughts of joy,

To you from me - for youthful passion has lost its ploy.

في كُلِّ قامة عَسّالٍ تُأوِّدهُ

كفّايَ لي غنيَةٌ عن قدِّك النَضرِ

In every willowy form that would excite desire

My own proud height suffices me, its freshness to enjoy.

طويتُ عن كُلِّ أَمر يُستَلَذُّ به

كشحاً وأَغضيتُ عن وَردٍ وعن صَدَرِ

I've turned aside from all whose pleasures cloy or tire,

Spurning the rose, the singer, and the cask;

غَنيتُ بالمجد لا أَبغي سواهُ هوىً

في هزَّة السُمر ما يُغني عن السُمُرِ

Ambition is my mistress; I aspire

To naught but glory, heedless of the ask.

وَما أَسِفتُ عَلى عَصرٍ قضيتُ به

عيشَ الشَبيبة في فَسحٍ من العُمُرِ

In the night's merry-making wine no longer gives me cheer,

Nor do I grieve o’er vanished days and vanished youth,

إِلّا لفرقة إِخوان أَلفتُهُمُ

من كُلِّ أَصيدَ مثل الصارم الذَكَرِ

Save for the loss of boon companions once held dear,

True brothers, valiant warriors - mirrors of truth.

طُهر المآزِرِ مذ نيطَت تمائمُهم

نالوا من المَجد ما نالوا من الظفرِ

When their talismans were bound success was swift acquired,

And glory followed them, triumphantly they fared.

شادوا قِبابَ المَعالي من بيوتهمُ

واِستوطنوا ذِروة العَلياء من مُضرِ

Their homes exalted to pinnacles of fame aspired,

Muḍar attained through them heights sublime when shared.

كَم فيهمُ من كَريمٍ زانَه شَمَمُ

تُغنيك غُرَّته عن طَلعةِ القَمرِ

Among them were so many noble, generous men,

Their brilliance dims the radiance of the moon.

سَقى الحَيا ربعَ أنسٍ ضمَّ شملَهمُ

ولا عدا سوحَهُ مُستعذَب المطرِ

To their tribe’s quarters fate sent clouds of brotherhood when

Their open hands were like the gentle rain, a boon.

يا للرجال لِصبٍّ بالعُلى قمنٍ

يُمسي وَيُصبحُ من دهر على غَرَرِ

O those were men! whose souls with glory were in tune,

Whose lives uncertainty could never lead astray.

لَو أَنصفتني اللَيالي حزتُ مُطَّلَبي

ولم أَبت حِلفَ وَجدٍ عاقر الوَطرِ

Had only fortune let me gain my wishes soon,

I would have shunned the bitter, lonesome, hopeless day.

الآن أحرز آمالي وأدرِكُها

بماجِدٍ غير ذي مَنٍّ ولا ضَجرِ

But now my hopes I shall accomplish and convey

With glories that know no constraint and breed no shame.

مُسدَّدِ الرأي لم يعبأ بحادثَةٍ

وَلَم تخنه يدُ الأَيّام وَالغيَرِ

With steady purpose no mischance leads me astray -

Betrayed by neither fate nor humankind's cold game.