أَحْبَابُنَا بِقُلُوبِنَا شَطُّوا

وَتَحَكَّمُوا فِيْهِنَّ واشْتَطُّوا

Our loved ones have gone far away, taking our hearts.

They mastered those hearts and tyrannized them.

أَمَّا تَرَحُّلُهُمْ فَأَقْتَلُهُ

خَبَراً فَأَيْنَ تَرَاهُمُ شَطُّوا

As for their departure—how deadly

the news! Where do you think they journeyed so far?

سارُوا وَلَمْ أُوذَنْ بِسَيْرِهِمُ

حَتَّى رَأَيْتُ جَمَالَهُمْ تَمْطُوا

They set out, and I was not told of their going

until I saw their camels stretch into stride.

وَغَدَتْ بِهِمْ تَخْطُوا وَأَحْسَبُهَا

أَسَفَاً عَلَى أَكْبَادِنَا تَخْطُوا

The caravan went bearing them, stepping onward, and I think

to our bitter grief it strides across our very hearts.

كَمْ فِي هَوَادِجِهِنَّ مِنْ قَمَرٍ

يَعْدُو عَلَى الأَلْبَابِ أَو يَسْطُو

How many a moon is hidden in those camel litters,

raiding minds or ruling them by force!

ومُقْبِّلٍ تَبْدُو مَضَاحِكُهُ

فَكَأَنَّمَا يَبْدُو بِهَا سِمْطُ

And many a kissed one whose smiling teeth appear

as though a string of pearls were shining there;

وَمُرَجَّلٍ بِالمِسْكِ يَعْبَقُ مِنْ

رَيَّاهُ حِيْنَ يَمَسُّهُ المُشْطُ

and many a musk-perfumed, combed head, from whose

fragrance the comb is scented when it touches;

وَمُثَقَّلِ الأَرْدَافِ يَشْخَصُ عَنْ

أَرْدَافِهِ وَنُهُودِهِ المِرْطُ

and one heavy in the haunches, whose cloak stands out

from haunches and breasts.

وَتَضَمَّنَتْ أَسْتَارُهَا لُعَبَاً

بِيْضَاً زُهَاءَ الحَلْقِ لاَ الخَرْطُ

The curtains enclose fair playthings,

white and graceful-necked—no work of a lathe.

فِيْهِنَّ آنِسَةٌ كَلِفْتُ بِهَا

كَالظَّبْيَةِ الأَدْمَاءِ إِذْ تَعْطُو

Among them is a companionable maiden I adore,

like a tawny gazelle when she reaches upward.

تَلْوِي أَنَامِلَهَا عَلَى هَزِجٍ

تَحْتَثُّهُ أَطْرَافُهَا السِّبْطُ

She curls her fingers to a lilting song

that her smooth fingertips urge onward.

فَتَظَلُّ مِنْها بِاليَسَارِ لَهُ

قَبْضٌ وَبِالْيمُنَى لَهُ بَسْطُ

Thus for it her left hand keeps

a grip, while her right hand opens wide.

ضِدَّانِ مُنْتَثَرٌ ومُلْتَقَطٌ

والنَّثْرُ يَجْمَعُ شَمْلَهُ اللَّقْطُ

Two opposites—scattered and gathered—

and gathering reunites what scattering dispersed.

كَانَ المَشِيْبُ وَهُمْ عَلَى عِدَةٍ

فَتَرَحلُّوا وَتَنَزَّلَ الوَخْطُ

Gray hair had only been expected while they remained;

when they departed, streaks of white descended.

أَخَذُوا العَزَاءَ وَزَوَّدُوكَ أَسًى

شَتَّانَ مَا أَخَذُوا وَمَا أعْطُوا

They took solace away and provisioned you with sorrow:

how far apart are what they took and what they gave!

ومُذَكَّرَاتِ الزِّيِّ هُنَّ لَنَا

فِي المَعْنَيَيْنِ كِلَيْهِمَا شَرْطُ

And these male-garbed women are ours—

in both senses, each condition is fulfilled.

فَسَقَى دِيَارَهُمُ مُجَلَّلَةَ الأَ

خْلاَفِ لَيْسَ لِحَلِّهَا رَبْطُ

May a full-uddered rain-cloud water their dwellings—

one whose tether needs no loosening.

لِي مِنْ أَبِي بَكْرٍ أَخْو ثِقَةٍ

لَمْ أَسْتَرِبْ بِإِخَائِهِ قَطُّ

In Abu Bakr I have a brother worthy of trust;

I have never doubted his brotherhood.

مَا حَالَ فِي قُرْبٍ وَلاَ بُعْدٍ

سِيَّانِ مِنْهُ القُرْبُ والشَّحْطُ

Neither nearness nor distance has changed him:

nearness and remoteness are all the same to him.

جِسْمَانِ والرُّوَحانِ وَاحِدَةٌ

كالنُّقْطَتَيْنِ حَوَاهُمَا خَطُّ

Two bodies, but the two spirits are one,

like two points contained within a single line.

فَإِذَا افْتَقَرْتُ فَلِي بِهِ جِدَةٌ

وَإِذَا اغْتَرَبْتُ فَلِي بِهِ رَهْطُ

If I grow poor, through him I possess wealth;

if I become a stranger, through him I have a clan.

ذَاكِرْهُ أَوْ جَاوِرْهُ مُخْتَبِرَاً

تَرَ مِنْهُ بَحْرَاً مَا لَهُ شَطُّ

Converse with him, or live beside him, testing him:

you will find in him a sea without a shore.

كَمْ نِعْمَةٍ مِنْهُ حَلِيْتُ بِهَا

لا الشَّنْفُ يَبْلُغُهَا وَلاَ القُرْطُ

How many blessings of his have adorned me—

beyond anything pendant or earring could attain.

وَيَدٍ لَهُ بَيْضَاءَ ضَاحِيَةٍ

مِثْل المُلاَءَةِ حَاكَهَا القِبْطُ

And many a manifest, white hand of favor,

like a white mantle woven by the Copts.

مُتَذَلِّلٌ سَهْلٌ لِخِلِّ صَدِيْقِهِ

وَعَلَى عَدُوِّ صَدِيْقِهِ سَلْطُ

Humble and easy with his intimate friend,

but fierce against his friend’s enemy.

مِدَحٌ يُفِيْدُ بِهِنَّ مَنْقَبَةً

فَإِذَا هَجَا فَهِجَاؤُهُ عَلْطُ

Praises of his confer distinction;

when he satirizes, his satire is raw and harsh.

وَنِتَاجُ مَعْنَاهُ يُتَمِّمُهُ

وَنِتَاجُ مَعْنَى غَيْرَهُ سِقْطُ

The offspring of his own thought he brings to completion;

the offspring of another’s thought is stillborn.

وَجِنَانُ آدَابٍ مُثَمَّرَةٌ

مَا شَانَهَا أَثْلٌ وَلاَ خَمْطُ

A garden of fruitful accomplishments,

marred by neither tamarisk nor bitter fruit.

وَتَواضُعٌ يَزْدَادُ فِيهِ عُلاً

والحُرُّ يَعْلُو حِيْنَ يَنْحَطُّ

And a humility through which he rises higher:

the freeborn noble rises when he stoops.

وَإِذَا امْرُؤٌ شِيْبَتْ خَلاَئِقُهُ

غَدْراً فَمَا فِي وُدِّهِ خَلْطُ

But if a man’s character is mixed with treachery,

there can be no mingling with him in affection.