طَرِبَ الفُؤادُ وَلَيتَهُ لَم يَطرَبِ

وَعَناهُ ذِكرى خُلَّةٍ لَم تَصقَبِ

My heart was troubled, would that it had not been troubled,

And was concerned with the memory of a dear friend long gone.

سَفهاً وَلَو أَنّي أَطَعتُ عَواذِلي

فيما يُشِرنَ بِهِ بِسَفحِ المِذنَبِ

Foolishly, had I but heeded the admonitions of my censurers

Regarding that which they indicate at the foot of the winding path.

لَزَجَرتُ قَلباً لا يَريعُ لِزاجِرٍ

إِنَّ الغَويَّ إِذا نُهي لَم يُعتِبِ

I would have restrained a heart that pays no heed to restraint.

For the willful, when forbidden, does not reproach.

فَتَعَزَّ عَن هَذا وَقُل في غَيرِهِ

وَاِذكُر شَمائِلَ مِن أَخيكَ المُنجِبِ

So refrain from this, and speak of other things,

And recall the fine qualities of your generous brother.

يا أَربَدَ الخَيرِ الكَريمَ جُدودُهُ

أَفرَدتَني أَمشي بِقَرنٍ أَعضَبِ

O noblest pillar of the generous, your forefathers before you,

You have left me to walk with a limping companion.

إِنَّ الرَزِيَّةَ لا رَزِيَّةَ مِثلُها

فِقدانُ كُلِّ أَخٍ كَضَوءِ الكَوكَبِ

For the calamity—there is no calamity like it—

Is the loss of each brother, like the setting of a planet.

ذَهَبَ الَّذينَ يُعاشُ في أَكنافِهِم

وَبَقيتُ في خَلفٍ كَجِلدِ الأَجرَبِ

Gone are those in whose shelter I found refuge,

Leaving me among those who slough their skin like a lizard.

يَتَأَكَّلونَ مَغالَةً وَخِيانَةً

وَيُعابُ قائِلُهُم وَإِن لَم يَشغَبِ

They practice hypocrisy and betrayal,

And he who speaks against them is blamed, though he did no wrong.

وَلَقَد أَراني تارَةً مِن جَعفَرٍ

في مِثلِ غَيثِ الوابِلِ المُتَحَلَّبِ

And Ja'far once showed me as a downpour shows

The furrows of plowed land softened into mud.

مِن كُلِّ كَهلٍ كَالسِنانِ وَسَيِّدٍ

صَعبِ المَقادَةِ كَالفَنيقِ المُصعَبِ

From every elder stern as a spear and lord

Difficult to reach like the distant Phoenix.

مِن مَعشَرٍ سَنَّت لَهُم آباؤُهُم

وَالعِزُّ قَد يَأتي بِغَيرِ تَطَلُّبِ

From a tribe whose fathers established for them

Glory, which comes without having to seek it.

فَبَرى عِظامي بَعدَ لَحمِيَ فَقدُهُم

وَالدَهرُ إِن عاتَبتُ لَيسَ بِمُعتِبِ

So my bones saw me, when their flesh was gone, bereft of them,

For time, were I to reproach it, is no reproacher.