تَوَلَّى الصِّبَا عَنِّي فَكَيْفَ أُعِيدُهُ

وَقَدْ سَارَ فِي وادِي الْفَنَاءِ بَرِيدُهُ

Youth has turned away from me, so how can I win it back

When its journey is towards extinction, that's where it's headed

أُحَاوِلُ مِنْهُ رَجْعَةً بَعْدَ ما مَضَى

وذَلِكَ رَأْيٌ غَابَ عَنِّي سَدِيدُهُ

I'm trying to get it to return after its departure

But that's an idea that's evaded me, slipped from my grasp

فَمَا كُلُّ جَفْرٍ غَاضَ يَرْتَدُّ نَبْعُهُ

وَلا كُلُّ سَاقٍ جَفَّ يَخْضَرُّ عُودُهُ

Not every dried river will flow again

Nor every withered branch turn green once more

فَإِنْ أَكُ فَارَقْتُ الشَّبَابَ فَقَبْلَهُ

بَكَيْتُ رَضَاعاً بَانَ عَنِّي حَمِيدُهُ

If I've parted with my youth, I wept over its loss

Since the time it nursed me, its goodness nurtured me

وَأَيُّ شَبَابٍ لا يَزُولُ نَعِيمُهُ

وَسِرْبالِ عَيْشٍ لَيْسَ يَبْلَى جَدِيدُهُ

What youth doesn't fade, its pleasures ephemeral

What life's finery doesn't wear out or tear?

فَلا غَرْوَ أَنْ شَابَتْ مِنَ الْحُزْنِ لِمَّتِي

فَإِنِّيَ فِي دَهْرٍ يَشِيبُ وَلِيدُهُ

So it's no wonder that sorrow has made my hair turn white

For I live in an age that makes the young grow old

يُهَدِّمُ مِنْ أَجْسَادِنَا مَا يَشِيدُهُ

وَيَنْقُصُ مِنْ أَنْفَاسِنَا مَا يَزِيدُهُ

It destroys what it builds of our bodies over time

And diminishes the breath it helps provide

أَرَى كُلَّ شَيءٍ لا يَدُومُ فَمَا الَّذِي

يَنَالُ امْرُؤٌ مِنْ حُبِّ مَا لا يُفِيدُهُ

I see all things impermanent, nothing remains

So what can a man gain from loving what won't help him?

وَلَكِنَّ نَفْساً رُبَّمَا اهْتَاجَ شَوْقُهَا

فَحَنَّتْ وَقَلْباً رُبَّمَا اعْتَادَ عِيدُهُ

Yet a soul may sometimes yearn ardently

And a heart maybe used to celebrating a feast

فَوَا حَسْرَتَا كَمْ زَفْرَةٍ إِثْرَ لَوْعَةٍ

إِذَا عَصَفَتْ بِالْقَلْبِ كادَتْ تُبيدُهُ

Oh what regrets after each stifled sob

When sorrow rages in the heart, almost destroying it

أَحِنُّ إِلَى وادِي النَّقَا ويَسُرُّنِي

عَلَى بُعْدِهِ أَنْ تَسْتَهِلَّ سُعُودُهُ

I yearn for the valley of al-Naqa and it pleases me

From afar to hear the twittering of its wild ducks

وَأَصْدُقُهُ وُدِّي وإِنْ كُنْتُ عَالِماً

بِأَنَّ النَّقَا لَمْ يَدْنُ مِنِّي بَعِيدُهُ

I'm true in my love for it, though I know full well

That the valley of al-Naqa hasn't come near me

مَعَانُ هَوىً تَجْرِي بِدَمْعِي وِهَادُهُ

وتُشْرِقُ مِنْ نِيرانِ قَلْبِي نُجُودُهُ

The wellsprings of passion flow with my tears

Its fires blaze in the depths of my heart

تَضِنُّ بِإِهْدَاءِ السَّلامِ ظِباؤُهُ

وتُكْرِمُ مَثْوَى الطَّارِقِينَ أُسُودُهُ

Its thickets are too stingy to offer greetings

While its lions are generous hosts to visitors

تَسَاهَمَ فِيهِ الْبَأْسُ والْحُسْنُ فَاسْتَوَتْ

ضَرَاغِمُهُ عِنْدَ اللِّقَاءِ وغِيدُهُ

In it valor and beauty are equal

Calamities and glory go hand in hand

تَلاقَتْ بِهِ أَسْيَافُهُ وَلِحَاظُهُ

وَمالَتْ بِهِ أَرْمَاحُهُ وقُدُودُهُ

Within it swords and armor meet

And spears and steeds charge straight ahead

فَكَمْ مِنْ صَرِيعٍ لا تُدَاوَى جِرَاحُهُ

وَكَمْ مِنْ أَسِيرٍ لا تُحَلُّ قُيُودُهُ

So many casualties beyond healing their wounds

So many prisoners with unbreakable shackles

وَفي الْحَيِّ ظَبْيٌ إِنْ تَرَنَّمْتُ بِاسْمِهِ

تَنَمَّرَ وَاشِيهِ وَهَاجَ حَسُودُهُ

If in the encampment I speak its name fondly

Jealous rivals attack and haters fume

تَهِيمُ بِهِ أَسْتَارُهُ وخُدُورُهُ

وَتَعْشَقُهُ أَقْرَاطُهُ وَعُقُودُهُ

Smitten are its veils and tents

Its earrings and necklaces drunk with infatuation

تَأَنَّقَ فِيهِ الْحُسْنُ فَامْتَدَّ فَرْعُهُ

إِلَى قَدَمَيْهِ واسْتَدَارَتْ نُهُودُهُ

In it beauty is adorned, flourishing to its feet

Its bracelets encircling, round as the full moon

فَلِلْمِسْكِ رَيَّاهُ ولِلْبَانِ قَدُّهُ

وَلِلْوَرْدِ خَدَّاهُ وَللظَّبْيِ جِيدُهُ

To musk is its scent, to ambergris its aura

To the rose its cheeks, to the gazelle its neck

فَإِيَّاكَ أَنْ تَغْتَرَّ يَا صَاحِ بِالْهَوَى

فَإِنَّ الرَّدَى حِلْف الْهَوَى وَعَقِيدُهُ

So beware lest passion makes you reckless

For loss of reason is love's pact and its creed

وَمَا أَنَا مِمَّنْ يَرْهَبُ المَوْتَ إِنْ سَطَا

إِذَا لَمْ تَكُنْ نُجْلَ الْعُيُونِ شُهُودُهُ

Nor am I one to fear death should it approach

If the eyes of maidens aren't there as witnesses

أَفُلُّ أَنَابِيبَ الْقَنَا ويَفُلُّني

قَوَامٌ تَنَدَّتْ بِالْعَبِيرِ بُرُودُهُ

I may wilt but still a figure remains erect

Whose cloak exudes fragrance from emerald dye

فَإِنْ أَنَا سَالَمْتُ الْهَوَى فَلَطَالَمَا

شَهِدْتُ الْوَغَى وَالطَّعْنُ يَذْكُو وَقُودُهُ

If a purpose rouses me towards a goal

I head out in a convoy that I'm leading

وَتَحْتَ جَنَاحِ الدِّرْعِ مِنِّي ابْنُ فَتْكَةٍ

مُعَوَّدَةٌ أَلَّا تُحَطَّ لُبُودُهُ

To a battlefield where the whinnying of horses

Terrifies the cowards and makes the valiant proud

إِذَا حَرَّكَتْهُ هِمَّةٌ نَحْوَ غايَةٍ

تَسَامَى إِلَيْهَا فِي رَعِيلٍ يَقُودُهُ

High above the carnage my eagle swoops down

Devouring corpses while its master looks on

ومُعْتَرَكٍ لِلْخَيْلِ فِي جَنَبَاتِهِ

صَهِيلٌ يَهُدُّ الرَّاسِيَاتِ وَئِيدُهُ

My swords rain down upon the skulls of warriors

And my banners flutter between the two hosts

بَعِيدِ سَماءِ النَّقْعِ يَنْقَضُّ نَسْرُهُ

عَلَى جُثَثِ الْقَتْلَى ويَنْغَلُّ سِيدُهُ

When spears clash and retreat disheartened

From a victory whose pillars shine bright as beacons

تَرِفُّ عَلَى هَامِ الكُمَاةِ سُيُوفُهُ

وَتَخْفُقُ بَيْنَ الْجَحْفَلَيْنِ بُنُودُهُ

I plunged in with my spear thirsty for more

As death kept its promise and fulfilled its threats

إِذَا اشْتَجَرَتْ فِيهِ الرِّماحُ تَراجَعَتْ

سَوَافِرَ عَنْ نَصْرٍ يُضِيءُ عَمُودُهُ

I was but the rain whose lightning flashed

I was but the thunder whose rumbling roared

تَقَحَّمْتُهُ والرُّمْحُ صَدْيانُ يَنْتَحي

نِطافَ الْكُلَى والْمَوْتُ يَمْضِي وَعِيدُهُ

I'm the man of action who lives up to his word

When the people's pact has its knots unbound

فَمَا كُنْتُ إِلَّا الْغَيثَ طَارَتْ بُروقُهُ

ومَا كُنْتُ إِلَّا الرَّعْدَ دَوَّى هَدِيدُهُ

I'm accustomed to speaking truthfully so even if

I pretended otherwise I'd be no good at it

أَنَا الرَّجُلُ الْمَشْفُوعُ بِالْفِعْلِ قَوْلُهُ

إِذَا ما عَقِيدُ الْقَوْمِ رَثَّتْ عُقُودُهُ

I laugh in faces though bitterness may shroud them

Knowing their hearts conceal simmering grudges

تَعَوَّدْتُ صِدْقَ الْقَوْلِ حَتَّى لَوَ انَّنِي

تَكَلَّفْتُ قَوْلاً غَيْرَهُ لا أُجِيدُهُ

Whoever doesn't get along with people becomes estranged

Shunned by their tribe and its chief rejects them

أُضَاحِكُ وَجْهَ الْمَرْءِ يَغْشَاهُ بِشْرُهُ

وأَعْلَمُ أَنَّ الْقَلْبَ تَغْلِي حُقُودُهُ

So whose stinginess can I rely on or call close

When hardly a glimmer of hope remains?

وَمَنْ لَمْ يُدارِ النَّاسَ عَادَاهُ صَحْبُهُ

وَأَنْكَرَهُ مِنْ قَوْمِهِ مَنْ يَسُودُهُ

I seek affection though not of the treacherous kind

And less than what I hope for is not what I want

فَمَنْ لِي بِخِلٍّ أَسْتَعِينُ بِقُرْبِهِ

عَلَى أَمَلٍ لَمْ يَبْقَ إِلَّا شَرِيدُهُ

Long ago I heard tales exalting loyalty

If only I knew in life where now its spirit dwells

أُحَاوِلُ وُدَّاً لا يُشَانُ بِغَدْرَةٍ

ودُونَ الَّذِي أَرْجُوهُ مَا لا أُرِيدُهُ

If I have no friend then I'm still my own

My vows to myself won't be broken or betrayed

سَمِعْتُ قَدِيماً بِالْوَفَاءِ فَلَيْتَنِي

عَلِمْتُ عَلَى الأَيَّامِ أَيْنَ وُجُودُهُ

It's enough that one's reason is the best companion

To aid in every peril that arises

فَإِنْ أَنَا لَمْ أَمْلِكْ صَدِيقاً فَإِنَّني

لِنَفسِي صَدِيقٌ لا تَخِيسُ عُهُودُهُ

If one finds no ally in their own nature

Then resolve to disappoint hopes pinned on you

وَحَسْبُ الفَتَى مِنْ رَأْيِهِ خَيْرُ صَاحِبٍ

يُوازِرُهُ فِي كُلِّ خَطْبٍ يَؤُودُهُ

Though I'm alone I'm a clan that will endure

No outcast abandoned, each one protected

إِذَا لَمْ يَكُنْ لِلْمَرءِ مِنْ بَدَهَاتِهِ

نَصِيرٌ فَأَخْلِقْ أَنْ تَخِيبَ جُدُودُهُ

I have such eloquent poetry that if recited

To a mountain, its rocks would melt away

وإِنِّي وَإِنْ أَصْبَحْتُ فَرْدَاً فَإِنَّنِي

بِنَفْسِي عَشِيرٌ لَيْسَ يَنْجُو طَرِيدُهُ

When it intensifies warfare's hottest flames

Or softens to sighs bound in meters

وَلِي مِنْ بَدِيعِ الشِّعْرِ مَا لَوْ تَلَوْتُهُ

عَلَى جَبَلٍ لانْهَالَ فِي الدَوِّ رَيْدُهُ

It slices through the breeze when it flows

And outstrips the cadence of chanting voices

إِذَا اشْتَدَّ أَوْرَى زَنْدَةَ الْحَرْبِ لَفْظُهُ

وَإِنْ رَقَّ أَزْرَى بِالْعُقُودِ فَرِيدُهُ

If sung by a vocalist in a musical mode

Its refrain suffices, no more melodies needed

يُقَطِّعُ أَنْفَاسَ الرِّياحِ إِذَا سَرَى

وَيَسْبِقُ شَأْوَ النَّيِّرَيْنِ قَصِيدُهُ

Through it my name will last eternally

For a man's legacy after death is his immortality

إِذَا ما تَلاهُ مُنْشِدٌ في مَقَامةٍ

كَفَى الْقَوْمَ تَرْجِيعَ الْغِنَاءِ نَشِيدُهُ

سَيَبْقَى بِهِ ذِكْرِي عَلَى الدَّهْرِ خَالِداً

وذِكْرُ الْفَتَى بَعْدَ الْمَمَاتِ خُلُودُهُ