مَلِلتُ منَ القريضِ وقُلتُ يكفي

لأمرٍ شابَ قوَّتَهُ بضُعفِ

I grew weary of poetry and said, "Enough!

For something whose strength is weakened by frailty.

أُحاوِلُ نُكتةً في كُلِّ بيتٍ

وذلكَ قد تُقصِّرُ عنهُ كَفّي

I try to insert a jest in every verse,

But that is often beyond my ability.

أجلُ الشِّعرِ ما في البيتِ منهُ

غَرابةُ نُكتةٍ أو نَوعُ لُطفِ

The essence of poetry is what a verse contains

Of strangeness of jest or kind of wit.

وَبئسَ الشِّعرُ بيتٌ ليسَ فيهِ

أمامَكَ غيرُ حِيطانٍ وسَقْفِ

Wretched is the verse that contains before you

Naught but walls and a ceiling.

رأيتُ الشِّعرَ بعضٌ مِثلُ وَقْرٍ

على أُذُنٍ وبعضٌ مثلُ شَنْفِ

I saw poetry as being partly like an affliction upon the ear,

And partly like scratches.

وفوقَ الشِّعرِ فَرْقُ النَّاسِ حتى

تَرَى من ذاكَ ضعِفاً فوقَ ضِعْفِ

And above poetry the people vary so much

That you see one as weak above weakness.

إذا بَرَزَ الأميرُ ظَنَنتَ شَخصاً

كباقي النَّاسِ إذ يبدُو لِطَرْفِ

When the prince comes forth, you would think him

Like the rest of the people when he first appears to your eye.

وما يُدريِكَ كم رَجلاً يُساوِي

إذا استقْرَيتَ صَفّاً بعدَ صَفِّ

And how would you know how many men he equals

If you aligned a row after row with him?

نَرى في كُلِّ مسئلةٍ خِلافاً

سِوَى تَفضيلهِ في كلِّ وَصفِ

In every issue we see disagreement

Except in acknowledging his superiority in every description.

وهل في الصُّبحِ بينَ النَّاسِ خَلْفٌ

فيُثبِت بعضُهم والبعضُ يَنفي

And is there any disagreement among people in the morning

That some of them affirm it and some deny it?

قد اجتمعت قلوبُ النَّاسٍِ طرّاً

عليهِ وأجَمَعتْ من دُونِ خُلفِ

The hearts of the people came together unanimously

Upon him, and unanimously agreed without any dissent.

فلم يكُ لاختلافٍ حرفُ نفيٍ

ولم يكُ لاشتراكٍ حرفُ عَطفِ

So there was no word of denial for disagreement

Nor any word of conjunction for accord.

تَحِقُّ وِلايةٌ شَرْعاً وعُرفاً

لراعي الحَقِّ في شَرْعٍ وعُرفِ

The authority of the guardian of truth is sanctioned

In law and convention.

لِمَنْ لو فارَقَتْهُ بَكَتْ وحَنَّتْ

حنينَ الإلفِ عندَ فِراقِ إلفِ

For one whom, if parted from, would weep and yearn

With the longing of intimacy upon the parting of an intimate.

سليمُ القَلبِ ذو فعلٍ صَحيحٍ

يُصرَّفُ دُونَ إعلالٍ وحَذفِ

Sincere of heart, of upright action,

Governs without disability or omission.

لهُ في المجدِ تأسيسٌ قديمٌ

منَ الأقيالِ رِدْفاً بعدَ رِدفِ

For him is ancient glory

With generations firmly saddlebagged, one behind the next.

أقولُ إذا خَتَمتُ المدحَ فيهِ

قدِ استوَفيتَ منهُ كلَّ حرفِ

I say, when I finish praising him,

I have exhausted from him every letter.

وأرجِعُ إذْ أُراجِعُهُ كأنّي

فَطِنتُ بواحدٍ من بينِ أَلفِ

And I turn back, when I turn back, as if

I realized one out of a thousand.

أنا عبدٌ لهُ لي رَفعُ رأسٍ

بذاكَ وللحَواسدِ رَغْمُ أنْفِ

I am his servant; through that I raise my head high,

While for enviers there is only choking gall.

وكُنتُ لهُ قديماً مِلْكَ إرْثٍ

فصِرْتُ لهُ حديثاً مِلْكَ وَقْفِ

I was his as an ancestral inheritance,

But became his afresh as an endowment.

أهيمُ بذكرِهِ طَرَباً كأنّي

مَعاذَ اللهِ نَشوانٌ بصِرْفِ

I rave in mentioning him, intoxicated, as if—

God forbid—tipsy with wine.

وأستَبِقُ الرِّياحَ إليهِ حَتَّى

أسيرَ أمامَها وتَسيرَ خلفي

And I race the winds to him until

I travel before them and they travel behind me.

أقامَ اللهُ دَولَتهُ فكانَتْ

كنُورِ البَدرِ يُجلَى بعدَ خَسْفِ

God established his dynasty, and so it was

Like the light of the full moon when gloom is dispelled.

تَقاسَمْنا الهناءَ بها ولكنْ

طَمعِتُ فكانَ سَهْمي فَوْقَ نِصفِ

We shared in its prosperity, but still

My portion was above half.