أَراعَكَ بِالبَينِ الخَليطُ المُهَجِّرُ

وَلَم يَكُ عَن بَينِ الأَحِبَّةِ عُنصُرُ

You alarmed me, separation, with your mixed-up exile

And no element was far from the separation of the loved ones

إِذا اِغتَرَّهُ بَينُ الجَميعِ فَلَم تَكُن

لَهُ فَزعَةٌ إِلاّ الهَوادِجُ تُخدَرُ

When everyone was deceived by the separation, he had

No recourse but reddened swords that become blunt

تَرَدَّينَ أَنماطاً وَرَيطاً كَأَنَّهُ

نَجيعُ ضَرا فَوقَ المَراسيلِ أَحمَرُ

You made me stagger, patterns and stripes as if

A wounded beast over the cushions is red

فَهَل يُعذَرَن ذو شَيبَةٍ بِصَبابَةٍ

وَهَل يُحمَدَن بِالصَبرِ إِن كانَ يَصبِرُ

Can one with white hair be excused for youthfulness

And can he be praised for patience if he is patient?

تُكَلِفُني عَيناً فُؤَادي وَحَبلُها

إِذا خَشِيَت مِنكَ الرَزِيَّةَ أَبتَرُ

You task my eye and its ties, my heart

When you fear rejection from me, lame

وَقَد عَلِمَت أَن قَد أَصابَ سِهامُها

وَأَقصَدَني مِنها الَّذي كُنتُ أَحذَرُ

And you knew that its arrows had hit me

And what I feared most came to me from it

أَلَم تَعلَمَي أَن لا تَدَومَ خَليقَتي

وَلا أَطلُبُ الوِدَّ الَّذي هو مُدبِرُ

Don't you know that my nature does not last

And I do not seek the affection that fades away

وَإِنّي إِذا فارَقتُ عَن خُلُقٍ أَخاً

أَدومُ عَلى عَهدي وَلا أَتَغَيَّرُ

And if I part from a brother's character

I keep my vow and do not change

لَعَمرُكَ ما قَومي عَلى داءٍ بَينِهِم

إِذا عَصَفَت بِالحَيِّ نَكباءُ صَرصَرُ

By your life, my people are not ill among themselves

When the wind rages among the living like the whistling north wind

إِذا الحَيُّ حَلّوا كابِيَ النَبتِ لا يُرى

بِهِ لَونُ عودٍ يَرجِعُ الطَرفَ أَخضَرُ

When the living camp, the herbage cannot be seen

A rod returning the glance is not green

إِذا الشَولُ راحَت وَهيَ حُدبٌ ظُهورُها

وَكانَ قِرى الأَضيافِ عيصٌ وَمَيسِرُ

When the camels are resting, their backs humped

And the abodes of the guests were unkempt and prosperous

فَما يَسأَمُ الجارُ الغَريبُ مَحلَّنا

وَلا يَحتَوينا الطارِقُ المُتَنَوِّرُ

So the strange neighbor does not tire of our place

And the bright visitor cannot accommodate us

وَذلِكَ إِن لَم يَسعَ بِالسوءِ بَينَنا

سَفيهٌ وَلا بِالجَهلِ كَلبٌ مُوَشَّرُ

That is if among us no fool acted badly

Nor an ignorant snarling dog

وَإِذ تَعطِفُ الأَرحامُ وَالوُدُّ بَينَنا

فَنَعفو عَنِ الذَنبِ العَظيمِ وَنَغفِرُ

When kinship and affection are among us

We pardon the great sin and forgive

فَقَد نِكدَت بَعدَ العَداوَةِ بَينَنا

وَقَد جَعَلَت فينا الضَغائِنُ تَكثُرُ

After enmity among us, it became miserable

And it made hatred among us plentiful

تُقاطِعُ أَرحامٍ وَحَينٌ وَشِقوَةٌ

وَمِن عَثَراتِ الجَدِّ وَالجَدُّ يَعثُرُ

It cuts off kin, time, and wretchedness

And from the stumbling of ancestors, the ancestor stumbles

وَتوكِلُ أَعراضٌ تَحينَ كَأَنَّها

مِنَ الزَرعِ مَيسورٌ يُصاعُ فَيَحضُرُ

Trusts lurk watching as if they were

From the crops, ripe to be harvested when present

وَكُنا بَني عَمٍّ فَأَجرى غُواتُنا

إِلى غايةٍ مِن مِثلِها كُنتَ أسخَرُ

We were cousins so our transgressions

Ran to the likes of which you used to ridicule

فَأصبَحَ باقي وَدِّنا نَلتَقي بِهِ

إِذا ما اِلتَقَينا رَهطَ كِسرى وَحِميَرُ

So the rest of our love, we meet with it

When we meet the group of Chosroes and donkeys

وَقُلتُ لِقَومي كُلِّهِم إِذ جَريتُمُ

إِلى شَرِّ ما يَجري إِلَيه فَأَقصِروا

And I said to all my people when you rushed

To the worst of what rushes, then stop

وَكَوني كَآسي شَجَّةٍ يَستَغيثُها

وَما تَحتَها ساسٌ مِنَ العَظمِ أَصفَرُ

And make me like a resonant cup it cries out for help

And under it a base of yellow bone

إِذا قُلتُ يَعفو داءُ قَومي تَحدَّبوا

بِجِنِّيَّةٍ كادَت عَنِ العَظمِ تَخزِرُ

When I say the illness of my people will heal, they hunch

With a skull that almost detaches from the bone

يَشينُ بِها الأَعراضَ عَضبانُ شاعِرٌ

يَطيشُ قَوافي المُفحَمينَ وَيَنفِرُ

A raging poet disgraces honors with it

Confusing the rhymes of the defeated and frightening

كَأَنَّ كَلامَ الناسِ جُمِّعَ عِندَهُ

فَيَأخُذُ مِن أَطرافِهِ يَتَحَبَّرُ

As if the words of the people were gathered with him

And he takes bits of it to nibble on

فَلَم يَرضَ إِلاّ كُلِّ بِكرٍ ثَقيلَةٍ

تَكادُ بِآنٍ مِن دَمِ الجَوفِ تَقطُرُ

So he was not content unless with every heavy ruin

That almost drips the blood of the gut at once