إِذا المَرءُ لَم يَحتَل وَقَد جَدَّ جَدُّهُ

أَضاعَ وَقاسى أَمرُهُ وَهوَ مُدبِرُ

If a man does not resolve and his resolve is weak

He loses and his plight grows dire while he flees

وَلكِن أَخو الحَزمِ الَّذي لَيسَ نازِلاً

بِهِ الأَمرُ إِلّا وَهوَ لِلأَمرِ مُبصِرُ

But the brother of resolve whose spirit does not wander

Whose command does not relent and who sees the way forward

فَذاكَ قَريعُ الدَهرِ ماعاشَ حُوَّلٌ

إِذا سُدَّ مِنهُ مِنخَرٌ جاشَ مِنخَرُ

He overcomes the cruelty of fate though twists surround him

If one door shuts, another he makes open

فَإِنَّكَ لَو قاسَيتَ بِاللَصبِ حيلَتي

بِلِحيانَ لَم يَقصُر بِكَ الدَهرَ مَقصَرُ

So if you bear patiently my playing hard to get

Time will not fail you, though this be my way

أَقولُ لِلَحيانٍ وَقَد صَفِرَت لَهُم

عِيابي وَيَومي دَيِّقُ الحِجرِ مُعوِرُ

I say to the pale-cheeked one, as my love fades for them

And the day of our union grows cold and remote

لَكُم خَصلَةٌ إِمّا فِداءٌ وَمِنَّةٌ

وَإِمّا دَمٌ وَالقَتلُ بِالمَرءِ أَجدَرُ

You have three choices - devotion, grace or blood

And death becomes a man more than the rest

وَأُخرى أُصادي النَفسَ عَنها وَإِنَّها

لَخُطَّةُ حَزمٍ إِن فَعَلتُ وَمَصدَرُ

Another I shy my soul away from, though indeed

Tis the bold stratagem, if I enact its lure

فَرَشتُ لَها صَدري فَزَلَّ عَنِ الصَفا

بِهِ جُؤجُؤٌ عَبلٌ وَمَتنٌ مُخَصَّرُ

I laid bare my breast, and there slipped from probation

A glancing blow, blunt spearpoint or headlong fall

فَخالَطَ سَهلَ الأَرضِ لَم يَكدَحِ الصَفا

بِهِ كَدحَةٌ وَالمَوتُ خَزيانُ يَنظُرُ

Then he walked out on the easy ground, the high hills beyond

Without sorrow, and death watched on as he went

فَأُبتُ إِلى فَهمٍ وَما كِدتُ آيِباً

وَكَم مِثلِها فارَقتُها وَهيَ تَصفِرُ

Then I returned to reason, scarcely crediting

How often she deserted me, leaving me wan