نَأَتكَ حُسَينَةُ فيمَن نَأى
وَكانَت نَواها بِها تُسعِفُ
Husaina came to you from those who are remote,
And her intent brought her to where you live.
وَوَلّى الشَبابُ بِلَذّاتِهِ
فَما يُستَقلُ وَلا يَعطِفُ
Youth turned away, distracted by its pleasures,
Not light of movement, nor easy to bend.
وَلَو كُنتَ مِثلي بِالقَرنَتَي
ن إِذ أَنا مُتَبِلٌ أَهيَفُ
If you were like me, aged over eighty,
While I am withered and wasted away,
وَإِذ هِيَ خَودٌ يَكادُ الحَلي
مُ مِن حُسن بَهجَتِها يُشغَفُ
And she is a cheek that nearly makes
The ornaments, from her beauty, burn with passion
كَأَنَّ مُقَبِّلَها بِالصَريْ
مِ ظَمآنُ مُستَورِدٌ يُرشَفُ
As though her kisser with hot breath
Is a thirsty man who gulps his drink down.
نَقيعَةَ ماءٍ جَلَت مَتنَهُ
رِياحٌ شَآمِيَةٌ حَرجَفُ
A pool of water clear in its expanse
Stirred by North winds,turbulent and rough
بِأَبطَحَ وَرَّعَها أَن تَغو
ر مُنعَرِجَ الكَيحِ فَالصَفصَفُ
In the open land it feared to stagnate
Beyond the winding roads amidst the giant rocks
نَفى العَذَباتِ فَلَم يَغشَها
جُرافٌ أَصَرَّ بِها مُجحَفُ
It avoided sweet spots so the rough torrents
Did not make it murky as they scraped the gravel
تَرامى بِهِ مُشرِفُ الجَهلَتَيْ
ن ضاهي السَرارَةِ مُستَجرِفُ
It casts itself on high above the two slopes
Rising equal to the lofty mountains' peak
فَما بَيضَةٌ بَلَّ أَدحَيتَها
رَبيعٌ تَحَلَّبَ أَو صَيَّفُ
Not an egg but more rightly it has hatched
Into a garden bloomed in spring or summer
مدلَّلَةٌ مِن بَناتِ النَعا
مِ بَيضاءُ واضِحَةٌ تَلصِفُ
Pampered among the daughters of vegetation
Clear white and filtering itself pristine
إِذا مَطَرَت جَثَمَت فَوقَها
مُخَوِيَّةٌ زِفُّها يَنطِفُ
When it rains, rain pools form on its surface
Scraping it, though its drippings filter through
بِأَحسَنَ مِنها إِذا ما عَلا
نَقائِبُ مِن حَليِها رَفرَفُ
With better than it when its bracelets rise up
Fluttering from its jewelry, agitated
إِذا العَيشُ حُلوٌ وَإِذ لا يسرْ
رُ دوني الحَديثُ وَلا يَصدِفُ
When life is sweet and talk flows easily
Neither excluding me nor making me weep
تَأَوَّبَني الهَمَّ وَاِعتادَني
كَما يَعتَري الوَصِبُ المُدنَفُ
Worry has accustomed me and worn me out
As the feral creatures wear out the subdued,
بلابِلَ أَضمَرَهُنَّ الفُؤادُ
فَهُنَّ عَلَيهِنَّ مُستَحصِفُ
Troubles my heart has harbored cause it
To preserve them, while I remain guarded,
هَلِ الناسُ إِلّا قُرون فقرن
يُبيدُ وَ آخرمُستَخلَفُ
Are generations of men nothing but ages replacing ages
One perishes, the next replacing the last,
فَيَعمِرُ في الأَرضِ ثُمَّ الفَنا
ء آتٍ عَلَيهِ فَمُستَنظِفُ
Inhabiting the earth awhile but decay
Will come to it, so it stands evicted,
كَأَرضٍ تَنزَعُ ما أَنتبَتَت
وَكانَ لَها مَرَّةً زُخرُفُ
Like land stripped bare of all it bore
Though once for it decoration was enough,
فَلَم أَرَ مِثلَ اِمرِئٍ غَرَّة
نَعيمٍ وَلا كَاِمرِئٍ يِأَسَفُ
I've seen no mortal with perpetual bliss
Nor one with endless anguish to lament,
فَأَيَّ عَجائِبَ هَذا الزَمانِ
تُنكِرُ أَو أَيُّها تَعرِفُ
What strange wonder is this age
Unrecognized or can you identify?
كَم اِستَرَطَ الدَهرُ مِن أُمَّةٍ
كَأَنَّ البِلادَ بِهِم تُخسَفُ
How many nations has time worn out
Like the land might cave in underneath them
وَجيلٍ سَمِعنا بِهِم قَد فَنَوا
فَما الحَيُّ إِلّا كَمَن يُثقَفُ
And a generation we've heard has perished
The living now dead to memory
وَمَن يَتَمَطَّ بِهِ عُمرُهُ
يَصِر وَهوَ الخَلَفُ الأَخلَفُ
He whose life wears away with him
Becomes refuse, the most refused of all
وَمَن كانَ يُخلَفُ ميعادَهُ
فَإِنَّ المَنِيَّةَ لا تُخلِفُ
He who misses his promised time
Death will not fail to meet its date
وَما لِاِمرِئٍ أَرَبٌّ بِالحَيا
ةِ عَنها مَحيصٌ وَلا مَصرِفُ
No person has means to flee living
No escape or turning for him elsewhere
طَرِبتُ إِلى عُمَرِ بنِ الوَليدِ
وَاِختَرتُهُ إِنَّهُ مَألَفُ
I felt a longing for Umar ibn al-Walid
And chose him as he is dear to me
فَتى البَأسِ ما مِن فَتىً مِثلُهُ
أَتَّمُ تِماماً وَلا أَسرَفُ
The gallant warrior, none his equal
Fully accomplished and without excess
هُوَ اِبنُ الخَليفَةِ مِن ضَربِهِ
ضَريبَتُهُ فيهِ قَد تُعرَفُ
He's the Caliph's son, his lineage
Well known and cannot be mistaken
وِسادَةُ كِندَةَ أَخوالِهِ ال
مُلوكُ فَلَيسَ اِبنُهُم يَخلِفُ
The lords of Kindah, his maternal uncles
Those Kings so thus no less his son
فَأَصبَحتَ أَنتَ فَتى الناسِ حين
تَذكّرُ أَحسابَها خِندَفُ
You've become, so you remain the hero of all
When the genealogists review the record
يَرَونَكَ مُرتَفِعاً فَوقَهُم
بِعَلياءَ مَنظَرُها مُشرِفُ
They see you high above, your gaze
From this lofty view spread out far and wide
وُلِدتَ بِرابِيَةٍ رَأَسُها
عَلى كُلِّ رابِيَةٍ نَيِّفُ
You were born under a star most eminent
Above all other stars conspicuous
أَخو الأَجرِ وَالحَمدِ يَنوبُهُما
وَإِن هُوَ لَم يُحصِ ما يُتلِفُ
Brother of Achievement and Glory stand in for them
Though he does not count the cost of what he ruins
يَرى الحَمدَ غُنماً فَيُعنى بِهِ
وَكُلُّ تَكاليفِهِ يَكلُفُ
He sees glory as fair game to occupy him
And all its burdens he takes on
فَسَوفَ يَنالُكَ مِمّا أَقو
ل حَمدٌ يَسيرٌ وَيُستَطرَفُ
So you will gain from what I say
Some minor glory and pleasure
وَتَنشُرُهُ في البِلادِ الرُوا
ةُ وَالقُلُصُ الشُسَّفُ العُسَّفُ
Spreading it through countries far and wide
Wastelands and rocky plains abound
تُطيرَ مَناسِمَهُنَّ الحَصى
كَما نَقَدَ الدِرهَمَ الصَيرَفُ
It startles their wild beasts as the pebbles
Like coins a money changer clips
إِذا ما اِستَتَبَّ بِأَخفافِها
مليعٌ مِنَ الأَرضِ أَو جَفجَفُ
When it flows freely with its steps
Smoothly streaming or bubbling on the ground
