لكنّنِي أشكُو قَوارِصَ مِن

تِلقَائِهِمْ قَلبي لها يَجفُ

Yet I complain of the harshness of some

Whose hearts at once by chance grow cold to me.

ومَلالةً منهمُ يَبينُ علَى

أثْنَائِهَا الشَّنآنُ والشَّنَفُ

And I am bored by them: boredom appears

Between us with rancor and disdain.

أَنكرتُ قسوتَهُمْ وأعرفُهُمْ

كُرمَاءَ إمّا استُعطِفُوا عَطَفُوا

I denied their harshness and knew them

As generous: either they were persuaded and relented,

قطَعُوا أواصِرَ بَينَنا وشَجَتْ

أسبَابَها الأنسابُ والسّلَفُ

Or they cut the ties between us, and kinship

And ancestry were severed by them.

وإذا سَلِمتَ أبا سلامَةَ لي

فمُصابُ كلِّ رزِيَّةٍ ظَلَفُ

When you bid farewell to Abu Salama for me,

Then the misfortune of every calamity has passed away.

لي سَلوةٌ بكَ عن بَني زَمَني

فليجْهَدُوا في الغَدْرِ أو لِيَفُوا

I have a diversion with you from the people of my time,

So let them strive in treachery or keep their word!

قَارعتَ دُونِي الحادثاتِ فَلا

طرقَتْ فناءَكَ ما دَجَا السّدَفُ

You warded off misfortunes from me so that

No gloom of sorrow has visited your abode.

وكفَيتَ آمالِي بجودِك أَن

تُضْحِي إلى الرّغَباتِ تَشْتَرِفُ

And you have satisfied my hopes with your generosity

That you may rise to desires loftily.

فغدوتُ لا خَطباً أخافُ ولا

أَنَاْ إِثْرَ شيءٍ فائتٍ أَسِفُ

So I have become one who fears no misfortune

And who laments no lost thing longingly.