1. ليتَ الهوى يصرِفه الراقى

    إما بحَيْنٍ أو بإفراقِ

    Would that the spell-healer could dispel love,

    either through death or through recovery.

  2. رشفُ الثنايا والتزام والطُّلىَ

    إن أمكنا أخلاطُ درياقى

    Kissing the teeth and embracing the necks,

    if both are possible, are the ingredients of my antidote.

  3. يا قارعا بالعذل سمعى ومِن

    ورائهِ قلبٌ بأغلاقِ

    O you who batter my hearing with reproach, and

    behind it lies a heart secured with locks.

  4. من أوجب التوبةَ من خمرةٍ

    يعصِرها من لحظِه الساقى

    Who has enjoined repentance from a wine

    that the cupbearer presses from his glance?

  5. كم بالكثيب الفَرْدِ من نابلٍ

    أسهمهُ ليست بأفواقِ

    How many an archer upon the solitary sand-dune,

    whose arrows have no nocks!

  6. وقامةٍ تحسبُها غصنَها ال

    وَرقاءُ لو كانت بأوراقِ

    And a stature that would be deemed her own branch by the

    gray dove, were it clothed in leaves.

  7. وظبيةٍ تنطح قَنَّاصها

    من فاحمٍ جَعدٍ بأوراقِ

    And a gazelle that butts her hunter

    with leaflike locks of coal-black, curly hair.

  8. من كُنْسها صدرى ومن روضها

    قلبى ومن غُدرانها ماقى

    My breast is among her lairs, and among her meadows

    is my heart; among her pools is the corner of my eye.

  9. مأسورَةٍ بالصون في خِدرها

    تَحكُمُ في أسرٍ وإطلاقٍ

    Held captive by guarded chastity within her bower,

    she rules over captivity and release.

  10. منّاعةٍ بالحسن أجفانَنا

    أن يتقاربن لإطراق

    Through her beauty she forbids our eyelids

    from drawing together in a lowered gaze.

  11. كأنما الأعين إذا أُبرزت

    من خِدرها ليست بأطباقِ

    As though the eyes, when she is brought forth

    from her bower, could no longer close.

  12. أغفلتُ ما حازْته من مهجتى

    مخافةً أن تذكُرَ الباقي

    I disregarded what she had taken of my heart's blood,

    for fear she might remember what remained.

  13. وليلةٍ بالهجرِ مُدّتْ فما

    يُفنِى مداها سعىُ مشتاقِ

    And a night prolonged by estrangement—no

    yearning lover's striving could exhaust its span.

  14. كان شرابي وقِياني بها

    دمعي ووُرقا ذات أطواقِ

    My drink and my singing girls that night were

    my tears and collared gray doves,

  15. حتّى محا الصبحُ سوادَ الدُّجَى

    كِلَّمةٍ في يدِ حلاّقِ

    until dawn erased the blackness of deep night

    like a head of hair in a barber's hand.

  16. قلتُ وأطرافُ القنا شُخَّصٌ

    ترمقنى عن زُرق أحداقِ

    I said, while the spear-tips stood upright,

    watching me through blue pupils:

  17. لا أطلبُ الهدنةَ فيها ولو

    قامت بها الحربُ على ساقِ

    I seek no truce in this, even if

    war rages there in all its fury.

  18. ومِن نِظام المُلك لي جُنَّةٌ

    حصينةٌ ما مثلُها واقِ

    And from Nizam al-Mulk I have a shield,

    impregnable, with no protector like it.

  19. نِعْم الحِمىَ إن عَرضَت خُطّةٌ

    قد لفَّها الليلُ بسوّاقِ

    What an excellent refuge, should a predicament arise

    that night has enfolded and driven onward.

  20. يعتصم الخائفُ من أمنهِ

    في قُلّتَىْ عهدٍ ومثياقِ

    The frightened man finds refuge in his protection,

    on the twin summits of pledge and covenant.

  21. لا يهجُم السخطُ على حِلمهِ

    إن عثرَ الأخمَصُ بالساقِ

    Anger does not assail his forbearance,

    if the arch of a foot stumbles against a shin.

  22. ولا يُهزُّ الكبرُ أعطافهَ

    وهو على طودِ العلا راقِ

    Nor does pride sway his shoulders,

    though he ascends the mountain of eminence.

  23. في لفظه والخطِّ مندوحةٌ

    عن صارم الحدَّين ذَلاَّقِ

    His speech and handwriting provide an alternative

    to a keen, double-edged sword.

  24. مثلُ سلاح الليث مستوَدعٌ

    في الكفّ أو ما بين أشداقِ

    A weapon like the lion's lies lodged

    in his palm or between his jaws.

  25. أبلجُ فضَّاحٌ سنا نورِه

    لسُنَّة البدر بإشراقِ

    Bright-faced, the radiance of his light shames

    the full moon's face by its brilliance.

  26. ذو بهجةٍ غراءَ ميمونةٍ

    زيَّنها ديباجُ أخلاقِ

    Possessed of radiant, auspicious splendor,

    adorned by the brocade of his character.

  27. يَحُلُّ ما يبديه من بِشره

    عَقْدَ لسان الهائب اللاقى

    The cheerfulness he displays unties

    the tongue's knot in the awed man who meets him.

  28. أبوابهُ للوفد مفتوحةٌ

    كأنها أجفانُ عُشّاقِ

    His doors stand open to delegations,

    like the eyelids of lovers.

  29. تستغلق الرهنَ أفاويقُهُ

    إن جُعلَ القَمْرُ لسبَّاقِ

    His repeated outpourings win the stake outright,

    if the wagered prize is assigned to the front-runner.

  30. مسافةُ العلياء إن أُقِصيتْ

    فهو بها عَمروُ بن بّراقِ

    If the road to highest honor is made remote,

    upon it he is Amr ibn Barraq.

  31. والعيس عيسٌ فإذا زرنه

    فإنها أسبابُ أرزاقِ

    Pale camels are only pale camels; but when they visit him,

    they become means of livelihood.

  32. كم عنده للحمد والشكر من

    مواسمٍ قُمنَ وأسواقِ

    How many, at his court, for praise and thanks, are the

    festivals held and the markets!

  33. يأنَفُ أن يُمطر شؤبُوبُه

    إلا بأذهاب وأوراقِ

    He disdains to let his downpour rain

    anything but gold and silver.

  34. تهلُّلٌ وَسْميُّه موعدٌ

    يُولِى بهامى الجودِ غَيداقِ

    His first rain is a beaming smile, a promise

    he follows with a lavish downpour of bounty.

  35. والسُّحبُّ لا تعطيك معروفَها

    إلا بإرعادٍ وإبراقِ

    And clouds do not grant you their bounty

    without thunder and lightning.

  36. ليس يخيبُ الظنُّ فيه ولا

    يعودُ راجيه بإخفاقِ

    Confidence in him is never disappointed, nor

    does one who hopes in him return in failure.

  37. أضحت صروفُ الدهر مأسورةً

    للحسَن القَرْمِ ابن إسحاقِ

    The vicissitudes of time have become captives

    to al-Hasan, the noble chief, son of Ishaq.

  38. قد صيَّر المالَ على حبِّه

    طُعمةَ إتلافٍ وإنفاقِ

    He has made wealth, despite his love of it,

    prey to destruction and spending.

  39. إذا صروفُ الدهر زعزعنه

    صادفنَ قلبا غيرَ خفَّاقِ

    When the vicissitudes of time shake him,

    they find a heart that does not flutter.

  40. أوامرٌ تملؤها طاعةً

    أهلُ أقاليم وآفاقِ

    Commands filled with obedience by

    the people of provinces and far horizons,

  41. ما بين جَيْحونَ فقالِى قَلا

    وبين إشآم وإعراقِ

    between Jayhun and Qali Qala,

    and between the Syrian and Iraqi reaches.

  42. وعزمةٌ عنها صدورُ القنا

    تهتزُّ من خوفٍ وإشفاقِ

    And a resolve at which the breasts of spears

    tremble with fear and dread.

  43. تُضحى قسىٌّ التُّرك من ثِقلها

    تئنُّ في نزعٍ وإغراقِ

    Under its weight, the bows of the Turks begin

    to groan as they are drawn to their fullest.

  44. والسيفُ مّما كلَّفتْ حدَّه

    يكُمنُ في أغمادِ أعناقِ

    And the sword, under that resolve's demands upon its edge,

    lies hidden in the scabbards of necks.

  45. قد حصَّن الملكَ بآرائه

    في شاهقِ الأقطارِ مِزلاقِ

    He has fortified the kingdom with his counsels

    on a steep-sided height, slippery to climb.

  46. في كلّ يومٍ بأراضى العدا

    سَجْلُ دمٍ بالطعن مُهراقِ

    Each day, in the lands of the enemy,

    a brimming bucket of blood is poured out by spear-thrusts.

  47. مثل بنى الأصفر أودى بهم

    أروعُ يُردى كلَّ مرَّاقِ

    Such as the sons of al-Asfar, brought to ruin by

    a fearsome lord who fells every renegade.

  48. من تُلَّ منهم فلذئِب الفلا

    ومن نجا فرَّ بأرماقِ

    Whoever of them was felled was for the desert wolf;

    whoever escaped fled with remnants of life.

  49. بوقعةٍ أُطعِمَ فيها الردى

    أرواحَ كُفّارٍ وفُسّاقِ

    In a battle where death was fed

    the souls of unbelievers and sinners.

  50. كم من يدٍ بالقاعِ مبريَّةٍ

    وهامةٍ يالشِّعبِ أفلاقِ

    How many a severed hand upon the plain,

    and a head shattered in the ravine!

  51. ذاق مليكُ الروم من صابها

    ما لم يكن قبلُ بذوَاقِ

    The king of Rum tasted of its bitter sap

    what he had never tasted before.

  52. إن لم تكن لاقيتَ أبطالَها

    كنتَ بإقبالك كاللاقى

    Though you may not have faced its champions,

    through your favor you were as one who had faced them.

  53. والشمسُ لا يمنعها بُعدُها

    من فعل إنماء وإحراقِ

    The sun's remoteness does not prevent it

    from fostering growth and burning.

  54. أيا قِوامَ الدّين دعوى امرىء

    لسانُه ليس بمذَّاقِ

    O Qiwam al-Din, hear the plea of a man

    whose tongue speaks without deceit.

  55. اللهَ في غرسك لا تُذوِه

    من بعد إثمارٍ وإيراقِ

    For God's sake, do not let your planting wither

    after it has borne fruit and put forth leaves.

  56. بك استقامت عُوجُ أفنانه

    ومَدَّ في النُّعمَى بأعراقِ

    Through you its crooked branches grew straight,

    and it extended its roots into prosperity.

  57. وعبد قِنٍّ لك لم يلتمس

    من رقِّهِ راحةَ إعتاقِ

    And a born bondsman of yours, who has never sought

    from his servitude the relief of emancipation—

  58. مذ سار عن رَبعكَ أحشاؤه

    والقلبُ أُثْفيّةُ أشواقِ

    since he left your dwelling, his entrails

    and heart have been a hearthstone of longings.

  59. ما اعتاض من عزِّك إلا كما

    يُعتاضُ عن سيفٍ بِمخراقِ

    What he gained in place of your glory was only like

    exchanging a sword for a cloth play-whip.

  60. تلطَّف الحسَّادُ في سِحرهم

    حتى رأوا بالنأى إقلاقي

    The enviers used subtle arts in their sorcery,

    until they saw separation unsettle me.

  61. إن سرّهم فَرّى فمِن بعدِه

    يسوءهم كرِّى وإعناقى

    If my flight pleased them, afterward

    my countercharge and swift advance will dismay them.

  62. ما كنتُ من قبلهمُ خائفا

    بينَ غرابٍ غيرِ نغَّاقِ

    Before them, I had never feared

    the parting brought by a raven that did not croak.

  63. مَن فيهمُ شأوي ومَن

    يحمِل إن حُمِّلَ أوساقى

    Who among them can reach my range, and who

    can bear my burdens, if made to carry them?

  64. أشعثُ إحسانك لي أوّلا

    فاَجعل بثانى الطَّولِ تَصداقى

    I proclaimed your first kindness to me [reading uncertain];

    so confirm my words with a second bounty.

  65. حاشا أياديك وما خَوّلتْ

    أن أكتسى أثوابَ إملاقِ

    Far be it from your favors and what they bestowed

    that I should wear the garments of destitution.