أرىَ الشهدَ يَجنيه لي الذلُّ علقمَا

أرىَ الشهدَ يَجنيه لي الذلُّ علقمَا

وعلقَمُ سُبلِ العِزِّ عندِي هوَ الشهدُ

وعلقَمُ سُبلِ العِزِّ عندِي هوَ الشهدُ

I deem the honey that humiliation gathers for me bitter colocynth;

I see the honey that humiliation gathers for me,

And the colocynth of honor's paths is honey to me.

While for me the path of glory is bitterness.

وإِني لترَّكٌ لِما قَد يشِينُني

وإِني لترَّكٌ لِما قَد يشِينُني

وإني لَفعَّالٌ لِما فِعلُه مَجدُ

وإني لَفعَّالٌ لِما فِعلُه مَجدُ

And I surely forsake whatever may disgrace me,

I do leave what would disgrace me,

And I surely do whatever is glorious to do.

And I do what brings me glory.

وإني مِن القَوم الغَطَارِفَةِ الألَى

وإني مِن القَوم الغَطَارِفَةِ الألَى

مَكارِمُهم مِن دونِ إحصَائِها العَدُّ

مَكارِمُهم مِن دونِ إحصَائِها العَدُّ

And I am of those noble men whose

I am of a people whose nobility

Noble deeds no tally can encompass.

Is beyond counting.

أقولُ لأهلِ الغَدرِ إذ غَدَروا بِنا

أقولُ لأهلِ الغَدرِ إذ غَدَروا بِنا

وكُنَّا وكانوا والأخوَّةُ والوُدُّ

وكُنَّا وكانوا والأخوَّةُ والوُدُّ

I say to the treacherous, when they betrayed us,

I say to those who betrayed us

Though we and they had shared brotherhood and affection,

When there was brotherhood and love between us:

وعَابوا علَى مَا قد فعلتُهُ إذ بَدا

وعَابوا علَى مَا قد فعلتُهُ إذ بَدا

لَهم غيرَ ما كانوا يَظنونه يَبدُو

لَهم غيرَ ما كانوا يَظنونه يَبدُو

And they found fault with what I had done, when it appeared

You blamed me for what I have done

To them unlike what they had thought would appear:

When something different from what you expected appeared.

غَرتُم أخَاكُم فاستضَاع عُهودَه

غَرتُم أخَاكُم فاستضَاع عُهودَه

وعَهدِي به أن لاَ يضيعَ لَه عهدُ

وعَهدِي به أن لاَ يضيعَ لَه عهدُ

You deceived your brother, so he let his pledges go to waste,

You betrayed your brother so his pacts were diminished,

Yet I have known him never to let a pledge of his be lost.

Yet my pact with him is that I not diminish any pact.

أمِثلي وسِلكُ الشَّيبِ ضَاء بِعَارِضِي

أمِثلي وسِلكُ الشَّيبِ ضَاء بِعَارِضِي

وما تَمَّ غيرُ النائباتِ لَه وقدُ

وما تَمَّ غيرُ النائباتِ لَه وقدُ

Is one like me—with a thread of gray shining on my cheek,

Does my example and the graying of my temples

And kindled by nothing but calamities

Accomplish anything but misfortune?

وإلا فما لابنِ الثلاثِين حِقبَةً

وإلا فما لابنِ الثلاثِين حِقبَةً

وأفراسُ شِيبٍ في دُجى شَعره تَعدُو

وأفراسُ شِيبٍ في دُجى شَعره تَعدُو

(Else, why should a man of thirty years

One in his thirties has no right

Have steeds of gray galloping through his hair's darkness?)—

To horses of gray hair galloping in the darkness of his hair.

يُجَاهِرُه صِرفَ الوِداد لِسانُكم

يُجَاهِرُه صِرفَ الوِداد لِسانُكم

وباطِنُكم يَغلِي به البُغضُ والحِقدُ

وباطِنُكم يَغلِي به البُغضُ والحِقدُ

To be openly addressed by your tongue with pure affection,

Your tongues profess affection openly,

While hatred and rancor boil within you?

Yet inwardly you seethe with hatred and malice.