1. أترى يؤوب لنا الأُبَيْ

    رِقُ والمُنى للمرءِ شُغْلُ

    Do you think al-Ubayriq will return to us?

    A man's wishes keep him occupied.

  2. طَلَلٌ لعَزَّةَ ما يزا

    لُ على ثراهُ دمٌ يُطَلُّ

    A ruined dwelling of ‘Azza; still,

    blood upon its soil goes unavenged.

  3. قتلوا وما قتلوا وعن

    دَهُمُ لنا قوَدٌ وعَقْلُ

    They killed, yet did not kill;

    they owe us retaliation and blood-money.

  4. قل للّذين على مَوا

    عِدهم لنا خُلفٌ ومَطْلُ

    Tell those whose promises to us

    are broken and delayed:

  5. كم ضامني من لا أُضِي

    مُ وملَّني مَن لا أمَلُّ

    How often one I do not wrong has wronged me,

    and one I never tire of has tired of me.

  6. يا عاذلاً لعتابه

    كَلٌّ على سَمْعِي وثِقْلُ

    O reproacher, whose rebuke

    is a burden and a weight upon my ears,

  7. إن كنت تأمر بالسُّلُو

    وِ فقل لقلبي كيف يسلو

    if you command me to forget,

    then tell my heart how it can forget.

  8. قلبي رهينٌ في الهوى

    إن كان قلبُك منه يخلو

    My heart is captive to love,

    even if your heart is free of it.

  9. ولقد علمتُ على الهوى

    أنّ الهوى سُقمٌ وذُلٌّ

    And I have learned, despite my passion,

    that love is sickness and humiliation.

  10. وتعجّبتْ جَمْلٌ لشَيْ

    بِ مفارقي وتشيبُ جَمْلُ

    And Jaml marveled at the graying

    of my hair-partings, though Jaml too grows gray.

  11. ورأتْ بياضاً في سوا

    دٍ ما رأته هناك قَبْلُ

    She saw whiteness amid blackness,

    which she had never seen there before,

  12. كَذُبالةٍ رُفعَتْ على ال

    هضباتِ للسّارين ضَلّوا

    like a lamp-wick raised upon

    the hilltops for lost night-travelers.

  13. أيُّ المفارق لا يُزا

    رُ بذا البياضِ ولا يُحَلُّ

    Which hair-parting is not visited

    by this whiteness, nor made its dwelling?

  14. لا تُنكِرِيهِ وَيْبَ غي

    رك فَهْو للجهلاءِ غُلُّ

    Do not disown it—woe to others!—

    for it is a fetter on the ignorant.

  15. ومُعَرِّسٍ أيقظتُه

    واللّيلُ للآفاقِ كُحْلُ

    And many a traveler halted for rest I woke,

    while night was kohl upon the horizons,

  16. في لَيلةٍ مضروبةٍ

    والقُرُّ في الأطرافِ نَمْلُ

    on a frost-stricken night,

    and cold crept like ants through the limbs.

  17. نزع الكرى ثمّ اِستَوى

    فكأنّه للرّكْبِ جِذْلُ

    He shook off sleep, then straightened up,

    as though he were a tree trunk among the riders.

  18. يا صانعَ البُكراتِ والر

    رَوْحاتِ تنقُلُه شِمَلُّ

    O traveler of mornings and

    late afternoons, borne by a swift she-camel,

  19. ينبو به في كلّ شا

    رقةٍ مَرادٌ أو محلُّ

    at every sunrise, unwelcome

    in some roaming-ground or halting-place:

  20. هذا أبو الخطّاب ذو الن

    نعماءِ سيّدُنا الأجلُّ

    Here is Abu al-Khattab, possessed of

    bounty, our most exalted lord.

  21. أحللْ به عُقَدَ الرّحا

    لِ فليس بعد اليومِ حَلُّ

    Untie your saddle-knots beside him;

    for after today there is no further unloading.

  22. واِعقِرْ قَلوصَك عنده

    فهناك مالٌ ثمّ أهلُ

    And slaughter your young she-camel beside him;

    for there is wealth there, and family besides.

  23. يا مفزعَ الملهوفِ مم

    ما خاف يعمِدُ أو يَزِلُّ

    O refuge of the distressed from

    what he fears, whether he acts deliberately or slips,

  24. ومحصّن المهجات لم

    ما أنْ غَدَوْنَ وهنّ أُكْلُ

    and guardian of lives when

    they had become prey,

  25. وعلى الوسائد منك لل

    أقوامِ مرهوبٌ مُجَلُّ

    and upon the cushions you are, to

    the people, one feared and revered,

  26. مُتَخمِّطٌ يَعِدُ الرّجا

    لَ ودونهمْ خَرْقٌ مَضَلُّ

    raging, he threatens men,

    though a bewildering waste lies between him and them.

  27. رَهْبٌ ورَغْبٌ عنده

    فكأنّه شمسٌ وطَلُّ

    Fear and hope are with him,

    as though he were both sun and dew.

  28. ولربّ داهيةٍ يضي

    قُ بكيدها السِّمْعُ الأزَلُّ

    And many a calamity by whose cunning

    even the lean-flanked wolf–hyena beast is hard-pressed,

  29. مطموسةِ الأعلام في

    طُرُقاتها حَرَجٌ وأزْلُ

    its landmarks obliterated, with

    hardship and straits upon its paths,

  30. كنتَ اِبنَ بَجْدَتِها وقدْ

    دُعِيَ الرّجالُ لها فقلّوا

    you were its true expert, when

    men were summoned to it and proved few.

  31. ولقد تحقّقت النّوا

    ئبُ أنَّ غَرْبَك لا يُفَلُّ

    And adversities have surely learned

    that your blade's edge cannot be blunted,

  32. وحريزَ أمْنِك لا يُرا

    عُ وذَوْدَ أرضك لا يُشَلُّ

    and your guarded refuge cannot be alarmed,

    nor your land's camel-herd driven off.

  33. أقسمتُ بالبيت الحرا

    مِ يزوره رَكْبٌ ورَجْلُ

    I have sworn by the Sacred House,

    visited by riders and men on foot,

  34. وبزمزمٍ والكارعي

    ن لما بها نهلوا وعَلُّوا

    and by Zamzam and the drinkers,

    when they drank there, then drank again,

  35. والنّازلين على مِنىً

    لهمُ بها عَقْرٌ وبَزْلُ

    and by those encamped at Mina,

    with slaughter and bloodletting there,

  36. وبمسقَطِ الجمراتِ في ال

    وادي المُغَمّسِ واِستهلّوا

    and by the pebbles' falling-place in

    the valley of al-Mughammis, as they cried aloud:

  37. إنّ السّجايا الغُرَّ عن

    دك ليس يعدِلهنّ مِثْلُ

    indeed, the radiant qualities found

    in you have no equal:

  38. كرمٌ وعدلٌ فائضٌ

    مَن ذا له كرمٌ وعدلُ

    generosity and overflowing justice—

    who else has generosity and justice?

  39. وجَنانُ مفتقرِ الجرا

    ئرِ لا يُقيمُ عليه ذَحْلُ

    and a heart devoid of offenses,

    against which no blood-grudge can lodge.

  40. كم نعمةٍ لك جَمّةٍ

    عندي ومعروفٌ وفضلُ

    How many abundant favors from you

    I have received, and kindness and bounty!

  41. وصنائعٍ مشهورةٍ

    طُرُقٌ إلى شكري وسُبْلُ

    And well-known benefactions,

    roads and pathways to my gratitude.

  42. ما أنسَ لا أنسَ اِهتما

    مك بي وقد شَحَطَ المحلُّ

    Whatever I forget, I will not forget your care

    for me, though my dwelling was far away,

  43. ومواقفاً لي قمتها

    وَالحاسدونَ إليّ قُبْلُ

    and the stands you took on my behalf,

    while my enviers faced me.

  44. وَكَفيتني شَطَطَ السؤا

    ل وأيُّ عَضْبٍ لا يُسَلُّ

    And you spared me the strain of asking;

    and what keen blade is left undrawn?

  45. إنْ لم نُوَفِّك قَدْرَ شك

    رِكَ فالمحارمُ تُستَحَلُّ

    If we fail to give you your due of thanks,

    then forbidden things are deemed lawful.

  46. وكثيرُ ما قمنا به

    في جَنبِ حقّك مُستَقَلُّ

    And even the many things we have done

    are counted little beside your due.

  47. واِسمَعْ فذا النّيروزُ يُخْ

    برُ أنّ جَدّك فيه يعلو

    And listen, for this Nowruz announces

    that your good fortune rises on this day,

  48. وَخلود عزٍّ لا يُحا

    لُ ولا يُزال ولا يُمَلُّ

    and everlasting glory, never altered,

    never removed, never wearied of.

  49. واِسلَم فإنّا لا نُبا

    لي بعد بُرْءِك مَن يُعَلُّ

    And be well, for we do not care,

    after your recovery, who falls ill.

  50. وإذا بقيتَ محرّماً

    فجميع ما نخشاه حِلُّ

    And if you remain inviolate,

    then all that we dread is lawful.