1. خلِّ المَدامِعَ في المنازلِ تسفحُ

    والقلبُ من ذكر الأحبّةِ يفرحُ

    Let the tears pour forth in the dwellings.

    And the heart rejoices in remembering loved ones.

  2. ما كانَ عِندي أنّ غُزلان النَّقا

    لسوادِ طَرْفِي يومَ رامةَ تسنحُ

    I had not imagined that the gazelles of the dune

    Would appear before my dark pupil on the day at Ramah.

  3. لمّا مَرَرْنَ بنا خطفن قلوبَنا

    وقلوبُهنّ مقيمةٌ لا تبرحُ

    When they passed us, they snatched away our hearts,

    While their own hearts stayed still and did not stir.

  4. والدّار من بعد الشّواغفِ إنّما

    هيَ للجَوى والحزِن مغنىً مَطرحُ

    And the dwelling, once the heart-ravishers have gone, is only

    A home and resting place for anguish and sorrow.

  5. للَّهِ زَوْرٌ زارَنا وقتَ الكرى

    واللّيل جَوْنُ أديمِهِ لا يوضِحُ

    God be praised for a visitor who came to us at the hour of slumber,

    While night, black-skinned, gave no light.

  6. وَالعيسُ مِن بعدِ الكلالِ مُناخةٌ

    والرّكبُ فيما بينهنَّ مُطرَّحُ

    And the pale camels had been made to kneel after exhaustion,

    And the riders lay sprawled among them.

  7. فيما طَرقتَ وَلَيلنا مُستحلِكٌ

    لَو ما طرقتَ وصبحُنا متوضَّحُ

    Why did you visit when our night was pitch-black?

    Why not visit when our dawn was shining clear?

  8. بينا يؤلّفنا أغمٌّ مُظلمٌ

    حَتّى يُفرّقنا مضيءٌ أجْلحُ

    No sooner does a dark, shaggy-browed night unite us

    Than a bright, bare-browed dawn parts us.

  9. يا صاحِبيَّ على الزّمانِ تأمّلا

    ما جرّه هذا الزّمانُ الأقبحُ

    O my two friends, reflect on time,

    On what this most hideous age has brought.

  10. في كلِّ يومٍ لي خليطٌ يَنتَئِي

    عنِّي ودارٌ بالمسرّةِ تنزحُ

    Each day a companion of mine draws away

    From me, and a dwelling recedes with its joy.

  11. وهمومُ صدرٍ كلّما دافعتُها

    آلتْ طِوالَ الدّهرِ لا تتزحزحُ

    And worries in my breast, whenever I fend them off,

    Vow never to budge for all eternity.

  12. لا أَستطيعُ لها الشكايةَ خِيفةً

    والهمُّ لا يُشكى لقلبك أَجْرحُ

    I cannot complain of them, out of fear,

    And unspoken sorrow wounds your heart more deeply.

  13. وإذا طلبتُ لِيَ الإخاءَ فليس لِي

    مِن بَينهمْ إلّا السَّؤُولُ الأرسخُ

    And when I seek brotherhood for myself, I find none

    Among them but the inveterate asker,

  14. من كلِّ مشتهر العيوبِ وعندهُ

    أَنّ العيونَ لعيبهِ لا تَلمحُ

    From all those notorious for faults, each convinced

    That eyes do not notice his flaw;

  15. ومجاورٍ ما كنتُ يوماً راضياً

    بِجِوارهِ وَمشاورٍ لا ينصحُ

    And a neighbor I was never content

    To live beside, and a counselor who gives no honest counsel;

  16. وَمعاشرٍ نَبذوا الجميلَ فما لهمْ

    إِلّا بِأَوديةِ القبائحِ مَسرَحُ

    And people who cast goodness aside, with nowhere

    To roam but in the valleys of ugly deeds.

  17. وَمِنَ البَليّةِ أنّنِي حوشيتُما

    أُمسِي كما يهوى العدوُّ وأُصبِحُ

    And it is an affliction that I—may you both be spared—

    Spend my evenings and mornings as my enemy wishes,

  18. في كربةٍ لا تنجلي وَشَديدةٍ

    لا تنقَضِي ودُجُنَّةٍ لا تُصبِحُ

    In anguish that does not lift, and calamity

    That never ends, and darkness that never dawns.

  19. جَمْرِي تناقَلُهُ الأكفُّ ولم تجدْ

    لَفْحاً له وجِمارُ غيرِيَ تلفحُ

    Hands pass my embers around, yet have found

    No scorching heat in them, while others' embers scorch.

  20. وإذا عزمتُ على النّجاءِ فليس ما

    أَنجو بِهِ إلّا الطِّلاحُ الرُّزَّحُ

    And when I resolve to flee, I have nothing

    To escape upon but worn-out, exhausted camels.

  21. قُل للّذي يَعدو بِهِ في مَهْمَهٍ

    طِرْفٌ تخيّره الفوراسُ أقرحُ

    Say to the man borne at a gallop through a trackless waste

    By a white-blazed steed chosen by horsemen:

  22. بَلِّغْ بلغتَ عَميدَنا وزعيمَنا

    ومشرّفاً دُنياً لنا لا يَمْصَحُ

    Convey this—may you arrive—to our chief and leader,

    And the unfading ennobler of our earthly life:

  23. إنّي ببُعدِك في بهيمٍ مُظلمٍ

    لمّا عدانِي مَن به أستصبحُ

    Indeed, in your absence I am in pitch-black darkness,

    Since the one from whom I take light has left me.

  24. إنْ طاب لِي طعمُ الحياةِ أمرَّهُ

    شوقٌ إليك كما علمتَ مبرِّحُ

    If life tastes sweet to me, it is made bitter

    By agonizing longing for you, as you know.

  25. ولقد علمتُ زمانَ تبغِي كارهاً

    قربي ببعدك أنّنِي لا أربحُ

    And I knew, when you sought—reluctantly—

    My nearness, that I would gain nothing from your distance.

  26. وأنا الّذي من بعدِ نأْيكَ مُبْعَدٌ

    عن كلِّ ما فيه الإرادةُ منزَحُ

    And since your departure, I have been driven away

    From everything desired, banished far off.

  27. في أسْرِ أيدٍ بالأذى مفتوحةٍ

    لكنّها عند النّدى لا تُفتحُ

    Captive in hands opened wide for harm,

    Yet never opened for generosity.

  28. ومُهوِّنٌ عندي الشدائدَ أنّها

    تدنو الأنام وأنتَ عنها الأنزحُ

    What lightens hardships for me is that they

    Draw near to mankind, while you are farthest from them.

  29. وإذا عَدَتْكَ سهامُ دهرٍ ترتمِي

    فدعِ السِّهامَ لجِلدِ غيرك تجرحُ

    And if time's flying arrows miss you,

    Let the arrows wound another's skin.

  30. ما ضرّنا وقلوبُنا مُلتفّةٌ

    دَوٌّ تعرّض بيننا أو صَحْصَحُ

    With our hearts entwined, we are not harmed

    By a desert lying between us, or a barren plain.

  31. فَالأَبعَدونَ مع المودّة حُضَّرٌ

    وَالأقربونَ بِلا المودّةِ نُزَّحُ

    For the distant are present when there is love,

    And the near are far away without love.

  32. وَلَقدْ فضحتَ مَعاشراً لم يبلغوا

    شأْواً بلغتَ وفضلُ مثلك يفضحُ

    You have indeed shamed people who never attained

    The rank you reached; excellence like yours puts others to shame.

  33. وَتَركتنا مِن بَعدِ حقٍّ كان فِي

    كفّيكَ نَغبُقُ بالمُحال ونصْبَحُ

    And you left us, after the truth that had been in

    Your two hands, drinking absurdity at dusk and dawn.

  34. وإذا بنو عبد الرّحيم تبوّؤوا

    شِعْباً فإنّي بينهمْ لا أبرحُ

    And when the sons of Abd al-Rahim take up residence

    In a mountain valley, I stay among them and do not depart.

  35. المُسرِعون إلى الصّريخ فإِنْ قضَوْا

    وَطَرَ الوَغى فهُمُ الجبالُ الرُّجحُ

    Swift to answer the cry for help; once they have fulfilled

    Battle's need, they are massive mountains.

  36. لا أَستَطيعُ فِراقهمْ ولربّما

    فارقتُ مَن بفراقهمْ لا أسمحُ

    I cannot part from them, though at times

    I have parted from those I was unwilling to leave.

  37. وأنا الجواد فإنْ سئلتُ تحوّلاً

    عن قربكمْ فأنا البخيلُ الشّحْشَحُ

    And I am generous; but if asked to move

    Away from you, I am a miser, fiercely tight-fisted.

  38. قومٌ وقَوْنِي الشَّرَّ وهو مُصمِّمٌ

    وكفَوْنِيَ الضَّرَّاءَ وهي تُصَرِّحُ

    A people who shielded me from evil, relentless in its purpose,

    And spared me adversity as it openly declared itself.

  39. إنْ ناكروا الأمرَ الذّميم تباعدوا

    أو باكروا المَغْنَى الكريم ترَوَّحوا

    If they disavow a shameful affair, they keep far away;

    Or visit a noble abode at dawn, they visit it at dusk as well.

  40. وإذا دَعوتَهُمُ لنصرك من ردىً

    جاءتْ إليك بهمْ جِيادٌ قُرَّحُ

    And when you call them to save you from destruction,

    Full-grown steeds bring them to you.

  41. مِثْلَ الدَّبا لَفّتْهُ فينا زَعزَعٌ

    والسّيلُ ضاق به علينا الأبطحُ

    Like young locusts swept together among us by a gale,

    And a torrent too great for the broad, pebbled riverbed around us.

  42. والبيضُ في قللِ الكُماةِ غمودُها

    والسّمرُ من ماءِ الترّائبِ تُنضحُ

    And white swords have their sheaths in armored warriors' crowns,

    And brown spears are splashed with the blood of chests.

  43. فعليك منّي غائباً عن مُقلتِي

    فدموعُها حتّى تراهُ تسفَحُ

    So to you, from me, though absent from my eye—

    For its tears pour forth until it sees him—

  44. تسليمةٌ لا تنقضِي وتحيّةٌ

    يمضِي المدى وقليبُها لا ينزحُ

    An unending greeting and a salutation,

    Whose well never runs dry, though all time passes.

  45. وصفحتُ عن ذنبِ الزّمانِ وإنّنِي

    عَن ذَنبِه بِفراقِنا لا أصفحُ

    And I have pardoned time its sin, yet I

    Do not pardon its sin in parting us.