1. بَلَغْنا ليلةَ الشِّعبِ

    عجالاً مُنيةَ الحبِّ

    We attained, on the night in the ravine,

    in haste, love's desire.

  2. تَلاقَينا كَما شِئنا

    بلا علمٍ من الرّكبِ

    We met just as we wished,

    without the caravan's knowledge.

  3. وَطَيفٍ طافَ في ظَمْيا

    ءَ والإصباحُ في الحُجْبِ

    And a phantom came as a dark-lipped

    beauty, while dawn lay behind veils.

  4. جَفَتْ عيني وجاءتْ في

    دُجى اللّيل إلى قلبي

    She shunned my eye and came amid

    night's darkness to my heart.

  5. وَزالتْ غبَّ ما زَارتْ

    وما قلتُ لها حسبي

    She departed soon after her visit,

    though I had not told her, 'Enough for me.'

  6. وولّتْ لم تُنِلْ شيئاً

    من الغُنْمِ سوى حبّي

    She turned away, having gained nothing

    but my love as her reward.

  7. فَيا شِعباً تَعانقنا

    بِهِ بوركتَ من شِعبِ

    O ravine where we embraced,

    blessed be you among ravines!

  8. وَلا قُرّبتَ من جَدْبٍ

    ولا بوعدتَ من خِصْبِ

    May you never be brought near drought,

    nor kept far from fertility.

  9. فكمْ فيكَ لباغي نَفَ

    لِ الأحبابِ من إِرْبِ

    How many, in you, for seekers of the favors

    of beloveds, are the objects of desire!

  10. ومِنْ ظبيٍ غنيٍّ في

    ك بالحسنِ عن القُلْبِ

    And how many a gazelle, rich within

    you in beauty, needing no bracelets!

  11. كَفاه لُؤلؤا منه

    لباسُ اللؤلؤ الرّطْبِ

    For pearls, he had enough of his own:

    a garment of moist pearls.

  12. وأطرافٌ خضابُ الل

    هِ أغناهنّ عن خَضْبِ

    And fingertips, which God's dye

    spared any need for coloring.

  13. ولمّا رأت الحسنا

    ءُ في رأسِيَ كالشُّهبِ

    And when the beautiful woman saw

    in my hair what looked like shooting stars,

  14. وبيضاً كالظُّبا البيضِ

    وَما يَصلحنَ للضّربِ

    and white strands like white sword blades,

    though unfit for striking,

  15. تُجُنِّيتُ بلا جُرمٍ

    وَعوقِبتُ بِلا ذَنبِ

    I was falsely accused without a crime,

    and punished without a sin.

  16. وحادتْ عن مقرٍّ كا

    ن فيه بقرُ السِّربِ

    She turned aside from a dwelling where

    the herd's wild cows had lived.

  17. وعاتبتُ ولكنْ قل

    لَما ينفعنِي عتبِي

    I reproached her, but seldom

    does my reproach help me.

  18. فقلْ للمُفعم الملآ

    نِ من كِبْرٍ ومن عُجْبِ

    Then say to him who is brimming, filled

    with arrogance and self-admiration,

  19. ومن يُركِبُهُ الْحِرصُ

    قَرا صَعْبٍ من الصّعبِ

    and to him whom greed mounts

    on the back of a most unruly beast,

  20. ومَنْ تنقلُهُ الأَطما

    عُ من شرقٍ إلى غربِ

    and him whom ambitions carry

    from east to west:

  21. دعِ الأسفارَ للرّزقِ

    فَما الأَرزاقُ بالكسبِ

    leave off journeys in search of livelihood,

    for provision is not won by toil.

  22. يجيءُ الدَّرُّ أحياناً

    إلى الظامِي بلا حَلْبِ

    Milk sometimes comes

    to the thirsty without milking.

  23. وَكَم هَجْرٍ من الوصلِ

    وكم جِدٍّ من اللّعْبِ

    How often estrangement springs from union,

    and earnestness from play!

  24. خفِ الدّهرَ فإنّ الدّه

    رَ ذو أخذٍ وذو سَلْبِ

    Fear Time, for Time

    takes and plunders.

  25. فإنْ أغنى فللفقرِ

    وإنْ أقعى فللوثبِ

    If it enriches, it is to impoverish;

    if it crouches, it is to spring.

  26. سَقَى اللَّهُ الأُلى كانوا

    يدُرّون بلا عَصْبِ

    May God water those who used to

    yield milk without being bound,

  27. يَجودونَ بِما ضنّتْ

    به أَوعيةُ السُّحْبِ

    give generously what was withheld

    by the vessels of the clouds,

  28. وَيعطون بلا منٍّ

    ولا كدٍّ ولا نَصْبِ

    and give without reminders of their favors,

    without toil or weariness;

  29. وفرّاجين كشّافي

    نَ للغُمَّةِ والكربِ

    and those who brought relief, dispelling

    gloom and distress.

  30. نَبَوْا عن مطرحِ الفحشا

    ءِ والفحشاءُ قد تُنبي

    They shunned the haunts of indecency,

    and indecency can indeed repel.

  31. ولم يُصْبَوْا بشنعاءَ

    وفي الشّنعاءِ ما يُصبي

    They were not enticed by foul deeds,

    though foul deeds have their allure.

  32. ولم يُعْدَوا طِوال الدّه

    ر من أنيابِهِ الجُربِ

    Nor, throughout Time, were they infected

    by its scab-ridden fangs;

  33. ولا كانوا لكلِّ النّا

    سِ إلّا موضعَ القُطبِ

    and to all mankind they were

    none other than the central pivot,

  34. بأعراضٍ نقيّاتٍ

    من التّقريف والثّلبِ

    with reputations unsullied

    by aspersions and slander.

  35. يرون اليومَ ذا نحسٍ

    إذا كان بلا شَغْبِ

    They deemed a day ill-starred

    if it held no strife.

  36. ولا حَفْلَ لهمْ بالما

    لِ لا يجنوه بالعضْبِ

    They had no regard for wealth

    they did not reap with the sharp sword.

  37. لهمْ في كلِّ نكراءَ

    حُلومٌ لَسْنَ للهضْبِ

    In every dire ordeal they had

    minds that could not be broken,

  38. وأيمانٌ خلقن الدّهْ

    ر للطّعن وللضّربِ

    and right hands fashioned for all time

    for thrusting and striking,

  39. وللنّفعِ وللضّرّ

    وللدّفع وللذّبِّ

    for benefit and harm,

    for repelling and defending;

  40. وَأَلبابٌ لدَى الرّوعِ

    بلا شيءٍ من الرُّعْبِ

    and minds, when alarm struck,

    without a trace of fear.

  41. فيومُ السِّلمِ فيهنّ

    كيومِ البأْسِ والحربِ

    For those minds, a day of peace

    was like a day of battle and war.

  42. وَأَغنوا بالنّدى الغَمْرِ

    عَنِ الأنواءِ والعُشبِ

    Their overflowing bounty made needless

    the rain-stars and the grass.

  43. وَجاؤوا ساعةَ الذُّعْرِ

    على المُضْمَرَّةِ القُبِّ

    In the hour of terror they came

    on well-conditioned, lean-bellied steeds,

  44. وفي أيديهمُ كلُّ

    طويلِ المُرتقى صُلبِ

    and in their hands was every

    long-reaching, sturdy spear.

  45. تراه يدع الأورا

    دَ في سَكْبٍ على سَكْبِ

    You see it leave the jugular veins

    pouring stream upon stream,

  46. ويرمي من دم الجوف ال

    ثرى بِالأحمرِ العَصْبِ

    and spatter, with blood from within, the

    earth with thick red gore.

  47. إِذا ما لَحَفوا وجه ال

    ثَرى أرديةَ العَصْبِ

    When they draped the face of the

    earth in robes of striped cloth,

  48. وفاحوا عَبَقَ المسكِ

    على بُعدٍ ومن قُربِ

    and gave off the fragrance of musk,

    at a distance and close by,

  49. ولم يَرْضَوْا سوى التّجري

    ر للأذيالِ والسّحبِ

    and would accept nothing but dragging

    their hems and letting them trail,

  50. رأيتَ المجد محمولاً

    على كلِّ فتىً نَدْبِ

    you saw glory borne

    by every valiant young man.

  51. مَضوا عنِّي فلا لذَّ

    ةَ لي بالباردِ العذْبِ

    They departed from me; no pleasure

    remains for me in cool, sweet water,

  52. ولا غمضَ ولا أرضَ

    لِعَينَيَّ وللجنبِ

    no sleep, nor any resting ground

    for my eyes and my side.

  53. وقد كنتُ بهمْ دهراً

    رَخيَّ البالِ والقَلبِ

    And with them I had long been

    at ease in mind and heart.

  54. بنفسي مَن نأى عنِّي

    وما إنْ ملّ مِنْ قُربي

    I would ransom with my life him who left me,

    though he never wearied of my nearness.

  55. قضى من قبل أن أقض

    يَ فيه وله نَحْبي

    He died before I could meet

    my own end for him and in his cause.

  56. ولمّا أن نقلناهُ

    على الرّغمِ إلى التُّربِ

    And when we carried him,

    against our will, to the dust,

  57. وَأَضجعناهُ في غبرا

    ءَ مَلساءَ على الجنبِ

    and laid him down in gray

    smooth earth, upon his side,

  58. بلا صوتٍ يناجيهِ

    سوى زَعزعةٍ النُّكْبِ

    with no voice to speak softly to him

    but the buffeting of crosswinds,

  59. دَفنّا العَضْب في الأرضِ

    وكمْ في الأرض من عَضْبِ

    we buried the keen sword in the earth—

    and how many keen swords lie in the earth!