قدحت رعود البرق زندا

أضرمن أشجانا ووجدا

The lightning's thunderclaps struck fire from a fire-stick,

Kindling sorrows and yearning

في فحمة الظلماء إذ

مدت على الخضراء بردا

In the coal-black darkness, when

It spread a mantle over the green expanse,

حتى تثاءب نوره

وتمطت الأغصان قدا

Until its blossoms yawned

And the branches stretched their forms.

وأتى الشقيق بمجمر

للروض أو قد فيه ندا

And the anemone brought a censer

For the garden, kindling incense in it.

وعلى الغدير مفاضة

سردت له النسمات سردا

And over the pool lay a coat of mail,

Which the breezes wove for it, link by link.

وحبابه من فوقه

قد بات يلعب فيه نردا

And its bubbles, upon its surface,

Spent the night playing backgammon there.

فسقى معاهد بالحمى

قد أنبتت حبا وودا

So may the old haunts in the preserve be watered,

Which once brought forth love and affection.

تذر الليالي في ثرى

من عنبر للمسك أهدى

The nights leave [them] in soil

Of ambergris, offered as a gift to musk.

عجبا لدر ناصع

أودعن في مسك مندى

Marvel at pearls of gleaming white

That they laid in dew-moistened musk!

في ظل عيش ناعم

بنسيم أسحار تردى

In the shade of a life of ease,

Clothed in the breeze of predawn hours,

والدهر عبد طائع

أهدى لناشر فاوسعدا

And Time was an obedient slave,

Bestowing honor and good fortune upon us.

ما زال أصدق ناصح

كم قال لي هزلا وجدا

It has ever been the truest counselor;

How often it told me, in jest and earnest:

سلم امرؤ عن طوره

في كل حال ما تعدى

Safe is the man who, beyond his bounds,

Does not venture, in any circumstance.

فالخطب بحرز آخر

فاصبر له جزرا ومدا

For adversity is a surging sea;

So bear its ebb and flow with patience.

لا يختشي لسع الزنا

نير الذي يستام شهدا

He does not fear the wasps' sting

Who seeks to buy honey.

في ذمة الأيام ل

لأحرار ين قد يؤدى

The days owe

The freeborn a debt that may yet be repaid.

أن ما طلت فلربما

أنجزن بعد المطل وعدا

If they delay, perhaps

They will fulfill a promise after postponement.

فإذا رمى طأطئ له

رأسا تراه عنك عدى

So when it shoots, lower before it

Your head: you will see it pass you by.

أفبعد أخواني الألى

درجوا أخاف اليوم فقدا

So, after my brothers, who

Have passed away, should I fear loss today?

عيني إذا استسقت بهم

تسقي بدمع العين خدا

When my eye seeks rain through them,

It waters a cheek with tears from the eye.

لو كانت العطرات تجمد

مد نظمت في الجيد عقدا

If fragrances could congeal,

I would string them as a necklace about the neck.

قوم لهم يدعو الثنا

من شاسع الأقطار وفدا

A people to whom praise summons

A delegation from far-flung lands.

كم في عكاظ نديهم

جلبوا لهم شكرا وحمدا

How often in the Ukaz of their assembly

They won themselves thanks and praise!

لا يشترون بذخرهم

الأجميل الذكر نقدا

With their treasure they buy nothing

But fair renown, paid for in ready coin.

أبقى لهم حسن الحديث

برغم أنف الدهر خلدا

Good report has preserved for them

Immortality, in defiance of Time.

ورثوا المكارم كابرا

عن كابر فرضا وردا

They inherited noble virtues, generation

After generation, by fixed shares and returned surplus.

من كل طود شامخ

متسربل برداه مجدا

From every towering mountain,

Whose two mantles are clothed in glory.

أمست عيونا كلها

ترنو إلى الأعداء حقدا

They became eyes, all of them,

Gazing at enemies with hatred.

تلقى الورى بنديهم

نكس العيون إذا اتبدى

You find people in their assembly

Eyes downcast whenever he appears.

لبس الجلال على الج

مال فصد عنه الطرف صدا

He wore majesty over

Beauty, so the gaze turned utterly away from him.

فهم بسلطان التقى اتخ

ذوا قلوب الناس جندا

Thus, through the power of piety, they took

The hearts of people as an army.

أمسوا بغمد ضريحهم

وبقيت مثل السيف فردا

They came to rest in their tomb's sheath,

And I remained alone, like a sword.

ما لي أقيم ببلدة

فيها بناء الدين هدا

Why should I remain in a town

Where the edifice of religion has been demolished,

وبها الشهاب إذا سما

يخشى من الشيطان طردا

And where al-Shihab, the meteor, when he soars,

Fears being driven off by Satan?