1. واللَه ما فعل الرقيب المزعج

    فعل المشيب بواله يتوهج

    By God, the vexing watcher never did

    What graying did to a lover blazing with passion.

  2. قطع الصفا لما ألم بلمتي

    ومحا الوفا فاسودَّ يومي الصيِّج

    It severed affection when it visited my locks,

    And erased fidelity, so my bright day turned black.

  3. أسفي على زمن الشباب فكم سعى

    قمرٌ له وعليه أقبل هودج

    Alas for youth's season! How often

    A moon hastened to it, and a howdah came its way.

  4. ولكم دعوت به الحسان فزرنني

    والبيض تَسرِج والصوافن تُسرَج

    And how often in those days I summoned beauties, and they visited me,

    While white blades gleamed and poised steeds were saddled.

  5. من كل غانيةٍ يجول وشاحها

    وعلى معاصمها يغوص الدملج

    Each a beauty whose sash moved freely,

    And on her wrists the armlet sank deep.

  6. في طوقها فلقٌ وفي عذباتها

    غسقٌ وفي فيها نجومٌ ترهج

    In her collar was dawn, and in her trailing tresses,

    Night's darkness; and in her mouth, stars glittered.

  7. وغريرةٍ فُنُقٍ كأن خدودها

    وردٌ عليه من الوشام بنفسج

    And an innocent, pampered girl whose cheeks seemed

    Roses overlaid with violets of tattooing.

  8. ما فارقت وطني وروض شبيبتي

    غضٌّ بريحان العذار مسيَّج

    She never left my homeland while my youth's garden

    Was fresh, fenced with the basil of cheek-down.

  9. رأت الشباب تدحرجت حسناته

    فنأت ولؤلؤ دمعها يتدحرج

    She saw that youth's charms had rolled away,

    So she withdrew, the pearls of her tears rolling down.

  10. ما مثل خدي بالدموع وخدها

    إلا يدٌ تكوى وكفٌّ تثلج

    My tear-wet cheek and hers were like nothing

    But a hand being seared and a palm growing icy.

  11. وبمهجتي منهن رود بضةٌ

    بكرٌ يضيء لها اللثام الأدعج

    And in my heart, among them, was a delicate, soft-skinned girl,

    A virgin for whom the pitch-dark veil glowed.

  12. قطعت حبال مودتي وتباعدت

    عني تقول لساقة الركب ادلجو

    She cut the cords of my affection and drew away

    From me, telling the caravan's drivers, ‘Travel by night!’

  13. فاليوم لا ركب الحسان مخيمٌ

    عندي ولا فرس التمتع مسرج

    So today no caravan of beauties is encamped

    By me, nor is the steed of pleasure saddled.

  14. لكنني ببها ابن أسبر آنس

    عيشي الهني ووجه حظي الأبلج

    Yet in Ibn Asbar's splendor I behold

    My pleasant life and the radiant face of my fortune.

  15. بطلٌ ببارقة الكمال مقلدٌ

    وبجوهر المدح والنفيس متوج

    A hero girt with perfection's flashing blade,

    And crowned with praise's jewels and precious gems.

  16. لرحابه تحدى الركاب وتحدج

    ولبابه تُسدَى الرغاب وتنسج

    Toward his courts, riding camels are urged on with song and saddled,

    And for his door, hopes are set on the loom and woven.

  17. العرف من راحاته متدفقٌ

    واللطف من نفحاته متأرج

    Bounty pours forth from his palms,

    And kindness wafts fragrant from his breezes.

  18. والبأس من عزماته متأججٌ

    والظرف من نفثاته متبلج

    And valor blazes from his resolves,

    And wit shines forth from his breaths.

  19. وبكل خط من خطوط بنانه

    ديمٌ تفيض وأبحرٌ تتموج

    And in every stroke traced by his fingertips,

    Steady rains pour forth, and seas surge in waves.

  20. تهوى وتعشق كل أرض زارها

    فإذا نأى عنها تمل وتسمج

    Every land he has visited is loved and adored;

    But when he leaves it, it grows tiresome and ugly.

  21. ما زال يصعد بالأمانة والتقى

    وركابه الحزم الشديد الأنعج

    He has kept rising through integrity and piety,

    And his mount is resolve, strong and white.

  22. وبه المناصب تزدهي فكأنه

    شمس الضحى وكأنهنَّ الأبرج

    And through him, the offices shine, as though he were

    The morning sun, and they the zodiacal houses.

  23. حتى استقر برتبة الحذق التي

    هي للسياسة والفراسة منهج

    Until he settled in the rank of mastery that

    Is a path for statesmanship and discernment.

  24. ثنَّى عطاردها وشفع نورها ال

    وتر الذي لم تدن منه السذَّج

    He doubled its Mercury and paired its light—

    The solitary light the simple-minded never approached.

  25. ومن الذي أحرى بها من فاضل

    هو قدوةٌ لأولي العلى ونموذج

    And who is worthier of it than a man of merit

    Who is an exemplar and model for those of lofty standing?

  26. حرٌّ لو اقتدت السيوف بعدله

    لم يبق في الأغماد سيف أعوج

    A noble man: if swords followed his rectitude,

    No crooked sword would remain in any sheath.

  27. يُهدَى الضليل بناره وبنوره

    يزهو الأصيل وكل خطب يفرج

    The wayward are guided by his fire, and by his light

    The late afternoon glows, and every hardship is relieved.

  28. البدر يخسف حين يشرق نوره

    والشمس من حسدٍ بها تتوهج

    The full moon is eclipsed when his light shines,

    And the sun blazes with the envy within her.

  29. لو شاء تعداد النجوم بلحظةٍ

    لبدت له أبراجها تتفرج

    If he wished to count the stars at a glance,

    Their constellations would appear to him, opening wide.

  30. خدم المليك المرتضى بأمانةٍ

    ضبع الخيانة نحوها لا يعرج

    He served the esteemed king with integrity;

    The hyena of treachery never turns toward it.

  31. فحباه ثانية تقول أتيت وال

    أولى على أثري له تتدرج

    So he granted him a second rank, which says, ‘I have come, and the

    First advances in my footsteps toward him.’

  32. فاسلم ودم لأكارم وكرائمٍ

    يا من به وجه المكارم أبلج

    So stay safe and live on for noble men and noble women,

    O you through whom the face of noble virtues shines!