1. يابنَ الخَلائِفِ ما لي بَعدَ تَقرِبَةٍ

    إِلَيكَ أُقصى وَفي حالَيكَ لي عَجَبُ

    O son of caliphs, why, after drawing near

    to you, am I cast away? I marvel at your two ways.

  2. ما لي أُذادُ وَأُقصى حينَ أَقصِدُكُم

    كَما تُوُقِّيَ مِن ذي العُرَّةِ الجَرَبُ

    Why am I driven away and kept at a distance when I approach you,

    as the mange of a diseased creature is avoided?

  3. كَأَنَّني لَم يَكُن بَيني وَبَينَكُم

    إِلٌّ وَلا خُلَّةٌ تُرعى وَلا نَسَبُ

    As though there had never been between me and you

    a covenant, a friendship to be honored, or kinship.

  4. لَو كانَ بِالوُدِّ يُدنى مِنكَ أَزلَفَني

    بِقُربِكَ الوُدُّ وَالإِشفاقُ وَالحَدَبُ

    If affection brought one near you, I would be drawn

    close to you by affection, concern, and tender care.

  5. وَكُنتُ دونَ رِجالٍ قَد جَعَلتُهُم

    دوني إِذا ما رَأَوني مُقبِلا قَطَبوا

    And I was below men whom I had placed

    below me; whenever they saw me approaching, they scowled.

  6. إِن يَسمَعوا الخَيرَ يُخفوه وَإِن سَمِعوا

    شَرّاً أَذاعوا وَإِن لَم يَسمَعوا كَذَبوا

    If they hear good, they conceal it; and if they hear

    evil, they spread it; if they hear nothing, they lie.

  7. رَأَوا صُدودَكَ عَنّي في اللِقاءِ فَقَد

    تَحَدَّثوا أَن حَبلي مِنكَ مُنقَضِبُ

    They saw you turn away from me when we met, and so

    they have said that my cord to you has been severed.

  8. فَذوا الشَماتَةِ مَسرورٌ بَهَيضَتِنا

    وَذو النَصيحَةِ وَالإِشفاقِ مُكتَئِبُ

    The spiteful one rejoices at our broken state,

    while the sincere well-wisher, full of concern, is dejected.

  9. هَلّا تَحَسَّبتَ عَن عَذري وَبَغيِهِم

    حَتّى تَبِينَ عَلى مَن يَرجِعُ الكَذِبُ

    Why did you not investigate my defense and their wrongdoing,

    until you discerned upon whom the lie rebounds?

  10. ما كانَ يَشقى بِهذا مِنكَ مُرتَغِبٌ

    خالٌ وَلا الجارُ ذو القُربى وَلا الجُنُبُ

    No seeker of favor would suffer this from you—

    be he a maternal uncle, a neighboring kinsman, or a distant neighbor.

  11. أَينَ الذِمامَةُ وَالحَقُّ الَّذي نَزَلَت

    بِحِفظِهِ وَبِتَعظيمٍ لَهُ الكُتُبُ

    Where are the pledged protection and the right that

    the Scriptures were sent down to preserve and honor?

  12. وَحَوِكى الشِعرَ أُصفيهِ وَأنظِمُهُ

    نَظمَ القَلائِدِ فيها الدُرُّ وَالذَهَبُ

    And my weaving of verse, which I refine and string

    like necklaces set with pearls and gold?

  13. وَهَزِّيَ العيسَ مِن أَرضٍ يَمانِيَةٍ

    إِلَيكَ خوصاً بِها التَعيينُ وَالنُقَبُ

    And my urging the pale camels from a Yemeni land

    toward you, sunken-eyed, afflicted with lameness and worn footpads?

  14. يَقودُني الوُدُّ وَالإِخلاصُ مُختَرَمي

    مِن أَبعَدِ الأَرضِ حَتّى مَنزِلي كَثَبُ

    Affection and sincerity lead me, wrenching me away

    from the farthest land, until my dwelling is close by.

  15. وَكُنتُ جاراً وَضيفاً مِنكَ في خَفَرٍ

    قَد أَبصَرَت مَنزَلي في ظِلِّكَ العَرَبُ

    I was a neighbor and a guest under your protection;

    the Arabs have seen my dwelling beneath your shade.

  16. وَكانَ مَنعُكَ لي كَالنار في عَلَمٍ

    فَردٍ يَشُبُّ سَناها الريحُ وَالحَطَبُ

    Your protection of me was like a fire atop a mountain

    standing alone, its radiance kindled by wind and firewood.

  17. وَإِن سُخطَكَ شَىءٌ لَم أُناجِ بِهِ

    نَفسي وَلَم يَكُ مِمّا كُنتُ أَكتَسِبُ

    And your displeasure is something I never whispered about

    to myself, nor did I do anything to earn it.

  18. لكِن أَتاكَ بِقَولٍ كاذِبٍ أَثِمٍ

    قَومٌ بَغَوني فَنالوا فِيَّ ما طَلَبوا

    But to you there came, with false and sinful words,

    men who wronged me and achieved against me what they sought.

  19. وَما عَهِدتُكَ فيما زَلَّ تَقطَعُ ذا

    قُربى وَلا تَدفَعُ الحَقَّ الَّذي يَجِبُ

    I never knew you, for a lapse, to cut off one

    of kin, or deny a right that is due.

  20. وَلا تُوَجَّعُ مِن حَقٍّ تَحَمَّلُهُ

    وَلا تَتَبَّعُ بِالتَكديرِ ما تَهَبُ

    Nor to feel burdened by an obligation you shoulder,

    nor to follow your gifts with bitterness.

  21. فَقَد تَقَرَّبتُ جُهداً مِن رِضاكَ بِما

    كانَت تُنالُ بِهِ مِن مِثلِكَ القُرَبُ

    I strove with all my strength to win your approval through what

    had won closeness to one like you.

  22. فَلا أَراني بِإِخلاصى وَتَنقِيَتي

    لَكَ الثَناءَ وَقُربى مِنكَ أَقتَرِبُ

    Yet I find that neither my sincerity nor my refining

    of praise for you, nor my kinship with you, brings me near.

  23. قَد كَنتُ أَحسبُني غَيرَ الغَريب فَقَد

    أَصبَحتُ أُعلِنُ أَنّي اليَومَ مُغتَرِبُ

    I once thought myself no stranger, but now

    I declare that today I am estranged.

  24. فَغَيرَ دَفعِكَ حَقّي وَاِرتَفاضَكَ لي

    وَطِيِّكَ الكَشح عَنّي كُنتُ أَحتَسِبُ

    It was not your denying my right and casting me aside,

    nor your turning your flank from me, that I expected.

  25. أَمُشمِتٌ بِيَ أَقواماً صُدورُهُمُ

    عَلَيَّ مِنكَ إِلى الأَذقان تَلتَهِبُ

    Are you making people gloat over me, people whose breasts

    burn against me on your account, up to their chins?

  26. قَد كُنتُ أَحسَبُ أَنّي قَد لَجَأتُ إِلى

    حِرزٍ وَأَلّا يَضُرّوني وَإِن أَلبوا

    I had thought that I had taken refuge in

    a stronghold, and that they would not harm me, even if they joined forces.

  27. إِنَّ الَّذي صُنتُها عَن مَعشَرٍ طَلَبوا

    مِنّي إِلَيَّ الَّذي لَم يُنجِحِ الطَلَبُ

    Indeed, what I withheld from men who sought it

    from me—their request to me had met with no success—

  28. أَخلَصتُها لَكَ إِخلاصَ اِمرِىءٍ عَلِمَ الأَ

    قوامُ أَن لَيسَ إِلّا فيكَ يُرتَغَبُ

    I devoted it to you, with the devotion of a man known to the

    people to seek favor from you alone.

  29. أَصبَحتَ تَدفَعُها مِنّي وَأَعطِفُها

    عَلَيكَ وَهيَ لِمَن يُحبى بِها رَغَبُ

    Now you reject it from me, while I turn it

    toward you, though it is prized by anyone granted it.

  30. فَإِن وَصَلتَ فَأَهلُ العُرفِ أَنتَ وَإِن

    تَدفَع يَدَيَّ فَلى بُقيا وَمُنقَلَبُ

    If you keep our bond, you are a man of kindness; but if

    you push my hands away, I have something left, and a place to return.

  31. فَاِحفَظ ذِمامَكَ وَاِعلَم أَنَّ صُنعَكَ بي

    بِمَسمَعٍ مٍن عِداة ضَغنُهُم ذَرِبُ

    So guard your pledged protection, and know that your treatment of me

    is within earshot of foes whose rancor is sharp.

  32. إِنّي كَريمُ كِرامٍ عِشتُ في أَدَبٍ

    نَفى العُيوب وَمَلكُ الشيمَةِ الأَدَبُ

    I am noble, of noble stock; I lived with good breeding

    that banished faults; the sovereign of character is good breeding.

  33. قَد يَعلَمونَ بِأَنَّ العُسرَ مُنقَطِعٌ

    يَوما وَأَنَّ الغِنى لا بُدَّ مُنقَلِبُ

    They know that hardship will end

    one day, and that wealth is bound to change.

  34. فَمالُهُم حُبسٌ في الحَقِّ مُرتَهَن

    مِثلُ الغَنائِمِ تُحوى ثُمَّ تُنتَهَبُ

    Their wealth is held in trust, pledged to rightful duties,

    like spoils amassed and then plundered.

  35. وَما عَلى جارِهِم أَلّا يَكونَ لَهُ

    إِذا تَكَنَّفَهُ أَبياتُهُم نَشَبُ

    Their neighbor need not worry if he owns no

    property, when their dwellings surround him.

  36. لا يَفرَحونَ إِذا ما الدَهرُ طاوَعَهُم

    يَوماً بِيُسر وَلا يَشكونَ إِن نُكِبوا

    They do not exult when Time yields to them

    one day with ease, nor complain if struck by misfortune.

  37. قَومٌ لَهُم إِرثُ مَجدٍ غَيرُ مُؤتَشَبٍ

    تَنقادُ طَوعاً إِلَيهِ العُجمُ وَالعَرَبُ

    A people whose inherited glory is untainted,

    to which non-Arabs and Arabs willingly submit.

  38. فَلا تَسُرَّنَّكُم نَعماءُ ذاهِبَةٌ

    وَلا تَغُمَّنَكُم بَأساءُ تُقتَضَبُ

    So do not let passing prosperity delight you,

    nor let adversity that will be cut short grieve you.

  39. فارَقتُ قَومِيَ فَلَم اَعتَض بِهِم عِوِضاً

    والدَهرُ يُحدِثُ أَحداثاً لَها نُوَبُ

    I left my people, but found no replacement for them;

    and Time brings events that come in turns.