لعل النوى تدنو فتجتمع الشمل

فلا عيش الا من وصالك لي يحلو

Perhaps the distance will narrow, and our scattered company will reunite;

for no life is sweet to me except through union with you.

فدى لك نفسي كيف ما شئت فاحتكم

فمثلك لا يسلى ومثلي لا يسل

My soul is your ransom; rule over me however you wish.

For one like you is not forgotten, and one like me does not forget.

وما أنت ذو مثل فاسلو بغيره

لأنك ذو حسن يعز له المثل

You have no equal, that I might forget you for another,

for yours is a beauty whose equal is hard to find.

يلوم على فرط المحبة عاذل

واضيع شيء في محبتك العذل

A reprover blames me for the excess of my love,

yet reproach is the most futile thing in loving you.

إذا كان حكم الذات اشرف مبدأ

فحكمك يا ذات الجمال هو العدل

If self-rule is the noblest principle,

then your rule, O essence of beauty, is justice.

حياتي ولا من عليك لك الفدا

فمن واجب الحب المفاداة والبذل

My life is your ransom, with no favor held over you;

for self-sacrifice and giving are love's duty.

وحبك اقوى إذ ينازع سلوتي

واصلح فليبق الهوى إنه الأصل

And love for you is stronger as it contends with my forgetting,

and more fitting; let love endure, for it is the root.

وما أنا إلا عاشق قد تقاسمت

هواه المعالي الغر والحدق النجل

And I am only a lover whose passion is shared

by radiant noble ideals and large, wide eyes.

وما اختلفت سبل الهوى غير انني

أواصل نهجاً فيه تأتلف السبل

The paths of love have not diverged; it is simply that I

pursue a course in which the paths converge.

معاني جمال غير ما افتتنوا به

فلا حور العينين منه ولا الكحل

Meanings of beauty other than what captivated them—

so neither the eyes' contrast of white and black nor kohl belongs to it.

يقولون حد العشق حب مخامر

وذلك جنس والثبات له فصل

They say passion is defined as an all-pervading love;

that is its genus, and constancy is its defining distinction.

إلى الفضل يعزو نفسه غير واحد

وما كل معزو يقر له الفضل

More than one lays claim to excellence,

yet not every claimant is credited with excellence.

وكم مدّع حب الحقيقة وحده

وليس له منها دنو ولا وصل

And many a man claims that he alone loves truth,

yet he has neither nearness to it nor union.

وما أسعدت سعد هواه بنظرة

ولا جاملته في محبتها جمل

No glance gladdened Sa'd in his love,

nor did Jumal treat him graciously in his love for her.

ومن كان ذا رهط فأهل طريقتي

هم الرهط لي دون الأقارب والأهل

If others have a clan, the followers of my way

are my clan, rather than my kindred and family.

رجال قليل غير ان غناءهمز

كثير فلا صير عليهم إذا قلوا

Men few in number, yet their contribution

is great; their small number does them no harm.

وقد سامهم عز الحياة نفوسهم

فاعطوه منها ما يعز وما يغلو

And life's dignity demanded their souls,

so they gave it what was precious and costly in them.

وفي الناس قوم كلما ذر شارق

لهم صبغة يبدونها ولهم شكل

And among people are some who, whenever the sun rises,

have a hue they display and a form.

غرسنا لهم مجداً فعدوا جناية

لهم غرسنا حتى اجتنوا منه ما يحلو

We planted glory for them, yet they deemed it a crime—

our planting for them—until they harvested what was sweet from it.

فان تك قيس اخطأت بقياسها

فما ذهلت عما تحاوله ذهل

If Qays has erred in its reasoning,

Dhuhl has not lost sight of what it strives for.

ولي نفس حر لا تقر ظلامة

إذا اسرى غيري الظلامة والذل

I have a free man's soul that accepts no injustice,

when injustice and humiliation hold others captive.

وصارم عزم لا يكل غراره

قراعاً ولا يخشى على حده الفل

And a keen sword of resolve whose edge never grows dull

in combat, with no fear that its edge will be chipped.

وعندي من الأخلاق مالا يذمه

جليس ولا يخشى بوادره الخل

And I have qualities that draw no censure

from a companion, nor does a friend fear their outbursts.

وأكرم اخلاق الفتى البأس والندى

وألامها جبن النقيبة والبخل

A young man's noblest qualities are valor and generosity,

and the basest are a cowardly disposition and miserliness.

واسنى العطايا والمواهب كلها

هو العلم ينميه وينمو به العقل

And the loftiest of all gifts and endowments

is knowledge: the intellect nurtures it, and grows through it.

ولا عيب في حلم سوى أن أهله

يضامون الا أن يحوطهم الجهل

There is no fault in forbearance, except that those who possess it

are wronged unless rashness guards them.

أويت إلى ظل الشباب فطاب لي

به العيش لكن لم يدم ذلك الظل

I took shelter in youth's shade, and sweet to me became

life beneath it; but that shade did not last.

أرى الشعرات البيض رسل منية

إذا كذبت رسل تعززها رسل

I see white hairs as messengers of death;

if messengers are disbelieved, more messengers reinforce them.

وقلت لضيف الشيب إذ حل نازلا

لك البشر عندي والكرامة والنزل

And I said to gray hair, my guest, when it came to stay:

With me you have a cheerful welcome, honor, and hospitality;

فأنت الذي اتحفتني بنفائس

هي الحزم والتدبير والحلم والنبل

for you are the one who bestowed precious gifts on me:

prudence, planning, forbearance, and nobility.