1. تعوّد الطردَ بها والطِرادْ

    أيُّ جوادٍ فوق متنِ الجوادْ

    He has grown accustomed to pursuit and jousting with it.

    What a generous man upon the back of a steed!

  2. وكفّ بالنجدةِ أعطافَه

    وإنما النجدةُ حيثُ النِجادْ

    And with valor he restrained his flanks,

    and valor lies only where the sword-belt lies.

  3. إن لم يشِبْ فَوْداهُ من هولِها

    فدونَها ما شابَ منهُ الفؤادْ

    If its terror has not grayed his temples,

    lesser terrors have grayed his heart.

  4. لله ما أسْرى أحاديثَه

    بين حِدالٍ سنّهُ أو جِلادْ

    God be praised—how his tales have traveled by night,

    amid strife he stirred or sword combat:

  5. إما معان مُروَياتُ الحَيا

    أو عزَماتٌ مُورَياتُ الزِنادْ

    either ideas watered by rain,

    or resolves that kindle the fire-sticks.

  6. قد سمعَ الليلُ بأخبارِه

    مشروحةً من لهَواتِ الوهادْ

    Night has heard his tidings,

    expounded from the throats of the lowlands,

  7. حيثُ امتطى النكْباءَ ذيّالةً

    واحتقَبَ الغيمُ عليها مزادْ

    where he mounted the crosswind, trailing its skirts,

    and the cloud carried waterskins slung upon it.

  8. والجوّ في مأتمِ إصباحِه

    قد لبسَ الليلَ عليه حِدادْ

    And the sky, at the funeral of its dawn,

    has put on night in mourning for it.

  9. هذا هو المجدُ ومن ذا الذي

    سادَ وقد لازم طيَّ الوِسادْ

    This is glory—and who is it

    who rose to eminence while clinging to a folded pillow?

  10. بالله يا شوكَ السِبال احتجِبْ

    عن ناظرٍ مُعرىً بشوكِ القتادْ

    By God, O thorns of mustaches, hide

    from an eye exposed to the thorns of tragacanth.

  11. لا رأيَ في الغيّ له بعدَما

    شادَ معاليْهِ بأيدي الرّشادْ

    He has no thought of error, now that

    he has built his eminence with the hands of right guidance.

  12. ما أبعدَ النُقصانَ من حامدٍ

    لأحمدَ الكافلِ بالازديادْ

    How far diminution is from one who praises

    Ahmad, the guarantor of increase!

  13. أيُّ فَخارٍ قد عَلا متنَهُ

    فجاوزَ النجمُ عليه وكادْ

    What glory's back he has mounted,

    passing the star upon it—or nearly so!

  14. نادِ بأعلى الصوتِ إن زُرْتَه

    بك المعالي عسرَتْ كلَّ نادْ

    Cry out at the top of your voice if you visit him:

    Through you, lofty honors are beyond every assembly.

  15. في طيّ يُمناهُ مَرادُ الغِنى

    فاستَهْدِ من ذاك المَرادِ المُرادْ

    In the fold of his right hand lies wealth's pasture;

    so seek from that pasture the gift you desire.

  16. متّقدٌ منتَقِدٌ يا له

    من انتقاد كامنٍ في اتّقادْ

    Blazing, discerning—what a marvel

    of discernment hidden within a blaze!

  17. لا يرسلُ الأسنادَ إلا إذا

    كان له بالهاشميّ استِنادْ

    He transmits no chains of authority unless

    he has the Hashimite to rely upon.

  18. روايةٌ مطّرّدٌ متنُها

    في صحةِ الإتقانِ أيَّ اطّرادْ

    A narration whose text is consistent,

    in sound precision—what consistency!

  19. وإنما فُتياهُ فهيَ التي

    تحكُمُ منا عُقَدَ الاعتقادْ

    His legal ruling is precisely what

    makes firm the knots of our belief.

  20. يرقِمُ من راحتِه أرقَمٌ

    يمجّ في الطُرْسِ لُعابَ المِدادْ

    A speckled serpent writes from his palm,

    spitting the saliva of ink upon the parchment.

  21. مسفِّعُ الأقلامِ فيما حبَتْ

    ظبى السُيوفِ المُرهَفاتِ الحِدادْ

    He blackens the pens over what was bestowed

    by the edges of finely honed, sharp swords.

  22. يتّبِعُ السلطانُ أغراضَهُ

    فردّهُ الحاكمُ فيما أرادْ

    The sultan follows his aims,

    so the judge checked him in what he desired.

  23. فلو حَواهُ زمنٌ أولٌ

    مع أنّه الأولُ في الاعتمادْ

    Had an earlier age contained him,

    though he is the first to be relied upon,

  24. لكان للنُعمانِ مُستَشْفِعاً

    بذكرِه فيما حباهُ زيادْ

    he would have sought intercession for al-Nu'man

    by invoking him, concerning what Ziyad bestowed on him.

  25. هذا لسان الطُرسِ مسترسِلٌ

    يخبِرُنا عمّا أحنّ الفؤادْ

    This is the parchment's tongue, flowing freely,

    telling us what made the heart yearn.

  26. ألبسَهُ الأسعدُ ألفاظَهُ

    فانصرفَ الحبُّ له عن سُعادْ

    Al-As'ad clothed it in his words,

    so love turned from Su'ad toward him.

  27. وانظُرْ الى سحبانَ في وائلٍ

    منه وقسٍّ خاطباً في إيادْ

    And behold Sahban among Wa'il,

    in him, and Quss speaking among Iyad.

  28. فصاحةٌ كادت لإفراطها

    تهزُّ بالنشوةِ عِطفَ الجَمادْ

    Eloquence so abundant that it almost

    sways the flank of lifeless matter in rapture.

  29. ذا خبرٌ شاعَ وقد عايَنوا

    إذ حضروا ما زادَ عنه وزادْ

    This report has spread, and they have witnessed,

    when they attended, what surpassed it—and more.

  30. ما قدّم الأصحابَ إلا اسمَهُ

    ومعشراً ذكرُهُمُ لا يُعادْ

    His name alone brought the companions forward,

    and a company whose mention need not be repeated.

  31. تقرّبوا من ملِكٍ رُوحُه

    من روحِه دانيةٌ في البِعادْ

    They drew near a king whose soul

    is close to his soul even in separation.

  32. وقائلٌ ما لكَ لم ينتظِمْ

    في سِلْكِ مَنْ مرّ كريماً وعادْ

    And someone asked: Why were you not strung

    on the thread of those who passed nobly and returned?

  33. قلت له عُذريَ أني امرؤ

    له على حكمِ الزّمانِ انقِيادْ

    I told him: My excuse is that I am a man

    who submits to the judgment of time.

  34. وقولُ رعبٍ لا ترُمْ إننا

    نخفى إذا ما أضمرتْكَ البِلادْ

    And fear's words: Do not aspire; we

    vanish whenever the lands conceal you.

  35. خُذها فقد جاءَتْكَ من خاطرٍ

    يهيمُ من حُبِّك في كلّ وادْ

    Take it: it has come to you from a mind

    that wanders in every valley out of love for you,

  36. من بحرِ تحريرٍ سَجا فاغْتَدى

    بحرانُ تحريرٍ لديهِ ثَمادْ

    from a sea of composition that grew calm; then

    two seas of composition became mere shallows beside it.