1. زهرن فاعْجَبْ لروض ماله زَهَرُ

    إِلا المباسِمُ والأَلحاظُ والطُّرَرُ

    They blossomed—marvel at a garden that has no flowers

    except smiling mouths, glances, and forelocks.

  2. ولا تَقُلْ لَهَبُ الوَجْنَاتِ يُحْرِقُها

    فللعذارِ على أَرجائِها نَهَرُ

    Do not say the flame of cheeks will burn them,

    for cheek-down has a river along their borders.

  3. أَعْجِبْ بها غُرَراً مالَتْ محاسِنُها

    بالنفس يَحْمَدُ في أَمْثَالِهَا الغَرَرُ

    Marvel at these radiant beauties, whose charms have swayed

    the soul; with their like, taking risks deserves praise.

  4. سَفَرْنَ والليلُ طِرْفٌ أّدْهَمٌ فَجَرَتْ

    فيه الحجولُ من الأَنوارِ والغُرَر

    They unveiled their faces; night was a coal-black steed, and there coursed

    upon it white stockings and forehead-blazes made of light.

  5. وقمنَ يحمِلْنَ في الأَجفانِ مَرْهَفَةً

    لو كانَتِ البيضَ قلنا إِنَّها البُتُر

    They rose, bearing keen blades in their eyelids;

    were these gleaming swords, we would call them keen cutters.

  6. وكان من فِعْلِها بالسحرِ أَن هَجَمَتْ

    على العشاءِ بما يأْتي به السَّحَرُ

    One of their feats of magic was to invade

    nightfall with what the dawn brings.

  7. فما ارتَقَيْتُ الدَّرَارِي إِذْ سهِرْتُ لها

    إِلا لأَصدافِ يَمٍّ كلُّها دُرَر

    I did not ascend to the brilliant stars while keeping vigil for them,

    except for the shells of a sea, all of them pearls.

  8. ولا اجتلَيْتُ بدورَ الأُفْقِ عن كَلَفٍ

    إِلا لِمَنْ أُتْلِفَتْ في صَوْنِهِ البِدَرُ

    Nor did I behold the horizon's full moons out of infatuation,

    save for one to safeguard whom bags of coin were spent.

  9. وفي الحشا والحشايا صَبْوَةٌ كبِرَتْ

    فزادَها عُنْفُواناً ذلِكَ الكِبَرُ

    Within my breast and bedding is a passion grown old;

    that old age has only increased its youthful vigor.

  10. تورى زنادَ اشتياقٍ ما استطارَ به

    لي من مَشِيبي ولكن أَدْمُعِي شَرَرُ

    It strikes longing's firesticks; no sparks have flown from it

    for me from my gray hair—rather, my tears are sparks.

  11. وفي فؤادِيَ لا فَوْدِي قَتِيرُ هوًى

    لم يُخْفِهِ الشَّعْرُ إِذْ لم يُبْدِهِ الشَّعَرُ

    Within my heart, not at my temple, lies love's grayness;

    poetry has not hidden it, since hair has not revealed it.

  12. خذ من غرامِيَ ما تتلُو به سُوَراً

    مُحَذِّرَاتِكَ ما تَبْلو به الصُّوَرُ

    Take from my passion what will let you recite chapters

    warning you of the trials that beautiful forms impose.

  13. أَما الخُدورُ فلم يَسْكُنْ بها قَلَقِي

    يوماً ولم يَمْشِ في أَشواقِيَ الحّذَر

    As for curtained chambers, my unrest has never been stilled there,

    not for a day; nor has caution walked amid my longings.

  14. فإِنْ تَمَنَّعَ قلبي من تَقَلُّبِهِ

    فما انْتَهَى بِي لَعَمْرِي في الهَوَى العُمُرُ

    If my heart resists its own turning,

    age, by my life, has not brought my loving to an end.

  15. أَنا المُحِبُّ وما بي ما يُقالُ لَهُ

    أَوْلَى لك العَذْلُ أَم أَولَى لك العُذُرُ

    I am the lover, and my plight is one of which they ask:

    'Is reproach more fitting for you, or an excuse?'

  16. إِن قلتُ ماسَ فما قصدي به غُصُنٌ

    أَو استنارَ فما قصدي به قَمَرُ

    If I say 'he swayed,' I do not mean a bough;

    or 'he shone,' I do not mean a moon.

  17. خُلِقْتُ كالنَّبْعِ إِلا أَنَّ لي ثَمَراً

    والنبعُ عريانُ ما في فرعِهِ ثَمَرُ

    I was fashioned like the nabʿ tree, except that I bear fruit;

    the nabʿ stands bare, with no fruit upon its bough.

  18. المالُ عِنْدَ ذوي الإقْتَارِ مُحْتَقَبٌ

    والمالُ عند ذوي الأَقدارِ مُحْتَقَرُ

    Among the parsimonious, wealth is hoarded;

    among men of high worth, wealth is held in contempt.

  19. فإِنْ عدمْتُ الذي صاروا له عُدُماً

    فما افتقَرْتُ وعندي هذه الفِقَرُ

    If I lack that for whose sake they have become destitute,

    I am not impoverished while these verses are mine.

  20. ولم أُقَلْقِلْ رِكابي إِنْ نَبَا وطَنٌ

    ولا أَطَلْتُ اغترابي إِنْ نَأَى وَطَر

    I did not rouse my riding-camels when a homeland proved inhospitable,

    nor prolong my exile when a desire lay far away.

  21. لكن بَنُو الْحَجَرِ اسْتَدْعَتْ مكارِمُهُمْ

    عَزْمِي وقد كانَ يُسْتَدْعَى بِها الحَجَرُ

    But the noble virtues of the Banu al-Hajar summoned

    my resolve; such virtues could summon even stone.

  22. نادى لسانُ النَّدى منهم فأَسْمَعَنِي

    فقمتُ أَعْبُرُ بحراً كلُّهُ عِبَرُ

    The tongue of their generosity called and made me hear,

    so I rose to cross a sea that was all lessons.

  23. ترى المواخِرَ تَجْرِي في زَوَاخِرِهِ

    فترتَقِي في أَعالِيها وتَنْحَدِرُ

    You see the sea-cleaving ships run through its surging waters,

    rising to their crests and descending.

  24. من كل سَوْدَاءَ مِثْلِ الخالِ يَحْمِلُها

    بِوَجْنَةٍ منه فيها للضُّحى خَفَرُ

    Each black vessel is like a beauty-mark which it bears

    upon a cheek of its own, before which morning is abashed.

  25. حتى وَرَدْت فأَروانِي وأَحْسَنَ بي

    صَدْرٌ موارِدُهُ يَشْجَى بها الصَّدِرُ

    Until I arrived, and was given drink and treated kindly

    by a chief whose wellsprings choke the chest-afflicted.

  26. كانَتْ مناقِبُ آمالي مُنَقَّبَةً

    فالآن أَسْفَرَ عن جَبْهَاتِهِا السَّفَرُ

    The glories of my hopes had been veiled;

    now travel has unveiled their brows.

  27. هذا أَبو القاسِمِ المقسومُ نائِلُه

    ما السيلُ ما البَحْرُ ما الأَنهارُ ما المَطَر

    This is Abu al-Qasim, whose bounty is shared out:

    What is the torrent? What is the sea? What are rivers? What is rain?

  28. محاسِنٌ إِنْ أَبو بكرٍ تَقَدَّمَها

    فما تَأَخَّرَ عُثْمَانٌ ولا عُمَرُ

    In these virtues, if Abu Bakr has come first,

    Uthman has not lagged behind, nor has Umar.

  29. سمعتُ عنهُمْ وقد شاهَدْتُهُمْ نَظَراً

    فأَحْسَنَ الخُبْرُ ما لَمْ يَجْلُهُ الخَبَرُ

    I heard about them and have seen them with my own eyes;

    firsthand experience enhanced what report had not disclosed.

  30. كذاك جادُوا نَدًى فيه أَجَدْتُ ثَناً

    فليس يُعْرَفُ لا حَصْرٌ ولا حَصَر

    Thus they poured forth bounty, and I praised it well;

    no limit is known, nor any faltering of speech.

  31. والشعرُ فيه قصيرٌ عُمْرُهُ زَهَرٌ

    يَذْوَى ومنه طويلٌ عُمْرُهُ زُهُرُ

    Of poetry, some is short-lived—flowers

    that wither; some is long-lived—bright stars.

  32. فكالمواعِظِ سَهْلٌ صَوْغُها زُبُرٌ

    وكالحديدِ ثقيلٌ وَزْنُهُ زُبَر

    Some is like admonitions, easily fashioned—written books;

    some like iron, heavy in weight—ingots.

  33. أَو كالعيونِ فهذِي حَظُّها حَوَلٌ

    يَغُضُّ منها وهذِي حَظُّها حوَرُ

    Or like eyes: some have a squint

    that mars them, while others have dark irises in brilliant whites.

  34. يا قائداً قاد من وَصْفِي لِعِتْرَتِهِ

    ما تَحْمِلُ المِسْكَ عن أّنْفِاسِهَا العِتَرُ

    O commander who drew from my praise of his family

    verses from whose breath fragrant herbs carry off musk,

  35. للهِ دّرُّ حَيَاءٍ حُزْتَهُ وَحياً

    كأَنَّكَ العَضْبُ فيه الأّثْرُ والأَثَر

    God be praised for the modesty and rainlike bounty you possess!

    You are like a keen sword, with both blade-pattern and the marks it leaves.

  36. تثيرُ بالقولِ أَو تُثْرِي مُجَانَسَةً

    فلفظُكَ الضَّرَبُ المعسولُ والضَّرَرُ

    You stir with speech, or enrich—a play of kindred words;

    your utterance is honey-sweet white honey, and harm.

  37. وفي يمينِكَ يَجْري كَيْفَ تَأْمُرُهُ

    ما يحسُدُ الذِّكْرَ عَنْهُ الصارِمُ الذَّكَر

    In your right hand runs, just as you command it,

    that whose fame the keen, hard-tempered sword envies.

  38. تلك اليراعةُ من تلك اليَرَاعَةِ إِنْ

    تُقَصِّر السُّمْرُ عنها طَوَّلَ السَّمَرُ

    That reed pen comes from that reed; if

    brown spears fall short of it, the evening talk grows long.

  39. وكم تشاجَرَ أَقوامٌ فقلتُ لهُمْ

    إِن الأَصولَ عليها تنبتُ الشجَرُ

    How often people disputed, and I told them:

    'Indeed, it is upon roots that trees grow.'

  40. أَنالَني في اغترابِي كُلَّ مُغْرِبَةٍ

    فما النفيرُ بمعدومٍ ولا النَّفَر

    He granted me every marvel in my exile;

    neither a host nor a band of men was lacking.

  41. وشَدَّ أَزْرِي فلم أَحفِلْ بنائبةٍ

    تقول أَنيابُها هيهاتَ لاَ وَزَرُ

    He braced my back, so I cared nothing for calamity

    whose fangs say, 'Far from it! There is no refuge!'

  42. من بعدِ ما قَرَّعَتْنِي كل قارِعَةٍ

    أَيامُها الحُمْرُ من أَعْيَانِها الحُمُر

    After every crushing calamity had battered me,

    its red days brought on by its asinine notables,

  43. وبِتُّ أَضرِبُ بالأَشعارِ طائِفَةً

    لو أَنَّهُمْ ضُرِبُوا بالسَّيْفِ ما شَعَرُوا

    I spent the night striking a company with poems,

    who, had they been struck by a sword, would not have felt it.

  44. إِذَا نَحَتُّ القوافِي من مقاطِعِها

    قالوا تَكَلَّفْ لنا أَنْ تَفْهَمَ البَقَرُ

    When I chiseled rhymes from their metrical sections,

    they said, 'Take pains for us to make the cattle understand.'

  45. إِليكَ جئتُ بها عذراءَ منشِدَةً

    لا عُذْرَ عندَكَ إِنْ لَمْ تُفْضَض العُذَر

    To you I brought her, a virgin reciting verse;

    there is no excuse before you if the virgin seals are not broken.

  46. أَنْصَفْتُهَا بكَ نِصْفَ الشهرِ شَيِّقَةً

    تكادُ لو أُخِّرَتْ للفِطْرِ تَنْفَطِر

    At midmonth I did her justice through you, eager as she was;

    she would nearly split apart if delayed until fast-breaking.

  47. وطابَقَتْكَ فمنها الدُّرُّ منتظِمٌ

    كما رأَيتَ ومنكَ الدُّرُّ منتثِرُ

    She matched you: from her come pearls strung together,

    as you have seen; from you come pearls scattered abroad.