لا تَبعَدنَّ قصائدٌ ذهبتْ سُدَى

لا تَبعَدنَّ قصائدٌ ذهبتْ سُدَى

جَارتْ بها الهفواتُ عن سَنَنِ الهُدى

جَارتْ بها الهفواتُ عن سَنَنِ الهُدى

May the poems that went to waste not perish,

Do not let poems that have gone astray prevent you,

led by missteps away from the path of right guidance.

The vagaries of life have made them deviate from the path of guidance,

مِدَحٌ كأردية الرياض جعلتُها

مِدَحٌ كأردية الرياض جعلتُها

بالجهل أرديَةً لشرّ من ارتدى

بالجهل أرديَةً لشرّ من ارتدى

Praises like the gardens' robes, which I made,

I made praise that was like a garden,

in ignorance, robes for the worst man ever to wear them.

But in ignorance I made it a cloak for the evilest of those who have strayed.

يا ابن المدبّر بالأيور فإنها

يا ابن المدبّر بالأيور فإنها

أقصى مدى لك حين يُبْتَدَرُ المدى

أقصى مدى لك حين يُبْتَدَرُ المدى

O Ibn al-Mudabbir—'managed' with cocks—for they

O son commanded with the flags, they are

are your utmost reach when men race toward the goal.

The farthest you will reach, when support runs out,

لا تبخلنَّ على امرىء خيَّبْتَهُ

لا تبخلنَّ على امرىء خيَّبْتَهُ

بجواب مسألةٍ كبُخلك بالجَدا

بجواب مسألةٍ كبُخلك بالجَدا

Do not withhold from a man you have disappointed

Do not be miserly towards a man whom you have disappointed

an answer to a question, as you withhold bounty.

With your miserliness in answering questions.

قل لي بأية حيلةٍ أعملتها

قل لي بأية حيلةٍ أعملتها

هتفوا بأنك ماجدٌ غَمْرُ الندى

هتفوا بأنك ماجدٌ غَمْرُ الندى

Tell me, what stratagem did you employ

Tell me, what plot have you hatched

to have them hail you noble, overflowing with bounty?

That they chant you are glorious, immersed in dew?

لقد استفاض لك الثناءُ بحيلةٍ

لقد استفاض لك الثناءُ بحيلةٍ

لو أنها عندي نجوتُ من الردى

لو أنها عندي نجوتُ من الردى

Praise of you has indeed spread through a stratagem;

Praise of you has spread by a plot,

had it been mine, I would have escaped ruin.

If only that plot were mine, I would have been saved from misery!

أُثني عليك بمثل ريحك ميِّتاً

أُثني عليك بمثل ريحك ميِّتاً

وقد انصدعْتَ وأنت منبوش الصَّدى

وقد انصدعْتَ وأنت منبوش الصَّدى

I praise you in terms that match your stench when dead,

I praise you when dead like your flatulence air,

your body split open and your remains dug up.

You whose echo has split open and scattered around!

ولَمَا صداك يسيل منه صديدُهُ

ولَمَا صداك يسيل منه صديدُهُ

يوماً بأنتَن منك حيّاً تُجتَدى

يوماً بأنتَن منك حيّاً تُجتَدى

Nor is your corpse, its pus streaming from it,

And when the dripping of your pus oozes from it

ever fouler than you alive when begged for bounty.

One day when your stench leads you to be burned alive?!

أسلمتَ نَفسَكَ للهجاء ولو غدا

أسلمتَ نَفسَكَ للهجاء ولو غدا

أو راح يملك فديةً منك افتدى

أو راح يملك فديةً منك افتدى

You surrendered yourself to satire; had it, at dawn

You have handed yourself over to blame, even if tomorrow

or dusk, a ransom, it would buy its freedom from you.

Or it wants to rule, no ransom could save you if it came to redeem you!

قد كنتُ لا آلوك صوْغاً للحلى

قد كنتُ لا آلوك صوْغاً للحلى

فالآن لا آلوك شحذاً للمدَى

فالآن لا آلوك شحذاً للمدَى

I once spared no effort in fashioning ornaments for you;

I would not refine you into refined gold for jewelry,

now I spare no effort in sharpening blades for you.

Now I would not refine you into an awl’s point!

شاورتَ في مِدَحي وفي حرمانها

شاورتَ في مِدَحي وفي حرمانها

رأياً لعمر أبيك ضلَّ وما اهتدى

رأياً لعمر أبيك ضلَّ وما اهتدى

Over my praises and denying them reward, you sought

You have consulted about praising me or depriving me of it

counsel that—by your father's life!—strayed and found no guidance.

By your father’s life! An opinion that has gone astray and is not guided!

فلأبكِينَّ لك الصديقَ بعَوْلة

فلأبكِينَّ لك الصديقَ بعَوْلة

ولأضحكنَّ بك العدوَّ إلى العِدا

ولأضحكنَّ بك العدوَّ إلى العِدا

I shall surely make your friend weep for you with a wail,

So I will make the loyal one cry over you as an abandoned woman weeps,

and make your enemy laugh at you, along with your other foes,

And make your enemy laugh with glee to the utmost!

بعوارم لا ذنب لي في نسجها

بعوارم لا ذنب لي في نسجها

إذ كان ما أسْدَتْ يداك لها سَدَى

إذ كان ما أسْدَتْ يداك لها سَدَى

with savage verses whose weaving is no fault of mine,

With war poems I am not to blame for composing,

since what your two hands supplied was their warp.

Since it was what your hands did towards them that led to waste.

ألحمتُها بالقول إذ أسْدَيْتَهَا

ألحمتُها بالقول إذ أسْدَيْتَهَا

بالفعل ما جار الهجاء ولا اعتدى

بالفعل ما جار الهجاء ولا اعتدى

I supplied their weft with words, when you laid their warp

I joined them in speech when your hands did waste them

with deeds. Satire did no wrong and overstepped no bounds.

In deed, no blame or transgression took place!

فدعِ الملامة للهجاء فإنه

فدعِ الملامة للهجاء فإنه

إن كان جار أو اعتدى فبك اقتدى

إن كان جار أو اعتدى فبك اقتدى

So leave off blaming satire, for

So stop blaming poems for blame, for if

if it did wrong or overstepped, it followed your example.

There was transgression or blame then it was you who set an example!