1. كيف حالَت بعد الوفاءِ عهودُه

    وتَمَارى هِجرانه وصُدُودُه

    How have his pledges changed after faithfulness,

    and his abandonment and rejection vied with one another?

  2. وأمالتهُ للوشاة ظنونٌ

    يُبدئ العذرُ وهمَها ويُعيدهُ

    Suspicions inclined him toward the slanderers;

    excuse-making brings forth their delusion and repeats it.

  3. ما على المُعرِض المُقيمِ على الإِع

    راضِ لو رقَّ حين يشكو عميدُه

    What harm would it do the aloof one, bent on turning

    away, to soften when his lovesick lover complains?

  4. في سبيل الهوى وفي طاعة الح

    بِّ يريد الإنسانُ من لا يُريدُه

    In the service of passion and in obedience to

    love, a person desires one who does not desire him.

  5. يا عذولَ المحبِّ قَصِّر من العَذ

    لِ فإني أراه مما يَزيدُه

    O reproacher of the lover, lessen your

    reproach, for I see it as something that increases his love.

  6. كيف يُصغى إلى الملام مشوقٌ

    بانَ عنه اصطبارُهُ وهُجُودُه

    How can a yearning lover listen to reproach,

    when his patience and sleep have left him?

  7. بأبي من غَدَت له نفرَةُ الظَّب

    ي وللظبى مُقلتَاهُ وجيدُه

    My father be his ransom! His is the skittishness

    of the gazelle, and the gazelle has his eyes and neck.

  8. هَزذَ غُصناً من قَدِّه ذا اعتدالٍ

    يشتهي البان لو حَكتهُ قُدُودُه

    He swayed a well-proportioned bough—his own stature;

    the bān tree wishes its stems could match it.

  9. ذو عذارِ يقيم عُذرى في الح

    بِّ وخدّ يزينُه تَوريدُه

    He has cheek-down that justifies me in

    love, and a cheek adorned by its rosy blush.

  10. ولحاظٍ حمى بها طَلعَ ثغرٍ

    بَرَدُ الدمع من جفوني نَضِيدُه

    And glances with which he guards a mouth's blossom;

    hailstones of tears from my eyelids are its clustered beads.

  11. لي في حبِّه حشَاً شَفَّهُ الوج

    دُ وطَرفٌ يَضُرُّهُ تَسهيدُه

    In love for him, I have a heart worn thin by

    longing, and an eye hurt by its sleeplessness.

  12. وغرام قد ألبسَ الجسم ثَوباً

    من نُحُولٍ لم يبل عندي جَديدُه

    And passion has clothed my body in a robe

    of wasting, still new and never worn out on me.

  13. صاحِ دعني وما أُقاسي ففي القل

    ب لهيبٌ لا يُستَطاعُ خمودُه

    Friend, leave me to what I endure, for in my

    heart is a blaze that cannot be quenched.

  14. خَلِّ طرفي يذرى الدموعَ دماءً

    بعد عيشٍ مَضَى فعزَّ وجودُه

    Let my eyes shed tears as blood,

    after a life gone by, now scarcely to be found.

  15. حَكَمَ الدهرَ بالفِراق ومن ذا

    يَغلِبُ الدهرَ والخطوبُ جنودُه

    Time decreed separation; who is there

    to defeat Time, when calamities are its soldiers?

  16. أي دَهرٍ رَاقَت وراعَت عيانا

    وَسَماعاً بُرُوقُهُ ورُعُودُه

    What an age! Delightful and terrifying to sight

    and hearing are its lightning flashes and thunderclaps.

  17. نافذُ الأمر إذ بحكمِ صلاح ال

    دينِ أضحى قيامُهُ وقعودُه

    Its command prevails, since at the bidding of Salah al-

    Din it now rises and sits.

  18. ملكُ تَشرُفُ الملوك إذا ما

    أصبحت في الزمان وهيَ عَبيدُه

    A king—kings gain honor when

    they become his slaves in this age.

  19. شادَ بالبَأس والمكارم مُلكاً

    أَسَّسَته آباؤُهُ وجدودُه

    He built with valor and noble deeds a kingdom

    that his fathers and forefathers had founded.

  20. تَفضَحُ الدهرَ منه أخلاقُهُ الزُّه

    رُ ويُزرى على السحائب جُودُه

    His virtues put Time to shame with their

    radiance, and his bounty puts the clouds to shame.

  21. بيتهُ كَعبَةٌ يحجُّ إليه

    كلَّ وقتٍ عُفَاتُهُ ووفودُه

    His house is a Kaaba, visited on pilgrimage

    at all times by his petitioners and delegations.

  22. ثابتُ الجَأشِ عندما يَقلَقُ الجَي

    شُ ويَخشَى رَيبَ الحمامِ أُسُودُه

    Steadfast of heart when anxiety grips the

    army, and its lions fear death's vicissitudes.

  23. ثاقبُ الفَهمِ إن يَغب عنه أَمرٌ

    كامنٌ فهوَ بالذكاءِ شَهيدُه

    Keen of understanding: if a matter eludes him,

    concealed, he is yet its witness through intelligence.

  24. هو في الحالتين غَيثٌ ولَيثٌ

    يُرتَجى وَعدُهُ ويُخشى وَعيدُه

    In both his aspects he is life-giving rain and a lion:

    his promise is hoped for, and his threat is feared.

  25. فيه بَاسٌ ورحمة لعدوّ

    وَولى يُغيثه ويُفيدُه

    In him are might and mercy—for a foe

    and a friend, whom he aids and benefits.

  26. أحسَنَ الإصطناعَ حتى لقد أَث

    نى عليه عدُوُّهُ وحسُودُه

    He bestowed favors so well that even

    his enemy and his envier praised him.

  27. يا ولَّي الأنامِ دعوةَ عَبدٍ

    أنجَحَت قَصدَهُ لديك قصيدُه

    O guardian of mankind, hear a servant's plea,

    whose poem has achieved his purpose in your presence.

  28. لا تسلني عن الزمان فإني

    قد بَدَت لي أَضغانُهُ وحقُودُه

    Do not ask me about Time, for I

    have seen its grudges and hatreds revealed.

  29. زمنٌ لأن عطفُه عند غيري

    وهوَ عند صعبُ المِراسِ شديدُه

    An age whose favor softens toward others,

    yet toward me it is stubborn and harsh.

  30. كيف يَبقى الجزَّارُ في يوم عيد النَّ

    حرِ رَهنَ الإفلاسِ والعيدُ عيدُه

    How can al-Jazzar remain, on the day of the Feast of

    Sacrifice, hostage to bankruptcy, though the feast is his?

  31. يَتَمَنى لحمَ الأضاحي وعند الن

    اسِ منه طَريُّهُ وقديدُه

    He longs for the meat of sacrificial animals, while

    people have it both fresh and dried.

  32. ولقد آن من لقائك أن تَبي

    ضَّ أيامُه ويَخضَرَّ عُودُه

    And surely, through meeting you, it is time for

    his days to turn white and his bough to grow green.