1. أَيَحلو لِمَن لا صَبرَ يُنجِدُهُ صَبرُ

    إِذا ما اِنقَضى فِكرٌ أَلَمَّ بِهِ فِكرُ

    Can bitter aloes taste sweet to one whom no patience aids?

    Whenever one thought passes, another thought assails him.

  2. أَمُمعِنَةً في العَذلِ رِفقاً بِقَلبِهِ

    أَيَحمِلُ ذا قَلبٌ وَلو أَنَّهُ صَخرُ

    O woman relentless in reproach, be gentle with his heart!

    Can a heart bear this, even if it is rock?

  3. عَذيري مِنَ اللائي يَلُمنَ عَلى اَلهَوى

    أَما في الهَوى لَو ذُقنَ طَعمَ الهَوى عُذرُ

    Who will defend me against the women who blame me for love?

    Would love not offer an excuse, had they tasted love's savor?

  4. أَطَلنَ عَلَيهِ اللَومَ حَتّى تَرَكنَهُ

    وَساعَتُهُ شَهرٌ وَلَيلَتُهُ دَهرُ

    They prolonged their reproach of him until they left him

    With his hour a month, and his night an age.

  5. وَمِنكِرَةٌ ماعايَنَت مِن شُحوبِهِ

    وَلا عَجَبٌ ما عايَنَتهُ وَلا نُكرُ

    And a woman finds strange the pallor she has seen in him;

    Yet what she saw is no wonder, nor anything strange.

  6. وَيُحمَدُ في العَضبِ البِلى وَهوَ قاطِعٌ

    وَيَحسُنُ في الخَيلِ المُسَوَّمَةِ الضُمرُ

    And wear is praised in the keen blade while it cuts,

    And leanness becomes well-marked horses.

  7. وَقائِلَةٍ ماذا دَهاكَ تَعَجُّباً

    فَقُلتُ لَها ياهَذِهِ أَنتِ وَالدَهرِ

    And a woman asked in wonder, 'What has befallen you?'

    So I told her, 'You, woman, and Time.'

  8. أَبِالبَينِ أَم بِالهَجرِ أَم بِكِلَيهِما

    تَشارَكَ فيما ساءَني البَينُ وَالهَجرُ

    'Is it from parting, from estrangement, or from both?'

    Parting and estrangement shared in what grieved me.

  9. يُذَكِّرُني نَجداً حَبيبٌ بِأَرضِها

    أَيا صاحِبي نَجوايَ هَل يَنفَعُ الذِكرُ

    A beloved upon its soil reminds me of Najd.

    O my two confidants, does remembrance help?

  10. تَطاوَلَتِ الكُثبانُ بَيني وَبَينَهُ

    وَباعَدَ فيما بَينَنا البَلَدُ القَفرُ

    The dunes have grown tall between me and him,

    And the barren land has set us far apart.

  11. مَفاوِزُ لا يُعجِزنَ صاحِبَ هِمَّةٍ

    وَإِن عَجَزَت عَنها الغُرَيرِيَّةُ الصُبرُ

    Wastes that cannot thwart a man of resolve,

    Even if the enduring Ghurayri camels cannot cross them.

  12. كَأَنَّ سَفيناً بَينَ فَيدٍ وَحاجِزٍ

    يَحُفُّ بِهِ مِن آلِ قيعانِهِ بَحرُ

    As though ships between Fayd and Hajiz

    Were ringed by a sea of mirage from its flatlands.

  13. عَدانِيَ عَنهُ ذَودُ أَعداءِ مَنهَلٍ

    كَثيرٌ إِلى وُرّادِهِ النَظَرُ الشَزرُ

    The repulse of foes at a watering place kept me from him—

    Where hostile looks at those who come to drink abound.

  14. وَسُمرُ أَعادٍ تَلمَعُ البيضُ بَينَهُم

    وَبيضُ أَعادٍ في أَكُفِّهِمُ السُمرُ

    And dark-skinned foes, bright swords gleaming among them,

    And fair-skinned foes with brown spears in their palms,

  15. وَقَومٌ مَتى ما أَلقَهُم رَوِيَ القَنا

    وَأَرضٌ مَتى ما أَغزُها شَبِعَ النَسرُ

    And a people—whenever I meet them, the spears drink their fill,

    And a land—whenever I raid it, the vulture eats its fill,

  16. وَخَيلٌ يَلوحُ الخَيرُ بَينَ عُيونِها

    وَنَصلٌ مَتى ماشِمتُهُ نَزَلَ النَصرُ

    And horses, good fortune gleaming between their eyes,

    And a blade—whenever I draw it, victory descends.

  17. إِذا ما الفَتى أَذكى مُغاوَرَةَ العِدى

    فَكُلُّ بِلادٍ حَلَّ ساحَتَها ثَغرُ

    When a young man fans the fire of raids against his foes,

    Then every land whose grounds he enters is a frontier.

  18. وَيَومٍ كَأَنَّ الأَرضَ شابَت لِهَولِهِ

    قَطَعتُ بِخَيلٍ حَشوُ فُرسانِها صَبرُ

    And a day when the earth seemed to turn gray from its terror,

    I crossed with horses whose riders were filled with fortitude.

  19. تَسيرُ عَلى مِثلِ المُلاءِ مُنَشَّراً

    وَآثارُها طَرزٌ لِأَطرافِها حُمرُ

    They move over what is like cloth spread out,

    And their tracks are red embroidery along its edges.

  20. أُشَيِّعُهُ وَالدَمعُ مِن شِدَّةِ الأَسى

    عَلى خَدِّهِ نَظمٌ وَفي نَحرِهِ نَثرُ

    I escort him, and tears, from the intensity of grief,

    Are strung upon his cheek and scattered on his breast.

  21. وَعُدتُ وَقَلبي في سِجافِ غَبيطَهُ

    وَلي لَفَتاتٌ نَحوَ هَودَجِهِ كُثرُ

    And I returned, my heart in the curtains of his litter,

    And I cast many glances back toward his howdah.

  22. وَفيمَن حَوى ذاكَ الحَجيجُ خَريدَةٌ

    لَها دونَ عَطفِ السَترِ مِن صَونِها سِترُ

    And among those gathered in that pilgrim throng was a bashful maiden,

    Whose modesty forms a veil besides the curtain's fold.

  23. وَفي الكُمِّ كَفٌّ لا يَراها عَديلُها

    وَفي الخِدرِ وَجهٌ لَيسَ يَعرِفُهُ الخِدرُ

    And in the sleeve is a hand her fellow rider does not see,

    And in the bower, a face the bower itself does not know.

  24. فَهَل عَرَفاتٌ عارِفاتٌ بِزَورِها

    وَهَل شَعَرَت تِلكَ المَشاعِرُ وَالحِجرُ

    Does Arafat, then, recognize its visitors?

    And have those sacred sites and al-Hijr become aware?

  25. أَما اِخضَرَّ مِن بُطنانِ مَكَّةَ ماذَوى

    أَما أَعشَبَ الوادي أَما أَنبَتَ الصَخرُ

    Has not what withered in Mecca's hollows turned green?

    Has not the valley grown grassy? Has not the rock sprouted?

  26. سَقى اللَهُ قَوماً حَلَّ رَحلُكَ فيهِمُ

    سَحائِبَ لاقُلٌّ جَداها وَلا نَزرُ

    May God water the people among whom your saddle has come to rest,

    With clouds whose bounty is neither scant nor meager.