1. يا من له شيم تمل

    كه العلا ومناقبُ

    O you whose qualities give you mastery

    of the heights, and who possess noble merits,

  2. وفضائل عَييَ الحسو

    د بها وأعيا الحاسب

    and virtues that confound the envious

    and leave the reckoner exhausted;

  3. ومجانباً لي وهو من

    أسنى الذين أجانب

    and you who stand apart from me, though among

    the noblest of those from whom I am apart:

  4. في كلِّ يوم حادث

    يدنو فينأى صاحب

    each day a fresh misfortune

    draws near, and then a friend draws away.

  5. أعزز عليّ بأن اُرَى

    بعد اللقاء أكاتب

    How painful for me to be seen,

    after meeting, corresponding by letter!

  6. كيف السّلو وبيننا

    خطب لبينك خاطب

    How can I find solace, when between us

    stands calamity, courting separation from you,

  7. وضحاضح وأباطح

    وبسابس وسباسب

    and shallow waters and pebbly streambeds,

    and barren plains and desert wastes,

  8. ومعالم ومجاهل

    وأعاجم وأعارب

    and known lands and trackless places,

    and non-Arabs and Arabs,

  9. وضراغم أنسية

    وسلائب ونجائب

    and lions in human form,

    and spoils and high-bred camels;

  10. وعلى الغوارب كالأهل

    ة في الحدوج غرائب

    and upon their humps, like crescents,

    are rare beauties in the camel litters:

  11. صور من السحر الحلا

    ل لها القلوب قوالب

    figures of lawful magic,

    for which hearts serve as molds.

  12. فإذا نظرن فإنهنَّ

    على النفوس غوالب

    And when they look, they

    hold dominion over souls.

  13. فَسِهَا مُهُنٌ لواحظٌ

    وقسيهُنَّ حواجب

    For their arrows are glances,

    and their bows are eyebrows.

  14. حفَّت بهن أعنة

    وأسنة وقواضب

    Reins encircle them,

    and spearheads and cutting swords,

  15. ومواكب هي والعجاج

    غمائم وكواكب

    and cavalcades that, with the dust,

    are clouds and stars.

  16. أعطتهُمُ شَرَف الإِباءِ

    مناسب ومناصب

    The honor of proud defiance was given them

    by their lineages and ranks.

  17. فالقوم إما سالب

    أو طاعن أو ضارب

    So the men are either plunderers,

    or spear-thrusters, or sword-strikers.

  18. ورد المنية معرض

    فيهم وغيري شارب

    Death's draught is offered

    among them; another drinks, not I.

  19. من كان من شُهَّادهم

    يوماً فإني غائب

    Whoever may be present with them

    one day, I am absent.

  20. يا من أُطالبه بودِّ

    دائم ويطالب

    O you from whom I ask for love

    enduring, and who asks it in return,

  21. ثق بي وإن نأتِ الدّيا

    ر فإنّ حقَّك واجب

    trust me, though our dwellings lie far apart;

    for your claim upon me is binding.

  22. فلقد صَدَقتَنِي الودا

    دَ وَوُدُّ غيرك كاذب

    For you have shown me true affection,

    while the affection of others is false.

  23. وسَنَنتَ بِراً حاد عن

    ه أحبُّةٌ وأقارب

    And you established a kindness from which

    loved ones and relatives turned aside.

  24. إني وإن رغم البعا

    دُ على ودادك دائب

    I, in defiance of separation,

    remain constant in loving you.

  25. ولقد تُذكِّرُني العهودُ

    بوارق وسحاب

    And I am reminded of bygone days

    by lightning flashes and clouds,

  26. وحمائم قامت لها

    فوق الغصون نوادب

    and doves that stood for those days

    as mourners upon the boughs,

  27. وشمائل في طيها

    نشر الهوى وخبائب

    and north winds, bearing in their folds

    love's fragrance and swift gusts,

  28. والروح حفَّت جانبيه

    أزاهر ومذانب

    and the breeze, flanked on both sides

    by blossoms and streamlets.

  29. ما كان وصفي للحسا

    ن كما يظن العاتب

    My description of fair women was not

    as the reproacher supposes;

  30. لكن ذكرتك طيباً

    فذكرتهن أطائب

    rather, I recalled your sweetness,

    and so recalled them as sweet delights.

  31. فكأن طبعك رقة

    لنسيبهن مناسب

    As though your nature, in its tenderness,

    were akin to love-poetry about them.

  32. أما الزمان ففي تقلّ

    به علي عجائب

    As for Time, in its changing ways

    toward me there are strange wonders.

  33. يعطي ويرتجع العطّي

    ة فهو معطٍ سالب

    It gives and takes back the gift;

    it is giver and despoiler.

  34. فدع المواهب إنَّ صدقَ

    قياسهن مناهب

    So forsake the gifts: a truthful

    assessment calls them plunder.

  35. ولقد نصحت وللنَّصي

    حةِ قابل ومجانب

    I have offered counsel; advice finds

    one who accepts it and one who shuns it.

  36. فاصبر على طب النفو

    س فللنفوس مذاهب

    So be patient in treating souls;

    for souls have their own ways.

  37. جَدَّ الزمان وكلَّنا

    إلاَّ قليلاً لاعب

    Time is in earnest, while all of us,

    save a few, are at play.

  38. ولكم فقدتُ زخارفاً

    جاذبتها وأُجاذب

    How many glittering things I have lost,

    which I struggled for, and still struggle for!

  39. ولكم تقضَّت للزما

    ن مطاعم ومشارب

    How many have passed away with Time—

    foods and drinks!

  40. لم تَصفُ منها لذةٌ

    إلاَّ وفيها شائب

    No pleasure they gave was pure—

    there was always some taint within it.

  41. وعهدت نفسي راغباً

    حيناً فها أنا راهب

    I knew myself as one who yearned

    for a time; now here I am, fearful.

  42. ومن العجائب أن تغيب

    ونهج قصدك لا حب

    One wonder is that you are absent,

    though the road to you is clear.

  43. لكن جِدِّي راتب في

    ها وجَدّشي ذاهب

    But my striving is constant in

    this, while my good fortune fades.

  44. بالسَّعد يرفع رافع

    يوماً وينصب ناصب

    Through good fortune, one assigns the nominative

    one day, and another the accusative.

  45. ولذاك عمرو النحو مض

    روبٌ وزيدٌ ضارب

    Hence the grammarians' ʿAmr is beaten,

    and Zayd is the striker.

  46. لا والذي بقضائه

    نطق الغراب الناعب

    No, by Him through whose decree

    the cawing raven spoke:

  47. ما باختياري بعدكم

    لولا القضاء الغالب

    distance from you is not my choice—

    only overpowering fate keeps us apart.