ألا قف بالطلول ولو قليلا

لا قضى عندها نذراً محيلا

Come, stop at the ruins, if only for a little while,

so I may fulfill beside them a long-standing vow:

اذالة مدمع قد صين دهرا

واي مصون لادهر ما اذيلا

the shedding of tears guarded for an age—

and what cherished thing has time not laid low?

اذا ليم امرؤ يبكي لذل

فليس يلام من يبكى الطلولا

If a man is blamed for weeping in humiliation,

no blame falls on one who weeps over ruins.

نشيت لتربها ارجا دعاني

صريعا مثل من شرب الشمولا

I breathed a fragrance from their soil that drew me,

stricken, like one who had drunk wine.

هو الانسان انشى من تراب

قديما قبل انشآى تليلا

Humankind was fashioned out of dust

long ago, before I was fashioned as one laid low.

اسائل كل ما في الريع وجدا

وليس صدى به يروى غليلا

I question everything on the high ground out of longing,

yet no echo there can slake my burning thirst.

لان الريح قد نسجت عليه

رمال الدو عرضا ثم طولا

For the wind has woven over it

the desert's sands, across and then lengthwise.

بللت ثراه بالدمع التياعا

وجسمي جف من حرق قحولا

I wet its soil with tears of anguish,

while my body dried and withered from burning grief.

صبرت على الفراق فعيل صبرى

وهذا العول اورثني العويلا

I endured separation until my patience was exhausted,

and this exhaustion brought me wailing.

ولو غير النوى اثوى بلبى

لكن قريته الصبر الجميلا

Had anything but separation lodged in my heart,

I would have offered it the hospitality of gracious patience.

اذا فكرت في ذا البين هانت

على مصائبي الاخرى قليلا

When I ponder this parting, less grievous seem

my other afflictions to me, though only a little.

ترى اين انتوى الاحباب صبحا

احلوا الشعب ام حلوا السهولا

I wonder where the loved ones headed at dawn:

did they settle in the mountain pass or on the plains?

ايرجع عهد وصلهم فاكفى

سماع القائلين نووا رحيلا

Will the days of union with them return, sparing me

hearing those who say, 'They intend to depart'?

وانعم باللقاء قرير عين

فلا القى الرقيب ولا العذولا

And may I enjoy reunion, my eyes at peace,

encountering neither watcher nor reproacher?

على اس الوفاء بنيت حبي

وطيدا لن يحول ولن يزولا

On the foundation of fidelity I built my love,

firmly established, never to change or pass away.

فهل من عالم بمصاب عل

وهل من راحم صبا عليلا

Is there anyone who knows a wasted man's affliction?

And is there anyone who pities an ailing lover?

يؤرقني هديل الورق ليلا

كاني نادب معها هديلا

The cooing of gray doves keeps me awake at night,

as though I mourned Hadil along with them.

وما ادرى اذا ما الليل ولى

اياتي صبحه منه بديلا

I do not know, when the night departs,

whether its dawn will come to take its place.

كأن كراي في اخفاف عيسى

متى زالت لترحال ازيلا

It is as though my sleep lies in my white camels' hoof-pads:

whenever they move off to travel, it is carried away.

كأن البيد صدري والثنايا

هواجسه قد اعتاصت سبيلا

As though the deserts were my breast, and the mountain passes

its anxious thoughts, grown difficult to traverse.

كأن بها وحي السيروحي

الى بان اجاريها ذميلا

As though the swiftness of their travel were a revelation

to me to keep pace with them at a gentle trot.

فاتبعها وما بي من حراك

فوادا حمل الشوق الثقيلا

So I follow them, though I cannot stir,

a heart bearing heavy longing.

رويدا يا مزجيها رويدا

فقد كلفتها امرا وبيلا

Gently, you who drive them onward, gently:

you have charged them with a grievous task.

لها حق علينا ان تراعى

وتكرم حيثما كانت مقيلا

They have a claim upon us: they must be tended

and honored wherever they take their midday rest.

فهن الحاملات غدى هوانا

وهن البالغات بنا خليلا

For they will carry our love tomorrow,

and they will bring us to an intimate friend.

هو البحر الخضم لوارديه

ولكن كان عذبا سلسبيلا

He is the vast sea to those who come to him,

yet a sweet one, smooth to drink.

الم تر كيف يزخر بالقوافي

فيسكر من سلافتها العقولا

Have you not seen how he surges with rhymes,

intoxicating minds with their finest wine?

فتروى كل من امسى غليلا

وتشفى كل من اضحى عليلا

They quench all who have grown thirsty

and heal all who have fallen ill.

نبيل خصاله يسبيك بهرا

وينسيك النبيلة والنبيلا

Noble in his qualities, he dazzles and captivates you

and makes you forget noblewoman and nobleman.

تلاقى منه قيلا جل قيلا

وتلفى منه نيلا هل نيلا

You encounter in him a prince, majestic in speech,

and find in him a Nile, pouring forth bounty.

متى يخطب تخل ملكا جميلا

وفوق اركية ملكا جليلا

Whenever he delivers an oration, you imagine a beautiful angel,

and upon a throne, a majestic king.

رحيب الصدر يحوى كل علم

وان ملأت مسائله السهولا

Broad of breast, he encompasses every branch of knowledge,

even if its questions should fill the plains.

بديهته المجلى والمصلى

روية من تخال له سويلا

His quick wit is the winning steed; the runner-up is

the considered thought of one you imagine his equal.

اذا ما رام غايته مبار

فقل قد جاء امرا مستحيلا

If ever a rival seeks to reach his goal,

say that he has undertaken something impossible.

اجل مقامه عن مثل نظمي

ولولا حلمه عفت المقولا

I deem his station too exalted for verse like mine;

but for his forbearance, I would have shunned speech.

لقد حبست مهابته الساني

زمانا فيه آثرت الخمولا

His awe-inspiring dignity held my tongue captive

for a time in which I chose obscurity.

فكنت اخالني فيه بعيما

وفكري خام عن معنى كليلا

So I thought myself then a dumb beast,

my thought shrinking back from meaning, blunted.

لان تكافو الامثال عندي

من الفرض الذي لن يستحيلا

For matching like with like, to my mind,

is a duty that will never change.

فكنت اود لو اهديه نظما

يكون لنظمه الهادي عديلا

I wished to present him with a poem

that would equal his guiding verse.

فعز على واستعصى ودابي

مجافاة المباعد او يميلا

Yet it proved hard for me and resisted; my habit is

to shun the aloof until he turns toward me.

اما والله اني اخجلتني

مكارمه وسامتني ذهولا

Indeed, by God, I have been abashed

by his generous deeds, which have left me bewildered.

ابيت مفكرا فيها واضحى

بها متغزلا غزلا طويلا

I spend the night pondering them, and spend the morning

celebrating them in a long love-song.

فليت العذر مني عن قصوري

يصادف عند سدته قبولا

Would that my excuse for my shortcomings

might find acceptance at his threshold.

كلا طمعي وجدواه عظيم

واحسب ذا على عفوي دليلا

Both my hope and his bounty are great,

and I take this as a sign of my pardon.

اذا ما عزمني ارضاء دهري

تخذت له مدائحه وسيلا

If winning my age's favor ever proves hard for me,

I make praise of him my means to that end.

كفاني مدح علية مصر فضلا

فصار مزيد غيرهم فضولا

Praising Egypt's eminent men gave me distinction enough;

so anything more from others became superfluous.

تجاروا في الفصاحة والمعاني

فكلهم استبان بها اصيلا

They vied in eloquence and meaning,

and each proved himself deeply rooted in them.

دواجن طبعهم شرد القوافي

وكاثرنا اقلهم مقولا

The wildest rhymes are tame to their inborn talent,

and their least prolific speaker outdid us in abundance.

كذلك حظ بعض الناس نزر

وبعضهم حوى حظا جزيلا

Thus some people's share is scant,

while others have gained a plentiful share.