1. أراكَ مُستعجلاً يا حاديَ الإبلِ

    فاصبرو إن خُلِقَ الإنسانُ من عَجَلِ

    I see you hastening, O driver of the camels.

    So be patient, though man was created of haste.

  2. واقرَ السلامَ على غَمرٍ تحلُّ بهِ

    من ماءِ عَيني ولا تقرأ على الوشَلِ

    And recite a greeting over the deep flood where you alight,

    of water from my eye; do not recite it over a trickle.

  3. وإن نظرتَ إلى العيسِ التي قَلقتْ

    للظَاعنينَ فلا تَسكن إلى عَذَل

    And if you look upon the pale camels that grew restless

    for the departing travelers, give no ear to reproach.

  4. أجني وأحتالُ في تَزويرِ معذرةٍ

    والعجزُ لمرءِ ليسَ العجزُ للحِيَلِ

    I transgress and contrive to fabricate an excuse;

    the failure belongs to the man, not to the stratagems.

  5. وقفتُ والشوقُ يبليني على طللٍ

    كأنّني طّللٌ بالٍ على جملِ

    I stood at a ruined campsite while longing wore me away,

    as though I were a weathered ruin upon a camel.

  6. سرَحتُ في جوِّها الأنفاسَ فالتقطت

    نسيمَ ريّا وأهدتْهُ إلى عِلَلي

    I sent my breaths roaming through its air, and they gathered

    a breeze of Rayya and offered it to my ailments.

  7. أرض مكرمة لم يؤذِ تُربتَها

    إلاّ تَسَحّبُ أذيالٍ منَ الحللِ

    An honored land whose soil was never harmed

    except by the trailing hems of robes.

  8. شتّى اللغاتِ فقُلْ في هاتف غردٍ

    أو صاهلٍ جَرِسٍ أو باغمٍ غزِلِ

    Its tongues are diverse: speak of a sweetly calling bird,

    or a resonantly neighing horse, or a lovelorn, murmuring gazelle.

  9. وما زالَ مِنها قلوبُ الناسِ عاثرةً

    من لطخِ غاليةِ الأصداغِ في وَحَلِ

    Because of it, people's hearts have never ceased stumbling

    in mire from musk-paste smeared upon temples.

  10. شِيدتْ عيلها قبابُ الحيِّ فاعتقدتْ

    أن البقاعَ لها قسطٌ منَ الدُّولِ

    The tribe's domed tents were raised upon it, and it believed

    that lands have a share in fortune's turns.

  11. إذا الغبارُ منَ الفُرٍسانِ سارَ بِها

    رشّتْهُ عشاقُها الباكونَ بالمُقَلِ

    When dust from the horsemen moved through it,

    its weeping lovers sprinkled it with their eyes.

  12. دار التي حُلِّيتْ بالحُسنِ عاطلة

    فوسْوسَ الحليُ من غيظٍ على العطلِ

    The home of her who, unadorned, was adorned with beauty:

    the jewelry rustled angrily at her lack of ornaments.

  13. بيضاء مُرهفة سُلّتْ على كبدي

    وأُغمِدَتْ من سُجوفِ الخَزِّ في كِلَل

    Fair and keen-edged, she was drawn against my liver,

    and sheathed in canopies made from curtains of silk.

  14. كالظبي لولا اعتلالٌ في نواظرِها

    والظبيُ لا يشتكي من عارضِ العِلَلِ

    Like a gazelle, but for an ailment in her eyes—

    and a gazelle does not complain of passing illnesses.

  15. وقد يقالُ لمصْحاحِ الرِّجالِ به

    داءُ الظباء كذا يَرْوونَ في المَثَلِ

    Yet of a perfectly healthy man they may say, 'He has

    the gazelles' disease'—so they recount the proverb.

  16. شفاهُها كيفَ لا تَخلو وقد خَزنت

    ذخيرةَ النحلِ في أُنقوعةِ العَسلِ

    Her lips—how do they remain full? They have stored

    the bees' treasure in a pool of honey.

  17. ينالُ مَن يَشتهي ماءَ الحياة بها

    ما كان مِن قَبلُ ذو القَرنينِ لم يَنَلِ

    Whoever desires the water of life obtains through them

    what Dhu al-Qarnayn had not obtained before.

  18. كم طافَ بي طيفُها والأفقُ مُستْترٌ

    بذيلِ سِجفٍ منَ الظلماءِ مُنْسدِلِ

    How often her phantom circled me while the horizon was veiled

    by the trailing hem of a curtain of darkness.

  19. أنّى تيسّرَ مَسرَاها وقد رسفَتْ

    من الذوائبِ طولَ الليلِ في شَكَلِ

    How could her night journey be easy, when she shuffled

    all night in fetters made of tresses?

  20. وكيف خَفّتْ إلى المُشتاق نهضتُها

    والثِّقلُ يُقعدُها من جانبِ الكَفَلِ

    And how was her rising toward the yearning lover so light,

    when the weight of her haunches kept her seated?

  21. تأوي إلى حُفرةِ الكُدْريِّ آونةً

    وتارةً تَرتقي في سُلّم الحِيَلِ

    At times she shelters in the dusky sandgrouse's hollow,

    and at times she climbs a ladder of stratagems.

  22. لمّأ أحسّتْ بأسفارِ النّوى ونأتْ

    عنِّي بِحرِّ حشاً يُخفيهِ بردُ حُلِي

    When she sensed the journeys of separation and withdrew

    from me, with inward heat concealed by the coolness of jewelry—

  23. يا حبّذا هو من ضيفٍ وهبتُ له

    سمعي وعَيني إبدالاً من النزلِ

    Oh, what a welcome guest it was! I gave it

    my hearing and my eye instead of a guest's provisions.

  24. وأزعجتْها دواعي البَينِ وانكمشتْ

    تَسري وفي مُقلتيها فَتْرةُ الكسَلِ

    The summons of parting drove her away, and she hurried off,

    traveling by night, though sloth's languor lay in her eyes.

  25. فرشت خدِّي لِمَمْشاها وقلتُ لها

    أخشى عليك الطريقَ الوعرَ فانتعَلِي

    I spread my cheek upon her path and said to her,

    'I fear the rough road for you, so put on sandals.'

  26. سَقياً لها ولركب رُزَّحٍ نَفَضوا

    بساقَيْها نُطوعَ الأيْنُقِ الذُّلُلِ

    May rain bless her and the weary riders who shook

    with her two legs the leather mats of the docile she-camels.

  27. جابُوا الفلاةَ وأغرتْهم بها هِمَمٌ

    خُلقْنَ كَلا على الأسفارِ والرِّحَلِ

    They crossed the desert, urged on through it by ambitions

    created to burden journeys and departures.

  28. فجاوزُوا كُنْسَ آرامٍ يُحصِّنًها

    ضراغمُ الروعِ في غابِ القَنا الذُّبُلِ

    They passed gazelles' lairs, which are fortified

    by lions of terror in a forest of slender spears,

  29. من بعدِ ما رَكبوا مُلْكَ المَطيّةِ في

    بحرِ السّرابِ وحَثُّوها بلا مَهَلِ

    after they had ridden the mount's dominion in

    a sea of mirage, urging her onward without delay.

  30. أَعجِبْ بفُلكٍ لها روحٌ يغِّرقُها

    مخاضة الآلِ في ماءٍ بلا بَلَلِ

    Marvel at a ship with a soul, drowned

    by a mirage's shallows in water without wetness.

  31. والجَدُّ نُهزةُ ذي جدٍّ يطيرُ إلى ال

    أَكوارِ عندَ وقوعِ الحادثِ الجَلَلِ

    Good fortune is the opportunity of the resolute man, who flies to the

    camel-saddles when grave calamity strikes.

  32. يَغشى الفَلا والفَيافي والمطيُّ لها

    ضربانِ من هَزَجٍ فيها ومن رَمَلِ

    He traverses deserts and wastelands, while the mounts have

    two rhythms in their motion: a lilt and a trot,

  33. حتى تُقَرِّبَ أطنابَ الخيامِ إلى

    مَنْجى اللّهيفِ وملجا الخائفِ الوجلِ

    until they bring the tent-ropes close to

    the distressed man's refuge and the trembling, frightened man's haven:

  34. فَتى محمد الراوي المكارمَ مِن

    عيسى أبي الحسنِ الشيخِ العَميدِ علي

    a much-praised youth, transmitting noble deeds from

    Isa: Abu al-Hasan, the venerable chief Ali.

  35. فمن زمامٍ إلى مغناهُ مُنعطفٍ

    ومن عنانٍ إلى مأواهُ مُنْفتِلِ

    So many a halter turns toward his dwelling,

    and many a rein twists toward his shelter.

  36. آثارُه نسختْ أخبارَ مَن سَلفوا

    نسخَ الشّريعةِ للأديانِ والمِلَلِ

    His deeds have superseded the accounts of those before him,

    as the Sacred Law abrogates religions and creeds.

  37. يُولي الجميلَ وصرفُ الدهرِ يقبضُ مِن

    يَديْهِ والفحلُ يَحمي وهو في العُقَلِ

    He bestows kindness while the turns of time constrain

    his hands: a stallion defends even when hobbled.

  38. تصرّفتْ سائلوهُ في مَواهبِهِ

    تصرّفَ النفرِ الغازينَ في النفَلِ

    His petitioners dispose freely of his gifts,

    as raiding men dispose of spoils.

  39. أردتُ أُحصي ثناياهُ فغالطَني

    وقالَ أَحصِ ثناءَ الرائحِ الزجِلِ

    I wished to count his qualities, but he diverted me

    and said, 'Count the praise of the loud-voiced departing visitor.'

  40. كذا ابنُ عمرانَ نادى ربَّهُ أرِني

    أَنظرْ إليك فقالَ انظر إلى الجبلِ

    So the son of Imran called to his Lord: 'Show me,

    that I may look upon You'; He said, 'Look at the mountain.'

  41. إن خط خاطَ على قرطاسهِ حُللاً

    يُهدي بهِ الوشيَ للأحياءِ والحِللِ

    If he writes, he stitches robes upon his paper,

    giving embroidered finery through it to tribes and encampments.

  42. وإن ترسّلَ أدَى سحرُهُ خدَعاً

    يُصفي إليهنَّ سمعُ الأعْصَم الوعِلِ

    And if he writes prose letters, his magic performs deceits

    to which the white-footed ibex listens intently.

  43. وإن تكلَّم زلَّ الدرُّ عن فمِهِ

    في حُجرِه وهو معصومٌ عن الزلَلِ

    And if he speaks, pearls slip from his mouth

    into his lap, though he is protected from slips.

  44. وإن تقلّدَ من ذي إمرةٍ عملاً

    وجدتَهُ علماً في ذلك العمَلِ

    And if he accepts an office from a holder of authority,

    you find him a beacon in that task.

  45. وإن تفحّصَ أحوالَ النّجومِ درى

    ما حُم من أجّلٍ في الغَيبِ أو أمَلِ

    And if he examines the states of the stars, he knows

    what term of life or hope has been decreed in the unseen.

  46. قالوا أتشكرُ نعماهُ فقلتُ أجلْ

    لو مُد لي طوَلٌ مُرخىً منَ الأجَلِ

    They asked, 'Do you give thanks for his bounty?' I said, 'Yes—

    if I am granted a long, slack tether of life.'

  47. أنامَني تحت ظلِّ الأمْنِ إذ نتقَتْ

    من فوقِ رأسي جبالُ الخَوفِ كالظُّللِ

    He let me sleep beneath the shade of safety when there were lifted

    above my head mountains of fear, like canopies.

  48. وما نسيتُ ولا أنسى اعتصاميَ من

    جواره بعُرا الأسبابِ والوُصَلِ

    I have not forgotten, nor shall I forget, how I clung to

    the loops of bonds and ties afforded by his protection.

  49. إذا التقيتُ بهِ في موقفٍ شرِقَتْ

    منه الشعابُ بسيلِ الخَيلِ والخولِ

    When I met him at a gathering, the ravines were choked

    with a torrent of horses and retainers streaming from him.

  50. ولم أكنْ عالماً قبلَ الحلولِ بهِ

    أنِّي أرى رجلاً في بُردَتَيْ رَجُلِ

    I had not known, before coming to him,

    that I would see a true man within a man's two cloaks.

  51. يا ضائراُ نافعاُ إن ثارَ هائِجُهُ

    أسالَ مهجةَ أقوامٍ على الأسَلِ

    O bringer of harm and benefit—if his fury rises,

    he sends people's lifeblood streaming over spearheads.

  52. يُذيقُهم تارةً من خُلقهِ عَسَلاً

    حلواً وطوراً يديفً السمَّ في العَسَلِ

    At times he lets them taste honey from his character,

    sweet, and at other times he mixes poison into the honey.

  53. خذْها أبا حَسَنٍ غرَاءَ فائقةً

    وَلَتْ وجوهَ الملوكِ الصِّيدِ من قبلي

    Take it, Abu Hasan: radiant and surpassing,

    it has faced the proud kings on my behalf.

  54. أكثرتُ فيها ولم أهجرْ بلاغتَهُ

    وليسَ كثرةُ تكثيري من الفَشَلِ

    I have said much in it, without abandoning his eloquence;

    my great abundance is not born of weakness.

  55. إذا تمنّتْ سِواها أنْ تُضاهِيهَا

    خابَت وما النّجَلُ الموْموقُ كالحوَلِ

    If another poem hopes to match it,

    it fails: beloved wide-eyed beauty is not a squint.

  56. أفادَها خاطري بينَ الورى خطراً

    وصاغَها خَلدَي من غيرِ ما خَلَلِ

    My thought gave it distinction among humankind,

    and my mind fashioned it without a flaw.

  57. يَحلو بها فمُ راويها فتحسبُهُ

    صبّاً ترشَفَ ظلمَ الواضِحِ الرمِلِ

    It sweetens the mouth of its reciter, so you think him

    a lover who has sipped saliva from gleaming, finely ridged teeth.

  58. وينشقُ الوردَ منها كلُّ منغمسٍ

    في اللهوِ نَشوانَ في ظلِّ الصبا جذلِ

    And everyone immersed breathes the scent of roses from it,

    in pleasure, intoxicated and joyful in the shade of youth.

  59. ورب شِعرٍ كريهٍ عندَ ذائقِهِ

    كأنّهُ شعرةٌ في لقمةِ الخَجِلِ

    Yet many a poem is foul to the one who tastes it,

    as though it were a hair in a bashful man's mouthful.