1. أكانَ لقلبِه عنكَ انقلابُ

    أمالَ به إلى الغَيِّ العتابُ

    Did his heart turn away from you?

    Did reproach sway him toward error?

  2. أشأنُ دموعِهِ إلا انسكابٌ

    أذابَ ضلوعَه إلا التهابُ

    Are his tears meant for anything but pouring forth?

    Has anything but burning passion melted his ribs?

  3. يُجابُ الشَّوقُ فيك إذا دعاه

    ويُمتَهَنُ العذولُ فلا يُجابُ

    Longing for you is answered when it calls him,

    and the reproacher is scorned and receives no answer.

  4. تنادوا للفراق فحجبوها

    على أن العفاف لها حجاب

    They called to one another to depart, and veiled her,

    though chastity is a veil for her.

  5. ورفَّعْتَ القِبابَ ضُحىً فقُلنا

    أَزُهْرٌ ما تضمَّنَتِ القِبابُ

    And you raised the canopies in the forenoon, so we said:

    "Are bright stars what the canopies contain?"

  6. ظعائنُ أشرقَتْ بالدمعِ عيني

    وقد شَرِقَتْ بها تلك الشِّعابُ

    Women in litters choked my eye with tears,

    while those ravines were choked with them.

  7. محاسنُها لأعيُننا نِهابٌ

    وأنفسُنا لأعيُنِها نِهابُ

    Their beauties are plunder for our eyes,

    and our souls are plunder for their eyes.

  8. نَشيمُ لها بوارِقَ جاوزَتْنا

    كما يجتازُ شائمَه السَّحابُ

    We watch for their lightning flashes that have passed us by,

    as a cloud passes beyond its watcher.

  9. أَآنسةَ الدُّمى لولا التثِّني

    ونافرةَ المَهى لولا السِّخابُ

    O gentle one among statues, but for your swaying,

    and skittish one among oryx, but for your necklace!

  10. صفا لك وُدُّنا من كلِّ شَوبٍ

    وأحلى الودِّ ودٌّ لا يُشابُ

    Our affection for you is pure, free of every taint,

    and the sweetest affection is affection unmixed.

  11. ومن عَجبٍ ثَناي على رُضابٍ

    تَضِنُّ به ثناياكِ العِذابُ

    And strange is my praise of the saliva

    that your sweet front teeth jealously withhold.

  12. أجَدَّ وقوفُنا بالدارِ شوقاً

    إليكِ وجِدَّةُ الشَّوقِ اكتئابُ

    Our halt at the dwelling renewed a longing

    for you; and fresh longing is sorrow.

  13. وحنَّت في رُباكِ العِيسُ حتى

    كأنَّ طُلولَهُنَّ لَها سِقابُ

    And the pale camels moaned upon your hills until

    the women's ruined camps seemed to them like their own calves.

  14. سأُبرزُها سَوافرَ لا يُواري

    محاسِنَها إذا برزَتْ نِقابُ

    I shall bring them forth unveiled; no veil will hide

    their beauties when they appear.

  15. مُكرَّرَةً على راووقِ فِكرٍ

    مُروَّقَةً كما راقَ الشَّرابُ

    Passed repeatedly through the filter of thought,

    clarified as wine is made clear,

  16. محبَّبةً لها في كلِّ قلبٍ

    وإن بُعدَتْ مناسبُها اقترابُ

    beloved, they have in every heart—

    however distant their kinship—a closeness.

  17. هي الكَلِمُ اللُّبابُ صَفاً وحُسْنَاً

    وسيفُ الدَّولةِ الملكُ اللُّبابُ

    They are the choicest words in purity and beauty,

    and Sayf al-Dawla is the choicest king.

  18. َلأُدني من غرائِبها إليه

    وكان لهنّ في الأرضِ اغتِرابُ

    So I may draw some of their marvels close to him,

    though they had known estrangement on earth.

  19. فها هي لا تَزَحْزَحُ عن ذَراه

    ولا ترجو سواه ولا تَهابُ

    So here they are, never stirring from his shelter,

    and hoping for none but him, and feeling no fear.

  20. هو الليثُ الذي إن يَحْمِ أرضاً

    فكلُّ فِجاجِ تلك الأَرضِ غابُ

    He is the lion who, if he guards a land,

    makes every pass in that land a thicket.

  21. مُهنَّدُه إذا ما زارَ ظِفرٌ

    وعاملُه إذا ما صاب نابُ

    His Indian-forged sword, whenever it visits, is a claw,

    and his spearshaft, whenever it strikes, is a fang.

  22. وأينَ الليثُ من طَلْقِ المُحيَّا

    يجُدُّ ثوابُه ويَني العقابُ

    Yet how can a lion compare with one of cheerful face,

    whose rewards are prompt while punishment lags,

  23. وسَهْلٍ حينَ يسألُ غيرِ صَعْبٍ

    وقد ذلَّتْ له العُربُ الصِّعابُ

    and who is gracious when asked, never difficult,

    though the unruly Arabs have bowed to him?

  24. له في كلِّ أُنمُلَةٍ سَحابٌ

    يَسُحُّ وكلِّ جارحةٍ شِهابُ

    In each of his fingertips is a cloud

    pouring rain, and in every limb a meteor.

  25. وحظُّ عُداتِه ومُؤَمِّليه

    حَرائبُه النفائسُ والحِرابُ

    And the shares of his enemies and those who hope in him

    are his precious possessions and his spears.

  26. وقد خضعتْ له كَعْبٌ وخافَت

    سَطاه حينَ خوَّفَها كِلابُ

    And Ka'b has submitted to him and feared

    his onslaught when Kilab frightened it.

  27. وكم خضعت بخرشنة قلوب

    وقد خفقت بعقوبته العقاب

    And how many hearts were humbled at Kharshana,

    while the eagle beat its wings at his punishment!

  28. وريعَتْ مصرُ إذ وثب العِفَرْنى

    بحَدِّ السَّيفِ وانسابَ الحُباب

    And Egypt was terrified when the fierce lion sprang

    with the sword's edge, and the serpent slithered.

  29. وآفاقُ البلادِ له جميعاً

    تراخَى العزمُ أو جدَّ الطِّلابُ

    All the horizons of the lands belong to him,

    whether resolve slackens or the pursuit grows earnest.

  30. خلالٌ يحرُسُ العلياءَ منها

    سَماحٌ أو طِعانٌ أو ضِرابُ

    Virtues among which high glory finds its guardians:

    generosity, spear-thrusts, or sword-blows.

  31. إذا دعَتِ الملوكُ إليه يوماً

    فإذعانُ الملوكِ له جَوابُ

    If kings ever call out to him,

    the kings' submission to him is the answer.

  32. مقامُكَ حيثُ تتَّصلُ المعالي

    وذِكرُكَ حيثُ ينقطعُ التُّرابُ

    Your station is where high honors meet,

    and your renown is where the earth's dust ends.

  33. فداؤُكَ يا ابنَ عبدِ اللهِ قَومٌ

    يمينُكَ لُجَّةٌ وهم سَرابُ

    May men be your ransom, O son of Abd Allah:

    your right hand is a deep sea, and they are a mirage.

  34. إذا عُدَّتْ جبالُكَ من عديٍّ

    تطأطأَتِ الرُّبا لك والهِضابُ

    When your mountains of Adi are counted,

    the hills and highlands bow before you.

  35. ملوكٌ ذُلَّلَت بهمُ رقابٌ

    كما عزَّت بعزِّهِمُ رقابُ

    Kings through whom necks were humbled,

    just as necks were exalted through their glory.

  36. عِذابُ القَولِ إن قالوا أصابوا

    غِزارُ الجودِ إن جادوا أطابوا

    Sweet of speech: when they speak, they speak rightly;

    abundant in bounty: when they give, they give delight.

  37. إذا نَزَلوا فأقمارٌ بليلٍ

    وإن ركبوا فآسادٌ غِضابُ

    When they encamp, they are moons in the night,

    and when they ride, they are angry lions.

  38. هو الحسبُ الذي لا رَيبَ فيه

    وهل في الصُّبحِ ما وضحَ ارتيابُ

    That is noble lineage in which there is no doubt,

    and is there doubt of dawn when it shines clear?

  39. لئن سارَ الرِّكابُ بحُرِّ مَدحي

    فقد سارت بجَدواك الرِّكابُ

    If the riding camels have traveled bearing my finest praise,

    the riding camels have already traveled bearing your bounty.

  40. ولي في ساحَتْيكَ غديرُ نُعمى

    صفا مَتناه واطَّرَدَ الحُبابُ

    And in your two courtyards I have a pool of bounty,

    its two sides clear, and its bubbles flowing unbroken,

  41. وظِلٌّ لا يُمازِجُه هَجيرٌ

    وشَمسٌ لا يُكدِّرُها ضَبابُ

    and shade unmingled with noonday heat,

    and a sun that no fog dims,

  42. وأيامٌ حَسُنَّ لديَّ حتى

    تساوى الشِّيبُ فيها والشَّبابُ

    and days so lovely to me that

    gray hair and youth were alike within them.

  43. فإن تُلحِقْ ثوابَك بي ثياباً

    فأيسرُ ما تجودُ به الثِّيابُ

    So if you send me your reward as garments,

    garments are the easiest gift for you to give.

  44. إذا احتفلَ النَّدِيُّ فأنتَ أَرْيٌ

    وإن حَمِيَ الحديدُ فأنتَ صابُ

    When the assembly fills, you are honey,

    and when iron grows hot, you are bitter sap.

  45. وإن خفي الصوابُ على ملوكٍ

    فإنَّ جميعَ ما تأتي الصَّوابُ

    And if the right course is hidden from kings,

    everything you do is right.