1. عافَ الوقوفَ على المحلِّ العافي

    وأقامَ إلفَ مَوَدَّةِ الأُلاّفِ

    He shunned stopping at the effaced dwelling,

    and maintained his bond of affection with his intimates.

  2. صَبٌّ يواصلُ للصبَّابةِ قاطعاً

    ويُلِمُّ من ألمِ الغَرامِ بِحَافي

    Lovesick, he keeps ties, for love's sake, with one who breaks them,

    and, from love's pain, draws near to a barefoot one.

  3. ظَامٍ إلى الوَجَنَاتِ يُوِردُهُ الرَّدَى

    وَرْدٌ بها يُجنى بغيرِ قِطافِ

    Thirsting for cheeks, he is led to death

    by roses upon them, gathered without plucking.

  4. ويَزيدُهُ ضُعْفُ الخُصورِ إذا انثَنَتْ

    للوَجْدِ أَضعافاً على أضعافِ

    And the frailty of waists, when they bend, multiplies

    his longing, fold upon fold.

  5. أيامَ يَعْطِفهُ على لَذَّاتِه

    خَنِثُ الشَّمائلِ مائسُ الأَعْطافِ

    In days when he was drawn toward his pleasures

    by one soft in manner, swaying at the hips.

  6. والشَّرْبُ قد صبّوا الصَّباحَ على الدُّجى

    ما بينَ ضَوْءِ سوالفٍ وسُلافِ

    And the drinkers had poured morning over night's darkness,

    between the radiance of cheeks and fine wine.

  7. والبدرُ يَظهرُ في السَّحابِ كأنَّه

    عَذراءُ تنظُرُ من وَراءِ سِجافِ

    And the full moon appears among the clouds, as though

    a maiden looking from behind a curtain.

  8. والرّاحُ قد حملَتْ لها ريحُ الصَّبا

    نَفَحاتِ مِسْكٍ بالعَبيرِ مُدافِ

    And the east wind had carried to the wine

    wafts of musk blended with perfume.

  9. وتناهَبَتْ كاساتُها ظُلَمَ الدُّجى

    نَهْبَ العُفاةِ نَدى أبي العَطَّافِ

    And its cups vied in plundering the shadows of night,

    as petitioners plunder Abu al-ʿAṭṭāf's bounty.

  10. حَكَمٌ على الأيَّامِ يحكُمُ في العِدا

    والمالِ حُكمَ مُجانِبِ الإنصافِ

    An arbiter over the days, he judges his foes

    and wealth as one who shuns fairness.

  11. فَمحلُّه خَضِرُ الجَنابِ من النَّدى

    عَذْبُ المَوارِدِ آمِنُ الأكنافِ

    So his abode's precincts are green with bounty's dew,

    its watering places sweet, its surroundings safe.

  12. حالي الثَّرى يجري النَّسيمُ إذا جرَى

    صُبْحاً بأنفاسٍ عليه ِضعافِ

    Its soil is adorned; the breeze, when it blows, drifts

    at dawn over it with faint breaths.

  13. قطعَ الوفودُ به المسيرَ وطالَما

    وَصَلوا الذَّميلَ إليه بالإيجافِ

    Delegations ended their journey there, having long

    joined a steady trot toward him with galloping.

  14. عرَفوا الأميرَ مُواصِلاً معروفَه

    بخلائِقٍ مِسكيِّةِ الأعرافِ

    They knew the prince to join his kindness

    with qualities fragrant as musk.

  15. وكَسَوه من بِدَعِ القريضِ مدائحاً

    موشّيةً كبدائعِ الأفوافِ

    And they clothed him in praises, fresh wonders of verse,

    embroidered like wondrous striped fabrics.

  16. أعطى فقَصَّرَ في العَطاءِ بحاتمٍ

    وسَطا فأخمَلَ سطوةَ الجحَّافِ

    He gave, leaving Ḥātim behind in generosity,

    and struck, eclipsing al-Jaḥḥāf's might.

  17. في مَعْرَكٍ طافَ الرَّدى بكُماتِه

    عندَ اختلافِ الطَّعْنِ أيَّ طَوافِ

    on a battlefield where death circled its champions,

    as spear-thrusts were exchanged—what a circling!

  18. فإذا السَّنابِكُ أنشأَتْ ليلاً به

    ثَقَبَ الصَّباحَ له سَنا الأسيافِ

    Then, when the hooves raised a night there,

    the swords' radiance kindled dawn for it.

  19. من أسرةٍ أَسَرَتْ لها صِيدَ العُلى

    وقَفَاتُ أَصْيَدَ في الرَّدى وَقَّافِ

    From a clan for whom the proud lords of glory were captured

    by the stands of a proud warrior, ever steadfast amid death.

  20. جعلُوا السُّيوفَ لكلِّ خَطْبٍ مَعْقِلاً

    إن السُّيوفُ معاقلُ الأشرافِ

    They made swords a stronghold against every calamity;

    indeed, swords are the strongholds of the noble.

  21. وكَساهُمُ صَفُو النَّجاةِ خَلائِقاً

    أصفى من الماءِ الزُّلالِ الصَّافي

    And the purity of deliverance clothed them in qualities

    purer than limpid, clear water.

  22. فلهُم عَزائِمُ ما امتضَيْنَ صَوارِماً

    إلا جَلَيْنَ بها دُجى الأسيافِ

    So they have resolves that never unsheathe keen swords

    without dispelling with them the darkness of swords,

  23. ومَحلُّ عِزٍّ شاملٍ ما احتلَّه

    باغٍ كَساه البغيُ ثَوبَ خِلافِ

    and a seat of all-embracing glory, never occupied

    by a rebel whom rebellion has clothed in a robe of defiance,

  24. إلا رأى الرَّاياتِ تَخفُقُ حولَه

    ورأى الوَشيجَ مُخَضَّبَ الأطرافِ

    without his seeing banners flutter around him

    and seeing spears stained at their tips.