1. عُفْرُ الظَّباءِ لدَى الكثيبِ الأَعفَرِ

    سَفَحَتْ دموعُكَ يومَ سفحِ مُحَجَّرِ

    The tawny gazelles beside the tawny dune

    made your tears flow that day on Muhajjar's slope.

  2. أقبلْتَ بين مُعَرَّضٍ بكَ مُعْرضٍ

    حَذَرَ الوُشاةِ وضاحكٍ مُستعبِرِ

    You came among one linked with you by insinuation, turning away

    for fear of slanderers, and one smiling through tears.

  3. يلطِمْنَ بالبَرَدِ العقيقَ وإنما

    يَقتصُّ من وَرْدِ الخُدودِ الأحمرِ

    They slap the agate with hailstones, which only

    take vengeance on the red roses of their cheeks.

  4. وإذا الفِراقُ أساءَ في أفعالِهِ

    كانت إساءتُه بأحسنِ مَنْظَرِ

    And when parting acts cruelly in its deeds,

    its cruelty appears in the fairest form.

  5. سفَرَتْ فشِمْتُ لها بوارِقَ شيمَةٍ

    وَثِقَ الهَوى منها بِحَظٍّ مُسْفِرِ

    She unveiled; I glimpsed her nature's lightning-flashes;

    love trusted it would gain from her a radiant share.

  6. ثم اكتسَتْ خَفَرَ الحَياء فخبَّرَتْ

    وَجَناتُها عن ذِمَّةٍ لم تُخْفَرِ

    Then she donned the bashfulness of modesty;

    her cheeks told of a pledge never betrayed.

  7. لا تُنْكري جَزَعَ الشَّجيِّ فإنَّه

    لم يأتِ يومَ الجِزعِ منهُ بمُنكَرِ

    Do not reproach the sorrowing man for his anguish, for

    he did nothing blameworthy through it that day at the valley bend.

  8. نَفَرَ الكَرى عن مُقْلَتَيْهِ وأحدَقَتْ

    بفؤادِهِ حَدَقُ الظِّباءِ النُّفَّرِ

    Sleep fled his eyes, and there gathered

    around his heart the eyes of skittish gazelles.

  9. ولربَّما أغضَتْ وفي أحشائهِ

    ما شاءَ من جَمْرِ الغَضا المُتسعِّرِ

    How often she lowered her gaze, while within his breast

    lay untold embers of fiercely blazing ghada wood.

  10. فعَلى اللَّيالي الغُرِّ يأسي أَم على

    ما فاتَ من عَيْشٍ أَغَرَّ مُشَهَّرِ

    Is my despair, then, for those radiant nights, or for

    the bright, celebrated life now gone?

  11. لا بدَّ من شُعُثٍ تُطالِعُ مَوهِناً

    أرضَ الشآمِ بكلِّ أشعثَ أَغْبَرِ

    Shaggy mounts must come in sight, late at night,

    of the land of al-Sham, bearing disheveled, dusty riders.

  12. ما كنتُ آمَنُ في المَقامِ منيَّتي

    فأخافَها بين القِلاصِ الضُّمَّرِ

    I was never safe from death while staying put,

    that I should fear it among lean young she-camels.

  13. لَمَّا بدَتْ راياتُ صُبْحٍ مُقْبلٍ

    يَخفُقْنَ في أعجازِ ليلٍ مُدبرِ

    When the banners of advancing dawn appeared,

    fluttering at the rear of retreating night,

  14. وتقطَّرَتْ خَيْلُ السَّحابِ بمنزِلٍ

    رَكَضَ الصَّبا فيه فلم يتقطَّرِ

    and the cloud-steeds tumbled in showers at a campsite

    where the east wind galloped but did not fall,

  15. مِلْنا فعفَّرْنا الوجوهَ ديانةً

    في التُّربِ بينَ مُحلِّقٍ ومُقَصِّرِ

    we turned aside and, in devotion, rubbed our faces

    in the dust, some shaven-headed, others with hair cut short;

  16. متوشِّحينَ بكلِّ أبيضَ مُرهَفٍ

    نِيطَتْ حَمائِلُهُ بأبيضَ أزهَرِ

    girt with bright, keen-edged blades,

    their baldrics slung on fair and radiant men.

  17. نَطوي على المَدحِ الصُّدورَ وإنما

    تُطْوى على أمثالِ يُمْنَةِ عَبْقَرِ

    We enfold praise within our breasts; in truth,

    they enfold the likes of 'Abqar's striped cloth.

  18. تَلْقَى الأميرَ إلى السَّماحِ مشوفةً

    شوقَ الرِّياضِ إلى السَّحابِ المُمْطِرِ

    They meet the prince, longing for generosity,

    as gardens long for rain-bearing clouds.

  19. مَلِكٌ ثَنا الآمالَ صفوُ نوالِه

    عن كلِّ مطروقِ النَّوالِ مُكَدَّرِ

    A king whose pure bounty turned all hopes

    from every sought-out source of clouded gifts.

  20. يأتيك عن فَهْمِ الثَّناء نوالُه

    عفواً وتلك سَجِيَّةُ المستبصِرِ

    His bounty comes to you through his understanding of praise,

    unasked: such is the discerning man's nature.

  21. كَرَمٌ تكشَّفَ عن حِلَى آدابهِ

    كالبحرِ يكشِفُ غَمْرُه عن جَوهَرِ

    His generosity unveiled the ornaments of his refinement,

    like the sea, whose deep waters draw back to reveal gems.

  22. فكأنَّ أيدي الشُّكرِ إذ عَبَثَتْ به

    أيدي الصَّبا عَبَثَتْ بمِسْكٍ أذفَرِ

    It was as though the hands of gratitude, when they played upon him,

    were the east wind's hands playing with strong-scented musk.

  23. لمعَتْ بوارِقُه فكُنَّ سَحائباً

    في معشرٍ وصَواعِقاً في معشَرِ

    His lightning-flashes shone, becoming rainclouds

    among one people, and thunderbolts among another.

  24. وغدَتْ ملوكُ الأرضِ تخطُبُ سِلمَه

    من مُنجدٍ نائي المحلِّ ومُغوِرِ

    The kings of the earth began to seek his peace,

    whether in far-off highlands or down in the lowlands.

  25. حلاَّهُمُ مِنناً فحلُّوا باسمِهِ

    يومَ العُروبَةِ كلَّ ذُروَةِ مِنْبَرِ

    He adorned them with favors; they graced with his name

    every pulpit's summit on Friday.

  26. ورأَوهُ شمساً في غَمامةِ نائلٍ

    تَهمي وبدراً في دُجُنَّةِ عِثْيَرِ

    They saw him as a sun amid a cloud of bounty

    pouring rain, and a full moon in dust-darkness.

  27. عَمَّ السَّباسِبَ بالكتائبِ والقَنا

    ببَنانِهِ في كلِّ قاعٍ مُقفرِ

    He filled the steppes with battalions and lances,

    all at his fingertips, across every desolate plain.

  28. وأقامَ يقظانَ العزيمةِ ساهراً

    بالثَّغرِ يكلأُ نائماً لم يَسهَرِ

    He remained wakeful, his resolve alert,

    at the frontier, guarding a sleeper who kept no vigil.

  29. مُوفٍ على قِمَمِ المكارمِ مُوقِدٌ

    نيرانَها للطارقِ المتحيِّرِ

    Rising above the peaks of noble deeds, he kindles

    their fires for the bewildered night traveler.

  30. ما شَمَّرَ الأعداءُ إلا راعَهم

    بنُهوضِ أروعَ للِّقاءِ مُشمِّرِ

    Whenever the foes girded themselves, he terrified them

    by rising, an awe-inspiring warrior girded for battle.

  31. سَالوا فسالَ عليهمُ مطرُ الرَّدَى

    من كلِّ أجردَ سابحٍ مُتمَطِّرِ

    They poured forth, and death's rain poured upon them

    from every sleek steed, swimming along at full gallop.

  32. وِدَنَوا فلم تَنُبِ القَنا عن جُنَّةٍ

    منهم ولا نَبَتِ الظُّبا عن مِغفَرِ

    They drew near; the spears recoiled from no shield

    of theirs, nor did the blades glance off any helmet.

  33. حتى انثنَى والخيلُ تسحَبُ فوقَهم

    بالرَّكْضِ أرديةَ العَجاجِ الأكدَرِ

    Until he turned back, while the horses dragged above them,

    as they galloped, cloaks of murky dust.

  34. لو أنَّ مُصْطَلَماً بَكَتْهُ رِمَّةٌ

    لبكَتْهُم في التُّربِ رِمَّةُ قَيصَرِ

    If mortal remains could weep for one annihilated,

    Caesar's remains in the dust would have wept for them.

  35. أَعليُّ لا زالَتْ عُلاكَ سَوافراً

    تختالُ بينَ مثقَّفٍ ومُذَكَّرِ

    O Ali, may your glories never cease to stand unveiled,

    strutting among straightened lances and steel blades.

  36. فلقَد جريْتَ أمامَ تَغلِبَ سافِراً

    جَرْيَ السِّنانِ أمامَ لَدْنِ الأَسَمرِ

    For you have raced, unveiled, ahead of Taghlib,

    as the spearhead races before the supple brown shaft.

  37. شَرَفاً تَبينُ قِبابُه مضروبةٌ

    في كلِّ مبدىً للفَخارِ ومَحْضَرِ

    In nobility, whose pavilions can be seen erected

    in every desert camp and settled seat of glory;

  38. ومَكارِماً يسعَى إليهنَّ المُنى

    سعيَ الحجيجِ إلى الصَّفا والمَشْعَرِ

    and in noble deeds toward which hopes hasten,

    as pilgrims hasten to al-Safa and al-Mash'ar;

  39. موصولةً بشمائلِ الأدبِ التي

    إن فاخَرَتْ جاءَتْ بأفضلِ مَفْخَرِ

    joined to those traits of refinement which,

    when they vie in glory, bring the finest claim to pride.

  40. إنَّ السَّماحَ مواردٌ مخصوصَةٌ

    بالحمدِ بينَ ورودِها والمَصدَرِ

    Generosity is watering places, singled out

    for praise from arrival at them until departure.

  41. وَأَعَلُّها ما كانَ عذباً سائغاً

    حُفَّت مناهلُه بروضٍ أخضَرِ

    The most thirst-quenching is that which is sweet and easy to drink,

    its watering places fringed with green meadow.

  42. آليتُ لا أُهدي كرائمَ مَنْطِقي

    إلا إلى المَلِكِ الكريمِ العُنْصُرِ

    I have sworn to offer my choicest words

    only to the king of noble lineage.

  43. من كلِّ مُشرقَةِ النِّظامِ تلأْلأَتْ

    فحَكَتْ نِظامَ اللُّؤلُؤِ المتخَّيرِ

    Each radiant, well-ordered poem sparkled

    and resembled a string of choicest pearls.

  44. عَبِقَتْ وقد فَصَّلْتُها بخَلالَهَ

    حتى كأنَّ فصولَها من عَنْبَرِ

    It grew fragrant when I interspersed it with his virtues,

    until its passages seemed made of ambergris.

  45. ودَعَتْ ينابيعَ النَّدى فتفجَّرَتْ

    كَرَماً على ينبوعِها المتفجِّرِ

    It called to the springs of bounty, and they burst forth

    in generosity upon its own gushing spring.

  46. كَثُرِتْ محاسِنُها وقلَّ كلامُها

    فأتتْكَ تُخْبِرُ عن مُقِلٍّ مُكْثِرِ

    Its beauties were many, its words few,

    so it came to tell you of one who says little yet expresses much.