1. مَلامُك في الهَوى أذكَى غَليلي

    وأَضرمَ لوعةَ الكَمَدِ الدَّخيلِ

    Your reproach in love fanned my burning anguish,

    and kindled the searing pain of deep-seated grief.

  2. أرى جَزَعي لبينهمُ جميلاً

    فكيفَ أعوذُ بالصَّبرِ الجميلِ

    I find my anguish at their departure beautiful;

    so how can I seek refuge in beautiful patience?

  3. نوىً خَلَعت عِذارَ الدَّمعِ حتَّى

    لَقامَ بعُذرِنا عندَ العَذولِ

    A parting loosed the bridle of tears, until

    they would surely plead our excuse before the reproacher.

  4. فراقٌ ما يُفتِّرُ من فريقٍ

    يُطِلُّ دَمِي ودَمعِي في الطُّلولِ

    A ceaseless parting from a band of companions

    wastes my blood and tears among the ruins.

  5. وهَل يَخلُو الفُؤادُ من التَّصابي

    إذا خَلَتِ الدِّيارُ من الخَليلِ

    And can the heart be free of youthful dalliance

    when the dwellings are empty of the beloved?

  6. أعادَ لنا هَجيرَ الهَجرِ ظُلماً

    وكنَّا للتَّواصُلِ في أصيلِ

    He unjustly restored to us estrangement's noonday heat,

    though we had been in the late afternoon of union.

  7. وجالَ الطَّرفُ في عِطْفَيْ قضِيبٍ

    يُؤَرِّقُهُ وسَالِفَتَيْ خَذُولِ

    And my gaze roamed over the two sides of a slender branch

    that keeps it sleepless, and the two sides of a solitary doe's neck.

  8. تَضِنُّ بجُلَّنارِ الخَدِّ خَوفاً

    وتَبذُلُ نَرجِسَ الطَّرفِ الكَحِيلِ

    In fear, she withholds the pomegranate blossom of her cheek,

    yet freely offers the narcissus of her kohl-dark eye.

  9. وكم أهدَت إلى الأحشاءِ لما

    تَهادَت في الغَلائلِ من غَلِيلِ

    And what gifts she brought my vitals, when

    she swayed in gauzy robes—gifts of burning anguish!

  10. أغارُ إذا أذاعَ خَفِيَّ وَجدي

    وأرَّقَني سنا بَرقٍ كَليلِ

    I grow jealous when it reveals my hidden longing

    and keeps me sleepless—the gleam of faint lightning—

  11. وحلَّ عُقودَ دمعي في محلٍّ

    كأنَّ نُحولَ مَعلَمِه نُحولي

    and unstrings the necklaces of my tears at a dwelling

    as though its landmark's wasting were my own.

  12. كأنَّ يدَ الرّبابِ حَلت رُباه

    من النُّوَّارِ في وَشيٍ صَقيلِ

    As though the hand of the clouds had adorned its hillocks

    with blossoms in lustrous embroidery.

  13. إذا ابتسمَ الشقائقُ فيه صبحاً

    تأوَّد من نسيمِ صِباً عليلِ

    When the anemones smile there at dawn,

    they sway beneath the east wind's gentle breeze.

  14. يُذكِّرني انحدارُ الطَّلِّ فيه

    مَسِيلَ الدمعِ في الخَدِّ الأسِيلِ

    The trickling dew there reminds me

    of tears streaming down a smooth cheek.

  15. عَلامَ أصُدُّ عن حَظٍّ جَزيل

    وأقنَعُ بالقليلِ مِنَ القليلِ

    Why do I turn away from an abundant share

    and content myself with a little of a little,

  16. وقد أَحيا السَّماحَ لنا ابنُ يَحْيَى

    ونَوَّهَ باسمِه بَعدَ الخُمولِ

    when Ibn Yahya has revived generosity for us

    and made its name renowned after obscurity?

  17. فتىً يَثني الثَّناءَ إليه مَجدٌ

    يُقابِلُ آمليهِ بالقَبولِ

    A youth whose glory turns praise toward him,

    who welcomes those who place their hopes in him.

  18. ونَشَّرَ من شمائلِ أرْيَحيٍّ

    كما جرَتِ الشِّمالُ على الشَّمولِ

    And he wafted abroad a generous soul's virtues,

    as the north wind sweeps over wine.

  19. بَلَوْناهُ أجَلَّ الأزدِ قَدْراً

    واسطاها على الحَدَثِ الجَليلِ

    We found him the most exalted of al-Azd in rank,

    and their fiercest in the face of great calamity.

  20. ولمَّا طابَ أصلاً طابَ فَرعاً

    وطِيبُ الفَرعِ من طِيبِ الأصولِ

    And since he was noble in root, he was noble in branch;

    and a branch's nobility comes from the nobility of its roots.

  21. فإنْ يَفْخَرْ على الأكفاءِ يَوماً

    فلِلغُرَر الفَخارُ على الحُجولِ

    So if ever he boasts above his peers,

    then forehead blazes have the right to boast over white stockings.

  22. وَصَلْتُ به الرَّجاءَ فوَاصَلَتْني

    سَجِيَّةُ ماجدٍ بَرٍّ وَصُولِ

    I bound my hope to him, and was met in turn by

    the nature of a noble, kindly, ever-generous man.

  23. فَمِنْ رَوْضٍ حَمَدتُ به مُرادي

    ومن ظِلٍّ شكَرْتُ به مَقيلي

    So, a meadow where I blessed my wish fulfilled,

    and a shade where I gave thanks for my midday rest.

  24. مَحَلٌّ تَرتَعُ الآمالُ فيه

    مدى الأيَّامِ في ظِلٍّ ظَليلِ

    An abode where hopes graze freely

    throughout the days in sheltering shade.

  25. وللخَطِّيِّ فيه طُولُ خَطْو

    يُقَصِّرُ مُدَّةَ العُمْرِ الطَّويلِ

    And there the Khatti spear takes long strides

    that shorten the span of a long life.

  26. مَلَكْتَ أبا الحُسينِ جَزيلَ شُكْري

    بما أَولَيْتَ من نَيْلٍ جَزيلِ

    You have won, Abu al-Husayn, my abundant thanks

    for the abundant bounty you bestowed.

  27. أطَلْتَ على الزَّمانِ يَدَيَّ حتَّى

    سطَوْتُ عليه سَطوةَ مُستطيلِ

    You lengthened my hands against Time, until

    I assailed it with a conqueror's might.

  28. وكم صاحَبْتُ من أملٍ مُحالٍ

    فأوقَفَني على طَلَلٍ مُحيلِ

    And how many an unattainable hope I befriended,

    only for it to leave me standing at a timeworn ruin!

  29. أُؤمِّلُ مَعْشراً جَهِلُوا المَعالي

    فضَلُّوا وَهْيَ واضحِةُ السَّبيلِ

    I set my hopes on people ignorant of high honor,

    so they strayed, though its path was clear.

  30. فأيُّهُمُ انكفَتْ هِمَمي إليه

    رَأتْ قُفْلاً فَجَدَّتْ في القُفُولِ

    So whichever of them my ambitions turned toward,

    they saw a lock and hastened to return.

  31. أَجودُ على الجَوادِ بِحُرِّ مَدْحي

    وأَبخَلُ بالثَّناءِ على البَخيلِ

    I am generous to the generous with my finest praise,

    and miserly with praise toward the miser.

  32. وآبى أن يُرى حَلْيُ امتداحي

    على النَّابي الكَهامِ من النُّصولِ

    And I refuse to let the ornament of my praise be seen

    on a blade that rebounds, blunt among blades.

  33. أَتتْكَ يَجُولُ ماءُ الطَّبعِ فيها

    مَجالَ الماءِ في السَّيفِ الصَّقيلِ

    They have come to you, innate talent's watery sheen coursing through them,

    as watery sheen courses through a polished sword:

  34. قوافٍ إن ثَنَتْ للمَرءِ عِطْفاً

    ثَنَى الاعطافَ في بُرْدٍ جَميلِ

    Rhymes—if they incline a flank toward a man,

    he turns his flanks in a splendid mantle.

  35. فلا تَحْفِلْ بِلَفْظٍ مُستَعارٍ

    تُغَبُّ به ومَعنى مُستَحيلِ

    So pay no heed to borrowed wording

    with which you are plied at intervals, or to an impossible meaning.