1. آي أطلاَلِ الأوِدَاءِ

    هَيَّجت لاَعِجَ الدَّاءِ

    O ruins of dear friends,

    You have stirred the burning pain of affliction.

  2. لَعِبَت قُومُ الرياحِ بِها

    وَعَفَتهَا كُلُّ نَكبَاءِ

    The hosts of the winds have toyed with them,

    And every crosswind has effaced them.

  3. وَمَحَا السَّافي مَعَالِمَهَا

    غَيرَ آرِىِّ وآنَاءِ

    And windblown sand has erased their landmarks,

    Except a tethering-stake and vessels.

  4. وَسقَتهَا كُلُّ سَارِيَّةٍ

    من غَمَامِ الدلوِ هَطلاءِ

    And every night-faring cloud has watered them,

    Pouring from the rain clouds of Aquarius.

  5. فَجَرَى فِيهَا الآتِىُّ إلى

    أن جَلاَ عَن كُلُّ صَفوَاءِ

    Then the oncoming torrent ran through them, until

    It laid bare every smooth stone.

  6. إِن نَكُن أَصبَحَت خَلَفاً

    قَفرَةً بعدَ الأحِبَّاءِ

    Though [they] have become a ruined remnant,

    Desolate after the loved ones,

  7. فَهَواهَا غيرُ مُندَرِسٍ

    لَم يَزل يغلي بِأحشَائِى

    Yet love for them has not faded;

    It still boils within my entrails.

  8. إن يعتري فيهَا لَمُرتَبَعاً

    طَيِّباً مَلذوذَ آنَاءِ

    If one visits there, [one finds] indeed a spring retreat,

    Pleasant, with delightful hours.

  9. كُنتُ فِيها بَينَ أندِيَةٍ

    قَد علت في كُلِّ عَليَاءِ

    I was there among assemblies

    That had risen to every height,

  10. عُرِفَت بالمَجدِ قد وَرِثَت

    مَجدَهَا عن مَجدِ آبَاءِ

    Known for glory, having inherited

    Their glory from their fathers' glory.

  11. لا يحل الذَّمُّ سَاحَتَنَا

    مِن حمًى دَانٍ ولاَ نَاءِ

    No reproach alights in our courtyard,

    From any domain, near or far.

  12. نُوضِحُ العَوصَا إن التَبَسَت

    فَنُرِيَها غيرَ عَوصَاءِ

    We clarify the difficult question when it grows obscure,

    And show it no longer difficult.

  13. ونَذُودَ الزَّيغَ حِينَ عَرَا

    بِعَصَا آىٍ وأنبَاءِ

    And we drive off error whenever it arises,

    With the staff of verses and accounts.

  14. فإِذَا ضَيفٌ ألَمَّ بِنَا

    نَالَ مِنَّا خَيرَ إيَوَاءِ

    And when a guest alights among us,

    He receives from us the finest shelter.

  15. فَالقِرَى يَأتِيهِ مُحتَمَلاً

    دُونَمَا مَنِّ وإِيَذاءِ

    So the guest-fare comes to him, carried in,

    Without flaunting favors or giving offense.

  16. إن أتَى لَم يَخشَ مَسألَةً

    لَم نُكَلِّفهُ بِإهدَاءِ

    If he comes, he need fear no request;

    We do not burden him with giving gifts.

  17. فَسؤَالِ الضَّيفش مَنقَصَةٌ

    وَخنًى عِندَ الأَلبَّاءِ

    For making demands of a guest is a failing,

    And baseness in the eyes of the wise.

  18. إن أتَانَا الشعرُ مِن أحَدٍ

    لَم يُجِب عَنَّا أمرُؤٌ نَاءِ

    If poetry comes to us from anyone,

    No distant man answers on our behalf.

  19. فَألقَوا في طَوعِ قَبضَتِنا

    عِندَ إلحَامٍ وإسدَاءِ

    So they cast [it] under the sway of our grasp,

    In weaving weft and setting warp.

  20. نَأخُذُ المعنَى البديعَ بِلاَ

    كُلفَةٍ في نَهجِهِ الجَائِى

    We seize the wondrous meaning without

    Effort, along the path by which it comes.

  21. لم يَكُ المصباحُ يعتري كُفئاً

    لاَ تَظُنُّوه من أَكفَائِى

    Al-Misbah never came forward as an equal;

    Do not suppose him one of my peers.

  22. لَيسَ كالسعدَانِ كَانَ كَلاً

    انبَتَتهُ كُلُّ بَيدَاءِ

    Not like sa‘dan was the herbage

    That every desert had brought forth.

  23. ما السُّها مثلَ الشموسِ ومَا

    كُلُّ مَاءٍ مِثلَ صَدَّاءِ

    Suha is not like the suns, nor is

    Every water like Sadda’.

  24. فَهوَ رَاعٍ شَبَّ في مَلأٍ

    مِن رُعَاةِ الإبل والشاءِ

    For he is a herdsman who grew up among a company

    Of herders of camels and sheep,

  25. مَلأٍ بالعارِ مُمتَزِج

    كامتزاجِ الرِّسلِ بالماء

    A company mingled with disgrace,

    As milk is mingled with water.

  26. لَو رَأى الرائِى سريرتَه

    لازدَرَتهُ مُقلَةُ الرائِى

    If a beholder saw his inner nature,

    The beholder's eye would scorn him.

  27. ليس يدرِى مِنجهالتِه

    كُلَّ شىء وَزنَ أشياء

    In his ignorance he does not know

    Anything—[not even] the word-pattern of 'things'.

  28. يَدَّعِى شعراً ويخبط في

    كل معنى خبط عشواء

    He lays claim to poetry and blunders through

    Every meaning like a night-blind she-camel.

  29. إن يَرُم انشاءَ قافيةٍ

    ظنه أنشَى كانشائِى

    If he attempts to compose a rhyme,

    He fancies he has composed as I compose.

  30. كلفٍ بالغَىَّ يَتبعُه

    بالنميم الصِّرفِ مَشَّاءِ

    Besotted with error, he follows it,

    Forever going about with unalloyed slander.

  31. قَلَّدُوا الأهوَاءَ واتبعُوا

    نَهج أهوَاءٍ وآرَاءِ

    They blindly followed whims and pursued

    The path of whims and opinions.

  32. شِيبُهم لِلعِلمِ إِن جَنَحُوا

    لم يميزُوا الكَافَ مِن رَاءِ

    Their graybeards, if they incline toward learning,

    Cannot tell kaf from ra.

  33. حَذِّرُوهُ قبلَ دَاهِيةٍ

    من دواهِى الهجوِ دَهيَاءِ

    Warn him before a calamity comes—

    A dreadful one among the calamities of satire,

  34. لم يطق دفعا لها أبَداً

    جندُ إخفَاءٍ وإبدَاءِ

    Which could never be warded off

    By any host, whether hidden or openly arrayed.

  35. حَذوُرا المصباحَ مِن داءٍ

    مخجلٍ بَينَ أندَاءِ

    Warn al-Misbah of a malady

    That brings disgrace among assemblies.