1. قِفا معي في هذه المعَاهدِ

    لا بُدَّ للصّبِّ من المُساعدِ

    Stop, you two, with me in these familiar haunts.

    A lovesick man cannot do without a helper.

  2. لا تَبْخلا يا صاحبيَّ واسمَحا

    بوَقْفةٍ على المُعَنّي الواجد

    Do not begrudge it, my two companions, but grant

    a moment's halt for this tormented, sorrowing lover,

  3. في منزلٍ عَهِدْتُ في عِراصِه

    لَوْرَدَّ معهوداً بُكاءُ عاهد

    in a dwelling within whose courtyards I once knew—

    if a rememberer's weeping could restore what he knew—

  4. كواعباً من الدُّمَى لَواعِباً

    مُشْبِهةَ الثُّغورِ للقلائد

    playful, full-breasted maidens, like statues,

    whose teeth resembled necklaces.

  5. يَمِسْنَ من فرْطِ النّعيمِ والصِّبا

    كالقُضُبِ المَوائِلِ المَوائد

    They swayed from sheer luxury and youth,

    like bending, swaying boughs.

  6. فيهنّ ظَبْيٌ عَلِقَ القلبُ به

    من الظّباء النُّفَّرِ الشَّوارد

    Among them was a gazelle to whom my heart clung,

    one of those shy, elusive gazelles.

  7. إذا تَبدَّى مَرضٌ بطَرْفِه

    لم يَخْلُ من أفئدةٍ عَوائد

    If languor appeared in his gaze,

    he never lacked hearts to visit him.

  8. رَمَيْتُه فصادَني فمَن رأى

    صَيْداً يَمُرُّ بفؤادِ الصّائد

    I shot at him, and he caught me; who has seen

    prey passing through the hunter's heart?

  9. قطعْتُ من قلبي رَجائي في الهوى

    والقَطْعُ طِبُّ كُلِّ عُضوٍ فاسد

    I cut my hope of love out of my heart;

    amputation is the cure for every diseased limb.

  10. فهل فتىً يُعيرني قلباً به

    أَلْقَى خطوبَ دَهْريَ المُعاند

    Is there a young man who would lend me a heart with which

    to face the calamities of my hostile fate?

  11. كم قد ضَرْبتُ في البلادِ طالباً

    مُفتِّشاً عن صاحبٍ مُساعد

    How often I have traveled through the lands, seeking,

    searching for a helpful friend;

  12. فلم أَجِدْ في الشّرِّ غيرَ شامتٍ

    ولم أَجِدْ في الخَيرِ غيرَ حاسد

    yet in misfortune I found only one who gloated,

    and in good fortune only one who envied.

  13. كُلُّ بني الحضرةِ قد ذمَمْتُهم

    ذَمَّ فتىً في القُربِ منهم زاهد

    I have condemned all the men of the court,

    as a man who shuns their company condemns.

  14. ما فيهمُ رِقّةُ قلبٍ بَتّةً

    لفاضلٍ في زَمنٍ مُناكِد

    There is not a trace of tenderness in their hearts

    for a worthy man in a vexing age,

  15. في حالةٍ يَبينُ في خِلالِها

    أخو الرّخاء من أخي الشَّدائد

    in a plight in which one can distinguish

    the friend in prosperity from the friend in hardship—

  16. إلاّ سديدَ الحضرة النَّدْبَ الذي

    يُبدِي فعالَ الماجدِ ابنِ الماجد

    except Sadid al-Hadra, the gallant man who

    shows the deeds of a noble man, a noble man's son.

  17. صَفَحْتُ عن بني الزّمانِ إذ غدا

    منهم أنو شَروانٌ بْنُ خالد

    I pardoned the sons of the age, since there was

    among them Anushirwan ibn Khalid.

  18. وألْفُ ذنْبٍ يَجتَمِعْن لامْريءٍ

    يُغفَرْنَ إنْ جاءَ بعُذْرٍ واحد

    And a thousand sins accumulated by a man

    are forgiven if he offers a single excuse.

  19. كُلهمُ يَعِد غيرَ مُنجِزٍ

    وهْو الّذي يُنجِز غيرَ واعد

    They all make promises without fulfilling them,

    while he fulfills without making promises.

  20. سَجيّةٌ من كرَمٍ شاعَتْ له

    بين أدانِي الخَلْقِ والأباعد

    His generous disposition has become renowned

    among people near and far.

  21. أدْرَك غاياتِ العُلا وإنّما

    يَسْمو إلى المجدِ بنو الأماجد

    He has attained the utmost heights; it is only

    the sons of noble men who rise to glory.

  22. كأنّه والمُلْكُ يَحْتَمِي بهِ

    سَديدُ سَهْمٍ في شَديدِ ساعد

    He is like—while kingship takes refuge in him—

    a well-aimed arrow in a powerful arm.

  23. نَبّهْتَه فَدَعْهُ والدّهرَ معاً

    خصْماً وبِتْ أنت بطَرْفٍ راقد

    You have roused him; leave him and fate together

    to contend, and spend the night with slumbering eyes.

  24. فتىً تَستَّرْت بظِلّ جاهِه

    من لَحْظِ عَينَيْ دَهْريَ المُكايد

    A young man beneath whose rank's shade I took shelter

    from the gaze of my scheming fate's two eyes.

  25. ذو هِمّةٍ ساميةٍ إلى العُلا

    مُوفيةٍ على ذُرا الفَراقد

    Possessed of an ambition soaring toward the heights,

    overtopping the summits of the Farqad stars;

  26. بَحْرٌ من العِلْمِ على لسانهِ

    فؤادُه يَموجُ بالفوائد

    an ocean of knowledge upon his tongue,

    his heart surges with useful insights.

  27. بَدْرٌ يَعودُ كُلَّ مُمسَي ليلةٍ

    ما بقيَ الدّهرُ بِنُورٍ زائد

    A full moon that returns at every nightfall,

    with greater light, as long as time endures.

  28. غَيْثٌ من الجُودِ يَجود دائماً

    سَقْياً له من غَيْثِ جُودٍ جائد

    A shower of bounty, forever pouring forth—

    may a pouring rain of generosity water him!

  29. لَيْثٌ له من اليَراعِ مِخلَبٌ

    مُفترِسُ الأُسودِ والأساود

    A lion whose pen is a claw,

    devouring lions and black serpents.

  30. يَحْفَظُ في خدمتِه الرَّسْمَ فلا

    يَبْدو له في الطِّرْسِ غيرَ ساجد

    In serving him, it observes due ceremony, so

    on the page it appears before him only prostrate.

  31. إذا عَلا بياضَه حَسِبْتَهُ

    يَعلو مَشيباً بشبابٍ عائد

    When it passes over the page's whiteness, you would think it

    covering gray hair with youth restored.

  32. وإن مضَى في أرَبٍ ظنَنتَه

    مَضاءَ سيفِ البطَلِ المُناجد

    And when it pursues a purpose, you would take it for

    the cutting force of a valiant hero's sword.

  33. يا مُرْضِيَ الآمالِ بالمالِ ندىً

    ومُكرِمَ القُصّادِ والقصائد

    O you who generously fulfill hopes with wealth,

    and honor petitioners and poems,

  34. ومَن له في كُلِّ مَمْضَى ساعةٍ

    تَعجيلُ رِفْدٍ وافرٍ لوافد

    and you who, with every passing hour,

    hasten a lavish gift to a visitor,

  35. ومَن أبَى أن يَستهِلَّ كفُّه

    يوماً بجُودِ قاصرٍ لقاصد

    and you whose hand refuses to pour forth

    on any day an inadequate bounty for a seeker,

  36. لقد علا ذِكْرُك ما بين الورَى

    في فَمِ كل صادِرٍ ووارد

    your renown has indeed risen among mankind,

    on the lips of everyone departing and arriving.

  37. وقد بنَى سَعيُك مَجداً باذِخاً

    يَعجِزُ عَنه جُهْدُ كلِّ جاهد

    Your striving has built a towering glory

    beyond the reach of every striver's effort.

  38. فلا يَزالُ شاهِدٌ لغائبٍ

    يُتحِفُه وغائبٌ لشاهد

    Thus one present never ceases, for one absent,

    to offer him a gift, nor one absent for one present.

  39. حارَتْ عيونُ العالَمِينَ كثْرةً

    من المساعي لك والمَحامد

    The eyes of mankind are bewildered by the abundance

    of your endeavors and praiseworthy deeds.

  40. فَدُمْ لنا حتّى نَراكَ أبَداً

    مُنعَّماً في ظِلِّ عُمْرٍ خالد

    Remain with us, that we may always see you

    enjoying ease in the shade of an everlasting life:

  41. في الجودِ مثلَ خالدٍ والبأس مثْ

    لَ خالدٍ والنّطقِ مثْلَ خالد

    in generosity like Khalid, and in valor

    like Khalid, and in eloquence like Khalid.