1. بِعَمرِكَ تَدري أَيُّ شَأنَيَّ أَعجَبُ

    فَقَد أَشكَلا باديهِما وَالمُغَيَّبُ

    By your life, do you know which of my two states is stranger?

    For both are puzzling, their outward aspect and their hidden one.

  2. جُنونِيَ في لَيلى وَلَيلى خَلِيَّةٌ

    وَصَغوي إِلى سُعدى وَسُعدى تَجَنَّبُ

    My madness for Layla, while Layla is untroubled by love;

    And my inclination toward Su'da, while Su'da keeps away.

  3. إِذا لَبِسَت كانَت جَمالَ لِباسِها

    وَتَسلُبَّ لُبَّ المُجتَلي حينَ تُسلَبُ

    When she dresses, she is the beauty of her dress,

    And she steals the beholder's wits when she is stripped.

  4. وَسَمَّيتُها مِن خَشيَةِ الناسِ زَينَباً

    وَكَم سَتَرَت حُبّاً عَلى الناسِ زَينَبُ

    And I named her Zaynab out of fear of people,

    And how often Zaynab has hidden a love from people!

  5. غَضارَةُ دُنيا شاكَلَت بِفُنونِها

    مُعاقَبَةَ الدُنيا الَّتي تَتَقَلَّبُ

    The bloom of worldly life, matching in its varied forms

    The vicissitudes of this ever-changing world;

  6. وَجَنَّةُ خُلدٍ عَذَّبَتنا بِدَلِّها

    وَما خِلتُ أَنّا بِالجِنانِ نُعَذَّبُ

    And an everlasting garden that tormented us with her coquetry,

    Though I never thought we would be tormented in the gardens of paradise.

  7. أَلا رُبَّما كَأسٍ سَقاني سُلافَها

    رَهيفُ التَثَنّي واضِحُ الثَغرِ أَشنَبُ

    Ah, many a cup whose choicest wine was served to me

    By one delicate in his swaying, bright-mouthed, with cool white teeth.

  8. إِذا أَخَذَت أَطرافُهُ مِن قُنوئِها

    رَأَيتَ اللُجَينَ بِالمُدامَةِ يُذهَبُ

    When his fingertips took on some of its deep redness,

    You saw silver being gilded by the wine.

  9. كَأَنَّ بِعَينَيهِ الَّذي جاءَ حامِلاً

    بِكَفَّيهِ مِن ناجودِها حينَ يُقطَبُ

    As though his eyes held what he came carrying

    In his hands from its wine vessel, when it was mixed.

  10. لَأَسرَعَ في عَقلي الَّذي بِتُّ مَوهِناً

    أَرى مِن قَريبٍ لا الَّذي بِتُّ أَشرَبُ

    Indeed, what swiftly seized my mind was what I spent the late night

    Watching close by—not what I spent the night drinking.

  11. لَدى رَوضَةٍ جادَ الرَبيعُ نَباتَها

    بِغُرِّ الغَوادي تَستَهِلُّ وَتَسكُبُ

    Beside a meadow whose plants spring lavishly watered

    With bright morning rainclouds, streaming and pouring down.

  12. إِذا أَصبَحَ الحَوذانُ في جَنَباتِها

    يُفَتَّحُ وُهِّمتَ الدَنانيرَ تُضرَبُ

    When, in the morning, the buttercups along its edges

    Were opening, you imagined gold dinars being minted.

  13. أَجِدَّكَ إِنَّ الدَهرَ أَصبَحَ صَرفُهُ

    يَجِدُّ وَإِن كُنّا مَعَ الدَهرِ نَلعَبُ

    In all earnestness, time's reversals have begun

    To act in earnest, though we have been playing with time.

  14. وَقَد رَدَّتِ الخَمسونَ رَدَّ صَريمَةٍ

    إِلى الشَيبِ مَن وَلّى عَنِ الشَيبِ يَهرُبُ

    And fifty years have firmly brought back

    To gray hair one who turned away, fleeing gray hair.

  15. فَقَصرُكَ إِنّي حائِمٌ فَمُرَفرِفٌ

    عَلى خُلُقي أَو ذاهِبٌ حَيثُ أَذهَبُ

    So desist: I am circling, then hovering,

    About my own nature, or going wherever I go.

  16. نَظَرتُ وَرَأسُ العَينِ مِنِّيَ مَشرِقٌ

    صَوامِعُها وَالعاصِمِيَّةُ مَغرِبُ

    I looked, with Ra's al-'Ayn east of me—

    Its monastery towers—and al-'Asimiyya to the west.

  17. بِقَنطَرَةِ الخابورِ هَل أَهلُ مَنبِجٍ

    بِمَنبِجَ أَم بادونَ عَنها فَغُيَّبُ

    At the Khabur bridge: are the people of Manbij

    In Manbij, or have they gone away from it, out of sight?

  18. وَمابَرِحَ الأَعداءُ حَتّى بَدَهتَهُم

    بِظَلماءِ زَحفٍ بِيضُها تَتَلَهَّبُ

    And the enemies did not move until you surprised them

    With a dark mass of troops, its bright swords blazing.

  19. إِذا اِنبَسَطَت في الأَرضِ زادَت فُضولُها

    عَلى العَينِ حَتّى العَينُ حَسرى تَذَبذَبُ

    When it spread over the earth, its farthest reaches exceeded

    The eye's range, until the weary eye wavered.

  20. وَإِنَّ اِبنَ بِسطامٍ كَفاني اِنفِرادُهُ

    مُكاثَرَةَ الأَعداءِ لَمّا تَأَلَّبوا

    And Ibn Bistam, all by himself, spared me

    The need to outnumber the enemies when they banded together.

  21. أَخي عِندَ جِدِّ الحادِثاتِ وَإِنَّما

    أَخوكَ الَّذي يَأتي الرِضا حينَ تَغضَبُ

    My brother when calamities grow grave; for truly

    Your brother is the one who brings contentment when you are angry.

  22. يُؤَمَّلُ في لينِ اللُبوسِ وَيُرتَجى

    لِطولٍ وَيُخشى في السِلاحِ وَيُرهَبُ

    In soft attire he inspires hope and is looked to

    For bounty; in arms he is feared and dreaded.

  23. وَما عاقَهُ أَن يَطعُنَ الخَيلَ مُقدِماً

    عَلى الهَولِ فيها أَنَّهُ باتَ يَكتُبُ

    Nor was he kept from spearing the cavalry, advancing

    Into its terrors, by having spent the night writing.

  24. تَرُدُّ السُيوفُ الماضِياتُ قَضاءَها

    إِلى قَلَمٍ يومي لَها أَينَ تَضرِبُ

    The keen swords refer their judgment

    To a pen that signals to them where to strike.

  25. مُدَبِّرُ جَيشٍ ذَلَّلَ الأَرضَ شَغبُهُ

    وَعَزمَتُهُ مِن ذَلِكَ الجَيشِ أَشغَبُ

    Commander of an army whose tumult subdued the earth,

    And his resolve is more tumultuous than that army.

  26. إِذا الخَطبُ أَعيا أَينَ مَأخَذُهُ اِهتَدى

    لِما يُتَوَخّى مِنهُ أَو يُتَنَكَّبُ

    When a crisis defied discovery of its approach, he found his way

    To what should be sought in it or avoided.

  27. نُعَوِّلُ وَالإِجداءُ فيهِ تَباعُدٌ

    عَلى سَيِّدٍ يَدنو جَداهُ وَيَقرُبُ

    We rely, though bounty is far out of reach,

    On a lord whose bounty draws near and comes close.

  28. عَلى مَلِكٍ لا يَحجُبُ البُخلُ وَجهَهُ

    عَلَينا وَمِن شَأنِ البَخيلِ التَحَجُّبُ

    On a king whose face avarice does not hide

    From us; it is the miser's way to stay concealed.

  29. وَأَبيَضَ يَعلو حينَ يَرتاحُ لِلنَدى

    عَلى وَجهِهِ لَونٌ مِنَ البِشرِ مُشرَبُ

    And a fair-faced man: when he delights in giving, there rises

    Upon his face a hue suffused with gladness.

  30. تَفَرَّغُ أَخلاقُ الرِجالِ وَعِندَهُ

    شَواغِلُ مِن مَجدٍ تُعَنّي وَتُنصِبُ

    Men's dispositions lie idle, while he has

    Cares of glory that burden and weary him.

  31. لَهُ هِزَّةٌ مِن أَريَحِيَّةِ جودِهِ

    تَكادُ لَها الأَرضُ الجَديبَةُ تُعشِبُ

    He has a stirring born of his openhearted generosity,

    At which the barren earth almost grows grass.

  32. تُحَطُّ رِحالُ الراغِبينَ إِلى فَتىً

    نَوافِلُهُ نَهبٌ لِمَن يَتَطَلَّبُ

    Seekers' packs are set down before a young man

    Whose freely given gifts are spoils for anyone who seeks them.

  33. إِلى غُمُرٍ في مالِهِ تَستَخِفُّهُ

    صِغارُ الحُقوقِ وَهوَ عَودٌ مُجَرَّبُ

    Before a novice with his wealth, readily stirred

    By small obligations, though he is a seasoned veteran.

  34. إِذا نَحنُ قُلنا وَقَّرَتهُ مُلِمَّةٌ

    تَهالَكَ مُنقادُ القَرينَةِ مُصحِبُ

    Whenever we say a calamity has sobered him,

    He throws himself headlong, compliant in spirit and yielding.

  35. تَجاوَزُ غاياتِ العُقولِ مَواهِبٌ

    نَكادُ لَها لَولا العِيانُ نُكَذِّبُ

    Gifts surpass the furthest limits of reason;

    We would almost disbelieve them, were it not for seeing them.

  36. جَدىً إِن أَغَرنا فيهِ كانَ غَنيمَةً

    وَيَضعُفُ فيهِ الغُنمُ حينَ يُعَقَّبُ

    Bounty that, if we raided it, would be booty,

    And its gains pale when it is revisited.

  37. خَلائِقُ لَو يَلقى زِيادٌ مِثالَها

    إِذَن لَم يَقُل أَيُّ الرِجالِ المُهَذَّبُ

    Character traits that, had Ziyad encountered their like,

    He would not have said, 'Which man is without fault?'

  38. عَجِبتُ لَهُ لَم يُزهَ عُجباً بِنَفسِهِ

    وَنَحنُ بِهِ نَختالُ زَهواً وَنُعجَبُ

    I marvel at him: he has not grown vain with self-admiration,

    While through him we strut in pride and are filled with admiration.

  39. فِداكَ أَبا العَباسِ مِن نُوَبِ الرَدى

    أُناسٌ يَخيبُ الظَنُّ فيهِم وَيَكذِبُ

    May you be ransomed, Abu al-'Abbas, from death's calamities

    By people in whom expectations fail and prove false.

  40. طَوَيتُ إِلَيكَ المُنعِمينَ وَلَم أَزَل

    إِلَيكَ أُعَدّي عَنهُمُ وَأُنَكِّبُ

    I passed over the benefactors for you, and have never ceased

    Turning from them toward you and steering clear.

  41. وَما عَدَلَت عَنكَ القَصائِدُ مَعدِلاً

    وَلا تَرَكَت فَضلاً لِغَيرِكَ يُحسَبُ

    The poems have not turned aside from you in the least,

    Nor left any merit to be credited to another.

  42. نُنَظِّمُ مِنها لُؤلُؤاً في سُلوكِهِ

    وَمِن عَجَبٍ تَنظيمُ ما لا يُثَقَّبُ

    We string pearls from them upon their threads,

    And a marvel it is to string what is not pierced.

  43. فَلَو شارَكَت في مَكرُماتِكَ طَيٌّ

    لَوُهِّمَ قَومٌ أَنَّني أَتَعَصَّبُ

    For had Tayy shared in your noble deeds,

    Some people would have imagined I was being partisan.

  44. مَتى يَسأَلُ المَغرورُ بي عَن صَريمَتي

    يُخَبِّرهُ عَنها غانِمٌ أَو مُخَيَّبُ

    Whenever one deluded about me asks about my resolve,

    One who has gained or been disappointed will tell him of it.

  45. يَسُرُّ اِفتِتاني مَعشَراً وَيَسوؤُهُم

    وَيَخلُدُ ما أَفتَنُّ فيهِم وَأُسهِبُ

    My passion delights a people and grieves them;

    And what I compose about them, in varied forms and at length, lives on.

  46. وَلَم يُبقِ كَرُّ الدَهرِ غَيرَ عَلائِقٍ

    مِنَ القَولِ تُرضي سامِعينَ وَتُغضِبُ

    And time's recurring turns have left nothing but lingering traces

    Of speech that please listeners and anger them.