1. أَصَبا الأَصائِل إِنَّ بُرقَةَ مُنشِدِ

    تَشكو اِختِلافَكِ بِالهُبوبِ السَرمَدِ

    O east wind of late afternoons, surely the stony tract of Munshid

    complains of your repeated visits with ceaseless blowing.

  2. لا تُتعِبي عَرَصاتِها إِنَّ الهَوى

    مُلقاً عَلى تِلكَ الرُسومِ الهُمَّدِ

    Do not weary its courtyards; for love

    lies cast upon those lifeless ruins.

  3. دِمَنٌ مَواثِلُ كَالنُجومِ فَإِن عَفَت

    فَبِأَيِّ نَجمٍ في الصَبابَةِ نَهتَدي

    Campsite remains stand like stars; if they fade,

    what star shall guide us through ardent longing?

  4. وَالدارُ تَعلَمُ أَنَّ دَمعي لَم يَغِص

    فَأَروحَ أَحمِلُ مِنَّةً مِن مُسعِدِ

    And the dwelling knows my tears did not fail

    and leave me indebted to a fellow mourner.

  5. قامَت تَعَجَّبُ مِن أَسايَ وَأَرسَلَت

    بِاللَحظِ في طَلَبِ الدُموعِ الخُرَّدِ

    She rose, marveling at my grief, and sent

    her glance in pursuit of virgin tears.

  6. ما كانَ لي جَلَدٌ فَيودِيَ إِنَّما

    أَودى غَداةَ الظاعِنينِ تَجَلِّدي

    I had no fortitude that could perish; it was only

    my show of fortitude that died the morning the travelers left.

  7. وَرَمَت سَوادَ القَلبِ حينَ رَنَت عَلى

    عَجَلٍ فَأَصمَتَهُ بِطَرفٍ أَصيَدِ

    She aimed at my heart's dark core when she glanced in

    haste, and slew it outright with a haughty gaze.

  8. ما لي رَأَيتُ الناسَ مِن مُستَحسِنٍ

    قُبحَ السُؤالِ وَسائِلٍ مُستَرفِدِ

    Why is it that I see people—some finding beauty in

    the ugliness of begging, others petitioning for gifts?

  9. كَرُمَ الأَميرُ اِبنُ الأَميرِ فَأَصبَحَ ال

    مُجدي إِلَيهِ وَهوَ عافٍ مُجتَدِ

    The emir, the emir's son, is so generous that the

    giver turns to him as a supplicant seeking gifts.

  10. وَرَمى العَدُوَّ فَلَم يُقَصِّر سَهمُهُ

    حَتّى تَخَضخَضَ في رَمِيٍّ مُقصَدِ

    He shot at the enemy, his arrow never flagging

    until it quivered within a victim mortally struck.

  11. وَاِهتَزَّ في وَرَقِ النَدى فَتَحَيَّرَت

    حَرَكاتُ غُصنِ البانَةِ المُتَأَوِّدِ

    He swayed amid generosity's foliage, bewildering

    the movements of a bending bān-tree branch.

  12. عَقّادُ أَلوِيَةٍ تَظَلُّ لَها طُلى

    أَعدائِهِ وَكَأَنَّها لَم تُعقَدِ

    He knots banners, before which the necks

    of his foes remain as though never fastened on.

  13. مَغموسَةٍ في النَصرِ تَشدو عَن يَدٍ

    مَملوأَةٍ ظَفَراً تَروحُ وَتَغتَدي

    Steeped in victory, they sing of a hand

    filled with triumph, as they go forth at dusk and dawn.

  14. بَثَّ الفَوائِدَ في الأَباعِدِ وَالدُنى

    حَتّى تَوَهَّمناهُ مَخروقَ اليَدِ

    He scattered gifts among the distant and the near,

    till we imagined his hand had holes in it.

  15. يُعطي عَلى الغَضَبِ المُتَعتِعِ وَالرِضا

    وَعَلى التَهَلُّلِ وَالعُبوسِ الأَربَدِ

    He gives in shaking anger and in contentment,

    when beaming and when darkly scowling.

  16. كَالغَيثِ يَسقي الخابِطينَ بِأَبيَضِ

    مِن غَيمِهِ وَبِأَحمَرٍ وَبِأَسوَدِ

    Like rain that waters wayfarers from white clouds,

    and from its red clouds and its black.

  17. يَستَقصِرُ اللَيلَ التَمامَ إِذا اِنتَحى

    بِالخَيلِ ناحِيَةَ العَدُوِّ الأَبعَدِ

    He finds the longest night too short when he heads

    with his cavalry toward the most distant foe.

  18. لا ناهِلُ الأَجفانِ إِن كانَ الكَرى

    خِمساً لِصادِيَةِ العُيونِ الوُرَّدِ

    His eyelids never drink their fill, though sleep be

    a fifth-day watering for thirsty eyes come to drink.

  19. ما ضَرَّ أَهلَ الثَغرِ إِبطاءُ الحَيا

    عَنهُم وَفيهِم يوسُفُ بنُ مُحَمَّدِ

    No harm came to the frontier's people from rain's delay

    in reaching them, with Yusuf ibn Muhammad in their midst.

  20. يَسَلونَهُ فَيَكونُ نائِلُهُ الغِنى

    وَيُقَصِّرونَ عَنِ السُؤالِ فَيَبتَدي

    They ask him, and his bounty is wealth;

    they refrain from asking, and he gives unprompted.

  21. إِن ساسَهُم حَدَثاً فَساعَةُ رَأيِهِ

    كَالدَهرِ جَدَّ الدَهرُ أَو لَم يَجدِدِ

    Though he governs them young, one hour of his judgment

    is like an age, whether time renews itself or not.

  22. بادي سَماحٍ غَرَ في وادي النَدى

    لَهُمُ فَأَنجَدَ في العَلاءِ المُنجِدِ

    Open in generosity, he descended into bounty's valley

    for them, then ascended into soaring glory.

  23. وَنَضا غِرارى سَيفِهِ لِيُوَقِّيا

    طَرَفَيهِمِ عَن كُلِّ خَطبٍ مُؤيِدِ

    He bared his sword's two edges, that they might guard

    their two flanks against every overwhelming calamity.

  24. فَكَفاهُمُ فِسقَ المُوَحِّدِ أَن سَعى

    فيهِم بِإِصلاحٍ وَشِركَ المُلحِدِ

    He spared them the monotheist's wickedness by striving

    for reform among them—and spared them the heretic's idolatry.

  25. أَوَ ما سَمِعتَ بِيَومِهِ المَشهودِ في

    لُكّامِهِم إِن كُنتَ لَمّا تَشهَدِ

    Have you not heard of his renowned day in

    their Lukkam, if you have not yet witnessed it?

  26. يَومُ الزَواقولِ الَّذينَ تَقاصَرَت

    أَعمارُهُم فَتَقَطَّعَت عَن مَوعِدِ

    The day of the Zawaqul, whose shortened

    lives were cut off before their appointed time.

  27. شَهَروا عَلى الإِسلامِ حَدَّ مَناصِلٍ

    لَولا اِلتِهابُ حُسامِهِ لَم تُغمَدِ

    They bared against Islam the edges of swords;

    but for his blade's blaze, those swords would not have been sheathed.

  28. وَتَوَقَّدوا جَمرَن فَسالَ عَلَيهِمُ

    مِن بَأسِهِ سَيلُ الغَمامِ المُزبَدِ

    They blazed as embers; then upon them poured

    from his might, the foaming torrent of a raincloud.

  29. حُمرُ السُيوفِ كَأَنَّما دَرَبَت لَهُم

    أَيدي القُيونِ صَفائِحاً مِن عَسجَدِ

    Red were their swords, as though there had been forged for them

    by smiths' hands, blades of gold.

  30. وَكَأَنَّ مَشيَهُمُ وَقَد حَمَلوا الظُبا

    مِن تَحتِ سَقفٍ بِالزُجاجِ مُمَرَّدِ

    As they marched bearing sword-edges, it seemed

    they were beneath a roof smoothly faced with glass.

  31. مَزَّقتَ أَنفُسَهُم بِقَلبٍ واحِدٍ

    جُمِعَت قَواصيهِ وَسَيفٍ أَوحَدِ

    You tore their lives apart with a single heart,

    its farthest reaches united, and a peerless sword.

  32. لَم تَلقَهُم زَحفاً وَلَكِن حَملَةً

    جاءَت كَضَربَةِ ثائِرٍ لَم يُنجَدِ

    You met them not in a massed advance, but with a charge

    that came like an unaided avenger's blow.

  33. في فِتيَةٍ طَلَبوا غُبارَكَ إِنَّهُ

    نَهجٌ تَرَفَّعَ عَن طَريقِ السُؤدُدِ

    With young warriors pursuing your dust—truly it is

    a path exalted above the road to preeminence.

  34. كَالرُمحِ فيهِ بِضعَ عَشرَةَ فِقرَةً

    مُنقادَةً خَلفَ السِنانِ الأَصيَدِ

    Like a spear with a dozen-odd joints,

    following obediently behind the proud spearhead.

  35. أَطفَأتَ جَمرَتُهُم وَكانَت ذا سَناً

    وَالعَمقُ بَعضُ حَريقِها المُتَوَقِّدِ

    You quenched their burning coal, though it had shone brightly,

    and al-Amq was part of its blazing conflagration.

  36. وَالنارُ لَو تُرِكَت عَلى ما أُذكِيَت

    مِن خَلفِها وَأَمامِها لَم تَخمُدِ

    Had the fire been left as it was being fed

    from behind and in front, it would not have died.

  37. وَقَعَدتُ عَنكَ وَلَو بِمُهجَةِ آخَر

    غَيري أَقومُ إِلَيهِمُ لَم أَقعُدِ

    I stayed behind from you; had it been with another's life,

    not mine, that I faced them, I would not have stayed behind.

  38. ما كانَ قَلبُكَ في سَوادِ جَوانِحي

    فَأَكونَ ثَمَّ وَلا لِساني في يَدي

    Your heart was not in the dark depths of my breast,

    that I should be there, nor was my tongue in my hand.

  39. وَأَنَ الشُجاعُ وَقَد بَدا لَكَ مَوقِفي

    بِعَقَرقُسٍ وَالمَشرَفِيَّةُ شُهَّدي

    And I am brave: you have seen my stand

    at Aqarqus, the Mashrafi swords my witnesses.

  40. وَرَأَيتَني فَرَأَيتَ أَعجَبَ مَنظَرٍ

    رَبُّ القَصائِدِ في القَنا المُتَقَصِّدِ

    You saw me, and saw the strangest sight:

    the master of odes amid splintering spears.

  41. طائِيُّكَ الأَدنى أَساءَ إِساءَةً

    في أَمسِهِ الماضي وَأَحسَنَ في غَدِ

    Your closest Ta'i committed a wrong

    in his bygone yesterday, and will do well tomorrow.

  42. فَاِسلَم سَلامَةَ عِرضِكَ المَوفورِ مِن

    صَرفِ الحَوادِثِ وَالزَمانِ الأَنكَدِ

    May you be safe, as your untarnished honor is, from

    the turns of calamity and baleful time.

  43. فَلَقَد بَنَيتَ المَجدَ حَتّى لَو بَنَت

    كَفّاكَ مَجداً ثانِياً لَم تُحمَدِ

    For you have built glory so fully that, were

    your hands to build a second glory, you would earn no praise.

  44. وَجَعَلتَ فِعلَكَ تِلوَ قَولِكَ قاصِراً

    عُمرَ العَدُوِّ بِهِ وَعُمرَ المَوعِدِ

    You made your deed follow your word, cutting short

    with it the enemy's life and the life of a promise.

  45. وَمَلَأتَ أَحشاءَ العَدُوِّ بَلابِلاً

    فَاِرتَدَّ يَحسُدُ فيكَ مَن لَم يَحسُدِ

    You filled the enemy's entrails with anxieties,

    so he now envies, because of you, those he never envied.