1. رَأَت وَخطَ شَيبٍ في عِذاري فَصَدَّتِ

    وَلَم تَتَنَظَّر بي نَوىً قَد أَجَدَّتِ

    She saw a streak of gray in my sideburns and turned away.

    Nor did separation, now in earnest, wait for me.

  2. تَصُدُّ عَلى أَنَّ الوِصالَ هُوَ الَّذي

    وَدِدتُ زَماناً أَن يَدومَ وَوَدَّتِ

    She turns away, though union is what

    I once wished would last—and she wished it too.

  3. هَلِ العَيشُ إِلّا بُلغَةٌ مِن دُنوِّها

    أُعيرَت فَزالَ العَيشُ حينَ اِستُرِدَّتِ

    Is life anything but sustenance from her nearness,

    lent to me? Life vanished when it was reclaimed.

  4. تَجَنَّبتِنا أَو تَسلُكَ العيسُ قَصدَنا

    أَمِ العيسُ عَنّا يَومَ عُسفانَ نَدَّتِ

    Did you shun us, or did the pale camels take the road toward us,

    or did the pale camels stray from us on the day at Usfan?

  5. وَفي البَلَدِ الأَقصى الَّذي تَسكُنينَهُ

    سُكونٌ لِأَحشاءٍ بِبُعدِكِ كُدَّتِ

    And in the farthest land where you dwell

    lies rest for hearts worn out by your distance.

  6. شَكَرتُ السَحابَ الوَطفَ حينَ تَصَوَّبَت

    إِلَيهِ فَأَدَّت ماءَها حينَ أَدَّتِ

    I thanked the rain-heavy clouds when they descended

    upon it, delivering their water when they thundered.

  7. تُقارِضُني لَيلى التَهاجُرَ بَعدَ ما

    تَسَدَّيتُ هَولاً في الهَوى وَتَسَدَّتِ

    Layla trades estrangement with me, after

    I braved terror in love, and she braved it too.

  8. وَما كانَ لِلهِجرانِ بَيني وَبَينَها

    بَدِيُّ سِوى أَنّي هَزَلتُ وَجَدَّتِ

    And estrangement between me and her had

    no beginning except that I jested while she was earnest.

  9. فَأَقصِر عَنِ الوَجدِ الَّذي عَنهُ أَقصَرَت

    وَعَدَّ عَنِ الشَوقِ الَّذي عَنهُ عَدَّتِ

    So desist from the passion from which she desisted,

    and turn from the longing from which she turned.

  10. وَلِلمُهتَدي بِاللَهِ مَجدٌ لَوِ اِرتَقَت

    إِلَيهِ النُجومُ رِفعَةً ما تَهَدَّتِ

    And al-Muhtadi bi-llah has a glory that, were

    the stars to rise toward its height, they would not find their way.

  11. مَواريثُ مِن آيِ الكِتابِ وَقُربَةٌ

    مِنَ المُصطَفى حيزَت إِلَيهِ فَرُدَّتِ

    Inheritances from the verses of the Book, and kinship

    with the Chosen One, brought to him and restored.

  12. وَقَد عَلِمَ الأَقوامُ أَنَّ صَريمَةً

    إِذا اختَلَفَت شورى النَجِيِّ اِستَبَدَّتِ

    And the peoples know that firm resolve,

    when the counsels of confidants differ, takes sole command.

  13. مَتى وَقَدَت في مُظلِمِ الأَمرِ ضَوَّأَت

    وَإِن ضَرَبَت في جانِبِ الخَطبِ قَدَّتِ

    Whenever it blazes in the darkness of affairs, it illumines,

    and if it strikes a crisis's flank, it cleaves.

  14. مَلِيٌّ بِنَصرِ الحَقِّ وَالحَقُّ أَوحَدٌ

    إِذا عُصبَةٌ مِنّا لِظُلمٍ تَصَدَّتِ

    He is well able to champion truth, though truth stands alone,

    when a faction of ours rises to commit injustice.

  15. وَتَأيِيدُهُ حُكمَ الهُدى بِخُشونَةِ

    مِنَ الجِدِّ لَو مَرَّت عَلى الصَخرِ خَدَّتِ

    And he upholds the rule of guidance with a sternness

    of resolve that, if it passed over rock, would furrow it.

  16. جَلَت قُبَّةُ المَيدانِ أَحسَنَ حِليَةٍ

    لَنا عَن تَلالي غُرَّةٍ قَد تَبَدَّتِ

    The arena's pavilion revealed the fairest adornment,

    uncovering for us the gleam of a radiant brow now in view.

  17. وَقيدَت عِتاقُ الخَيلِ حَتّى تَلَفَّتَت

    بِأَعطافِها مُختالَةً وَتَقَدَّتِ

    And the thoroughbred horses were led forth, until they turned

    their flanks, strutting proudly and prancing.

  18. حَمَلتَ عَلَيها البالِغينَ تَوَقِّياً

    عَلى صِبيَةٍ لِلهُلكِ كانَت أُعِدَّتِ

    You mounted grown men on them, to safeguard

    boys for whose destruction they had been prepared.

  19. فَما اِستَثقَلَت فُرسانَها إِن تَلاحَقَت

    وَما اِستَبعَدَت غاياتِها حينَ مُدَّتِ

    They did not find their riders heavy when they overtook one another,

    nor deem their finish lines distant when they were extended.

  20. وَلا عُدَّ سَبقٌ مِثلَ سَبقِكَ في الَّذي

    أَتَيتَ إِذا آلاءُ غَيرِكَ عُدَّتِ

    No preeminence was reckoned equal to yours in what

    you accomplished, when others' benefactions were counted.

  21. وَما زِلتَ بِالمَجدِ الغَريبِ مُظَفَّراً

    إِذا الأَنفُسُ المَخسوسَةُ الحَظِّ حُدَّتِ

    And you have never ceased to win rare glory,

    when souls with diminished fortune were thwarted.

  22. أَسيتَ لِأَقوامٍ مَلَكتَ أُمورَهُم

    وَكانَت دَجَت أَيّامُهُم فَاِسوَأَدَّتِ

    You grieved for people whose affairs you came to govern,

    and their days had darkened and grown black.

  23. مَضَوا لَم يَرَوا مِن حُسنِ عَدلِكَ مَنظَراً

    وَلَم يَلبِسوا نُعماكَ حينَ اِستُجِدَّتِ

    They passed away without seeing a sight of your fair justice,

    or wearing your bounty when it was renewed.

  24. وَلا عَلِموا أَنَّ المَكارِمَ أُبدِيَت

    جِذاعاً وَلا أَنَّ المَظالِمَ رُدَّتِ

    Nor did they know that noble deeds had been displayed

    young and vigorous, or that injustices had been redressed.

  25. لَئِن خَسَّ حَظُّ الغائِبينَ لَقَد زَكَت

    حُظوظُ الشُهودِ مِن نَداكَ وَجَدَّتِ

    Though the share of the absent dwindled, indeed there flourished

    the shares of those present through your bounty, and they prospered.

  26. وَإِعمالُكَ الحَقَّ المُجَرَّدَ بَينَنا

    إِذا عُصبَةٌ مِنّا لِظُلمٍ تَصَدَّتِ

    And your enforcement of unalloyed justice among us,

    when a faction of ours rises to commit injustice.

  27. هَنَتكَ أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ بِشارَةٌ

    إِلَيكَ عَلى كَرهِ الأَعادي تَأَدَّتِ

    May glad tidings bring you joy, Commander of the Faithful,

    delivered to you despite your enemies' displeasure.

  28. لَقَد بَسَطَ الآمالُ حادِثُ وَقعَةٍ

    بِدِجلَةَ أَجرَتها دِماءً فَمُدَّتِ

    Indeed, a new battle has broadened hopes,

    at the Tigris, making it flow with blood until it swelled.

  29. كَتائِبُ لِلمُرّاقِ سارَت لِمِثلِها

    وَكُلٌّ كَفَت أَقرانَها وَأَبَدَّتِ

    Battalions of renegades marched against their like,

    and each overcame its opponents and dispersed them.

  30. وَلَمّا تَلاقَوا قُلتُ مَنٌّ وَنِعمَةٌ

    مِنَ اللَهِ أَيُّ العُصبَتَينِ تَرَدَّتِ

    And when they met, I said: "A favor and a blessing

    from God, whichever of the two factions perishes!"

  31. فَكِلتاهُما كُفراً أَضَلَّت وَأَوبَقَت

    وَكِلتاهُما ظُلماً بَغَت وَتَعَدَّتِ

    For both led astray through unbelief and brought ruin,

    and both, in wrongdoing, rebelled and transgressed.

  32. وَلِلَّهِ ما لاقى عُبَيدَةُ إِذ رَأى

    فِجاجَ الوَغى ضاقَت بِهِ فَاِجرَهَدَّتِ

    And, by God, what Ubayda endured when he saw

    the passes of battle narrow around him, then stretch far ahead!

  33. إِذا بُتِكَت يُمنى يَدي فَهِيَ الَّتي

    مَكانَ الشَمالِ حاجَزَت أَو تَحَدَّتِ

    If my right hand is severed, it is the one that

    took the left's place in defense or defiance.

  34. وَقَد سارَ موسى في جِبالٍ لَوَ اِنَّها

    تُرادي الجِبالَ الراسِياتِ لَهُدَّتِ

    And Musa marched amid mountains which, if they

    were to batter the firmly rooted mountains, those would be shattered.

  35. لَهُم عادَةٌ مِن نُصرَةِ اللَهِ في العِدى

    أُقيمَ بِها دَرءُ الثُغورِ فَسُدَّتِ

    They have a tradition of God's help against their foes,

    by which a bulwark was raised at the frontiers, and they were sealed.

  36. فَأَنتَ لِمَن وَدَّ الرَشادَ مُراصِدٌ

    لِساعاتِ حَزمٍ لِلجَليلِ اِستُعِدَّتِ

    So, for whoever desires right guidance, you keep watch

    for moments of resolve prepared for great affairs.

  37. وَعَينٌ مَتى كَلَّفتَها الحِفظَ لَم تَنَم

    وَنَفسٌ مَتى ما سُمتَها الجِدَّ جَدَّتِ

    And an eye that, whenever you charge it to guard, does not sleep,

    and a soul that, whenever you bid it strive, strives.

  38. وَكُنتُ اِمرَأً لا يَتبَعُ النَقصَ رائِدي

    وَلا تَتَعَدّى الأَكرَمينَ مَوَدَّتي

    And I was a man whose scout does not seek what is deficient,

    nor does my affection stray beyond the noblest.

  39. غَنيتُ أُراعي نِعمَةً مِنكَ أُكِّدَت

    مُقَدَّمَةُ الأَسبابِ فيها فَشُدَّتِ

    I have lived cherishing a favor from you; strengthened were

    its first bonds, and firmly secured.

  40. وَصالِحَ رَأيٍ مِنكَ كُنتُ ذَخَرتُهُ

    فَصارَ عَتادي لِلزَمانِ وَعُدَّتي

    And favorable regard from you, which I had stored away,

    became my equipment against time and my provision.

  41. فَإِن تَمَّ إِذنٌ في الوُصولِ فَإِنَّهُ

    تَمامُ وُجوبِ الشُكرِ آخَرَ مُدَّتي

    So if permission to enter your presence is fully granted, it means

    a full obligation of gratitude to the end of my days.