1. ناهيكَ مِن حَرقٍ أَبيتُ أَقاسي

    وَجُروحِ حُبٍّ ما لَهُنَّ أَواسِ

    What burning anguish I endure all night,

    and wounds of love with none to heal them!

  2. إِمّا لَحَظتِ فَأَنتِ جُؤذُرُ رَملَةٍ

    وَإِذا صَدَدتِ فَأَنتِ ظَبيُ كِناسِ

    Whenever you glance, you are a wild-ox calf on a dune;

    and when you turn away, you are a gazelle in its covert.

  3. قَد كانَ مِنّي الحُزنُ غِبَّ تَذَكُّرٍ

    إِذ كانَ مِنكِ الصَبرُ غِبَّ تَناسِ

    Indeed, sorrow was mine after remembering,

    while composure was yours after feigned forgetting.

  4. تَجري دُموعي حينَ دَمعُكِ جامِدٌ

    وَيَلينُ قَلبي حينَ قَلبُكِ قاسِ

    My tears flow while your tears are frozen,

    and my heart softens while your heart is hard.

  5. أَسَمِعتُ عاذِلَةً فَهَل طاوَعتُها

    وَرَأَيتُ شانِئَةً فَهَل مِن باسِ

    Have I heard a woman reproach me—and did I obey her?

    And I have seen a woman who hates me—is there any harm?

  6. ما قُلتُ لِلطَيفِ المُسَلِّمِ لا تَعُد

    تَغشى وَلا كَفكَفتُ حامِلَ كاسِ

    I never told the dream-visitor who greeted me not to return

    to visit, nor did I hold back a cupbearer.

  7. يا بَرقُ أَسفِر عَن قُوَيقِ فَطُرَّتى

    حَلَبٍ فَأَعلى القَصرِ مِن بِطياسِ

    O lightning, shine upon the Quwayq, then the two outskirts

    of Aleppo, then the top of the palace at Bityas,

  8. عَن مَنبِتِ الوَردِ المُعَصفَرِ صِبغُهُ

    في كُلِّ ضاحِيَةٍ وَمَجنى الآسِ

    upon the ground where roses grow, their hue safflower-dyed,

    in every open tract, and the gathering-place of myrtle.

  9. أَرضٌ إِذا اِستَوحَشتُ ثُمَّ أَتَيتُها

    حَشَدَت عَلَيَّ فَأَكثَرَت إيناسي

    A land that, when I grow lonely and then come to it,

    gathers round me, giving me abundant companionship.

  10. اليَومَ حَوَّلَني المَشيبُ إِلى النُهى

    وَذَلَلتُ لِلعُذّالِ بَعدَ شِماسِ

    Today gray hair has turned me toward wisdom,

    and I have yielded to my reproachers after defiance.

  11. وَرَفَعتُ مِن نَظَري إِلى أَهلِ الحِجى

    وَلَوَيتُ عَن أَهلِ الغَوايَةِ راسي

    And I have raised my gaze toward people of understanding,

    and turned my head away from the wayward.

  12. وَرَضيتُ مِن عَودِ البَخيلِ وَبَدئِهِ

    بِاليَأسِ لَو نَفَعَ الرِضا بِالياسِ

    And I have resigned myself, for all the miser does and does again,

    to despair—if resignation to despair were of any use.

  13. مَهما نَسيتُ فَلَستُ لِلحَسَنِ الَّذي

    أَولَيتَ في قِدَمِ الزَمانِ بِناسِ

    Whatever I forget, I shall not forget the kindness

    you bestowed in days long past.

  14. أَبلِغ أَبا الحَسَنِ الَّذي لَبِسَ النَدى

    لِلخابِطينَ فَكانَ خَيرَ لِباسِ

    Tell Abu al-Hasan, who donned generosity

    for those groping for aid—and it was the finest garment:

  15. وَلَئِن أَطَلتُ البُعدَ عَنكَ فَلَم تَزَل

    نَفسي إِلَيكَ كَثيرَةَ الأَنفاسِ

    And though I have prolonged my absence from you, still

    my soul breathes many sighs toward you.

  16. إِن تُكسِ مِن وَشيِ المَديحِ فَإِنَّهُ

    مِن ضَوءِ سَيبِكَ في المَحافِلِ كاسِ

    If you are clad in the brocade of praise, that praise

    is clad, in assemblies, in the radiance of your bounty.

  17. وَكَأَنَّكَ العَبّاسُ نُبلَ خَليقَةٍ

    وَعُلُوَّ هَمٍّ في بَني العَبّاسِ

    And you are like al-Abbas in nobility of character

    and lofty ambition, among the sons of al-Abbas.

  18. وَتَفاضُلُ الأَخلاقِ إِن حَصَّلتَها

    في الناسِ حَسبَ تَفاضُلِ الأَجناسِ

    And degrees of excellence in character, if you assess them,

    among people accord with degrees of excellence in lineage.

  19. لَو جَلَّ خَلقٌ قَطُّ عَن أُكرومَةٍ

    تُثنى جَلَلتَ عَنِ النَدى وَالباسِ

    If any mortal were ever above a noble quality

    that wins praise, you would be above generosity and valor.

  20. وَأَبي أَبيكَ لَقَد تَقَصّى غايَةً

    في المَكرُماتِ قَليلَةَ الأُنّاسِ

    By your father's father, he indeed reached a height

    in noble deeds, where few men stand.

  21. فَإِذا بَنى غُفلُ الرِجالِ بُناً عَلى

    جَدَدٍ بَنَيتَ عَلى ذُراً وَأَساسِ

    So when undistinguished men build structures on

    level ground, you build upon heights and foundations.

  22. وَإِنِ اِستِطاعَتهُ المَنونُ فَبَعدَ ما

    دَخَلَت عَلى الآسادِ في الأَخياسِ

    And if Death overcame him, it was after

    it had come upon lions in their thicket lairs.

  23. قَد قُلتُ لِلرامينَ مَجدَكَ بِالمُنى

    وَلِحاسِديكَ الرُذَّلِ الأَنكاسِ

    I have told those who shoot at your glory with wishes,

    and your vile, ignoble enviers:

  24. رودوا بِأَفنِيَةِ الظِرابِ وَنَكِّبوا

    عَن ذَلِكَ الجَبَلِ الأَشَمِّ الراسي

    Roam in the forecourts of the hillocks, and turn aside

    from that lofty, firmly rooted mountain.

  25. فَهُناكَ أَروَعُ مِن أَرومَةِ هاشِمٍ

    رَحبُ النَدِيِّ مُوَفَّرُ الجُلّاسِ

    For there is an imposing man of the stock of Hashim,

    with a spacious assembly hall and guests in abundance.

  26. ساحَت مَواهِبُهُ فَلَم تُحوِج إِلى

    جَذبِ الدِلاءِ تُمَدُّ بِالأَمراسِ

    His gifts stream forth, leaving no need for

    hauling up buckets let down on ropes.

  27. لا مُطلِقٌ هَجرُ الحَديثِ إِذا اِحتَبى

    فيهِم وَلا شَرِسُ السَجِيَّةِ جاسِ

    He lets no foul talk loose when he sits clasping his knees

    among them, nor is he harsh-tempered or hardhearted.

  28. حَيثُ السَجايا الباذِلاتُ ضَواحِكٌ

    زُهرٌ وَحَيثُ العاذِلاتُ خَواسي

    Where generous natures smile,

    radiant, and where reproachful women are rebuffed.

  29. لا مِن طَريفٍ جَمَّعَتهُ خِيانَةٌ

    ما مِنهُ يَبذُلُ جاهِداً وَيُواسي

    Not from newly acquired wealth amassed by treachery

    does he give earnestly and share with others.

  30. لَيسَ الَّذي يُعطيكَ تالِدَ مالِهِ

    مِثلَ الَّذي يُعطيكَ مالَ الناسِ

    He who gives you his inherited wealth is not

    like him who gives you other people's wealth.