1. حيِّ نجداً وأين من مَرْوَ نجدُ

    إنما يبعثُ التحيَّة وجْدُ

    Greet Najd—but how far Najd is from Merv!

    Only longing sends the greeting.

  2. عرُضتْ بيننا البلادُ وأضْحى

    للمطايا دون التَّزوار وخْدُ

    Lands stretch wide between us, and now

    the camels must stride swiftly before we can meet.

  3. شامخاتٌ من الجبالِ صِعابٌ

    وقِفارٌ من التَّنائفِ مُلْدُ

    Lofty, rugged mountains,

    and barren stretches of smooth, bare wilderness.

  4. ووراءَ الفِراقِ طيْفُ خيالٍ

    لم يعُقهُ عن الزيارة بُعْدُ

    Yet beyond separation comes a phantom vision,

    whose visit no distance could prevent.

  5. يفضلُ اليقظةَ الكرى حين يخطو

    والظِّلامُ الصَّباحَ أيَّانَ يَبْدُو

    Slumber surpasses waking when it steps forth,

    and darkness surpasses morning whenever it appears.

  6. لا تظنوا أنَّ الغَرامَ وأنْ بِنَّا وبنْ

    تُمْ يقْضي عليه الصَدُّ

    Do not think that passion—though we and you have parted—

    can be brought to an end by rejection.

  7. دونَ سُلوانِ حُبكم زفراتٌ

    لافحاتٌ لها ضِرامٌ ووقْدُ

    Between me and forgetting your love stand sighs,

    scorching, with flame and burning heat.

  8. كلما هاج لاعجُ الشَّوق ذكْرى

    خُذلتْ نجدةٌ وأضْعِفَ جَلْد

    Whenever searing longing stirs a memory,

    courage fails and endurance is weakened.

  9. أيها الراكبُ المُغِذُّ على الأيْ

    نِ لهُ بالنجاء حَثٌّ وكَدُّ

    O rider, pressing onward despite weariness,

    spurred and strained by haste,

  10. يستطيلُ الرقادَ إِدمانُ مَسْرا

    هُ ويثْني عن المُعرَّس شدُّ

    whose constant night travel finds sleep too long,

    and whom hard riding keeps from places of rest,

  11. كلما ناسَ بالمَطيِّةِ عِشْرٌ

    فمنَ السَّبْتِ والذميلِ الورْد

    whenever a ten-day thirst makes his camel sway,

    its watering comes through brisk pacing and trotting.

  12. قُلْ لأهلِ العراقِ أنَّ ابن صيَ

    فيٍّ جريءٌ كما عَهدتهم ألَدُّ

    Tell the people of Iraq that Ibn Sayfi

    is bold, like those you have known, fierce in dispute.

  13. عاصفٌ بالمُلوكِ لا هُجْنةٌ في

    هِ ولكن قَبولهُ والجَدُّ

    A storm against kings: no baseness is in

    him, but acceptance and good fortune.

  14. لا ادكارُ الأوطانِ سَنَّ لي الذُّ

    لَّ ولا راعني الردى والرمْدُ

    Remembering my homelands has not forced me into humiliation,

    nor have death and ruin frightened me.

  15. بي عن خُطَّةِ الهَوان التفاتٌ

    مثلما ألفِتَ البعيرُ المُغِدُّ

    I turn away from the course of humiliation,

    as a camel with swollen glands turns its neck.

  16. أنَّ صبري صبرَ الدِّلاص على الطَّ

    عْنِ وقد أحكمَ القُوى والسَّرْدُ

    My endurance is that of polished mail against spear-thrusts,

    made firm by strength and close interlinking.

  17. هانَ عندي الزمانُ بؤسي ونُعْمى

    وتساوي نحسٌ لديَّ وسَعدُ

    Time counts for little with me, in hardship and prosperity;

    and ill luck and good fortune are equal in my eyes.

  18. وإذا الحبُّ لم يدُمْ فَسواءٌ

    عذب الوصل أو أمرَّ البُعْدُ

    And if love does not endure, it is all the same

    whether union is sweet or separation bitter.

  19. يفعلُ اللهُ ما يشاءُ فما مِن

    هُ مفرٌ ولا لما شاءَ رَدُّ

    God does what He wills; there is no refuge from

    Him, nor any reversing what He has willed.

  20. حازمُ القوم عاجزٌ في توقيِّ

    هِ وكالجاهل اللَّبيبُ الأسَدُ

    The people's prudent man is powerless in his precautions;

    the lionhearted sage is like the ignorant.

  21. ما لفضلي يُذالُ بينَ أناسٍ

    جودَهُمْ موعدٌ وشعري نقْدُ

    Why is my excellence debased among people

    whose generosity is a promise, while my poetry is ready coin?

  22. كنزوا المالَ للخُطوبِ وذمي

    لهم من أشد خَطْبٍ أشدُّ

    They hoarded wealth for calamities, yet my censure

    of them is harsher than the harshest calamity.

  23. كم أذَلْتُ المديحَ في حمْد قومٍ

    كان كُفْراً بالمجد ذاكَ الحمدُ

    How often I debased praise in lauding people

    when that praise was a denial of glory!

  24. حرجٌ ألْجأَ الصَّدوقَ إلى المَيْ

    وما منْ لوازم العيْش بُدُّ

    Hardship drove the truthful man to falsehood;

    and there is no escape from life's necessities.

  25. لستُ أخشى فوْتَ الغِنى وأمامي

    شرفُ الحظ والمَليكُ الجعْد

    I do not fear missing wealth, when before me stand

    lofty fortune and the sturdy king.

  26. بأبي الفتح يُفْتحُ المُرْتجُ الصَّعْ

    بُ وتُعطفُ الخطوبُ النُّكد

    Through Abu al-Fath, what is locked fast and hard

    to open is unlocked, and grim calamities are turned aside.

  27. مَلكٌ عندهُ قِراءانِ للضَّيْ

    فِ وللجيش فتْكهُ والرِّفدُ

    A king with two forms of hospitality, for the guest

    and the army: his slaughter and his bounty.

  28. كلما نازلَ الكتائبَ والفَقْ

    ر شكا جحفلٌ وأثنى وفْدُ

    Whenever he confronts battalions and poverty,

    an army laments and a delegation gives praise.

  29. نِعْمَ من لَثَّمتْهُ هَبْوةُ حربٍ

    وجلاهُ تحت السَنَوَّرِ طردُ

    Excellent is he whom the dust of war has veiled,

    and whom pursuit reveals beneath his armor.

  30. وإذا ملَّ سيفهُ الغِمْدَ أضْحى

    وله مفرقُ المُتوَّج غِمْدُ

    When his sword tires of its sheath,

    the top of the crowned man's head becomes its sheath.

  31. دارهُ حوْمة الوغى من عَوادٍ

    وحشاياه عُودُ سَرجٍ ولِبْدُ

    His home is the thick of battle amid chargers,

    his cushions the wood of a saddle and felt.

  32. في لقاءِ الحروب ليثَ عَرينٍ

    نال منه الطَّوى وفي الحلم أحْدُ

    In battle he is a lion in its lair,

    gnawed by hunger; in forbearance he is Uhud.

  33. مُتلفٌ ما احتواهُ جُوداً جُوداً وبذْلاً

    يُهدمُ المالُ حيث يُبْنى المجْدُ

    He exhausts all he holds in generosity—generosity and giving;

    wealth is demolished where glory is built.

  34. مالُهُ بعدَ حمْدِه ومَعالي

    هِ حسامٌ ماضٍ وطِرْفٌ علَنْد

    His wealth, beyond his renown and lofty

    deeds, is a keen sword and a stalwart steed.

  35. يقِظٌ يُدركُ الخَفَّية منهُ

    خاطرٌ أصْمعٌ ورأي أسَدُّ

    Vigilant: hidden things are discerned by his

    keen mind and soundest judgment.

  36. نافرٌ بالوقار عن موطِن الفُحْ

    شِ كما تنفرُ النَّعامُ الرُّبْدُ

    With dignity he shuns the abode of

    obscenity, as dusky ostriches flee.

  37. كرمٌ زانهُ التبرعُ بالبذْ

    لِ وما شانهُ سؤالٌ وكدُّ

    A generosity adorned by freely offered

    giving, never sullied by petition or importunity.

  38. كسراياهُ في البلادِ عَطايا

    هُ تَوالى وليس يُدْركُ عَدُّ

    Like his detachments throughout the lands, his gifts

    come one after another, beyond all counting.

  39. لَغياثُ الدين اشترى الحمد النَّفْ

    سِ وبالمالِ صفْقةً لا تُردُّ

    Ghiyath al-Din has indeed purchased praise with his

    life and wealth—a bargain never rejected.

  40. فبما أثْنَت القَوافي عليه

    طَفِقَ القائلُ المُغرِّدُ يحدو

    Thus, with the praise the rhymes bestowed on him,

    the melodious poet began a camel-driver's chant:

  41. يا ابنَ مُستخدمِ المُلوكِ ببأسٍ

    تتَّقيهِ المؤلَّلاتُ المُلْدُ

    O son of him who made kings serve him by a might

    that sharp-pointed, supple spears fear!

  42. والذي أضحتِ البهاليلُ من هَيْ

    بتهِ وهي في التَّخادُم جُنْدُ

    And of him whose awe made noble lords

    an army in mutual service.

  43. غُرُّ تيجانهم نِعالُ مَذاكي

    هِ إذا جازَ بالتَّخالُفِ حدُّ

    Their gleaming crowns are horseshoes for his

    full-grown steeds, when opposition oversteps its bounds.

  44. لكم البيضُ والذَّوابلُ والَّلأ

    مُ شَعارٌ والسَّابقاتُ الجُردُ

    Your emblems are bright swords, slender lances,

    armor, and swift, sleek steeds.

  45. وإذا ما الأحسابُ جاذبها النَّا

    سُ فأنتم ألمُستَمدُّ العِدُّ

    And whenever people vie over ancestral honors,

    you are the unfailing spring from which they draw.

  46. نشر أعراضكمْ إذا ما مَساعي

    كم أعيدتْ مسكٌ يضوعُ ونَدُّ

    The fragrance of your honor, when your endeavors

    are recounted, is wafting musk and aromatic incense.

  47. أوفِ فضلي حقوقه أنَّ فضلي

    راح فرداً وأنت في الناس فَرْدُ

    Give my excellence its due, for my excellence

    stands alone, and you are peerless among men.