1. أَرَسماً ترى أم ذاك رجع وشامِ

    ترى أم وحيا في متون سلامِ

    Is it a trace you see, or is that the remnant of tattoos

    You see, or writing on the surfaces of smooth stones?

  2. عَفا غير سفح كالحمايم ركّدٌ

    وَأشعث مشجوج الذُرى ورخامِ

    It has faded, save a slope like doves at rest,

    And a ragged remnant with split crests, and marble.

  3. بِنفسيَ مَن أوحت لنا بوداعها

    وَأدمُعها فوقَ الخدود هوامِ

    With my soul I would ransom her who signaled her farewell to us,

    And her tears streaming over her cheeks,

  4. غَداة تجلّت في البرودِ وأقبَلت

    كَشمسِ نهارٍ أو كبدر تمامِ

    On the morning she appeared in striped robes and came forward,

    Like the sun of day or the moon at its fullest.

  5. وَقد بلّ فيضُ الدمعِ حمرة خدّها

    كَما بلّ زهرُ الورد طشُّ رهامِ

    And the flood of tears had moistened the blush of her cheek,

    Just as a sprinkling of light rain wets rose blossoms.

  6. تحاولُ تَوديعي وتخشى مراقباً

    يُدافع عنها بالقنا ويحامِ

    She tries to bid me farewell, fearing a watcher

    Who defends her with spears and guards her.

  7. فَتلكَ الّتي قد همت فيها صبابةً

    وَلَم ألتفت في حبّها لملامِ

    So she is the one for whom I have been mad with longing,

    And in loving her I heeded no reproach.

  8. وَقَد حازها البينُ المفرّق بيننا

    لبست بروداً من ضنىً وسقامِ

    And once parting, which divides us, had carried her off,

    I donned robes of languor and sickness.

  9. حَوتها النوى حتّى علا طايل النوى

    تناءَت ولم تبعث بطيف لمامِ

    Distance engulfed her, until the reach of distance grew vast;

    She grew distant and sent no fleeting dream-vision.

  10. بَعثنا إِليها بِالسلام فأَمسكت

    وَما سمحت منها بردّ سلامِ

    We sent her greetings, but she held back,

    And she would not offer a greeting in return.

  11. فَيا عجباً منّي لها كيفَ أصبَحت

    تحرّم شيئاً وهو غير حرامِ

    So how I marvel at her—how has she come

    To forbid something that is not forbidden?

  12. جَوى الحبّ منها في جميع مَفاصلي

    وَلَحمي جميعاً بل دمي وعظامي

    The burning anguish of love for her fills all my joints,

    And all my flesh—indeed, my blood and bones.

  13. أَغارُ إِذا ما صافحت كشر ثغرها

    بحوط أراكٍ أو بخوط بشامِ

    I grow jealous whenever she brushes her bared teeth

    With an arak twig, or a basham twig.

  14. تُحاكي قضيبَ الخيزران تهزّعاً

    إِذا ما تثنّت بالخطا بقوامِ

    She resembles a bamboo shoot in her swaying,

    Whenever she sways her figure as she walks.

  15. وَعوجاء حرف قد قطعت بذرعها

    مسافات بيدٍ في السرى وموامِ

    And with a lean, crooked-legged she-camel's stride I crossed

    Stretches of desert and trackless wastes by night.

  16. طَواها السرى لمّا اِنطوَت وتأكّلت

    مباسمُها منها فهنّ دوامِ

    Night travel wore her thin as she grew gaunt; worn away

    Were her lips, leaving them bloodied.

  17. تشيمُ بروقاً من أبي الطيب غيثها

    لشايمهِ في الجوّ غير مشامِ

    She watches lightning from Abu al-Tayyib, whose rain

    Is not to be sought in the sky by its watcher.

  18. جواد متى تَنزلِ به تحظَ عندهُ

    بِأرحب ربعٍ مخصبٍ ومقامِ

    A generous man—whenever you alight with him, you are favored

    With the most spacious, bountiful abode and lodging.

  19. عطاء نوالٍ طود حلمٍ ونهيه

    على المجتدي أزرى بكلِّ غمامِ

    A giver of bounty, a mountain of forbearance; even his refusal

    To a suppliant puts every raincloud to shame.

  20. إِذا ما اِنقضى نصلُ الحسامِ رأيته

    هناكَ حُساماً صائلاً بحسامِ

    When the sword's blade is spent, you see him

    There, himself a sword, charging with a sword.

  21. همام تَتالت في المعالي جدوده

    هماماً هماماً تابعا لهمامِ

    A noble hero whose forefathers succeeded one another in greatness,

    Hero after hero, each following a hero.

  22. له اِنقادتِ الدنيا وذلّت كأنّه

    لما يَنبغي قد قادها بزمامِ

    The world yielded to him and humbled itself, as though he

    Had led it by a rein toward what is fitting.

  23. يريكَ حجا كهلٍ أريبٍ إذا اِنتدا

    لَدى سنّ طلق الطرّتين غلامِ

    He shows you a shrewd, mature man's wisdom when he joins the assembly,

    Though still at the age of a smooth-templed youth.

  24. وَيصبو إِلى العليا إِذا غيره صبا

    إِلى زينب أو فرتن وحذامِ

    And he yearns for the heights when others yearn

    For Zaynab, or Fartan and Hadham.

  25. أأفخر مَن للضيفِ سنّ القِرى ومن

    تلثّم مِن نسجِ الوغا بلثامِ

    O most glorious of those who established hospitality for guests, and who

    Veiled their faces with a veil woven from battle.

  26. بكَ اِبتسم الدهرُ العبوسُ فوجههُ

    حَكى روضة قد زيّنب بكمامِ

    Through you, scowling Time has smiled; its face

    Resembles a garden adorned with flower buds.

  27. شَنأت ملوكَ الأرضِ في حلبةِ العلا

    فكنتَ إِماماً قبل كلّ إمامِ

    You scorned the kings of the earth in glory's arena,

    So you were a leader ahead of every leader.

  28. وَلا زلتَ في عيشٍ هنيٍّ وعزَةٍ

    وَفي نعمةٍ موصولةٍ بدوامِ

    And may you ever live in ease and honor,

    And in blessings that endure forever.