1. قِف بالديارِ دِيار الحيِّ من إضم

    واِعلن سَلامك في أطلالِ ذى سلمِ

    Stop at the dwellings—the clan's dwellings in Iḍam,

    and proclaim your greeting of peace among the ruins of Dhū Salam.

  2. واِقضِ الفرائضَ واِسفح كلّ منسجم

    في كلِّ رسمٍ قديم العهد منطسمِ

    Fulfill your duties, and pour out every flowing tear

    at every effaced trace, ancient in age.

  3. وصافحِ الريحَ إِن جاءت مصافحةً

    شقائقَ الروض بين الضال والسلمِ

    And clasp the wind, if it comes clasping

    the meadow's anemones between wild lote-trees and acacias.

  4. ريحٌ إِذا ما جرَت ظلّت غبارتها

    تُنبي بأعلام أهلِ السفح والعلمِ

    A wind whose dust, whenever it blows, keeps

    telling of the signs of the folk of slope and hill.

  5. ليتَ الأحبّة ما زمّوا ركائبهم

    عنّا ولا زيّلوا ساحات ربعهمِ

    Would that my loved ones had not bridled their riding camels

    to leave us, nor vacated their dwelling's courtyards.

  6. ساروا شعاعاً فسارَت خلفَ ظعنهم

    نَفسي شعاعاً على آثارِ ركبهمِ

    They departed scattered, and behind their caravan went

    my soul, scattered, upon the tracks of their riders.

  7. فَقلتُ يا صاحبي والسرب يَرشُقني

    بِأسهمِ اللحظِ سربي نحو سربهمِ

    So I said, O my companion, while the herd pierced me

    with arrows of glances: lead me toward their herd.

  8. فالأرى والصاب ما حاسيت طعمَهُما

    إلّا بقربهم منّي وبعدهمِ

    For I have never tasted honey and bitter sap

    except through their nearness to me and their distance.

  9. للّه منّي هوى شبّت ضرامته

    بجاحمٍ في شغافِ القلب مضطرمِ

    By God, what passion is mine, whose blaze has flared

    with a fierce fire raging in the heart's depths.

  10. ما أكله غير لَحمي إِن شكا جوعا

    وَإِن شكا ظمأً ما الشرب غير دمي

    If it complains of hunger, its only food is my flesh;

    and if it complains of thirst, its only drink is my blood.

  11. يا لائِمي لو تقاسي ما تؤنّبني

    شبّبت في مذهبي عذري ولم تلمِ

    O my censurer, were you to suffer, you would not rebuke me;

    you would champion my excuse for my ways, and would not blame.

  12. هَل يردع اللوم مَن في الحبّ مهجتهُ

    تصلى منَ الوجدِ جمراً مسعر الضرمِ

    Can blame restrain one whose lifeblood, in love,

    is scorched by longing on coals with fiercely kindled flames?

  13. بهِ إلى شربِ كاساتِ الهوى ظمأ

    فكلّما روى من شربهنَّ ظمي

    He thirsts to drink the cups of passion;

    and whenever their draught quenches him, he thirsts again.

  14. لي مسمعٌ لدعاءِ الحبّ منفتقٌ

    واعٍ وعن دعوة العذّال في صممِ

    I have an ear opened to love's call,

    attentive, but deaf to the summons of reprovers.

  15. لا غرو أَن صرتُ في هذا الزمان خلفا

    لِمَن مَضى سلفاً في الأعصر القدمِ

    No wonder that, in this age, I have become a successor

    to those who went before in ages long past.

  16. وَليسَ إِن بعتُ روحي قطّ من غبنٍ

    بقُبلةٍ من لمى سعدى ولا ندمِ

    There is no loss at all, if I sell my soul

    for a kiss from Saʿdā's dusky lips, nor any regret.

  17. فَلثمُ مَبسمها بالنفسِ لي عوض

    وقيمة تُقتنى من أبلغ القيمِ

    Kissing her smiling mouth, at the price of my soul, is recompense for me,

    and a value to be acquired, among the highest of values.

  18. إِذا كتمتُ هواها قال مشهدهُ

    هل أنتَ تكتمُ شيئاً غير منكتمِ

    Whenever I conceal my love for her, its visible sign says:

    Do you conceal something that cannot be concealed?

  19. وَلا شاهداً أدّى شهادته

    هل أنت تكتمُ شيئاُ غير منكتمِ

    Nor a witness who has delivered his testimony:

    Do you conceal something that cannot be concealed?

  20. كأنّ ريقتها مشمولة مُزِجت

    بنطفةٍ مِن غديرٍ باردٍ شبمِ

    Her saliva is like wine cooled by the north wind, mixed

    with a drop from a cold, icy pool.

  21. يا حبّها حينَ قامَت لي مودّعةً

    يومَ الرحيلِ ولم ينفكّ عن أممِ

    Oh, how I loved her when she stood to bid me farewell

    on departure's day, while it was still close at hand.

  22. قامَت وَأدمُعها في صحنِ وجنتها

    كالطلِّ في الوردِ أضحى غير منسجمِ

    She stood, her tears upon the broad surface of her cheek,

    like dew upon a rose, now no longer streaming.

  23. وَحدّرت لؤلؤ الأجفانِ منتثراً

    يَجري عَلى لؤلؤٍ في الثغرِ منتظمِ

    And she let the eyelids' scattered pearls fall,

    flowing over pearls strung together in her mouth.

  24. يا هَذه إنّني طاردت محتسباً

    خيلَ الملاهي بخيلِ العزمِ والهممِ

    O you, I have driven away, seeking reward,

    the steeds of amusement with the steeds of resolve and high purpose.

  25. لا تَحسبي من قلى هذا الرحيلِ وأو

    لى رغبة في اِقتحامِ البيدِ والأكمِ

    Do not think this departure springs from aversion, nor from a greater

    desire to brave the deserts and hills.

  26. لكنّني راغبٌ فيما أحاول في

    غنىً لراجٍ وفي عزٍّ لِمُهتضمِ

    But in what I attempt, I yearn for

    wealth for the hopeful, and honor for the oppressed.

  27. عدِّي السنينَ لغيباتي وأشهرها

    وَاِستَشعري واِستعدّى الصبرَ واِعتصمي

    Count the years of my absences, and their months;

    take patience inwardly, summon it to your aid, and hold fast.

  28. بسحرِ عينيكِ هل من بعد ذا قسم

    منّي عَلى كلِّ حالٍ أيّما قسمِ

    By the magic of your eyes—can there be, after this, an oath

    from me, whatever the circumstance? What an oath!

  29. لأرتمي في فجاجِ البيدِ مطّرحاً

    إِن قدّر اللّه لي بالأينق الرسمِ

    I shall cast myself into the desert passes, flung far afield,

    if God ordains it for me, on swift-striding she-camels.

  30. وَأَركبنَّ خطوبَ الدهرِ مُقتحماً

    مِنها مهالكَ يبلى كلّ مقتحمِ

    And I shall ride time's calamities, plunging

    into their deadly perils, which wear down every adventurer.

  31. فخر الفَتى باِرتكابِ المُشكلات وفي

    اِستطرافه المجدَ لا بالأعظم الرممِ

    A young man's pride lies in facing difficulties and in

    his winning glory anew, not in mouldering bones.

  32. وَالمرءُ مَن يركب الأهوالَ مُصطحباً

    أشادها الغلب في الغابات والأجمِ

    The true man rides into terrors, taking as companions

    their thick-necked [lions] in forests and thickets.

  33. للدهرِ حكمٌ قضت فيه الحوادث إن

    تصطاد في أهلها العقبان فالرخمِ

    Time has a law decreed by calamities: if

    eagles are hunted among its people, then so are vultures;

  34. وَإن تروحُ وإن تغدو قساورهُ

    فيه فرائس بينَ الضأنِ والغنمِ

    and whether its lions return at dusk or go forth at dawn,

    they are prey there, among sheep and flocks.

  35. ما الدهرُ فيّ بما يقضيه مبتدعٌ

    فَكم أديبٍ بسهمِ الحادثات رُمِ

    Time devises nothing new in what it decrees for me;

    how many a man of letters has been struck by calamities' arrow!

  36. فَكَم من قويٍّ عزيزٍ لم يجد وزرا

    مِن عثرة الدهرِ أَو مِن زلّة القدمِ

    And how many a strong, mighty man has found no refuge

    from time's stumble or a slip of the foot!

  37. تَمضي الحياةُ ويَمضي ماءُ رَونَقِها

    وَلم يدم من على الدنيا ولم تدمِ

    Life passes, and the freshness of its splendor passes;

    none upon this world has endured, nor has it endured.

  38. وَالعيشُ للمرءِ لو طالت نهاينه

    للمرء إلّا كأضغاثٍ من الحلمِ

    And life for a man, however far its ending lies,

    is, for him, nothing but confused fragments of a dream.

  39. نَفسي إِلى سبلِ الآداب قد خُلقت

    أَهدى وأَقصد سعياً من يدٍ لفمِ

    My soul was created for the paths of refinement,

    more surely guided and straighter in its course than hand to mouth.

  40. أَعمى إذا الجار وافا بالعيوبِ وعن

    حسنِ الجوارِ له ما عشت غير عمِ

    I am blind when my neighbor comes with faults; yet to

    good neighborliness toward him, as long as I live, I am not blind.

  41. وأمنحُ الشكرَ حسّادي لأنّهمُ

    دونَ الوَرى بجمانِ الفضل والنعمِ

    I give thanks to my enviers, for they,

    alone among mortals, [testify to] the pearls of merit and blessings.

  42. وَإِن أَتت مِن أخٍ عوراءُ قمتُ لها

    منّي بسالمةِ العينينِ من كلمِ

    And if a one-eyed remark comes from a brother, I answer it

    with words of mine sound in both eyes.

  43. لا تنكرن تهمةً ظُلماً رُميت بها

    إِن أنتَ صاحبتَ قوماً من ذوي التهمِ

    Do not find strange an accusation unjustly cast at you

    if you have kept company with people of ill repute.

  44. فإنَّما المرءُ بالأقرانِ مُنتسبٌ

    في السعيِ وَالطبع والأخلاق والشيمِ

    A man is known through his companions,

    in endeavor, nature, conduct, and character.

  45. مَن فاتهُ مجدهُ مِن جدّ صارمه

    فَليطلب المجدَ والعلياء بالقلمِ

    Whoever fails to gain glory through the might of his sword,

    let him seek glory and eminence with the pen.

  46. يا طالبَ الرزق لا تعدل إلى سمن

    تختاله وهوَ أحداثٌ من الورمِ

    O seeker of livelihood, do not turn toward plumpness

    that you imagine, when it is only the effects of swelling.

  47. لا تطيبك رجال ليسَ تَخدمهم

    مالٌ وللمالِ همُ أضحوا من الخدمِ

    Do not be charmed by men who are not served by

    wealth, but have themselves become servants of wealth.

  48. وَلا يشوقك ما تحوي أكفُّهمُ

    فإنّما يسرُ أهلِ البخل كالعدمِ

    Nor let what their palms contain entice you,

    for the wealth of misers is like nothing.

  49. مالٌ تقضّا أحداث الزمان وعن

    جوادِ الحوادثِ في أمنٍ وفي حرمِ

    Wealth, while time's events pass away, remains

    safe from calamity's steeds, within a sanctuary.

  50. لولا المظفّر أزديّ الأرومه لم

    تلمح لمزنِ الندى برقاً ولا تشمِ

    Were it not for al-Muẓaffar, of Azd stock, you would not

    glimpse lightning in generosity's rain-clouds, nor watch for it.

  51. ملكٌ إِذا المحلُ اِستَسقى أناملهُ

    أَغنت مواهبُهُ عن واكفِ الديمِ

    A king whose fingers, when drought asks them for rain,

    bestow gifts that suffice in place of steadily falling rains.

  52. يلوحُ مفخرهُ بالحمدِ مطّرزاً

    وَالبردُ يحسنُ بالتطريزِ والعلمِ

    His glory appears embroidered with praise;

    a mantle is made lovely by embroidery and ornamental stripes.

  53. تنبي سياستهُ عمّا لديه وفي

    حسنِ السياسةِ ما ينبي عن الكرمِ

    His governance reveals what he possesses, and in

    good governance lies what reveals nobility.

  54. ليسَ الشمول بِأزكى في خلائقهِ

    منهُ وليسَ بأوفى منه للذممِ

    Wine is not purer in its qualities

    than he, nor more faithful than he to obligations.

  55. يا مَن أياديهِ لي في شأوها نسخت

    ما قَد لقيه زهيرٌ في ندا هرمِ

    O you whose favors to me, in their far reach, have eclipsed

    what Zuhayr received through Harim's generosity.

  56. دانَت أعاديك لمّا أن صدمتهمُ

    لكلّ أرعن بالفرسان مزدحمِ

    Your enemies bowed, when you struck them,

    to every towering host thronged with horsemen.

  57. بعثت خيلَك مِن أقصى فراسخها

    يمرح الأسد في الفرسان واللجمِ

    You dispatched your cavalry from its farthest leagues;

    the lion exults among the horsemen and bridles.

  58. لَم يَشعروا قطّ إلّا بالصواعقِ من

    وقعِ الصوارم بالهاماتِ والقممِ

    They sensed nothing but the thunderbolts from

    the blows of keen swords upon heads and crowns.

  59. وَاِستَسلموا وهم ما بينَ منطرحٍ

    يخورُ في دمه منهم ومنهزمِ

    And they surrendered, some lying prostrate,

    bellowing in their blood, and others routed,

  60. حتّى رضوا بكَ سلطاناً بأرضهم

    كَما رضوا بقدومِ الشيب والهرمِ

    until they accepted you as sovereign in their land,

    as they accepted the coming of gray hair and old age.