دعاها كيفما صنعت دعاها

ولا تلما بها لهوى دعاها

Leave her, however she has acted; leave her.

And do not visit her for a passion that called her.

فإِن الكُل سائلة قراراً

وتبلغ كل سابقة مداها

For all seek a resting place,

and every frontrunner reaches her limit.

وَإِن تك أَكذبت ما قال واش

فقد صدق الهَوى في مدّعاها

Though she has disproved what a slanderer said,

love has proved true in its claim concerning her.

بعثت لها النواظر يوم حُزوى

مخافة عينها لمّا حزاها

I sent my glances toward her on the day at Huzwa,

fearing her eye when my gaze discerned her.

وأَحجبها الحواجب عن وداعي

فعني يا خليلي ودعاها

The guards screened her from my farewell;

so, my two friends, bid her farewell for me.

قفا بحيال هودجها وهذا

فؤادي بلغاه وأَودعها

Stand opposite her howdah; and this—

my heart—deliver it and entrust it to her.

وَإِن كانت على عهدي وودي

فلا تحرم وصالي من دُعاها

If she still keeps my covenant and affection,

let her prayers not omit reunion with me.

أَنا الشاقي بها قرباً وبعدا

فيا ليت الشقي بها شقاها

I am tormented by her, near and far;

if only the one she torments could torment her!

وعهدي غير لاوية بوعدي

وإِن أَلوي بطيتها لواها

As I knew her, she paid no heed to my pledge,

though I bend toward the turning of her course.

خليليّ اربعا بي في ربوع

لظميا قبل حكم من نواها

My two friends, linger with me among the dwellings

of Zamya, before the decree of her departure.

نحييها بأكوار المطايا

ونستسقي المدامع في رباها

Let us greet them from the riding-camels' saddles,

and summon tears to water their hills.

وإِن مت الغداة بحب ظميا

فهدرٌ ما جَنَت لا تطلباها

If I die this morning from love of Zamya,

her deed goes unavenged; do not seek redress from her.

فطرفي قاتلي عمداً وقلبي

ويطلب بالجناية من جناها

For my eye and my heart have deliberately killed me,

and a crime is charged to whoever committed it.

ورُبَّةَ ليلة والطل يجري

على متني طرقت سُرىً خِباها

Many a night, while dew streamed

over my back, I came by night to her tent.

بها نعم العبير إِليّ ليلا

كما أَوشى بها عندي حُلاها

How sweet her perfume was to me by night,

as her ornaments whispered of her to me.

أَيعثرني طناب قباب حي

عواسلها جوانب مصطلاها

Would the ropes of a clan's domed tents trip me,

whose prowling wolves haunt the sides of its hearth?

فبت مطارحاً كالطيف لما

تقطع في أَماقيها كراها

I lay beside her like a phantom when

her slumber broke within the corners of her eyes.

فبات عقاصها بيدي وباتت

تراشفني الأَشانب والشفاها

Her braided hair stayed in my hand, and she spent the night

exchanging kisses with me, with cool teeth and lips.

فبرد حر قلبي بردُ ظلم

إِذا رقدت يمج به لماها

The coolness of her saliva cooled my burning heart,

her dusky lips pouring it forth when she slept.

ومذ لاح الصباح تعلقتني

كما أَعلقت قلبي في هواها

When dawn appeared, she clung to me,

as she had bound my heart in love for her.

وأَرعشها حنين الشول حتى

بقائم مخذمي التوتا يداها

The yearning cries of the dry she-camels made her tremble, until

her two hands twined around my keen sword's hilt.

فقلت ثقي بذمر عنقفير

متى اغتصّته حادثة شجاها

I said, 'Trust a mighty, valiant warrior,

who chokes any calamity that chokes him,

بعيد الغور في طلب المعالي

شديد الخنزوانة لا يباهى

far-reaching in the quest for lofty deeds,

fiercely proud, unrivaled in glory,

من القوم الكرام بني خروص

وازد شنوءة فهم ذُراها

of the noble people, Banu Kharus,

and Azd Shanu'a—they are its highest peaks.'

لنا البيت المقدس في زهير

إِذا ما شاع في قوم حناها

Ours is the hallowed house among Zuhayr,

when its shelter spread among a people.

ملوك الجاهلية أَوّلونا

وفي الاسلام مفخرنا تناهى

Our forebears were kings in the Age of Ignorance,

and in Islam our glory reached its height.

فنحن ولاة سر اللَه أَمست

أَواخرنا تورثها أُلاها

We are the guardians of God's secret; our later generations

have come to inherit it from their earliest.

ملأنا بَرَّنا والبحر عدلا

وكل فتى حمى بلداً جباها

We filled our land and sea with justice,

and every young champion guarded a land and gathered its tribute.

سرايانا لأرض الهند سارت

ولليمن الفسيح وما ولاها

Our expeditions marched to the land of India,

and to spacious Yemen and its neighboring lands.

ونحن حمى عمان من قديم

فَسَل هل غيرنا أَحد حماها

We have been Oman's defenders from of old;

ask whether anyone but us defended her.

فمنا وارث والصلت منا

ومنا الخالدان توارثاها

Warith is of us, and al-Salt is of us,

and of us are the two Khalids, who inherited her in turn.

وإبن تميم عزان ومنا

محمد إبن غسانٍ ضياها

And Azzan ibn Tamim; and of us is

Muhammad ibn Ghassan, her radiance.

وغيرهم فلا أحصي عدادا

سنا الدارين هم وهم غِناها

And others—I cannot count their number;

they are the radiance of both abodes, and their wealth.

لنا آل الرحيل همُ قضاة

لكل سرية حملوا لواها

Ours are the house of al-Rahil, judges

who bore the banner of every expedition.

ونبهان بن عثمان فقاض

لنا بعمان شياد علاها

And Nabhan ibn Uthman, a judge

of ours in Oman, builder of her heights.

وينكر فضلنا إِلا جهول

بهذي الشمس ينكرها سناها

None but an ignoramus denies our excellence,

denying this very sun its radiance.

أَعادينا بمفخرنا شهود

وخير القوم من شهدت عداها

Our enemies bear witness to our glory,

and the best people are those whose foes testify for them.

إِليك أَحاسد النعماء إِنا

ولاة مراتب سام سماها

Away with you, envier of blessings! We

are masters of ranks whose heavens tower high.

ولا نرضى المثالب والمخازي

إِذا كرعت رجال في خزاها

We do not accept faults and disgrace,

when men drink deep of their shame.

فمرضع كل فواه دليل

وسر الريح يظهر في شذاها

Each speaker's nursing-place is a sign,

and the wind's secret shows itself in its scent.

أَلا هل مبلغ مني رجالاً

نصيحات وبورك من وعاها

Will someone carry to certain men, from me,

admonitions—blessed be whoever heeds them?

بهذي الشمس أَقسم أَو ضحاها

وبالقمر المنير إِذا تلاها

By this sun I swear, or by its morning brightness,

and by the shining moon when it follows her.

وأَقسم بالنهار إِذا جلاها

وبالليل البهيم إِذا دجاها

I swear by the day when it reveals her,

and by the pitch-black night when it shrouds her.

وأَقسم بالسماء وما بناها

وبالأَرض الفسيح وما طحاها

I swear by heaven and Him who built it,

and by the spacious earth and Him who spread it.

يمينا بَرّة ليست غموسا

وإِخلاص اليمين لمن وفاها

A righteous oath, not a perjured one;

an oath's sincerity belongs to him who fulfills it.

لئن لم ترجعوا يا أَهل نزوى

عن الحال الَّذي فيكم أَراها

If you do not turn back, people of Nizwa,

from the condition I see among you,

لتغدوا كلكم أَيدي سباء

رهائن بالنفوس لمن سباها

you will all be scattered like Saba,

your very lives held hostage to whoever takes them captive.

فإِني صالح لكم نذير

وهذي ناقة اللَه وماها

For I am a Salih to you, a warner,

and this is God's she-camel and her water.

على القدر المتاح جرت لساني

وعندكمو وأَوّلكم بناها

My tongue has run as far as fate allows,

and among you your foremost laid its foundation.

وكم حذّرت من ملك عنيد

عصى والنفس مهلكها هواها

How many a stubborn king have I warned,

who disobeyed—a soul's desire destroys it.

فآب وحظه خُفّا حُنينٍ

من الدُنيا وأَكذبه مناها

He returned with only Hunayn's two boots for his share

of this world, whose hopes had proved false to him.

أَطيعوني وأَوبوا عن طريق

تؤول بكم بشر منتهاها

Obey me and turn back from a road

that leads you to the evil of its end.

عهدنا قبل ذا نزوى حصانا

عفيف الذيل تنبل من رناها

Before this, we knew Nizwa as a chaste woman,

pure of hem, shooting arrows at whoever gazed at her.

وكم فيها عهدنا من رجال

تخف الشم وزنا عن حجاها

How many men we once knew within her,

beside whose wisdom lofty mountains weighed little.

فلا يرضون فيها بالهواهي

وهم يرمون غفلة من رماها

They would not tolerate empty follies within her,

and struck unawares whoever assailed her.

وما من علة نثرت بنزوى

إِذاً إلا وهم كانوا شفاها

No malady ever spread through Nizwa

without their being its cure.

حموها من ولاة النكر حتى

بها عاشوا وهم ماتوا حماها

They guarded her from rulers of wrongdoing, to the end;

they lived within her and died her defenders.

فقد عاشوا بها وهم كرامٌ

وماتوا بعد ما وضحوا هداها

They lived within her, noble men,

and died after making her guidance clear.

وما كل الرجال هم رجال

وإِن كانت جسومهمو شباها

Not all men are truly men,

though their bodies may look alike.

فمن ذا لائمي إِن عشت أَبكي

بنزوى عصبة رمسوا خذاها

Who, then, could blame me if I live mourning

a band in Nizwa whose cheeks lie buried?

ومن يك عاش من قرن لقرن

تغصص بالشجاء على شجاها

Whoever has lived from one generation to another

chokes with grief over her sorrow.

أَنا الرجل الغريب فهل غريب

يقاسمني النغائص من بلاها

I am the stranger; is there another stranger

to share with me the miseries of her affliction?

أَراكم يا ولاة الأَمر فيها

تطيعون الأَراذل من ملاها

I see you, her rulers,

obeying the basest of her notables.

أَرى نزوى بكم كشفت هناها

وراقت من محياها حياها

I see Nizwa, through you, baring her shame,

her modesty drained from her face.

تقلقها المعازف والملاهي

وكل نهيمة سحبت رداها

Musical instruments and diversions unsettle her,

and every lustful woman trailing her cloak.

وما بلد يحل النكر فيها

إِذاً إِلا وباريها رداها

No land in which wrongdoing settles

escapes destruction by its Creator.

فما بُرج من الأَبراج إِلا

وفيه الخمر جامعة خناها

There is no tower among the towers

where wine does not gather its obscenities.

وما من شعبة إِلا وفيها

زجيل الدف يصهل في رباها

There is no quarter where

the tambourine's din does not neigh upon its hills.

أَخاف عَلى مساجدكم قريباً

تكون معاطن السفها سفاها

I fear that soon your mosques

will become pens for fools in their folly.

وما من منكر يحتل داراً

وغير مغير إِلا شقاها

No evil settles in a dwelling

unchallenged without bringing it misery.

فلم يُسمع بناديكم أَذان

ولا الآيات يُسمع من تلاها

No call to prayer is heard in your gathering-place,

nor is anyone heard reciting the verses.

رأيت عفيفكم فيها إِذا ما

رأَى في اللَه معصية تقاها

I have seen your virtuous man, whenever

he sees disobedience to God, cautiously avoid it.

وقد جعلوا التقية أَصل دين

ولو شاة تناطح من سلاها

They have made dissimulation the foundation of religion,

though even a ewe butts the one who flays her.

وكل تقية فلها محل

وعين اللَه ناظرة تراها

Every act of dissimulation has its proper place,

and God's watchful eye sees it.

وقد غفلوا الروايات الَّتي عن

محمد والَّذي عَنهُ رواها

They have neglected the traditions from

Muhammad and him who transmitted them from him.

ضعيف الحيل مظلوم مهان

وذو الأَموال يظلم ما عداها

The helpless man is wronged and humiliated,

while the wealthy man oppresses everyone else.

وعالمكم وزاهدكم مُدارٍ

وسيدكم يداهن أَدنياها

Your scholar and your ascetic are appeasers,

and your chief flatters her lowliest people.

وأَلهى الثالث الضعفاء منكم

معاملة البيوع على رِباها

The third group—the weak among you—is distracted

by dealings in sales with their usury.

فأَين الصالحون أَما قليل

قلى الدُنيا وواصل من قلاها

Where are the righteous? Are there not a few

who have shunned the world and befriended those who shun it?

أَلا توبوا إِلى الرحمن توبا

نصوحا واسلكوا النهج النفاها

Repent to the All-Merciful with repentance

sincere, and follow the lofty path.

بباقي العمر فادركوا صلاحا

عشا العينين أَهون من عماها

With what remains of life, attain righteousness;

dim-sightedness is easier than blindness.

وداووا بالمتاب سقام ذنب

فما غير المتاب لكم دواها

Treat the sickness of sin with repentance;

nothing but repentance can be your cure.

وأَعظم علة علل الخطايا

ومن يبلى بعلات كواها

The gravest sickness is the sickness of sins;

whoever suffers ailments cauterizes them.

مروا بالعرف وائتمروا وانهوا

عن النكر الَّذي يسم الجباها

Enjoin what is right, practice it, and forbid

the evil that brands the foreheads.

أَراكم دينكم قلدتموه

كمرجئة تقلد أَولياها

I see you follow your religion by imitation,

like Murji'ites blindly following their patrons.

ودنتم واعتقدتم أَن هذي

تقيات ويسلم من نواها

You have professed and believed that these

are acts of dissimulation, and whoever intends them is safe.

فياللَه ما هذي كهذي

ولا كالنفس تبغض من نهاها

For God's sake, this is not like that,

nor like the soul that hates whoever restrains it.

أَرى عُلماكم الدُنيا صبتها

فراحت أذؤباً وغدت شياها

I see the world has captivated your scholars,

so they become wolves at evening, sheep in the morning.

وكل رحال داركم أَراها

عظيم التيه من كبر ضناها

Every traveler in your land, I see,

is deeply conceited, from the pride that sickens her.

ومن يدعوكمو لِلّه يلقى ال

مذلة والعداوة والسفاها

Whoever calls you to God encounters

humiliation, enmity, and foolish abuse.

وكل فتى يريكم قهقهات

ينال بقربكم مالا وجاها

Yet every young man who entertains you with guffaws

gains wealth and standing through your favor.

فيا عجباً لجلد فوق عظم

مخاريق به إِن يُدع تاها

How astonishing: mere skin over bone,

full of tricks, growing haughty when called!

فمعذرة إِليك اللَه هذي

نصيحات كشفت لهم غطاها

I offer my excuse to You, O God: these

are counsels whose veil I have lifted for them.

وقد بلغتهم جداً وجهدا

وليس عليّ يا ربي هداها

I have delivered them earnestly and with all my effort;

their guidance, my Lord, is not my responsibility.

وقلت لهم وأَنت بنا عليم

وقد أَملى الرجال على نشواها

I told them—and You know us well—

while men lingered in the world's intoxication:

أحذركم من الدُنيا عداها

وأَخراكم أحذركم جزاها

'I warn you of the world's hostility,

and of your hereafter—I warn you of its recompense.'

وأسألك الرضى عني فإني

أَخو جرم فهب لي ما محاها

I ask You to be pleased with me, for I am

a man of sin; grant me what will erase it.

صلاتك لم تزل يا رب تترى

على ياسين سيدنا وطاها

May Your blessings, my Lord, never cease to follow one another

upon Ya-Sin, our master, and Ta-Ha.