1. ألا في سبيلِ المَجْدِ ما أنا فاعل

    عَفافٌ وإقْدامٌ وحَزْمٌ ونائِل

    Indeed, all I do is in the cause of glory:

    Chastity, daring, resolve, and bounty.

  2. أعندي وقد مارسْتُ كلَّ خَفِيّةٍ

    يُصَدّقُ واشٍ أو يُخَيّبُ سائِل

    In my presence, though I have probed every hidden matter,

    Is a slanderer believed, or a petitioner disappointed?

  3. أقَلُّ صُدودي أنّني لكَ مُبْغِضٌ

    وأيْسَرُ هَجْري أنني عنكَ راحل

    The least of my aversion is that I hate you;

    The mildest of my estrangement is that I depart from you.

  4. إذا هَبّتِ النكْباءُ بيْني وبينَكُمْ

    فأهْوَنُ شيْءٍ ما تَقولُ العَواذِل

    When the crosswind blows between me and you,

    The reproachers' words are the least of my concerns.

  5. تُعَدّ ذُنوبي عندَ قَوْمٍ كثيرَةً

    ولا ذَنْبَ لي إلاّ العُلى والفواضِل

    Some people count my sins as many,

    Yet my only sins are eminence and virtues.

  6. كأنّي إذا طُلْتُ الزمانَ وأهْلَهُ

    رَجَعْتُ وعِنْدي للأنامِ طَوائل

    As though, whenever I surpass time and its people,

    I return with mankind holding claims of vengeance against me.

  7. وقد سارَ ذكْري في البلادِ فمَن لهمْ

    بإِخفاءِ شمسٍ ضَوْؤها مُتكامل

    My renown has traveled through the lands; who can help them

    Conceal a sun whose light is complete?

  8. يُهِمّ الليالي بعضُ ما أنا مُضْمِرٌ

    ويُثْقِلُ رَضْوَى دونَ ما أنا حامِل

    Part of what I harbor would trouble the nights,

    And less than what I bear would weigh down Radwa.

  9. وإني وإن كنتُ الأخيرَ زمانُهُ

    لآتٍ بما لم تَسْتَطِعْهُ الأوائل

    And though I am the latest in time,

    I shall surely bring what the ancients could not achieve.

  10. وأغدو ولو أنّ الصّباحَ صوارِمٌ

    وأسْرِي ولو أنّ الظّلامَ جَحافل

    I set out at dawn, even if morning were keen swords,

    And travel by night, even if darkness were massed armies.

  11. وإني جَوادٌ لم يُحَلّ لِجامُهُ

    ونِضْوٌ يَمانٍ أغْفَلتْهُ الصّياقل

    I am a noble steed whose bridle has not been unfastened,

    And a slender Yemeni blade the polishers have neglected.

  12. وإنْ كان في لُبسِ الفتى شرَفٌ له

    فما السّيفُ إلاّ غِمْدُه والحمائل

    If a young man's clothing brings him honor,

    Then a sword is nothing but its scabbard and straps.

  13. ولي مَنطقٌ لم يرْضَ لي كُنْهَ مَنزلي

    على أنّني بين السّماكينِ نازِل

    I have an eloquence that will not settle for my station,

    Though I dwell between the two Simak stars,

  14. لَدى موْطِنٍ يَشتاقُه كلُّ سيّدٍ

    ويَقْصُرُ عن إدراكه المُتناوِل

    In a place that every lord longs for,

    Which those who reach for it fall short of attaining.

  15. ولما رأيتُ الجهلَ في الناسِ فاشياً

    تجاهلْتُ حتى ظُنَّ أنّيَ جاهل

    When I saw ignorance widespread among people,

    I feigned ignorance until I was thought ignorant.

  16. فوا عَجَبا كم يدّعي الفضْل ناقصٌ

    ووا أسَفا كم يُظْهِرُ النّقصَ فاضل

    How strange—how many a deficient man claims excellence!

    And how sad—how many an excellent man displays deficiency!

  17. وكيف تَنامُ الطيرُ في وُكُناتِها

    وقد نُصِبَتْ للفَرْقَدَيْنِ الحَبائل

    How can birds sleep in their nests,

    When snares have been set for the two Farqad stars?

  18. يُنافسُ يوْمي فيّ أمسي تَشرّفاً

    وتَحسدُ أسْحاري عليّ الأصائل

    My today vies with my yesterday for honor through me,

    And the late afternoons envy my predawn hours on my account.

  19. وطال اعتِرافي بالزمانِ وصَرفِه

    فلَستُ أُبالي مًنْ تَغُولُ الغَوائل

    Long have I known time and its vicissitudes,

    So I care not whom calamities destroy.

  20. فلو بانَ عَضْدي ما تأسّفَ مَنْكِبي

    ولو ماتَ زَنْدي ما بَكَتْه الأنامل

    Were my upper arm severed, my shoulder would not grieve;

    Were my forearm to die, my fingertips would not mourn it.

  21. إذا وَصَفَ الطائيَّ بالبُخْلِ مادِرٌ

    وعَيّرَ قُسّاًً بالفَهاهةِ باقِل

    When Madir calls al-Ta'i miserly,

    And Baqil mocks Quss for inarticulacy,

  22. وقال السُّهى للشمس أنْتِ خَفِيّةٌ

    وقال الدّجى يا صُبْحُ لونُكَ حائل

    And al-Suha tells the sun, 'You are dim,'

    And darkness says, 'O dawn, your color has faded,'

  23. وطاوَلَتِ الأرضُ السّماءَ سَفاهَةً

    وفاخَرَتِ الشُّهْبُ الحَصَى والجَنادل

    And earth foolishly vies with heaven in height,

    And the stars vie in glory with pebbles and boulders—

  24. فيا موْتُ زُرْ إنّ الحياةَ ذَميمَةٌ

    ويا نَفْسُ جِدّي إنّ دهرَكِ هازِل

    Then visit, O Death: life is despicable;

    And, my soul, be earnest: your age is jesting.

  25. وقد أغْتَدي والليلُ يَبكي تأسُّفاً

    على نفْسِهِ والنَّجْمُ في الغرْبِ مائل

    And often I set out at dawn while night weeps in sorrow

    For itself, as the star inclines toward the west,

  26. بِريحٍ أُعيرَتْ حافِراً من زَبَرْجَدٍ

    لها التّبرُ جِسْمٌ واللُّجَيْنُ خَلاخل

    On a wind lent a hoof of chrysolite,

    Whose body is gold and whose anklets are silver.

  27. كأنّ الصَّبا ألقَتْ إليَّ عِنانَها

    تَخُبّ بسَرْجي مَرّةً وتُناقِل

    As though the east wind had cast her reins to me,

    Now trotting beneath my saddle, now galloping.

  28. إذا اشتاقَتِ الخيلُ المَناهلَ أعرَضَتْ

    عنِ الماء فاشتاقتْ إليها المناهل

    When horses long for watering places, she turns away

    From water, and the watering places long for her.

  29. وليْلان حالٍ بالكواكبِ جَوْزُهُ

    وآخرُ من حَلْيِ الكواكبِ عاطل

    And two nights: one whose heart is adorned with stars,

    The other bare of the stars' adornment.

  30. كأنَّ دُجاهُ الهجْرُ والصّبْحُ موْعِدٌ

    بوَصْلٍ وضَوْءُ الفجرِ حِبٌّ مُماطل

    As though its darkness were estrangement, and morning a promise

    Of reunion, and dawn's light a beloved who delays.

  31. قَطَعْتُ به بحْراً يَعُبّ عُبابُه

    وليس له إلا التَبَلّجَ ساحل

    On it I crossed a sea whose billows surged,

    With no shore but the breaking of dawn.

  32. ويُؤنِسُني في قلْبِ كلّ مَخوفَةٍ

    حلِيفُ سُرىً لم تَصْحُ منه الشمائل

    And in the heart of every terror I am cheered

    By a companion of night travel whose ways never sober:

  33. من الزّنْجِ كَهلٌ شابَ مفرِقُ رأسِه

    وأُوثِقَ حتى نَهْضُهُ مُتثاقِل

    A middle-aged man of the Zanj, gray along the parting of his hair,

    Bound so tightly that even his rising is sluggish.

  34. كأنّ الثرَيّا والصّباحُ يرُوعُها

    أخُو سَقْطَةٍ أو ظالعٌ مُتحامل

    As though the Pleiades, as dawn alarms them,

    Were a man who has stumbled, or a lame man struggling onward.

  35. إذا أنْتَ أُعْطِيتَ السعادة لم تُبَلْ

    وإنْ نظرَتْ شَزْراً إليكَ القبائل

    If you are granted good fortune, you need not care,

    Even if the tribes look at you askance.

  36. تَقَتْكَ على أكتافِ أبطالها القَنا

    وهابَتْكَ في أغمادهِنَّ المَناصِل

    The lances on their champions' shoulders will shun you,

    And the blades will fear you within their scabbards.

  37. وإنْ سدّدَ الأعداءُ نحوَكَ أسْهُماً

    نكَصْنَ على أفْواقِهِنَّ المَعابل

    And if enemies aim arrows at you,

    The broad arrowheads will recoil toward their nocks.

  38. تَحامى الرّزايا كلَّ خُفّ ومَنْسِم

    وتَلْقى رَداهُنَّ الذُّرَى والكواهِل

    Calamities shun every padded foot and toe,

    While humps and withers meet the doom they bring.

  39. وتَرْجِعُ أعقابُ الرّماحِ سَليمَةً

    وقد حُطِمتْ في الدارعينَ العَوامل

    The butt-ends of spears return unharmed,

    Though the points are shattered against armored men.

  40. فإن كنْتَ تَبْغي العِزّ فابْغِ تَوَسّطاً

    فعندَ التّناهي يَقْصُرُ المُتطاوِل

    If you seek glory, seek a middle course,

    For at the utmost height, the climber falls short.

  41. تَوَقّى البُدورٌ النقصَ وهْيَ أهِلَّةٌ

    ويُدْرِكُها النّقْصانُ وهْيَ كوامل

    Full moons avoid waning while still crescents,

    But waning overtakes them when they are full.