1. شَقِيَت مِنكَ بِالعَلاءِ الأَعادي

    وَالمَعالي ضَرائِرُ الحُسّادِ

    Your enemies suffered through your eminence;

    lofty honors are rival wives to the envious.

  2. وَاِستَقادَ الزَمانُ بَعدَ التَداني

    مِن رِجالٍ تَفاءَلوا بِالبِعادِ

    And Time, after drawing near, exacted vengeance

    on men who found good omens in separation.

  3. وَرَعَيتَ الإِيابَ غَضاً جَديداً

    وَتَبَدَّلتَ مُطمَحاً بِالقِيادِ

    You cherished your return, fresh and new,

    and traded the reins for a head held high.

  4. وَإِذا ما الشَجاعُ شَمَّرَ بُردَي

    هِ فَلِلَّهِ أَيُّ يَومِ جِلادِ

    And when the brave man tucks up both his cloaks,

    by God, what a day of combat!

  5. أَمرَعَت أَرضُنا بِكُلِّ مَكانٍ

    وَاِستَجابَت لَنا بُروقُ الغَوادي

    Our land grew lush in every place,

    and the lightning of morning rainclouds answered us.

  6. وَحَبانا بِوَبلِهِ كُلُّ أُفقٍ

    وَأَتانا بِسَيلِهِ كُلُّ وادِ

    Every horizon favored us with its downpour,

    and every valley brought us its torrent.

  7. أَتُرى آنَ لِلمُنى أَن تُقاضي

    حاجَةٍ طالَ مَطلُها في الفُؤادِ

    Do you think it is time for wishes to demand

    the fulfillment of a need long deferred within the heart?

  8. بَينَ هَمٍّ تَحتَ المَناسِمِ مَطرو

    حٍ وَعَزمٍ عَلى ظُهورِ الجِيادِ

    Between a care cast down beneath camel-hooves

    and resolve upon the backs of steeds,

  9. وَمَهارٍ يَكُدُّها كُلَّ يَومٍ

    طَرَدٌ أَو قَوارِحُ في الطَرادِ

    and colts wearied every day

    by pursuit—or mature steeds in mounted combat—

  10. مِن قُلوبٍ لَها التَقَلُّبُ في العَز

    مِ وَأَيدٍ طَليقَةٍ بِالأَيادي

    from hearts that stir within resolve

    and hands unfettered in their favors.

  11. ما يُبالي الهُمامُ أَينَ تَرَقّى

    وَخَباءُ العُلى أَمينُ العِمادِ

    The noble hero cares not where he rises,

    while glory's tent stands on secure supports.

  12. يا حَياةً يَشجى بِها كُلُّ حَيٍّ

    وَالتَوالي شَجِيَّةٌ بِالهَوادي

    O life that brings grief to every living soul,

    while followers are heartsick over leaders.

  13. إِن سَما بِالنِفاقِ غَيرُكَ فَالأَو

    عالُ مَلوِيَّةٌ عَلى الأَطوادِ

    If another rises through hypocrisy, the ibexes

    too are bent atop towering mountains.

  14. أَو تَعاطى مَداكَ فَالمَرءُ مَسبو

    قٌ إِذا كَفَّ مِن عِنانِ الجَوادِ

    Or if he tries to reach your stature, a man is outstripped

    when he checks the reins of his steed.

  15. حَرَّكَت عَزمَةَ المَعالي وَلَكِن

    يُحدِثُ السَيلُ خِفَّةً في الجَمادِ

    You stirred resolve for lofty deeds; yet

    the torrent gives lightness to inert matter.

  16. كَيفَ يَستَعمِلُ السَماحَ وَبَذلَ ال

    مالِ غَيرُ المُعَلِّمِ المُستَفادِ

    How can anyone practice generosity and the giving of

    wealth, except the teacher from whom it is learned?

  17. نَحنُ في عُصبَةٍ تَرى الجَورَ عَدلاً

    وَتُسَمّي الضَلالَ دارَ رَشادِ

    We are among a band that takes oppression for justice

    and calls error the abode of right guidance.

  18. في رِجالٍ تَهزا بِوَفدِ المَعالي

    وَدِيارٍ تَسطو عَلى الوُرّادِ

    Among men who sneer at high honor's envoys,

    and dwellings that assail their visitors.

  19. إِنَّما أَنتَ نِعمَةُ اللَهِ في الأَر

    ضِ إِذا كانَ نِقمَةً لِلعِبادِ

    You are God's blessing upon the earth

    when He is a scourge to His servants.

  20. لَكَ طَبعٌ تَعَرَّفَتهُ اللَيالي

    وَاِمتَرى فيهِ كُلُّ قارٍ وَبادي

    You have a nature that the nights have come to know,

    and every townsman and nomad has doubted it.

  21. جاعِلٌ قَسوَةَ الوَعيدِ عَلى الأَي

    يامِ عَبداً لِرِقَّةِ الميعادِ

    You make the harshness of threats against the days

    a slave to the tenderness of promises.

  22. أَيَكونُ البَخيلُ غَيرَ بَخيلٍ

    أَم يَكونُ الجَوادُ غَيرَ جَوادِ

    Can the miser be anything but a miser,

    or the generous man anything but generous?

  23. لَأَجارَ الزَمانُ مِن كُلِّ بُؤسٍ

    ظاهِرَ الجَدِّ طاهِرَ الأَجدادِ

    Time has surely sheltered from every misery

    a man of radiant fortune and pure forefathers.

  24. فَرِحاتٌ بِهِ العُيونُ كَما تَف

    رَحُ بِالعُشبِ أَعيُنُ الرُوّادِ

    Eyes rejoice at him, just as

    the eyes of pasture-scouts rejoice at grass.

  25. واضِحُ العَزمِ مُتلَئِبُّ المَطايا

    مُستَطيبُ الإِتهامِ وَالإِنجادِ

    Clear in resolve, his mounts moving unswervingly,

    delighting in journeys to Tihama and Najd.

  26. أَخَذَت كَفُّهُ بِصَخرَةِ عَزمٍ

    دَوَّخَت بِالطِلابِ هامَ البِلادِ

    His hand took hold of a rock of resolve

    that subdued the heads of the lands through striving.

  27. وَجَبانٍ لَوَيتَ عَنهُ فَأَمسى

    وَجِلَ العَينِ مِن قِراعِ الرُقادِ

    And a coward you turned away from became

    fearful-eyed at the onslaught of sleep,

  28. مُستَطيراً كَأَنَّ هُدّابَ جَفنَي

    هِ عَلى الناظِرَينِ شَوكُ القَتادِ

    panic-stricken, as though the lashes of his eyelids

    were thorns of the qatad shrub upon his pupils.

  29. لا أَقالَ الإِلَهُ مَن خانَكَ العَه

    دَ وَجازاكَ بَغضَةً بِالوَدادِ

    May God never pardon whoever betrayed his pledge to you

    and repaid your affection with hatred.

  30. ظَنَّ بِالعَجزِ أَنَّ حَبسَكَ ذُلٌّ

    وَالمَواضي تُصانُ بِالإِغمادِ

    He thought, in his weakness, that your imprisonment was humiliation,

    while keen swords are protected by sheathing.

  31. قَصَّرَ الدَهرُ مِن ذُراهُ وَقَد كا

    نَ بِتِلكَ الظُبى طَويلَ النِجادِ

    Time lowered his stature, though once,

    with those blades, he had borne a long sword-belt.

  32. وَأَذَلَّ الزَمانُ بَعدَكَ عِطفَي

    هِ وَقَد كانَ مِن أَعَزِّ العِبادِ

    And Time humbled both his sides after you,

    though he had been among the mightiest of men.

  33. كُنتَ لَيثاً وَكانَ ذِئباً وَلَكِن

    لا تَلَذُّ الأَشكالُ بِالأَضدادِ

    You were a lion and he a wolf; yet

    like natures take no pleasure in opposites.

  34. وَتَمادى بِما جَناهُ عَلى الأَي

    يامِ حَتّى جَنى عَلَيهِ التَمادي

    He persisted in the wrongs he wrought against the days,

    until persistence wrought his own undoing.

  35. سَمَحَت كَفُّهُ بِهِ لِلمَنايا

    بَعدَ أَن لَم يَكُن مِنَ الأَجوادِ

    His hand gave him freely to death,

    after never having been among the generous.

  36. ظَنَّ أَنَّ المَدى يَطولُ وَفي الآ

    مالِ ما لا يُعانُ بِالإِجدادِ

    He thought his span would lengthen; yet among hopes

    are things no earnest effort can bring to pass.

  37. كُلُّ حَيٍّ يُغالِطُ العَيشَ بِالدَه

    رِ وَكُلٌّ تَعدو عَلَيهِ العَوادي

    Every living being tries to cheat life with Time,

    and calamities assail everyone.

  38. لَو رَجَعنا إِلى العُقولِ يَقيناً

    لَرَأَينا المَماتَ في الميلادِ

    If we truly turned back to reason,

    we would see death within birth.

  39. كَيفَ لا يَطلُبُ الحِمامَ عَليلٌ

    حَكَّمَ الدَهرُ فيهِ رَأيَ المَعادِ

    How could an ailing man not seek death,

    when Time has subjected him to an enemy's will?

  40. لَو أُجيزَت لَهُ العِيادَةُ يَوماً

    لَقَضى مِن فَظاظَةِ العُوّادِ

    If visits to his sickbed were allowed one day,

    he would die from his visitors' harshness.

  41. أَو تَصَدّى لَمَجمَعٍ جَرَحَتهُ

    أَلسُنُ القَومِ بِالعُيونِ الحِدادِ

    Or if he faced a gathering, he would be wounded

    by the people's tongues through their piercing eyes.

  42. هَكَذا تُدرِكُ النُفوسُ مِنَ الأَع

    داءِ بَردَ القُلوبِ وَالأَكبادِ

    Thus souls obtain from their enemies

    coolness for their hearts and livers.

  43. كُلُّ حَبسٍ يَهونُ عِندَ اللَيالي

    بَعدَ حَبسِ الأَرواحِ في الأَجسادِ

    Every confinement is slight in the nights' eyes,

    after the confinement of souls within bodies.

  44. وَتَدارَكتَ ما تَمَنّيتَ وَالأَح

    شاءُ مَزرورَةٌ عَلى الأَحقادِ

    And you attained your wish, while the entrails

    were buttoned shut around rancor.

  45. نِلتَ بَعضاً وَسَوفَ تُدرِكُ كُلّاً

    إِنَّما السَيلُ بَعدَ قَطرِ العِهادِ

    You attained a part, and will attain the whole;

    the torrent comes only after drops of successive rain.

  46. مِثلَ ما مَرَّ لا تُعيدُ اللَيالي

    وَالحَديثُ السَفيهُ غَيرُ مُعادِ

    The nights will not repeat the like of what has passed,

    and foolish talk is not repeated.

  47. رُبَّ يُومٍ شَهِدتُهُ وَالمَنايا

    تَطرَحُ الطَعنَ مِن رُؤوسِ الصِعادِ

    Many a day I witnessed, while Death

    hurled thrusts from the tips of spears,

  48. وَالظُبى تَقذِفُ الغُمودَ وَماءُ ال

    نَقعِ جارٍ عَلى الرُبى وَالوِهادِ

    and blades flung away their sheaths, while the water

    of battle-dust flowed over hills and hollows.

  49. خَلَّقَ الخَيلَ بِالنَجيعِ وَكانَت

    غُرَرُ الخَيلِ مَعقِلاً لِلجِسادِ

    It perfumed the horses with fresh blood, and

    the horses' white blazes were a stronghold for saffron dye.

  50. يا قَريعَ الزَمانِ دِعوَةَ صَبٍّ

    بِالأَماني مُتَيَّمٍ بِالمُرادِ

    O champion of the age, hear a lover's call—

    one enamored of hopes, enthralled by his goal.

  51. لَكَ إِن ذُمَّتِ المَحاضِرُ يَوماً

    عُنفُوانُ الثَناءِ في كُلِّ نادِ

    Yours, if assemblies should ever be censured,

    is the full vigor of praise in every gathering.

  52. نَظَرَ العيدُ مِنكَ بَدراً تَخَفّى

    بُرهَةً عَن نَواظِرِ الأَعيادِ

    The festival beheld in you a full moon that had hidden

    awhile from the eyes of festivals.

  53. فَتَهَنَّ السُرورَ فَاليَومَ مَصقو

    لُ الحَواشي مُجَرَّرُ الأَبرادِ

    So savor joy: today is polished

    at its edges, its cloaks trailing.

  54. مِن مَرامِ بِعادُهُ لِتَدانٍ

    وَمُرادٍ نُقصانُهُ لَاِزدِيادِ

    From an aim whose remoteness yields nearness,

    and a wish whose dwindling brings increase.

  55. لَو قَدَرنا عَلى المُنى لَفَدَينا

    ذي الأَضاحي مِنَ الظُبى بِالأَعادي

    If we had power over wishes, we would ransom

    these sacrificial victims from the blades with enemies.

  56. إِنَّما نَحنُ مُشبِهوكَ وما الأَش

    بالُ إِلّا طَبائِعُ الآسادِ

    We are but your likenesses; and lion cubs

    are nothing but the natures of lions.

  57. نَحنُ ذاكَ الغِرارُ مِن هَذِهِ البي

    ضِ وَذاكَ الشَرارُ مِن ذا الزِنادِ

    We are that cutting edge from these white swords,

    and that spark from this fire-striker.

  58. هَذِهِ تُحفَتي إِلَيكَ وَخَيرُ ال

    شِعرِ ماكانَ تُحفَةَ الإِنشادِ

    This is my gift to you; the finest

    poetry is that which is a gift in recitation.

  59. وَضَميري إِذا طَرَحتُكَ فيهِ

    جاشَ لي بَحرُهُ بِخَيرِ العَتادِ

    And my mind, when I cast you into it,

    its sea surges for me with the finest provisions.

  60. أَنا مِن صَفوَةِ النَبيِّ وَغَيري

    وَلَدٌ لا يُعَدُّ في الأَولادِ

    I am of the Prophet's chosen stock; another

    is a child not counted among children.