1. سُقِيتَ الحَيا أَيُّها المَنزِلُ

    وَجادَتكَ أَنواؤُهُ الهُطَّلُ

    May you be watered with rain, O dwelling,

    And may its rain-bearing stars pour generously upon you.

  2. وَإِن أَنتَ لَم تُبقِ بَينَ المَلامِ

    وَبَينَ الغَرامِ فَتىً يَعقِلُ

    Though you have not left, between reproach

    And passion, a youth who keeps his reason.

  3. تَمَنَّعتَ بُخلاً بِرَدِّ الجَوابِ

    وَما زالَ يَأويكَ مَن يَبخَلُ

    You held back, grudging a reply,

    And one who is stingy still dwells in you:

  4. خَدَلَّجَةُ الساقِ رُعبُوبَةٌ

    يُجَلِّلُها وَارِدٌ مُسبَلُ

    A tender beauty with shapely, full calves,

    Enfolded in long, loose-flowing hair.

  5. تَقُولُ ذَهَلتَ غَداةَ الفِراقِ

    فَقُلتُ لَها كَيفَ لا أَذهَلُ

    She says, "You were dazed on the morning of parting."

    I said to her, "How could I not be dazed?"

  6. وَلِي بَعدَكُم مَدمَعٌ سائِلٌ

    وَجِسمٌ كَما شِئتُمُ يَنحَلُ

    And after your departure, my eye streams with tears,

    And my body wastes away, as you wished.

  7. وَقَد عَذَلُونا عَلى حُبِّكُم

    فَما قَبلَ العَذلَ مَن يُعذَلُ

    And they have reproached us for loving you,

    Yet the one reproached has not heeded the reproach.

  8. وَما مِن ضَلالٍ جَهلِنا الصَوابَ

    وَلَكِن نَلِجُّ فَلا نَقبَلُ

    Our ignorance of what is right is not born of error,

    But we persist and will not accept it.

  9. كَمالَجَّ في المَكرُماتِ الأَمِيرُ

    فَأَقصَرَ عَن عَذلِهِ العُذَّلُ

    Just as the emir persisted in noble deeds,

    So his reproachers ceased reproaching him.

  10. لَهُ في أَخيرِ النَدى آخِرٌ

    وَفِي أَوَّلِيِّ النَدى أَوَّلُ

    His is the last gift at bounty's end,

    And the first at bounty's beginning.

  11. إِذا أَمحَلَت بَلدَةٌ حَلَّها

    فَيَحيا بِهِ البَلَدُ المُمحِلُ

    When a town suffers drought, he settles there,

    So through him the drought-stricken land revives.

  12. أَخُو ثِقَةٍ جارُهُ لا يُضامُ

    وَداعِيهِ لِلنَصرِ لا يُخذَلُ

    A trustworthy man whose neighbor is not wronged,

    And whoever calls on him for aid is not abandoned.

  13. إِذا حارَبَ القَومُ خَلّى الفِجاجَ

    يَسُدُّ مَذاهِبَها القَسطَلُ

    When the people wage war, he leaves the passes

    With battle-dust blocking their paths.

  14. وَخَلّى الرِماحَ أَنابِيبَها

    إِزا كُلِّ أُنبُوبَةٍ جَدوَلُ

    And he leaves the shafts of the spears

    With a stream beside every section.

  15. كَأَنَّ السُيُوفَ وَقَد خُضِّبَت

    سَنا النارِ أَوَّلَ ما تُشعَلُ

    As though the swords, now stained,

    Were the glow of fire when first kindled.

  16. صَوارِمُ عَوَّدَها أَن تُهانَ

    فَلَيسَت تُداسُ وَلا تُصقَلُ

    Keen blades he has accustomed to neglect,

    So they are neither whetted nor polished.

  17. فَوارَحمَتا لِبِلادِ العِدي

    إِذا قَلِقُوا وَإِذا زُلزِلُوا

    Oh, pity the lands of the foes,

    When they are troubled and shaken!

  18. لِأَيِّ هِزَبرِ وَغىً هَيَّجُوا

    وَأَيِّ سَنا جَذوَةٍ أَشعَلُوا

    What a lion of battle they have roused,

    And what a firebrand's blaze they have kindled!

  19. وَفِي قَلعَةِ الجِسرِ قَومٌ تَدُوسُ

    قَرِيباً جَباهَهُمُ الأَرجُلُ

    And in the fortress of al-Jisr are men

    Whose foreheads will soon be trampled underfoot.

  20. رِجالٌ تَرِفُّ مَناياهُمُ

    عَلَيهِم كَما رَفرَفَ الأَجدَلُ

    Men whose deaths flutter

    Over them as the falcon flutters.

  21. كَأَنّي بِهِم قُوتُ وَحشِ الفَلا

    فَهُنِّيتِ رِزقَكِ يا جَيَأَلُ

    I can almost see them, food for the beasts of the wastes;

    So may you enjoy your portion, O she-hyena!

  22. فَنِعمَ الدِماءُ الَّتي تُمتَرى

    وَنِعمَ اللُحُومُ الَّتي تُؤكَلُ

    How fine the blood that is milked out,

    And how fine the flesh that is eaten!

  23. لَعَمرِي سَتَعلَمُ أُمُّ القَتِيلِ

    غَداً أَيَّماً وَلَدٍ تَثكَلُ

    By my life, the slain man's mother will know

    Tomorrow what a son she will lose.

  24. تَسَنَّمتَهُم في ذُرى شاهِقٍ

    يَزِلُّ عَلى مَتنِهِ المِسحَلُ

    You surmounted them on a towering mountain's heights,

    Upon whose back the wild ass slips.

  25. فَأَينَ الذَهابُ وَلا مَذهَبٌ

    لَكُم في البِلادِ وَلا مَوئِلُ

    Where, then, can you go, with no way out

    For you in the land, nor any refuge?

  26. فَلا تَطلُبُوا العَفوَ عَن جُرمِكُم

    فَأَحسَنُ عَفوِكُمُ المُنصُلُ

    Do not seek pardon for your crime,

    For your best pardon is the sword.

  27. أَبا صالِحٍ لا عَدَتكَ السُعُودُ

    وَلا خانَكَ الزَمَنُ المُقبِلُ

    Abu Salih, may good fortune never pass you by,

    Nor may the time to come betray you.

  28. هَنِيئاً بِما خَوَّلتَكَ السُيوُفُ

    وَأَعطَتكَ أَرماحُكَ الذُبَّلُ

    May you rejoice in what the swords have granted you,

    And what your slender spears have given you.

  29. رَأَوكَ صَحِيحَ عُقُودِ الوَفاءِ

    فِيما تَقُولُ وَما تَفعَلُ

    They found you true to your pledges of loyalty,

    In what you say and what you do.

  30. فَما اِستَعظَمُوا فِيكَ ما خَوَّلُوا

    وَلا استَكثَرُوا فِيكَ ما أَرسَلُوا

    So they did not deem their gifts to you too great,

    Nor deem what they sent you excessive.

  31. وَقَد طَوَّقُوكَ بِأَطواقِهِم

    وَلَكِن إِمامِيُّها الأَفضَلُ

    And they have adorned you with their collars,

    But the imam's is the finest among them.

  32. بَقِيتَ لَنا وَلِأَهلِ البِلادِ

    وَهَذِي العِبادِ الَّتي تَسأَلُ

    May you remain for us and for the people of the land,

    And for these people who petition you.

  33. فَأَنتَ السِراجُ إِذا أَظلَمُوا

    وَأَنتَ الرَبيعُ إِذا أَمحَلُوا

    For you are the lamp when they enter darkness,

    And you are spring when they suffer drought.

  34. لَقَد أَدرَكُوا فِيكَ ما حاوَلُوا

    وَنالُوا بِنُعماكَ ما أَمَّلُوا

    They have indeed attained through you what they sought,

    And by your bounty gained what they hoped for.