ولعت به كبدر التم يبدو

فيغشى بالضياء وفيه بعد

I am enamored of him; like the full moon he appears,

bathing one in radiance, yet remaining distant.

يقربه إذا ما شط ود

ويبعده إذا ما زار صد

Affection brings him near when he strays far,

and aversion drives him away when he visits.

فيما يخلو من الهجران قرب

لديه ولا من الا خلاف وعد

No closeness is free from estrangement

with him, nor any promise free from breach.

تدان كالتنائي ليس يطفي

به من حر قلب الصب وقد

A nearness like distance does not quench

the blaze of heat in the yearning lover's heart.

إذا قال الهوى لا بد منه

أجابته النوى بل منه بد

When love says, 'There is no escape from him,'

separation answers, 'On the contrary, there is.'

لديه الجد من سواى هزل

وعندي الهزل من برحاه جد

To him, another's earnestness is jest;

to me, even the jest of his torments is earnest.

فلا أنا منه في يأس مريح

ولا طمع له امد يحد

Neither am I in restful despair of him,

nor has my hope a term that can be bounded.

أطلت على صروف الدهر عتبي

وهل عتب به صرف يرد

Long have I reproached the reversals of time;

but can reproach avert a single reversal?

فما حاولت أمرا فيه إلا

تعرض منه لي خصم ألد

For never have I attempted anything in it

without a bitter adversary confronting me from it.

فيا زمني أهل هذا اتفاق

فارجو العود أم ذا منك قصد

O my time, is this mere chance,

so I may hope for a return—or is it deliberate?

لقد اسرفت في تقليل حظي

وزدت اما لهذا منك جد

You have gone too far in diminishing my fortune,

and further still—will you not put a stop to this?

وما عندي أسات إلي قصدا

ولا هذي الجناية منك عمد

Yet I do not think you wronged me on purpose,

nor that this offense of yours was deliberate.

فمثلك ليس يخفى عنه أني

لأحمد ابن إسمعيل عبد

For one such as you cannot be unaware that I

am a servant of Ahmad ibn Isma'il,

لملك لم يكن من قبل ملك

يقاربه وليس يكون بعد

of a king whom no king before

has approached, nor will any after.

يهول جليسه رأيا وحكما

ويبهت من له نظر ونقد

His counsel and judgment awe his companion,

and astound those with insight and discernment,

فيحلف امنا للحنث أن لا

يصاب لأحمد في الأرض ند

so one swears, with no fear of perjury, that no

equal to Ahmad can be found on earth.

وثوب عند فرصته ولكن

جميع زمانه فرص وسعد

He pounces when his opportunity comes; yet

all his time is opportunity and good fortune.

فما نحصى ولا تحصى الأعادي

وقائعه وإن شئتم فعدوا

Neither we nor his enemies can count

his battles; count them, if you wish.

إذا نفضت يد بالغور سرجا

ليركبه تزلزل منه نجد

When a hand in al-Ghawr dusts off a saddle

for him to ride, Najd trembles before him.

وفضلت الجسوم ظباً وسمر

فتلك تخيط ما الاخرى تقد

Sword-edges and tawny lances cut bodies apart;

the lances stitch what the blades have rent.

فكم هام مطيرة وساق

وكم كف مطرحة وزند

How many heads and shanks sent flying,

and how many hands and forearms flung down!

هنالك ترخص القتلى وتغلو

على المرء الحياة لمن يود

There the slain are cheap, yet precious

to a man is the life of those he loves.

له جندان من سيف ومال

فكلهما لحاجته معد

He has two armies: sword and wealth,

each held ready for his need.

فذا مفن إذا ما قيل حرب

وذا مغن إذا ما قيل وفد

One annihilates when 'War!' is proclaimed,

the other enriches when 'A delegation!' is announced.

عدمت قبيلة ضلت هداها

وفات زعيمها رأي ورشد

Perish the tribe that has lost its way,

whose chief is bereft of judgment and good sense!

اتطلب سيفه والموت عد

وتترك سوحه والعيش رغد

Does it seek his sword, where death is an unfailing spring,

and forsake his courts, where life is ease?

وجعفر فر شبعانا مليا

وما يحكي اسمه كذب ورد

And Ja'far fled, sated and wealthy,

and what his name suggests is false and refuted.

لقد وافى ففضت عليه بحراً

له بالفضل والإِحسان مد

He came, and as a sea you overflowed upon him,

with tides of bounty and beneficence.

وراح مطوقا نعما بعيد

من الولد الحلال لهن جحد

He left with favors about his neck; far indeed

from one of lawful birth is denial of them.

أياد في الرقاب لها عهود

وثاق لا يحل لهن عقد

Benefactions upon necks, bound by pledges

so firm that no bond of theirs can be undone.

فان شكرت فاطواق وعقد

وإن كفرت فاغلال وقيد

If met with thanks, they are neck-rings and necklaces;

if denied, they are shackles and fetters.

وخير القوم أحفظهم عهودا

وما لفتى لئيم الجد عهد

The best of men is the most faithful to pledges;

no youth of base ancestry keeps faith.

إذا كفر الصنيعة شيخ قوم

فلا تحفل به الشيخ وغد

If a people's chief disowns a kindness,

pay him no heed: that chief is a scoundrel.

وطهر منه أرضا حل فيها

لعلك ترتضى من تستجد

Cleanse of him the land where he has settled;

perhaps his replacement will please you.

وان تك هفوة منه فسامح

فما من تغاضى عنه عبد

But if it was a lapse on his part, forgive him,

for one toward whom you show forbearance is no slave.

وألوى من تواليه ولي

وأجدر من تغاضي عنه عبد

The most headstrong of those you befriend is an ally,

and a slave most deserves your forbearance.

وصدرك كالفضا سعة وكل

له في فضله أمل وقصد

Your breast is as wide as open space, and each

has hope in its bounty and makes it his aim.

وقربك جنة ونواك نار

وسخطك شقوة ورضاك سعد

Nearness to you is paradise, distance from you fire;

your wrath is misery, and your approval bliss.