1. سُقِياً لِمَنزِلَةِ الحِمى وَكَثيبِها

    إِذ لا أَرى زَمَناً كَأَزماني بِها

    May rain bless the dwelling in the protected pasture and its dune,

    for I see no time like the times I spent there.

  2. ما أَعرِفُ اللَذاتِ إِلّا ذاكِراً

    هَيهاتَ قَد خَلَّفتُ لَذّاتي بِها

    I know pleasures only in remembrance;

    how distant! I have left my pleasures there.

  3. وَبَكيتُ مِن جَزعٍ لِنَوحِ حَمامَةٍ

    دَعَتِ الهَديلَ فَظَلَّ غَيرَ مُجيبُها

    And I wept in anguish at a dove's lament:

    she called to the cooing dove, but he still gave her no answer.

  4. نُحنا وَناحَت غَيرَ أَنَّ بُكاءَنا

    بِعُيونِنا وَبُكائَها بِقُلوبِها

    We lamented, and she lamented, except that our weeping

    was through our eyes, and hers through her hearts.

  5. مَنَعَ الزِيارَةَ مِن شُرَيرَةَ خائِفٌ

    لَو يَستَطيعُ لَباتَ بَينَ جُيوبِها

    A fearful man barred visits from Shurayra;

    if he could, he would spend the night between the folds at her breast.

  6. ساءَت بِكَ الدُنيا وَسَرَّت مَرَّةً

    فَأَراكَ مِن حَسَناتِها وَذُنوبِها

    Through you, the world brought sorrow, and once brought joy;

    so I see you among its good deeds and its sins.

  7. وَيَجُرُّني بِالمَطلِ مَوعِدُ حاجَةٍ

    لَو شِئتُ قَد بَرَدَ الغَليلُ بِطيبِها

    And a promise to meet a need drags me on through delays;

    had I wished, my burning thirst would already have cooled through its sweetness.

  8. مَحبوسَةٍ في كَفِّ مَطلِكَ طالَما

    عَذَّبتَني وَشَغَلتَ آمالي بِها

    Held captive in the grasp of your delay—for so long

    you have tormented me and occupied my hopes with it.

  9. خَلِّ العَواذِلَ لَيلَةً قاسَيتُها

    وَالناجِياتُ بِنَصِّها وَدُؤوبِها

    Leave the reproaching women aside: I endured a night

    while swift she-camels, at full stretch and with tireless effort,

  10. يَحمِلنَ وَفدَ الشُكرِ فَوقَ رِحالِها

    وَالشاكِرُ النَعماءِ كَالجاري بِها

    carried a delegation of thanks upon their saddles.

    And one grateful for favors is like one who carries them onward.

  11. بَيضاً وَمَسَّهُمُ الهَجيرُ بِسُمرَةٍ

    مِثلَ البُدورِ سَطَعنَ تَحتَ سُحوبِها

    Fair-skinned, though midday heat had touched them with a tan,

    like full moons shining beneath their clouds.

  12. لَمّا رَأَيتَ المُلكَ شَظّى عودَهُ

    وَهَوَت كَواكِبُ سَعدِها بِغُروبِها

    When you saw the timber of kingship splintered,

    and the stars of its good fortune plunged as they set,

  13. حَرَّكتَ تَدبيراً عَلَيهِ سَكينَةً

    وَخَلَطتَ ضَحكَةَ حازِمٍ بِقُطوبِها

    you set a plan in motion, cloaked in calm,

    and mingled a resolute man's laughter with its frown.

  14. وَذَخَرتَ لِلأَعداءِ أُسدَ وَقائِعٍ

    صُبُراً عَلى غُمّاتِها وَكُروبِها

    And you held battle-lions in reserve for the enemies,

    steadfast amid their gloom and their anguish:

  15. أُسدٌ فَرائِسُها الفَوارِسُ لا تَطا

    إِلّا عَلى الأَقرانِ يَومَ حُروبِها

    lions whose prey are horsemen, who tread on none

    but their equals on the day of their battles.

  16. كَم فِتنَةٍ لاقَيتَ فيها فُرصَةً

    فَحَتَمتُها وَوَثَبتَ قَبلَ وُثوبِها

    How often amid turmoil you found an opportunity,

    so I settled it, and you sprang before it sprang.

  17. راعَيتَ جانِبَها بِلَحظٍ حازِمٍ

    فَطِنٍ بِعَقرَبِ عِلَّةٍ وَدَبيبِها

    You watched its flank with a resolute glance,

    alert to the scorpion of an ill and its creeping.

  18. كَم قائِلٍ وَالهامُ تُنظَمُ في القَنا

    لا يُصلَحُ الخَرَزاتِ غَيرُ ثُقوبِها

    How many a man said, while heads were strung on spears:

    'Beads are set right only by their holes.'

  19. قُطبٌ يُديرُ رَحى الحَوادِثِ حَولَهُ

    مُتَفَرِّدٌ بِصُروفِها وَخُطوبِها

    A pivot, turning the millstone of events around himself,

    standing alone amid their turns and their calamities.

  20. وَعُهودِ ميثاقٍ أَخَذتَ وَزِدتَها

    شَدّاً كَما عُقِدَ القَنا بِكُعوبِها

    And you took covenant pledges and increased them

    in firmness, as spear-shafts are joined at their nodes.

  21. وَعَزائِمٍ رَعهَدتُها في صَمتِهِ

    لا تَكشِفُ الأَوهامُ سِترَ غُيوبِها

    And firm resolves—[unclear wording]—in his silence,

    conjectures cannot lift the veil from their secrets.

  22. وَالبيضُ لا يَهتِكنَ ما لاقَيتَهُ

    إِلّا بِصَوتِ مُتونِها وَرُكوبِها

    And bright swords do not tear through what you faced,

    except through the ring of their spines and their riding.

  23. وَلَرُبَّ أَشرارٍ لِنَفسٍ نالَها

    أَعدائُها مِن خِلِّها وَحَبيبِها

    And many evils have reached a soul

    from its enemies through its intimate friend and its beloved.

  24. وَتَنالُ ما فاتَ العَجولَ تَمَهُّلاً

    وَدَوّمُ حُضرِ الخَيلِ في تَقريبِها

    And with patience you attain what the hasty one missed;

    and the horses' gallop endures through their canter.

  25. كَم دَولَةٍ مَرِضَت وَأَبرَأَها لَنا

    لَولاهُ بَرَّحَ سُقمُها بِطَبيبِها

    How many a state fell ill, and he healed it for us;

    but for him, its sickness would have sorely afflicted its physician.

  26. وَلَرُبَّ سَمعٍ قَد قَرَعتَ بِحُجَّةٍ

    هَذَّبتُها مِن شَكِّها وَعُيوبِها

    And many an ear you have struck with an argument;

    I purged it of its doubt and its flaws.

  27. أَثنى عَلَيها بِالصَوابِ حَسودُها

    وَقَضى عَلَيها خَصمُها بِوُجوبِها

    Its envier praised it as right,

    and its opponent pronounced it binding.

  28. إِعطائُها التَوفيقَ مِن كَلِماتِهِ

    بَيضاءَ ساطِعَةً لِمَن يَسري بِها

    Success is bestowed upon it through his words,

    white and radiant for whoever travels by night with it.