بأكثبة الدهناء منهم منازل

وأندية يغدو عليها المقاول

On the dunes of al-Dahna are dwellings belonging to them,

And gathering places frequented each morning by princes.

تنافس أيّام المكارم بينها

بألسنة يهتزّ منها مناصل

They vie among themselves in days of noble deeds,

With tongues that set sword blades quivering.

ندامى الندى والخمر تسعى عليهمُ

بأزلامهم لُعس الشفاه عقائل

Boon companions of generosity, while wine is borne around them

By noble, dusky-lipped women bearing their gaming arrows.

وفي الحيّ بيضاء التراقي كأنّها

صفيحة هنديّ جلاها الصياقل

And in the encampment is a woman with white collarbones, as though she were

An Indian blade polished by sword-polishers.

تميمية لم يعرف الذلّ قومُها

ولا نكباتِ الدهر وهي غوائل

A woman of Tamim, whose people have never known humiliation,

Nor Time's disasters, treacherous as they are.

وفي قضُب الخطّي يهتزّ حولها

مَشابهُ من أعطافها وشواكل

And in the shafts of Khatt spears swaying about her

Are likenesses of her curving sides and matching forms.

أبيت لها في مثل هميّ وشعرِها

من الليل أسري والمطايا ذوامِلُ

For her I stay awake in darkness like my sorrow and her hair,

Traveling through the night while the mounts trot.

ومن حبّها أني أكتِّم حبها

وأنّي بها صبٌّ كأنّيَ ذاهل

So much do I love her that I conceal my love,

And am so lovesick for her that I seem oblivious.

أُداري الهوى عنها وأخضع للعدى

وأخشى عليها ما تجرّ الغوائل

I hide my passion from her and humble myself before foes,

And fear for her what calamities may bring.

وقد جعلت تبأى علينا بقومها

وفي وجهها شغل عن الفخر شاغل

She has begun vaunting her people over us,

Yet her face offers an absorbing distraction from boasting.

فقلت لها صه يا ابنة القيل إننا

بنو المجد نرمي دونه ونناضل

So I told her: Hush, daughter of a prince! We

Are sons of glory, shooting and fighting in its defense.

وإنا لمن قوم همُ ورثوا العلى

على حين لم تخلق تميمٌ ووائلُ

Indeed, we belong to a people who inherited high renown

Before Tamim and Wa'il had been created.

ألم تر أن الناس في كلّ موطن

تحلّ حلول الموت فيها الصّواهل

Have you not seen how people fare in every battlefield

Where neighing steeds descend as death descends,

إذا ما كميٌّ لم يجد طرقَ دِرعه

ولم يدر يومَ السيف أين الحمائل

When a mailed warrior cannot find his armor's openings,

And on the day of the sword knows not where his sword-belts are?

وإنا لنعظي يعرباً حقّ يعرب

وإنا سوانا من سواها الأباطل

Indeed, we accord Ya'rub the honor due to Ya'rub [reading uncertain],

And all besides us, all outside her, are false pretenders [wording unclear].

وهبنا تركنا أن نعدّد ما خلا

وسارت به منّا القرون الأوائل

Suppose we left off recounting what has passed,

And what our earliest generations carried abroad:

أليس لنا في عصرنا من ملوكنا

من الفخر ما نعلو به ونطاول

Have we not, in our own age, through our kings,

Glory by which we rise and vie in greatness?

لنا مثل يحيى والبريّة كلّها

له خول حتى الملوك العباهل

We have one like Yahya, and all creation

Is his servant, even kings of unfettered rule.

فتى لو ترى الأنواء في الجود رأيه

لما انجاب غيمٌ عن قرى الأرض هاطل

A young man—if the rain-stars shared his view of generosity,

No rain-laden cloud would lift from the earth's villages.

ولو صالت الأسدُ الغضاب مصالَهُ

لما امتنعت منها الجيوش الجحافل

And if angry lions charged as he charges,

No mighty armies could withstand them.

ولو فصل الله الحكومةَ فصلَه

لما اختلفت بالمشكلات الأقاول

And if God decided disputes as he decides them,

Opinions would not differ over difficult questions.

ولو علم الناس الخفيّات مثله

لما كان في الأرض العريضة جاهل

And if people knew hidden things as he does,

No ignorant person would remain on the broad earth.

به نصرةُ الأحساب إن قام داغِلٌ

يفاخره أو ذو لسان يجادل

Through him ancestral honors prevail, should an impostor rise

To challenge his glory, or an eloquent man to argue.

فلو لم يكن في مفخر غيرُ حبّه

كفاني إذا التفّت عليّ المحافل

Even if my only cause for pride were his love,

It would suffice me when assemblies gather round me.

وإنّي له من أسعد الناس كلهم

لئن لم تحاربني عليه القبائل

Through him I am among the happiest of all people,

If only the tribes do not wage war on me over him.

ستنظم لي فيه نزارٌ مكايدا

ويحسدني عاف عليه ونائل

Nizar will weave plots against me over him,

And both his petitioner and his beneficiary will envy me.

إذا كنتَ مدّاحَ الملوك فمثله

وإلا فلم تلهج بما أنت قائل

If you are to praise kings, praise one like him;

Otherwise, why persist in what you say?

فما الصدق كل الصدق إلا مديحه

وإلا فإن القولَ إفكٌ وباطل

For truth, the whole truth, is nothing but praise of him;

Otherwise, speech is lying and falsehood.

ولا الناس في كنه الحقيقة غيرُه

ولا بعده إلا السوام القلائل

None but he is human in the very essence of truth,

And beyond him are only a few grazing beasts.

فمن كان منهم عاجزا فهو قادر

ومن كان منهم ناقصا فهو كامل

Where any of them is powerless, he is able;

And where any of them is deficient, he is complete.

فلا جالت الفرسانُ إلا لنصره

ولا حملتها المقرباتُ الصواهل

May horsemen never wheel except to aid him,

Nor prized, neighing steeds bear them otherwise,

ولا قلّبت تلك السلاح أكفُّها

ولا وصلت تلك الأكفَّ الأنامل

Nor their hands wield those weapons,

Nor fingers be joined to those hands.

ألا إنما أنت الحياة لعاقل

وإلا فما للعيش بعدك طائل

Indeed, you alone are life to a discerning man;

Otherwise, living after you has no worth.

وكل مليك غيرك اليومَ سُوقةٌ

وكل جواد غيرَك اليوم باخل

Every king but you today is a commoner,

And every generous man but you today is a miser.

لقد جمع اللَه العلى لك كلها

وتمت لعصر أنت فيه الفضائل

God has indeed gathered all high honors for you,

And virtues have reached perfection in an age in which you live.

وأدرك راج منك ما هو طالب

وأعطيَ دهرٌ منك ما هو آمل

A hopeful man has gained from you what he seeks,

And Time has been given by you what it hopes for.

ودارت رحى الهيجا عليك بأسرها

ولاذت بحقويك القنا والقنابل

The millstone of war has turned about you in its entirety,

And lances and squadrons have sought shelter at your flanks.

فتضربهم ما دام للسيف قائم

وتطعنهم ما دام للرمح عامل

You strike them while the sword still has a hilt,

And thrust at them while the spear still has a striking tip.

كأنك تعتد الوشيج حدائقا

مفوفة تستنُّ فيها جداول

As though you count the interlaced spears as gardens,

Variegated, with streams coursing through them,

أو الخمر صرفا ما يمجّ لك الطلى

أو المسكَ ما تسفي عليك القساطل

Or what throats spew for you as unmixed wine,

Or what dust-clouds scatter over you as musk.

وأنت ربيع الناس والجيش نازل

وأنت قريع الجيش والجيش راحل

You are the people's springtime when the army is encamped,

And the army's champion when the army marches.

فلا حيةٌ إلا لها منك قاتل

ولا أسدٌ إلا له منك آكل

No serpent but has in you its slayer,

And no lion but has in you its devourer.

لقد دام من والاك في ظل غبطة

وأمُّ الذي يشقى بسُخطك هابل

Indeed, your ally has long dwelt in the shade of bliss,

And the mother of one made wretched by your wrath is bereaved.

وما لامرئٍ من خوف بأسك مهرب

ولكنما الدنيا عليه حبائل

No man has any escape from fear of your might;

Instead, the world is a net about him.

رضاك رضى الدنيا إذا هي أقبلت

وسخطك سخط الدهر والدهر غائل

Your favor is the world's favor when it smiles,

And your wrath is Time's wrath, and Time is treacherous.

وحربك حربٌ ليس يصلى بنارها

وأمرك أمر للفرائض هائل

Your war is a war whose fire none can endure,

And your command is a command fearsome to prescribed duties [text unclear].

نظرت فما للملك غيرك حازم

لبيب ولا في الناس غيرَك عاقل

I have looked: none but you is prudent in kingship,

Or discerning; among people, none but you is wise.

ولا في بلاد الله غيرك معقل

لحر إذا ما قيل أين المعاقل

And in God's lands there is no refuge but you

For a free man, when men ask: Where are the refuges?

وأقسم ما في غير نفسك منة

لمجد ولا في طبع غيرك نائل

I swear that no soul but yours has strength

For glory, nor any nature but yours generosity.

بهذا ألاقي الله يوم لقائه

وهذا هو الحق الذي أنا قائل

With this I shall meet God on the day I meet Him,

And this is the truth that I proclaim.

وإن كنت قد حسنت ظني بالورى

وغير الورى من حسن ما أنت فاعل

Though you have made me think well of humankind,

And of beings beyond humankind, through your gracious deeds,

تريع ولم يعطفك غيرك عاطف

وتعطي ولم يسألك غيرك سائل

You turn to kindness, with none but yourself to move you,

And give, with none but yourself to ask you.

وما يبتغي العافي لديك وسيلة

إذا ابتغيت عند الملوك الوسائل

The seeker of bounty needs no intercessor with you,

When intercessors are sought at the courts of kings.

شهدت ولم أكتمكها من شهادة

بأنك للدنيا وللدين كافل

I have testified—and have not hidden this testimony from you—

That you are guardian of this world and the faith,

وأنك أوفى العالمين بذمة

وأطولهم باعا إلى ما تحول

And that you are the most faithful of all beings to a covenant,

And longest in reach toward whatever you turn to,

وأسمحهم كفا إذا جاد جائد

واربطهم جأشا إذا صال صائل

And most openhanded when any giver gives,

And stoutest-hearted when any assailant attacks.

فما للواء الدين غيرك رافع

ولا لقناة الدين غيرَك حامل

None but you raises the banner of the faith,

And none but you bears the faith's spear.

ولا بارق من غير بشرك لامع

ولا عارض من غير كفّك هامل

No lightning flashes except from your smiling face,

Nor does any rain-cloud pour except from your palm.

فمن كان مسبوقا فإنك سابق

ومن كان مفضولا فإنك فاضل

Whoever may be outstripped, you are foremost;

And whoever may be surpassed, you are superior.

إذا طلب الجهالُ يوما دلائلا

على الشمس لم تُطلب عليك دلائل

If the ignorant should one day demand proofs

Of the sun, no proofs will be demanded concerning you.