1. وَثَبتُ الملالَ فلم أَجلسِ

    وذلك من فُرصِ الأكيسِ

    I leapt clear of boredom and did not sit;

    that is one of the shrewdest man's opportunities.

  2. ولما رأَيتُ فتورَ الهوَى

    وأَنى تُنُوسيتُ فيمنْ نُسي

    And when I saw love slackening,

    and that I had been forgotten among the forgotten,

  3. رَدَدْتُ اليكَ رداءَ الوِصا

    لِ لم يَبْلَ عندى ولم يَدْنَسِ

    I returned to you the robe of union;

    it had neither worn out with me nor been stained.

  4. أَقمْ لي على خُلُقٍ واحدٍ

    اذا حُرِسَ الوُدُّ لم يُحْرَسِ

    Keep one constant disposition toward me;

    if affection is guarded, it is not preserved.

  5. أَكُنْ لكَ أَحلى بُعيدَ الكَلاَلِ

    مِنَ النومِ في أعينِ النُّعَّسِ

    I shall be sweeter to you, just after weariness,

    than sleep in the eyes of the drowsy.

  6. اذا كنتَ بينَ رجاءِ الحيا

    ةِ منكَ وبينَ الضنا المؤنِسِ

    If you stand between the hope of life

    from you and the wasting sickness that brings solace,

  7. فما أَنا الاَّ صريعُ الهَوى

    متى يَبْرَ من دَائِهِ يُنكَسِ

    then I am only one struck down by love:

    whenever he recovers from his illness, he relapses.

  8. يقولُ أَخافُ بأَنْ يَثْقِفُوكَ

    فَتُشْهَر في أَقبحِ المَلْبَسِ

    He says, 'I fear that they may seize you,

    and parade you in the ugliest garb.'

  9. وما الفرقُ لولا اصْطِلاحُ الرجا

    لِ بينَ العِمَامةِ والبُرنُسِ

    And what difference, but for men's convention,

    is there between a turban and a hooded cloak?

  10. أَنا ابنُ الاباءِ فلا ضَارعٌ

    ولا للهَوانِ بمُسْتحْلِسِ

    I am the son of proud refusal, so I am not submissive,

    nor one who clings to humiliation.

  11. وهمٍ قضيتُ وضيمٍ أَبيتُ

    وأَرضٍ طويت فلم أُحبَسِ

    Many a care I dispelled, and an injustice I refused,

    and a land I traversed, never held back.

  12. أَكونُ الظَّلامَ على شَمسِها

    وضوءَ النَّهارِ على الحِنْدِسِ

    I become darkness over its sun,

    and daylight over its deepest darkness,

  13. لأَجْهَرَ غِباً بِهَا مَنْهَلاً

    يَشُقُّ على الراكبِ المُخمِسِ

    to reach there, after a day's interval, a watering place

    that taxes a rider who waters every fifth day.

  14. فلا الزادُ يُؤلمنى قَفْدُهُ

    ولا السيفُ من وَحْشَةِ مُؤنِسي

    The absence of provisions does not pain me,

    nor is the sword my solace against loneliness.

  15. ولمّا عَجَمنا حصاةَ الرجا

    ل بين النواجذ والاضرسِ

    And when we tested men's pebble

    between wisdom teeth and molars,

  16. وجدْنا عليَّ بنَ عبدِ العزي

    زِ أَعطاهُمُ للنَّدى الانفَسِ

    we found Ali ibn Abd al-Aziz

    the most giving of them in the choicest bounty,

  17. وأَسرعَ في مالهِ طَيرَةً

    من النارِ في الحَطَبِ الأيبَسِ

    and swifter at making his wealth fly

    than fire through the driest wood.

  18. وربَّ غَنِيٍّ باملاقِهِ

    وآخرَ من مالهِ مُفْلسِ

    Many a man is rich through his poverty,

    and another bankrupt through his wealth.

  19. وَفَى لي ولم تَكُ لي ذِمَّةٌ

    اليهِ سِوَى عِزَّةِ الأَقعَسِ

    He kept faith with me, though I had no claim

    on him, save the dignity of one who will not bow.

  20. وانَّ الكريمَ يَحُوطُ الظُّنو

    نَ تَنْعَم فيهِ من الأَبؤسِ

    Indeed, the generous man safeguards expectations,

    which find in him relief from misery.

  21. تبرَّعَ مثلَ نباتِ الفَسي

    لِ أَعْطَتْ جَناها ولم تُغْرَسِ

    He gave freely, like sprouting palm shoots

    that yielded their fruit though never planted.

  22. بدارِ الخِلافةِ مُسْتأْسِدٌ

    على النَّاسِ رأسٌ ولم يُرْأَسِ

    At the seat of the caliphate he is lionlike,

    a chief over men, himself subject to no chief.

  23. اذا لقي الشرَّ لم يَخْشَهُ

    وانْ عَدمَ الخيرَ لم يَيْأسِ

    When he meets evil, he does not fear it;

    and if he lacks good fortune, he does not despair.

  24. عِضَاضُ المَلامِ وعُودُ الكلا

    م تَزْلَقُ عن عِرضهِ الأَملَسِ

    The gnawing of reproach and the rod of speech

    slide off his smooth honor.

  25. كأَنَّ به شَبِماً طَاوِياً

    اذا حَقَرَ القِرنَ لم يَفْرِسِ

    As though a cold, hungry beast were within him,

    which, if it scorns an adversary, will not maul him.

  26. ترى القومَ حين يفاجيهم

    كريمٌ له شَرفُ المَجْلِسِ

    You see the people, when there comes upon them

    a noble man who holds the place of honor,

  27. قياماً لهيبتهِ خُشَّعاً

    ومن وطىءَ النارَ لم يَجْلِسِ

    standing in awe of him, humbled;

    whoever steps on fire cannot sit.

  28. كأَنَّ عيونَهم حَيْرَة

    لرؤيته أَعين النَّرجِسِ

    Their eyes seem, in bewilderment

    at the sight of him, to be narcissus eyes.

  29. رَدَدْتَ نِصالَ العِدَى اذْ رموِ

    كَ بينَ المُضَرَّسِ والافطَسِ

    You turned back the foes' arrowheads when they shot

    at you, some notched, others flattened.

  30. تُديرُ عليهم حقوقَ الاذى

    مَدارَ المُدَامةِ في الاكؤُسِ

    You pass around among them their due of hurt,

    as wine makes its circuit through goblets.

  31. وأَنتَ بجدِّهمُ لاعببٌ

    كما يلعَبُ الموتُ بالأنفُسِ

    You play with what they take in earnest,

    as death plays with souls.

  32. فما كنتَ الامكانَ الكُرُ

    بِ والرَّغْمِ من ذلكَ المَعْطِسِ

    You have been nothing but a source of anguish

    and abasement to that nose.

  33. يطيرُ لخوفكَ رأسُ الشُّجاعِ

    وقائمُ سيفكَ لم يُمْسَسِ

    The brave man's head flies off for fear of you,

    though the hilt of your sword has not been touched.

  34. رأيُتكَ كالبدرِ في سَيرِهِ

    تُبينُ السُّعُودَ من الأنْحُسِ

    I saw you like the full moon in its course,

    distinguishing auspicious stars from ill-omened ones.

  35. قريبُ المَرام على ناظِرٍ

    بَعيدُ المَنَالِ على مَلْمَسِ

    Within easy reach of the gazing eye,

    yet far beyond attainment by touch.

  36. اذا ستروا عنه أَبصارَهم

    ليَخفى طُمِسنَ ولم يُطمَسِ

    If they veil their eyes from him

    to hide him, their eyes are effaced, not he.

  37. فلولا التفاوتُ بينَ الرجالِ

    لكانَ المُفَوَّهُ كالأَخْرَسِ

    Were it not for differences among men,

    the eloquent would be like the mute.

  38. وكم في المَجَرَّةِ من أَنجُمٍ

    لفرطِ التقاربِ لم تُحْسَسِ

    How many stars there are in the Milky Way

    that, through excessive closeness, cannot be discerned!

  39. وقفتَ وأَصْحَرْتَ دونَ الانا

    مِ اصحَارَ ذى اللبْدَةِ العَنْبَسِ

    You stood and came into the open in defense of mankind,

    as the fierce, maned lion comes into the open.

  40. تَدافعُ عنه بلا جُنَّةٍ

    دفِاعَ الاكُفِّ عن الارؤُسِ

    You defend him without a shield,

    as palms defend heads.

  41. اذا طاعنوك بصُمِّ الرمَا

    حِ طاعنتَ بالقَلَمِ المِدْعَسِ

    If they thrust at you with solid spears,

    you thrust back with the piercing pen.

  42. ولم أَرَ من قبلِهِ ناطِقاً

    بفصلِ الخِطابِ ولم يَنْبِسِ

    Before it, I had never seen a speaker

    delivering decisive speech without uttering a word.

  43. فعاش أَبو الفضل حتى ينوبَ

    مَنَابَكَ في الزَّمنِ الأَحْوَسِ

    May Abu al-Fadl live until he takes

    your place in the ravaging age.

  44. له لين متنكَ في المنتصى

    وبشرُك في النَّظرِ الأَشْوَسِ

    He has your back's suppleness in close combat,

    and your cheerfulness in a fierce gaze.

  45. يُرَوَّعُ منه فؤُادُ الرَّدى

    بأَحْبَى على رايةِ أَقْوَسِ

    The heart of death is terrified by him,

    at a crouching figure on a bow-backed one's banner.

  46. أتتكَ كحَاشيةِ الأَتْحَمِيْ

    يِ من يُكْسَها فهو المكتَسِي

    They have come to you like the border of Atḥamī cloth;

    whoever is clothed in them is truly clad.

  47. بناتُ الخَوَاطرِ لم تُستَعن

    لِعِرضِ الرئيسِ ولم تُلبَسِ

    Daughters of thought, never before called upon

    for a chief's honor, nor ever worn:

  48. قوافٍ تَطِنُ اذا أُنْشِدَتْ

    طَنَينَ المُهَنَّدِ في القُونَسِ

    rhymes that ring when recited,

    like an Indian-steel sword ringing on a helmet's crest.