1. اذا كانَ عن فَرطِ المَلالِ التَّفَرُّقُ

    فانَّ النَوى بي من سُلُوكَ أَرفقُ

    If separation comes from excessive weariness,

    then separation is kinder to me than your forgetting.

  2. وأي فتى قبل الغرامِ وبعدَهُ

    تمنَّى الذي منه يَخافُ ويشفِقُ

    And what young man, before love and after it,

    has wished for what he fears and dreads?

  3. وما خلتُ أَنَّ الشوقَ والنأيَ والبكا

    وفقدَ الكَرى مما أَلذُّ وأَعشقُ

    I never thought that yearning, distance, and weeping,

    and the loss of sleep, were things I savor and adore.

  4. أَخِيبُ ويَحظى بالغنيمةِ عاجزٌ

    ولا يَعْدَمُ النُّجحَ المُعَانُ الموفَّقَ

    I fail, while an incapable man wins the spoil,

    and the aided, fortunate man never lacks success.

  5. وفذٍ من الفتيانِ يأنفُ وحدَهُ

    بِنَا وبِهِ من سَورِةِ العزِّ أَولقُ

    And a peerless youth who alone holds himself aloof—

    both we and he are maddened by pride's fierce surge.

  6. أُسِرُّ وأُبدي الوجدَ يومَ وَدَاعِه

    كأَني أَسيرٌ للضريبةِ موثَقُ

    I conceal and reveal my passion on the day of his farewell,

    as though a captive bound for the fatal stroke.

  7. يرى الصبر أَولى بالفتى فيُطيعه

    ويُدركه حبُّ الحياةِ فيقلَقُ

    He deems patience more fitting for a young man, and obeys it,

    yet love of life overtakes him, and he grows anxious.

  8. وأَعييتَني لا في الاضاعةِ حَازمٌ

    ولا في مخيلاتِ المَطَامعِ أَحْمَقُ

    And you have baffled me—neither prudent in neglect,

    nor foolish before the alluring visions of ambition.

  9. كأني بنجدٍ أَنشدُ الذئبَ نعجةً

    رعى شِلْوَهَا بالأَمسِ فهو ممزَّقُ

    As though in Najd I asked the wolf about a ewe

    whose carcass he fed upon yesterday, and it lies torn apart.

  10. أُسَائِلُهُ اذْ عارضته طَريدةٌ

    فمرَّ على آثارها يَتَدَفَّقُ

    I question him when quarry crosses his path,

    and he rushes headlong along its tracks.

  11. سَلا كلُّ مُشْتَاقٍ يبوحُ بشَجْوِهِ

    ولم يُسْلني الكتمانُ والحزمُ أَوفقُ

    Every longing lover who voices his grief has found solace,

    but concealment has not consoled me, though prudence is more fitting.

  12. فسقياً لأرضِ الشامِ لو أَنَّ ذكرها

    يَشِحُّ بأَلبابِ الرجالِ ويَرفُقُ

    May rain bless the land of al-Sham! If only remembering it

    would spare men's minds and treat them gently.

  13. ولله مهضومُ الربى من رِحابها

    يمر به عافي النَّسيمِ فيعبَقُ

    How wondrous the low hills among its broad expanses,

    where a wafting breeze passes and grows fragrant.

  14. يُباهي بياضَ الأُقْحُوَانِ بَهَارُهُ

    للونِ ضُحاهُ والعشيَّاتِ رَونَقُ

    Its oxeye blossoms vie with the whiteness of chamomile;

    the hues of its forenoons and evenings have a sheen.

  15. وأَغيدُ في أَجْفَانِهِ سِنَةُ الكرى

    نعرتُ به والليلُ بالصبح أَروقُ

    And a supple youth, with sleep's drowsiness upon his eyelids—

    I called to him while the night was horned with dawn.

  16. فَقَدْ خَانَنَي ذاكَ النشاطُ ومَلَّنِي

    مَلولٌ شكاهُ تُبَّعٌ ومحرِقُ

    For that vigor has betrayed me, and weary of me has grown

    a fickle one, of whom Tubbaʿ and Muharriq complained.

  17. وأَنزلني طولُ الشَّقاءِ ببلدَةٍ

    يؤرقني فيها الشَّرابُ المُرَوّقُ

    Long misery has lodged me in a town

    where clarified wine keeps me sleepless.

  18. بها المِسكُ والكافورُ يُعَدَمُ نَشرُه

    وريحُ الصَّبَا فيها مع الفَجْر تُعرَقُ

    There the fragrance of musk and camphor is lost,

    and even the east wind is made to sweat at dawn.

  19. مَدىً لرهانِ النائباتِ كأَنني

    لها غرضٌ دونَ الخلائقِ يُرشقُ

    A racecourse for calamities—as though I

    were their target, singled out from all creation for their darts.

  20. ولي رُفقةٌ شتَّى النِّجارِ جعلتُها

    مواقعَ لحظي والحَوادثُ تَطرُقُ

    I have companions of diverse stock, whom I have made

    resting places for my gaze, while calamities visit by night.

  21. وللضَّرْبِ هَزْهَازٌ وللطعن عاسِلٌ

    وللرحْلِ شَوْشاةٌ وللرَكضِ خَيفَقُ

    For striking, a quivering sword; for thrusting, a swaying spear;

    for the saddle, a nimble she-camel; for galloping, a fleet horse.

  22. أَولئكَ من صاحبتُه فهو ماهِرٌ

    صَنَاعٌ ومن فارقتُه فهو أَخرَقُ

    Among those, whoever I accompany is skillful,

    deft; whoever I part from is clumsy.

  23. أولئكَ من صاحبتُه فهو ماهِرٌ

    لهنَّ عن البيداءِ والآلُ يَخفِقُ

    Among those, whoever I accompany is skillful,

    for them, away from the desert, while the mirage shimmers.

  24. ومدَّتْ على شَمسِ النهارِ ملاءةً

    مُنَمْنَمَةً فيها النجومُ تألَّقُ

    And she spread a mantle over the sun of day,

    embroidered, with stars glittering within.

  25. فَوَيْلُمِّها لو عَرَّسَتْ عند غايةٍ

    ومُحْتَقِرُ الغاياتِ لا يَتَرفَّقُ

    Woe to her mother! If only she had camped at a goal,

    but one who scorns goals does not proceed gently.

  26. لمن نِعَمٌ لما رَعَتْ مطمئنةً

    نَفَاهَا ذُبابٌ في الثعالبِ أَزرَقُ

    Whose herds, when they grazed contentedly,

    were driven off by a blue-steel point amid the spear-shafts?

  27. أَغار عليها عدوة الذئبِ عائفٌ

    يُخَبِّرُ عما في الغُيوبِ فيصدُقُ

    An augur raided them with a wolf's rush,

    telling of things unseen, and speaking truly.

  28. تبيت بأَفواه الثغورِ جيادُهُ

    سوالِفُها فيها الحديدُ المُعَلَّقُ

    His steeds spend the night at the mouths of frontier posts,

    their necks bearing hanging iron.

  29. حَطَمْنَ بجُرجَانَ القنا غيرَ أكعُبٍ

    لدولابَ كانتْ في الجَوانحِ تُشْرِقُ

    At Jurjan they shattered the spears, except for joints

    from Dulab that choked within the ribs.

  30. ومثلكَ يا كافي الكفاةِ أَعادَها

    تُسابقُ أَلحَاظَ العيونِ فتسْبِق

    And one like you, O Kafi al-Kufat, sent them back

    racing the eyes' glances and outstripping them.

  31. مسافةُ ما بينَ الخُوارِ وآملٍ

    يَضيقُ بها والجَوُ بالنقعِ أَضيقُ

    The distance between al-Khuwar and Amul

    can hardly contain them, and the air is tighter still with dust.

  32. تَقَطَّعَتِ الأَرحامُ الاَّ قواطِعاً

    تَحُوْم على هضامِ الرجالِ وتخفِقُ

    Kinship ties were severed, save for cutting blades

    hovering over men's hollow flanks and quivering.

  33. ونصرٌ مع العَيُّوقِ في مُشْمَخِرَّةٍ

    يناوحهُ فيها السّمِاكُ المُحَلِّقُ

    And Nasr stands beside al-ʿAyyuq upon a towering height,

    where soaring al-Simak faces him.

  34. كأَن ظهورَ الطير دونَ مَقيلِهِ

    زَرابيُّ سَدَّى وشيَهُهنَّ المنمِّقُ

    As though the backs of birds below his midday resting place

    were carpets whose patterns the decorator had woven.

  35. ولم يدرِ أَنَّ الحضْرَ أَسلَمَ رَبَّهُ

    ومن دونهِ سورٌ منيفٌ وخَنْدَقُ

    He did not know that al-Hadr had surrendered its lord,

    with a towering wall and a moat before him.

  36. رآها تَعُلُّ النقعَ منه فخالَها

    أَمامَ السَّواقى سُرَبةً وهي فيلَقُ

    He saw them drinking again of his dust, and thought them

    a herd before the watercourses, though they were an army.

  37. وما ضرها أنْ كان في سَرَعَانشها

    الى الطعنِ أَطرافِ القنا يتنزَّقُ

    Nor did it harm them that, in their vanguard,

    he rushed recklessly toward the thrusting spear-points.

  38. أناتضكَ يا ابنَ الفَيرُزان فانَّها

    شمائلُ دَهْرٍ بالفتى يَتَصَفَّقُ

    Patience, son of al-Fayruzan, for these are

    the ways of Time as it buffets a young man.

  39. قليلٌ بها الانسانُ الا حديثَه

    وأَيُّ حديثٍ لا يُمَل فيخلُقُ

    Man counts for little there, except his story,

    and what story is not tired of, and thus worn out?

  40. كأَنْ لم يكن من بعدِ ما هو كائنٌ

    فلا غرَّنى هذا الخَيالُ الملفَّقُ

    As though, afterward, what now exists had never been;

    so may this pieced-together phantom never deceive me.

  41. تركتُ سَواماً بالحمى لك شَطْره

    وأَقبلتَ في حَافاتِهِ تَتَسَرَّقُ

    I left a grazing herd in the preserve, half of it yours,

    yet you came stealing along its edges.

  42. مرافقةُ السِّرْحَانِ أَدنى عَدُوه

    أخوهُ اذا ضَافَ اللوى وهو مُخْفِقُ

    The wolf's companionship: his nearest enemy

    is his brother, when he visits the winding dunes empty-handed.

  43. أَعقكما أَو فاكما وكلاكما

    به غَدرةٌ من شَابِكِ العِرقِ أَعرَقُ

    The more disloyal of you two is the more faithful; and both of you

    bear treachery more deeply rooted than an entwined root.

  44. تنم عليه عينُه ولسانُهُ

    يكذِب ما في العين والعينُ أَصْدَقُ

    His eye betrays him, and his tongue

    denies what is in the eye, though the eye is truer.

  45. وما طلكَ البغْضَاءَ حتى سئمتَها

    طليعةُ آجالٍ من السُم مِتْأَقُ

    And you were kept waiting in hatred until you wearied of it

    by a harbinger of deaths, brimming with poison.

  46. علا ثَبج الطوفانِ في الفلكِ وحدَهُ

    وكانَ رضيعَ الدهرِ أَو هو أَعتَقُ

    He rose above the flood's crest, alone in the ark,

    and was suckled alongside Time—or older still.

  47. أَخو الرأى اسماعيلُ انَّ أَناتَهُ

    لها من أَعاديه اللُّهَا والمُخَنَّقُ

    Ismaʿil, the man of judgment—indeed, his deliberation

    holds his enemies' uvulas and throats.

  48. ضحوكٌ ببسطِ الوجهِ يرفَعُ ثغْرَهُ

    عن اللهوِ لا يجفو ولا يتمَلَّقُ

    Often smiling, with an open face, he keeps his mouth raised

    above frivolity, neither harsh nor flattering.

  49. كفاه علّوُ القَدْرِ كُلفةَ مَدْحِهِ

    ويَغنى عن الطَّوق الحَمامُ المُطَوَّقُ

    His lofty standing has spared him the labor of praise,

    and a ring-necked dove needs no collar.

  50. وأَروعُ وضاحُ الجبين ثيابُه

    رعابيلُ ريط أو دِلاصُ مُخَرَّقُ

    And an awe-inspiring man, bright-browed, whose garments

    are tatters of fine cloth, or pierced, gleaming mail.

  51. له خُلُقٌ باقٍ على الفَقْرِ والغِنَى

    وما آفةُ الأخْلاقِ الاَّ التَّخَلَقُ

    His character endures through poverty and wealth,

    and nothing blights character but affectation.

  52. ومعتركٍ بين الخُصُومِ شَهِدْتَهُ

    كما شَهِدَ الروعَ السنانُ المذلَّقُ

    And an arena between opponents, which you witnessed,

    as the sharpened spearhead witnesses terror,

  53. على خطرٍ تَنسى به الأَلسنُ الحِجَى

    فتخرُسُ فيه والفرائضُ تنطِقُ

    at such peril that tongues forget their reason,

    falling silent there while the prescribed duties speak.

  54. فَرقْتَ به بين الضَّلالةِ والهُدى

    كما فَرَّقَ الفَودَينِ في الرأس مَفْرِقُ

    There you distinguished error from right guidance,

    as a hair-parting divides the two temple-locks upon a head.

  55. وشتانَ سَهْمٌ في الجَوانحِ نَصْلُهُ

    وآخرُ في عُرضِ البوارحِ يَمْرُقُ

    How different are an arrow whose point lies in the ribs

    and another that shoots through the scorching winds!

  56. لقد غَلَبَ الأَعداءَ حزماً وقوةً

    صموتٌ على طولِ الضغينةِ مُطْرِقُ

    Indeed, he overcame his enemies in resolve and strength—

    a taciturn man, head bowed throughout long-held rancor.

  57. هم سَبروا قَعْرَ الذي أَنتَ طالبٌ

    فما وصلوا هيهاتَ غورُك أَعْمَقُ

    They plumbed the depths of what you seek,

    but did not reach it—how far away! Your depth is deeper.

  58. أَلم ترنى نلتُ المَحَامدَ وادعِاً

    وما كلُّ من يَسترزقُ الحَمْدَ يُرزَقُ

    Have you not seen me gain praise while at ease?

    Not everyone who seeks praise as sustenance is granted it.

  59. أَصدُ عنِ الزَّادِ الذي هو مُونقُ

    ولا يَطَّبِيْنِي العَارضُ المتأَلِّقُ

    I turn away from provisions that delight,

    and the glittering cloud does not entice me.

  60. واني وان لم أعْدمِ العِزَّ كلَّهُ

    لأَعلمُ أَنَّ العيشَ عندكَ أوفَقُ

    And though I have not been deprived of all honor,

    I surely know that life beside you is more fitting.

  61. عسى عُقَبُ الأَيامِ تجَمَعُ بينَنَا

    وقد يُنصَرُ الجدُّ الحَرُونُ فيلْحَقُ

    May the turns of days bring us together;

    sometimes balking fortune is helped, and catches up.