1. أَيُّ عُذرٍ للدهرِ أَنّي مُعنى

    في محلٍ مُحي وآخرَ يُبْنَى

    What excuse has Time, when I am afflicted

    in a dwelling effaced while another is built?

  2. سفهاً أم تَجَنّياً وملالاً

    مَنْ يلوم الملوكَ أَن تَتَجَنَّى

    Is it folly, or spite and weariness?

    Who blames kings for acting unjustly?

  3. يصطفي أَنفُسَ الكرامِ ضِراراً

    اِنَّهُ بالكرامِ صبٌّ مُعَنَّى

    It singles out the souls of the noble for harm;

    indeed, it is a tormented lover of the noble.

  4. ليت شِعري ماذا يُريد أَبو الأَيْ

    يَامِ بالأَخذِ والعطيَّةِ مِنَّا

    Would that I knew what the Father of Days wants

    from us through taking and giving.

  5. كلَّ يومٍ له صريعٌ ومولو

    دٌ يُعزى بفقدهِ وَيُهَنَّى

    Each day it has one fallen and one newborn;

    it is consoled for the loss and congratulated.

  6. نتداوى من دائِهِ حينَ نَضنَى

    ونُحِبُّ البقاءَ فيه فَنَفْنَى

    We seek a cure for its illness when we waste away,

    and love remaining in it, only to perish.

  7. نحن من ردِّ بذلهِ في قتالٍ

    ليس كلُّ القتالِ ضرباً وطعنَا

    We fight to turn back its gifts;

    not all combat is striking and stabbing.

  8. واذا مرتِ الجنائزُ أَعرض

    نا كأَنا بمَرها ليسَ تُعْنَى

    And when funeral processions pass, we turn

    away, as though their passing did not concern us.

  9. أَيُّها الراكبُ المُغِذُّ اذا جئ

    تَ فَبَلِّغْ راعي الرعيةِ عَنَّا

    O rider hastening onward, when you arrive,

    convey our message to the shepherd of the people.

  10. قل لمنْ بالغِياثِ في المحلِ يُسمى

    وَبِنَصرِ الالهِ في الحربِ يُكْنَى

    Say to him called Succor in times of drought,

    and styled God's Victory in war:

  11. يَا بهاءَ العُلا متى كنتَ للَّوْ

    عَةِ خِلاً وللصَّبابةِ خِدنَا

    O Baha' al-'Ula, when did you become

    a friend to anguish and a companion to longing?

  12. وقديماً فوجئتَ بالخيرِ والشرْ

    رِ فلم تستطرْ حُروراً وحُزنَا

    In earlier days, good and evil took you by surprise,

    yet neither scorching heat nor grief swept you away.

  13. خَبروني عن زفرةٍ لك تثني

    ها وعن عَبرةٍ تُنازعُ جَفْنَا

    They told me of a sigh of yours you hold

    back, and of a tear struggling against an eyelid.

  14. فتعجبتُ أَنْ تكونَ لتجدي

    د الرُؤَيَّا على القلوبِ مِسَنّا

    I marveled that you should be, for the renewal

    of the dream, a whetstone upon hearts.

  15. فتقول الملوكُ يوماً اذا حنْ

    مليكُ الملوكِ قَبلِي حَنَّا

    Then kings may say one day, when they yearn,

    'The King of Kings yearned before me.'

  16. يا لها حُجَّةً تكون لمن يأ

    وِي اليها من لملامةِ حِصْنَا

    What an argument, serving anyone who takes

    refuge in it as a fortress against reproach!

  17. حاشَ للهِ أَنتَ من راسيات ال

    هَضْبِ أَزكى حِلْماً وأَثقلُ وزنَا

    God forbid! You outdo firmly rooted

    mountains in purity of forbearance and in weight.

  18. اِنْ يكن بِكْرُكَ المعجَّلُ قد بَدْ

    دَلَ من ظهرِ هذهِ الدَّارِ بَطْنَا

    If your firstborn, taken too soon, has exchanged

    the surface of this abode for its depths,

  19. ورماكَ الزمانُ فيه بِسَهْمٍ

    كانَ منه لصفحتيكَ مِجَنَّا

    and Time has struck you through him with an arrow

    that once was a shield against it for your two flanks,

  20. واعتدى منكَ ما اعتديتَ عليه

    وكذا من يكونُ للدهرِ قِرْنَا

    and assailed you as you had assailed it,

    such is the lot of anyone who rivals Time.

  21. لهفَ نفسي على العليلِ الذي كا

    نَ بشربِ الدواءِ يزدادُ وَهْنَا

    How my soul grieves for the ailing one who

    grew weaker by drinking medicine.

  22. غَافصَتْهُ وفاتُه قبل أَنْ يل

    هو بشَرخِ الشَّبابِ أَوْ يَتَهَنَّى

    His death caught him suddenly before he could

    frolic in the bloom of youth or enjoy himself.

  23. بُخْتَرِيٌّ اذا مشَى قلتَ غصنٌ

    بنتِ الريحُ عِطْفَهُ فتثَنَّى

    Proud-stepping, when he walked you would say: 'A branch

    whose side the wind fashioned, making it sway.'

  24. وهلالٌ في طُرةِ الأُفقِ نَامٍ

    كلَّما زيدَ نظرةً زادَ حُسْنَا

    And a crescent growing at the horizon's edge,

    with each added glance, its beauty increased.

  25. وَلَوَاْنَّا يومَ النزاعِ شَهِدنا

    هُ لكنَّا الى الردى منه أَدنَى

    And had we been present on the day of his death-struggle,

    we would have been nearer death than he.

  26. أَو رَهَنَّا له النفوسَ الكريما

    تِ وأَنَّ المنونَ تَقبَلُ رَهْنَا

    Or we would have pledged our noble souls for him,

    if Death would accept a pledge.

  27. كان عِلقاً غَبِنْتُهُ يومَ وَدَّعْ

    تُ وشَرُّ البياعِ ما كان غَبنَا

    He was a precious treasure: I took a loss on him when I bade

    farewell; the worst sale is one made at a loss.

  28. وأَرى أَعيناً تخازِرُكَ اللح

    ظَ فَتُبدي رِضاً وتُظْهِرُ ضِغْنَا

    And I see eyes giving you sidelong

    glances, showing approval and revealing rancor:

  29. مَنْ فَتىً يَصْحَبُ الرجاءَ فيسعَى

    وفتىً خابَ سعيُه فَتَمَنَّى

    from a youth who keeps company with hope and strives,

    and a youth whose effort failed, so he wished,

  30. ورجالٍ من فوزِ قِدْ قِدْحِكَ شَكّوا

    كنتَ منهم باللهِ أَحسنَ ظَنَّا

    and men who already doubted your gaming arrow's success;

    you were, by God, more charitable in judgment than they.

  31. كن عليهم في الجَهرِ سيفاً ورمحاً

    وعليهم في السِّرِ عيناً وأُذنَا

    Be a sword and a spear against them in public,

    and an eye and an ear against them in secret.

  32. وشَفارُ السيوفِ حينَ تُعَرّيْ

    ها وطعمُ القِسيّ حين تَحِنَّا

    And the swords' edges when you bare

    them, and the taste of bows when they moan,

  33. وعليك الرمحُ الأَصم اذا كا

    نَ لذيذاً على المهزةِ لدنَا

    and take up the solid spear when it is

    pleasant to brandish, supple,

  34. وَدِلاصاً مثلَ الغَديرِ مطيراً

    وطِمراً مثلَ الحُبابِ مُعَنَّى

    and smooth mail like a rain-struck pool,

    and a lean steed, tormented like a serpent.

  35. فاتخذها الى المعالي طريقاً

    فبها تُهدمُ المعالي وتُبنى

    Make these a path to the heights of glory,

    for by them the heights of glory are demolished and built.

  36. هذه النَّبوَةُ التي كنتَ تَخْشَا

    ها فَخُذْهَا من الحَوادثِ أَمنَا

    This is the setback you had feared;

    so take it as security against calamities.

  37. ليسَ تصفو هذي الحياةُ ولا بدْ

    دَ لصاحي الحظوظِ من أنْ يُجْنَى

    This life does not stay clear, and there is no

    escape from being reaped, even for one with unclouded fortunes.

  38. وطليحُ الأيامِ يسلُكُ منها

    في فجاجِ الخطوبِ سَهلاً وحَزْنَا

    And one worn down by the days makes his way through them,

    through calamity's passes, over level ground and rugged.

  39. أَنتَ أعلى من أَنْ تُعزَّى بمفقو

    دِ وانْ عزَّ فقدُه أو تُهَنَّى

    You are too exalted to be consoled for one lost,

    however grievous his loss, or to be congratulated.

  40. فابقَ ما ناوبَ النهارُ دُجى الليلْ

    لِ وما غرَّدَ الحَمَامُ وغَنَّى

    So live on while day alternates with the darkness of night,

    and while doves warble and sing,

  41. حافظاً دواةً أَبوكَ المرجَّى

    كان عَضداً لها وَجَدُّكَ رُكْنَا

    guarding an inkwell: your father, in whom hope was placed,

    was its supporting arm, and your grandfather its pillar.