1. عَلى أَيِّ حالٍ فيكَ أَعجَبُ لِلغَدرِ

    وَما أَنتَ إِلّا واحِدٌ مِن بَني الدَّهرِ

    Under what circumstances should I marvel at your treachery,

    When you are but one of Time's sons?

  2. سَجِيَّةُ حَظّ عازِبٍ ما نَكَرتُها

    وَخُطَّةُ جَورٍ قَد أَلِفتُ بِها صَدري

    A trait of elusive fortune, which I have never found strange,

    And a course of injustice to which I have accustomed my breast.

  3. فَكُن كَيفَ ما شاء الزَّمانُ فَإِنَّهُ

    لَدَيكَ مُطاعُ القَولِ مُمتَثِلُ الأَمرِ

    So be however Time wishes, for it is

    Obeyed in word and heeded in command by you.

  4. وَذَرني فَما أَعدَدتُ بَعدَك ساعِدي

    مُعيني وَلا صَدري أَمينا عَلى سِرّي

    And leave me: after you, I have not made my arm

    My helper, nor my breast the keeper of my secret.

  5. وَلَكِن شَجاني أَنَّ وُدَّكَ ضاعَ مِن

    يَدي وَقَد أَنفَقتُ في كَسبِهِ عُمري

    But it grieved me that your affection slipped from

    My hand, though I had spent my life winning it.

  6. فَلَو عَلِقَت نَفسي بِغَيرِكَ لَم تَكُن

    تُؤمِّلُهُ إِلّا لِيَشفَعَ في الحَشرِ

    Had my soul clung to anyone but you, it would not

    Have hoped in him save that he might intercede at the Gathering.

  7. شَبابٌ تَقَضّى في هَواكَ وَشُرَّدٌ

    مُطوَّحَةُ الأَبناء جائِلَةُ الذِّكرِ

    Youth spent in loving you, and wandering verses,

    Their offspring flung afar, their fame roaming widely.

  8. أَغارَ عَلَيها أَن تُعانَ بِشافِعٍ

    إِلَيكَ وَتَسعى في رِضاكَ عَلى قَسرِ

    I jealously guard them against needing an intercessor

    Before you, and being forced to strive for your favor.

  9. وَيَكتُمُها الرّاوي حَياء وَعَرفُها

    يَنِمُّ كَما نَمَّ النَّسيمُ عَلى الزَّهرِ

    And the reciter conceals them in shame, yet their fragrance

    Gives them away, as the breeze gives away the flowers.

  10. وَسائِلُ لَم تَمرُرُ قُواها وَذِمَّةٌ

    عَلِقتُ بِها عَطفَ الخَيالِ الَّذي يَسري

    Ties whose strands were never twisted tight, and a pledge

    To which I bound the affection of the phantom that travels by night.

  11. عَهِدتُكَ مِطواف الهَوى كُلَّ لَيلَةٍ

    تَروحُ إِلى وَصلٍ وَتَغدو عَلى هَجرِ

    I have known you a wanderer in love every night:

    You go at evening to union, and at dawn to estrangement.

  12. إِذا أَحكَمَت فيكَ العُهودُ زِمامَها

    فَذَلِكَ أَدنى ما تَكونُ إِلى الغَدرِ

    When covenants tighten their rein around you,

    That is when you are nearest to treachery.

  13. رِضاكَ عَلى سُخطٍ وَصَفوَكَ في قَذى

    وَحُبُّكَ في بُغضٍ وَحِلمُكَ عَن غَمرِ

    Your favor overlays anger, your clarity lies amid specks,

    Your love within hatred, your forbearance born of rancor.

  14. خَلائِقُ تَفويفُ الرِّياضِ كَأَنَّما

    سَقاها سَحابٌ مِن أَنامِلِكَ العَشرِ

    Traits as variegated as gardens, as though

    A cloud from your ten fingertips had watered them.

  15. وَوَجهٌ يَخالُ البِشرَ فيهِ عَنِ الرِّضى

    وَما كُلُّ ضَوء لاحَ مِن وَضَحِ الفَجرِ

    And a face whose cheer is thought to spring from contentment—

    Yet not every light that appears comes from the whiteness of dawn.

  16. فَمالَكَ تَرميني بِعَتبِ جَهلَتُهُ

    فَلَم أَرَ فيهِ وَجهَ ذَنبي وَلا عُذري

    Then why do you pelt me with a reproach I did not understand,

    And saw in it neither the grounds of my fault nor my excuse?

  17. وَكَيفَ أَضَلَّتني الهُمومُ وَطَوَّحَت

    بِلُبيَ حَتّى صِرتُ أَجني وَلا أَدري

    And how did worries lead me astray and scatter

    My wits, until I did wrong without knowing?

  18. طَوَيتَ عَلى غِلٍّ ضَميرَكَ بَعدَ ما

    تَوَهَّمتُ أَنَّ السِرَّ عِندَكَ كَالجَهرِ

    You folded your heart around rancor, after

    I had thought that, with you, the private was like the public.

  19. فَما أَعرَبَت عَنكَ الجُفونُ بِنَظرَةٍ

    إِذا بَثَّتِ الأَحقادَ بِالنَّظَرِ الشَّزرِ

    And what your eyelids disclosed of you in a glance,

    When they spread their grudges in a sidelong glare!

  20. تَغِلُّ عَلَيَّ العَتبَ بَينَ دَلائِلِ ال

    صَفاءِ وَتَجلو الحِقدَ في رَونَقِ البِشرِ

    You conceal reproach against me amid signs of

    Sincerity, and unveil hatred in the sheen of cheer.

  21. فَما كُنتَ إِلّا السَّيفَ يُسعِرُ حَدُّهُ

    ضِرامَ الوَغى وَالماء في مَتنِهِ يَجري

    For you were nothing but a sword whose edge kindles

    The blaze of battle, while water flows along its flat.

  22. فَأَيُّ خَليلٍ بِالتَّجَنّي حَمَلتَهُ

    عَلى الخُطَّةِ الشَّنعاءِ وَالمَركَبِ الوَعرِ

    What a close friend, then, you have driven through false accusations,

    Onto a hideous course and a rough ride!

  23. وَأَيُّ حُسامٍ فَلَّ رَأيُكَ حَدَّهُ

    وَقَد كانَ يَفري وَالقَواضِبُ لا تَفري

    And what a keen sword it was, whose edge your judgment blunted,

    Though it once cleft when other sharp swords could not!

  24. فَلَو لَم أَرَ البُقيا أَطَعتُ حَفيظَتي

    عَلَيكَ وَلَكِن لَيسَ قَلبُكَ في صَدري

    Had I not favored restraint, I would have obeyed my indignation

    Against you; but your heart is not in my breast.

  25. وَكُنتُ جَديراً أَن أَبيتَ وَبَينَنا

    مَهامهُ تَسري الشُّهبُ فيها عَلى ذُعرِ

    And I would have been justified in passing the night, while between us lay

    Trackless wastes where shooting stars journey in terror.

  26. يُضِلُّ بِها عَنّي خَيالُكَ قَصدَهُ

    وَلَو رَكِبَ الجَوزاء أَو صَهوَةَ البَدرِ

    There your phantom would lose its way to me,

    Even if it rode Orion or the saddle of the full moon.

  27. وَهَيهاتَ لَو نادَيتَني ساكِنَ الثَّرى

    أَجَبتُ فَصيحاً لا صَدى جانِبَ القَبرِ

    Yet far from it! Were you to call me while I dwelt in the dust,

    I would answer eloquently, not as an echo beside the grave.

  28. وَإِنّي وَإِن كانَت سَماؤُكَ أَمطَرَت

    سَحائِبَ عُرفٍ ناء في حَملِهِ ظَهري

    And I, although your sky has rained down

    Clouds of kindness my back strained to bear,

  29. لأَعلَمَ أَنّي بِانتِسابي إِلَيكُمُ

    عَلى الكَرمِ الوَضّاحِ وَالمَنصبِ الجَرِّ

    Know well that, through my affiliation with you,

    On the strength of radiant generosity and exalted rank,

  30. جَرَيتُ بِأَوفى ما تَطولُ بِهِ يَدي

    وَجُدتُ بِأَعلى ما يَضِنُّ بِهِ شُكري

    I have gone as far as my hand can reach,

    And lavished the highest tribute my gratitude could hoard.

  31. غَضِبتُ عَلى جَدواكَ نَفساً أَبِيَّةً

    فَصارَ غِنائي عَنكَ أَوضَحَ مِن فَقري

    I grew angry at your bounty, my soul unbowed,

    So my independence of you became clearer than my poverty.

  32. وَعَلَّمتَني بَذلَ النَّوالِ تَوَكلاً

    عَلَيكَ كَما جادَ السَّحابُ مِنَ البَحرِ

    And you taught me to lavish gifts, relying

    On you, as the clouds give freely from the sea.

  33. فَإِن كانَ إِدلائي عَلَيكَ جِنايَةً

    فَإِنَّك أَهل لِلتعمد وَالغفرِ

    So if my presuming upon you is an offense,

    Then you are worthy of my deliberate presumption, and of granting pardon.

  34. وَلَستُ بَعيداً مِن رِضاكَ وَبَينَنا

    مَواثِقُ تُلغى في وَسائِلِها وِزري

    And I am not far from your favor, while between us

    Are pacts through whose mediation my guilt is annulled.

  35. وَكَم لَكَ عِندي مِنَّةٌ ما وَفي بِها

    ثَنائي فَلا شُكري رَضيتُ وَلا كُفري

    And how many favors you have shown me have not been repaid

    By my praise; I am content with neither my gratitude nor my ingratitude.

  36. وَقَبلَكَ ما عَرَّضتُ نَفسي لِنائِلٍ

    يُعَدُّ وَلا رُمتُ الرَّواء مِنَ القَطرِ

    And before you, I never put myself forward for a gift

    That could be counted, nor sought a full draught from the rain.

  37. وَلا كُنتُ إِلّا راضِياً بِقَناعَةٍ

    أَعيشُ بِها بَينَ الخَصاصَةِ وَاليُسرِ

    Nor was I anything but content with modest sufficiency,

    On which I live between want and ease.

  38. وَلَكِنَّ حَظّي مِن سَحابِكَ شِيمَةٌ

    تُكَثِّرُ حُسّادي وَتَرفَعُ مِن قَدري

    But my share of your cloud is watching for rain,

    Which multiplies my enviers and raises my standing.

  39. فِداكَ كَريمٌ جادَ مِن فَضلِ مالِهِ

    فَإِنَّكَ ما أَعطَيتَ إِلّا عَلى عُسرِ

    May a noble man who gave from his surplus wealth be your ransom,

    For you have given only amid hardship.

  40. فَكَيفَ عَميدٌ بِالثَّراءِ قِلاصُهُ

    قِلاصُ الثُّرَيّا لا تَخافُ مِنَ النَّحرِ

    What, then, of one stricken with wealth, whose young she-camels

    Are the Pleiades' young she-camels, unafraid of slaughter?

  41. وَلا زِلتَ أَحلَى في الجُفونِ مِنَ الكَرى

    وَحُبُّكَ أَحلى في القُلوبِ مِنَ الذِّكرِ

    May you always be sweeter to the eyelids than sleep,

    And your love sweeter in hearts than remembrance.