1. أما والنقا لولا هوى ظيبةِ النقا

    لما قلتُ حيّا اللّه داراً ولا سقَى

    Ah, by the dunes, were it not for love of the dunes' gazelle,

    I would never have said, 'May God bless a dwelling, or water it.'

  2. ولا أرسلتْ عيني مع الليل لحظَها

    ترودُ السحابَ الجَونَ من أين أبرقا

    Nor would my eye have sent its glance into the night,

    searching the dark clouds for where their lightning flashed.

  3. خليليَّ دعوى الودّ بابٌ موسَّعٌ

    ولكن أرى بابَ التصادق ضيّقا

    My two friends, professing affection is a wide-open gate,

    but I find the gate of true friendship narrow.

  4. ألم تر يوم الجو ما كنت مبصراً

    فلِمْ دمعيَ الجاري ودمعُك قد رقا

    Did you not see, on the day at al-Jaww, what I was seeing?

    Then blame my flowing tears, now that yours have ceased.

  5. نجوتَ وفي أسرِ الهوى لك صاحبٌ

    فهل أنت مغنٍ عنه أن رحتَ مطلَقا

    You escaped, while a companion of yours remains love's captive;

    can you help him at all, now that you go free?

  6. سل الجيرة الغادين هل مُودَع الهوى

    أمينٌ وهل بعد التفرُّق ملتقى

    Ask the neighbors departing at morning: is one entrusted with love

    faithful, and is there a meeting after separation?

  7. وأين الظباءُ العاطيات إلى الصِّبا

    يجاذبنه الأغصانَ ريَّانَ مورِقا

    Where are the gazelles reaching up toward youth,

    tugging at its boughs while it was lush and leafy?

  8. حلفتُ بدين الحبِّ يومَ سويقةٍ

    أليّةَ مغلوبٍ تألَّى ليصدُقا

    I swore by the religion of love on the day at Suwayqah,

    the oath of one overpowered, who swore to speak the truth:

  9. لَمَا بعث القاريُّ زُرق نبالهِ

    بأقتلَ من تلك العيونِ وأرشقا

    the blue arrows that the Qari loosed

    were no deadlier or more unerring than those eyes.

  10. كأنَّ فؤادي عند صائحةِ النوى

    وقد رقَّ ضُعفاً أن يجيشَ فيخفُقا

    It is as though my heart, at separation's cry—

    weakened until too frail to surge and beat—

  11. أديمٌ تفرَّاه الزمانُ فلم تجدْ

    به نَغَلاً أيدي الخوالقِ مُخلِقا

    were a hide that time has torn apart, yet the hands

    of ravage found no rot in its worn fabric.

  12. ولمّا اتقى نبلَ الوشاة بصبره

    رمته وشاةُ الدمع من حيثما اتقى

    When by patience it warded off the slanderers' arrows,

    the informers of tears struck it from the very quarter it guarded.

  13. حَمَى اللّه عيشاً إن حمَىَ العيشَ باللوى

    تكدّر بعدي صفوُه وترنَّقا

    May God preserve the life at al-Liwa—if He preserves life—

    whose clarity, after my departure, grew troubled and turbid;

  14. ورئماً بجنبَيْ غُرَّبٍ ما تمتّعتْ

    لحاظي به حتى أخيف فشرَّقا

    and a white gazelle by the two flanks of Ghurrab, which my

    glances scarcely enjoyed before it was frightened and fled east.

  15. ضممتُ عليه مغرماً ساعةً يدي

    وخلّيت لمّا رعتهُ عنه مشفِقا

    Besotted, I closed my hand upon it for an hour,

    then let it go in pity when I frightened it.

  16. ولم أك لمّا صِدتُه فسرحته

    بأول قنّاصٍ تجنّى فأخفقا

    Nor was I, when I caught it and released it,

    the first hunter who wronged his quarry and came away empty.

  17. وأعلم لو أن الشبيبةَ كُفَّتي

    هناك لأمسى في حباليَ موثَقا

    I know that, had youth been my snare

    there, it would have ended bound in my nets.

  18. أليلَ سوادي ما أرى الصبحَ سَرّني

    فمن ردَّ لي ذاك الظلامَ فأغسقا

    O night of my blackness, I find no joy in the dawn;

    who will restore that darkness to me and make it night again?

  19. أبيت تَنزَّى بين جنبيَّ لسعةٌ

    لذكرِك شافي عضِّها غيرُ من رقى

    I pass the night with a sting throbbing between my ribs,

    at the thought of you; its healer is no reciter of charms.

  20. أبَى خُلُقُ الأيّام إلا إساءةً

    وأحسن حيناً كُلفةً وتخلُّقا

    The nature of days admits nothing but injury;

    if it does good awhile, it is strained and feigned.

  21. أعاتبُها لو كان يجدي عتابُها

    ومن حالَمَ الخرقاءَ أصبح أخرقا

    I would reproach them, if reproaching them did any good;

    whoever treats a foolish woman gently becomes more foolish himself.

  22. تعجَّبُ مني أختُ عذرةَ أن رأت

    بحبلِ بني الدنيا رجائي معلَّقا

    The sister of ʿUdhrah marvels at me, having seen

    my hope hanging on the rope of this world's sons.

  23. وقد عهدتني منهُمُ ناصِلَ المنى

    إذا لمسوا ودّي تفلَّت مزلَقا

    She had known me with my hopes withdrawn from them,

    my affection slipping free, slick, whenever they touched it.

  24. وقالت متى استذرى وقد كان مصحراً

    وخبَّ وقد كنا عهدناه مُعنِقا

    She said, 'When did he seek shelter, who used to stand in the open,

    and take to trotting, when we had known him speeding?'

  25. إليكِ فإني ما انحططتُ لرفدهم

    وبي نَهَضانٌ عنه أن أتحلَّقا

    Enough from you! I have not stooped to their bounty,

    and I have the strength to soar above it.

  26. وما كلّ يوم يأكل المرءُ ما جنت

    يداه له قسراً ويشربُ ما استقى

    Not every day does a man eat what

    his own hands have won for him by force, or drink what he drew.

  27. وإني على ما قد ألِمتُ محسَّدٌ

    أكابدُ مفئوداً عليَّ ومُحنقا

    Despite all I have suffered, I am greatly envied:

    I contend with one heart-sick over me, and another enraged.

  28. بُليت بمغتابين لحمَ أخيهمُ

    يبيت وما جاعوا لديهم ممزَّقا

    I have been afflicted by backbiters whose brother's flesh

    lies torn before them at night, though they never hungered.

  29. إذا سَرَحتْ عنّي من الفضل هجمةٌ

    أحالوا عليها عاقرين وسُرَّقا

    Whenever a herd of my excellence ranges forth,

    they descend upon it, hamstringers and thieves.

  30. رمَونيَ إذ أضحوا هَواناً أخامصاً

    ذُنابَى وأن أصبحت في الفضل مَفرِقا

    They assailed me because they had become lowly foot-arches,

    mere tails, while I had become excellence's crown.

  31. أحدّوا أظافيري فلم أحتلبهمُ

    ولا لحمَ إلا ما أرى فيه مَعرَقا

    They sharpened my claws, but I drew no milk from them,

    nor flesh, only what I saw as a meat-stripped bone.

  32. جنايةُ جهلٍ جرّها الحلمُ عنهمُ

    وما كنتُ أخشى أن أرى الحلم مُوبقا

    An ignorant offense, which my forbearance drew from them—

    I never feared I would find forbearance ruinous.

  33. ولما رأيت العفوَ لا يستردُّهم

    ولا العتبَ صيّرتُ العتابَ التفرُّقا

    When I saw that pardon would not win them back,

    nor reproach, I made separation my reproach.

  34. طرحتهمُ طرحَ السِّقاء تفجّرت

    مخارزُه بالماء حولَين مُخلِقا

    I discarded them like a waterskin whose

    stitch-holes burst with water after two years' wear.

  35. لئن نُفضتْ باليأس كفّيَ منهمُ

    وأصبحتُ مما يغمر العيشَ مملقا

    Though despair has shaken my hand free of them,

    and I am destitute of what makes life abundant,

  36. فلي من ربيب النعمة اليومَ نعمةٌ

    تردُّ الصِّبا جذلانَ والعمرَ مونِقا

    today I have a blessing from one nurtured in blessing,

    restoring youth rejoicing, and life blooming.

  37. خلائقُ إمّا ماءُ كَرْمٍ مرقرَقاً

    أُغادَى به أو ماءُ مُزنٍ مصفَّقا

    Virtues like shimmering water of the vine,

    brought to me at dawn, or clear-poured water of rain clouds.

  38. كأن الصَّبا جرّت عليه ذيولَها

    أصيلاً وفأرَ المسك عنها تفتَّقا

    As though the east wind had trailed its skirts across it

    at late afternoon, and musk-pods had burst open in its wake.

  39. أغرُّ هلاليٌّ صحيفةُ وجهه

    إذا طلعتْ لم تُبق للشمس مَشرِقا

    A radiant Hilali, the page of whose face,

    when it rises, leaves the sun no place to shine.

  40. ترى الحسن فيها واقفاً متحيّراً

    وماءَ الحياءِ فوقها مترقرِقا

    You see beauty standing there, bewildered,

    and the water of modesty shimmering upon it.

  41. بليلُ يدِ المعروف لو مرّ كفُّه

    على الصَّلد من أحجارِ سلمى تدفّقا

    His hand is moist with bounty; were his palm to pass

    over the hard stones of Salma, they would gush.

  42. يرى المالَ وِزراً في الرقاب مجمَّعاً

    فيعيا به حتى يراه مفرَّقا

    He sees wealth as a burden amassed upon necks,

    and is wearied by it until he sees it distributed.

  43. من النفر المطفين جدبَ بلادهم

    بماءِ الندى الجاري إذا العامُ أحرقا

    One of the men who quench their country's drought

    with flowing generosity's water when the year burns.

  44. ميامين تلقى الخيرَ يوم لقائهم

    إذا خفتَ يُسرَى أو تعيَّفتَ أبلقا

    Blessed men: you meet good fortune on meeting them,

    if you feared a leftward omen or read an omen in a pied bird.

  45. طِوال العمادِ طيّبٌ نشرُ أرضهم

    حييُّون حتى تطرقَ الحربُ مَطرَقا

    Tall of tent-pole, sweet the fragrance of their land,

    modest, until war strikes its blow.

  46. إذا ناهز الضيفُ البيوتَ تبادروا

    له فاستوَوا فيه غنيّاً ومخفقا

    When a guest approaches their houses, they hurry

    to him, rich and penniless alike.

  47. حَموا مجدهم بالسمهريّ تطاعناً

    وبالكَلِم المربي على الطعن منطِقا

    They guard their glory with Samhari spears, thrusting,

    and with speech that surpasses spear-thrusts in eloquence.

  48. تؤم الفتى منهم حليماً فإن تقل

    يقل مفحماً لدى الخصوم ومرهقا

    You seek a young man of theirs, forbearing; if you speak,

    he speaks, silencing opponents and pressing them hard.

  49. إذا أشعل الأبطالُ في الحرب شوكةً

    وَطَوها حفاةً أرجلاً ثمّ أسؤقا

    If champions inflame the thorn of war,

    they trample it barefoot, first with feet, then shins.

  50. بكلّ غلامٍ لا ترى السيفَ يحتمى

    ولا الموتَ في نصر الحفيظة يتّقى

    With every youth you see who does not guard against the sword,

    nor shun death when defending honor.

  51. إذا قام ساوى الرمحَّ حتى يمسَّه

    بغاربه أو طالَ عنه محلِّقا

    When he stands, he equals a spear until it touches him

    at the shoulder, or he towers above it, soaring.

  52. تمارت له أيدي القوابل إذ بدا

    أيبرز نَصلاً أم جبيناً مُطرَّقا

    The midwives' hands disputed over him when he appeared:

    did a blade emerge, or a brow of hammered metal?

  53. يدلُّ عليه بشرُه قبل نطقه

    سنا الصبح أمّ الفجرَ ثمّ تألّقا

    His bright countenance reveals him before he speaks—

    morning's radiance that sought the dawn, then gleamed.

  54. يطُرّ سناناً كاللسان حلت له ال

    نفوسُ إذا اشتاق الدماءَ تذوَّقا

    He sharpens a spearhead like a tongue, to which the

    souls are sweet; when it craves blood, it tastes.

  55. لهم قَصَبٌ في المجد زدت مصلّياً

    عليها وإن مرّوا أمامك سُبَّقا

    Theirs are glory's prize-reeds; you have added, following second,

    to them, though they passed ahead of you as frontrunners.

  56. وما ضرّ ساري ليلةٍ لو تناثرت

    كواكبُها ما امتدَّ للقمر البقا

    What harm to a traveler by night if

    its stars scatter, so long as the moon endures?

  57. لك المجدُ يلقى حاجبُ الشمس دونه

    مواقفَ جَدٍّ لم يجد عنه مرتَقى

    Yours is a glory before which the sun's brow meets

    stations of hard striving, finding no ascent beyond it.

  58. مناسبُ ودَّ النجمُ لو تستضيفه

    إليها دعيّاً أو تسمّيه ملحَقا

    Lineages to which the star wishes it could be invited

    as a pretender, or be called an adopted kinsman.

  59. تمكَّن إسماعيلُ منه ورهطُه

    مكانَ تمنَّى البدرُ لو أنه ارتقى

    Ismaʿil and his clan secured in it

    a station the full moon wished it could ascend to.

  60. إذا عقَد النادي الفخارَ عددتُهم

    أباً فأباً حتى عددتُ الموفَّقا

    When the assembly convenes for boasting, I count them

    father after father, until I count al-Muwaffaq.

  61. أبوك الذي أعيا الملوكَ جذابُهُ

    فأعطَوه ليناً ما اشتهى وترفُّقا

    Your father, whose contest of strength exhausted kings,

    so they gently granted him what he desired, with deference.

  62. تَداركَهم والشرُّ يفغَرُ نحوهم

    فأمسكَ فيه دون ذاك المخنَّقا

    He came to their rescue as evil gaped toward them,

    and gripped its throat, holding that danger back.

  63. دَعَوهُ وأطرافُ الرماح تنوشهم

    لَحاقِ فلبّاهم فأُكرِمَ مُلحِقا

    They called him while spear-points snatched at them:

    'Come to our aid!' He answered, honored as their rescuer.

  64. فأنشَرهم مَوتى وأنقذَ بالقنا

    نعيمَهم المعتادَ من قبضةِ الشقا

    He revived them from death and rescued with spears

    their accustomed comfort from misery's grip.

  65. له صارمٌ ريّانُ من دمِ بعضهم

    وآخرُ يحمي بعضه أن يمزَّقا

    He has a sharp sword drenched with some of their blood,

    and another that guards some from being torn apart.

  66. حَمَى بين كِرمانٍ إلى الثغر سيفُه

    وعمَّ بلادَ الجوْرِ عدلاً وطبَّقا

    His sword protected the land from Kirman to the frontier,

    and spread justice everywhere through lands of oppression.

  67. ولم يُبقِ فوق الأرضِ للخوف مَسرَحاً

    ولا لَجناح الظلم في الجوْر مَخفَقا

    He left nowhere on earth for fear to range,

    nor space amid injustice for oppression's wing to beat.

  68. وما مات حتى أبصر العيش ذلَّةً

    وحملَ الأذى غُلّاً على الحرّ مُوبِقا

    He did not die until he saw living as humiliation,

    and bearing injury as a fatal shackle upon a free man.

  69. ولما أراد الدهرُ تعطيلَ جيدِهِ

    من الشرف اختارَ الحسام فطوَّقا

    When time sought to strip his neck

    of honor, he chose the sword and made it his collar.

  70. فَداك من الأقران أبترُ لم يكن

    عتيقاً ولا في المجد مثلَك مُعرِقا

    May a curtailed rival ransom you, one who was never

    nobly bred, nor rooted in glory like you.

  71. إذا لفَّه المضمارُ يومَ عريكةٍ

    بنقعك ولَّى يسأل الأرضَ مَنفَقا

    When the racecourse wraps him, on a day of hard contest,

    in your dust, he flees, asking the earth for a tunnel.

  72. يرى مثلَ عينيه لأسودِ قلبه

    عدوّاً على أخرَى قناتك أزرقا

    For his black heart, he sees, as though with his own eyes,

    a blue-eyed enemy at the far end of your lance.

  73. أبثُّك عن قلبٍ أحبَّك صادقاً

    إذا كان حبٌّ خدعةً وتملُّقا

    I confide in you from a heart that loved you sincerely,

    when love was deception and flattery.

  74. وُصِفتَ له قبلَ اللقاء فشقتَهُ

    فلمّا التقينا صاده كَرَمُ اللقا

    You were described to it before we met, and stirred its longing;

    when we met, the graciousness of meeting ensnared it.

  75. وأصبحتَ من قومٍ عليه أعزّةٍ

    قضى الدهرَ مختصّاً بهم متحقِّقا

    You became one of a people dear to it,

    to whom it devoted a lifetime, faithful and assured.

  76. فزارك من أبكاره بكريمة

    من الخيّرات الغرِّ صوناً ورونقا

    So it came to you with a noble one among its virgins,

    one of the fair, radiant maidens, guarded and brilliant.

  77. عزيزٌ على غير الكرام افتراعها

    وإن ساق أعناقَ المهورِ وأصدَقا

    Her maidenhood is hard for any but the noble to win,

    even if he leads in dowries by the neck and pays the bridal gift.

  78. ولما رددتُ الراغبين ولم أدع

    عليها لرامٍ بالمنى متسلَّقا

    When I turned the suitors back and left

    no foothold upon her for an archer of hopes,

  79. أتاني بشيرُ الخير أن قد خطبتَها

    فما كدتُ مسروراً به أن أصدِّقا

    a bearer of good news came to me: you had sought her hand.

    Delighted by it, I could scarcely believe.

  80. وزدتُ يقيناً فيك أنّك واحدٌ

    إذا اخترتَ كنتَ العارفَ المتأنِّقا

    I gained still greater certainty that you are peerless:

    when you choose, you are discerning and tasteful.

  81. فأشرفُ نفسٍ همّةً نفسُ ماجدٍ

    يبيت إلى أمثالها متشوِّقا

    The noblest soul in aspiration is that of a noble man

    who spends the night longing for her like.

  82. فراعِ أباً في حفظها لم يجدْ لها

    سَواءك كفئاً ما تنخَّلَ وانتقَى

    So honor a father who, in safeguarding her, found for her

    no match but you, however he sifted and selected.

  83. لئن سُمتَنيها بادئاً بِطلابها

    لَتستثمرنْ منها الثَناء المنمَّقا

    If you have bid me for her, taking the lead in seeking her,

    you shall surely reap from her finely fashioned praise.

  84. كجوهرةِ الغوّاصِ دلّاهُ حظُّه

    عليها فأهوَى ما استطاع وعمَّقا

    Like a diver's pearl, to which his fortune lowered him:

    he plunged toward it as far as he could, and went deep,

  85. وابرزها بيضاءَ تنصُفُ كفَّه

    وميضاً ترى وجهَ الغنى فيه مشرِقا

    then brought it forth white, half-filling his palm,

    with a gleam in which you see the face of wealth shining.

  86. وقد أفسد الناسُ المقالَ فلا ترى

    لكثرةِ مَن يرضى المحالَ محقِّقا

    People have corrupted speech; you see no

    truth-seeker, so many are content with falsehood.

  87. أرى العيدَ والنيروزَ جاءا فأعطيا

    أماناً من الأحداثِ فيك وموثقا

    I see Eid and Nowruz have come, both granting

    safety for you from misfortunes, and a covenant.

  88. فغادِ بذاك لذّةَ العيش مُصبِحاً

    ورواحْ بهذا سُنّة الدِّين مُغبِقا

    So enjoy life's pleasure with that one in the morning,

    and religion's custom with this one at your evening draught.

  89. وأعطِ وخذْ عمرَ الزمان محكَّماً

    وضحِّ وعيِّدْ ناحراً ومشرِّقا

    Give and take throughout time's lifetime, empowered to rule,

    sacrifice and keep the feast, slaughtering and sun-drying the meat.

  90. فلو كانت الأيامُ تَنطِقُ أفصحَا

    بما فيك من حسن الثناء وأنطقا

    For if the days could speak, those two would speak eloquently

    of the fine praise you merit, and give it clearest voice.