1. هل عند ريح الصَّبا من رامةٍ خبرُ

    أم طاب أن صاب روضاتِ اللّوى المطرُ

    Does the east wind carry any news from Rama?

    Or has it grown fragrant because rain fell on al-Liwa's meadows?

  2. علامةٌ لك من أمّ الوليد أتت

    تعلو الرياحُ بها والمزن تنحدرُ

    A sign from Umm al-Walid has come to you,

    lifted by the winds as rainclouds descend.

  3. كأنّ ما هبَّ عِطريّاً مَجاسدُها

    منفوضةً وكأنّ البارقَ الأُشُرُ

    As though the fragrant breeze were her saffron-dyed garments,

    shaken out, and the lightning her white, serrated teeth.

  4. هوىً ترامت به الأيّام تُبعدُهُ

    وقرَّبتْه لك الآياتُ والذِّكَرُ

    A love the days have cast far away, distancing it,

    yet signs and memories have brought it near to you.

  5. ونازلٌ باللوى يسليك صورتَهُ

    تيهُ الطريق وينسيك اسمَهُ الحذَرُ

    And a dweller at al-Liwa, whose image you forget through

    the road's bewilderment, and whose name caution makes you forget.

  6. سرى إلى الشرق مشتاقاً وما فُقِدتْ

    عينٌ له بلوى خبتٍ ولا أَثرُ

    He traveled eastward by night in longing, yet there was no loss of

    his presence at the winding sands of Khabt, nor of his trace.

  7. يُجشِّمُ البدرَ أن يشقَى برؤيته

    ويلبَسُ الليلَ زوَّاراً فيعتكرُ

    He makes the full moon suffer at the sight of him,

    and dons the night on his visits, so it grows dense.

  8. ما استوطن البيدَ لولا أنه رشأٌ

    وما امتطى الليلَ لولا أنه قمرُ

    He would not have settled in the deserts were he not a gazelle,

    nor ridden the night were he not a moon.

  9. يا مِنّةً للكرى لولا حلاوتُها

    ما ذُمَّ وهو وفاءٌ في الهوى السهرُ

    O boon of sleep! Were it not for its sweetness,

    sleeplessness, though faithfulness in love, would never be blamed.

  10. مدَّ الظلامُ بها قبلَ الصباح يداً

    بيضاءَ بانَ بها من أمسه السحَرُ

    Through it, darkness stretched forth before morning a hand

    of white light, by which daybreak stood apart from its yesterday.

  11. في الضاربين على البَلقْاءِ باديةً

    يَسبِي لها الحرَّ من أبنائه الحَضَرُ

    Among those pitching camp in al-Balqa as nomads,

    town life enslaves its own freeborn sons for her.

  12. تُصبِي الأحاديثُ عنها وهي نازحةٌ

    والسمعُ يعلَق ما لا يعلَق البصرُ

    Tales of her stir longing, though she is far away,

    and hearing clings to what sight does not.

  13. سمراءُ غارتْ عليها وهي تُشبهها

    في القدّ واللون تحميها القنا السُّمُرُ

    A dusky woman: jealous for her, though resembling her

    in stature and hue, the brown spears protect her.

  14. تَلينُ خَلْقاً ويجفو خُلْقُها فكأنْ

    في جسمِها الماءِ أُلْقِي قلبُها الحَجرُ

    Her form is soft, her nature harsh, as though

    her stone heart had been cast into her body of water.

  15. سعديّة تدّعِي أن الوفاءَ لها

    من صُلب حاجبَ حبلٌ ليس ينبتر

    A Sa'di woman, claiming that faithfulness for her

    is a cord from Hajib's loins, never severed.

  16. فما لها وفؤادي في خِفارتها

    والشوقُ يرعاه ظلماً ليس ينتصرُ

    What ails her, when my heart is under her protection,

    yet longing grazes upon it unjustly, and it finds no redress?

  17. ما أنكرتْ أمُّ خير وهي معرضة

    أغيرَ أنْ لوّنتْ من لِمّتي الغِيَرُ

    What did Umm Khayr reject as she turned away?

    Anything but the vicissitudes that have colored my locks?

  18. وَفَى الصِّبَا للهوَى إذ كان حالفه

    لا يُحلَقُ الحبُّ حتى يُحلَقَ الشَّعَرُ

    Youth kept faith with love, since it had sworn a pact with it:

    love is not shorn away until the hair is shorn.

  19. أرى المنى بعدُ تُملي لي سوالفَها

    وفي المشيب الذي استقبلتُ مزدجَرُ

    I see wishes still dictating their old tales to me,

    though the gray hair I have met contains a warning.

  20. أشتاق حاجاتِيَ الأولَى وتجذبني

    إلى اتباع النُّهى حاجاتِيَ الأُخَرُ

    I long for my earlier desires, while I am drawn

    toward following reason by my later desires.

  21. ما أشرفَ الحلمَ لولا ثِقلُ محمِلِهِ

    وأجملَ الصمتَ لولا قولهم حَصَرُ

    How noble forbearance is, were its burden not so heavy,

    and how lovely silence, were it not called speechlessness!

  22. وما أعزَّ الفتى في ظلِّ عفّتِهِ

    لو شُووِرَ الحزمُ أو لو صحَّت الفِكَرُ

    And how honored a young man is beneath the shade of his chastity,

    if prudence were consulted, or thoughts were sound!

  23. ما لكَ في الحرصِ إلا فضلُ ذلَّتِهِ

    والرزقُ يفعل فيه ما اشتهى القدَرُ

    Greed brings you nothing but an increase of its abasement,

    while destiny does with sustenance whatever it wishes.

  24. خُلْقانِ في هذه الدنيا مُعاسرةٌ

    ما طولِبتْ وبها إن تورِكت يُسُرُ

    This world has two dispositions: it is difficult

    whenever sought, but offers ease if left alone.

  25. قنعتُ منها بما بلَّ الصدَى كِبَراً

    من همّتي ظنَّ قومٌ أنه صِغَرُ

    I am content with what wets my parched throat, out of a greatness

    of ambition that some have mistaken for littleness.

  26. أسوِّفُ العيشَ حسنَ الظنِّ أجبرُهُ

    على فسادٍ وجَبْرُ الظنِّ منكسرُ

    I put off life, patching up my hopeful trust

    amid decay, though the repair of hope lies broken.

  27. مرقِّعاً بالمنَى أرجو غداً فغداً

    تأتي الحظوظُ وحظّي بعدُ منتَظرُ

    Patching with wishes, I hope for tomorrow, then tomorrow;

    fortunes arrive, while mine is still awaited.

  28. رضىً بنفسِيَ أو ودِّ امرىءٍ ثِقةٍ

    أغنَى به وغنيُّ المالِ مفتقِرُ

    Contentment with myself, or the friendship of a trustworthy man—

    through it I am rich, while the man rich in money is needy.

  29. وإن مدحتُ ففخرٌ لا أعابُ به

    ولا يكذِّبُ إخباري به الخُبُرُ

    And if I praise, it is a pride for which I am not blamed,

    nor does experience belie my account of it.

  30. إذا غلوتُ بقولٍ فيه لم ترني

    إلى المروءة فيما قلتُ أعتذرُ

    If my words about it rise to excess, you will not see me

    apologizing to honor for what I have said.

  31. حدِّثْ بفضلِ بني عبدِ الرحيم وما

    طابوا على قِدَمِ الدنيا وما كثُروا

    Tell of the excellence of the sons of Abd al-Rahim, and how

    noble they have been through the world's long ages, and how numerous.

  32. واستشهد الصُّحُفَ الأولى بما نقلت

    عنهم وما قصَّت الآثارُ والسِّيَرُ

    Call the earliest scrolls to witness what they transmitted

    about them, and what relics and chronicles recount.

  33. المكتفين إذا غابوا بشُهرتهم

    عن الشهادة والكافين ما حضَروا

    Those whose renown, when they are absent, suffices

    without testimony, and who meet all needs when present.

  34. أبناء ذِروة هذا الملكِ قد فَرَعوا

    سَنامَه يطلبون النجمَ ما انحدروا

    Sons of this kingdom's summit, they have scaled

    its hump, seeking the stars, never descending.

  35. تملَّكوا قَرَبَ الدنيا وشِرعتَها

    لا يَردُ الناسُ إلا كلَّ ما صدَروا

    They command the world's waterward approach and its watering-place;

    people come to water only after they have departed.

  36. لا تستخفُّهمُ الأحداثُ إن طرقت

    عن الحُلومِ ولا يُطغيهم البطَرُ

    Events, when they strike, do not unsettle them

    from sound judgment, nor does arrogant delight make them transgress.

  37. إذا بلوتَ تُقاهم أو بصائرَهم

    في نعمةٍ شَكَروا أو نكبةٍ صبَروا

    If you test their piety or their insight,

    in blessing they give thanks, and in calamity they endure.

  38. تكلَّموا وأَرمَّ الناطقون لهم

    لا يؤمَرون ولا يُعصَوْن إن أَمَروا

    They speak, and other speakers fall silent before them;

    they take no orders, nor are disobeyed when they command.

  39. يُدعَون في السنواتِ الشُّهبِ جامدةً

    فيفعلون بها ما يفعلُ المطرُ

    They are called upon in the ashen, lifeless years,

    and do for them what rain does.

  40. غاض الفُراتُ وضنَّ المزنُ وانبعثتْ

    في المزنِ تُعصَرُ أيديهم فتنعصِرُ

    The Euphrates dwindles, rainclouds withhold, and forth rise

    their hands amid the clouds, wrung so that the clouds are wrung out.

  41. لو ركَّبوا في أعاليهم أناملَهم

    يومَ الوغَى خُضِّرتْ أطرافُها الحُمُرُ

    If they mounted their fingertips upon their uppermost points,

    on battle-day their red tips would turn green.

  42. إن كنتَ فيمن طواه البينُ ممترياً

    منهم فعندك من منشورهم خَبَرُ

    If you doubt those of them whom separation has folded away,

    then you have news of their resurrected one.

  43. هذا الحسينُ حياةٌ خُلِّدتْ لهمُ

    ليسوا بأوّل موتَى بابنهم نُشروا

    This al-Husayn is a life made everlasting for them;

    they are not the first dead restored to life through their son.

  44. صَلَّى فزادت على السُّبَّاق حَلبتُه

    محلَّقُ العُرفِ جارٍ خطوُهُ حُضُرُ

    He ran second, yet his field surpassed the front-runners;

    high-maned, a runner whose every stride is a gallop.

  45. كالسهم أَحرزَ ذكراً يومَ تُرسله

    لم يُعطِهِ أبواه القوسُ والوتَرُ

    Like an arrow gaining renown on the day you send it,

    which its two parents, bow and string, did not bestow.

  46. عُصارة فَضلتْ في الطِّيب طينتَها

    والخمرُ أطيبُ شيء منه يُعتَصرُ

    An essence surpassing its clay in sweetness,

    and wine is sweeter than the thing from which it is pressed.

  47. لا يعدَم الصاحبَ ابنُ الليل قوَّسهُ

    طولُ السُّرَى وتَنقَّى عظمَه السَّفرُ

    The son of night never lacks a companion, bent double by

    long night-journeys, his bones picked clean by travel.

  48. فوَّزَ في البيدِ لا ظلٌّ يَفيء له

    ظُهْراً ولا يتّقيه من ندىً سَحَرُ

    He traverses the deserts, with no shade returning to him

    at noon, nor a predawn hour shielding him from dew.

  49. تَرمِي به غرضَ الأخطارِ حاجتُهُ

    يحلو له المِلحُ أو يصفو له الكَدَرُ

    His need casts him as a target for dangers;

    salt water tastes sweet to him, or murky water turns clear.

  50. يحسُّ أو يتراءى كلَّ مُخلِفَةٍ

    لا سمعَ يَصدُقُه فيها ولا نظرُ

    He senses, or sees from afar, every deceptive promise,

    in which neither hearing nor sight tells him truth.

  51. يَرى سماوتَه في الماءِ يُنكرُها

    من طول ما اختلفتْ في عينه الصُّوَرُ

    He sees his own figure in the water and fails to recognize it,

    so long have images shifted before his eyes.

  52. حتى إذا ملَّت الأقدارُ شِقوتَه

    وحان من سعيه أن يُدرَك الظفرُ

    Until, when fate has tired of his misery,

    and the time has come for his striving to attain victory,

  53. آنَسَ من جوده ناراً مبشرةً

    ببَرْدِ عيشته من حيثُ تستعرُ

    he discerns in his generosity a fire promising

    the coolness of his life from the very place it blazes.

  54. فجاء يقتافُها حتى أصاب قِرىً

    يأخذُ منه اشتطاطَ النفسِ أو يذَرُ

    He comes, following its trail, until he finds hospitality,

    taking from it as extravagantly as his soul wishes, or leaving it.

  55. بينا تكونُ البدورُ الطائفاتُ به

    ولائداً وتُذكَّى للقِرَى البِدَرُ

    While the full moons circling him are

    maidservants, and money-purses are kindled for hospitality.

  56. فلا خلا منه ربعُ الفضلِ يَعمُرُه

    بالمال يُقسَمُ والأقوالِ تُدَّخَرُ

    May excellence's dwelling never lack him, as he enriches it

    with wealth distributed and words laid up in store.

  57. وبَيْضة الملكِ يحميها فما كَرَبت

    مذ قام يَشعَبُها بالرأي تنفطِرُ

    And he guards the kingdom's egg; it has not come close,

    since he began mending it with counsel, to splitting apart.

  58. تيمَّنوا باسمه حتى لقد وثِقوا

    لو سار في غير جيشٍ أنهم نُصِروا

    They sought good fortune in his name, so firmly trusting

    that if he marched without an army, they would be victorious.

  59. طلقُ النقيبةِ لم يعقِل سعايته

    عن مطلبٍ رجبٌ يُخشَى ولا صَفَرُ

    Of open disposition, his striving has never been tethered

    from an aim by dreaded Rajab, nor by Safar.

  60. غَرَّرَ في العزِّ حتى نال غايتَهُ

    وجانبُ العزِّ مركوبٌ له الغَرَرُ

    He ventured hazards for glory until he reached its utmost goal;

    and glory's flank is ridden at peril.

  61. لو عِيبَ ما عابه شيءٌ يُزَنُّ به

    من النقيصةِ إلا أنه بشرُ

    Were he faulted, nothing imputed to him would blemish him

    as a shortcoming, except that he is human.

  62. حلا له الحمدُ حتى ما لَه ثمنٌ

    يغلو عليه وحتى مالُهُ هَدَرُ

    Praise has grown so sweet to him that no price for it

    seems too high, and his wealth is freely squandered.

  63. لو وَهَبَ المرءُ يوماً نفسَهُ سَرَفاً

    لم يَهبِ النفسَ إلا وهو مختصِرُ

    If a man one day gave his own soul away in excess,

    he would give his soul and still be sparing.

  64. عَجمتُ أيّامَ دهري صعبةً بكُمُ

    فسالمتْني وفي أيّامها خَوَرُ

    Through you, I tested the hard days of my lifetime,

    and they made peace with me, their days sapped of strength.

  65. وكان لي عندَ حظّي قبلَ ودِّكمُ

    ثأرٌ فقمتُ بكم كالسيف أثَّئِرُ

    Before your friendship, I had against my fortune

    a claim for vengeance; through you I rose like a sword, avenging myself.

  66. فلتأتينَّكُمُ عنِّي وبي أبداً

    غرائبٌ وهي في أوطانِها فِقَرُ

    So from me, and through me, there shall always come to you

    marvels, which in their own homelands are choice verses.

  67. تسري مراكبَ للأحساب تَعرِضُها

    على العيون شِيَاتٌ كلُّها غُرَرُ

    They travel as mounts for noble lineages, displaying them

    before the eyes, with markings that are all white blazes.

  68. إذا تحلَّتْ فمعناها قلائدُها ال

    نُضار أو لفظُها أقراطُها الدُّرَرُ

    When they adorn themselves, their meanings are their necklaces of

    pure gold, or their words are their earrings of pearls.

  69. ممّا ولَدتُ وإن خالفتُ منصِبَها

    كِسرَى أبي وأبوها نِسبةً مُضَرُ

    They are among what I have begotten, though I differ from their lineage:

    Kisra is my father, while theirs, by descent, is Mudar.

  70. تسرُّكم وتسوء الحاسدين لكم

    ونفعُ قومٍ لقومٍ غيرِهم ضَرَرُ

    They delight you and distress those who envy you;

    one people's benefit is another people's harm.

  71. في كلِّ يومٍ جديدِ العهد مبتكرٍ

    تسوقُها لكم الرَّوْحاتُ والبُكَرُ

    On every fresh, newly begun day,

    afternoons and mornings bring them to you.

  72. لها بأحسابها طُولٌ وما قطَعتْ

    سَيْراً وفيها عن استحقاقكم قِصَرُ

    Their pedigrees lend them stature, though they have traveled no

    distance; yet they fall short of what you deserve.

  73. وقد سمعتم سواها قابلين له

    فكيف يحلو لجاني النحلةِ الصَّبِرُ

    And you have already heard others besides them, accepting them;

    how can bitter aloes taste sweet to a gatherer of honey?

  74. وإن تشابهتِ الألفاظُ واتفقتْ

    فرُمَّة الحبل شكلاً حَيَّةٌ ذكَرُ

    Though the words may resemble one another and coincide,

    a worn-out rope looks, in shape, like a male serpent.