1. حيِّها أوجُهاً على السَّفحِ غُرَّاً

    وقِباباً بِيضاً ونُوقاً حُمرا

    Greet her—radiant faces upon the hillside,

    and white tents, and red she-camels,

  2. ورماحاً دون الحبائب يُهزَزْ

    نَ ويُحطَمنَ في الكتائبِ كسرا

    and spears shaken before the beloved women,

    and shattered to pieces amid the battalions,

  3. وسراحينَ كالحصونِ جياداً

    تملأ الحُزْمَ مُهرةً أو مُهْرا

    and wolf-like coursers, fine steeds like fortresses,

    filling their girths, filly or colt.

  4. يَتمارَحنَ في الحبالِ فينقُض

    نَ فتيلاً منها ويقطعنَ شَزْرا

    They frolic together in their tethers, unravelling

    a strand of them and severing their twisted cords.

  5. وقِرىً بعضُه الوصالُ إذا أم

    سى طما جَفنةً وزمْجَرَ قِدْرا

    And hospitality, part of it love's union; when evening

    fell, it brimmed in a serving-bowl and roared in a cauldron.

  6. آهِ للشوقِ ما تأوَّهتُ منه

    لليالٍ بالسفح لو عُدْنَ أخرى

    Ah, longing! How I have groaned from it,

    for nights upon the hillside—if only they returned once more!

  7. كنَّ دُهماً من الدآدي وقد كُن

    نَ بتلك الوجوه دُرْعاً وقُمْرا

    They were dark, among the moonless nights, yet

    those faces made them bright at their close and moonlit.

  8. حيثُ لا تظفرُ الوشاةُ بأسرا

    رِي إذا ما الصباحُ أعلنَ سِرَّا

    Where informers could not uncover my secrets,

    even when morning disclosed a secret.

  9. فإذا ما العذولُ قال عِقاباً

    في ذنوبي قال الصِّبا بل غَفْرا

    And whenever the reprover said, “Punishment”

    for my sins, youth said, “Rather, pardon.”

  10. أجتنيها رَيْحانةَ العيشِ خضرا

    ءَ وتُمسى فيها المُنَى لِيَ خُضْرا

    I pluck them as life's green sweet basil,

    and within them my wishes remain green at evening.

  11. يا مَغانِي الحمى سُقيتِ وما ين

    فعُني الغيثُ أن يجودَكِ قَفْرا

    O dwellings of the sanctuary, may you be watered! What use

    is rain to me if it lavishes itself on you, deserted?

  12. أيُّ عين أصابتِ الدارَ أقذَى ال

    لَهُ بعدِي أجفانَها وأضرَّا

    What eye struck the dwelling? May God

    fill its eyelids with grit after I left, and afflict it!

  13. عَرِيَتْ من ظبائها الآنساتِ ال

    بِيضِ واعتاضتِ الظِّباءَ العُفْرا

    It was stripped of its companionable gazelles,

    the white ones, and took dust-colored gazelles instead.

  14. لا تراها تُطيلُ بعد النوى غص

    ناً ولا جوُّها يُتمِّمُ بدرا

    After separation you see it grow no branch,

    nor does its sky bring a moon to fullness,

  15. غيرَ حُمٍّ من القطا جاثماتٍ

    كنَّ جُوناً فعدنَ بالرَّهجْ كُدْرا

    only dark sandgrouse crouching,

    once black, now turned dun with dust,

  16. وبقايا مواقفٍ تصفُ الجو

    دَ أباديدَ في يدِ الريح يُذرَى

    and remnants of stopping-places that speak of bounty,

    scattered fragments strewn by the wind's hand.

  17. قَلِّبوا ذلك الرَّمادَ تُصيبوا

    فيه قلبي إن لم تُصيبوا الجمرا

    Turn over those ashes: you will find

    my heart there, if you do not find embers.

  18. ما لدهري قضَى الفراقَ عليها

    عذَّبَ اللّهُ بالفراقِ الدهرا

    What ails my Time, decreeing separation upon her?

    May God torment Time with separation!

  19. اُنظرا لي وقبلُ كنت بصيراً

    يا خليليَّ بين جوّ وبُصْرَى

    Look for me, you two—once I could see—

    my two friends, between Jaww and Busra.

  20. أوميضٌ سَرَى فشقَّ قميصَ ال

    ليل أم ذاك طيفُ سُعْدَى تَسَرَّى

    Was it a flash that passed and tore the shirt

    of night, or Su'da's phantom journeying by night?

  21. زار وهْناً لا يُصغِر اللّهُ ممشا

    هُ وحَيَّا فزاده اللّه بِرَّا

    It visited late at night—may God never slight its journey—

    and greeted me; may God grant it still more kindness.

  22. بشَّرتني مقدّماتٌ به يح

    ملُ فيها ذيل النسيم العِطرا

    Forerunners brought me glad tidings of it; within them

    the breeze's trailing hem carried fragrance.

  23. واعتنقنا وليس همّي سوى مس

    ألةِ الليل أن يُميتَ الفجرا

    We embraced; my only concern was to ask

    the night to put the dawn to death.

  24. زورة لم تكن بخطِّ بناني

    في كتابِ الآمال إلا سطرا

    A visit that, in the handwriting of my fingers,

    had been only a line in the book of hopes.

  25. سَرَقَتها لِيَ الحظوظُ وخَنسا

    ءُ استلاباً من الزمان وطَرَّا

    Fortunes and a pitch-dark night stole it for me,

    snatching and thieving it from Time.

  26. وأبيها ما حفظَها الدهرَ أَنكر

    تُ ولكن أنكرتُ بُعدَ المَسرَى

    By her father, I did not marvel at her constancy through time,

    but I marveled at the distance of her night-journey.

  27. جشَّمتْها الأشواقُ في ساعةٍ شُق

    قَةَ ما تخبِطُ السحائبُ شهرا

    Longings made her undertake, in a single hour,

    a distance the clouds traverse in a month.

  28. فَرحَةٌ طار لي غراباً بها اللي

    لُ وطارت عنّي مع الصبح نَسرا

    A joy that night bore to me in a raven's form,

    and that flew from me with dawn as an eagle.

  29. اِرتجِعْها يا دهرُ لا زلتَ تستَرْ

    جِعُ لؤماً ما كنتَ أعطيتَ نَزْرا

    Take it back, O Time! May you forever reclaim,

    in your meanness, what little you had given.

  30. وتعلَّمْ أَنِّي بمكرك لا أح

    فِلُ ممّا ألفتُ منك المكرا

    And learn that I pay no heed to your deceit,

    so accustomed have I become to deceit from you.

  31. أنكَرَ الغدرَ مرّةً منك قلبي

    ثم صارت سجيّةً فاستمرّا

    Once my heart found your treachery strange;

    then it became your nature, and persisted.

  32. لا حَمَى اللّهُ حازماً غرَّه من

    ك سرابٌ شعشعتَهُ فاغتَّرا

    May God not protect the prudent man deceived by your

    mirage, which you made glitter until he was deluded.

  33. كُلْ بنابَيْك ملءَ جنبيك لحمي

    وتخذَّلْ عنّي متى قلتُ نصرا

    Eat my flesh with both your fangs, filling your flanks,

    and forsake me whenever I call for help.

  34. قَلَّ صبري على اقتنائِيَ للمج

    د وأمّا عنك الغداة فصبرا

    My patience grows short as I seek glory;

    but as for you this morning, I shall bear patiently.

  35. أنت ذاك الذي أمتَّ شبابي

    عَبطةً وهو ما تَملَّى العمرا

    You are the one who killed my youth

    untimely, before it had enjoyed its span of life.

  36. ورددتَ العيونَ عنّي وقد كن

    تُ لها الكحلَ حائصاتٍ خُزْرا

    You turned eyes away from me, though I had been

    their kohl, making them recoil and look askance.

  37. صار عِهْناً تحتَ المراحل ينقا

    دُ وقد كان عاصيَ النَّبتِ شَعْرا

    Beneath life's stages it became wool, yielding,

    though once it had been stubborn-growing hair.

  38. ومَشيتَ الضَّراءَ كيداً لأحبا

    بي فرِيعُوا في الأَرضِ شَلَّاً ونَفْرا

    You crept through cover, plotting against my loved ones,

    and they were frightened and driven, scattered through the land.

  39. صُدِعُوا مَطرحَ الزُّجاج تَشَظَّى

    وتداعَوْا عَطَّ الأديم تَفَرَّى

    They were broken apart like glass flung down in shards,

    and fell apart like leather rent and shredded.

  40. قَسمتْهم يدُ الشتاتِ فشطراً

    للتنائي وللنوائبِ شطرا

    The hand of dispersal divided them: one portion

    for remoteness, another for calamities.

  41. فكأنّ الأرضَ الحَمولَ أبتْ أن

    يجِدوا فوقَها لرِجلٍ مَقَرَّا

    As though the burden-bearing earth refused

    to let them find a foothold upon it.

  42. خولسوا من يدِي غصوناً رطيبا

    تٍ وغابوا عنّي كواكبَ زُهْرا

    They were stolen from my hand, tender branches,

    and vanished from me, shining stars.

  43. أَقتضيهم مطلَ الإِيابِ وقد وف

    فَى الفراقُ الوشيكُ فيهم نَذْرا

    I seek them back from the delays of return, though

    swift separation has fulfilled its vow concerning them.

  44. صحِبَ اللّهُ راكبين إلى العز

    زِ طريقاً من المخافةِ وَعْرا

    May God accompany those riding toward glory

    along a rugged road of fear.

  45. سمعوا هَتفةَ الحُمول فطاروا

    يأخذون الأرزاقَ بالسيف قَهرا

    They heard the cry of the loaded camels and flew,

    winning their livelihoods by the sword, by force.

  46. شربوا الموتَ في الكريهة حُلواً

    خوفَ يومٍ أن يشربوا الضيمَ مُرَّا

    They drank death sweet in battle,

    fearing a day when they might drink bitter humiliation.

  47. طَرَحوا حاجَهم وراء متونِ ال

    خيلِ ركضاً والسمهريَّةِ جَرَّا

    They cast their needs behind the backs

    of galloping horses and the trails of straight spears.

  48. كلُّ عجلانَ خَطُّهُ لأَخيه

    العَلاءَ العلاءَ إن كنتَ حُرَّا

    Every eager man writes to his brother:

    “Excellence, excellence—if you are freeborn!”

  49. يملأون الحُبا جُلوساً فإن ثا

    روا ملأتَ الفضاءَ بِيضاً وسُمرا

    Seated, they fill their knee-wraps; but when they rise,

    the expanse fills with white blades and brown spears.

  50. وإذا استُصرخوا لعضَّةِ عامٍ

    ركبوا الجودَ يطردون الفقرا

    And when help is sought against a year's biting hardship,

    they mount generosity and drive poverty away.

  51. لا يبالي الحيرانُ ما أَطلقوا الأي

    مانَ أَن تُمسكَ السماءُ القَطرا

    The bewildered man cares not, while they open their right hands,

    whether the sky withholds the rain.

  52. إخوتي من بني الوفاء ورهطي

    يومَ أغزو الملوكُ من آلِ كسرَى

    My brothers, sons of fidelity, and my clan

    when I wage war—the kings of Kisra's house.

  53. غادروني فرداً ومرُّوا مع الأي

    يام والحظُّ بعدَهم أن أمُرَّا

    They left me alone and passed away with the days;

    my lot after them is to pass away too.

  54. أتشكَّى القذَى بمقلةِ حيرا

    نَ عليهم إلى ضلوعٍ حَرَّى

    I complain of grit in an eye bewildered

    over them, to ribs burning with grief.

  55. ليتَ شِعري بمن أُعوَّض عنكم

    يومَ آبى ضيماً وأدفعُ عُسرا

    Would that I knew who could replace you for me

    when I refuse humiliation and repel hardship.

  56. فسدَ الناسُ بعدكم فاستوى في ال

    عيش مَن سرَّني نفاقاً وضَرَّا

    People grew corrupt after you; alike in

    life are those who please me falsely and those who harm me.

  57. ونجا بي ما شئتُ يأسِيَ منهم

    نال خيراً من ظنَّ بالناس شرَّا

    My despair of them has rescued me as much as I wished;

    he who thinks ill of people has won something good.

  58. وبلى قد أفادني الدهرُ خِلَّاً

    لَمَّ شَعثِي وشَدَّ منِّيَ أَزْرا

    Yet yes—Time has given me a friend,

    who gathered my scattered state and strengthened my back.

  59. واحداً أعلقتْ يدي غلطةُ الأي

    يام منه حبلَ الوفاءِ المُمَرَّا

    One friend: a blunder of the days fastened my hand

    to his firmly twisted cord of fidelity.

  60. أَلمعيَّاً رأَى بعينِ ابنِ ليلٍ

    خافياً من مَحاسني مستسِرَّا

    A discerning man, who saw with a night-roamer's eye

    the hidden, secret part of my virtues.

  61. فاقتناني تغنُّماً وافتراطاً

    واستباني قولاً لطيفاً وبِرَّا

    He acquired me as a prize, forestalling others,

    and won me over with gentle words and kindness.

  62. وتحرَّى تفضُّلاً أن يرى الفض

    لَ مضاعاً والحرُّ من يَتحرَّى

    Graciously he guarded against seeing merit

    wasted; the freeborn man is one who takes such care.

  63. صدَقَتْ في أبي طريفٍ ميامي

    نُ ظنوني وقد تعيّفن زَجْرا

    My auspicious surmises proved true of Abu Tarif,

    though they had divined through bird-omens.

  64. وتجلَّت غشاوةُ الدهرِ عن قل

    بي وفكَّتْ عنِّي الليالي الحَجْرا

    Time's veil lifted from my heart,

    and the nights released me from confinement.

  65. وأتاني يتوبُ من ذنبه الده

    رُ احتشاماً له وكان مُصِرَّا

    Time came to me, repenting its sin,

    out of reverence for him, though it had been obstinate.

  66. ألحَقَتْني به غريباً من الآ

    مال قُربَى تُعَدُّ صِنْواً وصِهرا

    A kinship born of hopes joined me, a stranger, to him,

    a bond counted as brotherhood and marriage kinship.

  67. فتحنَّى لها ورقَّ عليها

    ورأى الدهرَ عقَّ فيها فبَرَّا

    He bent tenderly toward it and showed it compassion,

    and, seeing Time had been undutiful toward it, acted dutifully.

  68. وصَلَ الودَّ لي بآخيّة الجا

    ه فكانا عُجالةً لي وذُخرا

    He bound affection for me to the tether of rank,

    and the two became my present provision and my reserve.

  69. وأتاه صوتي فنبَّه منه

    عُمَراً حين نبَّهَ الناسُ عَمْرا

    My voice reached him and awakened in him

    an Umar, when people awakened an Amr.

  70. شيمةٌ منك ياابن باسِلَ في السؤ

    دُدِ لم تُعتَسَفْ عليها قَسرا

    A trait of yours in lordship, O son of Basil,

    one you were not forced into by compulsion.

  71. وعروقٌ زَكَى ثراهنّ في المج

    دِ فأرعَى نباتُهن وأثْرى

    And roots whose soil grew fertile in glory,

    so their growth yielded pasture and riches.

  72. طاب مَجْناكَ فاهتصرتُك وَرْداً

    ليِّنَ الغصنِ واعتصرتُك خَمرا

    Your harvest was sweet: I plucked you as a rose

    of tender stem, and pressed you into wine.

  73. كان نصري عليك دَيْناً فما كن

    تَ بغير القضاء منه لتَبْرا

    Supporting me was a debt upon you; you could not

    be quit of it without repayment.

  74. نَدبتْك العُلا له فتجرّدْ

    تَ حساماً فيه وقمتَ هِزَبْرا

    High honor summoned you to it; you unsheathed yourself

    as a sword in its cause, and rose as a lion.

  75. مِلَّةٌ في الوفاء ضيَّعها النا

    سُ وأحييتَها سَناءً وفخرا

    A creed of fidelity that people neglected,

    you revived in splendor and pride.

  76. ولسانٌ في الحمد كان عقيماً

    قبلُ أولدتَهُ ثناءً وشُكرا

    And a tongue that had been barren in praise

    you made beget eulogy and gratitude.

  77. فتأهَّبْ لوافداتِ القوافي

    يعتملنَ الدُّجَى وما كُنَّ سَفْرا

    Prepare, then, for visiting rhymes,

    toiling through the darkness, though they are no travelers,

  78. ضارباتٍ في الأرض طولاً وعرضاً

    وهي لم تلق جانباً مغبرّا

    ranging over the earth in length and breadth,

    yet never touching a dust-covered tract.

  79. حاملاتٍ لحُرِّ عرضك من بح

    ر ضميري ملءَ الحقائب دُرَّا

    Bearing, for your pure honor, from the sea

    of my heart, saddlebags full of pearls.

  80. كلّ غراءَ تجتليها على شر

    طك في الحسن ثيِّباً أو بِكرا

    Each is a radiant bride you unveil, according

    to your standard of beauty, once-wed or virgin.

  81. لم أكلِّفك أن تسوقَ مع الرغ

    بة فيها سوى المودةِ مَهرا

    I did not require you, with your desire

    for them, to bring any dowry but affection.

  82. وبحقٍّ لم ينشرح لك صدري

    بمديحٍ حتى ملأت الصدرا

    And rightly, my breast did not open to you

    in praise until you had filled that breast.

  83. ورآك الشِّعرُ العزيزُ على غي

    رك كُفئاً فلانَ شيئاً وقَرَّا

    Poetry, unyielding toward others, saw you

    as its equal, grew somewhat gentle, and settled.

  84. كم عظيمٍ أبَى عليه وجبّا

    رٍ ثنَى عنه جيدَه وأمرَّا

    How many great men it refused, and tyrants

    from whom it turned its neck and passed on!

  85. فتهنَّ انقيادَه لك واعلمْ

    أيّ طِرْفٍ جعلتهُ لك ظَهرا

    So enjoy its yielding to you, and know

    what a noble steed you have made your mount.

  86. والبس المهرجانَ حُلَّةَ عزٍّ

    لستَ من لُبسِها مدى الدهر تعرَى

    At Mihrjan, put on a robe of honor,

    one you will never shed throughout Time,

  87. طاعنا في السنين تطوي عليهن

    نَ طوالَ السنين عصراً فعصرا

    advancing in years, folding over them

    long years, age after age.

  88. واعلُ حتى أراكَ أشرفَ كعباً

    من مكان السُّهَى وأَنبَهَ ذِكرا

    And rise until I see you higher in standing

    than the place of al-Suha, and more renowned.