1. أَستنجِدُ الصبرَ فيكم وهو مغلوبُ

    وأسألُ النومَ عنكم وهو مسلوبُ

    I seek patience's aid concerning you, though it is defeated.

    And I ask sleep about you, though it has been stolen.

  2. وأبتغي عندكم قلباً سمحتُ به

    وكيف يرجِعُ شيءٌ وهو موهوبُ

    And I seek, in your keeping, a heart I freely gave,

    but how can anything return once given away?

  3. ما كنتُ أعرفُ ما مقدارُ وصلكُمُ

    حتى هجرتم وبعضُ الهجر تأديبُ

    I did not know the worth of union with you

    until you deserted me; some desertion teaches.

  4. أستودع اللّهَ في أبياتكم قمراً

    تراه بالشوق عيني وهو محبوبُ

    I entrust to God a moon within your dwellings,

    whom my eye sees with longing, and who is beloved.

  5. أَرضَى وأسخطُ أو أرضَى تلوُّنَه

    وكلُّ ما يفعلُ المحبوبُ محبوبُ

    I am pleased and angry—or accept his changing moods;

    and everything the beloved does is beloved.

  6. أمَّا وواشيه مردودٌ بلا ظَفَرٍ

    وهل يُجابُ وبذلُ النفس مطلوبُ

    As for his slanderer, he is turned away without success;

    and can he be heeded, when surrender of the soul is sought?

  7. لو كان يُنِصفُ ما قال أنتظرْ صِلَةً

    تأتي غداً وأنتظارُ الشيء تعذيبُ

    Had he been fair, he would not have said, "Wait for a reunion

    that will come tomorrow"; waiting for something is torment.

  8. وكان في الحبِّ إسعادٌ ومُنعطَفٌ

    منه كما فيه تعنيفٌ وتأنيبُ

    And love would have held kindness and tenderness

    from him, just as it holds harshness and reproach.

  9. يا لَلوَّاتي بَغضنَ الشَّيْبَ وهو إلى

    خدودهنَّ من الألوانِ منسوبُ

    Oh, those women who hate gray hair, though it is

    akin to their cheeks in color!

  10. تأبَى البياضَ وتأبَى أن أسوِّده

    بِصبغةٍ وكَلا اللونَيْنِ غِربيبُ

    She rejects whiteness, yet refuses to let me blacken it

    with dye; to her, both colors are raven-black.

  11. ما أنكرتْ أمسِ منه ناصلاً يقَقاً

    ما تُنكر اليومَ منه وهو مخضوبُ

    What she rejected in it yesterday, faded and pure white,

    is what she rejects in it today, although it is dyed.

  12. ليتَ الهوى صان قلبي عن مَطامعه

    فلم يكن قطّ يستدنيه مرغوبُ

    Would that love had shielded my heart from its cravings,

    so no coveted thing could ever draw it near.

  13. إني لأسغَبُ زهداً والثرى عَمَمٌ

    نبتاً وأظما وغَرْب الغيثِ مسكوبُ

    Indeed I go hungry out of abstinence, though the earth is lush

    with growth; I thirst, though rain's great bucket is poured out.

  14. ولا أَرِقُّ لحِرصٍ خابَ صاحبُهُ

    سعياً ويعلم أنّ الرزقَ مكسوبُ

    Nor do I pity greed whose possessor has failed

    in his striving, knowing that livelihood is earned.

  15. عُقَبى الطماعة في مالٍ يُمَنُّ به

    عُصارةٌ لا يُغطِّى خُبثَها الطِّيبُ

    The end of craving wealth whose gift is held over you

    is an extract whose foulness perfume cannot conceal.

  16. طَهِّرْ خِلالَك من خِل تعابُ به

    وأسلم وحيداً فما في الناس مصحوبُ

    Purge your friendships of a friend who brings you blame,

    and stay safe alone, for among people there is none to befriend.

  17. إني بُليت بمضْطَرٍّ رفيقُهُمُ

    والماءُ يملُحُ وقتاً وهو مشروبُ

    I have been tried by people whose companion has no choice;

    and water turns salty at times, yet is drunk.

  18. كم يوعد الدهرُ آمالي ويُخلِفُها

    أخاً أُسَرُّ به والدهرُ عُرقوبُ

    How often Time promises my hopes, then betrays them,

    a brother in whom I rejoice; yet Time is ʿUrqūb.

  19. أسعَى لمثل سَجايَا في أبي حَسَن

    وهل يُبَلِّغني الجوزاءَ تقريبُ

    I seek virtues like those found in Abū Ḥasan;

    but can any approach bring me to al-Jawzāʾ?

  20. فِدَى محمدٍّ المنسيِّ نائلُهُ

    مُرَاجِعٌ نيلُه المنزورُ محسوبُ

    Let him be ransom for Muḥammad, whose bounty is forgotten:

    the man who takes back his gifts, whose scant bounty is counted.

  21. حالٌ تحدّثه الأحلامَ جاهلةً

    لحاقَهُ وأخو الأحلامِ مكذوبُ

    A condition that speaks to him of dreams, unaware

    of catching up with him; and the dreamer is deceived.

  22. إن قدَّم الحظُّ قوماً غالطاً بِهِمُ

    أو بَيَّنتهمْ عِناياتٌ وتقريبُ

    If fortune advanced some people, mistaken about them,

    or patronage and favor distinguished them,

  23. فالسيف يُخْبَرُ قَطْعاً وهو مدَّخَرٌ

    والطِّرْفُ يكرَمُ طبعاً وهو مجنوبُ

    a sword is known for cutting, though kept in reserve,

    and the noble steed is prized by nature, even when led alongside.

  24. حذارِ من حَدَثِ النَّعماء مؤتنَفٍ

    علاؤه بشفيع الوجه مجلوبُ

    Beware the newcomer to prosperity, whose newfound

    eminence is procured by a face's intercession.

  25. تسوءه سائلا مِن أين سؤددُه

    إنّ اللئيم بما قد ساد مسبوبُ

    You distress him by asking where his eminence comes from;

    the base man is reviled for the very means by which he rose.

  26. أأنت أنت وفي الدنيا أبو حَسَن

    صدقتَ إن لفي الدنيا أعاجيبُ

    Are you truly yourself, while Abū Ḥasan is in the world?

    You are right: this world indeed holds marvels.

  27. إذا رأيتَ ذويلَ السَّرْح آمنةً

    لم يَحْمِها فلأمرٍ يحلمُ الذيبُ

    If you see the grazing herd's little tail safe,

    though he has not guarded it, the wolf forbears for a reason.

  28. يا مُلبسِي الغرّاءَ ضافيةً

    عليَّ إن قَلَصتْ عنِّي الجلابيبُ

    O you who clothe me in the radiant robe, ample

    upon me if cloaks shrink away from me:

  29. عَلِقْتُ منك بعهدٍ لا مَواثِقُهُ

    تُنَسى ولا حبلُه بالغدر مقضوبُ

    I have clung to a covenant from you, whose pledges are never

    forgotten, nor is its cord severed by betrayal.

  30. وأحمدَتْك أختباراتي وقد سَبَرتْ

    غَوْرَ الرجال وكدَّتها التجاريبُ

    And my tests have found you praiseworthy, having sounded

    the depths of men and been worn out by trials.

  31. فلتجزِيَنَّك عنّي كلُّ غاديةٍ

    لها من الكِلَمِ الفيَّاضِ شُؤبوبُ

    Let every morning cloud repay you on my behalf,

    bearing a downpour of overflowing words.

  32. إذا وسَمتُ حَيَاها باسمك أنحدرتْ

    له الزُّبَى وأطاعته المصاعيبُ

    When I brand its rain with your name, down come

    the heights before it, and the untamable obey it.

  33. فاسلم لهنّ ولي ما طاف مستلمٌ

    سَبْعا وعَلَّقَ بالأستارِ مكروبُ

    So live safe for them and me, as long as a pilgrim touching the Stone circles

    seven times, and one in distress clings to the curtains.

  34. تُرجَى وتُخشَى فَسيحَ الباب ممتنِعاً

    إن الكريمَ لمرجُوٌّ ومرهوبُ

    You are sought in hope and feared, open-doored yet unassailable;

    for the generous man is indeed sought in hope and feared.