1. أقامت على قلبي كفيلاً من العهدِ

    يذكِّرني بالقربِ في دولة البعدِ

    She placed upon my heart a surety from the pledge,

    who reminds me of nearness in the reign of distance.

  2. فقولا لواشيها وإن كان صادقاً

    وفائي لها أحظَى ولو غدرتْ عندي

    So tell her slanderer, you two, even if he speaks truth:

    my loyalty to her is dearer to me, even if she proves faithless.

  3. خليليَّ ما للرّيح هبّت مريضةً

    هل اجتدتِ البُخَّالَ أم حَمَلتْ وجدي

    My two friends, why has the wind blown sickly?

    Has it begged of misers, or borne my anguish?

  4. ضمنتُ من الداءين ما لا تُقِلُّه

    على طرحها الشمُّ الهضابُ من الصَّلدِ

    I have taken on, of those two ills, what cannot be borne

    by the towering hills of solid rock, for all their breadth.

  5. حنينٌ ولكن مَن لِشملي بجامع

    ومدُّ يدٍ لكن مَنِ الرَّجُلُ المُجدِي

    Longing—but who will reunite my scattered company?

    And an outstretched hand—but who is the man who gives?

  6. فلا حُبَّ بل لاحظَّ نالك حظُّه

    قد اشترك الأحبابُ والحظ في الصدِّ

    So no love—rather, no share of fortune has reached you;

    loved ones and fortune have joined in turning away.

  7. وسَمَّى زماني طولَ صبري تجلُّداً

    عدمتك ما أبقيتَ بعدِيَ للجَلْدِ

    And my time called my long patience fortitude.

    May I be rid of you! What have you left for the steadfast after me?

  8. كما ذَمَّ مَنْ قبلي ذممتُك عالماً

    بأنك موقوفٌ على الذمِّ مِن بعدِي

    As those before me reviled you, I reviled you, knowing

    that you are destined for revilement after me.

  9. ولكن تجاوَزْ لي بصَرفك ماجداً

    إليه إذا جارتْ صروفُك أَستعدي

    But, for my sake, let your reversals pass over a noble man,

    to whom I appeal for redress when your vicissitudes wrong me.

  10. إذا الصاحبَ استنجدتهُ فوجدتُهُ

    فَرُعْنِيَ فيمن غيره شئتَ بالفقدِ

    When I call upon al-Sahib for help and find him,

    then frighten me with the loss of anyone else you wish.

  11. وإن مرَّ في الأحباب عيشٌ بغيره

    فحسبي بعلم اللّه في ذاك والحمدِ

    And if life among friends has passed without him,

    God's knowledge of that, and praise, suffice me.

  12. وما أعرفُ الممدوحَ لم يَجزِني به

    إذا قلتُ خيراً إنَّ ذلك بالضدِّ

    And I know no man I praise who has not rewarded me for it,

    when I speak well; indeed, it is the other way round.

  13. أحقُّهم عندي بما قمتُ مثنياً

    أعدِّده مَنْ فات إحسانهُ عَدِّي

    Most deserving, in my eyes, of the praise I rise to

    recount is he whose kindness surpasses my counting.

  14. فإن تكن الأيّام أجدبن مرتعي

    لديه وكدّرن الزلالة من وِردي

    If the days have made my pasture barren

    with him, and muddied the clear water I drink,

  15. أقولُ لآمالي وأخشى قنوطَها

    ركوبُكِ ظهرَ الصبر أدنَى إلى الرشدِ

    I say to my hopes, fearing their despair:

    riding patience's back brings you nearer to wisdom.

  16. تُطار فلولا وجهُ سعدِك لم يكن

    سِراجُك في الظلماء نجمَ بني سعدِ

    They are put to flight; but for the face of your good fortune,

    your lamp in darkness would not be the star of Banu Sa'd.

  17. أبا القاسم امنحني سمعتَ استماعةً

    وقِفْ بي من استبطاء حظّي على حدِّ

    Abu al-Qasim, grant me a hearing—may you be heard!

    And set a limit to my wait for tardy fortune.

  18. سخوتُ بشعري قبلَ مدحك لاقياً

    بِسَبطِ كلامي كلَّ ذي نائلٍ جعدِ

    I was generous with my poetry before praising you, meeting

    with my smooth-flowing words each giver whose bounty curled tight.

  19. إذا قلتُ أين الجودُ أنشد بخله

    محا الدهرُ ربعاً بالمشَقَّرِ من هِندِ

    When I said, 'Where is generosity?' his stinginess recited:

    'Time erased a dwelling of Hind's at al-Mushaqqar.'

  20. تعابُ لديه الشمسُ بالنور حُجّةً

    على منعه والماءُ في القيظ من بَرْدِ

    In his eyes the sun is faulted for its light, as a pretext

    for his withholding, and water in summer's heat for its coolness.

  21. وفاضت وهم يُبْس بحارُك بينهم

    فياليت شعري ما لجودك ما يُعدي

    Your seas overflowed among them, while they were dry;

    would that I knew why your generosity is not contagious!

  22. وقد كان لي في الشعر عندك دولةٌ

    ولكن قليلٌ مُكثُها دولةُ الوَرْدِ

    I once had, through poetry, a season of favor with you,

    but its stay was brief—the reign of roses.

  23. أظلُّ وما في عاشقيك محقَّقٌ

    سواي أقاسي الهجرَ من بينهم وحدي

    I go on—though none among your lovers is genuine

    except me—suffering abandonment, alone among them.

  24. فلمْ أنت رَاضٍ لي وللمجد وقفةً

    تزَاحَمَ دمع اليأس فيها على خدِّي

    Why, then, are you content to leave me and glory waiting,

    with tears of despair crowding onto my cheek?

  25. وما غيرُ تأميلي بديني قضاؤه

    فكم أتقاضاه وأنحتُ من جِلدي

    The debt owed me is repaid with nothing but raised hopes;

    so how often I demand its payment, chiseling away my skin!

  26. عسى يقف الإنجاز بي عند غايةٍ

    تريح فلي حَولٌ أُجَرُّ على الوعدِ

    May fulfillment bring me to an endpoint

    that grants rest: for a year I have been dragged along on a promise.

  27. تساويفُ وفَّاها المِطالُ حدودَه

    فعجِّل لها الإنجازَ أو جَبهة الرَّدِّ

    Deferrals that procrastination has brought to its furthest limits—

    so hasten their fulfillment—or the face of refusal.