1. مالكُمُ لا تغضبون للهوى

    وتعرفون الغدرَ فيه والوفا

    Why do you not rise in anger for love,

    when you know its treachery and fidelity?

  2. إن كنتُمُ من أهله فانتصروا

    من ظالمي أو فاخرجوا منه بُراَ

    If you are among its people, take vengeance

    on my oppressor—or leave it, free of blame.

  3. أما تَرَوْن كيف نام وحَمَى

    عيني الكرى فلم ينم ظبيُ الحِمى

    Do you not see how he slept and denied

    my eye slumber, so the gazelle of the sanctuary did not sleep?

  4. وكيف خلاَّني بطيئا قَدَمِي

    عنه ومرّ سابقا مع الوَنَى

    And how he left me slow of foot

    behind him, while he passed ahead despite his languor.

  5. غضبانُ يا لَهْفِيَ كم أرضيتُه

    لو كان يَرضَي المتجنِّي بالرِّضا

    Angry—alas for me! How often I have tried to please him,

    if only that unjust accuser could be pleased by appeasement!

  6. ما لدليلٍ نَصَلَتْ ركابُهُ

    من الدجى حاملةً شمسَ الضحى

    What ails a guide whose riding camels emerged

    from the darkness, bearing the morning sun?

  7. ضلَّ ولو كان له قلبي أهتدَى

    بناره أو شام جفنيَّ سَقى

    He lost his way; had he my heart, he would have been guided

    by its fire—or, had he scanned my eyelids, he could have watered his camels.

  8. قالوا الغضا ثم تنفّستُ لهم

    فهم يدوسون الحصا جَمْرَ الغضا

    They said, ‘Ghada,’ and then I breathed toward them,

    so the pebbles they trod were embers of ghada wood.

  9. بين الحُدوج مُترَفٌ يُزعِجُهُ

    لينُ مِهادٍ ورفيقاتُ الخُطَا

    Among the howdahs is a pampered one, distressed

    by soft bedding and gently pacing mounts.

  10. عارضني يُذْكِرُني الغصنَ به

    وأين منه ما أستقام وأنثنى

    He crossed my path, making me think of a bough,

    yet how could what stands straight and bends compare with him?

  11. حيِّ وقَرِّبْ بالكثيب طارقا

    من طيف حسناءَ على الخوفِ سرى

    Greet and welcome at the dune a night visitor,

    a fair woman’s phantom, traveling by night despite fear.

  12. عاتَبَ عنها واصفاً مودّةً

    ما أسأرتْ إلا عُلالاتِ الكرى

    It reproached me on her behalf, describing an affection

    that left only scant remnants of slumber.

  13. أضمُّ جفنيَّ عليه فَرَقاً

    من الصباح وعلى ذاك أنجلى

    I clasp my eyelids over it, in fear

    of morning; despite that, it vanished.

  14. كأنني عُجْباً به وشَعَفاً

    محبةُ العمدة في حُبِّ العلا

    As though my admiration and passion for him

    were al-ʿUmda’s love for lofty glory.

  15. شَمَّرَ للمجدِ وما تشمَّرتْ

    له السنونَ يافعٌ كهلُ الحجا

    He girded himself for glory, though the years had not girded themselves

    for him: a youth with a mature man’s judgment.

  16. وقام بالرأي فكان أوّلٌ

    من رأيه وآخرُ الحزمِ سَوَا

    He acted with judgment, so the first

    of his thoughts equaled the last word in prudence.

  17. سما إلى الغاية حتى بَلَغَتْ

    همّتُهُ به السماءَ وسما

    He rose toward the utmost goal, until

    his ambition brought him to heaven, and he rose still higher.

  18. فابن الملوك بالملوك يَقْتدِي

    وأبن البحار بالبحار يُبْتَغَى

    For a son of kings takes kings as his models,

    and a son of the seas is sought across the seas.

  19. سكنتموها فاضحين جُودَها

    مُبَخِّليها بالسماحِ والنَّدَى

    You dwelt in them, putting their bounty to shame,

    making them seem miserly beside your largesse and generosity.

  20. نشلتم المُلكَ وقد تهجَّمتْ

    سائلةٌ بَلَّغَت الماءَ الزُّبى

    You rescued the kingdom when there burst upon it

    a torrent that drove the waters to the hilltops.

  21. وأعترضت وجهَ الطريق حَيَّةٌ

    صَمّاءُ لا تُصغي لِخدْعاتِ الرُّقَى

    And a serpent barred the face of the road,

    deaf, unheeding the tricks of incantations.

  22. أنكر فيها المَلْكُ مجرى تاجِهِ

    وقام عن سريره وقد نبا

    Amid it, the king no longer recognized his crown’s accustomed place,

    and rose from his throne, which had rejected him.

  23. لفَّتْ على العراق شطراً وأنثنت

    لفارسِ فدبَّ سمٌّ وسرى

    It wound part of itself around Iraq, then turned

    toward Fars, and poison crept and spread.

  24. لم تدرِ أنَّ بعُمان حاوياً

    ما خَرَزاتُ سحرِهِ إلاَ الظُّبا

    It did not know that in Oman there was a snake-charmer

    whose magic beads were nothing but sword-blades,

  25. يتركها تَفْحَصُ عن نيوبها

    درداءَ تستافُ الترابَ باللَّها

    who leaves it searching for its fangs,

    toothless, sniffing the dust with its palates.

  26. سَبْقاً أتتك وحَمَتك حُسَّرا

    عن هذه الدولة هاذاك العَشَا

    They came racing to you, bare, and barred you

    from this dynasty—such was that night-blindness.

  27. مهلا بني مُكْرَمَ من سماحِكم

    قد أثمر المصفرُّ وأخضرّ الثرى

    Easy, sons of Mukram, with your generosity!

    The yellowed growth has borne fruit, and the earth is green.

  28. إن كنتم الغيثَ تبارون به

    فحسبكم ما يفعل الغيثُ كذا

    If with your bounty you rival the rain,

    then enough! The rain does nothing like this.

  29. يا نجمُ كانت مقلتي تنظرُهُ

    حتى أستنار بدرَ تِمٍّ وأستوى

    O star whom my eye once watched,

    until he shone as a full moon and reached perfection!

  30. صحبتُهُ ريحانةً فلم يزل

    دُعايَ حتى طال غصنا ونما

    I kept his company when he was a basil sprig; unceasing

    was my prayer, until he grew tall as a bough and flourished.

  31. اُذْكُرْ ذَكَرتَ الخيرَ ما لم تنسَهُ

    من صحبتي ذِكرَكَ أيامَ الصِّبا

    Remember—may you remember good—what you have not forgotten

    of my companionship, as you remember the days of youth.

  32. وحُرمةً شروطُها مكتوبةٌ

    على جبين المجدِ راعوا حقِّ ذا

    And a sacred bond whose terms are written

    upon the brow of glory: honor its claim!

  33. ما نعمةٌ تَقِسمُها إلا أنا

    بها أحقُّ من جميع مَنْ تَرى

    There is no favor you bestow but I

    have more right to it than everyone you see.

  34. أيُّ جمالٍ زِنتني اليومَ به

    زانك بين الناس من مدحي غدا

    Whatever beauty you adorn me with today

    will adorn you among people through my praise tomorrow.

  35. لا تعدَم الأيامُ أو عبيدُكم

    نعماءَ منكم تُحْتَذَى وتُجْتَدَى

    May neither the days nor your servants lack

    a bounty from you, taken as a model and sought as a gift.

  36. ولا تزل أنتَ مدَى الدهر لنا

    كهفا إلى أن لا ترى الدهرَ مَدَى

    And may you ever remain, through all time, for us

    a refuge, until you see no limit to time.

  37. كلُّ صباحٍ واجهتْك شمسُهُ

    عيدٌ وكلُّ ليلةٍ ليلُ مِنَي

    Every morning whose sun greets you

    is a festival, and every night a night at Mina.

  38. إن نحروا فَرْضاً فقم نافلة

    فأنحر عداك حَسَداً بلا مُدَى

    If they slaughter as a duty, then rise to a voluntary offering,

    and slaughter your enemies through their envy, without knives.

  39. وأبقَ على ما قد أحلَّ مُحرِمٌ

    وما دعا عند الطوافِ وسعى

    And live on as long as a pilgrim leaves consecration,

    and as long as he prays during circumambulation and performs the ritual run.