1. بطرفك والمسحورُ يُقسم بالسحرِ

    أعمدا رماني أم أصاب ولا يدري

    By your gaze—for the bewitched one swears by sorcery—

    did he shoot me deliberately, or hit me without knowing?

  2. تعرَّضَ بي في القانصين مسدّد ال

    إشارة مدلول السهام على النحرِ

    Among the hunters, he crossed my path, unerring in his

    aim, his arrows guided toward the throat.

  3. رمى اللحظةَ الأولى فقلتُ مجرّبٌ

    وكرَّرها أخرى فأحسستُ بالشرِّ

    He fired the first glance; I said, “He is testing his aim”;

    then he repeated it, and I sensed harm.

  4. فهل ظنَّ ما قد حرَّم اللّهُ من دمي

    مباحاً له أم نام قومٌ على الوِترِ

    Did he think my blood, which God has made inviolable,

    was lawful for him—or have people slept on an unavenged wrong?

  5. بنجدٍ ونجدٌ دارُ جودٍ وذمّةٍ

    مطالٌ بلا عُسرٍ ومطلٌ بلا عُذْرِ

    In Najd—though Najd is a home of bounty and protection—

    there is stalling without hardship, delay without excuse.

  6. وسمراءُ ودَّ البدرُ لو حال لونُه

    إلى لونها في صبغة الأوجه السُّمرِ

    And a dusky beauty—the full moon wished its color would change

    to hers, taking the hue of dusky faces.

  7. خليليّ هل من وقفةٍ والتفاتةٍ

    إلى القبة السوداءِ من جانب الحِجْرِ

    My two friends, will you pause and turn

    toward the black pavilion beside al-Hijr?

  8. وهل مَن أرانا الحجّ بالخَيف عائدٌ

    إلى مثلها أو عدَّها حِجَّةَ العمرِ

    And will the one the pilgrimage showed us at al-Khayf return

    for another like it, or did they count it the pilgrimage of a lifetime?

  9. فللّه ما أوفى الثلاثَ على مِنىً

    لأهل الهوى لو لم تحنْ ليلةُ النَّفْرِ

    By God, how faithful the three days at Mina were

    to lovers—had the night of departure not drawn near!

  10. لقد كنتُ لا أوتى من الصبر قبلَها

    فهل تعلمان اليومَ أين مضى صبري

    Before her, I was never found wanting in patience;

    so do you two know where my patience has gone today?

  11. وكنتُ ألوم العاشقين ولا أرى

    مزيَّةَ ما بين الوصال إلى الهجرِ

    Once I blamed lovers and could not see

    any distinction between union and estrangement.

  12. فأعدَى إليّ الحبَّ صحبةُ أهله

    ولم يدر قلبي أنّ داء الهوى يسري

    Then keeping company with lovers infected me with love,

    and my heart did not know that love's sickness spreads.

  13. أيشردُ لبّي يا غزالةَ حاجرٍ

    وأنتِ بذات البان مجموعةُ الأمرِ

    Must my reason stray, O gazelle of Hajir,

    while you at Dhat al-Ban remain composed?

  14. خذي لحظ عيني في الغُصوب إضافةً

    إلى القلب أو ردّي فؤادي إلى صدري

    Take my eye's gaze among your spoils, an addition

    to my heart—or return my heart to my breast.

  15. وإلا فظهر الهجر أوطأُ مركباً

    إذا خُنتِ واستوطأتِ لي مركبَ الغدرِ

    Otherwise, estrangement's back is a softer mount

    if you betray me and find treachery toward me a comfortable ride.

  16. وإني لجلْدُ العزم أملك شهوتي

    وأعرف أيّامي وأقوى على سري

    Indeed, I am firm in resolve; I master my desire,

    know my days, and can keep my secret.

  17. وأحمل أثقال الحبيب خفيفةً

    ولكنّ حملَ الضيم ثقلٌ على ظهري

    I bear my beloved's burdens lightly,

    but bearing humiliation weighs heavy on my back.

  18. ولا يملك المولى وفائي بنَكثه

    ولا يشتري معروفَ ودِّيَ بالنّكرِ

    No patron can own my loyalty through his faithlessness,

    nor buy my loving kindness with unkindness.

  19. ومن دون ضيمي بسطةُ الأرض والسُّرى

    وخوض الدياجي وامتعاضُ الفتى الحرِّ

    Between me and humiliation lie the earth's expanse and night travel,

    the crossing of darkness, and a free man's indignation.

  20. وإنِّي من مولى الملوك ورأيِهِ

    وسلطانِهِ بين المجرّةِ والنَّسرِ

    Indeed, through the lord of kings and his counsel,

    and his power, I stand between the Milky Way and the Eagle.

  21. فلا أنا مغمودٌ ولا أنا مُسْلَمٌ

    وفي سيفه عزِّي وفي يده نصري

    Thus I am neither sheathed nor given up;

    my honor lies in his sword, my victory in his hand.

  22. تعالى بركن الدين صوتي وشَيَّدتْ

    محاسنُهُ وصفي وسار بها ذكري

    Through Rukn al-Din my voice rose high, and

    his virtues exalted my praise, and through them my renown spread.

  23. وكان إليّ الدهرُ بالشرِّ ناظراً

    فغمَّض عنّي جودُهُ ناظرَ الدهرِ

    Time had been looking toward me with malice,

    but his bounty shut Time's hostile eye to me.

  24. وإن كان هذا القولُ قدماً يطيعني

    فقد زاد بَسْطاً في لساني وفي فكري

    Though this verse had long obeyed me,

    my tongue and my thought have gained still greater freedom.

  25. وكنت له نجماً فلما مدحته

    كساني سنا إقبالِهِ بُلجةَ الفجر

    I had been a star to him; but when I praised him,

    the radiance of his favor clothed me in dawn's brightness.

  26. إليك مليكَ الأرض ألقت ملوكُها اض

    طراراً عنانَ النهي في الأرضِ والأمرِ

    To you, king of the earth, its kings have yielded,

    under compulsion, the reins of prohibition and command on earth.

  27. ودان لك الغُرُّ الميامينُ من بني

    بُويْه كما دانَ الكواكبُ للبدرِ

    And there submitted to you the illustrious, fortunate sons of

    Buwayh, as the stars submit to the full moon.

  28. رأوك فتاهم في الشجاعة والندى

    وشيخهم المتبوعَ في الرأي والعُمرِ

    They saw you as their young champion in courage and generosity,

    and their elder, followed for his judgment and years.

  29. فأعطوك طوعاً ما تعذَّر منهُمُ

    على كلّ باغ بالكراهةِ والقسرِ

    So they willingly gave you what could not be won from them

    by any seeker through coercion and force.

  30. نظمتَ لهم عِقدَ العُلا وفضَلتَهم

    فأصبحتَ وسْطَ العقدِ في ذلك النحرِ

    You strung for them the necklace of glory and surpassed them,

    so you became the necklace's centerpiece upon that neck.

  31. لكم أوّل الدنيا القديمُ وعنكُمُ

    يكون قيامُ الأمرِ في ساعةِ الحشرِ

    Yours is the world's ancient beginning, and through you

    authority will be established at the hour of Resurrection.

  32. وما المُلك إلا ما اختبى متمدّحاً

    بأيامكم فيه المحجَّلةِ الغُرِّ

    Kingship is only what shelters itself, boasting

    of your days within it, white-stockinged and white-blazed.

  33. ولا الدهر إلا ما تقلَّب صَرفُهُ

    على ما قسمتم من يَسارٍ ومن عُسرِ

    Nor is Time anything but the turning of its fortunes

    according to the prosperity and hardship you allot.

  34. ولا تطعم الدنيا بنيها سوى الذي

    تشيرون من حُلوٍ إليه ومن مرِّ

    Nor does the world feed its children anything but what

    you point to, whether sweet or bitter.

  35. بكم يصبح الدينُ الحنيفيُّ آمناً

    إذا بات مخلوعَ الفؤاد من الذُّعرِ

    Through you the upright faith awakens secure

    when it has spent the night with its heart torn loose by terror.

  36. وما برحتْ أبياتُكم في ابتنائِهِ

    دعائم للخَطِّيِّ والقُضُبِ البُتْرِ

    Your houses, in building it, have never ceased to be

    pillars for Khatti spears and cleaving swords.

  37. وأنت الذي كنت الذخيرةَ منهُمُ

    قديماً إذا الرحمنُ بارك في الذُّخرِ

    You are the one who was their treasure in reserve

    long ago, when the Merciful blessed that reserve.

  38. فلو بَقيَ الماضون منهم تمثّلوا

    بملكك في مُلكٍ وعصرِك في عصرِ

    Had their departed lived on, they would have held up as models

    your reign among reigns, and your age among ages.

  39. إذا ما أراد اللّهُ إحياءَ دولةٍ

    بغاك بنوها بالخديعةِ والمكرِ

    When God wishes to revive a dynasty,

    its sons seek you out with stratagem and guile.

  40. وإن شاءَ في دهماءِ قومٍ إبادةً

    رماهم بدُهْمٍ من جيادك أو شُقْرِ

    And if He wills annihilation among a people's multitude,

    He strikes them with your black or chestnut chargers.

  41. ومن ملَّ طولَ العمرِ والعزِّ قاده

    لك الحَيْنُ في حبلِ الشناءةِ والغِمرِ

    Whoever tires of long life and honor is led

    to you by doom, on the rope of hatred and rancor.

  42. قسمتَ بكفيّك المنيَّةَ والغنى

    للهفانَ يستجدي وغضبانَ يستشري

    With your two hands you apportion death and wealth

    to a desperate man begging and an angry man growing fierce.

  43. فأنتَ إذا شِمتَ الظُّبى قاتلُ العدا

    وأنت إذا شمت الندى قاتلُ الفقرِ

    When you draw the blades, you are the slayer of enemies;

    and when you discern bounty, you are the slayer of poverty.

  44. فلا زال معقوداً عطاؤك بالغنى

    ولا زال معقوداً لواؤك بالنصرِ

    May your giving ever be bound to wealth,

    and your banner ever be bound to victory.

  45. وزارك بالنيروز أيمنُ قادمٍ

    سَرى لك في وفد الرجاء الذي يسري

    And may the most auspicious newcomer visit you at Nowruz,

    journeying by night to you among hope's night-traveling envoys,

  46. جديداً على العام الجديد مؤمَّراً

    كما أمْرك الماضي على العبدِ والحرِّ

    renewed and set in command over the new year,

    as your command prevails over slave and free.

  47. تُزخرَفُ منه الأرضُ من حَلْي روضها

    بما كُسيَتْ من صِبغْ أيّامِك الخُضرِ

    Through it the earth is adorned with the jewels of its meadows,

    clothed in colors drawn from your verdant days.

  48. كأنّ الربيعَ من صِفاتِك يمترِي

    وشائعَهُ ومن سجاياك يَستقري

    As though spring draws from your qualities

    its skeins, and seeks them out in your character.

  49. فطاوِلْ به عدَّ السنين مفاوتاً

    بعمرك مقدارَ الإحاطةِ والحصرِ

    So outlast with it the sum of years, surpassing

    with your lifespan the limits of comprehension and reckoning.

  50. متى تطوِ مُلكاً تنتشرْ لك بعدَهُ

    ممالكُ لا تَبلَى على الطيِّ والنشرِ

    Whenever you fold up one kingdom, there unfold for you after it

    kingdoms that never wear out with folding and unfolding.

  51. وحيَّاك منّي بالمديح مبشِّرٌ

    خمائل لم تنبتْ على سَبَل القَطرِ

    And a herald greets you from me with praise:

    lush groves that never grew beneath the falling rain.

  52. لها مدَدٌ من خاطرٍ غيرِ ناضبٍ

    مليءٍ إذا كافَى الصنيعةَ بالشكرِ

    They draw sustenance from a mind that never runs dry,

    well supplied when repaying kindness with gratitude.

  53. خدمتُك منها بالمحصَّنةِ التي

    عليها أحامي والمخدَّرةِ البِكرِ

    I served you with the well-guarded one among them,

    whom I protect, and with the secluded virgin.

  54. فكرَّمتني لما قبلتَ نكاحَها

    وزيَّدتَ في فضلي وضاعفتَ من قدري

    You honored me when you accepted her in marriage,

    increased my distinction and doubled my standing.

  55. وملَّكتني قلباً كريماً ولم أكن

    أظنُّ قلوبَ الأسد تُملك بالشِّعرِ

    You gave me possession of a noble heart, though I had never

    thought lions' hearts could be won by poetry.

  56. فقمتُ على ظلٍّ من الأنس باردٍ

    ومن هيبةِ الملك العقيم على الجمرِ

    So I stood in the cool shade of intimacy,

    and, awed by kingship that knows no kin, upon burning coals.

  57. ولكنّها قد موطلت بمهورها

    ولابدّ في عَقد النكاح من المَهرِ

    But she has been kept waiting for her dowries,

    and a marriage contract must have its dowry.

  58. وممّا شجاها أن تضلَّ وسيرُها

    مع النجم أو تَظمى على ساحل البحرِ

    It grieves her to go astray, when her course runs

    with the star, or to thirst upon the seashore.

  59. وخيرُ العطايا ما يُراد به العلا

    وما كلُّ جُود باللُّجينِ وبالتبرِ

    The best gifts are those meant to win high honor;

    not all generosity is in silver and gold.

  60. وما بي إلا أن نسيتَ فراعني

    لتعلمَ أنّي من علاك على ذكرِ

    All that ails me is that you have forgotten; so heed me,

    so you may know I remain mindful of your glory.