لعدوِّ حسنِكِ ما لسمعِ العاذلِ

لعدوِّ حسنِكِ ما لسمعِ العاذلِ

منّى إذا ما قام فيكِ مجادلي

منّى إذا ما قام فيكِ مجادلي

Your beauty's foe gets what the reprover's ear receives

To the fault-finder, your beauty is not for the jealous ear,

From me, whenever my disputant rises to argue over you.

When my blamer rises against you,

طال الملامُ عليكِ أعلم أنه

طال الملامُ عليكِ أعلم أنه

حسدٌ وما حظِيَ الحسودُ بطائِل

حسدٌ وما حظِيَ الحسودُ بطائِل

The reproach over you has lasted long; I know it is

Blame against you is prolonged, I know it is

Envy, and the envier has gained nothing worthwhile.

Envy, and the envious attains no goal,

أرضى الهوى منكِ المكدَّرَ بالنوى

أرضى الهوى منكِ المكدَّرَ بالنوى

حظّاً وأقنعُ بالغريم الماطِل

حظّاً وأقنعُ بالغريم الماطِل

I accept love from you, clouded by separation,

Love is satisfied with you though intention troubles it,

As my portion, and am content with the stalling debtor.

A share, and I am content with the procrastinating adversary,

وإذا شكوتِك في جمالٍ هاجرٍ

وإذا شكوتِك في جمالٍ هاجرٍ

عمداً شكرتكِ في خيالٍ واصلِ

عمداً شكرتكِ في خيالٍ واصلِ

And when I complain of you as beauty that forsakes me—

And if you complain of a beauty that has deserted,

Deliberately—I thank you as a phantom that visits me.

I thank you for an imagination that keeps company,

ولقد أُحِلُّكِ لو عرفتِ محلّه

ولقد أُحِلُّكِ لو عرفتِ محلّه

قلباً يضيق سوى هواكِ بنازلِ

قلباً يضيق سوى هواكِ بنازلِ

Indeed I lodge you—if you knew its worth—

And I would give you a place, if you but knew its worth,

In a heart with no room for any guest besides your love.

A heart that barely contains, save your love, a lodger,

أعطِي بذلٍّ ما منعتِ بعزّةٍ

أعطِي بذلٍّ ما منعتِ بعزّةٍ

فيضيعُ في أثناء بخلكِ نائلي

فيضيعُ في أثناء بخلكِ نائلي

I give in abasement what you have withheld in pride,

Give with generosity what you refused in pride,

So my bounty is lost amid your miserliness.

So that my attainment be not lost amidst your stinginess,

ما ضرَّ يا حسناءُ قلبا جائرا

ما ضرَّ يا حسناءُ قلبا جائرا

لكِ لو تعلَّمَ من قوامٍ عادلِ

لكِ لو تعلَّمَ من قوامٍ عادلِ

What harm, fair one, would befall an unjust heart

What harm, O beautiful one, to a tyrannical heart,

Of yours, were it to learn from an upright figure?

If it learned justice from an upright overseer,

أمسائلٌ ماذا فعلنا بعدّه

أمسائلٌ ماذا فعلنا بعدّه

سَكَنٌ بِدجلَةَ لا يجودُ لسائلِ

سَكَنٌ بِدجلَةَ لا يجودُ لسائلِ

Will he ask what we have done since his departure—

What questions, what have we done after his loss?

A beloved by the Tigris who gives nothing to a petitioner?

Quiet by the Tigris that does not flow for the questioner,

أم راجعٌ زمنٌ به بقِيَ الأسى

أم راجعٌ زمنٌ به بقِيَ الأسى

ومضى وكيف رجوعُ أمسِ الزائلِ

ومضى وكيف رجوعُ أمسِ الزائلِ

Or will a time return whose sorrow has remained,

Or a time gone by in which sorrow remained,

Though it passed? How can vanished yesterday return?

And passed away, but how can the gone yesterday return?

هيهات زدنَ سِنِيَّ فانتقصت قُوَى

هيهات زدنَ سِنِيَّ فانتقصت قُوَى

ودّي ومُتنَ مع الشباب وسائلي

ودّي ومُتنَ مع الشباب وسائلي

Far from it! My years have grown, diminishing the powers

Alas! Age increased me and weakened my strength

Of my love; my means died with youth.

And generosity, and the spring of my youth dried up,

كنتُ الحسامَ جلاي شرخُ شبيبتي

كنتُ الحسامَ جلاي شرخُ شبيبتي

بين الحسان وماءُ غصني صاقلي

بين الحسان وماءُ غصني صاقلي

I was the keen sword; the prime of my youth was my polish

I was the cutting sword, the bloom of my youth split,

Among the beauties, and my bough's sap was my polisher.

Between beauties, and the water of my branch polished me,

فطُرحتُ عن أعناقهنّ بأن ذوتْ

فطُرحتُ عن أعناقهنّ بأن ذوتْ

منّي ذوائبُ كنّ قبلُ خمائلي

منّي ذوائبُ كنّ قبلُ خمائلي

So I was cast from their necks, for there withered

So I was cast from their necks when the tresses departed

My locks, which once had been my leafy groves.

From me, which before were my intimate friends,

عُمرٌ مضى سَرَفا وعصرُ بطالةٍ

عُمرٌ مضى سَرَفا وعصرُ بطالةٍ

أخذ المشيبُ لحقّه من باطلي

أخذ المشيبُ لحقّه من باطلي

A lifetime passed in excess, an age of idleness;

A life spent extravagantly and a time of idleness

Gray hair claimed its due from my frivolity.

Which old age took its due from my futility,

مَلكَ الحجا منّي مكانَ خلاعتي

مَلكَ الحجا منّي مكانَ خلاعتي

وتوقّرت بعد المِراحِ شمائلي

وتوقّرت بعد المِراحِ شمائلي

Reason took in me the place of my wantonness,

Decrepitude took the place of my virility,

And my ways grew dignified after exuberance.

And my qualities were honored after my strength weakened,

أحييتُ أمواتَ المحاسنِ قائلاً

أحييتُ أمواتَ المحاسنِ قائلاً

لو لم يُرَعْنَ من الحسودِ بقاتلِ

لو لم يُرَعْنَ من الحسودِ بقاتلِ

I would have revived the dead virtues in verse,

I revived the beauties of the dead, saying,

Had a murderous envier not frightened them.

Had they not been afflicted by the envious killer,

قالوا عدوّك فاحتقره جاهلٌ

قالوا عدوّك فاحتقره جاهلٌ

من لي على فضلي بحظ الجاهلِ

من لي على فضلي بحظ الجاهلِ

They said, 'Your foe is ignorant; despise him.'

They said, “He is your enemy,” so an ignorant one scorned him.

Who will give me, for all my merit, the ignorant man's luck?

Who do I have, through my merit, with the lot of the ignorant?

يا إخوةَ الأيّام يتَّبعونها

يا إخوةَ الأيّام يتَّبعونها

من مستقيمٍ كاذبٍ أو مائلِ

من مستقيمٍ كاذبٍ أو مائلِ

O brothers of the days, who follow them,

O brothers of time, some follow it

Whether falsely upright or crooked,

Sincerely, some lying, some deviating,

خلُّوا ابن أيّوبٍ عليَّ وشأنَكم

خلُّوا ابن أيّوبٍ عليَّ وشأنَكم

من ناكثٍ أو غادرٍ أو حائلِ

من ناكثٍ أو غادرٍ أو حائلِ

Leave Ibn Ayyub to me; busy yourselves

Leave the son of Ayyub to me, and your business is

With a pledge-breaker, a betrayer, or a fickle man.

With the violator, the traitor or the deluder,

من لا تحوّله الخطوبُ بحادثٍ

من لا تحوّله الخطوبُ بحادثٍ

عنّي ولا عَقْلُ الزمان بشاغلِ

عنّي ولا عَقْلُ الزمان بشاغلِ

One whom calamities, through any mishap, cannot turn

He who is not changed by events from me,

Away from me, nor time's fetters through any distraction.

Nor the reason of time with any preoccupying,

وإذا رجَعتُ إلى أواخِر ودّه

وإذا رجَعتُ إلى أواخِر ودّه

قابلتُها بوسائطٍ وأوائلِ

قابلتُها بوسائطٍ وأوائلِ

And when I return to the later stages of his affection,

And if I return to the ends of his love,

I compare them with its middle stages and beginnings.

I meet them with introductions and beginnings,

وإذا حملتُ عليه ثِقْلا لم أقل

وإذا حملتُ عليه ثِقْلا لم أقل

يا ليتني رَوّحتُ ظهرَ الحاملِ

يا ليتني رَوّحتُ ظهرَ الحاملِ

And when I lay a burden upon him, I do not say,

And if I carry a burden on him I do not say,

'Would that I had eased the bearer's back!'

Would that I had eased the back of the carrier,

ما ضرّني قاسٍ عليَّ فنابذي

ما ضرّني قاسٍ عليَّ فنابذي

ومحمدٌ حانٍ عليَّ فقابلي

ومحمدٌ حانٍ عليَّ فقابلي

One harsh toward me, spurning me, has done me no harm,

It does not harm me if one is harsh to me and abandons me,

While Muhammad is tender toward me and welcomes me.

While Muhammad is gentle to me and meets me,

لله راضٍ بالقليل لنفسه

لله راضٍ بالقليل لنفسه

متذمّمٌ لي بالكثير الفاضلِ

متذمّمٌ لي بالكثير الفاضلِ

Praise be to God for one content with little for himself,

To God I am content with the little for myself,

Yet honor-bound to give me much, with more to spare.

Displeased with the abundant virtuous for me,

مِن ممسِكي الحسبِ التليدِ ومطلقي ال

مِن ممسِكي الحسبِ التليدِ ومطلقي ال

أيدي إذا جفَّتْ بنانُ الباذلِ

أيدي إذا جفَّتْ بنانُ الباذلِ

Of those who uphold inherited honor and unfetter the

From those who uphold the respected lineage and release

Hands when the giver's fingertips run dry.

Hands when the palms of the giver have dried up,

رامين في الغرض البعيد إذا نأى

رامين في الغرض البعيد إذا نأى

يوم الفخار على سهام النابلِ

يوم الفخار على سهام النابلِ

Shooting at the distant target when it lies far,

Who fling at the distant goal when the day draws away

On the day of boasting, beyond the archer's arrows.

Upon the arrows of the shooter the pottery day,

شرعوا إلى الغاياتِ كلَّ مهفهفٍ

شرعوا إلى الغاياتِ كلَّ مهفهفٍ

سارٍ على خيلِ الأنامل جائل

سارٍ على خيلِ الأنامل جائل

They leveled toward the goals every slender shaft,

They set out to the ends, every impassioned one,

Traveling by night on the steeds of the fingers, roaming.

Riding on the horses of their fingers erring,

لو لم يكن رمحا لما شحذوا له

لو لم يكن رمحا لما شحذوا له

حدّين موضعَ زُجِّهِ والعاملِ

حدّين موضعَ زُجِّهِ والعاملِ

Had it not been a spear, they would not have sharpened for it

If it were not a lance they would not have sharpened for it

Two edges, at its butt-spike and its forward end.

Two edges, the place of its strap and its worker,

نفثاتُه السحرُ المبلبلُ لا كما

نفثاتُه السحرُ المبلبلُ لا كما

خُبِّرْت أنّ السحرَ صنعةُ بابلِ

خُبِّرْت أنّ السحرَ صنعةُ بابلِ

Its breathings are bewildering magic, not as

Its breaths are spellbinding sorcery, not as

You were told: that magic is Babylon's craft.

I was told that sorcery is the making of Babylon,

ألحِقْهُمُ في المجدِ واحفظْهم وزد

ألحِقْهُمُ في المجدِ واحفظْهم وزد

ولقد فعلتَ وزدتَ حدّ الفاعلِ

ولقد فعلتَ وزدتَ حدّ الفاعلِ

Bring them along in glory, preserve them, and add more;

Join them in glory and preserve them and increase,

Indeed you have done so, exceeding the achiever's bounds.

And You have done and increased beyond the doer,

وأعِرْ علاك العيدَ يزددْ حسنُه

وأعِرْ علاك العيدَ يزددْ حسنُه

يا حَلْيَ أيّامِ الزمانِ العاطلِ

يا حَلْيَ أيّامِ الزمانِ العاطلِ

And lend the festival your glory, that its beauty may increase,

And acquaint ole, the Feast, so its beauty increases,

O ornament of the days of unadorned time!

O adornment of the days of the useless time,

قابلْ به عاماً ترنَّقَ إنه

قابلْ به عاماً ترنَّقَ إنه

متضاعِفٌ لك خيرُه في القابلِ

متضاعِفٌ لك خيرُه في القابلِ

With it, greet a year that has grown clouded; indeed,

Meet with it a year that has been covered in green, it is

Its good will multiply for you in the coming year.

For You doubly good in the meeting,