1. فرِق الفراقُ لطولِ ما نَتَلاقى

    من أن أصُبَّ على الفراق فراقا

    Separation grew afraid, so long have we kept meeting,

    that I might pour separation upon separation.

  2. فعلام تحسبُني الوشاة مُنَزَّها

    في الشوق عما يتلفُ المشتاقا

    So why do the talebearers deem me immune,

    in longing, to what destroys the yearning lover?

  3. أوَ ما يرونَ الجفَنَ خاطب لوعةٍ

    بكرٍ وقد بذل الدموع صداقا

    Do they not see the eyelid wooing burning anguish,

    a virgin, to whom it has offered tears as a bridal gift?

  4. يا عين إن لم يكفهم أن تسكبي

    دمعاً فذوبي واسكبي الآماقا

    O eye, if it does not suffice them that you pour

    tears, then melt and pour out your inner corners.

  5. تَرَك اصفراري والنحولُ كلاهما

    في العشق جسمي يُنذِرُ العَشَّاقا

    Both my pallor and my wasting have left

    my body, in love, a warning to lovers.

  6. فكأنَّهُ أَلِفٌ بِخَطٍ مُذهَبٍ

    جَعَلَ الدُّجى أرقي له ورّاقا

    So it is like an alif traced in gold;

    my sleeplessness has made the dark night its copyist.

  7. لام الحسودُ وقالَ دَع عنكَ الهوى

    ليزيدني بملامِه أشواقا

    The envious man reproached me, saying: Put love aside,

    to increase my yearnings through his reproach.

  8. وعزيزةٍ قالت مقال مُجَرّبٍ

    ساوى الحكيمَ بفَهمِه أو فاقا

    And a cherished woman spoke the words of one experienced,

    who matched the sage in understanding, or surpassed him:

  9. كم مُضمرٍ كيداً إِذا جالَستَهُ

    أبدى الخُنُوَّ وأظهر الإشفاقا

    How many a secret schemer, when you sit with him,

    shows tenderness and displays concern!

  10. والنار نورٌ ملء عينيك ساطعٌ

    لو لم تجد في طبعها الاحراقا

    Fire would be a light shining to fill your eyes,

    were you not to find burning in its nature.

  11. ومن الضَّلالةِ أن تُعاشِرَ مَعشراً

    ساقوا الى سُوقِ النِّفاقِ نفاقا

    And it is folly to keep company with a people

    who brought hypocrisy to hypocrisy's market.

  12. تَسعَى ولو اعطيتَ سَعيَكَ حقَّهُ

    لبلَغتَ ما أمَّلتَهُ استحقاقا

    You strive; had you given your striving its due,

    you would have attained what you hoped for, by right.

  13. فمؤيَّدُ السلطان زُر ودع الورى

    وعمانَ يَمِّم واهجُرِ الآفاقا

    So visit Mu'ayyad al-Sultan, and leave all others;

    make for Oman, and forsake the horizons.

  14. فيه يروقك وجهُ جاهِك منظراً

    وبها تطيبُ لك الحياةُ مَذاقا

    With him, the face of your standing will be a pleasing sight,

    and there, life will taste sweet to you.

  15. عاود بلادك واقصد الملك الذي

    يكسو دُجى آمالك الاشراقا

    Return to your homeland and seek the king who

    clothes the darkness of your hopes in radiance.

  16. مَلِكٌ اذا لسعَتك يوماً نكبةٌ

    صادفتَ من إنعامِه دِرياقا

    A king: if misfortune stings you one day,

    you find in his bounty an antidote.

  17. يستعذبُ الاطلاق حتى انَّه

    ليرى غذاءَ سماحِهِ الاطلاقا

    He finds free giving sweet, so much that

    he indeed sees free giving as the nourishment of his generosity.

  18. لو سرتَ فُزتَ من اليسار بطائلٍ

    تسرو به عن قومك الاملاقا

    If you traveled, you would win a great share of wealth,

    with which to lift poverty from your people.

  19. هذا وقلتُ لعاذلٍ لك عندما

    تهبُ الهباتِ فتكثر الانفاقا

    And I said this to someone who reproached you when

    you bestowed gifts and increased your spending:

  20. يا مَن يلوم على السَّماح رفيقه

    رفقا فلم أَرَ كالغنى إرفاقا

    O you who blame your companion for generosity,

    be gentle: I have seen no help to equal wealth.

  21. فلئن رآك اطوعَ خادمٍ

    إن حَلَّ راق وإن ترحَّلَ شاقا

    For if he sees you as the most obedient servant,

    when he stays he delights, and when he departs he stirs longing.

  22. لو حُمِّلَ الأمرَ الجسيمَ وفَا بهِ

    أو حُمِّلَ العبءَ الثقيلَ أطاقا

    If entrusted with a mighty task, he fulfills it,

    or laden with a heavy burden, he can bear it.

  23. في السِّلم يخدم باللسان وفي الوغى

    بالسيف ليس بهائبٍ ما لاقى

    In peace he serves with his tongue, and in battle

    with his sword, fearing nothing he encounters.

  24. فعلمتُ انّي إن اخذتُ برأيها

    لم أعدُ في ترك الخلاف وفاقا

    Then I knew that, if I took her advice,

    in forsaking disagreement, I would not stray from accord.

  25. ووجدتُ من قبل الرَّحيل جوارحي

    يُرهِقنَ عزمي في السُّرى ارهاقا

    And even before departure, I found my limbs

    straining my resolve for night travel to the utmost,

  26. حُبّاً لطلعة ذلك القمر الذي

    لا يكتسي غبَّ التماممُحاقا

    out of love for the sight of that moon, who

    never dons darkness after reaching fullness.

  27. ومصالح الاقليم في قلمٍ لهُ

    يتكفَّلُ الآجال والارزاقا

    And the province's affairs rest in a pen of his

    that takes charge of lifespans and livelihoods.

  28. يقظان يرعى المكرماتِ كأنَّه

    وجد الرقادَ أمَرَّ شيءٍ ذاقا

    Wakeful, he tends noble deeds, as though

    he found sleep the bitterest thing he ever tasted.

  29. ويُطالع العلياءَ حتى أنَّه

    عند الرَويَّة يكرهُ الاطراقا

    And he gazes at the heights, so intently that

    even when pondering, he dislikes bowing his head.

  30. وتخالُ تحت الليل ضوءَ جبينهِ

    صُبحاً يَمُدُّ على الظلام رواقا

    Beneath the night, you would take the light of his brow

    for a dawn spreading a canopy over darkness.

  31. ويكاد من فرط التناهي في العُلى

    يَرقَى مع الهِمَمش التي تتراقى

    And so extreme is his reach toward greatness that he nearly

    rises with the aspirations that rise ever higher.

  32. وسيوفُهن في كُلِّ يوم كريهةٍ

    تَسقى العدى كاسَ الحمام دهاقا

    And their swords, on every day of fierce battle,

    make foes drink a brimming cup of death.

  33. ما في خلائقها هنالك رقَّةٌ

    لكن مضاربها خُلِقنَ رقاقا

    There is no softness in their natures there,

    yet their striking edges were fashioned thin.

  34. ولو استطاع الناسُ يومَ ركوبهِ

    فرشوا لِوَاط جيادِه الاحداقا

    If people could, on the day he mounts,

    they would spread their eyeballs beneath his steeds' tread.

  35. ولقد نذرت لئن رأيت وقد حدا

    بركائبي حادٍ اليه فَساقا

    I have indeed vowed: if I see him, after a driver has urged

    my riding camels toward him with song and driven them on,

  36. لا زوِّجَن بنت السرور بخاطري

    ولاعطيَن بنت الهموم طلاقا

    I shall surely wed the daughter of joy to my mind,

    and grant the daughter of sorrows a divorce;

  37. ولا غِفرَن للدهر سالف ذنبهِ

    ولا وسِعَن من عُذره ما ضاقا

    and forgive time its past sin,

    and widen what was narrow in its excuse;

  38. ولا منحَن ما عشتُ هجري غُصَّةً

    جعلوا بغَدرهم الزلال زُعاقا

    and, while I live, give my deserters a choking pang:

    through their betrayal, they turned sweet water into bitter brine.

  39. وكأنّما أخَذَ الإِلهُ عليهم

    ميثاقَه أن ينقضُوا الميثاقا

    And it is as though God had bound them

    by His covenant to break the covenant.

  40. ما أن دَهاني قَطُّ مكرٌ سَيّىءٌ

    إِلاّ رأيتُ باهِله قد حاقا

    Never has an evil scheme befallen me

    but I have seen it fall upon its perpetrators.

  41. يا أيُّها الملك الذي عزماتُه

    تركَت زئير الخالعين نُهاقا

    O king whose resolutions

    have turned the rebels' roaring into braying!

  42. طَرَّزتَ خُلقك بالعفاف وحبَّذا

    من بالعفاف يُطرِّزُ الاخلاقا

    You have embroidered your character with chastity—how fine

    is one who embroiders character with chastity!

  43. وجعلتَ عفوكَ حَليَ سطوتك التي

    من دأبها أن تضربَ الاعناقا

    You have made your pardon the ornament of your might, whose

    habit is to strike necks.

  44. فلذاك لم يسمع بذكرك خالعٌ

    إِلاّ صحا من ذكره فأفاقا

    Thus no rebel hears you mentioned

    without sobering at that mention and coming to his senses.

  45. لا زلتَ مثل أبيك أوحد دهرِهِ

    سبقاً الى أمد العُلى سَبّاقا

    May you ever remain like your father, his age's peerless one,

    foremost in racing toward the farthest reach of greatness.