1. كَيْفَ إِذَا مَوْلَاكَ لَمْ يَصِلْكا

    وَقَطَع الأَرْحامَ قَطْعاً بَتْكَا

    What if your patron does not keep ties with you,

    And cuts the bonds of kinship clean through?

  2. يَبْرِي مَعَ البارِي وَلَمْ يَرِشْكا

    وَالأَرْضُ لَوْ تَمْلِكُ لَمْ تَسَعْكا

    He whittles with the whittler, but has not feathered you;

    Even if you owned the earth, it would not make room for you.

  3. وَلا تَهَيَّبْهُ وَلَمْ يَهَبْكا

    ما لِامْرِءٍ أَفَّكَ قَوْلاً إِفْكا

    Do not fear him, when he has not feared you.

    What ails a man who has fabricated a lying tale—

  4. تَلْبِيقَ زُورٍ وَاقْتِرافاً بَشْكا

    وَكُلَّ نَمّامٍ يُرِيدُ النَزْكا

    A patchwork of falsehood and hasty fabrication?

    And every talebearer seeking a slanderous stab—

  5. لا تَرَكَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ مَسْكا

    حاسَبَهُ اللَّهُ حساباً ضَنْكا

    May God leave no skin upon him,

    May God call him to a harsh reckoning,

  6. بِذاك إِنْ كان الكَذُوب أَرْكا

    عَلَيَّ أَعْلاقَ الشَرِيك الشَرْكا

    For that, if the liar has cast

    Upon me the snare-setter's entangling traps.

  7. كُنْتَ إِذَا عَضَّ الخُصُومُ المَحْكا

    وَعَيَّ أَعْيَا أَمْرِهِمْ فَالْتَكَّا

    You were such that, when opponents bit into contention,

    And their hardest case grew baffling and tangled,

  8. لَمْ تَدَعِ الأَمْرَ الخَلِيطَ لَبْكا

    إِذِ الضَلِيعُ بِالضَلِيعِ اصطَكَّا

    You did not leave the muddled matter in confusion,

    When mighty man clashed with mighty man.

  9. لَمْ تَكُ أَنَّاناً وَلا مُلْتَكّا

    يا ابْنَ الرَفِيعِ حَسَباً وَسَمْكا

    You were no groaner, nor a bewildered man,

    O son of one lofty in lineage and stature,

  10. فِي الأَكْرَمِينَ مَعْدِناً وَبُنْكا

    ماذا تَرَى رَأْيَ أَخٍ قَدْ عَكّا

    Among the noblest in stock and root.

    What counsel have you for a brother sorely troubled,

  11. عاذَ بِحاجاتٍ فَلّاقَى مَعْكا

    حَتَّى هَلَكْتَ أَوْ رَهِبْتَ الهُلْكا

    Who sought help for his needs, but encountered delay?

    Until you were ruined, or feared ruin,

  12. وَحَمَلَ الدَيْنُ عَلَيَّ البَرْكا

    وَجَرَّ أَرْحاءٍ دَهَكْنَ دَهْكا

    And debt pressed its breast upon me,

    Dragging millstones that crushed me hard.

  13. أَهْلَكَنِي أَلَّا يَزالَ يَلْكا

    صاحِبُ دَيْنٍ لا يَنِي مِحَكّا

    It has ruined me that he never ceases harrying—

    A creditor, never flagging in contention.

  14. أَعْرُكُهُ عَنِّي فَيَأْبَى العَرْكا

    سَوْقَ الأَجِيرِ المُتْعِب الأَفَكَّا

    I brush him off, but he refuses to be brushed off,

    As one drives a wearisome, witless hired hand.

  15. فَقَدْ أَبَى إِلّا رُكُوباً حَكّا

    بِالحَرْكِ مِنْهُ أَنْ يُنَحّى حَرْكا

    He has refused all but a chafing ride,

    His withers pressing against me, refusing to have them moved aside,

  16. حَتَّى كَأَنِّي مُسْتَغِبٌّ وَعْكا

    مِنْ داءِ شَكْوَى أَوْ أُرَى مُنْفَكّا

    Until I seem beset by alternate-day fever,

    From a painful illness—or seem unhinged.

  17. فَقَدْ رأَيْتُ باكِياً وَضِحْكا

    فَوَالَّذِي أَضْحَكَ ثُم أَبْكَى

    I have seen a weeper and a laugher.

    By Him who caused laughter, then caused weeping,

  18. ما كُنْتُ أَخْتارُ خَلِيلاً عَنْكا

    وَذاكَ حَقٌّ لا يَكُونُ شَكَّا

    I would never choose a friend in your place.

    That is truth, with no place for doubt.

  19. أَحْسِبُ عِنْدَ الجِدِّ أَنِّي مِنْكا

    فَقَدْ ذَكَرْتُ لَوْ قَطَعْتُ سِلْكا

    In earnest, I reckon myself one of yours.

    For I have remembered, should I sever a thread,

  20. غُلَيْمَةً مِنَ الدُخانِ رُمْكا

    ما إِنْ عَدَا أَصْغَرُهُمْ أَنْ زَكّا

    Little boys made dusky by the smoke,

    Their youngest having scarcely begun to toddle.

  21. مِثْلَ الفِراخِ يَأْمُلُونَ مِنْكا

    عَوْدَ رَبِيعٍ وَوَلِيّاً سَفْكا

    Like nestlings, they hope from you

    For spring's return and abundant follow-up rain.

  22. قَدْ كُنْتَ تُبْلِي مِنْكَ جَوْداً سَهْكا

    إِذَا العَناجِيجُ مَهَكْنَ مَهْكا

    You used to bestow your own lavish bounty,

    When the swift steeds labored hard.

  23. لَوْلا تَرَى ما لَا يَكُونُ رِكّا

    مِنْكَ لَقَدْ عَلَّمْتُ هَمِّي الفَتْكا

    Were it not that you envisage something far from paltry

    From you, I would have trained my resolve in deadly assault,

  24. فَرُمْتُ رُوماً أَوْ غَزَوتُ التُرْكا

    عَلَى المَطايا أَوْ عَلَوْتُ الفُلْكا

    And sought the Romans, or raided the Turks,

    On riding beasts, or boarded ships,

  25. أَوْ هَتَكَت أَيْدِي المَطايَا هَتْكا

    لَيْلاً تُدانِي لَيْلَهُ فَاسْتَكّا

    Or the mounts' forelegs would have torn open

    A night whose darkness drew close and thickened,

  26. عَلَى زِوَرّاتٍ أُغِرْنَ دَمْكا

    يَنْضُون أَثْباجَ رِمالٍ وُرْكا

    On powerful she-camels, hard-knit and compact,

    They traverse the broad backs of heaped-up sands,

  27. أَوْ جاوَزَتْ مِنْ أَرْضِ كَلْبٍ بِرْكا

    شُهْباً تَرَى الثَلْجَ عَلَيْها شَبْكا

    Or passed beyond crouching mountain-masses in Kalb's land,

    Grey-white, with snow spread over them like a net.

  28. إِن الَّذِي رابَكَ لَم أَرِبْكا

    فَإِنْ تَدَعْ جَهْدِي فَلَم أَدَعْكا

    Indeed, what aroused your suspicion was not my doing.

    If you neglect my hardship, I have not forsaken you,

  29. حُبّاً وَنُصْحاً وَثَناءً مِسْكا

    فَرِحْتُ أَنْ زادَكَ رَبِّي مُلْكا

    In love, sincere counsel, and praise like musk.

    I rejoiced that my Lord increased your dominion,

  30. فَازْدَدْتَ لِي تَناسِياً وَتَرْكا

    وَقُلْتَ إِذْ كانَ العَطاءُ بَكّا

    Yet you grew more deliberately forgetful and neglectful of me,

    And you said, when giving was scant:

  31. أَمَا أَمَا ما هِيَ إِلّا تِلْكا

    'Well, well, it is nothing but that.'