1. فَتكُ اللَواحِظِ وَالقُدودِ الهيفِ

    أَغرى السُهادَ بِطَرفِيَ المَطروفِ

    The deadly assault of glances and slender figures

    Has incited sleeplessness against my stricken eye.

  2. فَجَهِلتُ تَضعيفَ الجُفونِ وَإِنَّما

    ضُعفُ القُلوبِ بِذَلِكَ التَضعيفِ

    So I failed to understand the eyelids' languor; it is only

    Hearts that weaken through that languor.

  3. في كُلِّ يَومٍ لِلَّواحِظِ غارَةٌ

    شُغِفَت بِنَهبِ فُؤادِيَ المَشغوفِ

    Each day those glances launch a raid,

    Passionately bent on plundering my love-stricken heart.

  4. فَتَرَت وَما فَتَرَ القِتالُ وَأُضعِفَت

    وَفِعالُها بِالفَتكِ غَيرُ ضَعيفِ

    They grew languid, yet the fighting did not slacken; they were weakened,

    Yet their deadly deeds are not weak.

  5. فَلَئِن سَطَت أَيدي الفِراقِ وَأَبعَدَت

    بَدراً تَحَجَّبَ نِصفُهُ بِنَصيفِ

    So even if separation's hands struck and drove far away

    A full moon, half concealed beneath a veil,

  6. فَلَكَم نَعِمتُ بِوَصلِهِ في مَنزِلٍ

    قَد طابَ فيهِ مَربَعي وَمَصيَفي

    How often I enjoyed union with him in a dwelling

    Where my spring and summer stays were pleasant.

  7. فارَقتُ زَوراءَ العِراقِ وَإِنَّ لي

    قَلباً أَقامَ بِرَبعِهِ المَألوفِ

    I left Iraq's Zawra, yet I have

    A heart that remained in its familiar abode.

  8. فَلأَثنِيَنَّ إِلى العِراقِ أَعِنَّتي

    وَأُطيلُ في تِلكَ الدِيارِ وُقوفي

    So I shall surely turn my reins toward Iraq

    And linger long in those abodes.

  9. فيها بُدورٌ في خِلالِ مَضارِبٍ

    وَشُموسُ دَجنٍ مِن وَراءِ سَجوفِ

    There are full moons there amid tents,

    And suns of clouded skies behind curtains.

  10. فاقَت بِكُلِّ مُقَرطَقٍ وَمُشَنَّفٍ

    وَالحُسنُ بَينَ قَراطِقٍ وَشُنوفِ

    It excelled with every tunic-clad and earring-adorned figure,

    And beauty lay between tunics and earrings.

  11. فاتَ المُرادُ فَبِتُّ أَقرَعُ بَعدَهُم

    سِنّي وَأَصفُقُ إِذ نَأَيتُ كُفوفي

    My wish eluded me; once they were gone, I spent the night gnashing

    My teeth, and striking my palms together as I drew away.

  12. فَرَداً أُعَلَّلُ مِن لِقاهُم بِالمُنى

    وَأَعيشُ بَعدَ القَومِ بِالتَسويفِ

    Alone, I am consoled with hopes instead of meeting them,

    And, after they are gone, I live on deferred promises.

  13. فَصَلَت مَلازَمَةُ السَقامِ مَفاصِلي

    بِيَدِ البُعادِ وَأَنكَرَت تَعريفي

    Persistent sickness dislocated my joints

    With separation's hand, and made me unrecognizable.

  14. فَعُرِفتُ بِالحُبِّ المُبَرِّحِ مِثلَما

    عُرِفَت يَدُ المَنصورِ بِالتَصريفِ

    So I became known for agonizing love, just as

    Al-Mansur's hand became known for directing affairs.

  15. فَخرُ المُلوكِ وَنَجمُها وَهِلالُها

    غَوثُ الطَريدِ وَمَلجَأُ المَلهوفِ

    The pride of kings, their star and their crescent,

    Succor to the outcast and refuge of the distressed.

  16. فِكرٌ يُدَوِّرُ في أُمورِ زَمانِهِ

    طَرفي خَبيرٌ في الزَمانِ عَروفِ

    An intellect that, amid the affairs of his age, turns

    The two eyes of an expert, deeply versed in the age.

  17. فَجرٌ إِذا ما الظُلمُ أَظلَمَ لَيلُهُ

    جَلّى دُجاهُ بِعَدلِهِ المَوصوفِ

    A dawn that, whenever oppression's night grows dark,

    Dispels its gloom with his celebrated justice.

  18. فَرضٌ عَلى أَسيافِهِ وَبَنانِهِ

    بِالعَدِّ رَدَّدَهُ وَصَرفِ صُروفِ

    A duty rests upon his swords and fingertips;

    He repeated it by counting and by warding off misfortunes.

  19. فَتَكَت يَداهُ بِالنُضارِ فَأَتلَفَت

    ما ضَمَّهُ مِن تالِدٍ وَطَريفِ

    His two hands ravaged gold and so exhausted

    All he had gathered, inherited and newly acquired.

  20. فَشِعارُهُ في الحَربِ فَلُّ مَقانِبٍ

    وَصَنيعُهُ في السِلمِ بَذلُ أُلوفِ

    His watchword in war is the routing of squadrons,

    And his practice in peace is the giving of thousands.

  21. فَرَقَ الزَمانَ بِحالَتَيهِ فَدَهرُهُ

    يَومانِ يَومُ نَدىً وَيَومُ حُتوفِ

    He divided time between his two states, so his age has

    Two days: a day of bounty and a day of death.

  22. فَلِذاكَ آنَستِ الوُقوفُ بِرَبعِهِ

    نارَينِ نارِ وَغىً وَنارِ مَضيفِ

    Thus those who halted at his abode perceived

    Two fires: the fire of battle and the fire of a host.

  23. فَهَمٌ وَلَكِن في مَسامِعِ فَهمِهِ

    صُمٌّ عَنِ التَقيِيدِ وَالتَعنيفِ

    Perceptive, yet the ears of his understanding

    Are deaf to restraint and rebuke.

  24. فَنَدُ العَواذِلِ في السَماحِ يَزيدُهُ

    جوداً وَيُرجِفُهُم بِرُغمِ أُنوفِ

    The foolish talk of those who censure his generosity increases him

    In bounty, and makes them tremble, their noses humbled.

  25. فَلَّ الجُيوشَ بِعَزمَةٍ مَلَكِيَّةٍ

    تُغنيهِ عَن خَطِّيَّةٍ وَسُيوفِ

    He routed armies with a kingly resolve

    That spares him the need for a Khatti spear and swords.

  26. فَصَلُ القَضا مُتَتابِعٌ لِقَضائِهِ

    تُلقى إِلَيهِ أَزِمَّةُ التَشريفِ

    Fate's judgment follows his decree in succession;

    To him are entrusted the reins of honor.

  27. فَضَلٌ بِهِ فَضَلَ الأَنامَ وَهِمَّةٌ

    رَكِبَ العُلوَّ بِها بِغَيرِ رَديفِ

    A distinction by which he surpassed mankind, and an aspiration

    With which he rode to the heights with none seated behind him.

  28. فُهنا بِنَظمِ حَديثِهِ مَع أَنَّنا

    ما إِن نَرومُ بِهِ سِوى التَشريفِ

    We voiced his story in verse, although we

    Seek through it nothing but honor.

  29. فُزنا بِهِ الفَوزَ العَظيمَ مِنَ الرَدى

    وَأَمِنّا في مَغناهُ كُلَّ مَخوفِ

    Through him we won great deliverance from death,

    And in his abode we were safe from every terror.