1. ألا سَمَح الزمانُ بِهِ كِتابا

    دَرَى بِوُرودِه أُنسِي فآبا

    Lo, time has been generous with this letter;

    my solace learned of its arrival and returned.

  2. فَلا أَدري أَكانا تَحتَ وَعدٍ

    دَعَا بِهما لبُرئي فاستَجَابا

    I do not know: were the two bound by a promise

    that called them both to heal me, and they answered?

  3. وَقَد ظَفِرَت يَدي بِالغُنمِ مِنهُ

    فَلَيتَ الدَّهرَ سَنَّى لِي إِيَابا

    My hand has indeed won a bounty from it;

    would that fate made my return possible.

  4. فَلو لَم أَستَفِد شَيئاً سِوَاهُ

    قَنِعتُ بِمِثلِهِ عِلقاً لُبَابا

    If I gained nothing other than it,

    I would be content with its like—a treasure of pure worth.

  5. إِذَا أَحرَزتُ هَذَا فِي اغتِرَابِي

    فَدَعنِي أَقطَعُ العُمرَ اغتِرَابا

    If I secure this while in exile,

    then let me spend my life away from home.

  6. رَجَمتُ بِأُنسِهِ شَيطَانَ هَمِّي

    فَهَل وَجَّهتَ طِرساً أَم شِهَابا

    With its solace I stoned the devil of my sorrow;

    did you send a written page or a shooting star?

  7. رَشَفتُ بِهِ رُضَابَ الودِّ عَذباً

    يُذَكِّرُنِي شَمَائِلَكَ العِذَابا

    Through it I sipped affection's sweet nectar,

    which recalls to me your delightful qualities.

  8. وَكِدت أَجُرُّ أَذيَالِي نَشَاطاً

    وَلَكِن خِلتُ قَولَهُمُ نِصَابا

    I almost trailed my hems in delight,

    but I took their saying as a standard.

  9. فَضَضتُ خِتَامَهُ عِندِي كَأَنِّي

    فَتَحتُ بِفَضِّهِ لِلرَّوضِ بَابا

    I broke its seal; to me, it was as though I

    had opened, by breaking it, a gate to a garden.

  10. فَكِدتُ أَبُثُّهُ فِي جَفنِ عَينِي

    لِكَي أَستَودِعَ الزَّهرَ السَّحابا

    So I almost spread it within my eyelid,

    to entrust the blossoms to the clouds.

  11. وَكُنتُ أَصُونُهُ فِي القَلبِ لَكِن

    خَشِيتُ عَلَيهِ أَن يَفنَى التِهَابا

    I would have guarded it within my heart, but

    I feared it would perish in flames.

  12. وَلَو أَنَّ الليالي سَامَحَتنِي

    لَكُنتُ عَلَى كِتَابِكُمُ الجَوَابا

    Had the nights been kind to me,

    I would have been the answer to your letter,

  13. فَأُبدِي عِندَكُم فِي الشُّكرِ عُذراً

    وَأُجزِلُ مِن ثَنَائِكُمُ الثَّوَابا

    offering you an apology as I gave thanks,

    and lavishly repaying you with praise.

  14. ولَكِنَّ اللَّيالي قَيَّدتني

    وَهَدَّت عَزمَتِي إِلا الخِطَابا

    But the nights have shackled me

    and crushed my resolve, except for speech.

  15. فَمَا تَلقَانِيَ الأَحبَابُ إِلا

    سَلاماً أو مَنَاماً أَو كِتَابا

    My loved ones therefore meet me only

    in a greeting, a dream, or a letter.

  16. لأَمر ما يَقُصُّ الدَّهرُ رِيشِي

    لأَنَّ السَّهمَ مَهمَى رِيشَ صَابا

    For some purpose, fate clips my feathers,

    because an arrow, whenever feathered, strikes true.

  17. وَعَاذِلَةٍ تَقُولُ ولَستُ أُصغِي

    وَلَو أَصغَيتُ لَم أُرجِع جَوَابا

    A reproachful woman speaks, but I do not listen;

    even if I listened, I would make no reply.

  18. تُخَوِّفُنِي الدَّوَاهِي وَهيَ عِندِي

    أَقَلُّ مِنَ ان أَضِيقَ بهَا جَنَابا

    She frightens me with calamities, yet to me they are

    too slight to make me feel confined by them.

  19. إِذَا طَرَقَت أَعُدُّ لَهَا قِرَاهَا

    وَقَاراً وَاصطِبَاراً وَاحتِسَابا

    When they come knocking, I prepare their welcome:

    composure, endurance, and hope of divine reward.

  20. وَمَا مِثلِي يُخَوَّفُ بِالدَّوَاهِي

    عَرِينُ اللَيثِ لا يَخشَى الذُّبَابا

    One like me is not frightened by calamities;

    the lion's lair does not fear flies.

  21. تُعَاتِبُنِي فَلا يَرتَدُّ طَرفِي

    وَهَل تَستَرقِصُ الرِّيحُ الهِضَابا

    She reproaches me, but my gaze does not recoil;

    can the wind make the hills dance?

  22. وَلَو أَنَّ العِتَابَ يُفِيدُ شَيئاً

    مَلأتُ مَسَامِعَ الدُّنيَا عِتَابا

    If reproach were of any use,

    I would fill the world's ears with reproaches.

  23. وقَد وَصيَّتُهَا بِالصّمتِ عَنِّي

    فَما صَمَتَت وَمَا قَالَت صَوَابا

    I have urged her to keep silent about me,

    yet she has neither kept silent nor spoken rightly.

  24. تُعَنِّفُنِي عَلَى تَركِي بِلاداً

    عَهِدتُ بِها الغَرَارَةَ والشَّبَابا

    She rebukes me for leaving a land

    where I knew innocence and youth.

  25. تَقُولُ وَهَل يُفَلُّ السَّيفُ إِلا

    إِذا مَا فَارَقَ السَّيفُ القِرَابا

    She says, "Is a sword ever notched except

    when it leaves its scabbard?"

  26. وَقُلتُ وَهَل يَضُرُّ السَّيفَ فَلٌّ

    إِذا قَطَّ الجَمَاجِمَ والرِّقَابا

    I said, "What harm is a notch to a sword

    if it cleaves skulls and necks?"

  27. بِخَوضِ الهولِ تُكتَسَبُ المَعَالِي

    يَحُلُّ السَّهلَ مَن رَكِبَ الصِعَابا

    By plunging into terror, lofty honors are won;

    whoever rides through hardships comes to easy ground.

  28. فَلَيثُ الغَابِ يَفتَرِسُ الأنَاسِي

    وَلَيثُ البَيتِ يَفتَرِسُ الذِئَابا

    For the lion of the forest preys on human beings,

    while the lion of the house preys on wolves.

  29. وَلَو كَانَ انقِضَاضُ الطير سَهلاً

    لَكَانَت كُلُّ طَائِرَةٍ عُقَابا

    If birds' swooping were easy,

    every bird would be an eagle.

  30. دَعِيني والنَّهَارَ أَسِيرُ فِيهِ

    أَسِيرَ عَزَائِمٍ تُفرِي الصِلابا

    Leave me with the daylight, to travel through it,

    a captive of resolves that cleave hard rocks.

  31. أُغَازِلُ مِن غَرَابَتِهِ فَتَاةً

    تَبَيَّضَ فَودُهَا هَرَماً وَشَابا

    Amid its strangeness, I court a maiden

    whose temple-hair has whitened with age and gone gray.

  32. إِذا شَاءَت مُواصَلَتِي تَجَلَّت

    وَإِن مَلَّت تَوَارَت لِي احتِجَابا

    When she wishes to join me, she reveals herself;

    if she tires, she withdraws from me, veiled.

  33. وَأسرِي اللَّيلَ لا أَلوِي عِنَانا

    وَلو نَيلُ الأمَانِي بِمَن أَصَابا

    I journey through the night without turning a rein,

    even if wishes are attained through whoever hits the mark.

  34. أُطالِعُ مِن كَوَاكِبهِ حَماما

    وَأَزجُرُ مِن دُجُنَّتِهِ غُرَابا

    I behold doves among its stars,

    and drive a raven from its darkness.

  35. وَأَركَبُ مَتنَهَا غُبراً كَبَاعِي

    وَخُضراً مِثلَ خَاطِرِيَ انسِيَابا

    I ride its back through dust-gray expanses like my reach,

    and green expanses, flowing like my thought.

  36. وَآخُذُ مِن بَنَاتِ الدَّهرِ حَقِّي

    جِهَاراً لَستُ أَستَلِبُ استِلابا

    I take my due from the daughters of time,

    openly; I do not seize it as plunder.

  37. وَلَستُ أُذِيلُ بِالمِدَحِ القَوافِى

    وَلا أَرضَى بِخُطَّتِهَا اكتِسَابا

    I do not debase my rhymes with panegyrics,

    nor accept their practice as a livelihood.

  38. أَأَمدَحُ مَن بهِ أَهجُو مَدِيحِي

    إِذَا طَيَّبتُ بِالمِسكِ الكِلابا

    Am I to praise one through whom I lampoon my own praise,

    when I perfume dogs with musk?

  39. سَأَخزنُها عَنِ الأسمَاعِ حَتَّى

    أَرُدَّ الصّمتَ بَينَهُما حِجَابا

    I will store them away from ears until

    I set silence as a veil between the two.

  40. فَلَستُ بِمَادِحٍ مَا عِشتُ إِلا

    سُيُوفاً أَو جِيَاداً أَو صِحَابا

    For, as long as I live, I will praise only

    swords, fine steeds, or friends.

  41. أبا مُوسَى وَأَي أَخِي وِدَادي

    أُنَاجِي لَو سَمِعتُ إِذَا أَجَابا

    With Abu Musa—what a brother dear to me!—

    I would commune, if I could hear him when he answered.

  42. وَلَكِن دُونَ ذَلِكَ مَهمَهٌ لَو

    جَرَتهُ الرِّيحُ لَم تَرجُ الإِيَابا

    But a trackless desert stands in the way of that; if

    the wind traversed it, it would not hope to return.

  43. أَخٌ بَرَّ المَوَدَّةَ كُلَّ بَرٍّ

    إِذَا بَرَّ الأَشِقَّةُ الانتِسَابا

    A brother who honored affection with every kindness,

    as full brothers honor their kinship.

  44. بَعَثتُ إِلَيكَ مِن نَظمِي بِدُرٍّ

    شَقَقتُ عَلَيهِ مِن فِكرِي عُبَابا

    I have sent you pearls from my verse,

    for which I split open the surging sea of my thought.

  45. عَدَانِي الدَّهرُ أَن يلقاكَ شَخصي

    فأغنَى الشِّعرُ عَن شَخصي وَنَابا

    Fate kept me from meeting you in person;

    so poetry sufficed in my place and stood in for me.