1. الشعرُ درٌّ والخيالُ بحورُ

    والفكر فلكٌ في العباب يَمُور

    Poetry is pearls, and imagination seas;

    and thought a ship that heaves in the surging deep.

  2. ما كلُّ غوَّاصٍ اقاصي لجَّةٍ

    يبدو لديهِ للؤلؤ المذخورُ

    Not every diver into the farthest depths

    finds the hidden pearl revealed before him.

  3. حاز الفرائد كلَّ عصرٍ بضعةٌ

    مع أنَّ رهط الغائصين كبيرُ

    A few in every age have won the rare pearls,

    though the company of divers is great.

  4. ما كلُّ من ركبَ الصوافنَ فارسٌ

    يأوي الدِحلَ الليثُ واليعفور

    Not everyone who mounts steeds is a knight;

    the lion and the gazelle both shelter in a cavern.

  5. لو كلُّ من يسعى لمجدٍ نالهُ

    ما كان بين العالمين خطيرُ

    If everyone who strove for glory attained it,

    no one among humankind would be distinguished.

  6. وكلُّ من نظَمَ القريض اجادهُ

    ما قيل ذا فحلٌ وذ شعرورُ

    And if everyone who composed verse excelled at it,

    none would say, 'This is a master, and that a poetaster.'

  7. بعضُ القرائح نفحةٌ علويَّةٌ

    والبعض ريحٌ بالهباءِ تثورُ

    Some poetic gifts are a breath from on high;

    and others a wind that whirls up dust.

  8. من تلك يُبعثُ للصدور نسائمٌ

    تحيي ومن هذى قذًى وكدورُ

    From the former, breezes waft into hearts,

    reviving them; from the latter come grit and murk.

  9. يا مَن يظن الشعرَ ماوَزَنَ الفتى

    نظما لانتَ الجاهل المغرورُ

    O you who think poetry is whatever a young man meters

    into verse: you are indeed ignorant and deluded!

  10. كم من نظامٍ لم يكن شعراً وكم

    شعراً يقال ولفظهُ منثورُ

    How much metered verse is not poetry—and how much

    poetry is uttered, though its wording is prose!

  11. فالشعر ما ابتكر الذكاءُ مولّداً

    معنىً لهُ يرتاح منكَ شعورُ

    For poetry is what intelligence invents, bringing forth

    a meaning in which your feelings find delight.

  12. فاذا أتى نظماً فتلك صناعةٌ

    أُخرى جلاها الطبع والتحريرُ

    And if it comes in verse, that is an art

    of its own, polished by natural talent and refinement.

  13. لهجت بهِ الاعرابُ دون تصنّعٍ

    فيهِ فجاء وحسنهُ مفطورُ

    The Bedouins spoke it without affectation

    in it; so it came forth, its beauty inborn.

  14. تلدُ المعاني النفسُ لا مغصوبةً

    عفواً وفيها نشطةٌ وسرورُ

    The soul gives birth to meanings, not under compulsion,

    spontaneously, with vigor and joy within it.

  15. تلج القلوب بلا حجابٍ قبل أن

    يلج المسامعَ لفظها المأثورُ

    They enter hearts without a veil, before

    their memorable words enter the ears.

  16. شعرٌ كما انتظم الحباب ودونهُ

    لذوي الحصافة نشوةٌ وحبورُ

    Poetry, like bubbles strung together; beneath it

    lie rapture and delight for the discerning.

  17. هو في الوغى فخرٌ وفي حال الهوى

    سحرٌ وفي وقت الصفا شحرورُ

    It is pride in battle, and in the state of love

    enchantment, and in times of serenity a blackbird.

  18. جلست به الشعراءُ في دَست العلى

    يعنو لهم ملكٌ سما ووزيرُ

    Through it, poets sat on the throne of eminence;

    an exalted king and a minister bow before them.

  19. ويهابهم في الحرب كل سميدع

    ويثيبهم زمنَ السلام اميرُ

    And every valiant chief fears them in war,

    and in peacetime a prince rewards them.

  20. فهمُ الملوكُ على الملوك رضاهُم

    غنمٌ وسُخطهمُ اسىً وثبور

    Thus they are kings over kings; their favor

    is gain, and their displeasure grief and ruin.

  21. ولقد غدا من بعد ذلك حرفةً

    لهمُ بها يسترزقُ المعسورُ

    Yet after that it became a trade

    for them, by which the needy seek a living.

  22. يتكلفون بهِ ثناءً كاذباً

    مع أن حبل الكاذبين قصيرُ

    They contrive false praise through it,

    though the rope of liars is short.

  23. أضحى سجلاً للمديح وللرثا

    ولسردِ وصفٍ جلُّهُ تزويرُ

    It became a register for praise and elegy,

    and for recounting descriptions, most of them fabricated.

  24. وسطا على المعنى الجناسُ فلم يزل

    ينقاد بين يديه وهو نَفُورُ

    And wordplay overpowered meaning, which never ceased

    yielding before it, though reluctant.

  25. سلكوا به عكسَ المراد جهالةً

    فجرى بضيعة مجدهِ المقدورُ

    In ignorance they led it against its intended course,

    so fate brought about the loss of its glory.

  26. هدموا بسوء صنيعهم اركانهُ

    فبدا خراباً بيتهُ المعمورُ

    Through their ill deeds they tore down its pillars,

    and its once-thriving house appeared a ruin.

  27. ولقد اتاح لهُ الزمان اليومَ من

    يحلو لهُ الابدال والتغييرُ

    And today, time has granted it those

    who delight in recasting and change.

  28. نهضت به بعد السقوط قرائحٌ

    بأشعَّة العلم الصحيح تسيرُ

    Poetic talents raised it after its fall,

    guided onward by the rays of sound knowledge.

  29. لم تتخذهُ ذريعةً لمغانمٍ

    يوليكها الممدوح وهو حقيرُ

    They did not use it as a means to gains

    that the praised man grants you, though he is contemptible.

  30. لبس القريضَ بها طرازاً مُعلماً

    هو في الوضاءَة عسجدٌ وحريرُ

    Through them, verse donned a richly embroidered robe,

    which in its radiance is gold and silk,

  31. من كل مبتكرٍ بهيجٍ مطربٍ

    قد زانهُ الابداعُ والتحبيرُ

    formed from every delightful, stirring invention,

    adorned by creativity and embellishment.

  32. قد عاد رونقهُ القديم مجدَّداً

    وانجاب عن ارجائهِ الديجورُ

    Its former splendor has returned anew,

    and the gloom has lifted from its reaches.

  33. وزكت منابتهُ واخصب روضهُ

    وجلا المحاسنَ رَقُّهُ المنشورُ

    Its seedbeds flourished, and its garden grew fertile,

    and its unfurled parchment revealed its beauties.

  34. فلتنظم الاقلامُ فيهِ قلائداً

    منها يفيض على المدارك نورُ

    Let pens, then, string necklaces in it,

    from which light pours upon minds.

  35. فبهِ غدا هَومَير بعد مماتهِ

    حيًّا تصوغ لهُ الفخارَ عصورُ

    Through it, Homer, after his death, became

    alive, as the ages fashion glory for him.