1. لا أعِذر المرءَ يصبو وهو مختارُ

    الحبُّ يُجمَعُ فيه العارُ والنارُ

    I do not excuse a man who falls in love while free to choose.

    Love gathers within itself both shame and fire.

  2. فعارُه سَفَه العذَّال إن هَجروا

    ونارُه حُرَقٌ إن شطّت الدارُ

    Its shame is the reproachers' folly when they speak abusively,

    and its fire is burning anguish when the dwelling lies far away.

  3. لولا كَهانة عينى ما درت كبِدى

    أن الخِمارَ سحابٌ فيه أقمارُ

    Without my eye's divination, my liver would not have known

    that the veil is a cloud containing moons.

  4. يُهوىَ بياضُ محيّاها وحُمرتُهُ

    كما يروقك دِرهامٌ ودينارُ

    Her face's whiteness and redness inspire love,

    as a silver dirham and a gold dinar delight you.

  5. إيهٍ أحاديث نَعْمانٍ وساكنه

    إنّ الحديثَ عن الأحباب أسمارُ

    Tell me more of Nu'man and its dweller;

    talk of loved ones makes for nighttime tales.

  6. يا حبذا روضُة ألأحوىَ إذا احتجَبتْ

    عنّى الثغورُ حكاها منه نُوّارُ

    How lovely the meadow of al-Ahwa! When hidden

    from me, smiling mouths are mirrored in its blossoms.

  7. وحبَّذا البانُ أغصانا كَرُمنَ فما

    لهنَّ إلا الحمَامُ الوُرقُ أثمارُ

    And how lovely the ben-trees, boughs so noble that

    they bear no fruit but gray doves.

  8. ظلِلتَ مُغْرىً بذي عينينِ تعذُله

    وقبلَه قد تعاطى العشقَ بشّارُ

    You remained bent on reproaching a man with two eyes,

    yet Bashshar had practiced love before him.

  9. عند العذول اعتراضات ومَعنفةٌ

    وفي العتاب جواباتٌ وأعذارُ

    The reproacher has objections and harsh rebukes,

    and reproach has its answers and excuses.

  10. لا سنَحتْ بعدهم عُفرُ الظباء ولا

    ترَّجحتْ في الغصون الخُضْر أطيارُ

    May no tawny gazelles appear after them, nor

    birds sway upon the green boughs.

  11. كأننى يومَ سُّلمانَيْنِ قد علِقتْ

    بِي من أُسَامةَ أنيابٌ وأظفارُ

    It was as though, on the day at Salmanayn, there had fastened

    upon me the fangs and claws of Usama, the lion.

  12. أفِّتُش الريحَ عنكم كلَّما نفحتْ

    من نحو أرضكم نكباءُ مِعطارُ

    I search the wind for you whenever there wafts

    from the direction of your land a heavily perfumed crosswind.

  13. وأسأل الركبَ أنباءً فيكتمُنى

    كأنّكم في صدورِ القوم أسرارُ

    I ask the caravan for news, but it withholds it from me,

    as though you were secrets in the people's breasts.

  14. حتى الخيال بدا جنبى ليوهمَنى

    قُربا ومن دونكم بيدٌ وأخطارُ

    Even your phantom appeared beside me to suggest

    nearness, though deserts and dangers lie between us.

  15. ما تطمئنُّ بكم دارٌ كانّ عَلا

    ءَ الدِّين مطلبُه في حيِّكم ثارُ

    No abode keeps you settled, as though Ala—

    al-Din were seeking blood-revenge among your clan.

  16. هو الذي لو حمىَ مَرعىً لما سَرحتْ

    سوائم الدهر إلا حيث يختارُ

    He is the one who, if he reserved a pasture, would let

    Time's herds graze nowhere but where he chooses.

  17. ولو تُجاوره الأغصانُ ما خطَرت

    ريحُ النُّعامىَ عليها وهي مغوارُ

    And if the boughs dwelt beside him, never would pass

    over them the south wind, though it is a raider.

  18. يُحكَى له في المعالى كلُّ مأثُرةٍ

    تُصبى القلوبَ وتُروَى عنه أخبارُ

    Every deed of high distinction is recounted of him,

    captivating hearts, and stories are told about him.

  19. عظَّمتُمُ مَن له في المجد مَكُرمةٌ

    وأين ممَّن له في المجدِ آثارُ

    You have exalted one with a noble deed in glory;

    yet where is he beside one with lasting achievements in glory?

  20. أنَّى أقام فذاك الشَّعبُ منتجَعٌ

    وكلُّ يومٍ يُحيَّا فيه مختارُ

    Wherever he settles, that valley is a haven of pasture and plenty,

    and every day he is greeted is a chosen day.

  21. لولا ضمانُ يديه رىَّ عالَمِهِ

    لجاءت السُّحبُ من كفَّيه تمتارُ

    Were it not for his hands' pledge to quench his world's thirst,

    the clouds would come to draw provisions from his palms.

  22. يلقَى العُفاةَ ببشرٍ شاغلٍ لهمُ

    عن السؤال وللأنواء أنوارٌ

    He meets petitioners with cheerfulness that distracts them

    from asking; and the rain-stars have their gleams.

  23. وحظُّته في العطايا أنَّ راحتَه

    بين العُفاةِ وبين الرِّفدِ سُمّارُ

    His distinction in giving is that his palm

    is a nail binding petitioners to bounty.

  24. أخو المطامعِ بلقاه بِذلَّتها

    وينثنِى وهو في عِطفْيه نَظَّارُ

    A man of hopes comes before him humbled by them,

    and turns away, admiring his own sides.

  25. أفنىَ الرجاء فما للخيل ما نحتوا

    من السروج ولا للعِيس أكوارُ

    He has fulfilled all hopes: horses no longer need carved

    saddles, nor do pale camels need saddle-frames.

  26. لا يَنهَبُ الشكرَ إلا من كتائبِه

    يومَ التغاورِ أضيافٌ وزُوّارُ

    No one plunders praise from his battalions but

    guests and visitors, on the day of raids.

  27. إذا القِرَى عَقَرت أُمَّ الحُسوارِ له

    رأيته وهو للآمال عَقَّارُ

    When hospitality slaughters the calf's mother for him,

    you see him slaughtering hopes.

  28. لله مقتبلُ الأيام همّتهُ

    لها من البأس والإقبال أنصارُ

    God bless the man in life's first bloom! His resolve

    has allies in martial might and good fortune.

  29. ثِقْ بالنجاح إذا ما اجتاب سابغةً

    لها الثرّيا مساميرٌ وأزرارُ

    Trust in victory whenever he dons a full coat of mail

    whose rivets and clasps are the Pleiades.

  30. لا يتوارى ضميرِّ عن سريرته

    كأنما ظنُّه للغيب مِسبارُ

    No secret thought hides from his inner mind,

    as though his surmise were a sounding-line into the unseen.

  31. من الورى هو لكن فاقهم كرما

    كذلك الدرُّ والحصباءُ أحجارُ

    He is one of mankind, yet surpasses them in generosity;

    so too pearls and pebbles are both stones.

  32. بأىِّ رأىٍ أبو نصرٍ يجاذبه

    حبلَ الخلاف وبعضُ النقضِ إمرارُ

    With what judgment does Abu Nasr tug against him

    at the rope of opposition? Some unraveling only twists it tighter.

  33. أما رأى أنَّ ليثَ الغاب مجتمعٌ

    لوثبةٍ وفنيقَ النِّيبِ هَدّارُ

    Has he not seen the thicket's lion gathering himself

    to spring, and the prized camel-stallion of the old she-camels bellowing?

  34. ولا جُناحَ على مُرسٍ كلا كلَه

    إذا تقدّم إعذارٌ وإنذارُ

    Nor is there blame on one who bears down with his chest,

    after due notice and warning have been given.

  35. بدأتَهُ بابتسامٍ ظنَّه خَوَرا

    فاغتَّر والكوكبُ الصبحىّ غرَّارُ

    You first approached him with a smile, which he took for weakness;

    so he was deceived—the morning star is deceptive.

  36. الآن إذ كشفَتْ عن ساقها ورمت

    قناعَها الحربُ والفُرسان أغمارُ

    Now that war has bared her leg and cast aside

    her veil, while the horsemen are unseasoned,

  37. غدَا يمسِّح أعطافَ الردَى ندما

    وكيف تنهضُ ساقٌ مُخُّها رارُ

    he has begun stroking Death's sides in remorse.

    But how can a leg rise when its marrow is thin and watery?

  38. يُغشِى السفائنَ نيرانَ الوغَى سفَها

    والنارُ أقواتُها الأخشابُ والقارُ

    Foolishly he exposes his ships to the fires of battle,

    and fire feeds on wood and pitch.

  39. إن كان للأجَم العادىِّ مدّرعا

    فالليثُ بين يراع الخيس مِذعارُ

    If he wears the ancient reedbeds as armor,

    the lion amid the thicket's reeds strikes terror.

  40. أو كان يغترُّ بالأمواه طاميةً

    فإن بالقاعِ من كَفيْه تيّارُ

    Or if he trusts in the waters at flood,

    a torrent from his two palms runs across the plain.

  41. إذا ترنَّم حَولىُّ البعوضِ له

    ترنَّمت في قسى الترُّكِ أوتارُ

    When a year-old mosquito sings to him,

    strings sing in the bows of the Turks.

  42. أنجِزْ مواعيدَ عزمٍ أنتَ ضامنُها

    ولا يُنهنِهْكَ إِردبٌّ وقِنطارُ

    Fulfill the pledges of resolve that you have guaranteed,

    and let neither an irdabb nor a qintar deter you.

  43. فإنما المالُ رُوحٌ أنت مُتلفُها

    والذِّكرُ في فلواتِ الدهر سَياَّرُ

    For wealth is but a soul you destroy,

    while renown travels through Time's wildernesses.

  44. لا تتَّرِكْ نُهزَةً عنَّتْ سلَّمَةً

    إلى علاك فإن الدهرَ أطوارُ

    Do not leave an opportunity that appears as a ladder

    to your eminence, for Time has changing phases.

  45. وما ترشحَّ يومُ المِهرَجانِ لها

    إلا وللسعدِ إيراد وإصدارُ

    Nor did the day of Mihragan put itself forward for it

    except with good fortune directing arrivals and departures.

  46. لما رآك نوى نَذار يقومُ به

    حتى أتاك وشهرُ الصوم مِضمارُ

    When it saw you, it resolved on a vow it would fulfill,

    until it reached you, with the fasting month its racecourse.

  47. وقد زففنا هداياه مُنمنَمةً

    كأنّها في رقاب المجد تِقصارُ

    We have brought its finely adorned gifts in bridal procession,

    as though they were short necklaces around the necks of Glory.

  48. ولستُ أرخصُ أقوالى لسائمها

    إلا عليك وللأشعارِ أسعارُ

    I do not cheapen my words for anyone bidding for them,

    except for you; poems have their prices.