1. لأىِّ مَرمىً تَزجُرُ الأيانِقا

    إن جاوزتْ نجدا فلستَ عاشقا

    To what destination do you urge the she-camels?

    If they pass beyond Najd, you are no lover.

  2. وإنما كان بكائي حاديا

    ركبَ الغرام وزفيري سائقا

    My weeping was only the camel-chanter

    of love's caravan, and my sighing its driver.

  3. مذ ظعَعنوا علمتُ أنى منهمُ

    أشيمُ في أعلى السحابِ بارقا

    Since they departed, I knew it was from them

    that I sought a lightning-flash high in the clouds.

  4. أيا غرابا قد نعقتَ بهِمُ

    فكن على آثارهم بي ناعقا

    O raven, you have croaked over them;

    so croak for me along their tracks.

  5. سائْل شمُوسا ضربتْ حُمولها

    من شُقّة البين لها سُرادقا

    Ask the suns whose laden camels pitched

    a pavilion for them from the vastness of separation:

  6. لِمْ جَعَلتْ أعيننا مَغاربا

    واتّخذت خُدورَها مَشارقا

    why they made our eyes places of sunset,

    and took their curtained chambers as places of sunrise.

  7. وكيفَ لا تحرسُها خيامُها

    وكل طَرفٍ قد أتاها سارقا

    And how could their tents fail to guard them,

    when every gaze has come to them as a thief?

  8. قُلّدت الدرَّ فما شككتْ أن

    قد نُظِمتْ ثغورُها مَخانِقا

    They were adorned with pearls; I did not doubt that

    their mouths had been strung into necklaces.

  9. واستهدت الخصورُ من بَنانها

    خواتما تلبَسها مَناطقا

    And their waists asked their fingers for gifts—

    rings to wear as girdles.

  10. رميمّ القلبَ وظنّى أنكم

    تُخطون إذ ترمون شيئا خافقا

    You shot at the heart, and I thought that you

    would miss when shooting at something fluttering.

  11. فلم يكن أوّلَ ظنٍّ كاذبٍ

    من يدفعُ الأمر أتى موافِقا

    It was not the first false conjecture;

    whoever resists the matter comes round to agree.

  12. جراحةُ الأنصلِ إنْ سبرتها

    تشهدُ أن السهمَ كان مارقا

    The wound of the arrowheads, if you probe it,

    testifies that the arrow passed clean through.

  13. احبِس دمعى فيِندُّ شاردا

    كأننى أضِبطُ عبدا آبقا

    I restrain my tears, but they stray away,

    as though I were restraining a runaway slave.

  14. ومن مُحاشاةِ الرقيب خِلُتنى

    يومَ الرحيل في الهوى مُنافقا

    And, from avoiding the watcher, I thought myself

    on departure day a hypocrite in love.

  15. كم ليَ في الظَّلماء من وقائعٍ

    أسَرتُ فيهنَّ الخيالَ الطارقا

    How many battles I have had in darkness,

    in which I captured the visiting phantom!

  16. لما أتاني في عجاجةِ الدّجَى

    مارسَ منّى فارسا مُعانقا

    When it came to me through the dust-cloud of darkness,

    it grappled with a knight in me, locked in embrace.

  17. ما استوقفتنى الدارُ عن طِلابهم

    وإن جلَتْ للعين مَرأىً رائقا

    The dwelling did not hold me back from seeking them,

    though it displayed a lovely prospect to the eye.

  18. إذا رأيتَ القَطرَ يُحيى عُشبَها

    أبصرتَ مخلوقا بها وخالقا

    If you see the rain revive its grass,

    you behold there a created being and a creator.

  19. يُنِبتُ في هامِ الربى ذوائبا

    يُضحى لها خدُّ المَصيفِ حالقا

    It grows tresses on the heads of hills,

    for which summer's cheek becomes the shaver.

  20. فاشتملت تِلاعُها رَفارفا

    وأتزرتْ أهضابُها نَمارقا

    So its ravines wrapped themselves in coverlets,

    and its plateaus girded themselves with cushions.

  21. وغنّت الحمامُ في عيدانِها

    تُحسَبُ في أفنانها مُخارقا

    And the doves sang among its branches,

    seeming in its boughs to be Mukhāriq.

  22. وهبَّ نجدىُّ الصَّبا تحسَبهُ

    فارةَ مِسكٍ في ثراها فاتِقا

    And the east wind blew from Najd; you would think it

    was splitting open a musk pod in its soil.

  23. فما رأيتُ الركبَ إلا لامسَّا

    أو ناظرا أو سامعا أو ناشقا

    So I saw the caravan only touching,

    or gazing, or listening, or inhaling scents.

  24. بُعداً لدهرٍ إن قَرَى أضيافَه

    سقاهمُ ماءَ الأمانى ماذقا

    Away with an age that, when it entertains its guests,

    gives them the water of hopes, adulterating it.

  25. قد كسَد الفضلُ به فما تَرى

    في سوقِه للفضل عِلْقا نافقا

    Excellence has gone unsold there; you see no

    precious article of excellence selling in its market.

  26. ومعجزٌ أنَّ لساني ناطق

    عند زمانٍ أخرَسَ الشَّقاشِقا

    And it is a marvel that my tongue still speaks

    in an age that has silenced eloquent mouths.

  27. أكثرُ من تَخبُرهُ من أهلهِ

    يَظهرَ في دِين الوداد الواثقا

    Most whom you put to the test among its people

    appear faithful to the creed of friendship.

  28. مَعاشرٌ قد حَفرَ اللؤمُ على

    حريم أموالِهمُ خنَادقا

    A people—baseness has dug around

    the sanctuary of their wealth its trenches.

  29. سيّان إن عُرِضتُ طِرْفا صاهلا

    عليهِمُ أو عُدتُ عَيرا ناهقا

    It is all the same whether I am presented as a neighing steed

    before them, or return as a braying ass.

  30. طلبتُ منهم بَيْعةً على يدى

    فلم أجدْ منهم لكفِّى صافقا

    I sought from them a pledge upon my hand,

    but found none among them to clasp my palm,

  31. إلا جمال الدولةِ المعطى الندى

    على انتهابِ رِفده مَواثقا

    except Jamāl al-Dawla, who grants bounty,

    pledging that his gifts may be freely plundered.

  32. لو أمسكتْ بنانُه معروفَه

    لأصبحتْ من كفِّه طَوالقا

    If his fingers ever withheld his kindness,

    they would be divorced from his hand.

  33. من حضسَدٍ ظَلَّ الغمامُ باكيا

    بقَطره وبالرعود شاهقا

    From envy the cloud kept weeping,

    with its rain, and sobbing with thunder.

  34. لقَّنهُ الطبعُ الكريمُ صُحُفا

    من مذهب الجودِ فجاء حاذقا

    His noble nature taught him pages

    from the school of generosity, and he became skilled.

  35. ما إن رأينا قبلَه ولا ترى

    من بعدِهِ وعدَ الأمانى صادقا

    Never before him have we seen, nor will you see

    after him, the promise of hopes prove true.

  36. إن تُلقَح الآمالُ من ميعادهِ

    فعن قليل ستراها فارقا

    If hopes are impregnated by his promise,

    before long you will see them ready to give birth.

  37. مكارمٌ تُسكِنه في جَنَةٍ

    قد غرَس الشكرُ بها حدائقا

    His noble deeds lodge him in a paradise

    where gratitude has planted gardens.

  38. من عاش كان ناطقا بحمدِه

    ومن توَى أودَعه المَهارقا

    Whoever lives speaks his praise,

    and whoever dies commits it to parchment.

  39. إن قلتَ ما أحسنَه شمائلا

    قلتَ وما أكرَمه خلائقا

    If you say, 'How fine are his qualities!'

    you say too, 'How noble is his character!'

  40. مُكِّررٌ للمكرمات قائلا

    بكأسها وصابحا وغابقا

    He repeats his noble deeds, drinking at noon

    from their cup, and drinking morning and evening.

  41. لا يحسُن المديحُ عند غيره

    ولا تراه بسواه لائقا

    Praise is not beautiful when bestowed on another,

    nor do you see it fitting anyone but him.

  42. جدَّد في سُبْل المعالى طُرُقا

    وزاد في حدِّ الندَى طرائقا

    He blazed new paths along the roads to greatness,

    and added new ways within the bounds of bounty.

  43. يوماه إما لطِرادٍ يَصطفِى الر

    جالَ والسلاحَ والسوابقا

    His days are of two kinds: jousting, when he selects the

    men, the weapons, and the swift steeds;

  44. أو طَرَدٍ جمَّعَ من أَداتِهِ ال

    فهودَ والكلابَ والسَّواذقا

    or hunting, for which he gathers his equipment—the

    cheetahs, hounds, and falcons.

  45. فتارةً يصرعهم فوارسا

    وتارةً يصيدها خَرانقا

    At times he strikes them down, mounted warriors;

    and at times he hunts them, young hares.

  46. لو لم تكن تُطربُه الحربُ لمَا

    كان لسِربال العَجاج خارقا

    Had war not delighted him, he would not

    have torn through the robe of battle-dust.

  47. لولاه ما كان السّنانُ طاعنا

    يوم الوغى ولا الحسامُ فالقا

    Without him, the spearhead would not have thrust

    on battle day, nor would the sword have cleft.

  48. إذا الكماةُ لبِسوا دروعَهم

    أقاحيا أعادها شقائقا

    When warriors put on their coats of mail,

    daisies at first, he turns them into anemones.

  49. لو هَزّ في يمينه مخَاصرا

    أرسلها ببأسه صواعقا

    If he brandished staffs in his right hand,

    he would launch them, by his might, as thunderbolts.

  50. لا يقتنى إلا حساما جاهلا

    ولا يُعِدُّ الرمحَ إلا مائقا

    He owns no sword but an ignorant one,

    and readies no spear but a foolish one.

  51. إن شئتَ أن تعلم ما فِعلاَهما

    فاستخبر الضلوعَ والمَفارقا

    If you wish to know what the two have done,

    ask the ribs and the crowns of heads.

  52. ليس ببالى بالأعادي بعد ما

    يَعُدُّ ذؤبانَ الفلا أصادقا

    He pays no heed to enemies, now that

    he counts the wilderness wolves among his friends.

  53. إن أَعضلَ الأمرُ فناطوهُ به

    كان المصلِّى والنجاح السابقا

    If a matter grows difficult and they entrust it to him,

    he comes in second, while success comes first.

  54. لذا ارتقى عند الإمام ذِروةً

    وحلَّ من رأىِ المليك شاهقا

    Thus he has risen to a summit in the Imam's esteem,

    and occupies a lofty place in the king's regard.

  55. لاحطَّتِ الأيّام عنك رتبةً

    ولا أراك الدهرَ إلا سابقا

    May the days never lower your rank,

    and may I never see you, through time, but foremost.

  56. تدوم ما دام الزمانُ آمرا

    أو ناهيا وفاتقا وراتقا

    May you endure as long as time endures, commanding,

    or forbidding, unseaming and mending.