1. من رأَى المجدَ يُثير القِلاصا

    والعُلا تُزجى العِتاقَ الخِماصا

    Who has seen glory rouse the young she-camels,

    and eminence drive the lean thoroughbreds?

  2. والقِبابَ البيضَ قد وعَدُوها

    بالمعالى فاستطالتْ خِراصا

    And the white domed tents—they promised them

    lofty stations, so they rose tall as spearshafts.

  3. بعميد الدولةِ الأرضُ تُطوَى

    حين لا ترجو النجومُ خَلاصا

    With ʿAmīd al-Dawla the earth is folded up,

    when the stars have no hope of escape.

  4. وفجِاجُ السعى بين يديه

    تشترِى الآمالَ منه رِخاصا

    And the broad paths of endeavor before him

    buy hopes from him cheaply.

  5. مذ رأيناهُ سحابا عجِبنا

    كيف يحتلُّ ويأوِى العِراصا

    Since we saw him as a cloud, we wondered:

    how does he settle and dwell in courtyards?

  6. كرمٌ فاضَ فما اختصَّ أرضا

    دون أرضٍ بنداه اختصاصا

    Generosity overflowed, favoring no land

    to another's exclusion with its bounty.

  7. من يحبّ العزّ يَدأبْ إليه

    وكذا من طلب الدُّرَّ غاصا

    Whoever loves honor should strive toward him;

    likewise, whoever sought pearls dived.

  8. قرّت الأعينُ بالقربِ منه

    فأراد البعدُ منها القِصاصا

    Eyes found delight in being near him,

    so distance sought retribution from them.

  9. لو مَلكنا الأرضَ أو لو أطقنا

    لسَددنا برُباها الخَصاصا

    If we owned the earth, or if we had the power,

    we would block the gaps with its hills,

  10. وعقَلنا الناجياتِ خلاءً

    وربَطنا المُقْرَباتِ ارتهاصا

    and hobble the swift she-camels into balking,

    and tether the treasured steeds, bruising their hooves.

  11. فهِمتْ ما حمَلتْ في ذُراها

    من جمالٍ فارتقصنَ ارتقاصا

    They understood what they bore upon their backs

    of beauty, and danced exuberantly.

  12. ماجدٌ إن خاف أسهمَ ذمٍّ

    لبس الجودَ عليه دِلاصا

    A noble man: if he feared the arrows of blame,

    he clad himself in generosity as gleaming mail.

  13. أدواتُ الفخرِ ألقَّنَ فيه

    حسَبا عِداًّ وعِرقا مُصاصا

    The instruments of glory [unclear verb] within him:

    inexhaustible ancestral honor and a pure lineage.

  14. رُبَّ عزمٍ إ يُحَكَّمْ له لم

    تجد الأقدارُ عنه مَناصا

    Many a resolve—if given sway for him—never

    lets the decrees of fate find escape from it.

  15. ساهر القلب إذا رامَ عُظمَى

    إن كَرى النومِ للأعينِ حاصا

    Wakeful at heart whenever he seeks a great deed,

    even if sleep's drowsiness has stitched eyes shut.

  16. قذفتْ منه الليالي بِقرنٍ

    تنكُص ألأبطالُ عنه انتكاصا

    The nights have brought forth in him a formidable opponent,

    from whom heroes recoil in retreat.

  17. محسنٌ بالرأي ضربا وطعنا

    يُخجل البيضَ ويُخزِى الخِراصا

    Skillful in striking and thrusting with his judgment,

    he shames bright swords and disgraces spears.

  18. ساحر الألفاظ ولو شاء ظبيا

    أسر الوحش بهنَّ اقتناصا

    An enchanter of words—and if he desired a gazelle,

    he would hunt wild beasts with them and take them captive.

  19. كلما أبصرَه حاسدوه

    كُلِّلتْ تلك العيونُ حُصَاصا

    Whenever those who envy him behold him,

    those eyes are wreathed in saffron yellow.

  20. كشعاع الشمسِ ترجِع عنه

    مَضْرِحيّاتُ العيون عِماصا

    As from the sun's rays, there turn back from him

    eagle-like eyes, now rheumy.

  21. ففداه كلُّ جَهم المُحيَّا

    مانعٌ عسجدَه والرَّصاصا

    So may every grim-faced man be his ransom,

    withholding his gold and lead,

  22. كالشَّموسِ الصَّعبِ إن ذلَّلوه

    زادهم ذُعرا ولَجَّ قِماصا

    like a restive, unruly horse: if they tame him,

    he frightens them more and persists in bucking.

  23. مستهامٌ بالغوانى إذا ما

    صقَلتْ خداًّ وأرختْ عِقاصا

    Besotted with beautiful women whenever

    one polishes a cheek and lets down her braids.

  24. أين تبغى قد زحَمتَ الثريّا

    في مَداها وانتعلتَ النَّشاصا

    Where do you seek to go? You have jostled the Pleiades

    in their reach and shod yourself with lofty clouds.

  25. غايةٌ لو ذو جَناحٍ إليها

    طار لاعتاصت عليه اعتياصا

    A goal that, if a winged creature toward it

    flew, would prove utterly beyond its reach.

  26. أنتمُ آلُ جَهِيرٍ عديدٌ

    لا رأتْ فيه البنانُ انتقاصا

    You, the house of Jahīr, are a multitude;

    may the fingers never see its numbers diminished.

  27. كلّما قيل الرحيلُ قريبٌ

    غَصَّ بالبادر حَلْقى اغتصاصا

    Whenever it is said, 'Departure is near,'

    my throat chokes hard on the welling tears.

  28. وأرى قلبي سيقتصُّ إمّا

    سرتَ آثارَ المطىِّ اقتصاصا

    And I see my heart will follow—if

    you depart—the riding camels' tracks, step by step.

  29. اِقْضِ في أمري بما أنتَ قاضٍ

    فبأنعامك أرجو الخَلاصا

    Decide my affair however you will decree,

    for through your favors I hope for deliverance.

  30. ردَّك الله إلينا سليما

    بك أيامُ الزمان تَواصَى

    May God return you to us unharmed;

    the days of time commend you to one another.