1. صَمَت العواذلُ في أَساكِ وسلّموا

    لمّا رأوْا أنّ العزاءَ محرَّمُ

    The reproachers fell silent over grief for you, and yielded

    when they saw that consolation was forbidden.

  2. لاموا وكم من فائهٍ بملامةٍ

    هو عند نُقّادِ الملامةِ ألْوَمُ

    They blamed me; how many a man uttering blame

    is himself more blameworthy to the judges of blame.

  3. ما أغفلَ العذّالَ عمّا في الحشا

    مِن لاذعاتٍ جَمرها يتضرّمُ

    How heedless the reproachers are of what lies within:

    searing pains whose embers blaze!

  4. لو أَنصفوا اِعتذروا وقد عاصيتهمْ

    وأبَيْتُ نصحَهمُ بأنِّيَ مُغرَمُ

    Had they been fair, they would have apologized, though I defied them

    and rejected their counsel, for I am love-stricken.

  5. كم بيننا تتنعّمون وأُبتَلى

    أوْ تسلمون من الكُلومِ وأُكْلَمُ

    What a difference between us: you enjoy ease while I am afflicted,

    or you remain safe from wounds while I am wounded.

  6. في القلب من حرّ المصيبة لوعةٌ

    لا تعلمون بها وقلبي أعلمُ

    In the heart, from the calamity's burning heat, is anguish

    you know nothing of, but my heart knows better.

  7. لا يستوي بكُم وما من ثَلمةٍ

    بصَفاتِكْم شَعِثُ الصَّفاةِ مُثَلَّمُ

    Not equal to you, with not a single breach

    in your rock, is one whose rock is battered and chipped.

  8. ذاوي القضيب له بَنانةُ آسفٍ

    يَجري لطولِ عضاضِها منها الدّمُ

    His branch is withered; his finger is a mourner's,

    from which blood flows through prolonged biting.

  9. يا للرّجالِ لهاجمٍ بيد الرّدى

    أعيا فقيلَ هو القضاءُ المبرَمُ

    O men, help against an assailant at death's hand,

    beyond remedy; they said, 'It is irrevocable fate.'

  10. ومصيبةٍ ليلي وقد ساوَرْتُها

    ليلُ اللّديغِ بها ويومي أيْوَمُ

    And a calamity I grappled with—my night

    is a snake-bitten man's night, my day a day of woe.

  11. ركبتْ منَ الأثباجِ ما لا يُرتَقى

    وتهضّمتْ في القومِ ما لا يُهضَمُ

    It mounted crests no one could scale,

    and humbled among the people what none could humble.

  12. شوطِرتُ نصفي واِقتسمتُ وأنتُمُ

    أشطارُكمْ موفورةٌ لا تُقسَمُ

    Half of me was taken; I was divided, while you

    have your portions intact, undivided.

  13. فَمَتى عَطَستُ فإنّ أنفِيَ أجدعٌ

    وإذا بَطَشْتُ فساعِدٌ لِيَ أجذَمُ

    Whenever I sneeze, my nose is severed;

    and when I strike, my forearm is severed.

  14. وإذا نظرتُ فليس لِي من بعد مَنْ

    خُولستُهُ إلّا السوادُ المظلِمُ

    And when I look, nothing remains for me after the one

    stolen from me except dark blackness.

  15. وهو الزّمانُ فوافِدٌ ومودَّعٌ

    ومؤخَّرٌ فاتَ الرّدى ومقدَّمُ

    Such is time: one arrives, another is bid farewell,

    one is reprieved and escapes death, another taken early;

  16. ومبلَّغٌ آمالُهُ ومُخيَّبٌ

    ومُجرِّرٌ ذيلَ الثّراءِ ومُعْدِمُ

    one is granted his hopes, another disappointed,

    one trails the hem of wealth, another is destitute.

  17. لا تَعجَبوا لمُرَزَّءٍ ومُكلَّمٍ

    إنّ العجيبَ مُصَحَّحٌ ومُسَلَّمُ

    Do not marvel at one bereaved and wounded;

    the marvel is one kept sound and safe.

  18. قُلْ للّذي يَبني البناءَ كأنّه

    لَم يدرِ أنّ بناءهُ مُتَهدِّمُ

    Tell the man who builds his building as though

    he did not know his building must collapse:

  19. مَهلاً فَما الدّنيا وإنْ طالتْ لنا

    إلّا كَظِلّ غَمامةٍ يتصرَّمُ

    Wait! This world, however long it lasts for us,

    is only a cloud's shadow, passing away.

  20. هلْ حظُّنا منها وإن عظمتْ بها الن

    نَعماء إلّا مَشْربٌ أو مطعمُ

    Is our share of it, however great its

    blessings, anything but a drink or a meal?

  21. أَرِنِي بها صَفْواً بغيرِ تكدُّرٍ

    وحلاوةً ما سِيطَ فها العلقمُ

    Show me in it clarity untouched by clouding,

    and sweetness with no bitter colocynth mixed into it;

  22. أو لذّةً نِيلتْ وليس يحفُّها

    أبدَ الزّمان تكلّفٌ وتجشُّمُ

    or a pleasure attained that is not surrounded,

    throughout time, by strain and hardship.

  23. عُج بالمطيِّ على الدّيار فنادِها

    أَينَ الأُلى برُباكِ دهراً خيّموا

    Turn the mounts aside toward the dwellings and call to them:

    Where are those who camped long upon your heights?

  24. مِن كلّ مرهوبِ الشّذاةِ كأنّه

    ليثٌ إذا ضغط الفريسةَ يَرزُمُ

    Each of them feared for his fierceness, as though

    a lion growling as it crushes its prey;

  25. يقظان ينتهز الفخارَ إذا خَلَتْ

    سُبُلُ الفخار ونام عنها النُّوّمُ

    wakeful, seizing glory when

    glory's paths were empty and sleepers slept, neglecting them.

  26. ومُحجَّبون من القِذاعِ كأنّهمْ

    بسوى جميلِ الذّكرِ لمّا يعلموا

    And men shielded from foul abuse, as though

    they had known nothing but fair renown;

  27. ومهذّبون وكم يفوت معاشراً

    شتّى الشّعوب مهذَّبٌ ومقوَّمُ

    and refined men—how often whole communities

    of diverse tribes are surpassed by a refined, upright man.

  28. وتراهمُ متهجّمين على الرّدى

    وإذا رأوا سُبُلَ العَضِيهةِ أَحجموا

    You see them charging headlong at death,

    but when they see paths of calumny, they draw back.

  29. الشّاهدين اليومَ وهو عَصَبْصَبٌ

    والهازمين الجيشَ وهو عَرَمْرَمُ

    Those who face the day when it is dire,

    and rout the army though it is vast;

  30. والفالقين الهامَ في يوم الوَغى

    فمُتَوَّجٌ يهوي ردىً ومُعَمَّمُ

    and cleave skulls on the day of battle,

    so the crowned fall dead, and the turbaned too.

  31. أَخْنى على إثْرائهمْ فأبادَهُ

    جودٌ لَهم لا يَنثنِي وتكرُّمُ

    Their wealth was ravaged and wiped out

    by their unflagging generosity and noble giving.

  32. وأبى لهمْ كرمُ العروق إذا جَنَوْا

    يوماً على أموالهمْ أن يندموا

    The nobility of their roots forbade them, when they

    one day ravaged their wealth, to feel regret.

  33. وَيصونُ عِرضَهمُ الّذي شحّوا به

    دينارُهمْ في بذلِهِ والدِّرْهَمُ

    Their honor, which they jealously guarded, is protected

    by their dinar, freely given, and their dirham.

  34. وإذا هُمُ سلموا وبات وليُّهمْ

    مستهلكاً فكأنّهمْ لم يسلموا

    If they were safe but their ally spent the night

    perishing, it was as though they had not been safe.

  35. كم فيهمُ قَرِمٌ إلى بذل القِرى

    صَبٌّ بأسبابِ العَلاءِ مُتَيَّمُ

    How many among them yearn to lavish hospitality,

    ardent lovers, enthralled by the means to eminence;

  36. متقدِّمٌ واليومُ مسوَدُّ الدّجى

    إذ قَلَّ مَن نحو الرّدى يتقدّمُ

    advancing when the day is black with darkness,

    when few advance toward death,

  37. في موقفٍ فيه الحسامُ مُثَلَّمٌ

    والرّمحُ في طعنِ الكُلى متحطِّمُ

    at a stand where the sword is notched

    and the spear shatters in piercing kidneys;

  38. والطّعن يفتق كلَّ نَجْلاءٍ لَها

    قَعْرٌ كما فَغَرَ البعيرُ الأعْلمُ

    and thrusts tear open every broad wound, each with

    a deep hollow, like a split-lipped camel's gaping mouth;

  39. والخيل تُخضَبُ بالنّجيعِ فشُهبُها

    محمرّةٌ والوَرْدُ منها أدهمُ

    and the horses are dyed with gore: their grays

    are red, and their bays are black.

  40. كانوا البدور وبعد أن عصف الرّدى

    بهمُ همُ رِمَمُ الثّرى والأَعْظُمُ

    They were full moons; but after death swept

    over them, they are mouldering remains in the dust, and bones.

  41. سَكَنوا العَراءَ وَطالما اِمتَلأتْ وقد

    جُعلتْ لهمْ تلك الأسرّةُ منهمُ

    They settled in the open waste; how often had

    those couches made for them been filled by their presence!

  42. يا ربّةَ البيتِ المحرَّمِ تُربُهُ

    عن أنْ يلمّ به فعالٌ يحرُمُ

    O mistress of the house whose soil is kept inviolate

    from the touch of any forbidden deed,

  43. قطن العَفافُ به وعرّس عنده

    كرمٌ كعمر الدّهرِ لا يتثلّمُ

    chastity dwelt there, and there encamped

    a nobility enduring as time, never diminished.

  44. ما إنْ به صبحاً وكلَّ عشيّةٍ

    خَشْناءَ إلّا صُوَّمٌ أو قُوَّمُ

    Within it, at dawn and every evening

    of hardship, were only fasters or those standing in prayer,

  45. ومسهّدون كأنّما حسناتُهمْ

    في ليلهمْ ذاك البهيمِ الأنجمُ

    and sleepless souls, as though their good deeds

    were the stars in that pitch-black night of theirs.

  46. ما لي أراكِ وكنتِ جِدَّ حَفِيّةٍ

    لا نلتقي أبداً ولا نتكلّمُ

    Why do I see you, once so deeply caring,

    yet we never meet or speak?

  47. بيني وبينكِ شاسعٌ متباعدٌ

    أو حالكٌ شَحِبُ الجوانبِ مظلمُ

    Between me and you lies a vast, distant expanse,

    or a pitch-black place, bleak-sided and dark.

  48. آب الرّجالُ الرّاحلون ودوننا

    سَفَرٌ طويلٌ ليس منه مَقْدَمُ

    The traveling men returned, but between us lies

    a long journey from which there is no return.

  49. ما كان عندي والبلايا جَمَّةً

    أَنّي أصابُ بكمْ وأُعرى منكمُ

    I never thought, though calamities were many,

    that I would suffer your loss and be stripped of you,

  50. وأُذادُ حين أُذادُ عن أمواهكمْ

    وأُصدّ عن باب اللّقاءِ وأُحْرَمُ

    and be driven—when driven away—from your waters,

    and barred from the door of meeting, and deprived.

  51. كانَ اِبتِهالُكِ جُنَّةً فإذا رمى

    جهتي العِدا تَزْوَرّ عنّي الأسهمُ

    Your supplication was a shield; whenever shots were aimed

    at me by enemies, the arrows swerved away from me.

  52. ودُعاؤكِ المرفوعُ مصلحُ دائماً

    ما أَفسدوا أو ناقضٌ ما أبْرموا

    And your prayer raised on high always mended

    what they spoiled, or undid what they bound fast.

  53. فالآن لِي من بعد فقدك جانبٌ

    عارٍ وظُفرٌ في العدوِّ مُقَلَّمُ

    Now, after losing you, I have a flank

    left bare, and a claw against the enemy clipped short.

  54. لم يمضِ ماضٍ بان وهو محمّدٌ

    وَنأى أَشدَّ النّأي وهو مذمَّمُ

    No departed one has gone away praised

    and gone the farthest distance reviled.

  55. لكِ جَنَّةٌ مأهولةٌ فاِستبشري

    بِدخلولها فلآخرين جهنَّمُ

    Yours is an inhabited Garden; rejoice

    in entering it, for others have Hell.

  56. وإذا وصلتِ إلى النّعيمِ فهيّنٌ

    من قبله ذاك البلاءُ الأعظمُ

    And when you reach bliss, light is

    that greatest affliction which came before it.

  57. صلّى الإلهُ على ضريحك واِلتقتْ

    فيه عليك كما يشاء الأنعُمُ

    May God bless your tomb, and may there gather

    upon you within it, as He wills, blessings.

  58. وجرى النّسيمُ عليه كلَّ عشيَّةٍ

    وَاِعتاده نَوْءُ السِّماكِ المُرْزِمُ

    And may the breeze flow over it each evening,

    and may al-Simāk's thundering rain return to it.

  59. فالغيثُ فيه ناشجٌ مستعبرٌ

    والبرقُ منه ضاحكٌ متبسّمُ

    The rain there sobs and weeps,

    and its lightning laughs and smiles.

  60. وتروَّضَتْ جَنَباتُهُ فكأنّه

    بُرْدٌ تَنشّرَ بالفَلاةِ مُسَهَّمُ

    And its margins bloom as meadows, as though it were

    an arrow-patterned cloak unfurled in the wilderness.

  61. وَإِذا المطيُّ بنا بلغن مكانه

    فمكلِّمٌ منّا له ومسلِّمُ

    And when the mounts bearing us reach its place,

    one of us speaks to it, another offers greetings.

  62. ومن الشَّجا أنّا نكلّم في الثّرى

    من لا يُصيخُ لنا ولا يتكلّمُ

    And part of sorrow is that we speak, within the dust,

    to one who neither listens to us nor speaks.