1 ▶︎

خَدَمْتُهُ بِمَدِيحٍ أَسْتَقِيلُ بِهِ
ذُنُوبَ عُمْرٍ مَضَى فِي الشِّعْرِ وَالخِدَمِ

Khadamtuhu bi madīḥin astaqīlu bihi
Dhunūba ʿumrin maḍā fish shiʿri wal khidami

By this eulogy I have served him, seeking absolution
For the sins of a life spent in poetry and patronage.

2 ▶︎

إِذْ قَلَّدَانِيَ مَا تَخْشَى عَوَاقِبُهُ
كَأَنَّنِي بِهِمَا هَدْىٌ مِنَ النَّعَمِ

Idh qalladāniya mā tukhshā ʿawāqibuhu
Ka annanī bihimā hadyun minan naʿami

For these two have yoked me, with consequences I fear;
as if I were, on their account, a ritual lamb for slaughter.

3 ▶︎

أَطَعْتُ غَيَّ الصِّبَا فِي الحَالَتَيْنِ وَمَا
حَصَلْتُ إِلاَّ عَلَى الآثَامِ وَالنَّدَمِ

Aṭaʿtu ghayyaṣ ṣibā fīl ḥālatayni wa mā
Ḥaṣaltu illā ʿalal āthāmi wan nadami

In both I obeyed the reckless folly of youth,
And gained nothing except sins and regrets.

4 ▶︎

فَيَا خَسَارَةَ نَفْسٍ فِي تِجَارَتِهَا
لَمْ تَشْتَرِ الدِّينَ بِالدُّنْيَا وَلَمْ تَسُمِ

Fayā khasārata nafsin fī tijāratihā
Lam tashtarid dīna bid dunyā wal lam tasumi

Alas, what abject loss for a soul in its transaction!
It did not buy the Next World at the price of this – or even try to!

5 ▶︎

وَمَنْ يَبِعْ آجِلاً مِنْهُ بِعَاجِلِهِ
يَبِنْ لَهُ الْغَبْنُ فِي بَيْعٍ وَفِي سَلَمِ

Wa man yabiʿ ājilan minhu bi ʿājilihi
Yabin lahul ghabnu fī bayʿin wa fī salami

Anyone who sells the Hereafter for the ephemeral
Will be cheated in their present and future transactions.

6 ▶︎

إِنْ آتِ ذَنْبًا فَمَا عَهْدِي بِمُنْتَقِضٍ
مَنَ النَّبِيِّ وَلاَ حَبْلِي بِمُنْصَرِمِ

In āti dhanban famā ʿahdī bimuntaqiḍin
Minan nabiyyi wa lā ḥablī bimunṣarimi

I have sinned, yet my pledge to the Prophet is unbroken;
Nor has the rope binding me to him been severed.

7 ▶︎

فَإِنَّ ليِ ذِمَّةً مِنْهُ بِتَسْمِيَتيِ
مُحَمَّداً وَهُوَ أَوْفَى الخَلْقِ بِالذِّمَمِ

Fa inna lī dhimmatan minhu bi tasmiyatī
Muḥammadan wa huwa awfāl khalqi bidh dhimami

For I have a protective covenant with him owing to my name—
Muḥammad—and he is the most loyal of mankind to covenants.

8 ▶︎

إِنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ فِي مَعَادِي آخِذًا بِيَدِي
فَضْلاً وَإِلاَّ فَقُلْ يَا زَلَّةَ القَدَمِ

In lam yakun fī maʿādī ākhidhan bi yadī
Faḍlan wa illā faqul yā zallatal qadami

If, in the Hereafter, he does not take me by the hand
From pure grace, what a terrible slip of the foot!

9 ▶︎

حَاشَاهُ أَنْ يَحْرِمَ الرَّاجِي مَكَارِمَهُ
أَوْ يَرْجِعَ الجَارُ مِنْهُ غَيْرَ مُحْتَرَمِ

Ḥāshāhu an yaḥrimar rājī makārimahu
Aw yarjiʿal jāru minhu ghayra muḥtarami

Far be it for him to deprive one hopeful of his generous gifts,
Or for a neighbour to turn back without being honoured by him!

10 ▶︎

وَمُنْذُ أَلْزَمْتُ أَفْكَارِي مَدَائِحَهُ
وَجَدْتُهُ لِخَلاَصِي خَيْرَ مُلْتَزِمِ

Wa mundhu alzamtu afkārī madāʾiḥahu
Wajadtuhu likhalāṣī khayra multazimi

Ever since I have focused my thoughts on his praises,
I have found him the one most committed to my salvation.

11 ▶︎

وَلَنْ يَفُوتَ الغِنَى مِنْهُ يَدًا تَرِبَتْ
إَنَّ الحَيَا يُنْبِتَ الأَزْهَارَ فِي الأَكَمِ

Wa lan yafūtal ghinā minhu yadan taribat
Innal ḥayā yunbitul azhāra fīl akami

His wealth will not overlook a dusty, needy hand;
For showers cause flowers to bloom on hill-tops.

12 ▶︎

وَلَمْ أُرِدْ زَهْرَةَ الدُّنْيَا الَّتيِ اقْتَطَفَتْ
يَدَا زُهَيْرٍ بِمَا أَثْنَى عَلَى هَرِمِ

Wa lam urid zahratad dunyal latiqtaṭafat
Yadā zuhayrin bimā athnā ʿalā harimi

I sought not the flowers of this world
Which Zuhayr picked for his praise of Harim.