وَردٌ إِذا وَرَدَ الــبُــحَــيـــرَةَ شـــــارِبـــــا

ًوَرَدَ الـــفُــــراتَ زَئـــيــــرُهُ وَالــنـــيـــلا

Behold a rosy lion! when seeking out a lake to drink

His roar resounds as far as the Euphrates and the Nile River

مُـتَـخَـضِّـبٌ بِــــدَمِ الــفَــوارِسِ لابسٌ

فــــي غـيـلِــهِ مِـــــن لِـبـدَتَـيــهِ غــيـــلا

Heavily stained with the blood of his quarries

Attired in the thick hair of his luxurious mane

He seems surrounded by a dense forest

مــــــا قــوبِــلَــت عَــيــنــاهُ إلا ظُــنَّــتـــا

تَـحــتَ الـدُجــى نـــارَ الـفَـريـقِ حُـلــولا

Whenever looking straight into his eyes

One fancies beholding a campfire

In the dark, at night

فـــــي وَحـــــدَةِ الــرُهــبــانِ إلا أَنَّــــــهُ

لا يَـــعـــرِفُ الـتَــحــريــمَ وَالـتَـحـلــيــلا

A lover of seclusion, like reclusive monastic hermits

With the exception of his lack of discrimination

Between what’s lawful and what law forbids

يَـــطَأ الـثَــرى مُـتَـرَفِّـقـاً مِــــن تـيـهِــهِ

فَـــكَـــأَنَّـــهُ آسٍ يَــــجُـــــسُّ عَـــلـــيـــلا

In a haughty manner, he treads the ground softly

As if he were a physician, gently feeling a patient’s pulse

وَيَـــــرُدُّ عُــفــرَتَــهُ إِلــــــى يــافــوخِــهِ

حَــتّـــى تَــصــيــرَ لِـــرَأسِـــهِ إِكــلــيــلا

And he curves his tail all the way back

To the uppermost part of his body

Creating thereby a crown for his head

وَتَـظُــنُّــهُ مِـــمّـــا يُــزَمــجِــرُ نَــفــسُــهُ

عَـنــهــا لِــشِـــدَّةِ غَـيــظِــهِ مَــشــغــولا

Nonetheless, he is unmindful of his diadem

As indicated by his indignant roars

قَـصَــرَت مَـخـافَـتُـهُ الـخُـطــى فَـكَـأَنَّـمـا

رَكِــــبَ الـكَــمِــيُّ جَـــــوادَهُ مَـشــكــولا

His fear-inspiring appearance

compellingly shortened the distance

As if the steed, mounted by the armored knight

Was shackled, unable to freely move

أَلــقـــى فَـريـسَـتَــهُ وَبَــربَـــرَ دونَـــهـــا

وَقَـــرُبـــتَ قُـــربـــاً خـــالَـــهُ تَـطـفــيــلا

Presently, he let go of his hunted prey

Moved away from it

While you so closed in on him

An advancement he deemed an intrusion by you

فَـتَـشـابَــهُ الـخُـلُـقــانِ فـــــي إِقــدامِـــهِ

وَتَـخـالَـفــا فـــــي بَـــذلِـــكَ الــمَــأكــولا

You were both alike in pressing on forward

However, a striking dissimilarity

From each other, set you apart:

You generously prepare feasts

For others to indulge in

While he miserly and selfishly

Defends the meal at hand

أَسَـــدٌ يَـــرى عُـضـوَيـهِ فـيــكَ كِلَيـهِـمـا

مَــتــنـــاً أَزَلَّ وَســــاعِــــداً مَــفـــتـــولا

A lion beholds his own image reflected in you:

A mighty frame and powerfully muscular limbs

فـي سَــرجِ ظامِـئَـةِ الفُـصـوصِ طِـمِـرَّةٍ

يَـــأبـــى تَــفَــرُّدُهــا لَـــهـــا الـتَـمـثـيــلا

You occupied a firm saddle

Securely fastened on the back of a delicately formed mare

Her uniqueness disdains being compared to any other

نَــيّــالَــةِ الـطَـلَــبــاتِ لَـــــــولا أَنَّـــهــــا

تُـعـطـي مَــكــانَ لِـجـامِـهـا مــــا نــيــلا

She grants her rider whatever timely benefits he desires

Her harness could never be fitted about her head

Without her implicit consent

تَــنــدى سَـوالِـفُـهـا إِذا اِستَـحـضَـرتَـهـا

وَيُــظَـــنَّ عَــقـــدُ عِـنـانِـهــا مَــحــلــولا

Her neck perspires when you summon her

And when pulling her bridle in

She readily responds to your command

As if her rein fully slackened

مــــا زالَ يَـجـمَــعُ نَـفـسَــهُ فــــي زَورِهِ

حَـتّـى حَسِـبـتَ الـعَـرضَ مِـنـهُ الـطــولا

He (the lion) went on pulling his body together

Compressing and reducing its size, until its breadth

Appeared to you as its length

وَيَــدُقُّ بِالـصَـدرِ الحِـجـارَ كَـأَنَّـهُ

يَـبـغـي إِلـــى مـــا فــــي الـحَـضـيـضِ سَـبـيــلا

He pounded the rocky ground with his chest

As if trying to penetrate deep below the earth’s surface

وَكَـــأَنَّـــهُ غَـــرَّتـــهُ عَـــيـــنٌ فَـــاِدَّنـــى

لا يُـبـصِــرُ الـخَـطــبَ الـجَـلـيـلَ جَـلـيــلا

He drew nigh, deceived by his eyes

Unaware of the grave prospect awaiting him

أَنَـــفُ الـكَـريـمِ مِــــنَ الـدَنِـيَّــةِ تــــارِكٌ

فــــي عَـيـنِــهِ الــعَــدَدَ الـكَـثـيـرَ قَـلـيــلا

The noble, high-minded, disdain stooping down to trivialities

In his eyes, hefty gains are insignificant deemed

وَالـعــارُ مَــضّــاضٌ وَلَــيــسَ بِـخـائِــفٍ

مِـــن حَـتـفِـهِ مَـــن خـــافَ مِـمّــا قـيــلا

Disgrace is excruciatingly painful

He who abhors a stain on his honor

Is never afraid to bravely face his death

سَــبَـــقَ اِلـتِـقـاءَكَــهُ بِـوَثــبَــةِ هــاجِـــمٍ

لَــــو لَــــم تُـصـادِمُــهُ لَــجــازَكَ مــيــلا

He rushed to meet you with an aggressive pounce

Had you not crashed with him head-on

He would have swiftly dashed past you, by a mile

خَــذَلَــتــهُ قُـــوَّتُـــهُ وَقَــــــد كـافَــحــتَــهُ

فَـاِسـتَـنـصَــرَ الـتَـسـلـيــمَ وَالـتَـجــديــلا

His strength failed him as you severely dealt with him

So, instead, he sought victory

By surrendering to you, lying down

قَـبَــضَــت مَـنِـيَّــتُــهُ يَـــدَيـــهِ وَعُــنــقَــهُ

فَــكَــأَنَّــمـــا صـــادَفـــتَـــهُ مَـــغـــلـــولا

His fatal fate paralyzed his arms and neck

As if, when you faced him, he was bound hand and foot

سَـمِــعَ اِبــــنُ عَـمَّـتِــه بِــــهِ وَبِـحـالِــهِ

فَـنَـجـا يُـهَــروِلُ مِـنــكَ أَمـــسِ مَـهــولا

A cousin of his heard his sad story

So, yesterday, he opted for safety

Running away from you in sheer fright

وَأَمَــــرُّ مِــمّـــا فَـــــرَّ مِــنـــهُ فِـــــرارُهُ

وَكَـقَــتــلِــهِ أَن لا يَــــمــــوتَ قَــتـــيـــلا

More bitter than fleeing from you

Is his humiliating flight

Being saved from being killed

Is not unlike being put to death

تَـلَــفُ الَّـــذي اِتَّـخَــذَ الــجَــراءَةَ خُــلَّــةً

وَعَـــظَ الَّـــذي اِتَّـخَــذَ الـفِــرارَ خَـلـيــلا

The destruction of the daring

Who is to prowess espoused

Is a lesson for him who seeks safety in flight