1. Urge the red-garbed lions of Sarat,
Who have seized the hearts in captivity with their claws.
١. عُجْ بالعقيقِ ونادِ أُسْدَ سَراتهِ
أسْرى قُلوبٍ في يَدَي ظَبَياتِهِ
2. And offer them the price of tears, hoping
They may ransom them as bribe for their judges.
٢. واِبذُلْ به نقدَ الدموعِ عساهُمُ
أن يُطلِقوها رشوةً لقُضاتِهِ
3. Ask them about the passion's tyranny upon them
Which caused their misery and injustice of rulers.
٣. واِسألهُم عمّا بهم صنعَ الهَوى
لشقائِهِنّ به وجَورِ وُلاتهِ
4. The hearts roamed in his valley, so our souls
Became roaming around in his fields.
٤. هامَت بواديه القُلوبُ فأصبحتْ
منّا النّفوسُ تَسيحُ في ساحاتِهِ
5. If their eyes don't make us taste death out of love,
We will sober up from the intoxication of his meadows.
٥. إن لم تُذِقْنا الموتَ أعيُنُ عِينِه
كمَداً فأصْحانا لَفي سَكَراتِهِ
6. His love scatters us as if
The soul of Christ exhales in its breath.
٦. نقضي ويَنشُرُنا هَواهُ كأنّما
نفَسُ المَسيحِ يهُبُّ في نفَحاتِهِ
7. A valley whose geniality travels from it
When the caravans depart settling in its regions.
٧. وادٍ إذا دارِينُ سافرَ طِيبُها
عنها غَدا متوطّناً بجِهاتهِ
8. If you don't know its land by fortune
Then its sides have flourished with vegetation.
٨. إن لم تكُن بالحظِّ تعرفُ أرضَهُ
فلقد زَهَتْ أكنافُها بنباتِهِ
9. In its outskirts the mighty lions cubbed
Among them the young cubs from his forests.
٩. كمنَتْ بأكناف الرَّبارِبِ أُسْدُها
فيه الكِناسُ تُعدّ من غاباتهِ
10. By God alive! Its youth resembled in beauty
The twists of their youths from his young women.
١٠. للّهِ حيٌّ أشبهَتْ بصفاحِها
فِتيانُه اللفتاتِ من فتياتِهِ
11. A place of pride whose spears have doubted
The heights of their horsemen from their horses.
١١. ومحلِّ طعنٍ شاكَكَتْ برِماحها
خُفراؤُهُ القاماتِ من خَفراتِهِ
12. A sphere whose dawns are the bosoms, don't you see
The halos around the necks from its glares?
١٢. فلكٌ مشارقُه الجُيوبُ أما تَرى ال
أطواقَ في الأعناق من هالاتِهِ
13. The full moons wander under its domes
And its stars shine through its channels.
١٣. تَهوي بُدورُ التِمِّ تحت قِبابِه
وتَلوحُ أنجمُه على قنواتِهِ
14. The star of stars, though reaching him is difficult
The least arrival from reaching his mothers.
١٤. أسدُ النّجومِ وإن تعذّر نَيلُه
أدنى وصولٍ من وُصولِ مَهاتِهِ
15. Behind his veils the white wishes, while
The red passings of life are in the pillar of its guards.
١٥. دون الأماني البيض خلفَ سُتورِه
حُمرُ المَنايا في عَمود حُماتهِ
16. A sanctuary protected by the wings of eagles
Their claws have injured its eggs.
١٦. حرمٌ بأجنحةِ النّسورِ صيانةً
عضّتْ كَواسرُهُ على بَيضاتِهِ
17. And it made desire set up its idol therein
So beware of the sedition of its alluring one.
١٧. وحمى به نصَبَ الهَوى طاغوتَهُ
فاِحْذَرْ به إن جُزْتَ فِتنةَ لاتِهِ
18. We don't know which is more agonizing
The glance of the eyelids or the arrows of its archers.
١٨. لم نَدْرِ أيّهُما أشدُّ إصابةً
مُقلُ الغَواني أم سِهامُ رُماتِهِ
19. Its roses and gardens will suffice you from its flowers
And the cushions of gazelles from its taverns.
١٩. تُغنيكَ وَجناتُ الدُمى عن ورْدِهِ
ومَراشفُ الغِزلانِ عن حاناتِهِ
20. Ask the moon of night about the companions of its crescent,
Hoping it will guide us to its sisters.
٢٠. سلْ عن أوانِسِ بَيضِهِ قمرَ الدُجى
فعساهُ يُرشدُنا إلى أخَواتِهِ
21. If you come, O beautiful with splendor, recite to it
My fluttering heart for its most delightful one.
٢١. واِنشُدْ به إن جئتَ يانِعَ بانِه
قلبي فطائِرُهُ على عذَباتِهِ
22. After its mighty sides, why does it
Choose the humiliation of captivity in its flanks?
٢٢. ما بالُهُ من بَعدِ عِزِّ جَوانبي
يختارُ ذُلَّ الأسْرِ في جنَباتِهِ
23. How excellent are those who endure patiently even if
The destinies judged them with its scattered parts.
٢٣. يا حبّذا المتحمّلونَ وإن همُ
حكَموا على جَمعِ الكَرى بشَتاتِهِ
24. They urged the red garnet and left behind
My transient body, replacing it with his life.
٢٤. أمّوا العَقيقَ وخلّفوا خَلفَ الغَضا
جِسمي الفَنا وتعوّضوا بحياتِهِ
25. Their images disappeared from the precious beloved
If the dream told truly of sacrificing its camels.
٢٥. غابوا عن الدّنِفِ المفدّى طيفُهم
إن صدّقَ الرؤيا بذَبح سِناتِهِ
26. They copied its elegy since their estrangement,
They wove the lines of tears on its cheeks.
٢٦. نسخَوا زَبورَ عَزاهُ منذُ بهَجرِهم
نسَجوا سُطورَ الدّمع في وَجَناتهِ
27. If not for the bragging of my pearls between their lips
Ruby would not be cheap from its teardrops.
٢٧. لولا غَوالي الدُرِّ بين شِفاهِهِم
لم يرخُصِ الياقوتُ من عَبَراتِهِ
28. It revived the darkness altogether so its morning boasted,
Dead, so fate cast it with its pits.
٢٨. أحيا الدُجى كمداً فخرّ صباحُهُ
ميْتاً فأوقعَهُ القَضا بِشواتِهِ
29. And passion entered it, bringing out its liver,
So the shedding of tears is evident from its eyelids.
٢٩. ولَجَ الهَوى فيه فأخرَجَ كِبده
فلِذا بَذيُّ الدّمعِ من حدَقاتِهِ
30. It hides its youth, while the red tears
Speak from its breath the concealed passion.
٣٠. يُخفي صبابتَهُ ومَصدور الهَوى
نطقَ الدُموعَ الحُمرَ من نَفثاتِهِ
31. The flood of its tears on the day of yearning is equal
To the dew of my glory on the day of its gifts.
٣١. سيّانِ فيضُ دُموعِه يومَ النّوى
وندى عليِّ المَجدِ يومَ هِباتِهِ
32. The pride of authority and highest king
To whom the faces of time bowed at its thresholds.
٣٢. فخرُ السيادة والعُلى المَلِكُ الّذي
سجدَتْ وُجوهُ الدّهرِ في عَتَباتِهِ
33. The sword of truth and worker of religion
The firm, its polished blade from its whetstones.
٣٣. صِمصامَةُ الحقِّ المُبينِ وعاملُ الد
دينِ القَويمِ سِنانُ مَسنوناتِهِ
34. The pearly celestial body, the light of the niche
Of the Chosen, rather the lamp of its descendants.
٣٤. الكوكبُ الدُرّيُّ نورُ زُجاجةِ ال
مُختارِ بل مِصباحُ ذُرّياتِهِ
35. A free man indicating the generosity of its lineage
The fragrance of prophecy from the essence of its traits.
٣٥. حرٌّ يدلُّ على كريمِ نِجادِه
طيبُ النّبوّةِ من جُيوبِ صِفاتِهِ
36. Generous whom the hand of fate has drawn
Ways to sustenance in its rest.
٣٦. سمْحٌ يدُ التّصويرِ خطّتْ للوَرى
سُبُلاً إلى الأرزاقِ في راحاتِهِ
37. Keen-minded with an intellect which if contemplated
You see the light of God in its lanterns.
٣٧. فطِنٌ له ذهنٌ إذا حقّقْتَه
أبصرْتَ نورَ اللَّهِ في مِشكاتِهِ
38. It follows the backs of creatures with its perception
Seeing the faces of the unseen in its mirror.
٣٨. يَقفو ظُهورَ الكائِناتِ بحَدسِه
فيَرى وُجوهَ الغَيبِ في مِرآتِهِ
39. Jesus of time, healer of the diseases of exaltation
Reviver of the corpses of generosity after its death.
٣٩. عيسى الزّمانِ طَبيبُ أمراضِ العُلا
مُحيي رُفاتِ الجودِ بعد مَماتِهِ
40. My God, what pearls are in its knowledge
Hidden, they slept in the oyster of Euphrates.
٤٠. للَّهِ كم في عِلمِه من دُرّةٍ
مخزونةٍ كمنَتْ بِلُخِّ فُراتِهِ
41. If the club is fragrant with the beauty of its talk
It's for the good thing its tongue narrates.
٤١. إن يَعبُقِ النّادي بحُسنِ حديثِه
فلِطيبِ ما تَرويهِ لُسْنُ رُواتِهِ
42. Devout, he abandons vices, obedient
He disobeys desires for God in his solitude.
٤٢. متورّعٌ عفُّ المآزِر طائِعٌ
يعصي الهَوى للّهِ في خلَواتِهِ
43. No worship distracted him from another worship
So his prayers are coupled with his prayers.
٤٣. ما أشغلَتْهُ طاعةٌ عن طاعةٍ
فصلاتُه مشفوعةٌ بصِلاتِهِ
44. Ask the beds about his avoidance of worries
And the prayer niche about its tunes.
٤٤. فسلِ المضاجِعَ عن تجافِيه الكَرى
واِستخْبِرِ المحرابَ عن نغَماتِهِ
45. The sinner approaches it for its expected
Forgiveness at anger for its mistakes.
٤٥. يتقرّبُ الجاني إليه لعَفْوهِ ال
مأمولِ عند السُخْطِ في زلّاتهِ
46. Below it all requests, so if it
Asked for the sky, it would lower from its degrees.
٤٦. كلُّ المطالِبِ دونَه فلوَ اِنّهُ
طلبَ السِماكَ لحطّ من درجاتِهِ
47. A tongue that hides with the oral speech, healing
The chests of truth with its strikes.
٤٧. لسِنٌ يُواري باللسانِ مهنّداً
تُشفى صدورُ الحقِّ في ضرباتِهِ
48. It never said "No" once or was tempted by desire
Never and nor the blame in its vanities.
٤٨. ما قال لا يوماً ولا عثرَ الهوى
كلّا ولا التأثيمُ في لهَواتِهِ
49. If only the shells of seashell were given
Hearing upon them, they would prefer its words.
٤٩. لو أنّ أصدافَ اللآلي أُوتيَتْ
سَمْعاً عليها آثرَتْ كَلِماتِهِ
50. Or if the beauty of its rhetoric was sold to the stars
They would give their pearls for the circles of its daughters.
٥٠. أو للنُجومِ يُباعُ حُسنُ بَيانِه
أعطَتْ دَراريها بُدورَ بِناتِهِ
51. It inspires speech to the inanimate listening to it
Secretly, so it will eloquently express its languages.
٥١. يوحي الكلامَ إلى جَمادِ يَراعِه
سرّاً فيُفصحُ عن بَديعِ لُغاتِهِ
52. So the pearl knows that the most generous of its kind
Is the scattered and composed of its words.
٥٢. فالدّرُّ يَدري أنّ أكرَم رَهْطِه ال
مَنثورُ والمنظوم من لفَظاتِهِ
53. And magic knows that its Harut
Is a pen disguised in the nib of its pens.
٥٣. والسحرُ يعلم أنّما هاروتُه
قلمٌ تنكّرَ في قَليبِ دَواتِهِ
54. A spear that fulfilled the thirst of the sons of enmity
And made the heart of time taste its daughters' anguish.
٥٤. قِرنٌ قَضى من تَيْمِ أبناءِ العِدى
وأذاقَ قلبَ الدّهرِ ثُكْلَ بناتِهِ
55. A sun which when rides the clouds as a warrior
The stars of burning rise from its eruptions.
٥٥. شمسٌ إذا ركِبَ الدُجنّةَ غازياً
طلعَتْ نُجومُ القَذْفِ من هَفَواتِهِ
56. Or have you not seen the face of dawn dressed
In the traces of the fear's yellow from its raids?
٥٦. أوَ ما تَرى وجهَ الصّباحِ قد اِكْتَسى
أثَر اِصْفِرارِ الخَوفِ من غاراتِهِ
57. All the stars disappear fearfully when its renowned might passes
When the river of Sarat flows.
٥٧. كلُّ النجومِ تَغورُ خِيفةَ بأسِه ال
مَشهورِ حين يمرُّ نهرُ سُراتِهِ
58. The exile of its swords is long, so instead of scabbards
The corpses of lions settled in its sheaths.
٥٨. طال اِغترابُ سُيوفِه فتوطّنَتْ
بدلَ الغُمودِ جُسومَ أُسْدِ عُداتِهِ
59. It cries blood with spears and its rage smiles
Mockingly with its blade on its skulls.
٥٩. يَبكي اللُّهامُ دماً ويضحكُ عَضبُه
بيمينِه هُزؤاً على هاماتِهِ
60. And its straight spear bends from rapture, for it knows
It will twist their plaits from their foreheads.
٦٠. وتَميلُ من طرَبٍ قَناهُ لعِلْمِها
ستبُلُّ غُلَّتَهنّ عن مُهجَاتِهِ
61. Like the lion in its leaps on the day of battle
And the mountain in its firmness and steps.
٦١. كاللّيثِ في وثَباتِه يومَ الوغى
والطّودِ في تمكينِه وثَباتِهِ
62. Its days in the time like freckles on
Its cheeks or like the sea in its moments.
٦٢. أيّامُه في العصرِ كالتّوريدِ في
خدّيْهِ أو كالبحرِ في لحَظاتِهِ
63. It dressed the world in robes of pride
Which time has covered its flaws.
٦٣. قد ألْبسَ الدُنيا ثِيابَ مفاخرٍ
ستَرَ الزّمانُ بها على عَوْراتِهِ
64. These are the fruits of its attainment, so let
The needy pluck what he seeks of its needs.
٦٤. هذي ثِمارُ نَوالِه فليَقْتَطِفْ
ما يَبتغي المُحتاجُ من حاجاتِهِ
65. The sustenance is divided, so in its closed hands
Is the limited and the outstretched, limited to its divisions.
٦٥. قُسِمَ الحَيا فبكفّهِ المَقصورُ وال
مَمْدودُ مقصورٌ على قسَماتِهِ
66. A beauty whose face, if it shines, shows you
The water of generosity circulating in its panes.
٦٦. حسنٌ له وجهٌ يُريكَ إذا اِنْجلى
ماءُ السّماحِ يَجولُ في صفَحاتِهِ
67. And features which if embodied in the sky
Would be the full moons in its darkness.
٦٧. وشمائِلٌ لو في السّماءِ تجسّمَتْ
كانت بُدورَ التِمِّ في ظُلُماتِهِ
68. O son of those who perished at Badr
By the edges of their bare swords the selves of tyrants.
٦٨. يا اِبْنَ الّذين بيَومِ بَدر أزهقوا
بحُدودِ أنصُلِهم نُفوسَ طُغاتِهِ
69. And son of the blessed ones who inherited
The knowledge of the Book and clarified its verses.
٦٩. واِبْنَ المَيامين الّذين توارثوا
عِلمَ الكِتابِ وبيّنوا آياتِهِ
70. From every prayer niche its sanctity is solved
Or makes the niche intimate in its prayers.
٧٠. من كلِّ محرابٍ يحلُّ حرامه
أو يُؤنِسُ المحرابَ في دَعَواتِهِ
71. Ancestors who called you to the elevation so you rose
In their burdens and ascended in its noble abode.
٧١. سلفٌ دعَتْكَ إلى العُلا فنهضْتَ في
أعبائه وحلَلْتَ في شُرُفاتِهِ
72. Listen to a praise whose trait is not
The deceit of hypocrisy with the cheating of its disguises.
٧٢. سمعاً فدَيْتُك مِدحةً ما شانَها
ملَقُ الرِّياءِ بغشِّ تَمويهاتِهِ
73. If not for you I would not compose poetry for a purpose
And I would protect myself from its doubts.
٧٣. لولاكَ ما صُغتُ القَريضَ لغايةٍ
ولصُنْتُ منّي النَفْسَ عن شُبُهاتِهِ
74. But I am the bees you shepherded
With your blessings, so it performed pilgrimage to its self's honey.
٧٤. لكنّني النحْلُ الّذي أرعيتَه الن
نُعمى لديكَ فحجّ شهدةَ ذاتِهِ
75. And my gratitude which you watered
With the dew repays you with the water of its plants.
٧٥. ويراعُ شُكرِيكَ الّذي أسقيتَه
ماءَ النّدى فسقاكَ ماءَ نَباتِهِ
76. You taught me with your generosity to weave its silk
So I clothed your honor in the best of its brocades.
٧٦. علّمتَني بنَداكَ نَسجَ حَريرِه
فكسَوْتُ عِرضَكَ خيرَ ديباجاتِهِ
77. Take for yourself a tender bride adorned
By the hands of shyness with the innovative jewels of its crafts.
٧٧. واِستجْلِ بِكراً رصّعَتْ أيدي الحِجا
منها الحُلى بفُصوصِ مُبتكَراتِهِ
78. A virgin whom beauty veiled and mind protected
From all but you, in the rooms of its chambers.
٧٨. عذراءُ حجّبَها الجمالُ وصانَها
عمّنْ سِواكَ الفكرُ في حُجُراتِهِ
79. Time proposed to its kings her marriage
But she refused to accept other than you of its masters.
٧٩. خطَبَ الزّمانُ وصالَها لمُلوكِه
فأبَتْ قَبولَ سِواكَ من ساداتِهِ
80. She took the place of the necklace from you so resembled
Its composed words from the beads of its jewels.
٨٠. حلّت محلَّ العِقدِ منك فأشبَهَتْ
كَلِماتُها المنظومَ من حبّاتِهِ
81. It engraved its rings with your name so for that
Time sealed with it on its foreheads.
٨١. نقَشَتْ خواتِمَها بكُم فلأجْلِ ذا
ختَمَ الزّمانُ بها على جَبهاتِهِ
82. My Master, time does not stop
Tying its collar to you, the hand of its calamities.
٨٢. مولايَ لا برِحَ الزّمانُ بجيدِه
مغلولةً عنكمْ يَدا نَكَباتِهِ
83. And you remained receiving feast in the course of elevation
Forever, and its blessing returned to you in its graces.
٨٣. وبقيتَ تَلقى العيدَ في نهجِ العُلا
أبداً وعادَ عليك في برَكاتِهِ
84. May its noble blessed month and its fasting comfort you
And the reward of its duty and desirable acts.
٨٤. وليَهْنِكَ الشّهرُ الشريفُ وصومُه
وثوابُ واجِبه ومندوباتِهِ
85. You emptied in it the heart of the worry of passion
And disobeyed what distracts you from its devotions.
٨٥. فرّغْتَ فيه القلبَ عن شُغلِ الهَوى
وعصَيْتَ ما يُلهيكَ عن طاعاتِهِ
86. And upon you is always the satisfaction of the Guardian
And His prayers and most honorable greetings.
٨٦. وعليكَ رِضوانُ المُهيمنِ دائِماً
وصلاتُه وأجلُّ تَسليماتِهِ