1. Overflowing souls with their passions,
While their ardors conceal what is within them.
١. تفيض نفوسٌ بأوصابها
وتكتم عوَّادُها ما بِها
2. No anguished heart has been fair, complaining
Of its love to other than its loved ones.
٢. وما أنصفتْ مهجةٌ تشتِكى
هواها إلى غير أحبابها
3. Show me a longing in the darkness,
Not all love stems from its causes.
٣. ألا أرِنى لوعةً في الحشا
وليس الهوى بعضَ أسبابها
4. The nobility of love is that hopes
Do not buy its torment with their reasons.
٤. ومن شرفِ الحبِّ أن الرجا
لَ تشرِى أذاه بألبابها
5. Among the flock is a beautiful doe
Who shares her beauty among her friends.
٥. وفي السِّرب مُثْرِيةٌ بالجمالِ
تُقسِّمه بين أترابها
6. The full moon gets what’s above her buds,
And the branch gets what’s below her dress.
٦. فللبدر ما فوق أزرارها
وللغصن ما تحت جِلبابها
7. It's as if I panicked with her in the dark wilderness,
Shying away at her prayer niche.
٧. كأنّى ذَعرتُ بها في الخِبا
ءِ وحشيَّةً عند مِحرابها
8. I follow her with a hasty glance
That trips my eyes on her veils.
٨. أتبِّعها نظرا معجَلا
يعثِّر عينى بهُدّابها
9. Whenever he wishes, he plucks the rose of her cheeks,
And the palms are sufficient to protect it with their claws.
٩. متى شاء يقطِف وردَ الخدود
وقَتْهُ الأكفُّ بعُنّابها
10. It’s enough that memories of her company
Pass by the cold of her fangs.
١٠. كفانىَ من وصلها ذكرةٌ
تمرُّ على بَرْد أنيابها
11. That the sparks of passion glitter,
Even if they inflame me with their flames.
١١. وأن تتلألأ بروقُ الحمى
وإن أضرمتنى بإلهابها
12. And how many smooth fields between those encampments
Are counted as some of its meadows?
١٢. وكم ناحلٍ بين تلك الخيا
م تحسَبه بعضَ أطنابها
13. Who told my envious ones that I
Have given up my wishes for her seekers?
١٣. فمن مخبرٌ حاسدى أننى
وهبتُ الأمانى لطُلاّبها
14. If she presents herself, she will not find
My heart distracted by some of her suitors.
١٤. فإن عرَضتْ نفسَها لم تجد
فؤادىَ من بعض خُطّابها
15. The noble scribes are pleased
When my praise knocks on her doors.
١٥. يُسرُّ الغطارفةَ الأكرمي
ن قَرعُ مديحى لأبوابها
16. There she is, before lifting the veil,
Smiling at me with the joy of her veil.
١٦. فها هي من قبل رفع الحجاب
يضاحكنى بشرُ حُجّابها
17.
Purify my ardour from its sorrows,
١٧. أنزِّه قَعْبىَ عن خَلِّها
وآنَفُ من مخِض أوطابها
18. And turn away from the fruit of its branches.
Know that the clothes of chastity
١٨. وأعلم أن ثيابَ العفا
ف أجملُ زِىٍّ لمجُتابها
19. Are the most beautiful attire for its inmates.
I made the mirage like its leaves,
١٩. عدلتُ السرابَ بأوراقها
ولمعَ البروق بأذهابها
20. And the lightning flashed with its departures.
Had I wished, I would have sent her as a raid
٢٠. ولو شئتُ أرسلتُها غارةً
تعود إلىَّ بأسلابها
21. To return to me with her captives.
But I am infatuated with her love,
٢١. ولكننى عائفٌ شهدَها
فكيف أنافسُ في صابها
22. So how can I compete for her company?
Men are humiliated by their greed for her
٢٢. تذِلُّ الرجالُ لأطماعها
كذلِّ العبيد لأربابها
23. Like the humiliation of slaves for their masters.
٢٣. فلا تقطِفنّ ثمارَ المُنى
فبئسَ عُصارةُ أعنابها
24. So do not pluck the fruits of wishes,
Evil is the extract of its grapes.
٢٤. وعُجْ بالأجلِّ أبي قاسمٍ
لتأتى المكارمَ من بابها
25. Wonder, my father Abu Qasim,
So virtues may come from her door.
٢٥. فنعمَ الرياضُ لمرتادِها
ونعمَ الديارُ لمنتابها
26. Beautiful are the meadows for her visitors,
And excellent is the land for her choosers.
٢٦. وأوديةٌ من يَرِدْ ماءَ ها
يرَ السُّحبَ من بعض شُرّابها
27. Valleys, for those who want her water,
Clouds draw from some of her drinking places.
٢٧. إلى كعبة الجود من راحتيه
تُشدّ الرحالُ بأقتابها
28. To the Kaaba of generosity, from my palms,
Caravans tie their supplies.
٢٨. مناقبُ مثلُ عِدادِ الرمالِ
تكُدُّ أناملَ حُسّابها
29. Her virtues are like the number of sand grains,
Almost tiring the fingers of its counter.
٢٩. وتُتعبُ ألسنَ دُرَّاسِها
وتُفنِى قراطيسَ كُتَّابها
30. And exhausting the tongues of its reciters,
And ending the books of its writers.
٣٠. تجاوزتَ حدّ صفاتِ البليغ
فمادُحها مثلُ مُغتابها
31. You have exceeded the limit of the eloquent’s attributes,
So her praise is like its confused.
٣١. يذُمُّ البضائعَ ما لم يُعِ
دَّ من الشكر أوفرَ أكسابِها
32. Goods diminish unless the thanks
Are counted as more profitable than its gains.
٣٢. تظُنُّ بأفواه مُدّاحهِ
عُقارا تدارُ بأكوابها
33. By the mouths of her praisers
You’d think it a potion passed in cups.
٣٣. تُصافَحُ منه أكفُّ الرجاء
برطبِ الأنامل وَهَّابها
34. From it, the palms of hope handshake
The ripe fingers and its fervent.
٣٤. كأنّ الشؤالَ على رِفده
قِداحٌ تفوذ بأنصابها
35.
As if requests at its stream
٣٥. إذا اشتكت الأرضُ داءَ المحو
لِ داوَى رُباها بإخصابها
36. Are cups competing with their poles.
If the land complained of barrenness,
٣٦. من العصبة المدركين العُلا
بأحسابها وبأنسابها
37. He treated it by fertilizing it with his clouds.
Of the group realizing the heights
٣٧. أجاروا على الدهر من صَرفِه
وجاروا على الأُسْد في غابها
38. With their calculations and lineages.
They protected against the days of its twists,
٣٨. وساسوا ولاءَ قلوبِ الرجال
بإرغابها ثم إرهابها
39. And protected against the lion in its jungles.
They managed the loyalty of men’s hearts
٣٩. كنوزُ محامِدها والثناءِ
عليها ذخائرُ أعقابها
40. With its incentives, then its threats.
The treasures of its praises and eulogy
٤٠. ولم تَلبَس الرَّيْطَ إلا رأيتَ
محاسنَها نقشَ أثوابها
41. Are the riches of its descendants.
You see nothing but its beauty
٤١. تعجَّبُ من حُسن بهجاتها
إلى أن ترى حسنَ آدابها
42. Engraved on the cloth of its clothes.
You wonder at the beauty of its joy,
٤٢. وإنَّ مكارمَ أخلاقها
تقوم مقاماتِ ألقابها
43. Until you see the beauty of its manners.
The generous morals
٤٣. تمَلَّ بأيّام هذا الزمان
تجرُّ ذلاذلَ جِلبابها
44. Take the place of its nicknames.
It was bored by the days of this time,
٤٤. مقامَ السواد لأربصارها
ومثلَ النُّخاع لأصلابها
45. Dragging the trains of its gowns.
The position of blackness to its sights,
٤٥. إذا أنت أفنيتَ أيّامَها
توالت عليك بأحقابها