1. لا تَلُمْ مُغْرَماً رآك فهاما

    كلُّ صبٍّ تَرَكْتَهُ مُستهاما

    Do not blame a lovestruck man who saw you and went mad with love.

    You have left every lover distraught.

  2. لو رآك العذول يوماً بعيني

    تَرَكَ العذل في الهوى والملاما

    If the reproacher saw you one day through my eyes,

    he would abandon reproach and blame in love.

  3. يا غلاماً نهاية الحُسن فيه

    ما رأت مثله العيون غلاما

    O youth in whom beauty reaches its utmost,

    eyes have never seen a youth like him.

  4. تاركٌ في الأَحشاء ناراً وفي الأَج

    فان دَمْعاً وفي القلوب غراما

    Leaving fire in the entrails, and in the eyelids

    tears, and in hearts, passion.

  5. أتراني أبلُّ فيك غليلاً

    أَمْ تراني أنال منك مراما

    Do you think I shall quench a burning thirst in you,

    or attain my desire from you?

  6. كلَّما قلت أَنْتَ برؤٌ لقلبي

    بَعَثَتْ لي منك العيون سقاما

    Whenever I say, "You are a cure for my heart,"

    your eyes send me sickness.

  7. وَبوحْيٍ من سِحْر عَينيك يوحي

    لفؤادي صبابة وغراما

    And through inspiration from your eyes' magic, it imparts

    yearning and passion to my heart.

  8. عمرك الله هذي كبدي الحرَّى

    تشكَّت إلى لماك الأُواما

    I adjure you by God: this burning liver of mine

    has complained of thirst to your dark lips.

  9. فاسقني من رحيق ريقك صِرفاً

    لا يريني كأس المدام مداما

    So give me undiluted nectar of your saliva to drink,

    that makes the wine-cup seem no wine to me.

  10. حام خالٌ على زلالٍ برودٍ

    هو فيك فاصطلاها ضراما

    A mole hovered above cool, limpid water—

    your mouth—and was scorched by its blaze.

  11. أَطْعَمَتْهُ في فيك أطماعُنا في

    ك فما نال بردَها والسَّلاما

    Our hopes in you fed it in your mouth,

    yet it gained neither its coolness nor peace.

  12. أَوَلَمْ تخشَ يا مليحُ من الله

    بقتلي من غير ذنبٍ أثاما

    Did you not fear, O lovely one, from God

    a penalty for killing me without a sin?

  13. فالأَمانَ الأَمانَ من سحر عينيك

    فقد جَرَّدْتَ علينا حساما

    Protection! Protection from the magic of your eyes!

    For you have drawn a sharp sword against us.

  14. لستُ أَدري وقد تَثَنَّيْتُ تيهاً

    أَقَضيباً هَزَزْته أمْ قواما

    I cannot tell, though I have swayed in pride,

    whether you shook a bough or a graceful figure.

  15. ما هَصَرنا إلاَّ قوامك غصناً

    ونظرنا إلاّكَ بدراً تماما

    We bent only your figure as a branch,

    and saw only you as a perfect full moon.

  16. لم تَدُمْ لذَّةٌ لعَيْني بمرآك

    فما للهوى بصَبِّكَ داما

    My eye's pleasure in seeing you did not last;

    so what of love has lasted for your lover?

  17. فإذا مَرَّ بي ادِّكارُك يوماً

    قَعَدَ الوَجْدُ بالفؤاد وقاما

    Whenever remembrance of you passed me one day,

    longing sat within my heart and rose.

  18. فأجرني من مثل هجرك إنِّي

    لا أرى العيش جفوةً وانصراما

    So shield me from such estrangement as yours, for I

    do not call coldness and separation life.

  19. بل أَعدُّ اليوم الَّذي أَنْتَ تجفو

    فيه دهراً ويوم هجرك عاما

    Rather, I count the day on which you are cold

    as an age, and the day of your desertion as a year.

  20. أينَ منك الآرام في مسرح السّرب

    إذا قلتُ تشبه الآراما

    Where do the gazelles stand beside you, in the herd's pasture,

    when I say you resemble gazelles?

  21. يا غزالاً يرعى سويدا فؤادي

    لا الخزامى بحاجر والثماما

    O gazelle that grazes on my heart's dark core,

    not lavender at Hajir, nor thumam grass.

  22. صَرَعَتْ مقلتاكَ بالسّحر أقوا

    ماً وداوَتْ من دائها أقواما

    Your two eyes felled people with their magic,

    and healed others of their affliction.

  23. كم سَهِرْتُ الدُّجى بأعين صبٍّ

    أمطرت مزنها فكان ركاما

    How often I kept vigil through the darkness with a lover's eyes,

    whose clouds poured rain and gathered in heaps.

  24. والتمستُ الكرى لطرفي بطرفي

    فرأيتُ الكرى عليَّ حراما

    And I sought sleep for my eye with my eye,

    but found sleep forbidden to me.

  25. يا خليليَّ خلِّياني من اللَّوم

    فإنِّي لا أسمع اللوَّاما

    O my two friends, spare me reproach,

    for I do not listen to reproachers.

  26. واتحفاني بطيب أخبار نجدٍ

    وصِفا لي ربوعها والخياما

    And regale me with pleasant news of Najd,

    and describe to me its dwellings and tents.

  27. واذكرا لي من العراق شهاب

    الدِّين نثراً في مدحه ونظاما

    And recall for me, from Iraq, Shihab

    al-Din, praising him in prose and verse.

  28. فبذكر الكرام تنتعش الرُّو

    ح انتعاشاً فتطربُ الأَجساما

    For remembering the noble revives the soul,

    a revival that sends bodies into rapture.

  29. سادَ سادات عَصْره ولأمرٍ

    فاخَر التِّبرُ والنّضارُ الرغاما

    He surpassed the masters of his age; for a reason

    gold dust and pure gold boasted over dust.

  30. لم يَزَلْ للعلاء والمجد أقسا

    ماً وللعلم والنّهى أقساما

    He has ever been what eminence and glory swear by,

    and what learning and wisdom swear by.

  31. فَعَلا في سماء كلّ فخارٍ

    فتعالى علاؤه وتسامى

    So he rose into the heaven of every distinction,

    and his eminence rose higher and soared.

  32. خارق فكره من العلم ما لم

    يقبل الخرق قبلُ والالتئاما

    His thought pierces, through knowledge, what never

    before admitted rending or mending.

  33. فأرى النَّاس ما سواه وهاداً

    مُذْ أرينا علومه الأَعلاما

    He showed people all besides him as lowlands,

    since we were shown his learning as mountain peaks.

  34. يا إماماً للمسلمين هُماماً

    بأبي ذلك الإِمام الهماما

    O valiant imam of the Muslims,

    my father be the ransom of that valiant imam!

  35. إنَّما أَنْتَ رحمةٌ رَحِم الله

    بها المسلمين والإِسلاما

    You are only a mercy through which God has shown mercy

    to the Muslims and to Islam.

  36. يكشف الله فيك عن مشكلات ال

    علم سرًّا ويرفع الإِيهاما

    Through you, God unveils the difficulties of

    learning in secret, and dispels ambiguity.

  37. بكلامٍ يشفي الصدور من الجهل

    شفاءً ويبرئ الأسقما

    with speech that heals the breasts of ignorance,

    a true healing, and cures the sickest.

  38. فكأنَّ العلومَ توحى إلى قَلبكَ

    في السرِّ يقظةً ومناما

    It is as though the sciences were revealed to your heart

    in secret, both in waking and in sleep.

  39. ولقد كِدْتَ أن ترى ما وراء الغَ

    يْبِ عُلوماً أُلهِمتَها إلهاما

    Indeed, you almost saw what lies beyond the unseen,

    with knowledge instilled in you by inspiration.

  40. جلّ مجدٌ حَوَيْته أن يضاهى

    وكمال رُزِقْتَه أن يُراما

    The glory you attained is too great to be matched,

    and the perfection granted you, too great to be attained.

  41. قَصُرَتْ دون ما بَلَغْتَ الأعالي

    عن محلٍّ حَللْتَه ومقاما

    The heights fall short of what you have reached,

    of the place and station you have occupied.

  42. لم ينالوا أخفافها وتسنَّمتَ

    برغم الأنوف منها السناما

    They did not reach its hooves, while you climbed

    its hump, despite their proud noses.

  43. قد رأيناك يوم جدٍّ وهزلٍ

    قد نهرت الأفكار والأفهاما

    We have seen you in earnest and in jest,

    you had rebuked thoughts and understandings.

  44. فاقتطفنا من الرياض وروداً

    وسمعنا من الدراري كلاما

    So we plucked roses from gardens,

    and heard words from radiant stars.

  45. وانتشقنا نسيم رقّةِ لفظ

    كنسيم الصَّبا ونشر الخزامى

    And we inhaled the breeze of delicate speech,

    like the east wind and the fragrance of lavender.

  46. حججٌ منك توضح الحقَّ حتَّى

    أفْحَمتْ كلَّ ملحدٍ إفحاما

    Proofs from you clarify the truth, until

    they have utterly silenced every heretic.

  47. نبَّهَتْ بعد رقّة الجهل قوماً

    لم يكونوا من قبل إلاَّ نياما

    They awakened a people after ignorance's bondage,

    who before had been nothing but sleepers.

  48. مَحَقتْ ظلمة الضلالة والغيّ

    كما بمحق الضياءُ الظلاما

    They obliterated the darkness of error and delusion,

    as light obliterates darkness.

  49. يمنع البيض خطّ أقلامك السم

    ر بلاغاً أن تسبق الأقلاما

    The writing of your brown pens forbids bright swords

    to outstrip pens in eloquence.

  50. أَنْتَ مقدامها إذا أصبح المق

    دام فيها لا يحسن الإقداما

    You are their bold champion, when the champion

    among them does not know how to advance.

  51. أَنْتَ أعلى من أن يقال كريمٌ

    إن عَدَدْنا من الأنام الكراما

    You are above being called generous,

    if we count the generous among humankind.

  52. تغمرُ النَّاس بالجميل وصَوْبُ

    المزن يسقي البطاح والآكاما

    You flood people with kindness, and the downpour

    of clouds waters the plains and hills.

  53. فإذا عَدَّتِ الأماجد يوماً

    كنت بدءاً لها وكنتَ الختاما

    So when the illustrious are counted one day,

    you are their beginning and you are their end.