لم تستَمع سِرَّهُ من كلِّ مُلتَمِسِ

لم تستَمع سِرَّهُ من كلِّ مُلتَمِسِ

حتى أصابَ لِسانَ الدمعِ بالخرَسِ

حتى أصابَ لِسانَ الدمعِ بالخرَسِ

You did not hear his secret from any seeker

No secret of his did any supplicant hear

until he struck the tongue of tears with muteness.

Until his tongue of tears was struck dumb

وللشؤونِ شُؤونٌ في شَهادَتِها

وللشؤونِ شُؤونٌ في شَهادَتِها

وأنتَ تَعرفُها فاطلِق أو احتبِسِ

وأنتَ تَعرفُها فاطلِق أو احتبِسِ

The tear ducts have their own affairs in their testimony;

And events have their own events in relating them

and you know them, so let loose or hold back.

You know them, so give release or withhold

وناظرٍ عادَ بعدَ البرءِ مُنتكِساً

وناظرٍ عادَ بعدَ البرءِ مُنتكِساً

من أجلِ بدرِ تمامٍ غيرِ مُنتكِسِ

من أجلِ بدرِ تمامٍ غيرِ مُنتكِسِ

And an eye relapsed after healing,

A watcher returned, after innocence, crestfallen

because of a full moon that never wanes.

On account of the full moon's, not the crescent's, eclipse

ألَم أقُل لكَ لا تهجم مفاجَأةً

ألَم أقُل لكَ لا تهجم مفاجَأةً

أخشى عليكَ التباسَ الخيس بالكَنسِ

أخشى عليكَ التباسَ الخيس بالكَنسِ

Did I not tell you: do not rush in suddenly?

Did I not tell you not to attack by surprise?

I fear you may mistake the lion's thicket for the gazelles' lairs.

I fear for you the muddling of the vile and the noble

وخلسَةٍ بعد طولِ اليأسِ فزتُ بها

وخلسَةٍ بعد طولِ اليأسِ فزتُ بها

ممَّن محاسِنُه أحلَى من الخُلسِ

ممَّن محاسِنُه أحلَى من الخُلسِ

And a stolen moment I won after long despair,

By stealth, after long despair, I slipped away

from one whose charms are sweeter than stolen delights—

From one whose charms are sweeter than thefts

من مُرهَفِ الطرفِ دامي الخدِّ دلَّ عَلى

من مُرهَفِ الطرفِ دامي الخدِّ دلَّ عَلى

أن جاورَ السَّيفَ منه غيرُ مُحتَرِسِ

أن جاورَ السَّيفَ منه غيرُ مُحتَرِسِ

from one with a keen-edged glance and a bleeding cheek, which showed

From a fawn-eyed one, my cheek's constant friend, so gentle

that an unwary part of him had come alongside the sword.

That the sword has not feared his neighborhood, being unguarded

صابٍ إلى الوَصلِ نابٍ عنه ممتزجٍ

صابٍ إلى الوَصلِ نابٍ عنه ممتزجٍ

كأنَّه رِدفُه في اللين والدهَسِ

كأنَّه رِدفُه في اللين والدهَسِ

Yearning for union yet shrinking from it, a blend of both,

Arriving at union, avoiding it, mingled therein

as though, in softness and suppleness, he were his own haunch.

As if coupled with him in softness and trampling

عصى عليَّ فَلا ينسَي فأذكرُه

عصى عليَّ فَلا ينسَي فأذكرُه

أذكرتُهُ اللَّهَ فيما بَينَنا فَنَسي

أذكرتُهُ اللَّهَ فيما بَينَنا فَنَسي

He resisted me; I never forget him, to then recall him.

He disobeyed me, so let him not forget me; I'll remember him

I reminded him of God concerning what lay between us, but he forgot.

I remembered him to God, between us, but he forgot

أرى الخطوبَ ثكولاً حيثُما وَلدت

أرى الخطوبَ ثكولاً حيثُما وَلدت

وابنُ الخُطوبِ يتيمٌ في طَرابلُسِ

وابنُ الخُطوبِ يتيمٌ في طَرابلُسِ

I see calamities bereaved wherever they have given birth,

I see misfortunes pregnant wherever they are born

and the son of calamities is an orphan in Tripoli.

And the son of misfortunes is an orphan in Tripoli

من كدت حجركَ في خَضراء من غَدَقٍ

من كدت حجركَ في خَضراء من غَدَقٍ

وكان بالأمسِ في شَهباء من بلَسِ

وكان بالأمسِ في شَهباء من بلَسِ

One whom you nearly ... your shelter amid rain-fed greenery [wording unclear],

You who nearly stoned me in a verdant valley

and yesterday he was in the ashen waste of despair.

Yesterday in a gray one of affliction

أنزَلتَهُ في جَنابٍ غيرِ مُهتَضمٍ

أنزَلتَهُ في جَنابٍ غيرِ مُهتَضمٍ

أبا الحُسينِ ورِزقٍ غيرِ محتبسِ

أبا الحُسينِ ورِزقٍ غيرِ محتبسِ

You lodged him in a haven where he suffers no wrong,

You brought him down in a precinct not yet digested

O Abu al-Husayn, and in sustenance never withheld.

O father of Hussein and unstinted provision

وأنتَ من مَعشرٍ جرَّت مناقِبُهم

وأنتَ من مَعشرٍ جرَّت مناقِبُهم

شُغلاً طَويلاً عَلى الأَقلامِ والطرسِ

شُغلاً طَويلاً عَلى الأَقلامِ والطرسِ

And you belong to a people whose virtues have brought

You are of a party whose glories have furnished

long labor upon pens and parchment.

Much occupation for pens and tablets

تَعلو فتَدنو كَما تَعلو خَلائقُهم

تَعلو فتَدنو كَما تَعلو خَلائقُهم

مثلَ الشُّموسِ ولكن ليسَ بالشمُسِ

مثلَ الشُّموسِ ولكن ليسَ بالشمُسِ

You rise yet draw near, as their noble natures rise,

You ascend and draw near as their natures ascend

like suns, but never unapproachable.

Like suns, but not being the sun

وطالَما أطلَعوا من نارِ عَزمهم

وطالَما أطلَعوا من نارِ عَزمهم

شُهباً وربَّ شهابٍ غيرِ مُقتبَسِ

شُهباً وربَّ شهابٍ غيرِ مُقتبَسِ

And how often they have raised from the fire of their resolve

Long have they risen out of the fire of their resolve

meteors—and many a meteor's fire is not borrowed.

Meteors, and many a meteor unlit

تأبى الوقوفَ عَلى الحاجاتِ أنفسُهم

تأبى الوقوفَ عَلى الحاجاتِ أنفسُهم

حتى تَودّ لو استَغنَت عن النَّفَسِ

حتى تَودّ لو استَغنَت عن النَّفَسِ

Their souls refuse to be held back by their needs,

Their very selves refuse to halt for necessities

so much that they wish they could do without breath.

Until they wish their spirit could dispense with breath

عزٌّ ركبتَ به ليثَ العَرينِ فما

عزٌّ ركبتَ به ليثَ العَرينِ فما

ميَّزتَ صَهوتَه عَن صَهوةِ الفرَسِ

ميَّزتَ صَهوتَه عَن صَهوةِ الفرَسِ

A might with which you mounted the lion of the den, and did not

A glory you rode, the lion of the lair, and yet

distinguish its back from the back of a horse.

You distinguished not its roar from the whinny of a mare

وقامَ عرشُك بالسعدِ المُنيفِ عَلى

وقامَ عرشُك بالسعدِ المُنيفِ عَلى

الحصنِ المنيفِ لَهم عَن ذلك الحَرسِ

الحصنِ المنيفِ لَهم عَن ذلك الحَرسِ

And your throne stood, through lofty good fortune, upon

Your throne endured upon auspicious, lofty aid

the lofty fortress—for them, beyond that guard [wording unclear].

The lofty fortress, protecting them from that guard