بشرى فغصن عيشنا قد أورقا

وكوكب السعد الأتم اشرقا

Glad tidings! The bough of our life has burst into leaf,

and the star of consummate good fortune has shone.

وعارض الاقبال حيا بالحيا

روض الاماني فعاد مونقا

And the cloud of prosperity has greeted with rain

the garden of hopes, making it lovely once again.

فاغتنم العيش الرغيد وانتهز

مصطبح اللذات والمغتبقا

So savor the life of ease, and seize

the morning and evening draughts of pleasure.

وقم إلى سلافة وردية

لها شذى المسك إذا ما عبقا

And rise to a rose-colored vintage,

whose scent is musk whenever its fragrance wafts.

شمس إذا غابت بحلق شارب

رأيت في خديه منها شفقا

A sun that, when it sets down a drinker's throat,

you see its twilight glow upon his cheeks.

يسقيكها غض الصبا مهفهف

بلحظه يسكر لابما سقى

A tender, slender-waisted youth serves it to you;

with his glance he intoxicates, not with what he pours.

يثني نسيم الدّل غصن قدّه

كما انثنى غصن اراك في نقا

The breeze of coquetry bends the bough of his frame,

as an arak bough bends upon a dune.

تروي لنا اجفانه عن بابل

سحراً به تخفر ذمة التقى

His eyelids relate to us, from Babylon,

sorcery through which piety's covenant is broken.

كم ليلة استغفر الله بها

بت لغصن قدّه معتنقا

Many a night—for which I seek God's forgiveness—

I spent embracing the bough of his frame,

مقبلا وجنته مرتشفا

من ثغره راح اللمى المعتقا

kissing his cheek and sipping

from his lips the aged wine of their dusky hue.

فيا لها من ليلة حميدة

لو انها عادت الينا باللقا

Oh, what a delightful night,

if only it would return to us with reunion!

رقت حواشي حسنها كأنها

ليلة اشراق الحسين المنتقى

Delicate were the fringes of its beauty, as though it were

the night when al-Husayn, the chosen one, shone forth.

سليل غطريف همام ماجد

رقى من العلياء اعلى مرتقى

Scion of a noble, valiant, illustrious lord,

who rose to the highest summit of eminence.

مهذب لو نطق الدهر إذا

اعمل في وصف علاه المنطقا

Refined: if Time could speak, then

it would put speech to work describing his exalted rank.

اخلاقه كروضة باكرها

طل ففاح نشرها وعبقا

His character is like a garden visited at dawn

by dew, so its fragrance spread and wafted.

ابلج مغشي الرواق ذكره

غرّب في آفاقها وشرّقا

Bright-faced, his hall much frequented; his renown

has traveled west and east across its horizons.

الحاكم العدل الذي قد اكتست

رتبته به سناً ورونقا

The just ruler, whose rank has been robed

through him in radiance and splendor.

إذا انتدى محتبيا بسيفه

تعذر النطق وكل اطرقا

When he sits in council, girt with his sword,

speech fails, and all bow their heads.

جلا له انوارها ساطعة

تمنع ابصار الورى ان ترمقا

Its lights shone forth for him, blazing,

keeping the eyes of humankind from gazing.

ولم يزل بجوده وبأسه

يمير وفدا ويبير فيلقا

And he has never ceased, through his bounty and might,

to provision delegations and annihilate armies.

يا من تجلى للعلى بطلعة

غراء تجلو بسناها الغسقا

O you who shone upon glory with a countenance

radiant, dispelling darkness with its glow:

بشرى بمولود زها الدهر به

وكان من قبل إليه شيقا

glad tidings of a newborn in whom Time takes pride,

and for whom it had yearned before.

تقلدت به المعالي جوهراً

من معدن المجد الاثيل منتقى

High honors have worn him as a jewel,

chosen from the mine of deep-rooted glory.

ماء الجمال والندى بوجهه

وكفه مسّلسلا ترقرقا

The water of beauty and bounty, in his face

and his palm, ripples in an unbroken stream.

من دوحة نال السماء فرعها

وقد زكت اصلا وطابت ورقا

From a spreading tree whose bough has reached the sky,

and whose root is pure and whose leaves are fair.

آباؤه الشم الذين رفعوا

بيتاً على هام السهى مسردقا

His lofty forefathers, who raised

a canopied house upon al-Suha's crown,

قد زينوا الدنيا بذكرهم كما

قد زينت شهب الدراري الأفقا

have adorned the world with their renown, just as

the gleams of brilliant stars have adorned the horizon.

وفيه من آبائه شمائل

حقيقة لحسنها ان تعشقا

And in him are traits inherited from his forefathers,

worthy, for their beauty, of being adored.

إليك قد زففتها خريدة

في جيدها عقد المعاني اتسقا

To you I have led her, a maiden bride;

around her neck, the necklace of meanings is well strung.

تميس في ابرادها لابسة

ديباجة الاحسان والاستبرقا

She sways in her robes, wearing

the brocade of excellence and heavy silk.

ناعسة الاجفان قد بان لها

طرفي في جنح الدجى مؤرقا

Drowsy-eyed, she has seen

my eye sleepless in the depths of night.

ومهرها منك القبول انه

انفس من كل نفيس انفقا

And her dower from you is acceptance, for it

is more precious than any treasure ever spent.

كم لك عندي من يد حميدة

ونعمة عدت بها مطوقا

How many gracious favors you have done me,

and blessings I now wear like a collar about my neck!

والحر من يرعى الحقوق باسطا

لسانه بالشكر مدّة البقا

And a noble man is one who honors what is due, extending

his tongue in thanks as long as he lives.