اشاقتك صبا نجد

فهاجت لاعج الوجد

Did Najd's east breeze stir your longing

And kindle the burning pain of yearning?

سرت مسكية الانفا

س تذكو بشذى الند

It drifted, its breaths musk-scented,

Glowing with the fragrance of nadd incense.

سقى الغيث مغانيها

التي طال بها عهدي

May rain water her abodes,

Which I have not seen for so long.

وما أنس فلا أنسى

زمان الاجرع الفرد

Whatever I forget, I shall not forget

The days at solitary al-Ajraʿ.

وقد مر كما مر

قصيرا زمن الورد

And it passed, just as did

The brief season of roses.

بسفح البان هيفاء

كغصن البان في القدّ

At the foot of the ban trees was a slender maiden,

Like a ban-tree branch in stature.

لها ريق على ما

شهد المسواك من شهد

Her saliva was, as

The tooth-stick testified, honey.

ولما سرت العيس

بهم يوم اللوى تخدي

And when the pale camels set out,

Bearing them that day at al-Liwa, trotting swiftly,

وفي الركب من الغيد

كعاب صلتة الخد

And in the caravan, among the graceful women,

Was a budding-breasted, smooth-cheeked maiden,

وهند دون لقيا

ها قنا الخط ضبا الهند

And Hind—between me and meeting

Her stood al-Khatt's spears and Indian blades—

فتاة من بني سعد

بها حفت قنا سعد

A maiden of Banu Saʿd,

Encircled by Saʿd's spears,

وعز الورد ان يجنى

بمرأى الاسد الورد

And the roses were hard to pluck

Within sight of the tawny lions,

ولم يبق سوى نظرة

ممنوع عن الورد

And nothing remained but the glance

Of one forbidden to approach the water,

وترديد اشارات

من التسليم والرد

And repeated gestures

Of greeting and reply,

هوى من جفني الد

مع هويّ الدر من عقد

Tears fell from my eyelids

As pearls fall from a necklace.

ارى طرفي والنجم

حليفين على السهد

I see my eye and the star

As partners in wakefulness.

الا الله ما لاقيت

من بين ومن صد

Ah, God, what I have suffered

From separation and rejection!

وقد أودى فهل يود

قتيل الحب عن عمد

It has brought death; will blood-money be paid

For love's victim, deliberately slain?

ولم يقض لي الدين

ولم ينجز بهم وعدي

Nor was the debt owed me discharged,

Nor was my promise concerning them fulfilled.

فقل للائم اللاحي

على اللوعة والجهد

So tell the critic who reproaches me

For my anguish and suffering:

فؤادي عند من اهوى

وما غير الهوى عندي

My heart is with the one I love,

And I have nothing but love.

قضى دهري ان ابقى

رهين البين والبعد

My fate decreed that I remain

A captive of separation and distance.

وخصمي الحكم اليوم

فاي الناس استعدى

My adversary is the judge today;

To whom, then, can I appeal for redress?

على ان لأيامي

جميل الصنع والرفد

Yet my days have also brought me

Kindness and generous gifts,

بعود القاسم الوفر

وعرس الماجد الرشدي

With the return of bountiful al-Qasim

And the wedding of noble al-Rushdi.

فقد اشرق في أوج

المعالي قمر السعد

For there has shone, at the zenith

Of high honors, the moon of good fortune.

وطاب العيش في ظل

من النعمة والرغد

Life has grown sweet beneath the shade

Of blessings and ease.

ونيلت بأبي أحمد

آمال اخي الود

And through Abu Ahmad were attained

The hopes of a loving friend.

وثنى المجد عطفيه

بعود العلم الفرد

And glory swayed its flanks in pride

At the return of the peerless luminary.

كريم الفرع والاصل

شريف الأب والجد

Noble in branch and root,

Honorable in father and grandfather,

رحيب النفس والأ

ربع بالأضياف والوفد

Large-hearted, with spacious dwellings

For guests and delegations.

له نار قرى يوقد

ها بالحسب العد

He has a fire of hospitality; he kindles

It with his ancient nobility.

لها السنة تدعوا

لمداليج فتستهدي

Its tongues of flame call

To night travelers, who seek its guidance.

فقل للراكب المدلج

من غور إلى نجد

So tell the rider traveling by night,

Bound from the lowlands to Najd,

وقد آنس ومضى

العرف فاستأنس بالوخد

Who has already glimpsed the flash

Of generosity: take heart and trot onward.

هداك الله قد نلت

نجاحاً بأبي المهدي

May God guide you: you have attained

Success through Abu al-Mahdi.

فرد جدوى يمين

عن نداها البحر لا يجدي

So come to the bounty of a right hand,

For whose generosity the sea is no substitute.

له السبق إلى الغايا

ت عفواً غير ذي جهد

His is the lead toward the goals,

Effortlessly, without exertion.

فما يملك من جاراه

غير الهم والكدّ

So whoever competes with him has

Nothing but worry and toil.

وهل يدرك شأو

البرق بالجري وبالشدّ

Can one attain the reach

Of lightning by running and sprinting?

وأين الزهر والأوج

من الحصباء والوهد

And how far are the bright stars and the heights

From pebbles and hollows!

هم السادة والقادة

من شيب ومن مرد

They are the masters and the leaders,

Both gray-haired elders and beardless youths.

أناس لم تزل فيهم

رجال الحل والعقد

A people among whom there have always been

Men with the power to loose and bind.

لهم في دور أيامهم

سلسلة المجد

Theirs, through the cycle of their days,

Is a chain of glory.

على بيض أياديهم

جلاء الأوجه الربد

Through their white hands

Darkened faces are made bright.

على مولودهم باد

دليل الفضل في المهد

Upon their newborn appears

The sign of excellence in the cradle.

ولا بدع ففي الأشبا

ل اشباه من الاسد

No wonder: within the cubs

Are likenesses of the lions.

وقد لاقت به الايا

م ركناً غير منهد

And the days have found in him

A pillar that does not crumble.

ثبات الليث لا يلوي

على شيء سوى القصد

Steadfast as a lion, he does not turn

Toward anything but his aim.

وكان الذهب الابر

يز في ذاكية الوقد

And he was pure gold

In a fiercely blazing fire.

وهل يخشى على التبر

إذا هذب من نقد

And need one fear for gold,

Once refined, in the face of scrutiny?

حوى المدح فلم يأسف

على ما فات من وجد

He won praise and did not grieve

For whatever wealth had been lost.

وهل يحفل بالمال

فما عذر ذوي الحقد

And does he care for wealth?

What excuse, then, have the spiteful?

وهل يبغض ضوء الشم

سِ غير الاعين الرمد

And who hates the light of the sun

But sore eyes?

أبا أحمد لازلت من

العلياء في برد

O Abu Ahmad, may you always be

Clad in a mantle of high honor,

عزيز النفس والجار

عزيز المثل والند

Noble in spirit, your neighbor protected,

With equal and peer hard to find.

لك الأقبال والجد

من الاقبال والجد

Yours are prosperity and good fortune

From eager devotion and diligence,

بعرس دائم البهجة

زاه زاهر السعد

At a wedding of enduring joy,

Radiant, blossoming with good fortune.

ودامت للتهاني نفحات

الشيخ والرند

And may felicitations ever carry the fragrant wafts

Of the shaykh and laurel.