1. وافى فهز من القوام مثقفاً

    ورنا فسل من اللواحظ مرهفا

    He came, brandishing the straightened spear of his stature,

    and gazed, drawing a keen blade from his glances.

  2. ثمل القوام كأن رقة جسمه

    ماء صفا وفؤاده مثل الصفا

    Drunken of bearing, as though his body's delicacy were

    water grown clear, while his heart is like hard stone.

  3. يحبو الغزال بجيده وبلحظه

    والغصن يمنحه القوام الأهيفا

    The gazelle bestows on him its neck and glance,

    and the bough grants him its slender, graceful figure.

  4. يا عطفه كيف الملاذ بعطفه

    هلا تعلم منك أن يتعطفا

    O his supple side, how may I find refuge in his kindness?

    Why has he not learned from you to incline tenderly?

  5. متدلل خلف الحمام وعيده

    وعد الوصال أخا الحياة فأخلفا

    A coy beloved: death followed his threat;

    he promised union, life's own brother, then broke his word.

  6. هو يوسف يقضي على يعقوبه

    ظلماً فعدل لو قضيت تأسفا

    He is a Yusuf passing judgment against his own Yaqub

    unjustly; it would be just were I to die of sorrow.

  7. جد بالشفاء لعاشق أسقمته

    يمسى ويصبح من هواك على شفا

    Grant healing to a lover you have made ill,

    who spends evening and morning on the brink through love of you.

  8. ودع الصدود فما أطيق زيادة

    عندي من الوجد المبرح ما كفى

    Leave off your shunning; I cannot endure any more.

    I have enough of agonizing passion.

  9. يا مانحي طرفاً لقلبي خاطفاً

    ومقبلاً خصراً وخصراً مخطفا

    O giver of a glance that steals my heart,

    and cool lips to kiss, and a slender waist!

  10. ما الخال نقطة نون صدغاك إنما

    قلبي بحبته حباه تلهفا

    The mole is no dot of your temple-locks' nūn; rather,

    my heart endowed it with its kernel in yearning.

  11. وكذا عذارك إنما صدغاك قد

    كتبا على مرآة وجهك أحرفا

    So too your cheek-down: your temple locks have merely

    written letters upon the mirror of your face.

  12. زهر وللزهر حياة من الحيا

    تجنيه من نار الحياء مفوفا

    Blossoms—and blossoms draw their life from rain—

    you pluck them, variegated, from the fire of modesty.

  13. فتعد عن عذلي بليت بحبه

    وحباك سالفه الغرام وسلفا

    So cease reproaching me; may you be afflicted with his love,

    and may his cheek bestow passion on you in advance.

  14. أوبت من قلق كما باتت عدى

    الملك المظفر من سطاه على الشفا

    Or spend the night in anguish, as did the enemies

    of al-Malik al-Muzaffar, on the brink before his might.

  15. ذي السعي تلقاه مسيحاً للعلى

    للمال مذ خلقت يداه متلفا

    A man of endeavor, whom you find a Messiah to glory,

    and a destroyer of wealth since his hands were created.

  16. متأيد حلماً فإن عرضت له

    فرص السماح فما أغذ وأوجفا

    Deliberate in forbearance; but whenever there arise for him

    opportunities for generosity, how he hastens and speeds on!

  17. اعطى على عدم وقد ضن الحيا

    ووفى على مضض وقد غاض الوفا

    He gave despite poverty, when the rain grew miserly,

    and kept faith despite pain, when faithfulness had ebbed.

  18. كم منية أهدى وذي زيغ هدى

    وحشاشة أحيا ومال أتلفا

    How many a death he delivered, a strayer he guided,

    a last spark of life he revived, and a fortune he spent!

  19. يعطيك عفواً أو يسامح مذنباً

    عفواً إذا غضب الكريم وسوفا

    He gives to you unasked, or pardons an offender,

    freely forgiving when a noble man would rage and delay.

  20. جود وحلم لا تؤبن بعده

    لا بل تؤنب حاتماً والأحنفا

    Generosity and forbearance: after him, you do not eulogize—

    no, you rebuke—Hatim and al-Ahnaf.

  21. نيطاً بعزم لا يقال له ونى

    خوراً ورأي لا يقال له هفا

    Both bound to a resolve of which none can say it faltered

    through weakness, and a judgment of which none can say it erred.

  22. فلله السماح أصح من آمالنا

    جسماً وقدماً كان نضواً مدنفا

    God be praised: generosity is healthier than our hopes

    in body, though once it was wasted and gravely ill.

  23. لطفت كما لطف الزلال خلاله

    وصفت موارد إذا يسطو حياة إن عفا

    His qualities are as delicate as limpid water,

    and springs grow clear—when he strikes; life, if he pardons [text unclear].

  24. من سمره ينضب الزلال خلاله

    وصفت موارد راحتيه كما صفا

    From his brown spears, limpid water ebbs away through them [text unclear].

    And the springs of his palms grow clear, as it grows clear.

  25. في السلم ماء وهي نار في الوغى

    موت كما تلفى الحياة به لفا

    In peace it is water, and in battle fire:

    death, even as you find life entwined with it.

  26. من كفه بحر وشعلة قابس

    صمصامه لله كيف تألفا

    From his palm comes a sea; a fire-seeker's flame

    is his cleaving sword—by God, how the two unite!

  27. لا تنكرن رجفان كل أصم عس

    سال فأيسر حاله أن يرجفا

    Do not wonder at the trembling of every solid, sway-

    ing spear; the least it can do is tremble.

  28. وكذاك رعدة كل غضب صارم

    بيديه أنحله الضراب وأنحفا

    Likewise the shudder of every keen, cleaving sword

    in his hands: repeated blows have worn it thin and lean.

  29. فمآل هذا أن يطير بهامهم

    قصداً وغاية ذاك أن يتقصفا

    For this one's end is to send their skulls flying

    straight to its mark; that one's end is to splinter.

  30. لا تنس رعباناً ونازل سفحها

    والجو قد لبس النقاب وأغدفا

    Do not forget Ra'ban and the one encamped at its foot,

    while the sky had donned a veil and drawn it low.

  31. لثناه يوماً شاتياً بدمائهم

    لا كالشتاء وكان يوماً صيفا

    We wrapped it in their blood on a wintry day—

    unlike winter, though it was a summer day.

  32. شاهدته فشهدت فيه أنه

    ملكاً ووحش فلا أضاف وضيفا

    I witnessed it, and there bore witness that he

    hosted a king and the beasts of the wilderness.

  33. ما كان أنزر هارباً مولياً

    فيه وأكثر صارماً ومثقفا

    How few were those fleeing, turning their backs

    there, and how many the cleaving swords and straightened spears!

  34. ثبتوا كما ثبتت جبال تهامة

    حتى حملت فمن أطاق توقفا

    They held firm as the mountains of Tihamah hold firm,

    until you charged—then who could bear to stand?

  35. كم مهمه في الحرب أصبح أهلاً

    غادرته بالجرب قاعاً صفصفا

    How many a wilderness, grown peopled in war,

    you left mange-stricken, a bare and level plain!

  36. وملمة عصفت بريح زعزع

    عاجلتها فمنعتها أن تعصفا

    And a calamity that raged with a violent wind,

    you swiftly confronted and kept from raging.

  37. خلف الملك العزيز يوسف يوسفاً

    وخلفت أنت عزيز مصر يوسفا

    King al-Aziz Yusuf succeeded Yusuf,

    and you succeeded Egypt's Aziz, Yusuf.

  38. فالشمس والبدر المنير تلاهما

    نجم الهدى والنجم ليس به خفا

    Thus the sun and the shining full moon were followed

    by the star of guidance, a star with no obscurity.

  39. جار على كم الكتاب حسامه

    بأساً وعدلاً آمنا أن خوفا

    His sword overbore the scribes' sleeve,

    in might and justice, granting safety if it struck fear.

  40. أنى يخاف الدين زيفاً بعدما

    تخذ الحسام جليسه والمصحفا

    How could the faith fear falsity after

    taking the sword and the Qur'an as its companions?

  41. كم نالني خطب فللت شباته

    ومنعت نازل نابه أن يصرفا

    How often calamity befell me, and you blunted its edge,

    and kept its descending fang from gnashing.

  42. أنت المجلي والذي أنا قائل

    كل على حسد يؤم ويقتفى

    You are the front-runner, and the verse I utter—

    each, despite envy, is sought and followed.

  43. فاستجلها عذراء أيسر خطبها

    ما عن طب أن تصدر وتصدفا

    So unveil her, a virgin easy to woo;

    it is no skill to depart and turn away.

  44. جابت إليك البيد موجفة وخير

    المدح ما جاب المهامه موجفا

    She sped across the deserts to you; and the best

    praise is that which crosses wildernesses at speed.

  45. زفت إلى الملك العالي زفها

    ملك المعاني رقة وتلطفا

    She was led as a bride to the exalted king, escorted

    by the king of meanings, with delicacy and grace.

  46. بدر فلا عبث الخسوف

    بتمه شمس وقاها الله من أن تكسفا

    A full moon—may no eclipse tamper

    with its fullness; a sun—may God guard it from eclipse!