لقد سل سيفا والغدار الحمائل

أروم حياة عده وهو قاتل

He has drawn a sword; its sword-belts are treacherous.

I seek life with him, though he is a killer.

غدا حاجبا حاجبي ملك طرفه

متى ما حن قوسيها فهو نابل

His two brows became the chamberlains of his gaze's king;

whenever he bends their two bows, he is an archer.

إذا ما انثنى أثنى وان كان حاسداً

عليه قضيب البانة المتمايل

Whenever he sways, it praises him, though envious:

the swaying branch of the bān tree.

فهل قده غصن من ألبان ناصر

بعيشك أم لدن من السمر ذابل

Is his figure a flourishing bān-tree branch,

by your life, or a supple, slender brown spear?

وهل ريقه المعسول قهوة بابل

لذائقها أم بين جفنه بابل

And is his honeyed saliva the wine of Babylon

to its taster—or is Babylon between his eyelids?

تشابه دمعي في القنوءِ وخده

وسيان في المعنى أسيل وسائل

My tears and his cheek resemble each other in deep redness;

and 'smooth' and 'flowing' are alike in meaning.

أذابت فؤادي قسوة في فواده

وأذكى غليلي ما تضم الغلائل

A hardness in his heart has melted mine,

and what his thin garments enfold has kindled my burning thirst.

وما هيجت وجدي الغداة شمائل

سرت سحراً بل هيجته الشمائل

This morning, no north winds stirred my passion,

blowing before dawn; rather, his qualities stirred it.

ولا صدحت فوق الغصون بلابل

ولكنها للعاشقين بلابل

Nor were nightingales singing above the branches;

rather, for lovers these are torments.

يجود علينا طيفه وهو مانع

كما جد فينا حبه وهو هازل

His dream-image gives generously to us, though he withholds himself,

just as his love grew earnest within us, though he jested.

أتى زائراً فالصبح في الشرق فارسٌ

لزورته والليلُ في الغرب راجل

He came visiting, and dawn was a horseman in the east

for his visit, while night was on foot in the west.

يوافيه ضوء الصبح من فيه ناصراً

على أن ليل الشعر لليل خاذل

Dawn's light comes from his mouth to meet him as an ally,

although the night of his hair deserts the night.

لئن جن فيه العاشقون صبابة

فأصداغه للعاشقينَ سلاسل

If lovers go mad for him with longing,

his temple-locks are chains for lovers.

تعجب عمروٌ أن وقفتُ بمنزلٍ

كلانا لفقدان الأحبّةِ ناحل

ʿAmr marveled that I stopped at a dwelling,

both of us wasted by the loss of loved ones.

وأشفق من دمعي على عرصاته

وقد فاض منها سائلاً وهو سائل

He feared for its courtyards because of my tears,

while my tears overflowed from them, flowing—and questioning.

أول دعم فاض بعد قطعيةِ

أول قلب هيجه المنازل

Is this the first tear to flow after separation,

the first heart the dwellings have stirred?

وقفنا رسوما في رسوم كأنّها

طروسٌ بها منا سطورٌ موائل

We stood as traces amid traces, as though they were

pages upon which we were slanting lines.

فلا هي تدري ما تقول كآبة

ولا نحن ندري ما تقول العواذل

Neither do they know what grief says,

nor do we know what the reproachers say.

أريهم بأقمار السماء صبابةً

وبلواي أقمارُ الديار الأوافل

I show them a passion for the moons of the sky,

but my affliction is the setting moons of the dwellings.

وأصدف عنها وهي قفر كظنّهم

وما هي إلاَّ بالقلوب أواهل

I turn away from them, deserted as they suppose,

yet they are inhabited by hearts alone.

وما قلتُ تلكَ الدار جهلاً بربعها

بلى ليظنَّ القومُ أني جاهل

I did not say 'that dwelling' through ignorance of its grounds,

but so the people might think me ignorant.

تُعيد الصّبا غدارنها بهبوبها

دروعاً وكانت قبل وهي مناصل

The east wind, as it blows, turns its pools

into coats of mail, where before they were sword blades.

كأنَّ الغصونَ المائداتِ حبائبٌ

ومر النسيم المندلي رسائل

The swaying branches are like beloveds,

and the passing, aloeswood-scented breeze like messages.

غداة كأن السحب جادت بمائها

أنامل محيي الدينِ فهي حوافل

That morning, the clouds pouring out their water seemed

the fingertips of Muḥyī al-Dīn, brimming with bounty.

حلت باسمهِ الأشعار بعد مرارةٍ

وجاد فحلّى جيدها وهو عاطل

Verses grew sweet through his name after bitterness,

and he gave generously, adorning their neck, which had been bare.

لنيرٍ فضلٍ ما لهُ الدهرَ كاسفٌ

وبحرُ سماحٍ ما لجدواهُ ساحل

For a luminary of excellence whom time never eclipses,

and a sea of generosity whose bounty has no shore.

ولكنّه عذبُ المناهلِ لم يكن

كثانيهِ لم تعذب لديه المناهل

Yet his watering places are sweet; he is not

like his counterpart, whose watering places are not sweet.

وما هو إلاَّ الغيث في كل عامرٍ

وفي كل قفر من أياديهِ وابل

He is nothing but rain in every inhabited place,

and in every wilderness his favors fall as a downpour.

فما وريه أن اظلمَ الدهرُ آفلٌ

ولا رأيهُ أن أشكل الخطبُ فائل

His flame does not set when time grows dark,

nor does his judgment falter when the crisis grows perplexing.

تقمّص أثوابَ العلى فهو رافلٌ

وشانئهُ عن شأنه ذاك غافل

He has donned the robes of eminence and trails them proudly,

while his hater is oblivious to that stature of his.

ولو لم تخف بيضُ السيوف يراعهُ

إذاً ما اعتراها إذ تشامُ الأفاكل

If bright swords did not fear his pen,

shudders would not seize them when they are drawn.

ولو لم تهب سمر الرماحِ اعتزامهُ

إذاً ما براها الشوق فهي نواحل

And if brown spears did not dread his resolve,

longing would not have worn them down, leaving them wasted.

تَعلَّمُ منهُ منازلةِ العِدى

فتفعلُ في الابطال ما هو فاعل

They learn from him how to engage the foes,

and do to champions what he does.

فكلُّ سِنان نِقسُهُ الدَّمُ ناقطٌ

وكل حُسامٍ طِرسهُ الهام شاكل

Every spearpoint makes dots, with blood for ink,

and every sword adds vowel marks, with heads for its parchment.

ينالُ ضميرَ القلب حرفُ شباتهِ

وعاملهُ في حالهِ تلك عامل

The edge of his sharp point reaches the heart's hidden core,

and his spearhead, in that state, does its work.

تخاف الأَعادي حدَّه وهو مغمَدٌ

كذلك تُخشى في الغمود الناصل

Enemies fear his edge even while it is sheathed;

just so blades are feared within their scabbards.

أَصيلُ سُطاً كاللَّيث يُردي صِيالُهُ

كريمٌ ضُحاه للَّندى والأصائل

Of noble might, like a lion whose assault kills,

generous—his mornings and late afternoons are given to bounty.

ولو لم يقُل عنهُ الثناء لحَّدثتْ

شمائلهُ عن مجدهِ والمخائل

Even if praise did not speak of him, his glory would be told

by his qualities and the signs of his nobility.

لئن كرهَ الأَقوامُ ما أنا قائلٌ

لقد كره الأقوام ما اللهُ فاعل

If people hate what I am saying,

they hate what God has done.

أُفرّقُهم بما أقول مجادلاً

كما فَرّقت زُغبَ البُغاث الأَجادل

I scatter them with my words in dispute,

as falcons scatter the downy young of lesser birds.

فيا حاسداً أعياه نيلُ محلّهِ

هو النَّجمُ يكبو دونه المتناول

O envier, whom reaching his station has defeated,

he is the star: whoever reaches for him stumbles short.

وان تلقَ لِين الصَّفح دون شَباتهِ

فما هوَ إلا هازئٌ بكَ هازل

And if you find his flat side gentle, rather than his sharp point,

he is merely mocking you, jesting.

ولو كنتَ مَن يُرجى له مثلُ مجده

ثناك بحّدِ الجّدِ غَما تحاول

If you were someone who might hope for glory like his,

he would turn you from your quest with earnestness's keen edge.

فتى الِصّيتِ يخبو النجمُ دونَ لحاقهِ

ويكبو جوادُ الَّليل والليلُ شامل

A youth of renown: the star fades before catching him,

and night's steed stumbles, though night envelops all.

مدائحهُ فرضٌ على كّلِ ناطقٍ

بمدحٍ ومدحُ العاَلمين نوافل

His praises are obligatory for everyone who speaks

in praise; the praise of all others is voluntary.

فللمَنع والعافين عاصٍ وعاصمٌ

وفي المالِ والآمالِ عادٍ وعادل

He defies withholding and safeguards petitioners,

lavish with wealth and just in fulfilling hopes.

فتًى كُتبهُ مثلُ الكتائب لفظها

جيوشٌ إلى أعدائهِ وجحافل

A youth whose letters are like battalions, their words

armies and great hosts advancing against his enemies.

وما عَقَل الأعداءَ منها سيوفُهم

بل اعتقلتهم للسَيوف المعاقل

The enemies' swords did not shield them from those letters;

rather, their fortresses imprisoned them for the swords.

ويستعملُ الإتراب فوق سطورهِ

كذلك آياتُ الجيوش القساطل

He strews dust over his written lines;

likewise, dust clouds are the signs of armies.

أخو الكلمات الشارداتِ التي بها

يقومُ عِمادُ الّدين والدِيّنُ مائل

A master of far-ranging words by which

religion's pillar stands when religion is leaning.

فلو بلغَتْ تلك البلاغة وائلاً

لما بجحتْ يوماً بسحبانَ وائلُ

Had such eloquence reached Wāʾil,

Wāʾil would never have boasted of Saḥbān.

لداعيهِ والعادى مُنّى ومنيَّةٌ

وللُمْلك والأّملاك كافٍ وكافلُ

For his supplicant he is wishes fulfilled; for his enemy, death.

For sovereignty he suffices; for kings he is a guardian.

حوى يافعاً معي الكهولِ من العلى

فمَوطئُ الذّرى والكواهل

As a youth he gained, with me and the elders, such eminence

that summits and shoulders lie beneath his tread.

من القومِ نظمي عنهمُ متقاصرٌ

وإنْ كان يَهوي دونهُ المتطاول

He is of a people whom my verse falls short of,

though any would-be rival falls below it.

لهُ من بني شَيبانَ مجدٌ مؤثَلٌ

مَشيد البنا تعنو لديهٍ القبائل

He has from Banū Shaybān a firmly rooted glory,

loftily built, before which the tribes bow.

همُ رافِعو الأَعلامِ في كلّ شاهقٍ

كما لهمُ في كل وهدٍ حبائل

They raise the banners on every height,

just as they have snares in every hollow.

فمِن طاعمٍ قلبَ الكتيبة طاعن

ومن باسمٍ يومَ الكريهة باسل

Among them is a feeder of others who pierces the battalion's heart,

and a smiling man, valiant on the day of battle.

تسير مسيرَ النجمِ أمثال جودهم

وتمثل إعجابا بهنَّ الأَماثل

The tales of their generosity travel as the stars do,

and the foremost men repeat them in admiration.

بحارٌ فان شاموا بروقً غمودهم

رأيت بحاراً فاضَ منها جداول

They are seas; when they draw the lightning of their scabbards,

you see seas from which streams overflow.

أبا حامدٍ مالي جهلت وإِنني

لآتٍ بما لم تستطعه الأوائل

Abū Ḥāmid, why am I unknown, when I

bring what the ancients could not achieve?

أرى معشراً ألفوا أياديك مشرعاً

وقولهمُ كالظلِ والظلُّ زائل

I see a company accustomed to your favors as a watering place,

yet their speech is like a shadow, and shadows vanish.

فعندهمُ منك الفواضلُ واللُهى

وعندك من نظمي النهى والفضائل

They have from you gifts and lavish grants,

while you have from my verse wisdom and virtues.

ولي في الورى مندوحةٌ غير أنني

رأيتكَ أَهلاً للَّذي أنا قائل

I have ample alternatives among mankind, yet

I deemed you worthy of what I say.

مقالي إذا ما سُقّهَ القولُ فيصلٌ

وعضبٌ صقيلٌ والمعاني مفاصل

My utterance, when speech grows foolish, is decisive:

a polished sword, with meanings as its joints.

وعَتبي على دهري قديمٌ وكلَّما

تقادمَ داءٌ فهوَ لا شكَّ قاتل

My reproach against my age is old; whenever

a sickness grows chronic, it surely kills.

وما دُمتَ في الدَّنيا تعولُ ابنَ فاقهٍ

فأَهونُ ماضٍ مَن تغولُ الغوائل

As long as you remain in this world, sustaining a son of poverty,

then whoever calamities carry off is a loss easily borne.