سقى دمع العين لا دموع الغمائم

مواقف نعم بين تلك المعالم

May the eye’s tears, not the tears of clouds, water

Nuʿm’s stopping places among those landmarks.

منازل تملينا أحاديث شجوها

أسانيد أنفاس الصبا والنعائم

Dwellings whose sorrowful tales are dictated to us

by chains of transmission from the east wind’s breaths and southern breezes.

إشارات بث هن أحلى من المنى

ومن خلس التهويم في جفن حالم

Intimations of anguish, sweeter than wishes

and than stolen moments of drowsing in a dreamer’s eyelid.

وقفت لها أبكي وقد بسم الثرى

لدمعي وكم باكٍ لآخرَ باسم

I stood before them weeping, while the soil smiled

at my tears—how many weep for another who smiles!

وهبت هجوعي الدجى ونجومه

وحسن التسلي بعدها للوائم

I gave my sleep to the darkness and its stars,

and the beauty of consolation after her to my reproachers.

من خرم الظاغنين عن اللوى

مبيت الفتى والوجد ضيف الحيازم

Among the wounds left by those departing al-Liwā

is a youth’s night, with yearning a guest within his ribs.

لقد هزني ذكر العذيب وحاجرٍ

كصرف الحميا عطف شنوان هائم

Remembrance of al-ʿUdhayb and Ḥājir truly stirred me,

as unmixed strong wine sways a bewildered drunkard’s frame.

وما خطرت قضبانها وتراقصت

شمائلها إلا لشدو الحمائم

Her boughs never swayed, nor danced

her graceful gestures, save to the doves’ song.

وعهدي بها والبين ملقٍ قناعه

فمن بائح منا وآخر كاتم

I recall her, with separation casting off its veil:

one of us disclosed his feelings, another concealed them.

تبدت فما شمس الضحى بمنيرة

وماست فما أغصانها بنواعم

She appeared, and the morning sun seemed no longer radiant;

she swayed, and the boughs seemed no longer supple.

حمت وردها بالنرجس الغض وانثنت

تدافع عنه كل راء ولاثم

She guarded her rose with tender narcissus, and turned

to repel every gazer and kisser from it.

ولم أر مثل الحسن يهوي بخيله

ويعشق في أحكامه كل ظالم

I have never seen the like of beauty charging with its cavalry,

under whose judgments every tyrant is adored.

ولولاه لم أبكِ الدماء لضاحك

ولم أسهر الليل التمام لنائم

Without it, I would not have wept blood for one who laughs,

nor stayed awake the whole night for one who sleeps.

ولولا جفون البيض ما وخد الأسى

بأسود ساج سفح ساجم

But for fair women’s eyelids, sorrow would not have driven

a streaming torrent through a still, dark eye.

وما أشك لا أشك النوى بعد بذلها

إلى ابن نظيف ذي العلى والمكارم

I have no doubt: I shall not complain of separation after laying it

before Ibn Naẓīf, possessor of high honor and noble deeds.

حمدت الليالي مذ سمحن بقربه

وهاتيك أسنى منه للمناسم

I praised the nights since they allowed me near him;

through him those nights shine brighter for camels’ hooves.

وقد أوعدتني بالفراق فإن يكن

فلا شاقني من بعده وجه قادم

Yet they have threatened me with parting; if it comes,

may no newcomer’s face stir my longing after him.

وقور الحبا إن كنت تعرف حلمه

تقرب إلى إحسانه بالجرائم

Dignified in his seat—if you know his forbearance,

draw near his kindness through offenses.

إذا ما ذكرناه لمحل تهللت

لذكراه أفواه البروق والبواسم

If we mention him to drought, there beam

at his mention the mouths of lightning and the smiling ones.

وحسب علي أنه كسيمه

إذا سار في جيش الندى المتلاحم

It is honor enough for ʿAlī to resemble his namesake

when he marches in generosity’s close-knit army.

شديد على الفقر الملح سماحة

إذا فتكت شوس الخطوب الغواشم

Fierce against relentless poverty through generosity,

when scowling, ruthless calamities wreak destruction.

وزير به طال اليراع على القنا

وراع شفار الباترات الصوارم

A vizier through whom the reed pen towered over spears

and terrified the edges of cleaving, keen swords.

وذو القول ما قس البلاغة عنده

سوى باقل في النظم أو غير ناظم

A master of speech: beside him, eloquent Quss is

merely Bāqil in verse, or not even a versifier.

علمت به قصد السبيل على النهى

وما جاها قصد السبيل كعالم

Through him I learned the mind’s straight path;

no ignorant man seeking that path is like a scholar.

سما نحو غايات المعالي فنالها

بطرف عن العلياء ليس بنائم

He rose toward the utmost heights of honor and attained them,

with an eye that never slumbers where glory is concerned.

وجاد لم يعبس لجاديه وجهه

الجميل ولم يقرع له سن نادم

He gave; never did his face frown upon his supplicant—

his beautiful face—nor was a tooth gnashed in regret over it.

وقد يكلف السيف الحديث صقاله

ويسود وجه العارض المتراكم

A sword’s polish may compel it to speak,

and the face of the heaped raincloud turns black.

يريد ليخفي عرفه وهو حاذق

بإفشاء أسرار الندى والنمائم

He wishes to conceal his beneficence, though he is adept

at divulging generosity’s secrets and carrying tales.

فدعني من الأخبار أن أقلها

صحيح وإيها من أحاديث حاتم

So spare me those reports, for only a few

are true; and enough of the tales of Ḥātim!

هو البارق العلوي يروي زلاله

وإن لم يماطل ومضه لحظ شائم

He is the heavenly lightning-cloud whose clear water quenches thirst,

though its flash never keeps a rain-watcher’s gaze waiting.

له الاسم في الآفاق ليس بمضر

إلى الفعل لا يخشى حروف الجوازم

His name spans the horizons, never harmful

to action, which fears no jussive particles.

وذو البيت عادي البناء وإن غدت

بيوت أناس واهيات الدعائم

He possesses a house built like ʿĀd’s, though

other people’s houses have become weak in their supports.

تحل بهامات النجود طهاته

لبذل قراه لا بطون التهائم

His cooks station themselves upon the highlands’ crowns

to offer his hospitality, not in the lowlands’ hollows.

يبيحك بشر الوجه من قبل زاده

وإصفاده والبشر إحدى المطاعم

He offers you a cheerful face before his provisions

and his gifts; cheerfulness is itself one of the foods.

هو لابن بدور التمِّ والأنجم العلى

وسحب الغوادي والبحار الخضارم

He is indeed a son of full moons and lofty stars,

of morning rainclouds and vast seas.

من القوم إن قامت وغى اغمدوا الظبى

وخفوا إلى أعدائهم بالغرائم

Of a people who, when warfare rises, sheathe their blades

and hasten to their enemies bearing costly payments.

هو رفعوا سمك العلى وسماكه

فطال وكم مدت له كف هادم

They raised glory’s roof and its supporting pillar;

it grew tall—how many a destroyer’s hand has reached toward it!

ولا نسبة بين الأنام وبينهم

سوى أنهم من الجنس أبناء آدم

No kinship exists between mankind and them,

save that, in species, they are sons of Adam.

فلو يدعي المسك الفتيق صفاتهم

لطمن لدعواه خدود اللطائم

If fragrant musk claimed their qualities,

they would slap the perfume-caskets’ cheeks for that claim.

ولو لم يتموا في المهود فضائلاً

لمات عوذت أعطافهم بالتمائم

Had they not perfected virtues in their cradles,

their bodies would not have been guarded with amulets.

غنيت فما لقبته بكماله

وفد تضع الألقاب قدر الأكارم

I was enriched, so I did not title him by his perfection;

titles may diminish the worth of noble men.

وفي شركة الألفاظ عندي حفيظة

وأين هشام من ذوائبه هاشم

I resent the sharing of words;

and where is Hishām beside Hāshim, the crown of his lineage?

أجازني النعمى وثنى بمدحه

فواخجلتي من جوده المتلازم

He rewarded me with bounty and followed it with his praise;

oh, my shame before his unceasing generosity!

ولو لم أخف عتب العلى ما اجبته

ولكن رأيت القول ضربة لازم

Had I not feared high honor’s reproach, I would not have answered him;

but I judged speaking a binding obligation.

بأي يد أنجو إذا كلماته

تدافعن بي في موجها المتلاطم

By what hand can I escape, when his words

toss me about in their crashing waves?

وجاءت قوافيها تزف هوادياً

بحمر الحلى بيض الطلي والمعاصم

Their rhymes came in procession, leading the way,

with red ornaments and white throats and wrists.

ألذ من الماء القراح مع الطلا

وأحسن من نور الحمى في الكمائم

More delightful than pure water mixed with wine,

and lovelier than the preserve’s blossoms within their calyxes.

جهلت وقاري إن فخرت على الحيا

بقطرة ماء أو بنغبة حائم

I would forget my dignity if I boasted over the rain

of a drop of water or the sip of one circling in thirst.

ولكن جلبت الشكر والشكر ونافق

بناديه في سوق من الجود قائم

But I brought gratitude, and gratitude finds a ready market

in his assembly, where generosity’s marketplace stands.

أبا حسن عفواً فإني مذنب

فما ضقت عفواً قط عن ذنب خادم

Abū Ḥasan, pardon me, for I am at fault;

your pardon has never been too narrow for a servant’s fault.

بعثت سطوراً كالصفوف فراعني

بها ألفات سددت كاللهاذم

You sent written lines like battle ranks; I was struck with fear

by their alifs, aimed like keen spearheads.

خميس معانيه عراب خوالص

تهادى بها قب الحروف الأعاجم

An army whose meanings are purebred Arabians,

borne gracefully by the lean, foreign letters.

كأن بياض الطرس تحت سوادها

وميض الظبي في حالك النقع قاتم

As though the page’s whiteness beneath their blackness

were blade-flashes amid black, murky battle-dust.

فولت له فرسان فكري هزيمة

ولم تخل حرب من هزيم وهازم

So my thought’s horsemen fled before it in defeat;

no battle lacks one routed and one victorious.

وها أنت قد أصبحت خصماً وحاكماً

ويا لك من خصم كريم وحاكم

Here you are, become both adversary and judge;

what a noble adversary and judge you are!