1. قف بالمنازل أو كناس ظبائها

    فالقلب يعرفها على لأوائها

    Stop at the dwellings, or the covert of their gazelles.

    For the heart recognizes them despite their desolation.

  2. لم أبك إذا نشرت بنود سحابها

    إلا لحاجتها إلى أنوائها

    I did not weep when its clouds' banners unfurled,

    Except because it needed their seasonal rains.

  3. وارب غادية يسح دموعها

    ضحك البروق على ثرى بطحائها

    And many a morning cloud has its tears poured out

    By lightning's laughter upon the soil of its broad valley.

  4. فكأن جذوة نارها من أضلعي

    وكأن جمة أدمعي من مائها

    So its fire's live coal seems drawn from my ribs,

    And the flood of my tears seems drawn from its water.

  5. أسفي على الشرفين قولة مكبد

    حنيت جوانحه على أحنائها

    My grief for al-Sharafayn is a liver-stricken man's cry,

    Whose ribs have bent inward around their curves.

  6. والبان ترقص من غناء حمامها

    والأرض تضحك من بكاء سمائه

    The bān trees dance to the singing of its doves,

    And the earth laughs at the weeping of its sky.

  7. وكأن حيالة الحسان بربعها

    نظمت عقود الدر من حصبائها

    And as though, before the beauties in its abode,

    Pearl necklaces were strung from its pebbles.

  8. فسقى دمشقاً كل مثقلة الخطى

    تمشي فتسحب من فضول ملائها

    So may every cloud with heavy footsteps water Damascus,

    Walking and trailing the excess of its robes,

  9. خفاقة العذبات ذات هيادب

    أرج النسيم يفوح من أرجائها

    With fluttering tassels and hanging fringes.

    The breeze's fragrance wafts from its reaches.

  10. باحت بها نفاحته فتحدثت

    عنة مضمرات المزن في أحشائها

    Its fragrant breath revealed it; then spoke

    Of it the rainclouds' secrets within their depths.

  11. أبكي على المقصور من أيامها

    لو دام والممدود من أفيائها

    I weep for the brief span of its days—

    If only it endured!—and for its lengthened shade,

  12. وليالياً لم أسر طالب لذة

    إلا مع الأقمار من ظلمائها

    And nights when I did not journey seeking pleasure

    Except with moons from their darkness.

  13. أبغي الثناء على حماة أسودها

    جهدي فتشغلني صفات ظبائها

    I seek to praise its lion-defenders

    With all my strength, but descriptions of its gazelles distract me.

  14. إني لأعجب كيف ينكر فضلها

    بشر ومحيي الدين من أبنائها

    I truly marvel how its excellence can be denied

    By any mortal, when Muḥyī al-Dīn is among its sons.

  15. يقظ جبال علومه في صدره

    مثل الجبال الشم في بيدائها

    Vigilant, with mountains of learning in his breast,

    Like the lofty mountains in its wilderness.

  16. زفت لسؤدده فكان كفيها

    لا ترغب الحسناء عن أكفائها

    She was led as a bride to his eminence, and he proved her equal;

    No beauty turns away from those who match her.

  17. ولقد رأيت ما رأيت فضيلة

    شهدت بها الأمثال من أعدائها

    Indeed, I have seen—what a virtue I have seen!—

    Attested even by peers among its enemies.

  18. من تستخف الطود حبوة حلمه

    ويبخل الأنواء يوم حيائها

    One whose mantle of forbearance makes a mountain seem light,

    And makes the rainstorms seem stingy on their day of rain.

  19. متشابه الإحسان عثر بنانه

    تتلو وفود نداه محكم آيها

    His fingers' slips are the ambiguous part of beneficence;

    Delegations to his bounty recite its unambiguous verses.

  20. فلت شباة الغيب حدة ذهنه

    إن السيوف جلالها بمضائها

    His mind's sharpness has blunted the point of the unseen;

    Indeed, swords owe their majesty to their sharpness.

  21. لولا نداه لما وثقت لنفسه

    بسلامة من نار فرط ذكائها

    Were it not for his bounty, I would not trust his soul

    To remain safe from the fire of its excessive brilliance.

  22. خافت وقائعها العدا فكأنما

    طبعت سيوف الهند من آرائها

    The foes feared its battles, as though

    The swords of India were forged from its counsels.

  23. وكأنما السمر اللدان متونها

    نشوى وقد دارت سلاف ثنائها

    And as though the tawny, supple spears—their shafts

    Were drunk, as the pure wine of its praise went round.

  24. طالت يد إلطافها فلأجلها

    قصرت بنان الحوب عن حوبائها

    Its hand of kindness reached far; because of it,

    The fingers of sin fell short of its inmost soul.

  25. شيدت يا قاضي القضاة محمداً

    خطط العلى ورفعت سمك بنائها

    You have built, O Chief Judge Muhammad,

    The foundations of eminence, and raised its building high.

  26. ونشرت أعلام الشريعة بعدما

    طويت فسار العدل تحت لوائها

    And you unfurled the banners of the sacred law after

    They had been folded, so justice marched beneath its standard.

  27. كيف السبيل إلى مداك لعاثر

    يبغي النجوم الزهر في عليائها

    How can one who stumbles find a way to your height,

    Seeking the radiant stars in their lofty realm?

  28. يبس البنان يذم منك خلائقاً

    ردت وجوه السائلين بمائها

    One dry of hand disparages virtues in you

    That restored the freshness of petitioners' faces.

  29. قد كان يمكنه خفاء ظهورها

    لو كان يخفي الشمس في أضوائها

    He could indeed have hidden their manifest splendor,

    If he could hide the sun amid its radiance.

  30. ولك المناقب كالنجوم كثيرة

    إن النجوم أكل عن أحصائها

    Your merits are many as the stars;

    Indeed, I weary of numbering the stars.

  31. ولقد عزمت على قضاء فروضها

    لما زللت فلم أقم بأدائها

    I had indeed resolved to discharge their obligations,

    When I faltered and failed to perform them.

  32. حجبتني الأيام عنك ولم يزل

    كدر الليالي دون عفو صفائها

    The days hid me from you, and still

    The nights' murk obstructs their untroubled clarity.

  33. فلو استطعت بحر مدحك آنفاً

    لكتبت صحف صباحها بمسائها

    Had I been equal to the sea of your praise earlier,

    I would have written upon their morning's pages with their evening.

  34. أسديت مكرمة فإن أمهلـ

    ـت لم تندم على إسدائها

    You bestowed a noble favor; if you grant me time,

    You will not regret bestowing it.

  35. ولتأتينك على بكر طفلة

    محجت بفضل وليها وولائها

    A tender virgin will surely come to you—I pledge it—

    Polished by her guardian's favor and her loyalty.

  36. تجلى فيدهش عندها الأسماع والـ

    ـأبصار حسن رويها وروائها

    She is unveiled; then the ears and—

    —eyes are dazzled by her rhyme's beauty and her splendor.

  37. خصتك بالوصل الهني وعمت الحسـ

    ـاد غمة صدها وجفائها

    She favored you with blissful union, while over the envi—

    —ous spread the grief of her rejection and estrangement.

  38. من كل خالدة القوافي أشبهت

    نعماك في الإكثار لا إيطائها

    One of those deathless-rhymed odes, resembling

    Your favors in abundance, but not in repetition.

  39. تتسابق الأفهام علم رويها

    من قبل إتيان الرواة بيائها

    Minds race to anticipate its rhyme-letter

    Before the reciters bring forth its yā’.

  40. فأعد فرب صنيعة لو لم تعد

    خفيت ولا أعنيك في إبدائها

    Then repeat your favor: many a kindness, if not repeated,

    Would stay hidden; I will not burden you in making it known.

  41. فلطالما صقلت مهندة الظبى

    فازداد رونق حسنها ومضائها

    For often an Indian-forged blade has been polished,

    And its beauty's luster and its sharpness have increased.

  42. والصبح غير صقيلة مرآته

    ما لم تقم شمس الضحى بجلائها

    And dawn's mirror is not burnished

    Unless the midmorning sun rises to polish it.