1. مسلسلٌ من حديث الدمع مذروف

    ينبيك أنَّ حديث الصبر مصروف

    A chain-linked account of tears is shed,

    telling you that the tale of patience is set aside.

  2. وإنَّ كلّ مقال العذل مخرَفةٌ

    وكلّ ما نقل الواشون تحريف

    And every utterance of reproach is a fable,

    and all the talebearers report is distortion.

  3. ليتَ الوشاةَ على خيطٍ فكلهمُ

    يداه مشلولةٌ واللحظ مكفوف

    Would that the talebearers were strung on a thread, every one of them

    with his two hands paralyzed and his gaze blinded.

  4. آهاً لقدّك غصناً كلّه ثمرٌ

    لو أنه ببنان اللّثم مقطوف

    Ah, for your figure—a bough that is all fruit!

    If only it were plucked by the fingertips of kisses!

  5. وتبر خدّك ديناراً له لمعٌ

    لو أنه لعيان الطرف مصروف

    And your cheek's gold—a dinar that gleams—

    if only it were paid out for the eye to behold!

  6. أفدي التي تشتكي مني هوىً ولها

    بالرّدف والخصر تثقيلٌ وتخفيف

    I would ransom her who complains of my passion, who has

    heaviness in her buttocks and lightness in her waist.

  7. تدعو على الكثب والأغصان لاعبة

    فالكثبُ مهتوفة والغصن مقصوف

    Playfully she calls curses down on dunes and branches;

    the dunes are assailed with cries, the bough is snapped.

  8. لي في القصائد تشبيبٌ بها ولها

    على جريح الحشا باللحظ تذفيف

    My poems hold love-verses of her, while she has

    a glance that finishes off one wounded in the heart.

  9. قالوا حكى القمر التميّ طلعتها

    قلنا صدقتم ولكن فيه تكليف

    They said, 'The full moon resembles her countenance.'

    We said, 'You speak truly, but the likeness is strained.'

  10. كما حكى نيلُ مصر جودَ سائدها

    لو لم يكن في وفاء النيل تسويف

    As Egypt's Nile resembles the bounty of its lord,

    if only the Nile did not delay in keeping its promise.

  11. ندبٌ عطفت أماديحي على نسقٍ

    من فضلِه حبَّذا للفضل معطوف

    A generous man: I linked my praises to a sequence

    of his merits—how fine a link to merit!

  12. مدبر الملك بالأقلام يقدمها

    في الجودِ والبأسِ تحويلٌ وتخويف

    He governs the kingdom with pens; before them go,

    in bounty and battle, transfers and intimidation.

  13. بادي السعادة لو بثَّت مناقبه

    في الأفق لم يبدُ في الأقمارِ مخسوف

    His good fortune shines forth: were his virtues spread

    across the horizon, no moon would appear eclipsed.

  14. طلق السرة يعطي حيث وجه ذكا

    كأنه بغبارِ المحل مكسوف

    Bright of countenance, he gives wherever a once-radiant face

    seems eclipsed by the dust of drought.

  15. يا من يعنفه في صنع مكرمةٍ

    هيهات أن يروع العشَّاق تعنيف

    O you who rebuke him for performing a generous deed,

    far be it that rebuke should frighten lovers!

  16. في كفِّه قلمٌ الإنشاد منشأه

    فضلٌ وفصلٌ وتعريفٌ ومعروف

    In his palm is a pen whose recitation springs from

    excellence, judgment, recognition, and kindness.

  17. فتوح ملكٍ من الأسجاع خصَّ به

    هذا وذاك وسجع الناس توقيف

    A king's conquests in rhymed prose, with which he has favored

    this one and that; others' rhymed prose stands still.

  18. وفضل نظمٍ له من بيته شرفٌ

    فهو الرضيّ وباقي النظم مشروف

    And fine verse, whose nobility comes from his own house:

    it is al-Radi, and all other verse is outshone.

  19. خطَّافةٌ لبّ رائيه براعته

    ووجهُ حاسدها بالرَّوع مخطوف

    His brilliance snatches the mind of whoever beholds him,

    and its envier's face is blanched with fear.

  20. وصاحب السرّ قد سرَّ الزمان به

    صدر النديّ وللآلاء توطيف

    And the keeper of secrets, in whom the age rejoices,

    is foremost in the assembly, with favors lavished abundantly.

  21. كم قاصدٍ جاء في جهرٍ وآخر في

    سرٍّ وللكلّ إنعامٌ وتشريف

    How many a petitioner came openly, and another in

    secret; for all there are gifts and honors.

  22. وكم تلطفُ كتبٍ في رسائله

    وطيَّها لمزاج الخطب تلطيف

    And how much delicate craft of writing in his letters,

    within whose folds is a soothing of calamity's temper.

  23. تسيل في الطرس أرواحُ العداة به

    حتى كأن يراع الطرس مرعوف

    Through it, enemies' souls flow across the parchment,

    till the parchment's reed pen seems to have a nosebleed.

  24. فالبرّ والبحر ذا بالأمن منبسطٌ

    وذاك من خجلٍ بالجودِ مرجوف

    So land and sea: the former lies at ease in safety,

    and the latter trembles, ashamed by his bounty.

  25. وكلّ عافٍ بحرف الخطّ متّصلٌ

    وكلّ عادٍ بحرف السيف محذوف

    And every supplicant is joined by a written letter,

    and every aggressor is erased by the sword's edge.

  26. شكراً لعطفٍ وأعراضٍ لديك هما

    لعبد أبوابكم برٌّ وتثقيف

    Thanks for your kindness and neglect: together they are

    favor and correction for the servant at your gates.

  27. أعرضت عنه فوالت حربه فئةٌ

    شاكوا السلاح فتضريبٌ وتسييف

    You turned away from him, and a faction kept up its war against him,

    armed with weapons—then came blows and sword-strokes.

  28. وما شكوتُ وما الشكوى إلى بشرٍ

    من خلق مثلي والأقدار تصريف

    Yet I did not complain; complaint to a mortal is not

    in the nature of one like me; destinies shift and change.

  29. حتى إذا غبطتك المكرمات عفت

    تلك الهنات وكرّوا بعد ما عيفوا

    Until, when noble deeds envied you, there vanished

    those failings; they returned after being shunned.

  30. إن ساءَ قوماً مقامي منشداً مدحاً

    لساءهم ليَ تشريفٌ وتسريف

    If my standing to recite praise displeased some,

    honors and lavish bounty for me would surely displease them.

  31. كم خلعةٍ قلت للاحي وقد حضرت

    وعضّ لحيته للغيظ ذي صوف

    Of many a robe of honor, once it arrived, I told my reprover,

    as he bit his beard in rage, 'This is wool!'

  32. وحبَّذا وبرٌ قد غصَّت فيه غنىً

    وكان لي وبرٌ بالفقرِ منتوف

    And how fine a fur, crammed with riches,

    when my own fur had been plucked bare by poverty.

  33. وغلَّة طاف أولادي فقلت لهم

    اسعوا لها يا عفاة البيت أو طوفوا

    And a harvest my children circled; I said to them,

    'Hasten to it, O suppliants of the house, or circle it!'

  34. سمراء حنطيَّة يغترّ مبسمها

    فكلها بشفاه اللّثم مرشوف

    A brown, wheat-colored one, her mouth opening in a smile,

    all of her sipped by the lips of kisses.

  35. دقَّت يدُ الرزق بابي وهي ناشزةٌ

    فقلت كسّ أخت رزق فيه تعسيف

    The hand of sustenance knocked at my door, yet remained defiant,

    so I said, 'Fuck the sister of a livelihood that brings oppression!'

  36. وعلّمتني نظمَ الشعر من دُرَرٍ

    ما بيت واحدها بالفقرِ مزحوف

    And it taught me to string poetry from pearls,

    not a single verse of which is shortened by poverty.

  37. هذا هو الخبز يا أجنادَ أدعية

    وفي المجاريب حرب الليل مصفوف

    This is bread, O soldiers of supplication,

    and in the prayer niches the night's battle is drawn up.

  38. خبزٌ وخيرٌ وجبرٌ بعد ما نطقت

    فللمحامد تجنيسٌ وتصحيف

    Bread, goodness, and restoration, after I spoke—

    for praise has its puns and its altered letter-dots.

  39. لينطق الجود بعد العيّ ذا مدحٍ

    تأتي وما عندها في القولِ تكليف

    Let bounty speak after speechlessness, bearing praises

    that come unforced, with no strain in their utterance.

  40. لا زلت ممتدحاً منِّي بنظمِ فتىً

    في المادحين فلا يثنيه معروف

    May you ever be praised by me, in the verse of a youth

    among the panegyrists, whom no favor turns aside.

  41. تجلّ عن نظم ورَّاق مدائحه

    وعن ثناً فيهِ للجزَّار تقطيف

    His panegyrics rise above al-Warraq's verse,

    and above praise pruned by al-Jazzar.

  42. نظَّفت فكري لكم من حبّ ذي قلم

    فإن شرط وعاء الحبّ تنظيف

    I have cleansed my thoughts for you of love for a pen-wielder,

    for the vessel of love requires cleansing.