1. طيفٌ تصيدته والليل محتبك

    من حلية الشهب أو من شعره الحبك

    A phantom I caught while the night was interwoven

    With starry jewels, or with his hair's woven curls.

  2. بين الذوائب تمشي في حبائلها

    يا حبَّذا الظبي أو يا حبَّذا الشرك

    You walk among the tresses, within their snares;

    O, how lovely the gazelle—or, O, how lovely the snare!

  3. عجبت من لائمٍ هتكي على قمر

    الشمس منه على الحيطان تنهتك

    I marvel at one who censures my lost modesty over a moon;

    The sun, because of him, is laid bare upon the walls.

  4. محجب لا يراه العاذلون ولا

    أصغى إليهم وإن برُّوا وإن أفكوا

    Veiled: the reproachers do not see him, nor do I

    Listen to them, whether they speak truth or lie.

  5. فليتهم نظروه واستمعت لهم

    وخلَّصونيَ من جفنيه واشتبكوا

    If only they had seen him, and I had listened to them,

    And they had freed me from his eyelids and become entangled themselves.

  6. أبكي وعاذليَ التعبان يطلبني

    أسلو فيأخذني من عقلِهِ الضحك

    I weep, and my weary reproacher asks me

    To forget my love; his reasoning makes laughter seize me.

  7. وكيف أسلو هوى بدرٍ رضيت بأن

    أشقى به وهو في اللّذَّات منهمك

    How can I forget love for a full moon, when I consented

    To suffer because of him while he is engrossed in pleasures?

  8. لو يعلم الترك أهلوه بأنيَ قد

    شبَّهته البدر ما أبقوا ولا تركوا

    If the Turks, his people, knew that I had

    Likened him to the full moon, they would spare nothing and leave nothing.

  9. أمير حسنٍ كما قلنا أمير تقىً

    في الشامِ وهو على شهبائه ملك

    A prince of beauty, as we have said, a prince of piety

    In Syria, and a king over its gray city, Aleppo.

  10. سيف الملوك وكافيهم إذا منحوا

    يوم العطاء ويوم البؤس إن فتكوا

    The kings' sword and their mainstay when they give,

    On the day of bounty, and the day of distress if they strike ruthlessly.

  11. نحن بلقياه إن نفنى بفرقته

    كأنما نحنُ يا بحر الندى سمك

    We, in meeting him—if we perish at parting from him—

    Are as though we were fish, O sea of generosity.

  12. قالوا امتدحه فقلت العيّ معذرة

    قالوا فخذ من حلاه الدرّ ينسلك

    They said, 'Praise him'; I said, 'Inarticulacy is an excuse.'

    They said, 'Then take pearls from his graces; they will string themselves.'

  13. أمداحه من عطاه أو فضائله

    كأنَّ أمداحه من تبره سبكوا

    His praises come from his bounty or his virtues,

    As though they had cast his praises from his raw gold.

  14. ذو الجود والبأس كم يحيى ببيِّنةٍ

    من حيٍّ أو يهلك الأعدا بما هلكوا

    Lord of bounty and might—how many he gives life to with clear proof,

    Among the living, or destroys foes through what brought their doom.

  15. يظنُّ من طار خوفاً من مهابته

    أنَّ النجوم عليه في الدجى شبك

    One who flies in fear of his awe-inspiring presence imagines

    That the stars over him in the darkness are a net.

  16. وفي النهار يرى خيلاً يضاعفها

    كأنَّ ظلّ المذاكي خلفها رمك

    And by day he sees horses, doubling their number,

    As though the mature steeds' shadows behind them were mares.

  17. فالشام كالحرم المأمون طائره

    فيه الأماني وفيه البرّ والنسك

    Thus Syria is like the sanctuary, its birds safe;

    In it are hopes, and in it righteousness and devotion.

  18. نعمٌ وفي حلبٍ فاضت مراضعها

    جدوى خوارزم كالأنواء تعترك

    Blessings—and in Aleppo their nursing breasts overflow;

    Khwarazm's bounty contends like rain-bearing stars.

  19. والغيث يهمل لا محلٌ ولا سغبٌ

    والأمن يشمل لا خوفٌ ولا دَرَك

    And rain pours down: no drought, no hunger;

    And safety enfolds all: no fear, no pursuit.

  20. إن جادَ فالمزن في العافين منسفحٌ

    أو جالَ فالدَّمُ في العادين منسفك

    If he gives, the rain clouds pour upon those seeking bounty;

    Or if he charges, blood is spilled among the aggressors.

  21. ودولة الناصر السلطان زاهرةٌ

    وللسعودِ على أمصارِها برك

    And the realm of al-Nasir, the sultan, flourishes,

    And auspicious stars kneel upon its cities.

  22. كانت عدى الملك كالثعبان فاصطَلحوا

    وبعضهم كان كالبرغوث فانْفركوا

    The king's enemies were like a serpent; then they made peace,

    And some were like fleas, and were rubbed to pieces.

  23. إذا تفرزنَ في الطاغين بندقهم

    فرأسه بتراب الحتف ينمعك

    When their pawn becomes a chess vizier among the tyrants,

    Then his head rolls in the dust of death.

  24. كسرى من الدولة الشهباء منكسرٌ

    قِدماً وقيصر بالتقصير مرتبك

    Chosroes is broken by the gray-bright realm,

    Of old; and Caesar is entangled in his shortcomings.

  25. فالأمن يعمر منها فوقَ ما تعبوا

    والرُّعب يردع عنها فوقَ ما فتكوا

    Thus the security it brings builds beyond all their toil,

    And terror wards foes from it beyond all their slaughter.

  26. وأنت نجل ذوي ملك لخدمته

    قد قدَّموا منه في الأرواح ما ملكوا

    And you are the scion of sovereigns who, in his service,

    Have offered from their holdings all the lives they possessed.

  27. أنت البداوة في التركِ الأولى نشأوا

    مع الضراغم في الأغيال تشترك

    You embody nomad life among the Turks who grew up

    With lions; in the thickets you share their haunts.

  28. خيولهم في الوغى للبيض راكضةٌ

    وفي جفان القِرى كالبُدنِ تبترك

    Their horses gallop toward white blades in battle,

    And kneel like sacrificial camels in the bowls of hospitality.

  29. محمرَّة في العطا آلاف ما وهبوا

    كأنهم لدمِ الأكياس قد سفكوا

    Red in their bounty are the thousands they have given,

    As though they had spilled the blood of the purses.

  30. يا من بحبلِ ولاه أو مواهبه

    ومن بمسكِ ثناه فاز ممتسك

    O you, by whose cord of allegiance or gifts,

    And by the musk of whose praise, whoever clings has prospered:

  31. جبراً لها مدحة لولاك ما انسلكت

    نظماً به سار قوم أية سلكوا

    To mend it—a praise-poem that, without you, would not have been strung

    Into verse with which people traveled, whatever path they took.

  32. كم مثلها قلت في روض الشباب وكم

    قد قال غيري فبانَ الزهر والحسك

    How many like it I spoke in youth's garden, and how many

    Others have spoken; then the flowers stood apart from the thorns.

  33. قصرت نظميَ إلا أنه نخبٌ

    وطوَّل الناس إلاَّ أنهم لبكوا

    I shortened my verse, but it is choice;

    Others lengthened theirs, but muddled it.

  34. وما تقضت لبانات لطائفةٍ

    قالت حلاوة ألفاظي لقد علكوا

    Nor were a faction's wishes fulfilled;

    The sweetness of my words said, 'Indeed, they have chewed gum.'

  35. فليعذر الآن مغلوب بعائلةٍ

    ليس السكوت بمجديهم ولا الحراك

    So let one burdened by a family be excused now;

    Neither silence nor activity does them any good.

  36. تدور في أحرف الألفاظ هامتهُ

    وما يدور على حرفٍ لهم حنك

    His head spins among the letters of words,

    Yet not a jaw of theirs moves over a single letter.

  37. أموتُ حزناً إذا عاينت حالهمُ

    وما بيَ الموت إلا هذه الترك

    I die of grief when I witness their condition,

    And my death comes only from these Turks.

  38. خلَّصت رزقهم من كيدِ كائدهم

    وغبت عنهم فلا والله ما تركوا

    I rescued their livelihood from their schemer's plot,

    And was absent from them—no, by God, they were not spared.

  39. ولي خصومٌ ولست الآن شاكيهم

    لكنهم في غدٍ يدرون أينَ شكوا

    I have adversaries, and I am not complaining of them now,

    But tomorrow they will know where complaints against them were lodged.

  40. لا زالَ حظُّك من دنيا وآخرةٍ

    ميسراً وحظوظ الناس تعترك

    May your share of this world and the next always be

    Made easy, while other people's fortunes contend.

  41. يجرِي بسؤددك الوضَّاح كلّ ثنا

    كأنما هو نجمٌ والثنا فلك

    Every praise courses with your radiant eminence,

    As though it were a star and praise its celestial sphere.