تجلَّى فقلت البدر والليل شعره

تجلَّى فقلت البدر والليل شعره

وماسَ فقلت الغصن والحلي زهره

وماسَ فقلت الغصن والحلي زهره

He shone forth; I said, 'The full moon—and night is his hair.'

He appeared, so I said the full moon and the night is his hair

He swayed; I said, 'A branch—and his jewels are its blossoms.'

And he touched, so I said the branch and the jewelry is his flower

وأفصح عن ألفاظه وابتسامه

وأفصح عن ألفاظه وابتسامه

فأعجبني نظم الجمان ونثره

فأعجبني نظم الجمان ونثره

He revealed his words and his smile,

And he spoke eloquently with his words and smile

so I delighted in pearls both strung and scattered.

So I admired the prose of beauty and its poetry

مليح يغيظُ الوردَ حمرةَ خدّه

مليح يغيظُ الوردَ حمرةَ خدّه

ويطوي حديث العنبر الورد نشره

ويطوي حديث العنبر الورد نشره

A beauty whose cheek's redness enrages the rose,

Beautiful, angering the rose with the redness of his cheek

and whose fragrance puts talk of rosy ambergris to rest.

And folding the speech of amber, the rose opened its petals

كأنَّ بما في الثغر نظم عقدُه

كأنَّ بما في الثغر نظم عقدُه

وإلاَّ بما في العقد نظّم ثغره

وإلاَّ بما في العقد نظّم ثغره

As though his necklace were strung with what is in his mouth,

As if with what is in his mouth, his necklace was composed

or else his mouth were arrayed with what is in his necklace.

Otherwise with what is in his necklace, his mouth was composed

عجبت لمخضرّ العِذار بخدِّه

عجبت لمخضرّ العِذار بخدِّه

على أنَّه يذكو ويلهب جمره

على أنَّه يذكو ويلهب جمره

I marvel at the green down upon his cheek,

I was amazed by the greenness of passion on his cheek

though it burns bright and its embers flare.

That it ignites and inflames its embers

وليس عِذاراً ما أرى غير أنَّه

وليس عِذاراً ما أرى غير أنَّه

لماءِ حياةِ الرِّيق أقبل خضره

لماءِ حياةِ الرِّيق أقبل خضره

And what I see is no cheek-down; it is only that

It is not passion what I see except that

his Khidr has come to the life-giving water of his saliva.

Its greenness came from the water of life’s saliva

كلفت بهِ حلوَ اللَّمى بابليه

كلفت بهِ حلوَ اللَّمى بابليه

فمن أين يحلو عنه للمرء صبره

فمن أين يحلو عنه للمرء صبره

I am smitten with him—sweet is the Babylonian wine of his dusky lips;

I tasked the sweet blame, Babylon

how, then, could patience away from him be sweet to anyone?

So where can patience be sweet for a person from him

وأسكنته قلبي الذي طارَ فرحةً

وأسكنته قلبي الذي طارَ فرحةً

فطائره قلبي الحزين ووكره

فطائره قلبي الحزين ووكره

I lodged him in my heart, which flew for joy;

And I settled him in my heart that flew happily

so my sorrowing heart is both his bird and his nest.

So my flying heart, its nest and burrow

ووالله ما وفيته حقَّ نزله

ووالله ما وفيته حقَّ نزله

إذا كانَ في نارِ الحشا مستقره

إذا كانَ في نارِ الحشا مستقره

By God, I have not given him his due welcome,

By Allah I did not fulfill his right of lodging

when his dwelling is in the fire within my breast.

If he stays in the fire of passion

عليَّ له أن أبذل القلب والحشا

عليَّ له أن أبذل القلب والحشا

على ما يرى في الحبِّ والأمر أمره

على ما يرى في الحبِّ والأمر أمره

I owe him the surrender of my heart and my very being,

It is upon me to give my heart and passion for him

as he sees fit in love; the command is his.

For what he sees in love and the matter is his matter

ويعجبني طرفٌ تدرُّ دموعه

ويعجبني طرفٌ تدرُّ دموعه

على حسنه الغالي فلله درّه

على حسنه الغالي فلله درّه

I delight in an eye whose tears stream

And I like an eye that sheds its tears

over his priceless beauty—God bless its bounty!

On his precious beauty, so for him is its pearls

أحنُّ لوجهٍ تهتُ فيه صبابةً

أحنُّ لوجهٍ تهتُ فيه صبابةً

فلله صبّ ضلّ إذ لاح بدرُه

فلله صبّ ضلّ إذ لاح بدرُه

I yearn for a face in which I lost myself in love;

I yearn for a face that youthfulness wanders in

God bless the lover who lost his way when his full moon shone!

So for Allah pours misguided as its full moon appeared

وأنصب طرفي نحو طرف يشوقني

وأنصب طرفي نحو طرف يشوقني

إذا ما الْتقى في الحبِّ نصبي وكسره

إذا ما الْتقى في الحبِّ نصبي وكسره

I train my gaze toward an eye that stirs my longing,

And I direct my gaze towards a gaze that excites me

when my straining and his languor meet in love.

When they meet in love, my erection and its breakage

أما والذي قاست عليهِ جوانحي

أما والذي قاست عليهِ جوانحي

من الضنك ما قاسَى من الردف خصره

من الضنك ما قاسَى من الردف خصره

Indeed, by him for whom my ribs have suffered

By the one whom my wings endured from anguish

the same constriction his waist has suffered from his hips,

What the tight waist endured from harness

لقد زيَّن قلبي المستهام بحبِّه

لقد زيَّن قلبي المستهام بحبِّه

كما بشهاب الدِّين قد زيّن دهره

كما بشهاب الدِّين قد زيّن دهره

he has adorned my heart, bewildered with love for him,

He adorned my passionate heart with his love

as his age has been adorned with Shihab al-Din.

As the era was adorned with the meteors of religion

رئيس كما ترضى السيادة والعلى

رئيس كما ترضى السيادة والعلى

بهِ زال ذلّ الدهر واشْتدَّ أزره

بهِ زال ذلّ الدهر واشْتدَّ أزره

A leader whom lordship and eminence approve;

A chief who is pleased with supremacy and highness

through him the age's abasement vanished and its strength grew firm.

Through him the era’s humiliation disappeared and its burden strengthened

كثير الأيادي البيض في كلِّ مقصدٍ

كثير الأيادي البيض في كلِّ مقصدٍ

إذا ما غدت تسعى على الطرس حمره

إذا ما غدت تسعى على الطرس حمره

He abounds in white-handed favors in every undertaking,

Of many white hands in every purpose

whenever his red pens set out coursing across the page.

When the red horses race in the morning

عليك به إن عافت المدح الورى

عليك به إن عافت المدح الورى

وضاق به سهل الرَّجاءِ ووعره

وضاق به سهل الرَّجاءِ ووعره

Turn to him if mankind spurns praise,

Rely on him if the praise of mankind is wholesome

and hope's smooth and rugged paths grow too narrow for it.

And its easy hope narrowed and roughened

سجاياه لا زَهر الرِّياض وعرفها

سجاياه لا زَهر الرِّياض وعرفها

وجدواه لا ظلّ الغمام وقطره

وجدواه لا ظلّ الغمام وقطره

His virtues—not the gardens' flowers and their fragrance;

His traits not the flowers of gardens and their fragrance

and his bounty—not the clouds' shade and their rain.

And his substance not the shade of clouds and their drops

إذا رمت أن تتلو على يدهِ الرَّجا

إذا رمت أن تتلو على يدهِ الرَّجا

فتيسير عنوان الندى منه نشره

فتيسير عنوان الندى منه نشره

If you wish to read hope upon his hand,

If you wish to recite hope through his hand

his unfolding of it makes bounty's heading easy to read.

Then the diffusion of dew from him is its broadcast

رأيت لهُ فضلاً على جامعي الثنا

رأيت لهُ فضلاً على جامعي الثنا

كما فضل الشهر المحرَّم عشره

كما فضل الشهر المحرَّم عشره

I have seen in him superiority over those who garner praise,

I saw for him virtues over the collectors of praise

as Muharram's first ten days surpass the month itself.

As the virtue of the sacred month over the ten

وقدراً إذا أضحى به الذكر طائراً

وقدراً إذا أضحى به الذكر طائراً

غدا واقعاً عنه من الليل نسره

غدا واقعاً عنه من الليل نسره

and a stature such that, when renown takes flight with it,

And a power if the mention soars by it

the eagle of the night falls beneath it.

It becomes incumbent from it an eagle of the night

من الباذلي الأموال والقامعي العدا

من الباذلي الأموال والقامعي العدا

فأعداؤهُ تشكو النثارَ ونثره

فأعداؤهُ تشكو النثارَ ونثره

Among those who lavish wealth and subdue enemies,

From those who give wealth and suppress enemies

his enemies complain of scattered largesse and his prose.

So his enemies complain of scattering and broadcast

له قلمٌ تنهلّ بالجودِ سحبه

له قلمٌ تنهلّ بالجودِ سحبه

وتشرق في أفق الفضائلِ زُهره

وتشرق في أفق الفضائلِ زُهره

He has a pen whose clouds pour down generosity,

He has a pen whose clouds give generously

and whose bright stars shine on the horizon of virtues.

And its flowers shine on the horizon of virtues

عجبت له من طاهر اللفظ ظاهر

عجبت له من طاهر اللفظ ظاهر

على أنه قد حاقَ في الناسِ سحره

على أنه قد حاقَ في الناسِ سحره

I marvel at him, pure of speech and plain to see,

I was amazed by the pure eloquence the manifest

though his magic has enveloped mankind.

That he has reached the people’s sorcery

أما وأبي العليا لقد سادَ في الورى

أما وأبي العليا لقد سادَ في الورى

سيادة من أربى على الحصرِ شكره

سيادة من أربى على الحصرِ شكره

Indeed, by the father of glory, he has gained mastery among mankind,

By my father the most high he prevailed in the land

the mastery of one for whom thanks exceed all counting.

A supremacy from one who cultivated beyond gratitude

أثاب فقلنا الغيث أبداه شامه

أثاب فقلنا الغيث أبداه شامه

وزادَ فقلنا النيل أهدته مصره

وزادَ فقلنا النيل أهدته مصره

He rewarded; we said, 'Rain—his Syria brought him forth.'

He rewarded so we said the rain disclosed its sky

He gave more; we said, 'The Nile—his Egypt bestowed him.'

And he gave more so we said the Nile gifted its Egypt

هو المتلقي رفعةً بتواضعٍ

هو المتلقي رفعةً بتواضعٍ

ورُبَّ رفيع حطَّ علياه كبره

ورُبَّ رفيع حطَّ علياه كبره

He attains high rank through humility,

He is the receiver of supremacy with humility

and many an exalted man's pride has brought his eminence low.

And many a high one lowered his arrogance

وأفعاله أوفى ندًى من مقاله

وأفعاله أوفى ندًى من مقاله

وأكرم من أخباره الغرّ خبره

وأكرم من أخباره الغرّ خبره

His deeds are more abundant in generosity than his words,

His actions are truer freshness than his words

and his tested worth is nobler than the splendid reports of him.

And his news is more generous than reports

وأفسح من بحرِ البلاد وبرّها

وأفسح من بحرِ البلاد وبرّها

ومدحي وآمالي نداه وصدره

ومدحي وآمالي نداه وصدره

And broader than the country's sea and land,

And more spacious than the land and sea coasts

and than my praise and hopes, are his bounty and his breast.

And my praise and hopes, its caller and its composure

علقت بحبل من مودته التي

علقت بحبل من مودته التي

هيَ الذَّخر لا بيض الثراء وصفره

هيَ الذَّخر لا بيض الثراء وصفره

I have clung to a cord of his affection, which

I held on a rope of his affection which

is the treasure—not wealth's white and yellow coins.

Is the treasure not the white of wealth and its yellow

وعاودته بالقصدِ أجلو مدائحي

وعاودته بالقصدِ أجلو مدائحي

على فكرِه الأذكى وحسبي فكره

على فكرِه الأذكى وحسبي فكره

I returned to him with purpose, unveiling my praises

And I frequented him the best of my praises

before his keenest mind; his thought suffices me.

To his most prudent mind and my mind suffices

ومن كانَ مثلي واثقاً بولائه

ومن كانَ مثلي واثقاً بولائه

فيا ليت شعري ما يحاول شعره

فيا ليت شعري ما يحاول شعره

Whoever, like me, is confident of his loyalty,

And whoever is like me, confident in his loyalty

then, if only I knew what his poetry seeks!

I wish I know what his poetry tries