ألا من لمسلوب الفؤاد رهينه

معنى بمحجوب الوداد ضنينه

Ah, who will aid one robbed of his heart, its captive,

tormented by one whose love is veiled, who grudges it?

أخو شجنٍ يرعى النجوم كأنما

تعلق أعلى هدبه بجبينه

A man of sorrow, watching the stars, as though

his upper lashes were fastened to his brow.

تجلده شكّ إذ لام لائمٌ

ولكن فرط الوجد عقد يقينه

His fortitude was in doubt when a reprover reproached him;

yet excessive longing is the knot that binds his certainty.

وفي قلبه داءٌ دفين من الأسى

فلا غروَ أن يبكي لأجل دفينه

And in his heart lies a buried sickness of sorrow;

so no wonder he weeps for what lies buried in him.

وظبي له في أسرة الترك نسبة

وفي الهند معنى من مضاء جفونه

And a gazelle whose lineage belongs among the Turks,

and in India, a likeness to the cutting keenness of his eyelids,

من الطالبي كتم الغرام صبابة

وأحسن بمكتوم الغرام مصونه

one of those who ardently seek to conceal their passion—

and how fair is passion, concealed and guarded!

كتمت الهوى في عشقه متفلسفاً

فأصبح عشقي قائلاً بكمونه

I concealed my passion in loving him, playing the philosopher;

so my love came to affirm its own hidden existence.

وعاينت في خدَّيه خطّ عذاره

فأقسمت في صحف الجمال بنونه

And I beheld upon his cheeks the traced line of his down;

so, on the pages of beauty, I swore by its letter nūn.

يحن لي قلبي فلله من رأى

حمًى يتبع الغادين رجع حنينه

My heart yearns for me; by God, who has ever seen

a sanctuary whose plaintive echo follows those departing?

هو الحبُّ يحلو فيه للمرء دمعه

ويطربه في الليل صوت أنينه

Such is love: in it, one's tears become sweet,

and the sound of one's groaning brings delight at night.

برغميَ طرف غاب عنه عزيزه

فعوضه ماء البكا بمهينه

Against my will, my eye lost its precious one;

so weeping's water compensated it with its lowly flow.

روى عن معين الدمع طرفيَ فاسمعوا

حديث جوى قلبي عن ابن معينه

My eye narrated from the spring of tears; listen, then,

to my heart's tale of burning grief, from its spring's son, Ibn Maʿīn.

وإني جلدٌ في ممارسة الهوى

مدلٌّ بمهديِّ الولاء أمينه

And I am steadfast in the practice of love,

confident in loyalty's rightly guided one, its trusted guardian.

يقوم بنصري في الصبابة عون من

أقام ابن أيوبٍ عماداً لدينه

To aid me in passion comes the help of Him who

made Ibn Ayyūb a pillar of His faith.

مليكٌ تولَّى الفضل بعد ضياعه

وهذَّب هذا الدهر بعد خبونه

A king who took charge of excellence after its loss,

and set this age aright after its crookedness.

ومدَّ يميناً يعذر البحر والحيا

إذا حلفا يوم الندى بيمينه

And he extended a right hand: the sea and rain may be excused

if, on the day of bounty, they swear by his right hand.

أخو صدقاتٍ تقدر المدح قدره

فما يشتري في المدح غير ثمينه

A giver whose charitable gifts appraise praise at its worth,

so he buys nothing of praise but its precious kind.

إذا جلب الناس الثناء لبابه

فما جلبوا إلاَّ لباب زبونه

If people bring praise to his gate,

they have brought it only to its buyer's gate.

وما ذاك شحًّا بالثناء وإنَّما

سجية فياض الغمام هتونه

That is not a craving for praise, but rather

the nature of an overflowing cloud, pouring down its rain.

شجٍ بالعلى والعلم والبأس والندى

فلله ما أحلى حديث شجونه

Enamored of glory, learning, valor, and bounty—

by God, how sweet the tale of his longings!

له منزل تهوي المقاصد نحوه

هويَّ حمام الأيك نحو وكونه

His is a dwelling toward which all aspirations swoop,

as woodland doves swoop toward their nests.

تدفق طوفان الندى بجنابه

فأمست مطايا الوفد مثل سفينه

A flood of bounty surged in his precinct,

so the delegation's mounts became like ships upon it.

إذا طلب الملك المؤيد معسرٌ

رأى بشره في وجهه كضمينه

When someone in hardship seeks King al-Muʾayyad,

he sees the cheer upon his face as his guarantor.

عجبت لبشر ضامن الوجه إذا غدا

يطالبه عافي الندى بديونه

I marvel at a smile, the face's guarantor, when there comes

a seeker of bounty to claim his debts from it.

وأروع يهتزّ الزمان لأمره

وما الطود أرسى جانباً من سكونه

And a majestic man at whose command Time trembles;

no mountain's flank is firmer than his calm repose.

إذا حاول الفعل الجليل وجدته

بلا قده في المعضلات وسينه

If he attempts a mighty deed, you find him

without his 'perhaps' or his future 'will' amid daunting tasks.

عزيمة من لا يصعب الجد في العلى

عليه كأنَّ الجد بعض مجونه

His is the resolve of one whose striving for glory is not hard

for him, as though earnest effort were part of his play.

كثير السرى ما بين مشتجر القنا

فيالك ليثاً سائراً في عرينه

Much given to night marches among tangled spears—

what a lion you are, striding through his lair!

يلاقي العدى يوم الوغى متبسِّماً

كأنَّك قد لاقيته بخدينه

He meets his foes on battle-day with a smile,

as though you had met him in the company of his close friend.

وتلهيه في الهيجاء رنَّة قوسهِ

إذا وترٌ ألهى امرأً برنينه

And the twang of his bow entertains him in battle,

when a string delights a man with its ringing.

ولو شاء أغناه عن الجيش ذكره

ورُبَّ حسامٍ هازم بطنينه

And if he wished, his renown would spare him an army;

many a keen sword routs foes with its ringing.

أيا مالكاً أغنى عن الغيث جوده

وأغنته حومات الوغى عن حصونه

O sovereign whose bounty makes rain needless,

and whom the thick of battle frees from need of his fortresses!

بك ارتدَّ مشكوّ الزمان عن الأذى

وأطلق أبناء المنى من سجونه

Through you, Time, so often complained of, turned away from harm

and freed the children of hope from its prisons.

وقد كان ذا همزٍ يحاذر فانتهى

إلى مدِّه بعد الإباء ولينه

And it once had a dreaded sting, but came at last

to giving after refusal, and to gentleness.

وكم لك عندي من ندًى يفضل الثنا

ويحلف أن الشعر غير قرينه

And how much bounty of yours I have that surpasses praise

and swears that poetry is no match for it!

إذا قلت قد قابلته بقصيدةٍ

بدا غيره مستظهراً بكمينه

When I say, 'I have repaid it with an ode,'

another appears, reinforced by its hidden reserves.

فدونك مدحاً من قريحة مادحٍ

يقابل أبكار الصِّلاة بعونه

So take this praise from a praiser's inspiration,

who matches maiden gifts with his seasoned verses.

رأى أنَّك البحر الذي طاب ورده

فجاءك من نظم القريض بنونه

He saw that you are the sea whose draught is sweet,

so he brought you, from woven verse, its nūn—its fish.