1. حلفت بما يملا النديم وما يملي

    لقد بتُّ عن عذل العواذل في شغل

    I swore by what the boon companion fills and what he dictates:

    Indeed, I spent the night too engrossed to heed the reproachers' reproach.

  2. إذا نادت الأحشاء يا آل محرق

    أجابت فنادت فكرتي يا بني ذهل

    When my entrails cried, 'O house of Muharriq!'

    My thought answered and cried, 'O sons of Dhuhl!'

  3. بروحِيَ فتَّاك اللواحظ طالب

    كرى مقلتي يوم الندى زدته عقلي

    My soul would ransom the slayer with his glances, who seeks

    My eye's slumber; on the day of giving, I granted him my reason too.

  4. من المغلّ أشكو نحوهُ ألم الهوى

    وطبّ الهوى عندِي كما قيل بالمغلي

    I complain to him of colic—the pain of love;

    And love's cure for me, as they say, is a boiled draught.

  5. أعيذ سناه والعذار وريقه

    بما قد أتى في النورِ والنمل والنحل

    I seek protection for his radiance, his cheek-down, and his saliva

    By what has been revealed in al-Nur (Light), al-Naml (the Ants), and al-Nahl (the Bees).

  6. وأصبو إلى السحرِ الذي في جفونهِ

    وإن كنت أدرِي أنه جالبٌ قتلي

    And I yearn for the magic in his eyelids,

    Although I know it brings about my death.

  7. وأملأ أوصال الدروج رسائلاً

    فتبخل هاتيك الشمائل بالوصل

    And I fill the folds of scrolls with letters,

    Yet those dispositions begrudge me union.

  8. ويعجبني رمل المنجم باسمه

    وما ذاك إلا حبّ من حلَّ بالرمل

    The astrologer's sand-divination in his name delights me;

    And that is only love for him who dwells in the sands.

  9. لعلَّ الصبا تهدِي إليَّ رسالةً

    فقد تعبت ما بيننا ألسن الرسل

    Perhaps the east wind will bring me a message,

    For the messengers' tongues have grown weary between us.

  10. يعلِّلني مسرى الرياح وطالما

    تعلَّلت العشَّاق بالريحِ من قبلي

    The winds' night passage consoles me; how often

    Lovers before me have taken comfort in the wind.

  11. ويعذلني من لا يهيم وأدمعي

    كجدوى عماد الدين سابقة العذل

    He who is not love-mad reproaches me, while my tears,

    Like Imad al-Din's bounty, run ahead of reproach.

  12. إذا سحبت جدوى المؤيد ذيلها

    تغطى فخار الفضل من ذلك الفضل

    When al-Mu'ayyad's bounty drags its train,

    The glory of excellence is veiled by that bounty.

  13. مليك إذا رمنا مديح جلاله

    فأقلامنا تجري وأوصافه تملي

    A king: when we seek to praise his majesty,

    Our pens run, and his qualities dictate.

  14. مجدّد أيام الحامد والندى

    ودافع أيام الشكاية والأزل

    Renewing the days of the thankful and of bounty,

    And banishing the days of complaint and hardship,

  15. وباعثها للحربِ جرداً سوابحاً

    كأن دم الأبطال من تحتها يغلي

    And sending them to war, sleek steeds swimming forward,

    As though the heroes' blood were boiling beneath them.

  16. إذا حفيت فوقَ الجسوم تعوَّضت

    بكلِّ جبينٍ كالهلال عن النعل

    When their hooves wear thin upon bodies, they find replacements

    In every crescent-like brow for their shoes.

  17. إذا ما دعته الحرب يا قاتل العدى

    بدا فدعاهُ الجود يا قاتل المحل

    Whenever war calls him, 'O slayer of foes!'

    He appears, and bounty calls him, 'O slayer of drought!'

  18. إذا جئته للعلمِ والجودِ طالباً

    فيا لك بحر باهر الفضل والفصل

    When you come to him seeking knowledge and bounty,

    What an ocean, dazzling in excellence and judgment!

  19. يقدّم في أهل العلى شرف اسمه

    كما قدَّم الاسم النحاةُ على الفعل

    The nobility of his name is placed foremost among the exalted,

    As grammarians placed the noun before the verb.

  20. وتخدمه حتَّى النجوم محبَّة

    ومن أجل ذا تعزى النجوم إلى عقل

    And even the stars serve him out of love,

    And for this reason the stars are ascribed to intellect.

  21. هو المرتقي فوق السها بعزائمٍ

    درت كيف ترقى للفخارِ وتستعلي

    He rises above Suha through firm resolves

    That know how to ascend to glory and soar.

  22. تفرَّد لولا ناصر الدين بالعلى

    فيا حبَّذا أنس الغضنفر بالشبل

    He would be alone in greatness, were it not for Nasir al-Din;

    How delightful the lion's companionship with his cub!

  23. سليل علاً شفت مخايل مجده

    ودلَّت كما دلَّ الفرند على النصل

    A scion of greatness, whose signs of glory show through,

    And attest, as a sword's watered pattern attests to its blade.

  24. يروق لرائيه عليه من النهى

    ألذّ حلى ممَّا يروق من الشكل

    His beholder delights in the intellect he wears—

    Ornaments sweeter than the charms of outward form.

  25. وتعرف فيه من أبيه شمائلاً

    ومن جدِّه والسابقين من الأهل

    And you recognize in him qualities from his father,

    And from his grandfather and the earlier members of his family.

  26. حوى الدهر من علياه أشرف نسخةٍ

    فقابلها يوم المفاخر بالأصل

    Time has gained from his greatness the noblest copy,

    Then compared it with the original on the day of boasting.

  27. كأنك يا ظلّ العفاة بشخصه

    يجاريك للعلياء كالشخص والظّل

    You, O shade of supplicants, seem embodied in him:

    He keeps pace with you toward glory, like a man and his shadow.

  28. يمدُّ لك الله التمكُّن والبقا

    ويعطيك ما ترجوه من رتب الفضل

    May God prolong your dominion and your life,

    And grant you the ranks of excellence you hope for,

  29. إلى أن تراه في ذرى المجد راقياً

    رفيع منار الذكر منتشر العدل

    Until you see him ascending the summits of glory,

    His beacon of renown lofty, his justice widespread,

  30. مثيلك في يومي وغىً ومكارمٍ

    وقد قمت أياماً كثيراً بلا مثل

    Your equal on both the day of battle and the day of noble deeds,

    Though you stood for many days without an equal.

  31. وملتقياً منِّي مدائح عوّدت

    فرائدُها لقيا مقامك من قبل

    And receiving from me praises whose

    Peerless gems were already accustomed to meeting your station.

  32. أصوغ له منها وألحق نسله

    فأجمع مدح الجد والأب والنجل

    I fashion some for him and include his offspring,

    Thus combining praise of grandfather, father, and son.

  33. فديتكَ ملكاً في نداه وبشره

    غمامٌ لمستجدٍّ وصبحٌ لمستجلي

    May I be your ransom—a king who, in bounty and cheer,

    Is a cloud for the gift-seeker and a dawn for the light-seeker.

  34. تخيَّرته دون الأنام ولذَّ لي

    به بدل البعض الجميل من الكلّ

    I chose him above all humankind, and found it sweet

    In him to substitute the beautiful part for the whole.

  35. وأنزلت آمالي لديه وإنه

    لأكرمُ من آل المهلَّب في المحل

    And I lodged my hopes with him; indeed he

    Is more generous in drought than the house of al-Muhallab.

  36. تُفصّح لفظي مجزلاتُ هباته

    فتحسن أمداح الجزيلة بالجزل

    His lavish gifts make my speech eloquent,

    So praise of lavish bounty is graced with weighty words.

  37. سقا الله أيام المؤيد بالهنا

    إذا ما سقا الأيام بالطّلّ والوبل

    May God water al-Mu'ayyad's days with happiness,

    Whenever He waters the days with drizzle and downpour.

  38. لقد أمَّنتنا من أذى كلّ حادث

    وقد فرَّغتنا للتنعّم والدّلّ

    Indeed, you have kept us safe from the harm of every calamity,

    And left us free for luxury and coquetry.

  39. فلا جائرٌ فينا سوى ساق غادةٍ

    ولا ظالمٌ إلاَّ من الأعين النجْل

    So none among us is crooked save a graceful maiden's leg,

    And none oppresses save the wide eyes.