1. بكيت ليلاً بوجدي وهي تبتسم

    حتَّى تقايس منثور ومنتظم

    I wept at night with longing, while she smiled,

    until the scattered and the strung matched one another.

  2. دمع يجاوب مسراه تبسمها

    كالروض يضحك حيث الغيث ينسجم

    Tears whose flowing answers her smile,

    like a garden laughing where the rain pours down.

  3. لا كنتَ يا قلبُ كم تصبيك غانيةٌ

    يعدي أخا اللحظ من ألحاظها السقم

    May you cease to be, O heart! How many a beauty beguiles you,

    whose glances infect the gazer with sickness!

  4. أحسن بها ظبية بالسفح تمنعها

    أسد الكماة لها من اسمها أجم

    How lovely—a gazelle on the hillside, guarded

    by warrior-lions, who find thickets in her very name.

  5. عدمت لبيَ من وجدٍ بها وكذا

    جفنيَّ فالآن لا حلمٌ ولا حلُمُ

    I lost my wits through longing for her, and likewise

    my two eyelids: now neither reason nor dreams remain.

  6. وأغيد لم أخف فيه الذنوبَ ولا

    جرى على خده من عارضٍ قلمُ

    And a supple youth, concerning whom I feared no sins, nor

    had the pen of a beard traced his cheek.

  7. يصان حتَّى كأن الخمر ما حرمت

    إلا لكيلا تحاكي ريقه الشبمُ

    He is guarded as though wine were forbidden

    only so it would not imitate his cool saliva.

  8. ما اهتزّ كالغصن في أوراق بردته

    إلا تساقط من أجفانيَ الغَيم

    He never swayed like a branch amid the leaves of his cloak

    without clouds falling from my eyelids.

  9. كانت غواية قلبي في محبّته

    مجهولة السّبل لا هادٍ ولا علم

    My heart's straying in its love for him

    had unknown paths, with neither guide nor waymark.

  10. يسلو الشجيّ ولفظي كله غزل

    ويستفيق وقلبي حشوه ألمُ

    The grieving lover forgets, while my every word is love verse,

    and comes to his senses, while my heart is filled with pain.

  11. فالحبّ عندي وإن طال الملام به

    كالجود عند ابن مصري مشرع أمَم

    Love, to me, though reproach for it goes on,

    is like generosity to Ibn Misri: a watering-place near at hand.

  12. حتَّى إذا صغت في قاضي القضاة حُلا

    مدحٍ تطهر فكرٌ بارعٌ وفمُ

    Until, when I fashioned for the Chief of Judges ornaments

    of praise, a gifted mind and a mouth were purified.

  13. أندى البرية والأنواء باخلة

    وأسبق الخلق والسادات تزدحم

    Most generous of all creation when the rain-stars are miserly,

    and foremost of men when the lords throng together.

  14. حبر تجاوز حدّ المدح من شرفٍ

    كالصبح لا غرّة تحكى ولا رئم

    A scholar whose nobility surpasses the bounds of praise,

    like dawn—not a radiant brow to portray, nor a gazelle.

  15. لكنها نفحاتٌ من مدائحه

    تكاد تحيى بها في رسمها الرّمم

    Yet these are fragrant breaths of his praises,

    through which decayed remains almost live again amid their traces.

  16. مجوّد الهمّ للعلياء إذ عجزت

    عنها السراة وقالوا إنها قسم

    Mastering resolve for the heights, when they proved beyond

    the nobles, who said, 'They are allotted by fate.'

  17. تصنّعوا ليحاكوا صنع سؤدده

    يا شيب كم جهد ما قد يكتم الكتم

    They affected skill to imitate the handiwork of his mastery—

    O gray hair, how much toil in what katam dye can conceal!

  18. يمضي الزمان وما خابت لديه يدٌ

    سعياً إلى المجد لا زلت به قدمُ

    Time passes, and no hand has gone disappointed with him;

    in striving for glory, no foot has slipped on that path.

  19. رام الأقاصيَ حتَّى حازها ومضى

    تبارك الله ماذا تبلغ الهمَمُ

    He sought the farthest reaches, attained them, and pressed on.

    Blessed be God—what heights ambition can attain!

  20. لا يطرد المحل إلا صوب نائِله

    ولا يجول على أفكاره الندَمُ

    Nothing drives away drought but the downpour of his bounty,

    and regret never roams across his thoughts.

  21. في كلّ يوم ينادي جود راحتهِ

    هذا فتيّ الندى لا ما ادّعى هرم

    Every day the generosity of his palm cries out:

    'This is the hero of largesse, not what Harim claimed.'

  22. يمّمْ حماه ودافع كلّ معضلةٍ

    مهيبة الحرم تعلم أنه حرم

    Seek his refuge, and ward off every adversity,

    in awe of the sacred precinct—you will know he is a sanctuary.

  23. وأحسن ولاء أياديه فما سلفت

    عزيمة بولاء النجم تلتزم

    Honor your allegiance to his favors, for no resolve of old

    ever bound itself to allegiance to a star.

  24. واسعد بمن حاطت الإسلام همته

    حتَّى تغاير فيها العلم والعلَم

    And rejoice in one whose resolve has protected Islam,

    until learning and the banner vied jealously over it.

  25. نعم الملاذ لمن أوْدَتْ به سنة

    شهباء آثارها في عينه حُمَمُ

    What a fine refuge for one whom a year has ruined—

    an ashen year, its traces embers in his eyes.

  26. لو أنَّ للدّهر جزأً من محاسنهِ

    لم يبق في الدهر لا ظلم ولا ظلم

    Had Time a portion of his virtues,

    neither injustice nor darkness would remain in Time.

  27. قالت أياديه للقصّاد عن كثبٍ

    ما أقرب المجد إلا أنها همَمُ

    His favors told those who sought him, from close at hand:

    'How near glory is—yet it takes lofty resolve!'

  28. مما أناف به للمجد إنَّ له

    عُرفاً يرى فرص الإحسان تغتنم

    Among the ways he rose toward glory is that he possesses

    a kindness that sees chances for beneficence seized.

  29. والمجد لا تنثني يوماً معالمه

    إلا إذا راح مبنى المال ينهدمُ

    Glory's landmarks never yield

    unless the edifice of wealth begins to crumble.

  30. وللسيادة معنًى ليس يدركه

    من طالب الذكر إلا باحثٌ فهِمُ

    And lordship has a meaning that none comprehends

    among seekers of renown but an insightful inquirer.

  31. فليت كل بخيل ينثني بطراً

    فداء نعل فتى أودى به الكرم

    Would that every miser who turns away in arrogance

    were ransom for the sandal of a youth undone by generosity!

  32. تستشرف الأرض ما حلّت مواطنه

    كأنما الوهد في آثاره أكم

    The earth rises proudly wherever his dwellings stand,

    as though the lowlands in his tracks were hills.

  33. لمعشرٍ هم لمن ولاهمُ نعمٌ

    هنيئة ولمن عاداهمُ نقمُ

    For a clan who are blessings to those who befriend them—

    pleasant blessings—and scourges to those who oppose them.

  34. تفرق المجد في الأحياء من قدمٍ

    والمجد في تغلب العلياء ملتئم

    Glory has long been scattered among the tribes,

    but in exalted Taghlib glory is gathered together.

  35. الطاعنين وحرّ الحرب ملتهب

    والمطعمين وحرّ الجدب ملتهم

    Those who thrust their spears while the heat of battle blazes,

    and feed others while the heat of drought devours,

  36. والشائدين على كيوانَ بيت عُلاً

    تسعى النجوم بمغناه وتسْتَلم

    and build a house of glory above Kiwan,

    where the stars hasten about its abode and touch it in homage.

  37. من كلّ أروع سامٍ طرف سؤدده

    أغرّ قد ناولته الراية البهمُ

    Each a splendid lord, lofty in the reach of his mastery,

    radiant, to whom fearless warriors have handed the banner.

  38. مضوا وأحمد زاهي المجد مقتبل

    كالروض أقبل لما ولّت الدّيم

    They have passed; Ahmad, resplendent in glory, is in his prime,

    like a garden blooming after the steady rains have passed.

  39. يا مانحي منناً من بعدها مننٌ

    ما شأنها منك لا عيٌّ ولا سأمُ

    O giver to me of favors, with more favors following them,

    how do they come from you? With neither faltering nor weariness.

  40. ومظهراً ليَ في دهر يمجمج بي

    كأنما أنا حرفٌ فيه مدّغمُ

    And you who bring me to light in an age that mumbles over me,

    as though I were a letter assimilated within it,

  41. شكراً لفضلك ما غنّت مطوّقة

    وما تتاوح غبّ الوابل السّلم

    thanks for your bounty, as long as a ring-dove sings

    and the acacias sway after the downpour.

  42. لله برّك ما أحلى تكتّمه

    في الخلق لو كانَ عُرفُ المسك يكتتم

    How wondrous your kindness! How sweet its concealment

    among men—if musk's fragrance could be concealed!

  43. وافى وقد حذّر الحسّاد من حنقٍ

    أن يبصروه فلما أبصروه عموا

    It arrived, warning the envious in their spite

    not to behold it; when they beheld it, they went blind.

  44. وطالما كنت والأيام في رهجٍ

    فاليوم ألقيَ فيما بيننا السّلم

    Long have I stood with the days amid battle-dust;

    today peace has been made between us.

  45. وفتية أنت أحظى من رجايَ بها

    يفنى الثراء وتبقى هذه الكلم

    And a youthful ode, in which your gain exceeds that of my hopes:

    wealth perishes, but these words remain.

  46. يا باغيَ المجد لا والله ما بلغت

    معشار سعيك هذي العرب والعجم

    O seeker of glory! No, by God, they have not reached

    a tenth of your striving, these Arabs and non-Arabs.

  47. وحسّدٍ خفقت أحشاؤهم حنقاً

    كأنها بيد الأحزان تلطمُ

    And envious men whose entrails throbbed with spite,

    as though slapped by the hand of sorrows.

  48. أستهكم بثناء فيك غاظهمُ

    غيظ البزاذين لما عضت اللجم

    I mock them with praise of you that enraged them,

    with the rage of packhorses when they bite their bridles.

  49. أهواك للشيم اللاتي خصصت بها

    إذا تخيرت الأفعال والشيم

    I love you for the traits with which you were singled out,

    when deeds and virtues were chosen.

  50. ما زاد في قول واشٍ غير طيب ثناً

    كندّ يعبق حيث الجمر يضطرم

    A slanderer's talk only increases the sweetness of praise,

    like incense growing fragrant where the coals blaze.

  51. حاشاك حاشاك أن تلقاك شائبةٌ

    وأن تطرق في أفعالك التّهم

    Far be it from you, far be it, that any blemish should touch you,

    or that accusations should come knocking at your deeds.

  52. هم حدّثوني فما صدّقت ما نقلوا

    وأوهموني فما حققت ما زعموا

    They told me, but I did not believe what they reported;

    they filled me with doubts, but I did not confirm what they claimed.

  53. فليهن مجدك إذ يعلو وقد سفلوا

    وليهن رأيك إذ يزكوا وقد أثموا

    Joy to your glory as it rises, while they have sunk,

    and joy to your judgment as it grows pure, while they have sinned.

  54. أما الشآم فقد أغنيت قاصده

    حتَّى اشتكتك الفلا والأينق الرّسم

    As for al-Sham, you have enriched whoever seeks it,

    until the deserts and swift-striding she-camels complained of you.

  55. لولاك للطائفين العاكفين به

    لم يبق ركنٌ من النعمى وملتزم

    Were it not for you, for those circling and abiding there,

    no pillar of bounty would remain, nor a place to cling.

  56. خذها عروساً وبكراً بنت ليلتها

    أسيلة الخدّ في عرنينها شمم

    Take her as a bride and a virgin, born this very night,

    smooth-cheeked, with a proudly raised bridge of the nose.

  57. لولا أياديك ما ضمّت على أملٍ

    يدٌ ولم ينفتح لي بالثناء فم

    Without your favors, no hope would have been clasped by

    a hand, nor would a mouth have opened for me in praise.

  58. نوعاً من الشعر لا يدعى سواك له

    إن المدائح كالعليا لها قيم

    A kind of poetry to which none but you is summoned:

    praise-poems, like lofty rank, have a custodian.

  59. هوت إلى لثمه الأفواه مسرعة

    كأنما كل ميم فيه مبتسم

    Mouths swooped to kiss it in haste,

    as though every mim in it were smiling.

  60. فهنأ الله عافٍ أنت نجعته

    وخائفاً بك في اللأواء يعتصم

    May God gladden a seeker of gifts whose pasture you are,

    and a frightened man who seeks refuge in you amid hardship.

  61. ليشكرنّك مني الدّهرَ أربعةٌ

    نفسٌ وروحٌ ولحمٌ نابتٌ ودم

    Four things in me shall surely thank you for all time:

    a self, a spirit, growing flesh, and blood.