دعوني لذكرى حسنه أقْتضي العذلا

دعوني لذكرى حسنه أقْتضي العذلا

ليملأ سمعي عنه أحسن ما يملى

ليملأ سمعي عنه أحسن ما يملى

Let me seek reproach, to recall his beauty,

Let me for his memory seek amends

so that the finest words spoken of him may fill my ears.

To fill my ears with the best that is recited

بروحيَ أمرُّ الناس نأياً وجفوةً

بروحيَ أمرُّ الناس نأياً وجفوةً

وأحلاهمُ ثغراً وأملحهم شكلا

وأحلاهمُ ثغراً وأملحهم شكلا

My soul for the bitterest of men in distance and coldness,

My soul passes people aloof and distant

and the sweetest of mouth, the most comely in form.

And I make them smile and give them a glance

يقولون في الأحلام يوجد شخصه

يقولون في الأحلام يوجد شخصه

فقلتُ ومن ذا بعده يجد الأحلا

فقلتُ ومن ذا بعده يجد الأحلا

They say his form is found in dreams;

They say dreams hold a person

I said, "And who, after his departure, finds dreams?"

I said, and who after him finds more beautiful

ومن لي بطرف يستزير خياله

ومن لي بطرف يستزير خياله

وقد حلف التَّسهيد من بعده أن لا

وقد حلف التَّسهيد من بعده أن لا

Who will give me an eye that can summon his phantom,

And who do I have with a gaze that takes shelter in his imagination

when sleeplessness since his departure has sworn, "No"?

When the swearing of the Pleiades after him swore never

روى وجهه من تحت صدغيه معرضاً

روى وجهه من تحت صدغيه معرضاً

فأعدم طرفي ذلك الروض والظلاّ

فأعدم طرفي ذلك الروض والظلاّ

He watered his face beneath his sidelocks, turning away,

His face quenched from beneath his cheeks turning away

and deprived my eyes of that meadow and its shade.

So my gaze lost that meadow and shade

وكلَّفتني في رحلتي وإقامتي

وكلَّفتني في رحلتي وإقامتي

على حسنه المطلوب أن أضرب الرملا

على حسنه المطلوب أن أضرب الرملا

And I was tasked, in my travels and my stays,

And he tasked me in my journey and stay

to cast divining sands for his sought-after beauty.

For his sought-after beauty to traverse the sands

كأنيَ لم أختم على تبرِ خدِّه

كأنيَ لم أختم على تبرِ خدِّه

بلثمٍ ولم أجعل عناقي له قفلا

بلثمٍ ولم أجعل عناقي له قفلا

As though I had not sealed the pure gold of his cheek

As if I did not seal his cheek with a kiss

with kisses, nor made my embrace a lock around him,

And did not make my embrace for him a lock

ولم يسع نحوي شخصه أو خياله

ولم يسع نحوي شخصه أو خياله

فإن لم أصب من وصله الوبل فالطلاّ

فإن لم أصب من وصله الوبل فالطلاّ

nor had his person or phantom hastened toward me;

And his person or imagination did not incline toward me

if I cannot gain union's downpour, let me have its dew.

So if I do not attain union with him, then longing

على أنَّ لي فيه أمانيّ فكرة

على أنَّ لي فيه أمانيّ فكرة

أعيد على رغم الحسود بها الوصلا

أعيد على رغم الحسود بها الوصلا

Yet in my thoughts I cherish hopes of him,

Still, I have in him wished-for thoughts

through which I restore union, despite the envious.

I repeat despite the envious with which I seek reunion

ولي في الذي أهوى هوىً فلو أنه

ولي في الذي أهوى هوىً فلو أنه

تكلَّف لي عطفاً لناديته مهلا

تكلَّف لي عطفاً لناديته مهلا

My passion for the one I love is such that, were he

And I have in whom I love a love so if he

to force himself to show me tenderness, I would cry, "Gently!"

Bore for me affection I would call him gently

وكانَ بودِّي لو أطقت تسلياً

وكانَ بودِّي لو أطقت تسلياً

فحققت عنهُ صبوتي كلما ملاّ

فحققت عنهُ صبوتي كلما ملاّ

I wished, if I could bear forgetting,

And I wish if I endured consolation

to satisfy my longing away from him whenever he wearied,

I would for him achieve my youth whenever it withers

وحمّلت عنه ما عناه فلم أدع

وحمّلت عنه ما عناه فلم أدع

على خصره سقماً ولا جفنه ثقلا

على خصره سقماً ولا جفنه ثقلا

and shoulder for him whatever troubled him, leaving

And I would carry for him what he implies so I do not leave

no sickness in his waist, no weight upon his eyelid.

On his chest illness or his eyelids heaviness

تحكَّم في ودِّي لديه وسلوتي

تحكَّم في ودِّي لديه وسلوتي

فأحسن في أحكامه العقد والحلاَّ

فأحسن في أحكامه العقد والحلاَّ

He governed my love for him and my forgetting,

He took control of my affection and solace for him

and in his judgments excelled at binding and unbinding.

So he did well in his judgements of contract and dissolution

وإني على ظنِّي به وصبابتي

وإني على ظنِّي به وصبابتي

لأقنع من يدري على الطرفِ أن يجلى

لأقنع من يدري على الطرفِ أن يجلى

And I, for all my hopes of him and my yearning,

And I, in my opinion of him and my infatuation

would be content—who knows?—to have him unveiled before my eyes.

I satisfy whomsoever knows the gaze to clear

أبى الله أن يجزي بذكرى أسرةٍ

أبى الله أن يجزي بذكرى أسرةٍ

تطفَّلت في العليا على مجدِهم طفلا

تطفَّلت في العليا على مجدِهم طفلا

God forbid that mere remembrance should repay a family

God refused that I compensate for the memory of a family

on whose glory I fed uninvited, a child amid the heights.

On whose glory I imposed myself unasked

فيا لكَ بيتاً لا يقال لأهله

فيا لكَ بيتاً لا يقال لأهله

عزيز علينا أن نرى ربعكم يبلى

عزيز علينا أن نرى ربعكم يبلى

What a house, to whose people no one says:

Oh how I wish I could see his house

"It pains us to see your abode decay."

Where it is not said to its people, our quarter is wearing out

ولو حلَّ بي طيفاً وللراح سوْرَةٌ

ولو حلَّ بي طيفاً وللراح سوْرَةٌ

بعقليَ لم أسلك به غير ما حلاَّ

بعقليَ لم أسلك به غير ما حلاَّ

Even should he visit me as a phantom, with wine holding sway

And if an apparition befell me by the shelters of the wind

over my mind, I would pursue with him only what is lawful.

I would in my reason take with it only what is fitting

سجيَّة آباءٍ كرمٍ ورثتها

سجيَّة آباءٍ كرمٍ ورثتها

وفقه عفاف يجمع الفرع والأصلا

وفقه عفاف يجمع الفرع والأصلا

A trait of noble forefathers that I inherited,

The nature of noble fathers I inherited

and an understanding of chastity joining branch and root.

And the chastity of union of ancestry and branch

ويدعو حماه طالباً بعد طالب

ويدعو حماه طالباً بعد طالب

إلى المال يستجدى أو العلم يستجلى

إلى المال يستجدى أو العلم يستجلى

His sanctuary invites seeker after seeker

And his protector calls then caller after caller

to wealth for the asking, or knowledge brought to light.

To money he fundraises or knowledge he extracts

فيا ليت شعري هل أرانيَ واقفاً

فيا ليت شعري هل أرانيَ واقفاً

على بابهِ لا أقتضي الكتب والرسلا

على بابهِ لا أقتضي الكتب والرسلا

Would that I knew: shall I see myself standing

Oh how I wish I knew would I see myself standing

at his gate, not seeking letters and messengers?

At his door neither seeking books or messengers

فآوي بشطِّ النيل طرفي وناقتي

فآوي بشطِّ النيل طرفي وناقتي

وأطرح في تيَّاره السرح والرحلا

وأطرح في تيَّاره السرح والرحلا

Then I would shelter my steed and she-camel on the Nile's bank,

Then I turn aside to the Nile’s shore, my gaze and she-camel

and cast herd and saddle into its current;

And I cast into its current the saddle and supplies

وأسكن حيث الشهب حصباء واطئٍ

وأسكن حيث الشهب حصباء واطئٍ

وحيث يمدُّ العزّ من فوقها ظلاَّ

وحيث يمدُّ العزّ من فوقها ظلاَّ

and dwell where stars are a walker's pebbles,

And I dwell where meteors and low laying pebbles

and where glory spreads shade above them;

And where glory extends its shade out above

وحيثُ أصوغ اللفظ أهلاً لمدحِهِ

وحيثُ أصوغ اللفظ أهلاً لمدحِهِ

وأمَّا سوى لفظي هناك فلا أهلا

وأمَّا سوى لفظي هناك فلا أهلا

where I fashion words worthy to praise him,

And where I fashion the word fitting for his praise

but anything there beyond my words finds no welcome.

As for other than my words there, they are unfit

وحيثُ زماني فهو ضدٌّ معاكس

وحيثُ زماني فهو ضدٌّ معاكس

يعود إذا طارحته صاحباً خلاَّ

يعود إذا طارحته صاحباً خلاَّ

And where my age, though a contrary foe,

And where my time is adverse and contrary

becomes, when I converse with it, a companion and dear friend.

Returning when I eschew it a vacant companion

أقول أبو جهل فلما أحفَني

أقول أبو جهل فلما أحفَني

ظلال الحمى العالي أقول أبى جهلا

ظلال الحمى العالي أقول أبى جهلا

"Abu Jahl," I call it; but when I am enfolded

I say Abu Jahl but when the elevated fever's

by the lofty sanctuary's shade, I say, "It spurned ignorance."

Shadows sheltered me I say my father is ignorant

هنيئاً لوفدٍ سائرين لبابه

هنيئاً لوفدٍ سائرين لبابه

لقد حمدوا المسرى وقد عرفوا السبلا

لقد حمدوا المسرى وقد عرفوا السبلا

Joy to the delegation journeying to his gate!

Congratulations to a delegation en route to his door

They have praised the night journey, knowing well the roads.

They have praised the journey and known the paths

وإن امرأً أسرت إليه جياده

وإن امرأً أسرت إليه جياده

ليعظم أن يرضى الهلال لها نعلا

ليعظم أن يرضى الهلال لها نعلا

Indeed, a man whose steeds have journeyed to him by night

And that a man whose steeds have hastened toward him

is too exalted to accept the crescent as their horseshoe.

It would be great if he accepts the new moon for them as a shoeing

وإن لقاضي المسلمين عوارفاً

وإن لقاضي المسلمين عوارفاً

بها كم أقمنا للثنا شاهداً عدلا

بها كم أقمنا للثنا شاهداً عدلا

The judge of the Muslims has such bounties

And the judge of the Muslims has courtesies

that through them we have often raised an upright witness to his praise.

With which we have often borne witness to praise

ونحواً من العلياء نزِّه وضعه

ونحواً من العلياء نزِّه وضعه

فما الاسم منقوصٌ ولا الفعل معتلاَّ

فما الاسم منقوصٌ ولا الفعل معتلاَّ

And a grammar of greatness whose structure is faultless:

And a manner of the high-minded we safeguard his position

no noun is defective, no verb weak.

So neither the name diminished nor the deed defective

رِدوا بحره واسْتصغروا ورد جعفرٍ

رِدوا بحره واسْتصغروا ورد جعفرٍ

وقيسوا به الآمال واطْرحوا الفضلا

وقيسوا به الآمال واطْرحوا الفضلا

Drink at his sea, and deem Jaʿfar's watering-place small;

Return his sea and consider Jafar’s roses small

measure your hopes against him, and cast the surplus aside.

And measure by it hopes and discard any superiority

بني دلف طبتم وطابَ قديمكم

بني دلف طبتم وطابَ قديمكم

فأكرم بكم فرعاً وأكرم بكم أصلا

فأكرم بكم فرعاً وأكرم بكم أصلا

Sons of Dulaf, noble are you, and noble your ancestry;

O Bani Delf fortunate you have been and pure your ancient ways

how noble you are in branch, how noble in root!

So a branch and origin have been honored by you

وجزتم مدا العلياء لم يتل سبقكم

وجزتم مدا العلياء لم يتل سبقكم

ولكن على السماع ذكركمُ يتلى

ولكن على السماع ذكركمُ يتلى

You have surpassed the reach of greatness; your lead is unmatched,

And you have fulfilled the extension of the high minded did not forestall you

yet your name is recited for all to hear.

But it is by listening your mention is recited

فلا طرقت أيدي الخطوب لكم حمى

فلا طرقت أيدي الخطوب لكم حمى

ولا فرَّقت عين الزمان لكم شملا

ولا فرَّقت عين الزمان لكم شملا

May calamity's hands never strike your sanctuary,

So no time have the misfortunes assailed for you a refuge

nor time's eye scatter your company.

Or the eye of time separated your cohesion