سائل لِوى خبْتٍ فذاك لواؤه

سائل لِوى خبْتٍ فذاك لواؤه

وهواهُ صدقٌ شاهدٌ وهواؤهُ

وهواهُ صدقٌ شاهدٌ وهواؤهُ

Ask the sand-bend of Khabt, for that is his banner.

A questioner asked about a beloved whose absence pains him - that is his affliction,

And his love is true, and its air bears witness.

And his passion is sincere, a witness to his passion.

واستمطِر الأجفانَ في عرَصاته

واستمطِر الأجفانَ في عرَصاته

غيثاً نفوسُ ذوي الصبابةِ ماؤهُ

غيثاً نفوسُ ذوي الصبابةِ ماؤهُ

And draw rain from the eyelids in its open grounds:

Let the eyelids rain in their sleeplessness

a downpour whose water is the souls of those who yearn.

A downpour - the souls of passionate youths are its water.

وأعدْ بملتفّ الغضا ذكرى شجٍ

وأعدْ بملتفّ الغضا ذكرى شجٍ

طويَتْ على جمرِ الغضا أحشاؤه

طويَتْ على جمرِ الغضا أحشاؤه

And amid the ghada thicket, revive the memory of a grief-stricken man

Prepare with coiled tendrils a memory of yearning

whose entrails were folded around ghada embers.

That smolders over the embers of yearning - his entrails.

وإذا الأراكُ أراكَ غيدَ سُروبِه

وإذا الأراكُ أراكَ غيدَ سُروبِه

فاحتلْ لجسمِك أنها حوباؤه

فاحتلْ لجسمِك أنها حوباؤه

And when the arak trees show you the slender beauties of their herds,

And when the Gazelle showed you the setting of its splendor,

then take thought for your body: they are its soul.

Imagine that it arched its body for you - its curve.

وتوقّ أسيافَ الفتورِ فربما

وتوقّ أسيافَ الفتورِ فربما

أمست ظُباها في الأسودِ ظباؤهُ

أمست ظُباها في الأسودِ ظباؤهُ

And beware the swords of languor, for perhaps

Aim the swords of indifference, for perhaps

its gazelles have become their blades among lions.

Their blades in the dark will be its slaughtering.

كلّ يهيجُ لك الصبابةَ والهوى

كلّ يهيجُ لك الصبابةَ والهوى

أوراقُه إذ ماسَ أو وَرقاؤه

أوراقُه إذ ماسَ أو وَرقاؤه

Everything stirs longing and love in you:

All the passion and love that youth arouses for you -

its leaves when it sways, or its gray dove.

Its leaves, when touched or when they wither away.

لم يرقُص الغصنُ الرطيبُ وإنما

لم يرقُص الغصنُ الرطيبُ وإنما

بانوا فمادَ بعطفِه بُرحاؤهُ

بانوا فمادَ بعطفِه بُرحاؤهُ

The tender bough did not dance; rather,

The moist branch did not sway, but rather

they departed, and its anguish set its flank swaying.

Blossomed in its tenderness - its burgeoning.

فانظُر الى قبَسٍ بجرعاءِ الحِمى

فانظُر الى قبَسٍ بجرعاءِ الحِمى

عنهم سناه محدّثٌ وسناؤه

عنهم سناه محدّثٌ وسناؤه

So look at a flame on the sandy ground of the preserve:

So look to a torch with the fever's drafts

its glow and splendor speak of them.

Protected from them as it grew older - its aging.

واستهدِ ألطافَ النسيم رسالةً

واستهدِ ألطافَ النسيم رسالةً

أوصاه مندلُه

أوصاه مندلُه

And seek from the breeze’s gentle favors a message

And seek the breeze's whispers as a message

that its sandalwood charged it to carry.

Entrusted to its waving - its undulation.

وبنفسي القمرُ المغيَّبُ نورُه

وبنفسي القمرُ المغيَّبُ نورُه

عن ناظرَيّ وفي الضلوع سماؤه

عن ناظرَيّ وفي الضلوع سماؤه

And with my soul I would ransom the moon whose light is hidden

By my life, the absent moon whose light

from my two eyes, while its sky is within my ribs.

Vanished from my eyes, though in my ribs is its rising,

قد كان في طرْفي نقلتُ سوادُه

قد كان في طرْفي نقلتُ سوادُه

وسرى الى قلبي فقُلْ سوداؤهُ

وسرى الى قلبي فقُلْ سوداؤهُ

It was once within my eye; I transferred its blackness,

Had cast its darkness into my gaze,

and it stole into my heart—call it that heart’s black bile.

And flowed into my heart - say then: its blackening.

ركبَ الدجى متستّراً فوشى به

ركبَ الدجى متستّراً فوشى به

حسنٌ عليه عوّلَتْ رُقَباؤه

حسنٌ عليه عوّلَتْ رُقَباؤه

He rode through darkness, concealing himself, but was betrayed

It rode the darkness, cloaked, and confided in it

by beauty on which his watchers relied.

A beauty on which hopes were pinned - its expectations.

والأفْقُ كالزنجيّ إلا أنه

والأفْقُ كالزنجيّ إلا أنه

قد منطقَتْه بدُرِّها جوزاؤه

قد منطقَتْه بدُرِّها جوزاؤه

And the horizon was like a Zanj man, except that

The horizon was like an Abyssinian, except

its Orion had girdled it with her pearls.

That its cheeks were tattooed with its full moon - its adornment.

والبدرُ ملكٌ والثريا راحةٌ

والبدرُ ملكٌ والثريا راحةٌ

بسطَتْ إليه والنجومُ عطاؤهُ

بسطَتْ إليه والنجومُ عطاؤهُ

And the full moon was a king, the Pleiades a palm

The moon is a king, and the Pleiades a respite

held out toward him, and the stars his gifts.

That stretched toward it, and the stars its granting.

حتى تجلّى الصبحُ في جَنَباتِه

حتى تجلّى الصبحُ في جَنَباتِه

فكأنه الروميّ شُقّ قباؤهُ

فكأنه الروميّ شُقّ قباؤهُ

Until dawn appeared along its flanks,

Until dawn revealed itself in its sides

and it seemed a Roman whose robe was split open.

As if it were Rome split open - its flanking.

وبدتْ ذكاءُ فقلت غُرةُ أحمدٍ

وبدتْ ذكاءُ فقلت غُرةُ أحمدٍ

أوَ ما ينوِّرُ للعقولِ ذكاؤهُ

أوَ ما ينوِّرُ للعقولِ ذكاؤهُ

And Dhuka, the sun, appeared; I said, “Ahmad’s radiant brow!”

Intellect dawned, so I said: the jealousy of Ahmed

And does his intelligence not enlighten minds?

Or what illuminates minds - its illumination.

وانهلّ وسميُّ الغمامِ كأنه

وانهلّ وسميُّ الغمامِ كأنه

آراؤه للمُجتدي ورُواؤه

آراؤه للمُجتدي ورُواؤه

And the clouds’ early-season rain poured down, as though it were

It drizzled, like the clouds' summoner, as though

his counsel for the seeker of bounty, and his fair appearance.

Its opinions for the reformist - its quenching and slaking.

وهفَتْ سيوفُ البرق في أرجائه

وهفَتْ سيوفُ البرق في أرجائه

فكأنه متألقاً آراؤه

فكأنه متألقاً آراؤه

And lightning’s swords fluttered through its reaches;

The swords of lightning brandished in its expanse

so, glittering, it seemed to be his counsels.

As if flashing - its opinions.

وسرى نسيمُ الروضِ في أثنائه

وسرى نسيمُ الروضِ في أثنائه

أرجٌ ثناهُ الى القصورِ ثناؤه

أرجٌ ثناهُ الى القصورِ ثناؤه

And the garden breeze stole through its midst:

The meadow's breeze crept through its midst

a fragrance that his praise turned toward the palaces.

Sweetly - the praise it inspires in palaces - its extolling.

وتناجتِ الأطيارُ في أغصانها

وتناجتِ الأطيارُ في أغصانها

بغرائب فكأنها شُعلاؤها

بغرائب فكأنها شُعلاؤها

And the birds whispered together in its branches

The birds conversed in their branches

of marvels, as though they were its poets (reading uncertain).

Wondrously - as if their twigs were its kindling.

دوحٌ يُطيبُ لك الجنا أفنانُه

دوحٌ يُطيبُ لك الجنا أفنانُه

ويمدّ ظلّكَ فوقَها أفياؤه

ويمدّ ظلّكَ فوقَها أفياؤه

A spreading tree whose boughs sweeten the harvest for you,

A meadow whose varieties delight you,

and whose shades stretch your shadow above them.

And whose shade stretches above it - its extending.

حفظَ الشريعةَ ضابطاً فلأجلِه

حفظَ الشريعةَ ضابطاً فلأجلِه

سمّتْه حافظَ دينِها علماؤه

سمّتْه حافظَ دينِها علماؤه

He preserved the Sacred Law with precision; for this

It preserved the Law strictly, so for its sake

his scholars called him the guardian of their faith.

The scholars named it: defender of the faith - their guarding.

متفردٌ عنهم بسامي مجدِه

متفردٌ عنهم بسامي مجدِه

لكنهم في حالِه شُركاؤه

لكنهم في حالِه شُركاؤه

He stands apart from them in his lofty glory,

Unique among them in its lofty glory,

yet they are his partners in his station.

Yet they are its partners in state - its peers.

آباؤه أملاكُ ساسان الألى

آباؤه أملاكُ ساسان الألى

والعُرْبُ عند نوالِه أبناؤه

والعُرْبُ عند نوالِه أبناؤه

His forefathers are the kings of Sasan of old,

Its fathers are the exalted kings of Persia,

and the Arabs, when he gives, are his sons.

And the Arabs in its favour are its sons - its offspring.

فغدَتْ الى الفرس الفوارس آلُه

فغدَتْ الى الفرس الفوارس آلُه

منسوبةً والى العُلا آلاؤهُ

منسوبةً والى العُلا آلاؤهُ

So his family became—to the Persians, those horsemen—

So to the Persians it became the finest of cavaliers,

affiliated, and his benefactions linked to lofty glory.

Attributed to them, and to highness - its nobility.

بحرُ العلوم بصدرِه متدفّقُ

بحرُ العلوم بصدرِه متدفّقُ

وثمادُه متمنّعٌ وإضاؤه

وثمادُه متمنّعٌ وإضاؤه

The sea of learning surges within his breast,

The sea of knowledge surges from its breast,

and its scant waters and pools are beyond reach.

Its abundance withheld and its illumination.

يروي فينشُر من حديثِ محمدٍ

يروي فينشُر من حديثِ محمدٍ

ما كادَ يُذهبُ روحه جُهلاؤه

ما كادَ يُذهبُ روحه جُهلاؤه

He narrates and disseminates, from Muhammad’s traditions,

It relates the hadith of Mohammed, spreading

what those ignorant of it had nearly robbed of its spirit.

What its ignorant ones had nearly extinguished - their ignorance.

والشرعُ ربعٌ قد غفتْ آثارُه

والشرعُ ربعٌ قد غفتْ آثارُه

لو لم يُشيَّدْ بالرواةِ بناؤهُ

لو لم يُشيَّدْ بالرواةِ بناؤهُ

And the Law is an abode whose traces would have slumbered

The Law was a ruin whose traces had faded

had its structure not been raised by transmitters.

Had the transmitters not built its structure - its erection.

ما زال يصدعُ ضوءُ صبحِ علومِه

ما زال يصدعُ ضوءُ صبحِ علومِه

ليلَ الهوى حتى انجلَتْ ظَلْماؤه

ليلَ الهوى حتى انجلَتْ ظَلْماؤه

The dawn-light of his learning kept cleaving

The light of the dawn of its knowledge continues to shine

the night of caprice until its darkness cleared.

Dispelling the night of passion until its darkness recedes.

يفديه شهرُ صيامنا وهو الذي

يفديه شهرُ صيامنا وهو الذي

ما في الشهورِ ولو جُمعْنَ فداؤه

ما في الشهورِ ولو جُمعْنَ فداؤه

Our month of fasting would ransom him, yet he is one

Our month of fasting would ransom it - it who

whom no months could ransom, even gathered together.

Cannot be ransomed, even if all months pooled their ransom.

يا حافظاً يعدو على أمواله

يا حافظاً يعدو على أمواله

حتى تروحَ كأنها أعداؤه

حتى تروحَ كأنها أعداؤه

O guardian who assails his own riches,

O guardian, your wealth outpaces

until they depart as though they were his enemies!

Any who would assault it, as if assailing enemies.

ليقُل بُناةُ الشعر فيك فإنما

ليقُل بُناةُ الشعر فيك فإنما

أوصافُ مجدك صحةٌ أسماؤه

أوصافُ مجدك صحةٌ أسماؤه

Let the builders of verse speak of you, for indeed

Let the poets speak little of you, for only

the qualities of your glory give truth to its epithets.

The attributes of your glory are true to its names - their validity.

وليَهْنَ هذا الدهرُ منك بسيدٍ

وليَهْنَ هذا الدهرُ منك بسيدٍ

أصباحُه تُزهى به ومساؤهُ

أصباحُه تُزهى به ومساؤهُ

And may this age rejoice in the lord it has in you,

Let this world treat gently one whose morning

in whom its mornings and evening take pride.

Is adorned by him, and its evening - its morning and evening.