1. أشاقَك برقٌ بالدُجنّة لائحُ

    فقلبُك متبولٌ ودمعُك سافِحُ

    Did lightning gleaming in the darkness stir your longing?

    So your heart is love-stricken and your tears are streaming.

  2. ألاحَ فجِلبابُ الظّلامِ ممزّقٌ

    كما مزّق النّقْعَ المُثارَ الصّفائح

    It flashed, and the cloak of darkness was torn apart,

    as sword-blades tore through the stirred-up dust.

  3. أما وامتطاء العيسِ تُعنِقُ في البُرى

    غوادٍ كما شاء السُرى وروائحُ

    Indeed, by riding pale camels, striding swiftly in their nose-rings,

    going at dawn, as night-travel wills, and at dusk—

  4. لقد ذكرَتْنا عهد ظَمياءَ باللِّوى

    حمائمُ أيك في ذراهُ صوادِحُ

    the days of Ẓamyāʾ at al-Liwā were indeed recalled to us

    by doves of a grove, singing in its treetops.

  5. ودون ظِباء الحيّ بيضٌ صوارمٌ

    وعسّالةٌ سُمْرٌ وجُرْدٌ سوابِح

    Before the gazelles of the tribe stand white, keen swords,

    and quivering brown spears, and sleek steeds swimming along;

  6. وبيداء لا بيضُ النّسورِ بجوّها

    بَوادٍ ولا حُمْرُ الذئابِ سوانِح

    and a wilderness in whose skies no white vultures

    appear, nor do red wolves cross the way.

  7. وقد كان ينأى بالبخيلةِ بُخلُها

    فكيف وهذا بينَنا والكواشِحُ

    Her stinginess had already kept the grudging woman far away;

    how, then, with all this and the spiteful between us?

  8. ذكرْتُكُم والجوّ قد شبّ ناره

    علينا ووجهُ الأرضِ أسود كالح

    I remembered you while the air had kindled its fire

    upon us, and the earth's face was black and scowling,

  9. على أولَق يَطوي المراحلَ طاوياً

    ويسري وأفواجُ الرّياح طلائح

    upon a frenzied, swift camel, folding up the stages, empty-bellied,

    and traveling by night while the hosts of winds were spent.

  10. فأنّ لتذكار الأحبّة مغرمٌ

    وحنّ الى قُربِ المواطِن نازِح

    So a love-stricken one groaned at the memory of loved ones,

    and one far away yearned to be near his homelands.

  11. ولم يستَطع كتْم الجوى ذو صبابة

    له فيضُ دمعٍ بالتباريحِ بائحُ

    And one full of longing could not conceal his inward anguish;

    his flood of tears spoke openly of his torments.

  12. هل الحبُّ إلا عبرَةٌ مستهلةٌ

    ونار جوًى يُطوى عليها الجوانح

    Is love anything but a streaming tear

    and a fire of anguish over which the ribs are folded?

  13. وأهيفَ أما من سويداء خاطري

    فدانٍ وأما عن جنابي فجامح

    And a slender-waisted one—as for the dark core of my thoughts,

    he is near; but from my side he shies away.

  14. إذا عنّ يرنو كالغزالِ فنابِلٌ

    وإن ماسَ يزهو كالقضيبِ فرامِحُ

    When he appears, gazing like a gazelle, he is an archer;

    and if he sways, flaunting himself like a bough, he is a spearman.

  15. لئن كان ما يحويه منه وشاحُه

    خفيفاً فما تحوي المآزر راجح

    Though what his sash encloses of him

    is light, what the waist-wraps enclose is weighty.

  16. يَتيهُ بذِكراه النّسيب وتزدهي

    بسَيدنا الحبر الإمام المدائحُ

    Love poetry exults in his mention, and made resplendent

    by our master, the scholar and imam, are the panegyrics.

  17. إذا مدّ ممتنّاً عليك جناحَهُ

    فنادِ صُروفَ الدّهرِ هل من يكافح

    When, bestowing favor, he spreads his wing over you,

    then cry to Time's vicissitudes: 'Is there anyone to contend?'

  18. له هشّةٌ كالروضِ والروضُ مونِقٌ

    الى حنكة كالطّودِ والطّودُ طامحُ

    His cheerful welcome is like a garden, and the garden is delightful,

    joined to seasoned wisdom like a mountain, and the mountain towers high.

  19. هو البدرُ إلا أنه زاد ضوؤه

    فلم تنتقص منه الغوادي الروائح

    He is the full moon, except that his radiance has increased,

    so morning and evening clouds have not diminished him.

  20. هو البحرُ إلا أن جودَ يمينِه

    لوارِده عذْبٌ وذلك مالح

    He is the sea, except that the bounty of his right hand

    is sweet to whoever comes to it, while that sea is salty.

  21. هو الغيثُ إلا أنه كلما هَمى

    تفيضُ بجَدواهُ الرُبى والأباطحُ

    He is rain, except that whenever he pours down,

    the hills and gravelly streambeds overflow with his bounty.

  22. لك الله ما أنداك والغيثُ باخلٌ

    وأمضاكَ عزْماً والخطوبُ فوادح

    God keep you! How generous you are while rain is miserly,

    and how keen your resolve, while calamities are crushing,

  23. وأوفاك عهداً والحُقوقُ مُضاعةٌ

    وأبهاكَ مرأى والوجوهُ كوالِح

    and how true to your pledge, while rights are neglected,

    and how splendid your appearance, while faces scowl!

  24. أكوكبُ بِشرٍ من جَبينك لائحُ

    وصبّ يُسرٍ من يمينك سافح

    Is a star of gladness gleaming from your brow,

    and a flood of prosperity streaming from your right hand?

  25. وإلا فما ذا البرقُ والغيم مقشعٌ

    وما ذا النوال السكب والجو واضح

    Otherwise, what is this lightning, with the clouds dispersed,

    and what is this pouring bounty, when the sky is clear?

  26. لقد علم الأعداءُ شرقاً ومغرباً

    سواء قريبُ الدار منهم ونازح

    The enemies have indeed learned, in the east and west,

    those among them whose homes are near and those far away alike,

  27. لأنك أهلٌ للسؤال مهذب ال

    فعال مبيدٌ للنوال مسامح

    that you are indeed worthy of being asked, refined in

    deeds, prodigal with bounty, open-handed.

  28. وللجود معنًى عند غيرك مبهم

    وليس له إلا يمينك شارح

    And generosity has a meaning obscure in anyone but you;

    and it has no interpreter but your right hand.

  29. أحافظ أخبار النبي ومن له

    بحار من العلم المصون طوافح

    O keeper of the Prophet's reports, and you who possess

    overflowing seas of safeguarded knowledge,

  30. تهنّ بعيد النحر وابق مسَلما

    وعرضِك موفور وسعيك رابح

    rejoice in the Feast of Sacrifice, and remain safe,

    with your honor intact and your striving fruitful.