1. هبهُمْ رَضوا غيرَ قلبِه وطَنا

    أيرْتَضي غيرَهم لهُ سكَنا

    Suppose they accepted a homeland other than his heart:

    would he accept anyone but them as dwellers in it?

  2. لا والذي لو أحالَهم خبَراً

    أحالَ أعضاءَهُ له أُذُنا

    No, by Him who, if He turned them into tidings,

    would turn his limbs into an ear for those tidings.

  3. همُ المَعاني التي أدقُّ لها

    جوانحَ الجسْمِ كلَّها فِطَنا

    They are the meanings for which I sharpen

    all the body's inner ribs into keen perceptions.

  4. إذا حَنا منهمُ أضالعَهُ

    على قلوبِ ملأنَها مِحَنا

    When, because of them, he bends his ribs

    around hearts they have filled with suffering,

  5. ما نثرَ الشوقُ دمعةُ زهَراً

    إلا وقد هزّ قلبَهُ غُصُنا

    longing never scatters a tear as blossom

    without first shaking his heart as a bough.

  6. للبُدْنِ أن تقطعَ الفلاةَ بنا

    وللهوى أن يقطِعَ البُدُنا

    It is for the camels to carry us across the wasteland,

    and for passion to cut our bodies apart.

  7. كم من ظلام خبطْتُ جانِبه

    أسألُ عن صُبْحِه هُنا وهنا

    How often I groped along the edge of darkness,

    asking after its dawn here and there.

  8. وفي يمينِ النسيمِ مألكةٌ

    أسرّها فاقتضيْتُه العلَنا

    And in the breeze's right hand lay a message

    it concealed, so I demanded that it disclose it.

  9. أتبعْتُه خاطراً إذا نصبت

    أحبّه من سُلوّه أرِنا

    I sent a thought after it; whenever I grew weary,

    I loved it, joyful in its release from longing.

  10. هداهُ حادي الهوى الى زَهَرٍ

    يلبس جسمَ الظلامِ ثوبَ سَنا

    Passion's camel-driver guided it to a bloom

    that clothes the body of darkness in a robe of radiance.

  11. يتلو زَبور الحنين عيسَهُمُ

    كأنّها قد ثنَتْهُمُ وثَنا

    Their pale camels recite the psalter of longing,

    as though they had bent them into an idol.

  12. لولا بحارُ الدموعِ زاخرةً

    ما اتّخذوها لغيرِها سُفُنا

    Were it not for the surging seas of tears,

    they would not have taken them as ships for other seas.

  13. يا صاحبيّ احبِسا أغنتَها

    ولا تُقيما صدورَها عَنَنا

    O my two companions, hold back their reins,

    and do not set their breasts across the path.

  14. رأيت عَدْنا بناظريّ فلا

    أطلبُ للطيبِ بعدَها عدَنا

    I have seen Eden with my own two eyes, so I shall not

    seek Aden for fragrance after it.

  15. ونمّقَ اليُمْن لي بُرود عُلا

    تمنعني أن أحاولَ اليَمَنا

    And good fortune has embroidered robes of eminence for me

    that keep me from seeking Yemen.

  16. حمدتُ في ظلِ أحمدٍ زَمناً

    صرّفَ بالجودِ صرْفَهُ زمَنا

    In Ahmad's shade I praised an age;

    he deflected its vicissitudes with bounty for a time.

  17. وحازني من فِنائه حُرُمٌ

    أمِنْتَ فيه مَخْوفَ كلِّ فَنا

    And sanctuaries in his courtyard enfolded me,

    where you were safe from the dread of every doom.

  18. لا أرهبُ الليثَ فيه كيفَ سَطا

    ولا الغزالَ الغريرَ كيف رَنا

    I fear no lion there, however it attacks,

    nor the innocent gazelle, however it gazes.

  19. تجْني يمينَ المُنى بساحتِه

    من ثمَرِ المكرُماتِ خيرُ جَنا

    The right hand of wishes gathers in his courtyard

    the finest harvest from the fruits of noble deeds,

  20. حيثُ رياحُ القَريضِ حاملةً

    عن زَهرِ أخلاقِه نسيمَ ثَنا

    where the winds of verse carry

    a breeze of praise from the blossoms of his character,

  21. وساجعاتُ المديحِ مُرقِصةً

    من مِعطَفٍ كلّ سامعٍ فَنَنا

    and the cooing voices of eulogy set dancing

    a bough from every listener's side.

  22. في كل يومٍ لنا بطَلْعَتِه

    مسرّةٌ تقتَضي وجوبَ هَنا

    Each day, at the sight of him, we have

    a joy that calls for congratulations as its due.

  23. عوفي فالفضلُ والهناءُ له

    مشيّدٌ منه كلّ ما وهَنا

    He has recovered, so excellence and felicity are his;

    all that had weakened is strengthened through him.

  24. وشهرُ شعبانَ منهُ مُكتَسبٌ

    مفاخراً أصبحتْ لهُ ولَنا

    And the month of Sha'ban gains through him

    glories that have become his and ours.

  25. قد حسُنَ الدهرُ فافْتَتَنْتُ به

    ولم أزل مُضْمِراً له ضَغَنا

    Time has grown fair, and I have fallen in love with it,

    though I had always secretly harbored rancor against it.

  26. وراضَهُ والجِماحُ شيمتُه

    فصِرْتُ أقتادُه ولا رسَنا

    And he tamed it, though unruliness is its nature,

    so I now lead it without a halter.

  27. تخونُ أموالُه أناملَهُ

    ولم يزلْ في الرواة مُؤتَمَنا

    His wealth betrays his fingers,

    yet among the narrators he has always been trusted.

  28. ويشتري الحدّ غيرَ مكتَرِثٍ

    فيه بما سُمْتُه لهُ ثَمَنا

    And he buys the sharp edge, unconcerned

    about whatever price I demanded of him for it.

  29. ولا يرى الريحُ غيرَ أوبتِه

    بما يسرُّ العُلا وإن غُبِنا

    And the wind sees nothing but his return

    with what delights high honor, even if he suffers a loss.

  30. هل هدمَ العَسْرُ بعد رِفعَتِه

    إلا بما شادَ في العُلى وبَنى

    Has hardship brought him low after his rise,

    except through what he raised and built in glory?

  31. غادرَ آباءَهُ على سُنَنِ

    فمرّ يرتادُ ذلك السِّنَنا

    He left his forefathers upon a path,

    then went on seeking that very path.

  32. تشْرفُ أسماءُ رهطِه أبداً

    عن أن تَرى للكِرامِ وهي كُنى

    The names of his clan are forever too exalted

    to be seen as bynames even for noble men.

  33. لا زال في مازنِ العُلى شمَما

    وبين أجفانِ طرفِه وسَنا

    May he ever remain lofty pride in Mazin of glory,

    and slumber between the eyelids of his gaze.