1. لَمْ يَشْفِ طيفُكَ لما زارني أَلَمَا

    وإِنما زادَني إِلْمَامُهُ لمَمَا

    Your phantom, when it visited me, healed no pain.

    Its passing visit only deepened my madness.

  2. سَرَى إِلَيَّ وطَرْفُ الليلِ مَرْكَبُهُ

    والبَدْرُ إِنْ رَكِبَ الظلماءَ ما ظَلَما

    It traveled by night to me, with night's edge as its mount;

    the full moon does no wrong when it rides the darkness.

  3. ولم يزل يَدَّعي زُوراً زيارَتَه

    حتى تَمَلَّكَ مِنِّي الحِلْمَ والحُلُما

    It kept falsely claiming its visit,

    until it possessed both my reason and my dream.

  4. نادَمْتُه فَسَقَاني كأْسَ مُرْتشَفٍ

    يُفنِي النديمُ عليها كَفَّهُ نَدَما

    I drank with it, and it gave me a cup of a draught

    that makes a drinking companion wear his hand away in remorse over it,

  5. حتى إِذا شابَ فَوْدُ الليلِ وانْعَطَفتْ

    قناتُه وتدانَى خَطْوُهُ هَرَما

    until, when night's temple grayed and bent

    was its spear-shaft, and its steps shortened with age,

  6. وقمتُ أَعثُرُ والأَشواقُ تَنْهَضُ بِي

    فما تقدَّمْتُ من سُكْرِي به قُدُما

    I rose stumbling, while longings lifted me,

    yet, drunk with it, I did not advance a pace.

  7. قال السلامُ على مَنْ لو مَرَرْتُ به

    أَهْدَي السَّلاَم له يَقْظَانَ ما سَلِمَا

    It said, 'Peace upon one who, were I to pass him

    offering peace while he was awake, would not remain unharmed.'

  8. واهْتَزَّ كالغُصُنِ المنآدِ فانْتَثَرَتْ

    مدامِعِي حَوْلَهُ العُنَّابَ والعَنَمَا

    It swayed like a bending branch, scattering

    my tears around it—jujubes and red ‘anam fruit.

  9. ورُحْتُ أَعبدُ منه دُمْيَةً فَرَضَتْ

    تقريبَ قَلْبِي في دِينِ الغرامَ دَمَا

    And I began to worship in it an idol that ordained

    the offering of my heart as blood in love's religion.

  10. وَجْدُ طَلَبْتُ له كَتْماً فأَردَفَنِي

    شَيْباً ثَنَانِيَ أَيضاً أَطلُبُ الكَتمَا

    A passion I sought to conceal instead burdened me

    with gray hair, making me seek katam dye as well.

  11. ولِمَّةٌ مُذْ هَفَتْ منها مُلِمَّتُهُ

    عادَتْ رماداً وكانِتْ قَبْلَهُ فَحَما

    And a head of hair, since its affliction wafted from it,

    turned to ash, though before that it had been coal.

  12. وقد تَلَفَّتُ أَثناءَ الشبابِ فَمَا

    رأَيتُ إِلا هموماً حُوِّلَتْ هِمَمَا

    I looked back through the course of youth, but

    saw only cares transformed into ambitions.

  13. فَالسَّيْرَ حتى تَقُولَ العِيسُ من خمر

    صِرْنَا رُسُوماً وكُنَّا أَيْنُقاً رُسُما

    On with the journey, until the pale camels say in their stupor:

    'We have become mere traces; we were once swift-striding she-camels.'

  14. من كُلِّ منهومَةِ ما غَرثَتْ

    إِلاَّ الْتَقَمْتَ عليها المَهْيَعَ اللَّقَما

    Each a ravenous she-camel that never hungered

    without your swallowing, astride her, the broad, clear road.

  15. في عُصْبَةٍ كلَّما شامَتْ صوارمَهُمُ

    يَدُ الحفيظةِ في جِنْحِ الدُّجَى انْصَرَما

    Among a band whose sharp swords, whenever drawn

    by the hand of zeal beneath night's wing, split the darkness.

  16. عاطَيْتُهُمْ غَيْرَ بنتِ الكَرْمِ من سَمَرٍ

    على تعاطيهِ رحنا نذكر الكَرَما

    I shared with them—not the vine's daughter—but night-talk,

    and as we exchanged it, we began to speak of generosity.

  17. فكلما قِيلَ نجمُ الدينِ قَد وَضَحَتْ

    أَنوارُه فَمَحَوْنَ الظُّلْمَ والظُّلَما

    Whenever it was said, 'Najm al-Din—resplendent are

    his lights, which have erased injustice and darkness,'

  18. قلنا وعاد إِلى شَرْخ الشبابِ به

    جودٌ مضى هَرِمٌ عنه وقد هَرِما

    we said, 'Through him, to the prime of youth returned

    generosity, which Harim left behind, grown old.'

  19. مَلْكٌ تَحرَّمت الدنيا بسطوتِهِ

    فردَّها وهي حِلٌّ والنَّدَى حَرَما

    A king: the world sought sanctuary in his might;

    he made it, once unhallowed, and bounty a sanctuary.

  20. هو الغَمامُ الذي ما حَلَّ في بَلَدٍ

    إِلاَّ أَفاضَ دماءً منه أو دِيَمَا

    He is the cloud that never settles over a land

    without pouring forth blood or steady rains.

  21. وَهْوَ الحسامُ الذي قالت مضارِبُه

    خيرُ الحسامَيْنِ في الأدواءِ مَنْ حَسَما

    He is the cutting sword whose striking edges said:

    'Of two swords, the best against ailments is the one that cuts them off.'

  22. يطيع سامٌ وحامٌ ما يشير له

    ولم يطع قَطُّ إِلاَّ من سَمَا وحَمَى

    Shem and Ham obey whatever he directs,

    yet he has never obeyed any but one exalted and protective.

  23. ذو الحَزْمِ شَدَّ على عِطءفَيْهِ لأْمَتَهُ

    في سَلْمِهِ وعلى أفراسِهِ الحُزُما

    A man of resolve, he strapped his armor about his sides

    in peacetime, and tightened the girths upon his steeds.

  24. وذو الرّياحِ التي إِن أَعْصَفَتْ قَصَفَتْ

    عيدانَ نَجْدٍ وجدَّت بعدها الرَّتَما

    And master of winds that, when they blow fiercely, break

    the boughs of Najd and then cut down the broom shrubs.

  25. كأَنما الدَّهْرُ أَفْشَيْنٌ نَخِرُّ لَهُ

    وقد أَقامَ عليه سَيْفَهُ صَنَمَا

    As though Time were Afshin, before whom we fall prostrate,

    and he has set his sword above it as an idol.

  26. إِنْ قال آل مَصَالٍ منه من يَمَنٍ

    قال الأَغالِبُ من مُرٍّ ولا سِيَما

    If the house of Masal says, 'His roots are in Yemen,'

    the Aghalibs say, 'From Murr, most especially.'

  27. أَمْلَى على العُرْبِ من تدبيرِهِ سِيَراً

    في مِضْرَ هزَّتْ على فُسْطَاطِها الْعَجَمَا

    He dictated to the Arabs, from his governance, courses of conduct

    in Egypt, stirring the non-Arabs at its encampment.

  28. فالآنَ أَضْبَحَتِ الآباءُ واحِدَةً

    والشَّمْلُ مجتمعاً والشَّعْبُ مُلْتَئِما

    Now the forefathers have become one,

    the company united, the rift healed.

  29. رَأْيٌ له بَذَلَ الإِقْليمُ طاعَتَه

    فلو يشاءُ كفاه السَّيْفَ والقلما

    His judgment won the province's obedience;

    if he wished, it would spare him sword and pen.

  30. حَسْبُ البُحَيْرَةِ أَنَّ اللَّه صَيَّرها

    بحراً به زاخِرَ الأَمواجِ ملتطما

    Enough for al-Buhayra: God has made it

    through him a sea, brimming with crashing waves.

  31. كم خاضَ ضَحْضَاحَها من غارقٍ فَنَجَا

    حتى أَفاضَ عليها سَيْبَهُ العَرما

    How many a drowning man waded its shallows and escaped,

    until he poured his torrent of bounty over it.

  32. بالخيلِ يحملُ من فرسانِها أَسداً

    والأُسْدِ يحملُ من أَرماحِها أَجَمَا

    With horses he bears a lion among their riders,

    and with lions he bears thickets of their spears.

  33. لِلسَّيْفُ في كفِّهِ نارٌ على عَلَمٍ

    إِن كنتَ يوماً سَمِعْتَ النارَ والعلما

    Indeed, the sword in his palm is fire upon a mountain,

    if ever you have heard of fire and mountain.

  34. يَجْلُو البهيمَ ويحمي البَهْمَ سارِحةً

    ويستجيش لكَشْفِ المُبْهَمِ البُهَما

    He dispels pitch-darkness and guards lambs at pasture,

    and musters fearless warriors to clear the obscure.

  35. والأَرْضُ ما مَرَّ مجتازُ النسيمِ بها

    إِلاَّ تغالَتْ فكادَتْ تُنْبِتُ النَّسَما

    And over the earth no passing breeze ever went

    without its surpassing itself, almost sprouting living souls.

  36. فالحمدُ للِّه سدَّ السيفُ ثُلْمَتَها

    وعاوَدَ الغِمْدَ محموداً وما انْثَلمَا

    So praise be to God: the sword has closed its breach,

    and returned to its sheath, praised and unchipped.

  37. فَلْيَبْتَسمْ بكَ ثغرٌ قد جعلْتَ له

    ثغراً عن الحسن والإِحسان مبتسما

    Let the frontier smile through you: you have given it

    a mouth smiling to reveal beauty and beneficence.

  38. يجري النَّهارُ على أَنيابِه شنَباً

    ويصبِغُ الليلُ منه في الشِّفاهِ لَمَى

    Day flows over its canine teeth as cool sweetness,

    and night paints its lips with a dusky hue.

  39. حتى نقولَ وكُنَّا قبلَ معرفةٍ

    سُبْحانَ عَدْلِكَ أَضحى يَنْقُلُ الشِّيَما

    until we say—we who had not known before—

    'Glory to your justice: it now transforms dispositions!'