1. تبارك الله خالق الكرم ال

    بارع من حمأة ومن علقِ

    Blessed be God, creator of generosity—

    surpassing generosity—from dark mud and clotted blood.

  2. ماذا رعيناه في جناب فتى

    كالبدر يجلو غواشي الغسقِ

    How richly we have grazed in the domain of a young man

    like the full moon, clearing away the veils of dusk.

  3. أزمانه كلها بنائله

    مثل زمان الربيع ذي الأنق

    All his seasons, through his bounty,

    are like springtime in its beauty.

  4. أشهر في الناس بالجميل من ال

    أبلق بين الجياد بالبلق

    More renowned among people for good deeds than a

    piebald among fine horses for its markings.

  5. فتىً يرى المجد ما أخلَّ به ال

    تمجيد كالحق غير ذي الطبق

    A young man who considers glory, when neglected by

    praise, like a casket without a lid.

  6. فيشتري عالي الثناء ولو

    أملق من ماله سوى العُلَق

    So he purchases lofty praise, even if

    he is left penniless, save his treasured possessions.

  7. تلقاه كالمربَع المَريع إذا

    شئت وطوراً كالمورد الرفق

    You find him like a lush spring pasture whenever

    you wish, and sometimes like an accessible watering place.

  8. فراتع فيه غير ذي غصص

    وكارع فيه غير ذي شرق

    One grazes there without choking,

    and another drinks there without catching his breath.

  9. يكنى أبا الفضل وهو منتجع ال

    فضل وما قلت ذاك عن ملق

    He is called Abu al-Fadl, and he is the resort of

    bounty; I have not said this out of flattery.

  10. وخير ما يكتنى الرجال به

    كنية لا نحلة ولا سَرق

    The best honorific men can bear

    is truly theirs, neither an imposture nor a theft.

  11. عبد المليك المقلِّد المنن ال

    زهر قديماً معاقدَ الريق

    'Abd al-Malik, who hung favors—

    radiant ones—long ago about throats.

  12. يتخذ المال حين يملكه

    واقية كالدروع والدرق

    When he possesses wealth, he makes it

    a protection like armor and shields.

  13. من آل عباس الكرام ذوي ال

    سؤدد والفائزين بالسبق

    Of the noble house of 'Abbas, possessors of

    eminence, and winners of precedence.

  14. بحر بحور إذا نزلت به

    أصبحت من موجه بمصطفق

    An ocean among oceans: when you alight with him,

    you find yourself amid his crashing waves.

  15. يفهق بالنائلين ساجله

    عند السؤالين أيَّما فهق

    With both gifts he overwhelms his rival

    at both requests—what an overflowing flood!

  16. منطلق الكف واللسان إذا

    سوئل وامتيح أيَّ منطلق

    Free-flowing of hand and tongue whenever

    he is asked and drawn upon—how freely!

  17. بنائل من ندى وآخر من

    علم ففيه أتم مرتفق

    With one gift of generosity and another of

    knowledge, he offers the fullest support.

  18. يجري إلى كل غاية شطط

    لم تُلتَمس قبله ولم تطق

    He races toward every far-distant goal

    never sought before him, nor thought attainable.

  19. كما جرى الطرف غير ذي صكك

    يفلُّ من غربه ولا طَرق

    As a noble steed runs, without knock-knees

    to blunt its vigor, nor weakness in its legs.

  20. شاهد أعراقه التي كرمت

    صفاء أخلاقه من الرنق

    Witness to the nobility of his lineage

    is his character, clear of all murk.

  21. أصبح من فضله يحلُّ من ال

    أهواء طراً بملتقى الفرق

    Through his excellence he has come to dwell where

    all differing inclinations meet.

  22. ظلنا لديه بمنزل خصب

    في مَرَع تارة وفي غدق

    We spent the day with him in a fertile lodging,

    amid lushness at one time, abundant water at another.

  23. يسمعنا الشدو عنده غرِدٌ

    كالسطر في المُسمعين لا اللَّحق

    A sweet-voiced singer there lets us hear his song,

    the main text among singers, not an added gloss.

  24. يشدو فيحيي لنا السرور وإن

    ألفاه ميتاً في آخر الرمق

    He sings and revives our joy, even if

    he finds it dead, at its final breath.

  25. متى يُقدَّر لمن ينادمه

    مصطبح يتصل بمغتبق

    Whenever one who keeps him company is granted

    a morning draught, it joins an evening draught.

  26. يسقي الندامى فيشربون له

    كشرب فرعون ساعة الغرق

    He gives his companions drink, and they drink to him

    as Pharaoh drank at the hour of drowning.

  27. قديمه مطرب ومحدثه

    فهو جديد الجديد والخَلِق

    His old songs enchant, and so do his new ones;

    he brings freshness to both the new and the worn.

  28. ما عيبه غير أنه رجل

    يدعو ذوي حلمنا إلى النزق

    His only fault is that he is a man

    who urges the temperate among us into wild abandon.

  29. يقلق من حسن ما يجيء به ال

    زمِّيت بل يطمئن ذو القلق

    The beauty of what he brings unsettles the

    staid man, yet soothes the restless one.

  30. كنيته شِقَّةُ السلامة وال

    سلمِ سلامٌ لتلك في الشقق

    His honorific is a garment of safety and

    peace—hail to that garment among garments!

  31. أبو سليمان ذو الإصابة وال

    إحسان وابن الملوك لا السوَق

    Abu Sulayman, possessed of precision and

    fine performance, a son of kings, not commoners.

  32. يا حسن ذاك الغناء يشفعه

    هدير تلك الحمائم الحزق

    How lovely that singing, accompanied by

    the cooing of those flocking doves:

  33. من ذي تلاوين وشيُهُ حسن

    ومن بهم الدجى ومن لهق

    some multicolored, with lovely patterned plumage,

    some night-black, and some pure white.

  34. ونحن نُسقَى شراب في فجر

    ثناؤه من فواكه الرُّفَق

    And we are served a drink at dawn;

    its praise is among the delights of companions.

  35. لا يمنع الري طالبيه ولا

    يسقي نديماً له على تأق

    He does not deny their fill to those seeking it, nor

    does he pour for a companion grudgingly.

  36. وفّاه قوّامه قيامهمُ

    وأنفقت كفه بلا فرق

    Its keepers gave it their full tending,

    and his hand spent without fear

  37. على دنان كأنها جثث

    من قوم عاد عظيمة الخلق

    on wine jars resembling the bodies

    of the people of 'Ad, enormous in frame.

  38. فجاء شيء إذا الذباب دنا

    منه دنواً دنا من الزهق

    The result was something that, if a fly approached,

    in drawing near to it, it drew near to death.

  39. يلقاك في رقة الشراب وفي

    نشر الخزامى وصفرة الشفق

    It meets you with the delicacy of drink and

    the fragrance of lavender and the yellow of twilight.

  40. ظاهره ظاهر يحرِّمُه

    وما على شاربيه من رهق

    Its outward aspect plainly marks it as forbidden,

    yet its drinkers incur no blame.

  41. له صريح كأنه ذهب

    ورغوة كاللآلئ الفلق

    Its clear liquor is like gold,

    and its foam like split pearls.

  42. يختال في منظر يزينه

    من الرحيق العتيق مسترق

    It flaunts an appearance adorned

    with a touch stolen from aged nectar.

  43. تديره جونة تحرّق بال

    دلِّ إذا البيض جُدنَ بالرمق

    A dark beauty passes it round, setting hearts afire with

    coquetry, when fair women bestow a glance.

  44. سوداء لم تنتسب إلى برص ال

    شقر ولا كُلفة ولا بهق

    Black, owing nothing to the leprous pallor of

    fair-haired women, nor to dark blotches or white patches.

  45. ليست من العبس الأكف ولا ال

    فلح الشفاه الخبائث العرق

    She is not of the grimy-handed, nor of the

    cleft-lipped, foul in lineage.

  46. بل من بنات الملوك ناعمة

    تنشر بالدلِّ ميِّت الشبق

    Rather, a tender daughter of kings,

    reviving dead desire with her coquetry.

  47. في لين سمورة تخيَّرها ال

    فراء أو لين جيد الدلق

    As soft as a sable selected by the

    furrier, or as soft as a marten's neck.

  48. تذكرك المسك والغوالي وال

    سُكَّ ذوات النسيم والعبق

    She calls to mind musk, rich perfumes, and

    sukk perfume, with their wafting fragrance and lingering scent.

  49. هيفاء زينت بخمص محتضَنٍ

    أوفى عليه نهود معتنق

    Slender, adorned with a hollow waist to embrace,

    above which rises a swelling bosom to clasp.

  50. غصن من الآبنوس أُلِّفَ من

    مؤتَزَرٍ معجب ومنتطق

    An ebony branch, formed of

    alluring hips and a girdled waist.

  51. يهتز من ناهديه في ثمر

    ومن دواجي ذراه في ورق

    It sways, bearing fruit in its two breasts,

    and leaves in the dark masses of its crown.

  52. أكسبها الحبَّ أنها صُبغت

    صبغة حَبِّ القلوب والحدق

    She won love because she was dyed

    the color of the hearts' cores and the eyes' pupils.

  53. فانصرفت نحوها الضمائر وال

    أبصار يُعنِقن أيَّما عنق

    So toward her turned our thoughts and

    our eyes, hurrying with all speed.

  54. يفترُّ ذاك السواد عن يقق

    من ثغرها كاللآلئ النسق

    That blackness parts to reveal pure whiteness

    in her mouth, like pearls neatly strung.

  55. كأنها والمزاح يضحكها

    ليل تفرّى دجاه عن فلق

    When joking makes her laugh, she seems

    a night whose darkness splits to reveal dawn.

  56. سحماء كالمهرة المُطهمَّة ال

    دهماء تنضو أوائل الصِّيَق

    Dark as a finely formed filly,

    black, shedding her first beads of sweat.

  57. تجري ويجري رسيلُها معها

    شأوين مستعجلين في طلق

    She runs, and her matched partner runs with her,

    in two hurried courses at full gallop.

  58. لها هَنٌ تستعير وقدتَه

    من قلب صب وصدر ذي حنق

    She has a secret part whose fire she borrows

    from a lover's heart and an angry man's breast.

  59. كأنما حره لخابره

    ما ألهبت في حشاه من حرق

    To one who has tried it, its heat seems

    the burning she kindled in his innards.

  60. يزداد ضيقاً على المراس كما

    تزداد ضيقاً أنشوطة الوَهق

    It grows tighter with friction, as

    the slipknot of a lasso tightens.

  61. له إذا ما القُمُدُّ خالطه

    أزم كأزم الخناق بالعنق

    When a stout member enters it,

    it grips as a noose grips the neck.

  62. يقول من حدَّث الضمير به

    طوبى لمفتاح ذلك الغَلَق

    Whoever conjures it in his thoughts says:

    'Blessed is the key to that lock!'

  63. أخلق بها أن تقوم عن ذكَرٍ

    كالسيف يفري مُضاعَف الحَلَق

    How fitting that she should rise off a member

    like a sword that cleaves double-woven mail.

  64. إن جفون السيوف أكثرها

    أسود والحق غير مختلق

    Indeed, sword sheaths are mostly

    black—and the truth is not invented.

  65. خذها أبا الفضل كسوة لك من

    خَزِّ الأماديح لا من الخرق

    Take this, Abu al-Fadl, as a garment for you of

    the silken fabric of praises, not of rags.

  66. وصفتُ فيها الذي هويتُ على ال

    وهم ولم تُختَبر ولم تُذَق

    I described in it what I desired through

    imagination, neither tested nor tasted,

  67. إلا بأخبارك التي وقعَت

    منك إلينا عن ظبية البُرَق

    except through your reports, which came

    from you to us about the gazelle of al-Buraq.

  68. حاشا لسوداء منظر سكنت

    دارك إلا من مخبر يقق

    Far be it that a woman dark in appearance should inhabit

    your house without a snow-white inward nature.

  69. وبعض ما فضل السواد به

    والحقُّ ذو سُلَّمٍ وذو نَفَقِ

    Among the things that give blackness an advantage—

    and truth has both a ladder and a tunnel—

  70. أن لا تعيب السواد حلكتُهُ

    وقد يعاب البياض بالبهق

    is that blackness is not marred by its darkness,

    while whiteness may be blemished by white patches.

  71. واهاً لها خلعةً تشفُّ أخا ال

    ضغن ولا تُستَشفُّ عن حَرق

    Ah, what a robe! It wears down the man of

    malice, yet is not itself worn thin by burning.

  72. أتاك طوعاً وداد قائلها

    ولم يعد كارهاً ولم يُسَق

    Its speaker's affection came to you willingly,

    not running unwillingly, nor driven on.

  73. وإن منعت الصحاب أكسيةً

    تقي أذى القرِّ أو أذى اللثق

    And if you deny your companions garments

    that protect against cold or wet,

  74. مستأثراً دونهم بلبسكها

    لا معقباً فيقة من الفِيَق

    reserving this garment's wearing for yourself alone,

    not yielding even a single milking's turn,

  75. أعقِبهمُ لا تقم بمخترق ال

    ذم فتُلفى بأيِّ مخترق

    give them a turn; do not stand in the path of

    blame, to be found in any passage it takes.

  76. لحاجتي إن بعثتها ليَ في

    إسكاف والدير وجه متَّفق

    My need, if you send it to me in

    Iskaf and al-Dayr, has a fitting way to be met.

  77. أولا فما سُدَّ باب معذرة

    كلا ولا سُدَّ بابُ مرتزق

    Or if not, the door of excuse is not shut;

    no, nor is the door to livelihood shut.