1. ألم تُسأل اليوم الظباءُ الكوانسُ

    متى ظَعنتْ أشباهُهنَّ الأوانسُ

    Were the gazelles in their coverts not asked today

    when their winsome counterparts departed?

  2. لئن أضمرتْهُنّ الحدوجُ ولن ترى

    بدوراً بدتْ ليست لَهُنَّ حنادِسُ

    Even if the howdahs concealed them—and you will never see

    full moons emerge without dark nights of their own—

  3. لَربَّت يومٍ قد جَلاهُنَّ لي ضُحىً

    وللأرض من وشي الربيع ملابسُ

    many a day has revealed them to me at midmorning,

    when the earth wore garments of spring's embroidery.

  4. يَسُفن الخُزامى بين أكناف عازبٍ

    غذته الغواذي وهو بالماء راغسُ

    They sniffed lavender among the reaches of a distant meadow,

    nourished by morning rains and brimming with water.

  5. كَسَاهُ من النوار أبيضُ ناصعٌ

    وأحمر قِنوانٌ وأصفرُ وارس

    Blossoms clothed it in brilliant white,

    clustered red, and saffron-yellow.

  6. تشب خزاماه إذا الشمسُ طَفَّلتْ

    مصابيحُ لم يقبِس لها النارَ قَابس

    Its lavender flares when the sun inclines toward evening:

    lamps for which no fire-kindler fetched a flame.

  7. يُغَازلن منه روضةً بعد روضةٍ

    زَرَابيُّها مبثُوثةٌ والطنافس

    They flirt with one garden after another within it,

    its carpets and rugs spread out.

  8. يظل بها النوّار للشمس راكعاً

    يَدورُ إذا دارت له وهو ناكس

    There the blossoms remain bowed toward the sun,

    turning when it turns toward them, their heads lowered.

  9. وتصرفُ أحياناً عن الشمس وجهَهُ

    وجوهٌ تضاهي الشمس بل لا تجانس

    And sometimes their faces are turned away from the sun

    by faces that rival the sun—indeed, are not of its kind.

  10. إذا الشمس يوماً قابلتهنَّ لم يكد

    يُميِّزُها مِنهُنَّ إلا المُقايس

    If one day the sun faced them, scarcely

    could anyone but a comparer distinguish it from them.

  11. خرجن يُبارينَ الربيع وروضَهُ

    بما هُنَّ من تلك البُرودِ لوابس

    They came out competing with spring and its gardens

    through the striped robes they wore.

  12. يَرُدن خلال الروض واليومُ داجنٌ

    على أن يوم الدَّجن مِنهن شَامس

    They roam through the gardens while the day is overcast,

    yet through them a cloudy day becomes sunny.

  13. كأن العناقيدَ الجِعادَ تهدَّلتْ

    بهن على أعْجازهنَّ الفَرادس

    As though curly clusters had drooped

    upon them, over their ample buttocks.

  14. بدورٌ وكثبانٌ تُواصل بينها

    غصونٌ رَوِيّات المُتون مَوَائس

    Full moons and dunes, linked together

    by swaying branches with well-watered trunks.

  15. غصون غَذَاهُنَّ النعيم بمائه

    ولم يُسقهنّ الماء في الأرض غَارس

    Branches nourished by luxury with its water,

    not watered in the earth by any planter.

  16. حملن ثُدِيّا لم يجدنَ بِدرَّةٍ

    ولم تَبْتذلهنَّ الأكفُّ اللوامس

    They bore breasts that had yielded no milk,

    nor had touching hands worn them with use.

  17. غرائر ما لم يدَّرين لريبةٍ

    نوائرُ من هُجْر الحديث شوامِس

    Innocent, so long as they are not lured into wrongdoing,

    they start and shy away from indecent talk.

  18. عليهنَّ من إحسانهنَّ ملابسٌ

    طَواهرُ لم تعْلق بِهن المدانِس

    They wear garments of their own good conduct,

    pure garments to which no defilements cling.

  19. بأمثالهنَّ انقاد ذو الحلم للهوى

    جَنيباً وأبكتهُ الرسومُ الدوارس

    Through women like these, the discerning man submits to love,

    led captive, and the faded traces make him weep.

  20. بني طاهر ما مَن رأى ما بلغتمُ

    بمستنكرٍ أن يلمس النجم لامس

    Sons of Tahir, no one who has seen what you attained

    would find it strange that someone should touch a star.

  21. إذا عُدِّدت آلاؤُكم آل طاهرٍ

    أقرَّ بها منا مَسُوس وسائس

    When your favors are counted, family of Tahir,

    both governed and governor among us acknowledge them.

  22. بلغتم من العلياء والمجد رُتبةً

    طوى كشحه من رَامها وهو يائس

    You reached a rank of loftiness and glory

    from which whoever sought it turned away despairing.

  23. ولمْ لا وأثمانُ المعالي لديكُمُ

    رِغابُ العطايا والنفوسُ النفائس

    And why not, when the prices of greatness, with you,

    are lavish gifts and precious lives?

  24. مسامعكم نَصبٌ لداعي كريهةٍ

    تساقي المنايا رحلُها والفوارس

    Your ears are poised for the summons of a battle

    whose camp and horsemen exchange draughts of death;

  25. وطوراً لملهوفٍ تَعرَّق لحمُهُ

    عن العظم ذؤبانُ الخطوبِ النَواهس

    and at times for a desperate man whose flesh

    the biting wolves of calamity have stripped from the bone.

  26. تُجيبون كلتا الدَعْوتين كأنكمْ

    غيوثٌ وأحياناً ليوثٌ عنابس

    You answer both summonses as though you were

    rain clouds, and at other times fierce lions.

  27. لأيديكُمُ في الموْطنين كليهما

    نقائذُ من أيدي الردى وفرائس

    In both those settings your hands have

    people rescued from death's hands, and prey.

  28. مكارم للماضين منكم تقدَّمت

    وأخرى على الباقين منكم حبائس

    Noble deeds were performed by those of you who passed away,

    and others are obligations upon those of you who remain.

  29. سأثني على الدهر المذَمّم إذ أتى

    بأمثالكم أو لا فإنِّيَ باخس

    I shall praise blameworthy time, since it has brought

    men like you—or otherwise I would be withholding its due.

  30. تضَمَّنتُ أن لا يبخل الدهرُ بعدها

    بأي نفيسٍ بعدكم هو نافس

    I warrant that time will not be miserly hereafter,

    whatever precious thing it begrudges after you.

  31. بِكم نَعشَ اللَه الخلافةَ بعدما

    هوى جَدُّها من حالق وهو تاعس

    Through you God revived the caliphate after

    its fortune fell from a height, stumbling to ruin.

  32. تدارك ذاتَ البيْنِ إصلاحُ طاهرٍ

    وقد شمَّرت غَبراءُ تَجري وداحس

    Tahir's reconciliation restored relations,

    when Ghabra and Dahis had already girded themselves to race.

  33. إذ الدين هَرج والخلافةُ فِتْنَةٌ

    يُبلّدُ منها الأحزمُونَ الأكايس

    When religion was turmoil and the caliphate a discord

    that bewildered the most resolute and shrewd.

  34. ولما أبت بغداذ إلا شِمَاسها

    ولجَّ بها من جِنّة النفر ناخس

    And when Baghdad insisted on its unruliness,

    and a goader from the throng's demons persisted in spurring it,

  35. تخمَّطها بالبيض والسُّمر عُنوةً

    أبو الطَّيب الليثُ الهِزبر الخُنابس

    he overpowered it by force with white blades and tawny spears—

    Abu al-Tayyib, the lion, the mighty, hulking lion.

  36. فجاسَ بخيل النصر عُقرَ ديارها

    وما جاسها من قبل ذلك جائس

    With victory's cavalry he penetrated the heart of its dwellings,

    where no invader before him had penetrated.

  37. به ألف اللَهُ القلوبَ فأصبحت

    مَقاومُ تلك الحرب وهْي مَجالس

    Through him God united hearts, and so

    that war's battlegrounds became meeting places.

  38. وما زال منكم للخلافة مِدرهٌ

    يُناضل عنها تارةً ويُرادس

    There has always been a champion of yours for the caliphate,

    shooting in its defense at times, and striking blows.

  39. أوائلكُمْ داووا أوائلَ دائِها

    وأنتم لها إن تاح للداء ناكس

    Your forebears treated the beginnings of its illness,

    and you stand ready for it if the illness relapses.

  40. بأحكامِكم تَمضِي السيوف مضاءها

    وتقضي قضاياها الرماحُ المداعِس

    By your rulings swords exert their cutting force,

    and thrusting spears deliver their judgments.

  41. إذا القومُ راموا شأْوَكُم خلَّفتْهُمُ

    جدودٌ لِئامٌ أو جدودٌ قواعِس

    When men aspire to your reach, they are left behind by

    ignoble forebears or lagging fortunes.

  42. أعمُّكُمُ مدحاً وأختصُّ منكُمُ

    فتاكم عبيدَ اللَه والرأسُ رائس

    I praise you all, and single out among you

    your young man Ubayd Allah—a head who truly leads.

  43. همام له في المجد والخير مقْيسٌ

    طويلٌ إذا ما طاولته المَقايس

    A high-spirited man, whose measure in glory and goodness

    is long whenever other measures compete with it.

  44. رأى الملكانِ الهاشميان فضلَهُ

    برأيٍ جَلَتْ عن صفحتيه المَداوس

    The two Hashemite kings recognized his excellence

    with an insight whose two faces whetstones had polished.

  45. وكيف بأن تخفَى محاسن مِثله

    وهُنَّ لأبصار القلوبِ مَقابس

    How could the merits of a man like him be hidden,

    when they are lights for the eyes of hearts?

  46. إلى مِثله تُلقي الرعاءُ عِصِيَّها

    إذا عاثَ في الشاء الذئاب اللَعاوس

    To a man like him shepherds lay down their staffs

    when ravenous wolves ravage the sheep.

  47. فتى غيرُ مفزاع إذا الحربُ زمجرتْ

    زماجِرَها وارتاعَ منها الضغابِس

    A young man not easily frightened when war roars

    its roars, and weaklings take fright at it.

  48. سواء عليه عندها أترنَّمتْ

    مزاهرُ قيْناتٍ له أو معاجس

    It is all the same to him then whether the music comes

    from singing girls' lutes for him, or from bows.

  49. مَهيب إذا ما كان في القوم أمْسكتْ

    عن الهدر والخطر القُروم القَناعس

    Awe-inspiring: whenever he is among the company,

    the mighty camel-stallions cease roaring and lashing their tails.

  50. له هيبةٌ لم يكتسبْها بكلْفةٍ

    إذا اكتسبتْ ذاك الوجوهُ العوابس

    He has an awe he did not acquire through effort,

    while scowling faces acquire theirs that way.

  51. حَييٌّ وفيه جُرأةٌ وصرامةٌ

    إذا هابَ حوماتِ الأمورِ المُغامس

    Modest, yet possessing boldness and firmness,

    when even the venturesome fear the thick of affairs.

  52. وليس يَعيبُ السيفَ لينُ مَهَزِّهِ

    إذا كان عَضْباً تجتويه الأيابس

    A sword is not faulted for its suppleness when brandished,

    if it is keen-edged and hard things dread it.

  53. يُساهي مُساهيه كريماً مُغَفَّلاً

    وأمَّا مُداهيه فحوتاً يُقامس

    He humors the heedless, nobly playing the unsuspecting man;

    but whoever would outwit him competes in diving with a whale.

  54. له خُلُقا خيرٍ ونفعٍ كلاهما

    يُحاذره عاتٍ ويَرجُوه يائس

    He has two qualities, goodness and usefulness: together

    they make a tyrant fear him and a desperate man hope in him.

  55. من المبْشرين المؤْدمِين خلائقاً

    له تحت أيدي اللامسين مَلامس

    Of those firm without and supple within in character,

    he offers textures beneath the hands that touch him.

  56. يلين لمن أعطاه سمعاً وطاعةً

    ويخشنُ محموداً على من يمارس

    He is gentle with whoever gives him heed and obedience,

    and commendably stern toward whoever grapples with him.

  57. له عزماتٌ ليس للسيف مِثلُها

    مضاءً ولا للسيل والسيلُ مارس

    He has resolutions unmatched by a sword

    in cutting force, or by a torrent, even when raging.

  58. ورأي كرأي العين صدقاً وصحةً

    إذا أخطأتْ بالحادسين المَحادس

    And judgment as truthful and sound as eyesight,

    when guesses mislead those who guess.

  59. يرى آخر العقبى بأول نظرةٍ

    وبينهما غيبٌ من الليل دامس

    He sees the final outcome at the first glance,

    though between them lies an unseen darkness of night.

  60. حياةٌ لمن والاهُ حتفٌ على العدى

    مُصابُ الرمايا لا تَوقّاهُ تارس

    Life to those who befriend him, death to enemies,

    a blow upon targets that no shield-bearer can ward off.

  61. هو الأجل القاضي على كل حائن

    وفيه لمن أمْلى له اللَّه حارس

    He is the appointed death that judges every doomed man,

    yet in him is a guardian for one whose days God prolongs.

  62. وفيٌّ وتلكم شيمةٌ طاهريةٌ

    له سلفٌ فيها قديمٌ قُدامس

    Faithful—and that is a Tahirid quality—

    he has an ancient, venerable forebear in it.

  63. يرى الوعدَ مثل العهد سِيان عنده

    إذا خاس بالوعد المؤكدِ خائس

    He regards promise and covenant as equal,

    when a faithless man betrays a binding promise.

  64. جميلُ المحيا بين عينيه غرّةٌ

    تُضيء لساري الليل والنجمُ طامس

    Handsome of countenance, between his eyes a radiance

    lights the night traveler when the stars are obscured.

  65. جوادٌ إذا سامَ المكارمَ نفسه

    فليس له منها شريكٌ مشاكس

    Generous: when he bids himself pursue noble deeds,

    he has no quarrelsome partner in them.

  66. وكم من يدٍ تُعطي اللهى ووراءها

    ضميرٌ بما جادت به متقاعس

    How many a hand bestows rich gifts, while behind it

    a heart hangs back from what the hand has given.

  67. إذا بذل المعروفَ أغْضى جُفُونَهُ

    وطاطأ رأساً لم يذلِّله عاكس

    When he bestows kindness, he lowers his eyelids

    and bows a head no subduer has humbled,

  68. لكي لا يرى في وجه حُرٍّ مذلةً

    على أنها من يُغض والوجه عابس

    so that he may not see humiliation in a free man's face,

    though it may come from one who looks down with a scowling face.

  69. يُساجل أنواءَ الربيع إذا جَرَتْ

    ويخلُفُها في المحْل والعودُ يابس

    He rivals spring's rains when they flow,

    and replaces them in drought, when the branch is dry.

  70. وحُق لمن بين النجوم مقامُهُ

    مُبَاراتُها إن النظير منافس

    One whose station is among the stars has the right

    to compete with them: an equal is a rival.

  71. كفى الماحلين السائلين بجوده

    وأغنى تِجار الحمدِ عمَّن يُماكس

    His generosity suffices the destitute petitioners,

    and frees the merchants of praise from those who haggle.

  72. به صدَق اللَه الأماني حديثَها

    وقد مر دهرٌ والأماني وساوس

    Through him God made the tales of hopes come true,

    after an age had passed when hopes were whispers.

  73. فتىً آنس الآدابَ من بعد وحشةٍ

    وجدَّد منهاجَ العلا وهو دارس

    A young man who gave learning companionship after loneliness,

    and renewed the path of greatness when it had faded.

  74. رأى الشعرَ ديوان المكارم فاغتدى

    يُدارس منه أهْلَهُ ما يدارس

    He saw poetry as the register of noble deeds, and began

    studying its contents together with its practitioners.

  75. فتى لو تُجاري الريحُ في المجد أوْلَهُ

    غدا شأوُها عن شأوه وهو خانس

    A young man: were the wind to race his first advance toward glory,

    its reach would fall behind his, shrinking back.

  76. دعا الصمَّ حتى أسمع الصمَّ جُودُهُ

    وأنطق حتى قال فيه الأخارس

    He called the deaf until his bounty made the deaf hear,

    and gave voice until the mute spoke of him.

  77. تطاول أفلاكٌ فقصَّر جدُّهم

    ونال الثريّا عفوُهُ وهو جالس

    Celestial spheres reach upward, yet their fortunes fall short,

    while his effortless bounty reaches the Pleiades as he sits.

  78. غدا والعلا أفعالُهُ وخصالُهُ

    وهنّ لأقوامٍ هُمومٌ هواجس

    In him, greatness has become deeds and qualities,

    while for others these are concerns and fleeting thoughts.

  79. لعمرِي لئن طابتْ عُصارةُ عوده

    لقد كرمتْ أعراقه والمغارس

    By my life, if the sap of his wood is sweet,

    truly noble are its roots and planting grounds.

  80. زهى الملكُ والإسلامُ ممن مضى له

    بخمسة آباءٍ لهم منه سادس

    Kingship and Islam gloried in his forebears,

    five fathers, for whom he is a sixth.

  81. فأوَّلهم قاد الجيوش وذادها

    زُريقٌ وعبد الله للقوم خامس

    The first of them led armies and repelled them:

    Zurayq; and Abd Allah is the fifth of that line.

  82. أولئك آباءٌ بمثل تُراثهم

    تَشَاوس وسط المحفل المتشاوس

    Those are fathers whose legacy allows you

    to gaze proudly amid an assembly of proud gazes.

  83. وكم من ملوكٍ قَبلهم سَلفوا لهُ

    لياليَ كانت تملكُ الناسَ فارس

    How many kings before them were his ancestors,

    in the days when Persia ruled mankind!

  84. لتهْنَك يا ابن الأكرمين إمارةٌ

    بطالع سعدٍ جانبتْه المنَاحس

    May your governorship bring you joy, son of the noblest,

    under a lucky ascendant avoided by ill omens.

  85. مَقَالةُ لا مُسْتَعْظمٍ ما وَليتَهُ

    ولو كان ما هبَّتْ عليه الروامس

    Words from one who does not think your charge too great,

    even were it all that dust-bearing winds blow over.

  86. وإن التي سُرْبلتهما لتطُولُها

    إذا قاسَها يوماً بقدرِك قائس

    And the investiture in which you have been robed—you surely surpass it,

    when a measurer one day measures it against your worth.

  87. يَدلُّ على إقبال أمْرك أنه

    غريسةُ حينٍ فيه تحيا الغَرائس

    What shows the good fortune of your undertaking is that it is

    a planting at a season when plantings thrive.

  88. فَقُلِّدتَ ما قُلِّدتَ والعودُ مورق

    بجدته والعرق ريانُ قالس

    Thus you were entrusted with your charge while the branch was leafy

    in its freshness, and the root well-watered and overflowing.

  89. وليتَ التي تهوي إليها نَوازعاً

    قلوبُ الورى واليعمُلات العرامس

    You assumed charge of that toward which, in longing, hasten

    the hearts of mankind and the stout, tireless she-camels.

  90. ولما تولاها اسمُكَ الخير أصبحتْ

    وجانبُها الوحشي باسمك آنس

    When your auspicious name took charge of it, it awoke

    with its wild side made friendly through your name.

  91. تَلَقَّتْكَ في بَزِّ الربيع وحَلْيهِ

    تِهامةُ والأنجادُ وهي عرائس

    They received you in spring's garments and jewels—

    Tihama and the highlands, like brides.

  92. ولو زُرتها في وغرة القَيْظ أمرْعت

    بوَجْهِكَ وانهلَّ الغمامُ الرواجس

    Had you visited it in the blaze of midsummer, it would have grown lush

    at your face, and the rumbling clouds would have poured.

  93. وأضحى وأمسى كل ما بين بَلْدحٍ

    به حرماً حتى القفارُ البسابس

    And morning and evening, all the land around Baldah

    became through him a sanctuary, even the desolate wastes.

  94. تَجَلَّلها أمنٌ وعدلٌ فظبيُها

    مع الذئبِ راعٍ كيف شاء وكانس

    Safety and justice covered it, so its gazelle

    grazes beside the wolf as it pleases, and shelters in its covert.

  95. إليك ذعرتُ الوحشَ من كل مأمنٍ

    لهنَّ به عن سَخْلهن مَلاحس

    Toward you I startled the wild creatures from every safe retreat

    where they had shelters to lick their fawns.

  96. إليكَ تداعتني القوافي ولم أقل

    إليك تداعتني الفيافي البسابس

    Toward you the rhymes summoned me—I did not say,

    'Toward you the desolate wilderness summoned me.'

  97. أتيْتُك من أدنى مزاري يخب بي

    إليك رجائي لا القِلاصُ العرامس

    I came to you from my nearest visiting place; what trots with me

    toward you is my hope, not stout she-camels.

  98. أجاوزُ بيتاً بعد بيتٍ وأمتطي

    هواجسَ فكرٍ بعدهُنَّ هواجس

    I pass one verse after another, and mount

    thoughts of the mind, with further thoughts behind them.

  99. دعوتُ غريب الشعر باسمك فارعوى

    إليَّ مُجيباً وهو باسمك آنس

    I called poetry's wild stranger by your name, and it turned

    toward me in answer, made friendly by your name.

  100. فألَّفت منه إذ تجمَّع وحشُهُ

    وهنَّ رُتوعٌ بالفلا وكوانس

    I composed it when its wild creatures gathered,

    though they graze in open country and shelter in coverts.

  101. فجاءتْ قوافيه تُباري صدورَهُ

    كما تتبارى القاربات الخوامس

    Its rhymes came racing its opening hemistichs,

    as camels nearing water race those due to drink on the fifth day.

  102. منحتُكها تحدو المطيَّ على الونَى

    وتنفي الكرى عن ذي السُرى وهو ناعس

    I gave them to you: they urge weary riding beasts onward

    and banish sleep from the drowsy night traveler.

  103. من اللائي لا يُخزي الوجوه نشيدُها

    إذا منشدٌ باهَى بها من يُجالس

    They are among those whose recitation brings no shame to faces

    when a reciter boasts of them before his companions.

  104. تهزُّ قناةَ الظهر عن أرْيَحيَّةٍ

    كما هز رُمحاً للطعانِ مُداعس

    They shake the spine with joyful ardor,

    as a thrusting fighter shakes a spear for combat.

  105. وما زلت لَبَّاساً مديحاً تَحُوكُهُ

    مساعيك لم يَلبسْه قبلك لابس

    You have ever worn praise woven

    by your deeds, which no wearer before you wore.

  106. ولا مدحُ ما لم يمدح المرءُ نفسَهُ

    بأفعال صدقٍ لم تَشُبها الخسائس

    There is no praise unless a man praises himself

    with genuine deeds unsullied by baseness.

  107. ليأمنْ صروفَ الدهرِ من أنت جارُهُ

    فقد أفلَتْ عنه النجومُ النواحس

    Let anyone under your protection feel safe from time's reversals:

    the baleful stars have set away from him.

  108. إذا ما بنو الحاجات كان مجازُهم

    على ملك كانت عليك المحابس

    When those in need make their passage

    past a king, their stopping places are with you.

  109. وينصرف العافُون تُثْني عيابُهُم

    عليك ولم ينبسْ من القوم نابس

    Petitioners depart with their laden bags praising

    you, though no one among them has uttered a word.

  110. فعش سالماً لا زال مجدُك باقياً

    وإن رغمت من حَاسدِيك المعاطس

    So live in safety; may your glory ever remain,

    though your enviers' noses be rubbed in dust.