هَل عَهِدنا الشَمسَ تَعتادُ الكِلَل

أَم شَهِدنا البَدرَ يَجتابُ الحُلَل

Have we known the sun to grow weary,

Or seen the full moon tire of wandering?

أَم قَضيبُ البانِ يَعنيهِ الهَوى

أَم غَزالُ القَفرِ يُصبيهِ الغَزَل

Does desire trouble the shepherd's staff?

Or does love make the gazelle of the desert languish?

خَرَقَ العاداتِ مُبدي صورَةٍ

حَشَدَ الحُسنُ عَلَيها فَاحتَفَل

It broke conventions, revealing an image

That gathered beauty and celebrated.

مُشرَبُ الصَفحَةِ مِن ماءِ الصِبا

مُشبَعُ الوَجنَةِ مِن صِبغِ الخَجَل

The page is colored with the water of youth,

The cheek saturated with the dye of shyness.

مَن عَذيري مِنهُ إِن أَغبَبتُهُ

نَسِيَ العَهدَ وَإِن عاوَدتُ مَلّ

Who can blame me if I lose my wits for him

Who forgot our pact if I should return?

قاتِلٌ لي بِالتَجَنّي ما لَهُ

لَيتَ شِعري أَحَلالٌ ما اِستَحَلّ

My killer, faulting me for my surrender -

Would that I knew: was my surrender allowed?

أَيُّها المُختالُ في زينَتِهِ

أَنتَ أَولى الناسِ بِالخالِ فَخَل

You who preen, proud of your finery,

You most deserve a beauty-mark, so spot yourself!

لَكَ إِن أَدلَلتَ عُذرٌ واضِحٌ

كُلُّ مَن ساعَفَهُ الحُسنُ أَدَلّ

If you indulge, you have a clear excuse:

Whoever beauty aids is readily excused.

سَبَبُ السُقمِ الَّذي بَرَّحَ بي

صِحَّةٌ كَالسُقمِ في تِلكَ المُقَل

The sickness that afflicted me

Was health, in that state, to suffer so.

إِنَّ مَن أَضحى أَباهُ جَهورٌ

قالَتِ الآمالُ عَنهُ فَفَعَل

When his father took ill, hopes for him

Spoke - and he acted.

مَلِكٌ لَذَّ جَنى العَيشِ بِهِ

حَيثُ وِردُ الأَمنِ لِلصادي عَلَل

A king who enjoyed the fruits of life through him

Wherever the safe reached those in peril.

أَحسَنَ المُحسِنُ مِنّا فَجَزى

مِثلَما لَجَّ مُسيءٌ فَاحتَمَل

The benefactor did well by us, so he deserved

Just as the evildoer earned his lot.

سَعيُهُ في كُلِّ بِرٍّ مَثَلٌ

إِذ مَساعي مَن يُناويهِ مُثُل

His every righteous deed was exemplary,

While the deeds of those against him were flimsy.

لا يَزَل مِن حاسِديهِ مُكثِرٌ

أَو مُقِلٌّ سَبَقَ السَيفُ العَذَل

Among his envious rivals are plenty

Who surpass the sword in slander.

يا بَني جَهورٍ الدُنيا بِكُم

حَلِيَت أَيّامُها بَعدَ العَطَل

O scions of Jahwar, through you the world

Regained its finest days after their loss.

إِنَّما دَولَتُكُم واسِطَةٌ

أَهدَتِ الحُسنَ إِلى عِقدِ الدُوَل

For it's through your mediation, truly,

That beauty attained the seal of power.

نَحنُ مِن نَعمائِكُم في زَهرَةٍ

جَدَّدَت عَهدَ الرَبيعِ المُقتَبَل

We enjoy your blessings in full blossom,

Renewing the promise of the spring to come.

طابَ كانونٌ لَنا أَثناءَها

فَكَأَنَّ الشَمسَ حَلَّت بِالحَمَل

December was sweet for us during it,

As though the sun concluded its pregnancy there.

زَهَرَت أَخلاقُكُم فَابتَسَمَت

كَاِبتِسامِ الوَردِ عَن لُؤلُؤِ طَلّ

Your virtues have bloomed, so they smile

Like the smile of a rose with lustrous pearls.

أَيُّها البَحرُ الَّذي مَهما تَفِض

بِالنَدى يُمناهُ فَالبَحرُ وَشَل

O sea! However much you overflow

With dew, the sea is replenished by it!

مَن لَنا فيكَ بِعَيبٍ واحِدٍ

تُحذَرُ العَينُ إِذا الفَضلُ كَمُل

What single fault have we found in you

That an eye would fear once merit is complete?

شَرَفٌ تَغنى عَنِ المَدحِ بِهِ

مِثلَما يَغنى عَنِ الكُحلِ الكَحَل

Nobility that dispenses with praise,

Just as kohl dispenses with more kohl!

أَنا غَرسٌ في ثَرى العَلياءِ لَو

أَبطَأَت سُقياكَ عَنهُ لَذَبُل

I'm a plant on the soil of the sublime - if

You cease to water me, I will wither.

لِيَ ذِكرٌ بِالَّذي أَسدَيتَهُ

نابِهٌ وَدَّ حَسودٌ لَو خَمَل

I have a reputation, through your gifts to me,

That vexes the envious if ever it wavers.

فَليَمُت بِالداءِ مِن حالِ فَتىً

أَدَّبَتهُ سِيَرُ الناسِ الأُوَل

So let him who disparages a gentleman's way,

Taught by the conduct of earlier men, die of disease!

فَوَعى الحِكمَةَ عَن قائِلِهِم

اِلزَمِ الصِحَّةَ يَلزَمكَ العَمَل

Take to heart the wisdom from what they say:

Embrace health, and endeavor will embrace you.

أَقبَلَت نُعماكَ تُهدي نَفسَها

لَم أُرِغ حَظِّيَ مِنها بِالحِيَل

Your favors came to me, offering themselves -

I did not plot to gain them by tricks.

فَقَبِلتُ اليَدَ مِن بَطنِ يَدٍ

ظَهرُها الدَهرَ مَحَلٌّ لِلقُبَل

I accepted the hand from one whose hand

Time and again is the locus of kisses.

كُلُّنا بُلِّغَ ما أَمَّلَهُ

فَابلُغِ الغايَةَ مِن كُلِّ أَمَل

We have all conveyed what we wished,

So accomplish the ultimate of every wish!

وَإِذا ما رامَكَ الدَهرُ فَفُت

وَإِذا رُمتَ الأَمانِيَّ فَنَل

And if fate desires you, then grant consent,

And when you desire fortunes, then attain them!