1. طَحا بِهِ في الحسان الغِيد حَيثُ طَحا

    قَلبٌ عَلى العَهدِ مِن لَمياءَ ما بَرِحا

    Among the fair, supple beauties, he was swept wherever it strayed—

    By a heart that never abandoned its pledge with Lamya.

  2. هَيفاء تُخجل غصنَ البانِ مُنعَطِفاً

    وَالريمَ مُلتفتاً وَالظَبيَ إِن سَنَحا

    A slender beauty who shames the bending branch of the ben-tree,

    The white gazelle turning its head, and the gazelle passing by.

  3. صِغر الوَشاحين رَيّاً الحجل ما سَفَرت

    إِلّا أَغارَ سَناها الشَمسَ وَقتَ ضُحى

    Slender beneath her twin sashes, full at the anklet, she never unveiled

    Without her radiance making the forenoon sun jealous.

  4. رُودٌ تُخَطِّرُ في بُردَي صِباً وَهَوىً

    وَتَنثَني التِيهَ مِن سُكر الصِبا مَرَحا

    A tender beauty, she sways in the twin mantles of youth and love,

    And turns in proud abandon, merry with youth's intoxication.

  5. سَقى الصِبا وَالشَبابُ الرُوقُ وَجنَتها

    ماءً مِنَ الحُسنِ مَغبُوقاً وَمُصطَبَحا

    Youth and blooming young vigor watered her cheek

    With beauty's water, served at evening and at morning.

  6. حاوَلتُ رَشفَ اللَمى مِن بَرد رِيقَتِها

    أُطفي بِهِ مِن لَهيب الوَجدِ ما لقَحا

    I tried to sip the cool saliva of her dusky lips,

    To quench with it whatever flames of longing had flared.

  7. فَأَعرَضت لِبياضٍ لاحَ قائِلَةً

    يا بُعدَهُ مُنتَبِذاً عَنّا وَمُطَّرِحا

    But she turned away at a gleam of white, saying:

    How far away he is, removed from us and cast aside!

  8. هَيهاتَ وَصلُ الحِسان الغانيات وَفي

    لَيل الشَبيبة صُبحُ الشَيبِ قَد وَضَحا

    Far off is union with fair, alluring women, when

    In youth's night the dawn of gray hair has already shone.

  9. فَقُلتُ وَالعَينُ شَكرى وَالفُؤادُ بِهِ

    رَسٌّ أُكابِدُ مِنهُ الوَجدَ وَالبَرَحا

    So I said, my eye brimming, my heart harboring

    A hidden ache whose longing and anguish I endure:

  10. ما ذاكَ عُوفيتِ يا لَمياءُ مِن كِبَرٍ

    إِنّي وَطَرفِ الصِبا المَقرور ما قَرَحا

    This is not from age, Lamya—may you be kept well!

    As for me—by youth's contented steed, still not full-grown—

  11. وَإِنَّما نُوَبُ الأَيّام جئنَ بِهِ

    كَما تَرَينَ وَدَهرٌ طالَ ما اِجتَرَحا

    Only the vicissitudes of days have brought this,

    As you see, and time, which has long inflicted wounds.

  12. غَدَت تُكَلِّفُني فيهِ العُلا شِيَمٌ

    وَعَزمَةٌ لا تَني تَنحوهُ حَيثُ نَحا

    Within it, virtues have charged me with seeking the heights,

    And an unflagging resolve that pursues them wherever they lead;

  13. وَهِمّةٌ لَيسَ تَرضى النَجمَ مَنزِلَةً

    تُعزى لِقَلبٍ إِلى العَلياءِ قَد كَدَحا

    And an ambition that will not accept the stars as its station,

    Ascribed to a heart that has striven toward the heights;

  14. وَمَنطِقٌ تَنظِمُ الجَوزاءُ رُؤيَتَهُ

    لَكِن بِوَصفِ عِمادِ الدينِ قَد كَدَحا

    And eloquence whose vision strings together Orion's stars,

    Yet it has labored to describe Imad al-Din:

  15. مَولىً مَآثرُهُ تَستَغرقُ المِدحا

    لِذاكَ يَقصُرُ عَنها كُلُّ مَن مَدَحا

    A lord whose glorious deeds exhaust all praise,

    So every praiser falls short of them.

  16. مِن سادَةٍ وَرِثوا العَلياءَ وَاِقتَسَموا

    مَآثر المَجدِ فيما بَينَهُم مِنَحا

    From masters who inherited the heights and shared

    The honors of glory among themselves as gifts.

  17. مِن كُلِّ أَزهرَ بادي البشر غُرّتُه

    تَلُوح في مُدلهمّاتٍ دَجت وَضُحا

    Each a radiant man of manifest cheer, whose brow

    Shines brightly through the thickest, blackest gloom.

  18. يُبدي مُحيّاً يُريكَ البَدر طَلعَتُهُ

    يَغُضُّ مِنهُ حَياءً كُلُّ مَن لَمَحا

    He reveals a face whose appearance shows you the full moon;

    Every beholder lowers his gaze before it out of modesty.

  19. إِلى شَمائِل تَندى كَالرِياض إِذا

    ما وابلُ المُزنِ فيها دَمعَهُ سَفَحا

    Along with qualities as dewy as gardens whenever

    The clouds' downpour has shed its tears upon them.

  20. إِمام أَهلِ التُقى وَالعلم شيمَتُهُ

    بَذلُ النَدى مِن أَيادٍ سَيبُها رَشَحا

    Leader of the people of piety and learning, whose nature is

    Bestowing bounty from hands that drip with generosity.

  21. تَغدُو الأَمانيُّ حَسرى دونَ هِمّتِهُ

    إِذا يَروحُ عَلى العَلياء مُقتَرِحا

    Wishes fall exhausted short of his ambition

    Whenever he goes forth demanding the heights.

  22. فَلُذ بِهِ طَودَ عَلمٍ لَو تُوازِنُهُ

    هِضابُ رَضوى عَلى مِقدارها رَجحا

    So seek refuge in him, a mountain of knowledge: if weighed against

    Radwa's hills, vast as they are, he would outweigh them.

  23. يُريكَ مِن لَفظِهِ الكَشاف إِن نَطَقَت

    عُليا بِلاغَتِهِ ما يُخرسُ الفُصَحا

    Through his revealing words he shows you, when

    His lofty eloquence speaks, what strikes the eloquent dumb.

  24. فَكَم بِهِ مِن مُشكلٍ لِلفَهمِ قَد وَضَحا

    وَمُقفَل بِدَقيق الفِكرِ قَد فُتِحا

    How many a difficulty he has made clear to the understanding,

    And how many a locked matter has been opened through subtle thought!

  25. لَهُ يَراعٌ إِذا يَعلُو أَنامِلُهُ

    شاهدتَ أَروع بِالخَطيَّةِ اِتَّشَحا

    He has a reed pen: when it rises above his fingers,

    You see a formidable warrior girded with a Khatti spear.

  26. وَإِن مَشى في أَعالي الطِرسِ مَرقَمُه

    تَخالُ أَرقمَ وَسط الرَوضِ فاهُ شَحا

    And when his pen walks over the surface of the parchment,

    You imagine a speckled serpent amid a garden, its mouth agape.

  27. ما الليثُ إِن جَرحا وَالغَيثُ إِن رَشَحا

    وَالدَهرُ إِن سَمَحا وَالبَحرُ إِن طَفَحا

    Neither the lion when it wounds, nor rain when it drips,

    Nor time when it grants, nor the sea when it brims,

  28. أَمضى شَباً مِنهُ أَدنى مَنهُ وَقع فِدىً

    أَندى يَداً مِنهُ أَوفى مِنهُ إِن سَمَحا

    Is sharper-edged than it, or nearer at hand with ransom,

    More generous-handed than it, or more bountiful than it when giving.

  29. فَقُل لِمَن رامَ في فَضلٍ يُماثِلُهُ

    أَقصِر عَدِمتُكَ وَاقبَل نُصحَ مَن نَصَحا

    Say, then, to anyone who seeks to match him in excellence:

    Desist—may I lose you!—and accept a sincere adviser's counsel.

  30. إِنّ المَعالِيَ ما بَينَ الوَرى مِنَحٌ

    مَقسومَةٌ وَإِلهُ العَرشِ قَد مَنَحا

    High honors among humankind are gifts

    Apportioned; and the God of the Throne has bestowed them.

  31. وَهاكها مِن بَناتِ الفِكرِ غانِيَةً

    فُؤادُها لِسوى مَغناكَ ما جَنَحا

    And take her, a beauty among the daughters of thought,

    Whose heart has never inclined to any dwelling but yours.

  32. تَخالها رَوضةً غَنّاءَ قَد لَبِسَت

    مَطارفَ النُورِ في أَعطافِها وَشَحا

    You would think her a lush garden that has donned

    Mantles of light as sashes about her flanks.

  33. حَلَّت عُرى الدَلوِ فيها لِلجَنوب يَدٌ

    بَيضاءُ وَالطَيرُ في أَغصانِها صَدَحا

    The south wind's hand has loosened the bucket's cords within it—

    A white, generous hand—and birds sing among its branches.

  34. مِن عَبدِ رقٍّ تَرَجّى أَن تُكاتِبَه

    فَضلاً لِيَرتاض دَهر بَعدَما جَمَحا

    From a bondsman who hoped you would contract for his freedom,

    As a favor, so that time might be tamed after running wild.

  35. لا زِلتَ تَحمي حَريمَ الفَضلِ في بَلَدٍ

    بِهِ أُناسٌ لِبُهم القاع إِذ سَرَحا

    May you ever guard the sanctuary of excellence in a land

    Where people are like young beasts roaming the plain.

  36. تَظاهَروا بِنفاق الغَيِّ بَينَهُم

    حَتّى اِدّعاهُ عَلى مَكروههِ الفُصَحا

    They joined forces to promote error among themselves,

    Till even the eloquent claimed it, despite its odiousness.

  37. ما أَمَّ ساحَكَ طُلّابٌ وَما حَمَلَت

    غَوارِبُ الإِبلِ الغادينَ وَالرُوَحا

    As long as seekers come to your court, and are borne

    On camels' high backs, journeying morning and evening.