Poems
- إذا غدت سعد على شبيبهاWhen Sa‘d goes forth to its Shabib,
- أصبحت لا يملك بعضي بعضاI have become a man whose limbs no longer obey one another;
- اكثر خلق الله من لا يدريMost of God’s creatures are those who cannot tell,
- الحمد لله ولي الأمرPraise be to God, Master of affairs.
- امسلم اني يابن خير خليفةO Maslama, indeed I—O son of the best caliph,
- أنا ابن سعد وتوسطت العجمI am a son of Saʿd, and I have taken my place among the non-Arabs;
- برية لم تأكل المرفقاA desert woman who has never eaten the elbow,
- تكحل عينيك عند العشيYou paint your eyes with kohl at eventide,
- خليفة اللَه وانت ذاكاCaliph of God—and that you are—
- دونك عبدالله اهل ذاكاTake it, ʿAbd Allāh—you are worthy of it:
- شاهد مالا رب مال فساسهA man of wealth surveyed an estate and tended it
- عادت ولو قد فعلت لم توددShe returned; yet had she done so, she would not have been loved.
- فانصاع يسعى بالصعيد الهايلThen he wheeled away, running across the loose-sanded plain,
- قد قال صبياني وهم تسعةIndeed, my boys, nine in number, said—
- قيدها الجهد ولم تقيدExhaustion has tethered them, though they were not tethered.
- لعمري لئن ركب الجنيد تحملواBy my life, though al-Junayd’s caravan has loaded up and departed
- لم أر غيري حسناI have seen no one handsome but myself
- لولا أبان هلكت نميرWere it not for Aban, Numayr would have perished.
- ما زال عنا قصعات اربعFour bowls have never left us,
- مسلم يا مسلحة الحروبMaslam, O bulwark of war,
- هاجك من اروى بمنهاص الفككArwa at Minhāṣ al-Fakak awakened in you
- هم وسط يرضى الإله بحكمهمThey are the just and noble company whose judgment God approves,
- وإن بقوم سودوك لفاقةAnd indeed, the people who made you chief are in need
- ولولا خلة سبقت اليهAnd were it not for a prior friendship with him,
- ولولا شهوتي شفتى عليWere it not for my longing for Ali’s lips,
- ويعتدى ويعتدى ويعتدىAnd he is assailed—assailed—assailed,
- يا بنت من لم يك يهوى بنتاO daughter of a man who never wished for a daughter,
No poems found.