صدروا وسحر لحاظهم يغريني

ونأوا وفرط صبابيّ يدعوني

They departed, while the magic of their glances enticed me.

They went far away, while my excessive longing called me.

وتحملوا وتخلفوا مني لقي

في ربعهم أشجية أو يشجيني

They departed, leaving behind a discarded remnant of me

In their dwelling—I grieve it, or it grieves me.

فأقول للأطلال أين أحبتي

وتقول لي الأطلال أين قطيني

I ask the ruins, "Where are my beloveds?"

And the ruins ask me, "Where are my inhabitants?"

لازمت من إيثارهم آثارهم

لو أنني عاملت من يجزيني

Out of devotion to them, I clung to their traces.

If only I had dealt with someone who would reward me!

لله وجد فيهم أخفيته

فيما أظن وإنما يخفيني

What longing for them I have concealed—

Or so I think; instead, it makes me vanish.

لاموا على ترك البكاء

نزفت شؤون الحب ماء شؤوني

They blamed me for abandoning weeping.

Love's affairs had drained the water from my tear ducts.

نعب الغراب وللمشوق كهانة

فعلمت قطعاً أنه يعنيني

The raven cawed; the yearning lover has prophetic insight.

So I knew with certainty that it meant me.

لما استقلوا واستقلوا عذرهم

نسخت مناي لديهم بمنون

When they departed and deemed their excuse slight,

I exchanged my hopes in them for death.

فتبعتهم وجِمَالهم يُحدى بهم

وجَمَالُهم من فوقها يحدوني

I followed them, their camels carrying them to the driver's song,

While their beauty, above those camels, urged me onward.

يا معرضين وقد عرضت مشيّعاً

ردُّوا السَّلام فلفظة تكفيني

O you who turn away, though I appeared to bid farewell,

Return my greeting: one word will suffice me.

هاكم فؤادي فاقبلوه وإنه

ثمن يجلّ لديّ عن مثمون

Here is my heart: accept it, for it is

A price I hold above anything that can be priced.

فضوا سجوف الخزّ عن أحداجهم

فبدت لي الأقمار فوق غصون

They parted the silken curtains of their howdahs,

And moons appeared to me above branches.

وفهمت سرَّ الحسن وهو مكتّم

في ليل شعر فوق صبح جبين

I understood beauty's secret, though it lay concealed

In the night of hair above the dawn of a forehead.

ورهنت لُبَّى والحياة بوقفة

ضنوا بها من بعد قبض رهون

I pledged my mind and life for a moment's halt,

Which they withheld after taking the pledges.

وتسلموا رهني وما أن أسلموا

تيهاً فبؤت بصفقة المغبون

They received my pledge, yet did not surrender,

Out of arrogance; I came away with a cheated man's bargain.

أملت آرام الكناس ودونها

للبطارق المحزون أسد عرين

I hoped for the covert's gazelles, but before them—

For the grieving patricians—a lion in its lair.

وسلكت وجداً في طريق هواهم

ما بين مأسور وبين طعين

In yearning, I traveled the path of loving them,

Between a captive and a man pierced through.

وظننت لين قدودهم بقلوبهم

فإذا القساوة طيّ ذاك اللين

I thought their figures' softness was also in their hearts,

But hardness lay folded within that softness.

عا هدتهم ألاَّ فراق وإنما

عاهدت كالحرباء في التلوين

I pledged to them that there would be no parting, but

I had pledged to one as changeful as the chameleon.

وقررت عينا بالخداع وقلّما

قرَّت عيون عند حور عين

Deception brought my eyes contentment; seldom

Do eyes find rest among wide, dark-eyed beauties.

ورجوت في تحسينهم تحصينهم

فجهلت ما للصاد معنى السين

In their beauty I hoped to find their chastity;

I did not know that ṣād does not mean sīn.

ولقد مررت على المنازل بعدهم

فذكرت عهد صبابتي ومجوني

I passed by the dwellings after they were gone,

And recalled the days of my yearning and revelry.

ولمحت من نعمان ما يشفيني

ورأيت من يبرين ما يبريني

I glimpsed in Nuʿmān what would heal me,

And saw in Yabrīn what would waste me away.

أيام طرفي رابع في روضة

للحسن بين سوالف وعيون

Days when my gaze grazed in a garden

Of beauty, among cheeks and eyes,

متفرق اللحظات في أفنانها

للجمع بين الورد والنسرين

Its glances scattered among the branches,

To gather rose and eglantine together.

ووجدت من ريق هناك ونغمة

أشهى من الصهباء والتلحين

And there I found saliva and a melody

Sweeter than tawny wine and singing.

ونشقت عرفا خلت حين نشقته

أن النسيم يهب عن دارين

I breathed a fragrance, and as I breathed it, fancied

That the breeze was blowing from Dārīn.

عيش نعمت به فبان ببينه

صبر أتاني فقده بشجون

A life I enjoyed—with its departure, departed

My patience, whose loss brought me sorrows.

كان الفؤاد براحة في راحة

للوصل بين معاقل وحصون

The heart was at ease in the palm

Of union, among strongholds and fortresses.

فالآن إذ حلَّ الصدود بربعها

عقدت عليه عقدة التسعين

Now, when estrangement has settled in its dwelling,

I have tied around it the knot of ninety.

يا قلب طاوعت الجفون سفاهة

فجزاك ضعف فتورها بفتون

O heart, foolishly you obeyed the eyelids,

And their languid weakness repaid you with torment.

أسرتكَ لما قَيَّدَتكَ بسحرها

فاخلد بلا فك ولا تأمين

They captured you when they bound you with their magic;

So remain forever, with neither release nor safe conduct.

خلت الجفون من السيوف قريبة

ما جُرحُ أسيافٍ كجرح جفون

I thought eyelids close kin to swords;

But no sword-wound is like a wound from eyelids.

إياك من لمح اللحاظ فإنه

سهم لقوس الحاجب المقرون

Beware the flash of glances, for it is

An arrow for the bow of the joined brow.

هوّن إذا هولت واعلم إنما

تقوى على التهويل بالتهوين

Make light when frightened, and know that only

By making light can you withstand alarm.

ولكم عذول قد رددت مقاله

ردَّ المقيم على مقام الهون

How many a reprover's words I have answered

With the reply of one dwelling in an abode of humiliation.

لم أستطع رجع الكلام وإنما

أعربت عما شفني بأنين

I could not speak in answer; instead

I expressed with groaning what had wasted me.

لا نصح يجدي في مشوق جسمه

قد دقَّ حتى عاد كالعرجون

No advice avails a yearning lover whose body

Has grown so thin it resembles a date-stalk.

دع ذكر عروة أو كثيّر عزة

وابن الذريج وقيس المجنون

Leave aside mention of ʿUrwa, or Kuthayyir of ʿAzza,

And Ibn al-Dhurayj, and Qays the Madman.

يكفيك من بحر الغرام وعصفه

دمع الهوى وتنفس المحزون

Enough for you, of passion's sea and its storm,

Are love's tears and the grieving man's sighs.

لا صبر لي من بعدهم لا صبر لي

لو أنني في حلم شمس الدين

I have no patience after them—no patience!

Even were I to possess Shams al-Dīn's forbearance:

العلام العلم الذي تزهي به

أرض العراق إلى أراضي الصين

The deeply learned beacon in whom takes pride

The land of Iraq, as far as the lands of China;

والأوحد السباق غير مدافع

في حلبة المفروض والمسنون

The peerless, unrivaled frontrunner

In the arena of prescribed and customary duties;

إنسان عين الفضل قلب ضلوعه

بشواهد جلت عن التبيين

The pupil of excellence's eye, the heart within its ribs,

By testimonies too lofty to need elucidation.

بالله أو لله أوفي الله ما

يأتيه حين تحرَّك وسكون

Through God, or for God, or in God, is whatever

He undertakes in movement and repose.

لم يأت في الإِبداع فناً واحداً

إلاَّ أتى من بعده بفنون

He never brings forth a single art in invention

Without following it with many arts.

حِفظُ ابن اسماعيل فقه ربيعة

زهد الجنيد ذكاء أفلاطون

Ibn Ismāʿīl's memory, Rabīʿa's jurisprudence,

Al-Junayd's asceticism, Plato's intelligence.

أن ظن أرسل ذهنه مستثبتاً

فأتاه عما ظنه بيقين

If he suspects, he sends his mind to seek confirmation,

And it brings him certainty about what he suspected.

يا من يعارضه بعارض علمه

أياك خوض البحر دون سفين

O you who challenge him with a display of your learning,

Beware of entering the sea without a ship!

كم مدَّع رام الذي قد رمته

بمغالطات في حلى تزيين

Many a pretender sought what you have sought

With fallacies decked in ornaments.

عطف الصواب للبسه فأزاحه

عطف الصباح على الليالي الجون

He turned truth upon that confusion and dispelled it,

As morning turns upon the dark nights.

لا تطلبن حصراً لبعض كماله

قد جاء ما قد جلَّ عن قانون

Do not seek to enumerate even some of his perfection:

There has appeared what transcends every rule.

نصِّ الإِمام الشافعي بمقول

بالحق في تحقيقه مقرون

The text of Imam al-Shāfiʿī, in an utterance,

Is joined to truth in its verification.

يفري مقال مخالفيه كأنه

سيف الوصي يجول في صفّين

He cleaves his opponents' assertions as though he were

The Legatee's sword sweeping through Ṣiffīn.

لولا التعصب إذ سمعت حجابه

لعدلت للمزني عن سحنون

Were it not for partisanship, when I heard his chamberlains,

I would have turned from Saḥnūn to al-Muzanī.

حاز البيان فما يحيط بمثله

فلك البروج إلى مقر النون

He has mastered eloquence; his like cannot be encompassed by

The zodiac's sphere, down to the Fish's abode.

وحوى أفانين العلاء بأسرها

والناس يفتنون في أفنون

He possesses every branch of greatness,

While others practice only a single branch.

ولقد أبرَّ على الجميع بيانه

في فنّي المعلوم والمظنون

His eloquence has surpassed everyone

In both arts: the known and the conjectural.

إيهٍ وللآداب منه فخرها

إذ فاق في المنثور والموزون

Say more! The literary arts take pride in him,

For he excels in prose and measured verse.

سِلمٌ لأبكار المعاني ذهنه

وسواه حرب للمعاني العون

His mind is peace for virgin meanings,

While other minds are war for even mature meanings.

برزت لنا ألفاظه مختالة

في كل علق للعلوم مصون

His words appeared before us, strutting proudly,

In every guarded treasure of the sciences.

وأبان من علم الكلام وغيره

ما كان إذ ما كان غير مبين

He made clear, in theology and other fields,

What had, while it existed, remained unexplained.

وطمت بحار علومه فتقاذفت

من لفظه باللؤلؤ المكنون

The seas of his learning rose and cast forth

Hidden pearls from his speech.

ساوى لديه معلم متعلماً

إذ كلهم في رتبة التلقين

Before him, a teacher is equal to a pupil,

For all stand at the level of being instructed.

صدروا وقد وردوا بحار علومه

من غير ممنوع ولا ممنون

They depart after drawing from the seas of his learning,

With no denial and no reminders of favors.

يا طالباً للعلم هاك نصيحة

لمجرب في نصحه مأمون

O seeker of knowledge, take this advice

From one experienced, trustworthy in his counsel:

لا تعدلن بأبي المعالي غيره

فتقيس مضموناً على مظنون

Set no one else equal to Abū al-Maʿālī,

Lest you compare the guaranteed with the conjectural.

عنوان ما أخفاه من أخلاقه

بشر يلوح بوجهه الميمون

The sign of the character he conceals

Is the cheerfulness shining on his blessed face.

أكرم بنفس للنفائس أُهِّلَت

فتمكنت في رتبة التمكين

How noble a soul, made fit for precious things,

And firmly established in the rank of mastery!

لو يُستطاع لَدُوّنَت آدابُه

لكنها أعيت على التدوين

If it were possible, his virtues would be recorded,

But they have defied recording.

حبر يقل لذرة من بحره

ما جهَّزت بورانُ للمأمون

A scholar, beside one speck of whose sea seems little

What Būrān prepared for al-Maʾmūn.

يا سيدا عمّ البرية علمه

قولاً وفعلاً فاستفادوا دوني

O master whose learning has embraced all creation,

In word and deed—they have benefited, but not I.

من شك في أن ليس غيرك مَعلَمٌ

يُبطِل دليل شهادة ويمين

Whoever doubts that none but you is a guiding landmark

Invalidates the proof of testimony and oath.

إني عقدت أذمتي بولائكم

وجعلت ركن جلالكم لركوني

I have bound my pledges to loyalty to you,

And made the pillar of your majesty my support.

وتركت فيك سواك غير معقب

فتركت تموزاً إلى تشرين

For your sake I left all others, without looking back,

Thus leaving Tammūz for Tishrīn.

وقرنت شكرك بالفرائض رفعة

فوجدته للفرض خير قرين

I paired gratitude to you with obligatory duties, exalting it,

And found it the finest companion to obligation.

صُغت المديح وقد سبقت بمدحكم

فكأنني قد جئت بالتضمين

I fashioned praise, though others had already praised you,

So it seems I have come with borrowed verse.

ما قلت قط الشعر لكن يمنكم

في كل صعب آخذ بيميني

I never uttered poetry, but your auspicious blessing

Takes my right hand through every difficulty.

ولقد بعثت به وأعلم أنه

نقد ولكن عفوكم يعفيني

I have sent it, knowing that it is

Subject to criticism, but your pardon excuses me.

وإليكها تشنا سواك لو أنه

في ملك كسرى أو غنى قارون

Here it is for you: it scorns anyone else, even were he

Endowed with Kisrā's kingdom or Qārūn's wealth.

لو أنني قلدت غيرك حليها

أضحى بها التقريظ كالتأبين

Had I hung its ornaments upon anyone else,

Its commendation would have become a funeral elegy.

لم أدعُ بالدنيا لكم إذ لفظها

دُونٌ ولا أرضى لكم بالدون

I did not pray for worldly life for you, since its very word

Is lowly, and I will not accept lowliness for you.

فعليّ أن أدعو بطول بقائكم

وعلى جميع الناس بالتأمين

So it falls to me to pray for your long continuance,

And to all people to say "Amen."