إلى الله اشكو ما تكن ترائبي

واسكب دمعا صيبا كالسحائب

To God I complain of what my breast conceals,

And pour out tears in a downpour like the clouds.

ابيت وفي قلبي من البين حسرة

تثير غراما حاضرا اثر غائب

I pass the night with sorrow at separation in my heart,

Stirring a present passion in the wake of one absent.

ولو كنت معذورا على ما اصابني

لها على اليوم بعض مصائبي

And were I excused for what has befallen me,

Some of my misfortunes would be easier to bear today [reading uncertain].

ولكنني القى الورى بين شامت

وآخر لماز وآخر عاتب

But among mankind I meet one who gloats,

Another who slanders, and another who reproaches.

اما في الورى من عادل غير عاذل

اما فيهم من صاحب غير حاصب

Is there among mankind no just man who does not censure?

Is there among them no friend who does not throw stones?

واني اذا ما قمت اشكو معاتبا

شكاني غير شكو خصم معاقب

And whenever I rise to complain in reproach,

Another complains against me like an adversary bent on punishment.

وما تنفع الشكوى لدى غير منصف

وما ينفع البرهان عند المشاغب

Complaint avails nothing before one who is unjust,

And proof avails nothing before the quarrelsome.

الم يأن للايام ان تستفيق من

اذاي وحرماني اعز ما ربي

Is it not time for the days to awake from

Harming me and denying me my dearest desires?

وما ضر دهري لو كفاني ذي النوى

وآنسني يوما برؤية صاحب

What harm would it do my fate to spare me this separation,

And cheer me one day with the sight of a friend?

سميري في وجه النهار يراعة

وليلى درس الصحف من كل كاذب

My companion in the face of day is a reed pen;

My night is spent studying papers from every liar.

فيا لك من يوم كريه صباحه

ويا لك من ليل بطيء الكواكب

Ah, what a day, whose morning is hateful,

And what a night, whose stars move slowly!

كأني في حلق الزمان شجا فلم

يزل لافظاً لي ارض من لم يبال بي

As though I were a bone lodged in time's throat, which has never

Ceased casting me into the land of those who care nothing for me.

كاني على ظهر البسيطة حامل

لاعباء هذا الخلق فوق مناكبي

As though, upon the earth's broad back, I bore

The burdens of all this creation upon my shoulders.

يلوع فوادي ما يلوح لناظري

من الظلم والعدوان من كل جانب

What appears before my eyes torments my heart:

Injustice and aggression on every side.

ووالله ما ادرى اسحر الم بي

ام الناس قد اوتوا حمات العقارب

By God, I do not know: has some sorcery struck me,

Or have people been endowed with the stings of scorpions?

ارى كل فرد هاترا عرض غيره

وكلا يلاقي قرنه بالمثالب

I see every man reviling another's honor,

And each confronting his rival with reproaches.

فيا ليت شعري ايهم هو صادق

واي ابن انثى لم يشب بشوائب

Would that I knew which of them speaks truth,

And what son of woman is untainted by impurities!

ومن ذا الذي قد برأ الله ذاته

من النقص حتى لم يشن بالمعايب

Who is he whose very self God has freed

From imperfection, so that no faults disgrace him?

اذا كان اصل الناس من حمأ فما

عسى ان يرى في الفرع صفو المشارب

If mankind's root is mud, what

Hope is there of finding clear draughts in its branch?

اذا كنت تبغى صاحبا دون زلة

اجئت الى زلات غير المصاحب

If you seek a companion without a lapse,

You are driven to the faults of those who are no companions.

صبرت على مر الزمان وحلوه

وقد ادبتني منه ايدي النوائب

I have endured time's bitterness and sweetness,

And the hands of its calamities have taught me.

فالفيت سعي كله فيه ضائعا

سوى مدح اسماعيل رب المواهب

So I found all my striving within it wasted,

Save praise of Ismail, lord of gifts.

مليك علا شانا وعزا فلا ترى

له مشبها في فضله والمناقب

A sovereign exalted in station and might, so that you see

None like him in his excellence and noble qualities.

اذا ما تحرى خطة ينتضى لها

عزيمة جد نافذ في المضارب

Whenever he pursues a course, he unsheathes for it

A resolve of earnest purpose, piercing in its sword-blades.

هو البحر لمكن دره غير غابر

هو البدر لكن نوره غير غارب

He is the sea, yet his pearls do not vanish;

He is the full moon, yet his light never sets.

ولو لم يكن بدرا لما سار صيته

وحلق اوج الشرق ثم المغارب

Were he not a full moon, his fame would not have traveled

And soared to the heights of the East, then the western lands.

تمنت ملوك ان تراه ومذ رآت

محياه حابته حباء المناسب

Kings wished to see him; and when they saw

His face, they favored him with a kinsman's gifts.

فكان غريبا بينهم في سخائه

وفي حبه من اهلهم والاقارب

In generosity he was a stranger among them;

In their love for him, one of their family and kin.

وعاد غىل مصر وقد عيل صبرها

لفرقته فاستبشرت بالرغائب

He returned to Egypt, her patience exhausted

By his absence; she rejoiced in the blessings she desired.

وكل اتاه داعيا ثم حامدا

كذلك كان الدأب داب الاجانب

Everyone came to him with prayers, then with praise;

Such was the custom, the custom of foreigners too.

ولا غرو فهو اليوم روح حياتها

تحسبها في الحسن طلعة كاعب

No wonder: today he is the soul of her life;

In beauty you would take her for a young maiden's face.

وتكبره والله ان لاح وحده

وفي حبأ كالبدر بين الكواكب

And, by God, she exalts him when he appears alone,

And in a gathering, like the full moon among the stars.

ولم ار فرقا بين شيئين مثلما

ارى بين انسانين عند التارب

Never have I seen a difference between two things like

What I see between two men when put to the test [reading uncertain].

يقارب اسماعيل في السن معشر

وليس له في مجده من مقارب

A company of men approaches Ismail in age,

Yet none approaches him in glory.

لئن كان لم يملك بلادا بعيدة

فاكباد اهليها له ملك غالب

Though he has not possessed distant lands,

Their people's hearts are a dominion he rules supreme.

وان كان لم ينطق بكل لغاتهم

فآلاؤه فيهم اجل مخاطب

Though he has not spoken all their tongues,

His bounties among them are the noblest spokesman.

اذا عرفوا الانسان بالنطق فابتدر

وقل نطق تحميد لتلك النقائب

If they define a human being by speech, hasten

And say: speech is praise of those noble qualities.

ومن لم يطق حمدا له بلسانه

ففي لبه يرويه ضربة لازب

Whoever cannot voice his praise with his tongue,

Must recount it in his heart as an inescapable duty.

وان يك اسماعيل بالذبح قد فدى

فهذا يفدى بالنفوس النجائب

And if Ismail was ransomed with a sacrifice,

This one is ransomed with noble souls.

كلا السيدين استخلص العرب امة

وبوأها في العز اعلى المراتب

Both lords chose the Arabs as a nation,

And established it in the highest ranks of honor.

فها نحن في ظل العزيز اعزة

وها نحن من افضاله في مآدب

So here we are, mighty in the shadow of the mighty lord,

And here we feast at banquets of his bounty.

حرام على المدح الا له له

ومن هو فيه اليوم افصح كاتب

Praise is forbidden save for him—for him—

And for the man who is today the most eloquent writer in his praise,

كاحمد وهبي ذي البلاغة والحجا

له كلم فيها غنى عن مراضب

Like Ahmad Wahbi, endowed with eloquence and wisdom.

His words leave one no need of lips.

سقاني راحا من قوافيه اسكرت

نهاي فبي من ذاك هزة شارب

He gave me wine from his rhymes that intoxicated

My reason; I feel a drinker's tremor from it.

تحريه مدحي في الوقائع منة

مضاعفة شكرى لها جد واجب

His undertaking to praise me in al-Waqa'i is a favor;

Doubling my thanks for it is indeed a duty.

فهذان معروفان لست بواجد

نظيرهما من مدحه في الجوائب

These are two kindnesses whose equal I cannot find

In praising him in al-Jawa'ib.

باي لسان امدح اليوم مادحي

واين التغني من نواح النوادب

With what tongue can I praise my praiser today?

How far is song from the wailing of mourning women!

بديع البيان يوقع اللفظ موقعا

مصوغا على قدر المعاني الثواقب

A marvel of eloquence, he sets each word in a place

Fashioned to the measure of penetrating meanings.

فمن بدر معنى السابقات وكان في

بيان المعاني سابقا كل كاتب

Who, then, has outstripped the meaning of 'the forerunners,' and in

Expounding meanings, been ahead of every writer?

يعز عليه ان يرى بين لفظه

ومعناه سبقا او لحاقا لعائب

It pains him to see, between his wording

And his meaning, any lead or lag that invites faultfinding.

له فكرة بالنجم نيطت فلم ينل

مداها امرؤ افكاره في الملاعب

His thought is tethered to a star; no man has reached

Its range whose thoughts dwell in playgrounds.

فذاك الذي يصبو اليه اولوا النهى

وقد ضل من يصبو لعين وحاجب

That is the one toward whom men of reason are drawn;

Astray is he who longs for an eye and eyebrow.

ومقوله ذاك الفصيح وانه

متى اختلف القولان احدى العجائب

And that eloquent tongue of his—indeed, it is,

When two opinions differ, one of the wonders.

يطوع له في الحكم كل معاند

ويرضى به في الفصل كل مؤارب

Every stubborn opponent submits to his judgment,

And every wily adversary accepts him as arbiter.

تباهى به مصر السعيدة فهو في

سماء حماها زين كل المناصب

Happy Egypt glories in him; in

The heaven of her domain, he adorns every office.

الا ليت شعري والاماني شهية

اتلمس من مصر ترابا ترائبي

Ah, would that I knew—and wishes are sweet—

Will my breast touch soil from Egypt?

تنعمت فيها بين شيخ مؤدب

وخل وفي كان اكرم آدب

I lived in comfort there, between a venerable teacher

And a faithful friend, the most generous of hosts.

فكان جزآي بعد ان بنت عنهم

عناء وضربا في جميع الجوانب

But after I parted from them, my recompense was

Hardship and wandering in every direction.

سلام عليها كلما شاقت الصبا

محبا وما حنت اليها ركائبي

Peace upon her, whenever the east wind stirs longing in

A lover, and whenever my mounts yearn toward her.