1. رِد بالمطي موارد الغزلان

    وانشد فؤادا بين أَهل البان

    Come with the riding camels to the gazelles' watering places.

    And seek a heart among the people of the ban-tree grove.

  2. واعكف عَلى الدمن الَّتي بمحجر

    وَدع الحنين لا برق الحنان

    And linger over the ruined traces at Muhajjar.

    And leave your longing for [Abraq al-Hannan?].

  3. واندب زَمان اللَهو في عرصاتها

    وَمواقف القينات وَالفتيان

    And mourn the days of pleasure in their open grounds,

    And the gathering places of singing girls and youths.

  4. أَيام لَيلى العامرية جارَتي

    وَخباؤه المَضروب قيد عناني

    The days when Layla al-ʿAmiriyya was my neighbor,

    And his tent stood pitched within reach of my reins;

  5. وَالربع مَحروس الجناب من النَوى

    والناس ناسي وَالزَمان زَماني

    When the dwelling's precincts were guarded against separation,

    And the people were my people, and the time my time.

  6. يا لَيتَ شعري وَالزمان مفرق

    أَيَعود لي زَمَني بشعب رمان

    Would that I knew, while time scatters us:

    Will my days in the ravine of Rumman return to me?

  7. وأبيت في سمرات رامة سامرا

    واظل تحت ظلالها المتداني

    And shall I spend the night among Rama's acacias, conversing,

    And pass the day beneath their closely gathered shade?

  8. هَيهات ذاكَ زمان أنس عز أن

    أَنساه أَو أَلقاه أَو يَلقاني

    Far beyond reach! That season of intimacy—it is hard for me to

    Forget it, or encounter it, or have it encounter me.

  9. قالوا تعز عَن الهَوى فأجبتهم

    ما أَبعد الذكرى من النسيان

    They said, 'Find solace away from love.' I answered them:

    How far remembrance is from forgetting!

  10. أَم كَيفَنسلو في الغوير وَربعنا

    شام وَربع النجدين يماني

    Or how can we find solace in al-Ghuwayr, when our dwelling

    Is northern, while the dwelling of al-Najdayn is southern?

  11. وَحَياتهم وَسماتهم ما لذلي

    زَمن الصبا الاوهم جيراني

    By their lives and their features, never was sweet to me

    The season of youth, except when they were my neighbors.

  12. طرق النَسيم الحاجري لحاجري

    سحر افعانق ناعم الاغصان

    The breeze from Hajir visited my Hajir by night,

    At dawn, then embraced the tender branches.

  13. وَسَقى الحيا روض الربا فَتَبَسمَت

    عن ابيض يقق وأحمر قاني

    And rain watered the hills' garden, and it smiled,

    Revealing dazzling white and deep crimson.

  14. وَتَطارَحَت ورق الحَمائم بالحمى

    طرف السجوع بعليب الالحان

    And the gray doves in the sanctuary exchanged

    Delightful cooings in [unclear] melodies.

  15. وَبَكيت أَوطاني وَربع هواي في

    زَمَن الصبا حييت من أَوطان

    And I wept for my homelands and the dwelling of my love in

    The season of youth—greetings to you, O homelands!

  16. وَبَغيت غيثا مُستَعيرا جوده

    من جود عَبد اللَه ذي الاحسان

    And I sought a rain whose bounty was borrowed

    From the bounty of ʿAbd Allah, the beneficent.

  17. أَعنى الوليّ اين الوليّ المنتقى

    صافى السَريرَة صفوة الرَحمن

    I mean the saint, son of the chosen saint,

    Pure of heart, the Merciful's elect;

  18. سيف الصَلاح يد السماح فَتى أَبي

    بكر حمى الفرباء وَالضيفان

    The sword of righteousness, the hand of generosity, the son of Abu

    Bakr, protector of strangers and guests;

  19. بحر يموج غني لملتمس الغَني

    وَحيا يَصوب كَصَيب العقيان

    A sea surging with riches for the seeker of wealth,

    And rain pouring like a shower of pure gold;

  20. الحامل الاثقال وَالحامي حمى ال

    اسلام وَالداعي الى الايمان

    Bearer of burdens, defender of the sanctuary of

    Islam, and caller to faith;

  21. وَالصائِم الوقدات وَالمتهجد ال

    محيدجى الظلمات بالقرآن

    Who fasts through scorching days and keeps night vigil,

    Enlivening the gloom of darkness with the Qur'an.

  22. أَضحى عَفيف الدين فرد جَلالة

    يَعلو وَيَسمو أن يقاس بِثاني

    ʿAfif al-Din has become peerless in majesty,

    Too high and lofty to be compared with another.

  23. لما سمعت به سمعت بواحد

    وَرأيته فاذا هو الثقلان

    When I heard of him, I heard of one;

    And when I saw him, behold, he was mankind and jinn together.

  24. فوجدت كل الصيد في جوف الفرا

    وَلَقيت كل الناس في انسان

    I found all game within the wild ass's belly,

    And met all people in a single person.

  25. وَالشمس تخجل من بهاء جَبينه

    وَالبحر يغرق بين خمس بنان

    The sun blushes before the radiance of his brow,

    And the sea drowns among his five fingertips.

  26. نعمت بساحته الوفود فَما دَروا

    أَديار ترغم أَم رياض جنان

    The delegations delighted in his courtyard, not knowing:

    Were these Targham's dwellings, or gardens of paradise?

  27. وَثووا عكوفا حوله كعكوفهم

    في الحج حول البيت وَالاركان

    They remained devotedly around him, just as they remain

    On pilgrimage around the House and its corners.

  28. يا سائلي عنه اعتمده فانه

    سر الوجود وَبهجة الازمان

    O you who ask me about him, rely on him, for he is

    The secret of existence and the delight of the ages.

  29. ينميه بين خؤلة وَعمومة

    جدان في التَفضيل مستويان

    Among maternal and paternal kin, he is ennobled by

    Two grandfathers equal in excellence;

  30. بدران مبتدران في افق العلى

    جبَلان مرتفعان ممتنعان

    Two full moons vying in the firmament of eminence,

    Two lofty, unassailable mountains.

  31. وَضعا نَعيم وابن عبد اللَه في

    أَسراره نور الهدىالرباني

    Naʿim and Ibn ʿAbd Allah placed within

    His innermost secrets the light of divine guidance.

  32. فَحوى فَخارهما وَطالَ هداهما

    شرفا فنعم النجم وَالقمران

    He gathered their glory and surpassed their guidance

    In nobility: excellent are the star and the two moons!

  33. لِلَّه من فاق الكِرام مكانه

    فَعلا عَلى النظراء والاقران

    God be praised for one whose station surpasses the noble,

    And rises above his peers and equals,

  34. بجَلالة الآباء وَالأَجداد ال

    اعمام وَالأَخوال والاخوان

    Through the majesty of fathers and grandfathers,

    Paternal uncles, maternal uncles, and brothers.

  35. بركاتها في المسلمين عميمة

    كالغَيث يشمل سائر البلدان

    Its blessings spread widely among Muslims,

    Like rain encompassing every land.

  36. وَله كرمات يؤلف بعضهما

    باللطف بين الماء وَالنيران

    And he has miracles, some of which bring harmony

    Through gentleness, between water and fires.

  37. وَلَقَد يشير إِلى السماء بطرفه

    فيجاب قبل تصافح الاجفان

    Indeed, he points toward heaven with his gaze,

    And is answered before his eyelids clasp hands.

  38. وَيَرى بنور اللَه منه فراسة

    ما لا تَراه بنورها العَينان

    Through discernment from Him, he sees by God's light

    What the two eyes cannot see by their own light.

  39. وَهُوَ الَّذي تَقوى الاله شعاره

    وَدثاره في السر والاعلان

    He is the one whose inner garment is reverence for God,

    And whose outer cloak is it, in private and in public;

  40. خرم يَصول عَلى الخطوب ببأسه

    وَيرود روض الخير كل أَوان

    A [champion?] who assails calamities with his might,

    And ranges through the garden of goodness at every hour;

  41. وأغر يُستَسقى الغمام بوجهه

    وَبه يعم الخير كل مَكان

    A radiant one, through whose face the clouds are asked for rain,

    And through whom goodness spreads to every place.

  42. وَبحبه تَحيا النفوس لكونه

    فيها مَكان الروح في الابدان

    Through love for him, souls live, for he holds

    Within them the place the soul holds in bodies.

  43. نَهدى مدائحنا اليه فتَكتَسي

    منه مَعاني الشعر حسنمَعاني

    We offer our praises to him; then are clothed

    The meanings of poetry, through him, in beauty of meaning.

  44. وَيلذ للشعراء طيب ثَنائه

    فَكانهم يَتلون سبع مَثاني

    Poets delight in the sweetness of praising him,

    As though they were reciting the Seven Oft-Repeated.

  45. ما زلت اشكره نداه وَكلما

    طالَت يَداه عليّ طال لِساني

    I have never ceased thanking him for his bounty, and whenever

    His two hands reach farther toward me, my tongue grows longer.

  46. مَولاي جئتك وَالخطوب عَوابس

    وَالدَهر يصرف نابه لهواني

    My lord, I came to you while calamities scowled,

    And time gnashes its fang to humiliate me.

  47. زمنيعاندني وَدين أَدنى

    كصفا المشرق أدمن ثهلان

    An age that opposes me, and a debt that [brings me low?],

    Like the rock of the East, [or of?] Thahlan;

  48. وَعلاج فقر لا يفارق منزلي

    ما لي بسطوته علي يدان

    And a struggle with poverty that never leaves my home:

    My two hands cannot withstand its assault upon me.

  49. فتولني وأقل بجودك عثرَتي

    وأقل نوب نوائب الحدثان

    So take me under your care; with your bounty, raise me from my stumble,

    And lessen the assaults of time's calamities.

  50. وانظر إِلىبعين لطفك نظرة

    أحيى بها أَملي وأصلح شاني

    And cast on me, with the eye of your kindness, a glance

    By which I may revive my hope and set my affairs right.

  51. وامدني بنداك وامسح بالغنى

    فَقري وارغم انف من يشناني

    And sustain me with your bounty, and wipe away with wealth

    My poverty, and rub the nose of whoever hates me in dust.

  52. فَعَساك ان أَكرَمتني أَحييتني

    وأمت رب فلانة وَفلان

    Perhaps, if you honor me, you will give me life,

    And bring death to many a so-and-so, woman and man.

  53. وَبقيت جاهى في الرمان وَوجهتي

    وَبدى وَسَيفي في العدا وَسناني

    And remain my prestige through [time?], and the one I turn to,

    And my hand, my sword against foes, and my spearhead.

  54. اسلم وَدم جبلا نَلوذ بظله

    وَغياث قاص في الانام وَداقي

    Stay safe, and remain a mountain in whose shade we seek refuge,

    And succor for the far and the near among humankind,

  55. في حيث مثوى الضيف مختلف القرى

    كَرما وَجار الجنب غير مهان

    In a place where the guest's lodging offers varied fare,

    Out of generosity, and the unrelated neighbor is not slighted.