إن العلى لم تزل تبغي الكفي لها — Al Tughrai

إن العُلَى لم تزلْ تبغِي الكَفِيَّ لها

حتَّى اطمأَنَّتْ إِلى معمورِ ناديكا

Indeed, glory never ceased seeking her worthy match

until she found peace in your flourishing assembly hall.

رحبُ المساربِ مخضَلٌّ مذانِبهُ

يرودُ منه جِنانَ الخلد عافيكا

Its pathways are spacious, its watercourses lush;

from it, the seeker of your bounty roams the gardens of eternity.

بَعُدتَ عن مطرحِ الآمالِ مُرتفعاً

فمَنْ يُراميكَ أم مَنْ ذا يُدانِيكا

You have risen far above the reach of aspirations;

who, then, can vie with you, or who can come near you?

يأبَى لك العِزُّ أن تثوي بمنزلةٍ

حتى تُغَشِّي رداءَ الخِزي شانِيكا

Honor will not let you settle at any station

until you clothe your hater in the robe of disgrace.

ما بالُ بحرِك لا تسجُو غواربُه

وكيف تسجو ولم تبلغ مغازيكا

Why do the crests of your sea never grow still?

And how could they, when you have not reached your aims?

وما امتشقتَ شَباةَ الطعنِ عن كَبدٍ

وعن فُؤادٍ وَتورٍ طالَ ما شِيكا

Nor have you drawn the spearpoint out of a liver,

or from a vengeful heart that has long been pierced.

أَبشِرْ بنيلِ المُنَى تهدي عرائسَها

إليك مُصحبةً فيها أمانيكا

Rejoice in attaining your wishes: they offer their brides

to you, yielding, with your hopes among them.

لقد شككتَ ظهورَ الخيلِ متعبةً

وإن شكت فَكَّهُنَّ المالُ شاكيكا

You have indeed pierced the backs of horses, leaving them weary;

and if they complain, wealth ransoms them, itself complaining of you.

ترمي بها البِيدَ منشوراً صحائفُها

فلا تمَلُّ ولا تبغي تعنِّيكا

You hurl them across deserts whose pages lie unfolded;

they neither tire nor seek to trouble you.

تَحارُ شُهب السَّواري في مجاهلِها

والريحُ تلعبُ فيها أو تجارِيكا

Bright night-roving stars lose their way in those trackless wastes,

and the wind plays there, or races you.

إِذا العواطفُ في أشواطِها نهضتْ

كلّتْ ركائبُها من قبل تُعييكا

When the sweeping winds rise in their courses,

their mounts tire before they can tire you.

تحثُّ والشمسُ في حوض الدُّجَى كرعتْ

وتَنْتَحي وظلام الليل يؤويكا

You spur them on as the sun drinks from darkness's basin,

and press onward while night's darkness shelters you,

حتى تَشُقَّ سَبِيبَ الليل عن فَلَقٍ

طَلْقٍ مُحَيَّاهُ وضَّاحٍ يُحيِّيكا

until you part night's tresses to reveal a dawn

with a cheerful, radiant face that greets you.

إِذا النجومُ تراءتْ أبصرتْ عَجَباً

وقد رأينَ قُصوراً عن معالِيكا

When the stars appear, they behold a marvel,

and see how far they fall short of your heights.

تراكَ أبعدَ منها رُتبةً ومدَىً

وشأوَ عِزٍّ ومجدٍ إذ تُساميكا

They see you farther than themselves in rank and reach,

and in the span of honor and glory, when they vie with you.

وما رأتْ في غِطاء الغرب أيديَها

حتى رأتْ فوق مثواها مساعِيكا

And they did not see their hands beneath the western veil

until they saw your endeavors above their resting place.

تلثَّمَتْ بقناعِ الغَرْبِ من خَجَلٍ

إِذ لم تَنَلْ بمَداها بعضَ ما فِيكا

They veiled their faces with the west's veil in shame,

since their reach could not attain even part of what is in you.

إِذا الجيادُ طوتْ ما بينَ أربُعنا

حتى تَبلَّ صدى شوقي تلاقيكا

When the steeds fold up the distance between our dwellings,

so that meeting you may slake my longing's thirst,

أنعلتهنَّ حماليقي وقلَّ لها

حملاقُ عَينَيَّ نعلاً حين نثنيكا

I would shoe them with my inner eyelids, though too little for them

is the lining of my eyes as a shoe, when we turn you our way.

أفني سنابكَها لثماً وأُفرِشُها

خدّي إِذا أنت تَثنيها فتُدنيكا

I wear their hooves away with kisses, and spread beneath them

my cheek, when you turn them so they bring you near.

كم ليلةٍ كسوادِ الليلِ غيهَبُها

جَناحُه الوحْفُ فَضفاضٌ تُرويكا

How many a night, its gloom as black as night,

its dense wing spread wide, has slaked your thirst.

ضافي الحِداد حرونُ النجم حائرُه

يحنو عليك بأذيالٍ تواريكا

Clad in trailing mourning, its star balking and bewildered,

it bends over you with skirts that hide you.

لولا اتِّقادُ شِهابِ العزمِ ما شغفتْ

قلبَ الدُّجَى بالسُّرى فيها نواحيكا

But for the blaze of resolve's meteor, your far reaches would not have enthralled

the heart of darkness through night journeys within them.

للشهبِ وقفةُ خوفٍ في مدارجها

ولم يَقِفْكَ ارتياعٌ في مجاريكا

The stars pause in fear along their courses,

yet no alarm has halted you along yours.

غضبان ترمي بأمواجٍ فواقِعُها

كواكبٌ في سَناءِ المجدِ تَحكيكا

Raging, you hurl waves whose bubbles

are stars that mirror you in glory's radiance.

والبدرُ يرتَجُّ في الخضراء من فَرَقٍ

كأنه قلبُ مذعورٍ يُنادِيكا

And the full moon quakes with fear in the green heavens,

as though it were a frightened person's heart calling to you.

آليتَ ألّا يحطَّ النومُ أرحُلَه

حتى تنالَ على رُغمٍ أقاصيكا

You swore that sleep would not set down its saddles

until, despite resistance, you reached your farthest goals.

ألفتَ كورَ المَهارَى القُود تَسكُنُهُ

وعِفْتَ ربعَكَ معموراً وأهلِيكا

You took to the saddle of long-necked Mahri camels, dwelling there,

and spurned your inhabited home and your family.

عريكةٌ لا يُلينُ الدهرُ شِدَّتَها

تقيكَ قالةَ حُسَّادٍ وتحميكا

A spirit whose toughness time cannot soften

guards you against envious talk and protects you.

وافاكَ بالسعدِ نيروزٌ قضَى عجباً

لما تراءتْ له شتَّى معانيكا

Nowruz came to you with good fortune, overcome with wonder

when your manifold qualities appeared to it.

يروقُه نَقَيانُ الدُّجْنِ طافَ به

أذيالُ غيثٍ هَمُولٍ من تسخِّيكا

Cloud-dunes delight it; around it have swept

the skirts of copiously pouring rain from your generosity.