قرب الوجد والسلو بعيد

فإلام الملام والتفنيد

Passion draws near, and solace is far away.

How long, then, this reproach and faultfinding?

حاشلي لا أرى خليع عذار

في هوى من له عذار جديد

Far be it from me not to be seen unbridled

in love with one whose cheek-down is new.

بدر تم له من الرمل ردف

وله من جد آية الرمل جيد

A full moon, whose hips are fashioned of sand,

whose neck is that of a gazelle of the sands.

حبذا روض خده الغض لو أس

رح لثا في حسنه واورى

How lovely the tender meadow of his cheek, if only

kisses might roam its beauty and kindle a flame [reading uncertain].

مذ قادني دمعي كخديه قان

وجفاني أيامي البيض سودُ

Since he led me, my tears are crimson as his cheeks,

and since he shunned me, my white days are black.

خصِر الريق حل عزم سلوى

عن هواة خصر له معقود

Cool of mouth, he undid my resolve to forget

his love; his waist is tightly bound [reading uncertain].

ليس يطفي وقد الصبابة إلا

برد في مجاج فيه برودَ

Nothing quenches the blaze of longing except

the coolness of a mouth whose saliva is refreshing.

بأبي زروة له غير زور

ليلة النصف والنجوم ركود

My father be ransom for his visit, free of deception,

on the midmonth night, with the stars motionless,

حين وافنى بنبت عنفود فيه

والثريا كأنها عنودُ

when he came to me with his mouth's budding grape-cluster,

and the Pleiades seemed a straying gazelle.

بامغاني العقيق لاعفَّك المز

نُ ومدَّت على رباك المدود

O dwellings of al-Aqiq, may the rainclouds not efface you,

and may floods stretch over your hills.

وبكت شجوها السحائب في رب

عك ريا وضاحكتك الرعود

May the clouds weep their grief over your dwelling,

drenching it, while thunders laugh with you.

كل جود تخال كف علاء الد

ين فيه بالمكرما تجود

In every act of bounty you imagine Ala al-Din's hand

lavishing noble gifts therein.

ملك صان عرضه ما استباحت

من حمى ماله المضاع الوفود

A king whose honor was guarded by what delegations freely took

from the preserve of his lavishly spent wealth.

زينبي للوحي ما بين بيتي

ه نزول وللدعاء صعود

A Zaynabi: between his two houses revelation

descends, and supplication rises.

باب إحسانه على الوفد مفتو

ح وباب اعتذاره مسدود

The door of his kindness is open to delegations,

and the door of his excuses is shut.

قسما ما أغب طرفة عين

عن مرحٍ طريفه والتليدُ

I swear, not for an eye-blink has he held back

from giving his new and inherited wealth [reading uncertain].

أبيض العرض والنوائب سود

سائل الجود والأكفّ جمود

White in honor, while calamities are black,

flowing with generosity, while hands are frozen.

فعقيم الرجاء قد لقحته

راحة منه للأيادي ولود

Barren hope has been made fruitful

by his palm, ever giving birth to favors.

شرس ليَّن لجافٍ ووافٍ

متلف مخلف مفيت مفيدُ

Fierce to the aloof, gentle to the faithful,

he spends and replenishes, deprives and bestows.

ورع أروع يرجى ويخشى

منه وعد معجّل ووعيدُ

Pious and imposing: one hopes for and fears

a swift promise and a threat from him.

عدم العدم في البرية لما

ملأ الأرض جوده الموجودُ

Want vanished from humankind when

his ever-present generosity filled the earth.

ولدته من آل غالب الأقيال

غر غلب بها ليل صيدُ

The princes of Ghalib's house begot him—

illustrious, mighty, noble chiefs, proud of bearing.

معشر في الندى بحور وفي السل

م بدور وفي الهياج أسودُ

A people who are seas in generosity, and in peace

full moons, and in battle lions.

ففداء العلاء نجل علي

من قريب الندى عليه بعيد

Let this man be ransom for al-Ala, Ali's son:

one to whom even nearby generosity is far away.

عرض كله فعرض زجاج

ويد جلد ووجه حديد

All outward show: his honor is glass,

his hand leather, and his face iron.

بالنسايا يجود إن جاد يوما

ولديا الرفد السني تقود

He is generous on credit, if he ever gives,

and where splendid gifts are concerned, you lead [wording unclear].

قل لمنواصل السرى بأمون

للفيافي والبيد قطعاً تبيدُ

Tell whoever travels by night on a sure-footed she-camel,

that annihilates wastes and deserts by crossing them,

يطلب اليسر من أخي كل عسر

فهو فيهم مجاهد مجهود

seeking ease from a brother to every hardship:

among them he struggles, utterly exhausted.

زر عماد الإسلام بالمدح واعلم

إنه بالسماح صب عيد

Visit the pillar of Islam with praise, and know

that generosity holds him lovesick, again and again.

فلديه للوفد حوض إيادٍ

ذو ازدحام وروض جود مجود

With him, delegations find a pool of favors,

crowded, and a well-watered garden of bounty.

يتساوى المجدود أما اجتداه

في اتساع الأرزاق والمحدود

The fortunate, when seeking his bounty, is equal

in ample livelihood to the unfortunate.

يا أبا نصر الذيب النصر والأق

بال شاد اعلاه والتأييد

O Abu Nasr, whose eminence victory and good fortune

have raised, together with support,

إن خطو الخطوب تقصر عمن

ظل نعماك فوقه ممدود

the strides of calamities fall short of whoever

has the shade of your blessings spread above him.

أنا عبد لك استرقَّني الأح

سان فلتشهد العدول الشهود

I am your slave; kindness has enslaved me,

so let the upright witnesses bear witness.

إرق أعلى ذرى السيادة وال

مجد فرأى الإمام فيك سديد

Rise to the highest summits of leadership and

glory: the Imam's judgment of you is sound.

نبت عنه فالعدل مطرد يش

رق والجور منا لم مطرودُ

You deputized for him: justice advances and shines,

while injustice—[wording unclear]—is banished.

ساهراً بت في صلاح الرعايا

وهم وادعون أمناً هجود

You spent the night awake for your subjects' welfare,

while they slept, safe and undisturbed.

رب خطب فصلته بخطاب

لك لم يوت حكمه داود

Many a grave affair you settled with words

of yours whose wisdom David was not granted.

فاستمعها كأن أبياتها النظ

م لآل منثورة أو عقود

So listen: its ordered verses are like

pearls scattered, or strung in necklaces.

أحكمتها الألفاظ نسجاً ووشت

ها المعاني كما توشى البرودُ

Words have woven it firmly, and

meanings have embroidered it as patterned cloaks are embroidered.

وتمل الدار التي دارت الأف

لاك فيها بما أراك تريد

Enjoy the house in which the celestial spheres have turned

in accordance with what I see you desire.

هي في حسنها كجنة خلد

لك فيها البقاء والتخليد

In beauty it is like an eternal garden;

may permanence and immortality be yours within it.

نقله تنقل الحسود إلى الأخ

رى سريعا مسلم المحسود

A move that sends the envious to the other world—

swiftly, while the envied man remains safe.

أذنت إذ مللت فيها على رغ

م الأعادي يألف عيد يعودُ

It heralded, when you settled there [reading uncertain], despite

your enemies, a thousand returning festivals [reading uncertain].