وأهيف حلو اللمى أغيد

هواي وهجرانه سومدُ

And a slender-waisted, supple one with sweet, dusky lips—

he is my love; his estrangement is unending.

مليح تثنيه بي غلة

بغير ثناياه ما تبردُ

A beauty whose swaying kindles a burning thirst in me

that nothing but his front teeth can cool.

بعيد المزار ولكنه

قريب من القلب يبعدُ

Distant to visit, yet

close to the heart, even as he draws away.

كأن قلائده والعقود

على جيد جارية تعقدُ

As though his necklaces and strings of jewels

were fastened around a maiden's neck.

إذا قام أقعده ردفه

فعندي المقيم له المقعدُ

When he stands, his haunches make him sit;

so to me, what makes him stand is what makes him sit.

عفا الله عن شادن أحور

جفا فجفوني ما ترقدُ

May God pardon the dark-eyed fawn

who shunned me, so my eyelids never sleep.

إذا سل من لحظه صارما

ففي قلب عاشقه يغمدُ

When he draws a keen sword from his glance,

it is sheathed in his lover's heart.

وإن هز اسمر أعطافه

شهدت بأني مستشهدُ

And if he brandishes the dusky spear of his flanks,

I bear witness that I am martyred.

فجمرة وجدي به ما تذوب

وعبرة عيني ما تجمدُ

The ember of my passion for him never melts,

and the tear in my eye never congeals.

بدا بعذار له أخضر

بياض نهاري به أسود

He appeared with green down along his cheek;

through it, the whiteness of my day turns black.

وورد له مذ حماني جناه

فواكف دمعي له موردُ

And since he denied me the plucking of his rose,

my dripping tears have become its watering-place.

فكيف التصبر من بعد ما

ثنى جيده الرشا الأجيدُ

How, then, can I endure, after

the long-necked fawn has bent his neck?

سقى عهده بمغاني اللوى

وأبرقه مبرق مرعدُ

May his remembered days in al-Liwa's haunts be watered,

and its stony sands, by a flashing, thundering cloud,

عشية شيطان ذاك الهوى

مريد وخد الصبا أمردُ

that evening when the devil of that passion

was defiant, and youth's cheek was beardless,

وروضات عيشي مطلولة

وأغصان لهوى بها ميدُ

and the gardens of my life were dew-wet,

and the branches of my pleasure swayed within them:

عشبة أروى تروّي الغليل

وسعدي بزورتها تسعدُ

an evening when Arwa quenched the burning thirst,

and Su'da brought joy with her visit.

ملثّ إذا دام تهتانه

على جلمد أورق الجلمدُ

A persistent rain: when its downpour lasts

upon a boulder, the boulder puts forth leaves,

كجود أبي الفضل ذاك الذى

فواضل كفيه لا تجحدُ

like the bounty of Abu al-Fadl, that man whose

hands' generous gifts cannot be denied.

هو الملك الصاحبي الذي

ملوك الزمان له أعبدُ

He is the Sahibi king, to whom

the kings of the age are slaves.

هو النجد المنجد المستما

ح واليقظ السيد الأيّدُ

He is the valiant helper, the one petitioned for gifts,

and the vigilant, mighty lord.

سما مجده في سماء العلى

فها هو للفرقد الفرقدُ

His glory has risen into the heaven of high honor;

so behold: he is a Farqad star to Farqad itself.

إلى فخره يتناهى الفخار

وسؤدده ينتمي السؤددُ

All glory reaches its summit in his glory,

and all nobility traces its lineage to his nobility.

هو البحر جوهره العارفا

ت والبدر أبرجه الأسعدُ

He is the sea, whose jewels are kind

deeds, and the full moon, whose mansions are most auspicious.

فقاصده بالغنى ظافر

وحاسده بالردى مقصدُ

Whoever seeks him wins wealth,

and whoever envies him is struck down by death.

وصدر يؤيده عزمة

وصدر المثقف والأجردُ

A chief upheld by firm resolve,

and by the lance's point and the sleek steed's breast,

حرى ببذل السدى والندى

جرى ونار الوغى توقدُ

worthy of bestowing kindness and bounty,

bold while the fire of battle blazes.

إذا زبدا كان جدوى سواه

فيا حبذا بحره المزبدُ

If the bounty of others is but foam,

how splendid, then, is his foaming sea!

على ابن علي قصرت المديح

فما كل مقتصد يقصدُ

I have confined my praise to Ibn Ali,

for not every frugal man is sought out.

ووحّدت فيه الثّناء الجمي

ل علما بأَن الفتى أوحدُ

And I have reserved beautiful praise for him alone,

knowing that the young man is peerless.

فيا شرف الحضرتين استمع

ثناء براهينه تشهدُ

So, O Sharaf al-Hadratayn, listen

to praise whose proofs bear witness

بأنبي رب القريض الذي

قوافيه طوعا له تسجدُ

that I am the master of verse, whose

rhymes willingly prostrate themselves before him.

لئن كنت أجود قُوّالِهِ

فإنك من حاتم أجودُ

If I am its finest poet,

then you are more generous than Hatim.

وها أنا من جاهه واللّهى

مريش وإن حسد الحسدُ

And behold, through his prestige and gifts, I am

richly feathered, though the envious envy.

بقيت ولا زلت سامي العلى

تزيد سماحا وتُسترفدُ

May you live on, forever lofty in honor,

growing more generous and sought for bounty.