أوجوه غيد أم رياض ربيع

وكؤوس خمر أم نجوم هزيع

Are these graceful maidens' faces, or spring gardens?

And cups of wine, or stars in a watch of the night?

والماء قد صقل النسيم متونه

أم في جداوله متون دروعِ

And is it water, its surfaces polished by the breeze,

Or surfaces of coats of mail within its channels?

والطل يجلوه الشقيق كلؤلؤ

أم وجنة مطلولة بدموع

And dew, displayed like pearls by the anemones—

Or a cheek bedewed with tears?

أو ما ترى بَرد النسيم وقد ونى

سَحرا وبُرد الليل في توشيعِ

Or do you not see the breeze's coolness waning

At dawn, while the mantle of night unravels?

فاربع أشاطرك السرور وخلني

من ذكر أطلال عفت وربوعِ

So stay; I will share your joy, and spare me

Talk of faded ruins and old dwelling places.

واقطع أقاويل الوشاة فإنها

سبب لوصلة حبلنا المقطوعِ

And cut off the talebearers' tales, for they

Are a means of rejoining our severed cord.

واشرب بكف أعن مقتبل الصبا

خنه الشمائل والدلال بديعِ

And drink from the hand of a [soft-voiced] youth in his first bloom,

[Delicate] in manner, exquisite in coquetry.

ساجي اللحاظ تريك صنعه عينه

فتكاتِ مسنون الغرار صنيعِ

Languid of gaze, his eye shows you its handiwork:

The deadly strokes of a finely wrought, keen-edged blade.

ما نم مسك عذارضي خدِّه

إلا ليظهر عذر كل خليعِ

The musk of the [down upon] his cheek betrayed itself

Only to reveal every libertine's excuse.

يا هاجري كم ذا التجنّب والقلى

أَو ما تناصف ذلَّتي وخضوعي

O you who forsake me, how long this avoidance and aversion?

Or will you not do justice to my abasement and submission?

إن كنت لم أعص الغرام فإنني

أصبحت للوّام غيرَ مطيعِ

If I have not disobeyed love, then I

Have become disobedient to reproachers.

والعذل في سمع المحب كأنه

مال العلاء يراد للتضييعِ

And reproach in a lover's hearing is like

Al-ʿAlaʾ's wealth, meant to be squandered.

يعطي مؤمنه يغير شفاعة

ما رامه من نائل مشفوعِ

He gives the one who trusts him, [without] intercession,

Whatever bounty he seeks, doubled.

ترعى أمانينا حديقة جوده

فترود في خض النبات مريعِ

Our hopes graze in the garden of his generosity,

And so roam through [lush], luxuriant growth.

مستجمع الطرفين شمل عداته

أبداً وشمل لهاه غير جميعِ

His promises are complete from end to end,

Always, while his gifts never stay gathered.

أمواله بين العفاة مضاعة

وضميره للود غير مضيع

His wealth is squandered among those who seek his bounty,

But his heart never neglects affection.

ثبت العزيمة لا يزال مقارعا

في حومة الهيجاء كل قريعِ

Firm in resolve, he never ceases challenging

Every champion in the thick of battle.

رفعت له آباؤه وجدوده

شرا بمشترف الرعان رفيعِ

His fathers and grandfathers raised for him

Lofty [honor] on the high crests of mountain spurs.

قوم أصولهم أصول للعلى

وفروعهم للمجد خير فروعِ

A people whose roots are the roots of eminence,

And whose branches are glory's finest branches.

يا قاطعَ البيداء يبري عنسَه

بالوخد بين برى وبين قطوعِ

O desert-crosser, wearing his sturdy she-camel thin

With swift steps, between exhaustion and long crossings,

كادت تطير برحله لولا الذي

جذبت به من أحبلٍ ونسوعِ

She nearly flew away with his saddle, save for

The ropes and leather straps that held her back.

أخر بأبي فخر الدين وأعرف أنه

في الناس وصفيعِ

[Halt] at Abu Fakhr al-Din's, and know that he

Is among men, and [text unclear].

وأربع بربع الزيني معرسا

تذمم به خضراء كل ربيع

And make your night halt at al-Zayni's abode,

Beside which every spring's greenery is put to shame.

بمطهر الإراس مرهوب الطسا

والبأس ضرار اليدين تفوعِ

With one of pure [lineage], feared for his [blades]

And prowess, his hands dealing harm and [benefit].

لماع أردية المواهب لا يني

يعصي ببراق الفرند لموعِ

Resplendent in robes of bounty, he never ceases

To defy with a flashing, gleaming watered blade.

يا من أمنتُ وقد خطبت أمانه

من كل خطب للزمان فظيعِ

O you whose protection I sought, finding safety

From every terrible calamity of time,

ووضعت عن كتفي السؤال لغيره

والموت أطيب من سؤال وضيعِ

And I cast from my shoulders the burden of begging from anyone but you—

And death is sweeter than begging from a base man.

يفني بأجمعه ويبقى بعده

تقطيعه في أول المجموعِ

He exhausts it all, yet after it remains

Its division at the beginning of the collected whole [sense unclear].

أسمع بمذهبها البديع وهاكها

تختال في التذهيب والترصيعِ

Hear her wondrous manner; here she is for you,

Strutting in gilding and jeweled inlay.

فصرت خطاها عن سواك فاقبلت

تمشي إلى جداوك مشي سريعِ

So I turned her steps away from all but you, and she came

Walking with swift steps toward your [bounty].

لا زلت تبقى منعما ماغريت

شمس النهار وشرقت لطلوعِ

May you live on, bestowing favors, so long as [it sets]—

The sun of day—and shines forth at its rising.