راحت عليك بكأس راع

هيفاء جائلة الوشاحِ

She came to you at evening with a cup of wine,

a slender beauty whose sash hangs loose.

حوراء طاوعت الهوى

فيها وعاصيت لالواحي

Dark-eyed: I yielded to love

for her, and defied my reproachers.

ترنو إليّ بنرجس

غضّ وتبسم عن إقاحِ

She gazes at me with a narcissus,

fresh and tender, and smiles to reveal daisies.

وتميل ميل الغصنِ حر

رك عطفه مَرّ الرياحِ

She sways like a branch

whose side the passing winds have stirred.

أشكو الضنى فيريده

طرف لها شاكي السلاح

I lament my wasting sickness, yet it is increased

by her glance, bristling with weapons.

ويلاه من ذاك المقل

لد كم تقلد من جناحِ

Alas for that necklace-bearing neck—

how much guilt it has taken upon itself!

يا صاح عذرا لست من

سكر الهوى العذرى صاحِ

O friend, forgive me: I am not

sober from the intoxication of chaste love.

مذ جد بي جد الغرا

م عرفت آفات المراح

Since earnest love took firm hold of me,

I have known the perils of mirth.

أنا من ينشط وجده

تفتير أحداقالملاحِ

I am one whose longing is quickened

by the languishing eyes of beauties.

ويهيج ساكن بثه

طرر على غرر صباحِ

And whose dormant sorrow is stirred

by forelocks upon radiant brows.

سقت العهاد معاهدا

ما نوسة بلوى رماحِ

May returning rains water those haunts,

familiar, at the sandy bend of Rimah.

أطرافها ممنوعة

غني بأطراف الرماح

Their borders are barred

to me by the points of spears.

ولعي بساكنها ولو

ع أبي المعالي بالسماحِ

My passion for their dweller is the passion

of Abu al-Ma'ali for generosity.

ذي العرض أصبح في حمى

جدواه والعرض المباحِ

Whose honor stands in the sanctuary

of his bounty, while his wealth is free to all.

طود الحجى حتف العدا

غيث الندى ليث الكفاح

A mountain of wisdom, the doom of foes,

a raincloud of bounty, a lion in battle.

خرق إذا سئل الندى

أربى على سيل البطاح

An openhanded noble who, when asked for bounty,

surpasses the torrents of the valleys.

بعزائم مشحوذة

أمضى من القدر المتاع

With sharpened resolves,

keener than appointed fate,

وشمائل مثل الشمو

ل أذاعها نفس الصياحِ

and qualities like wine,

spread abroad by the breath of dawn.

غان بسود صحائف ال

إنشاء عن بيض الصفاح

He needs only the ink-dark pages of

composition, not the gleaming white blades.

وأما وبشر منه ما

لوف يبشر بالنجاح

Indeed, by his customary good cheer,

which gives glad promise of success,

أني امرؤ قد لاح لي

في قَصدِه سِمة الفلاحِ

I am a man who has discerned

the mark of good fortune in seeking him.

ولسوف تطربني أيا

ديه ويطريه امتداحي

And surely his favors will delight me,

and my praise will extol him.

أحيا ابن حمدون المكا

رم فاسمه عيسى السماحِ

Ibn Hamdun has brought noble virtues back to life;

thus his name is Isa of Generosity.

بك يا بهاء الدين أص

حبت المنى بعد الجماحِ

Through you, O Baha al-Din,

hopes have grown docile after running wild.

فازت بك الأعمال حي

ن وليتها فور القداحِ

The provinces won a prize in you when

you took their charge—a winning draw of gaming arrows.

حلت جنابك ثم قا

لت ليس عنه من براعِ

They alighted in your court, then said:

“There is no departing from it.”

كم قد شقيت بمن لقي

ت وأنت خالصة اقتراحي

How often I have suffered through those I have met,

yet you are the very choice I wished for.

وأرى الرعايا بين مس

رور وآخر ذي ارتياحِ

And I see the subjects—some rejoicing,

and others filled with relief,

علما بما آلت أمو

رهم إليه من الصلاحِ

knowing how their affairs have turned

to such a state of good order.

يا من أرى أخلاقه

كالأري والماء القراحِ

O you whose character I find

like honey and pure water,

صرحت بالشكوى لاد

نك صفوة الكرم الصراحِ

I have spoken openly of my distress, for

you are the essence of unalloyed generosity.

فأفِض علي ملابسا

قشبا موشاة النّواحي

So shower me with garments,

fresh, with embroidered borders.

فلقد أنفتُ على اكتسا

ء العري من خلعِ الشّحاحِ

For I have disdained to clothe myself

in nakedness from misers' robes of honor.

واسمع ببكر حرة

تزري على البكر الرداحِ

And hear a freeborn virgin poem

that puts a full-hipped maiden to shame.

كتبت على حَب القلو

ب فليس تمحوها المواحي

It is inscribed upon the very cores of hearts;

no eraser can efface it.

واسلم لنا ما غرَدت

عُجم من الورق الفصِاحِ

And stay safe for us as long as they warble—

those wordless yet eloquent gray doves.