دعا من دعاه الهوى والغرام

فلباهما وكذا المستهامُ

You two, leave him whom desire and passion have called;

he answered them both, as the love-stricken do.

مَشوقٌ تنمَّ بأسراره

جفون مؤرقة ما تنامُ

A yearning man, whose secrets are betrayed

by sleepless eyelids that never sleep.

يحن إذا عنَّ برقُ الحِمى

ويشجوه حين ينوحُ الحمامُ

He yearns when lightning flashes over the protected grounds,

and it grieves him when the doves lament.

لقد حم الوجد في قلبه

عشية قوضن تلك الخيامُ

Indeed, love's anguish burned within his heart

on the evening those tents were struck,

عشية وكلنه بالاسي

ظباء على رامة لا ترامُ

on the evening they left him in sorrow's charge—

gazelles upon Ramah, beyond all reach.

حذارِ حذارِ إذا ما سفرنَ

فتحتَ البراقعِ موت زؤامُ

Beware, beware when they unveil:

for beneath the face-veils lies swift death.

بدور وَهَبن لجسمي المحاقَ

إِ لا يفارقهنّ التَّمام

Full moons who bestowed the moon's dark waning on my body,

while fullness never leaves them.

فعام وصالهِم ساعَةَ

وساعة هجرهم المرّعامُ

A year of union with them is an hour,

and an hour of their bitter parting is a year.

تشام السيوف إذا أومضت

مياسمهن التي لا تسامُ

Swords are sheathed when there flash

their lovely features, beyond all price.

سقى عهدهن عهاد لها

إذا هطلت مثل دمعي أنسجامُ

May recurring rains water the days with them,

streaming, when they fall, like my tears.

ففيهن كل فتاة لها

قوام قناة وطرف حسامُ

Among them, each maiden has

a lance's stature and a sword-sharp glance.

يجوع موشحها والحقاب

ويشبع دملجها والخدام

Her sash and waist-cord go hungry,

while her armlet and anklets are sated.

وتزهر للحسن في خدها

رياض لها من جفوني غمامُ

And upon her cheek, in beauty, blossom

gardens whose clouds come from my eyelids.

تعلقتها في زمان الصبا

وشبت بها وغرامي غلامُ

I loved her in the days of youth,

and grew gray for her, yet my passion is still a boy.

لقد طاف بي طيفها برهة

ولكن جفا مذ جفاني المنام

Her phantom did visit me for a time,

but shunned me once sleep had shunned me.

فما ينجع العذل في حبها

ولا في ندى ابن الدوامي الملام

No reproach avails against my love for her,

nor does blame avail against Ibn al-Dawami's bounty.

كريم له في اقتناء الثناء

مساع يقصِّر عنها الكرامُ

A generous man—to earn praise, he has

achievements that other generous men cannot match.

بناديه تطردُ المكرماتُ

ويُطرد جيشُ الهمومِ اللهام

At his assembly noble deeds flow without cease,

and the mighty army of cares is driven away.

إذا هم بالأمر لم يستشِر

سوى عزمه وكذاك الهمامُ

When he resolves on a matter, he consults none

but his own resolve—such is the valiant man.

ربيع العفاة ومن ربعه

فسيحُ به للوفود ازدحامُ

Springtime for supplicants, a man whose courtyard,

though spacious, is thronged with delegations.

له عَرَضٌ لم يزل مهملاً

حلال لعافٍ وعرضُ حرامُ

His wealth has always been left unguarded,

free for any seeker; his honor is inviolable.

وخلق كمارق رأد الضحى

شمال وراقت شمول مدامُ

And his nature is like a gentle midmorning

north breeze, and clear, well-aged wine.

وذو صفحة ويد هذه

يد الدهر تضحي وهذى تغامُ

He has a face and a hand: the one

shines forever, while the other is cloud-laden.

يروع العدا ويراعي العفاة

ويحمي ويرعى لديه الذمامُ

He terrifies foes and cares for supplicants;

he protects, and in his keeping pledges are honored.

ويعفو وفيه إذا هجته

معا لعفو والصفح أيضا انتقامُ

He pardons, yet in him, if you provoke him,

alongside pardon and forgiveness is vengeance too.

تيقظ للجود مستأثرا

له مؤثرا حين نام الأنامُ

He kept vigil for generosity, claiming sole right

to it, yet putting others first, while mankind slept.

فنيرانه منتدى للضيوف

وجيرانه في حمى لا تضامُ

His fires are a gathering-place for guests,

and his neighbors, in his protection, suffer no wrong.

أبا الفرج المجندي والذي

بجدوى يديه يبل الأوامُ

O Abu al-Faraj al-Mujandi, by the one

whose hands' bounty quenches burning thirst:

لك الفل تالده والطري

ف والمجد مفرده والتؤام

yours is excellence, ancestral and newly won,

and glory, single and twinned.

تهن بعيد لعوداته

عليك بما ترتجيد دوام

Enjoy the festival; may its returns

to you, with all you hope for, never cease.

فقد حدَّث الفِطر عن كل ما

فعلت من الصالحات الصيامُ

For the Feast of Fast-Breaking has heard of all

your righteous deeds from the Fast.

بناك الإله فما للذي

بنيبتَ من الماثراتِ انهدامُ

God built you; so what

you have built of glorious deeds shall never fall.