شم من جفون كحلن بالدعج

صارم لحظ يسطو على المهجِ

Draw forth, from eyelids kohled with deep blackness,

a blade of glances that strikes at souls.

وعاطني رائق المدامة من

فيك على ورد خدك الضرجِ

And offer me the clear wine from

your mouth, over the rose of your crimson cheek.

فقد تناهيت في الصدود فعد

لوصل صب بالوصل مبتهجِ

For you have gone to extremes in shunning me; return

to union with a lover who rejoices in reunion.

يعالج الشوق والأسى كمدا

فهو كئيب مما عناه شجي

He struggles with longing and grief in anguish,

so he is dejected and sorrowful from what has afflicted him.

يرى بنار الضلوع في حرق

ترى وماء الدموع في لججِ

He is seen burning with the fire within his ribs;

you see, too, the water of his tears in billows.

يبكي عقيقا على العقيق وما

بدل عاجا من فوده السبجِ

He weeps carnelian tears over al-Aqiq, though he has not

exchanged his temple-lock's jet for ivory.

يشجيه ما في الوشاح من قلق

باد وما في السوار من حرجِ

He is grieved by the looseness of the sash,

so apparent, and by the bracelet's tightness.

وتطَّبيهِ الشعور حالكة

سودا وبيض الثغور بالفلجِ

And tresses captivate him, pitch-dark,

black, and white smiles with gaps between the teeth.

يا سكنا أزعج الفؤاد خف الل

ه وسكن غليل منزعجِ

O solace who unsettled my heart, fear

God, and soothe the burning thirst of one distraught.

إن لج في اللَّوم عاذلي فعلى

أنّي لباب السلولم الجِ

If my reprover persists in blame, it is because

I have not entered the gate of forgetting.

جد بوصال تحيي المحب به

أني به جد مغرم لهجِ

Grant reunion, by which you restore your lover to life;

I am utterly enamored of it, ever yearning.

ليتك إذ لم تكن أخا كرم

لقنته من ندى أبي الفرجِ

Would that, since you lack generosity,

you had learned it from the bounty of Abu al-Faraj,

ذي النائل المستماح والخق ال

سهل النواحي والمنظر البهجِ

possessor of bounty sought by supplicants, and a character

gentle in every aspect, and a radiant countenance.

بحر تعود البحر مزيدة

عند ندى راحتيه كالخلجِ

A sea: even the swollen sea becomes,

beside the bounty of his palms, like mere creeks.

بحر ندى تشهد البحور له

بالفضل حدث عنه بلا حرجِ

A sea of bounty, for whom the seas bear witness

to excellence; speak of him without restraint.

آراؤه في دجى الخطوب إذا

زدن ظلاما أضوى من السرجِ

His counsels, amid calamities' darkness, when

their gloom deepens, shine brighter than lamps.

إن أغلقت بابها اللئام فلي

بكفه فتح كل مرتتجٍ

If the ignoble shut their door, for me

his hand opens every bolted gate.

أو منع الرفد باخل فعلى

جدواه دون الأنام منعرجي

Or if a miser withholds aid, it is toward

his bounty, and no other man's, that I turn.

أوضح نهج العلى وأصبح من

أوج المعالي في أرفع الدرجِ

He made clear the path to glory and now stands

at the summit of high honors, on the loftiest step.

ذو عزمة كالسنان ماضية

والسيف صلتا في كف ذي رهجِ

Possessed of resolve as piercing as a spearhead

and a sword bared in the hand of a warrior amid dust.

وأثبت الناس عند حادثة

تطغى جنانا واليوم ذو رهجِ

And the steadiest of men when calamity

rages—steadfast at heart while the day is thick with battle-dust.

عبر نشر العبير ممتزجا

بالمسك عن نشر عرضه الأرجِ

Perfume's fragrance, mingled

with musk, speaks of his honor's sweet scent.

يطربه مدحنا فتحسبه

مال بشدو الأرمال والهزجِ

Our praise delights him, so you would think him

swaying to songs in ramal and hazaj.

ر ب خلال كالروض غب حيا

دبج من مفرد ومزدوجِ

A master of virtues, like a garden after rain,

embroidered with single and paired blossoms.

أقنى لهي بعضها أقام لنا

ما في قناة الإعدام من عوجِ

He bestowed enriching gifts, some of which straightened for us

the crookedness in the shaft of destitution.

يا ابن الدوامي دمت بالجود مم

دوحا إذا المانع اللئيم هجي

O Ibn al-Dawami, may you remain, for your generosity,

praised, whenever the ignoble withholder is reviled.

أصبحت أندى من استميح ندى

كف وأجدى من اجتدى ورجي

You have become the most generous of those sought for the bounty

of their hands, and the most giving of those petitioned and looked to in hope.

فقابلتك الأعياد عائدة

باليمن تمضي وبالنجاح تجي

May the festivals return to greet you,

departing with good fortune and arriving with success.

وعشت ما هلل الحجيج فاق

والك صدق منصورة الحججِ

And may you live as long as pilgrims proclaim God's oneness; for

your words are true, their proofs triumphant.