ألمت وواشيها مع الصبح راقد

وقد عبقت بالمسك منها القلائد

She came while her tale-bearer lay asleep at dawn,

her necklaces already fragrant with musk.

يرنحها سكر الشباب فتنثني

كما اهتز ممطور من البان مائدُ

Youth's intoxication makes her sway and bend,

as a rain-drenched bān tree trembles and sways.

ولولا سكر الشباب فتنثني

عليك ولولا الطيب ما ارتاب حاسدُ

And but for youth's intoxication—she bends [text disrupted]

toward you; and but for the perfume, no envier would grow suspicious.

ذروني وماثور العتاب فدونه

أكابد من لذع الهوى ما أكابدُ

Spare me customary reproach; even without it,

I endure what I endure of love's sting.

ول تنكروا مر النسيم فعنده

حديث على دين الصبابة شاهد

Do not fault the breeze's passage; it carries

a tale bearing witness to the creed of longing.

يذكرني مسراه ربعا الفته

وعيشا تقضي ليت باديه عائدُ

Its nightly course recalls a dwelling I loved,

and a life gone by—would that its first days returned!

واهيف معسول الشمائل بينه

وبين وصالي برزخ متباعد

and a slender beloved of honeyed ways, between whom

and union with me lies a vast divide.

أقل بلائي أنني فيه راغب

وأكثر حزني أنه في زاهدُ

The least of my affliction is that I desire him;

the greatest of my sorrow is that he has no desire for me.

له من بديع الحسن خد مورد

ولي من دموعي فوق خدي مواردُ

His wondrous beauty gives him a rosy cheek,

while my tears make watering places upon my cheek.

يهون عليه أن أبيت مسهدا

يذود الكرى عن جفن عيني ذائدُ

It matters little to him that I spend the night sleepless,

while a warder drives slumber from my eyelid.

تمر الليالي دونه وهو هاجر

واقني ولا يقضى الذي هو واعد

The nights pass without him while he keeps away;

[Unclear text], and what he promises is not fulfilled.

لعل الهوى يحلو فينعم عاشق

ويظفر مشتاق ويطرف ساهدُ

Perhaps love will sweeten, and a lover find bliss,

and a yearning lover succeed, and a sleepless one close his eyes.

إذا هبت النكباء مال كأنه

نزيف سقته الراح هيفاء ناهدُ

When the crosswind blows, he sways as though

a drunkard plied with wine by a slender, budding-breasted maiden.

إليك فما يشتد للمرء ساعد

إذا كان من يهواه ليس يساعدُ

Away with you! A man's arm cannot grow strong

when the one he loves will not help him.

فأقسم أني في الصبابة واحد

وإن كمال الدين في الجود واحدُ

So I swear I am peerless in passionate longing,

and Kamal al-Din is peerless in generosity.

هو الملك الزاكي النجار ومن به

تجمعت الآمال وهي بدائدُ

He is the king of pure stock, the one through whom

hopes have gathered, though once scattered.

مهونة أمواله وعداته

مكرمة قصاده والقصائد

His wealth and his enemies are held cheap;

those who seek him and their poems are honored.

كريم المساعي والجدود مهذب

له مورد ما ذمه الدهر وارد

Noble in endeavor and ancestry, refined,

he has a watering place no visitor has ever faulted.

وجود كسوب الغيث يهمي فيستوي

لديه الأداني والأقاصي الأباعدُ

And bounty pours like streaming rain, making equal

in his sight the near and the far, however distant.

شهاب ر داه للمعادين محرق

وظل نداه للموالين باردُ

The meteor of his deadly power scorches his enemies,

and the shade of his bounty is cool for his allies.

سريع القرى للضيف في كل أزمة

طويل نجاد السيف أروع ماجدُ

Quick with hospitality for guests in every hardship,

long of sword-belt, awe-inspiring and noble.

يلين لعاف يجتديه تكرّما

ويشتد ما ألقت عصاها الشدائدُ

He graciously softens toward a petitioner seeking his bounty,

and stands firm whenever hardships lay down their staff.

تقلده العلياء أبهى عقودها

وتلقى إليه في الأمور المقالدُ

High glory decks him with its finest necklaces,

and the keys of affairs are entrusted to him.

وتستقبل الآمال غرة وحههه

كما استقبل البيت المعظم ساجدُ

Hopes turn toward the radiance of his face,

as a prostrate worshipper faces the revered House.

إذا رفد قوم جاء بالمطل ناقصا

أتانا ابتداء رفده وهو زائد

When others' gifts arrive diminished by delay,

his gift comes to us unasked, and in abundance.

فأدنى عطاياه البدور صوامتا

لراج ضريك والحسان الخرائد

So his least gifts are silent full moons,

for a destitute petitioner—and fair, secluded maidens.

أبا الفضل يا أسنى الآنام مواهبا

كرمت فما خلق لفضلك جاحدُ

O Abu al-Fadl, most splendid of mankind in gifts,

you are noble: no denier of your excellence was ever created.

أبى الله أني واجد لك في الندى

ضريبا وأنت المرء بالجود واحدُ

God forbids that I should find for you, in bounty,

an equal; in generosity you stand alone.

سحابك سحاح وربعك مخصب

ووجهك وضاح وجدك صاعدُ

Your cloud pours rain, and your dwelling is fertile;

your face is radiant, and your fortune rises.

وغير طريف أن تجود بطارف

ويتبعه للمجتدي منك تالدُ

It is nothing novel for you to give newly gained wealth,

and your inherited riches follow it to the petitioner.

وأنت من القوم الذين وجوههم

مصابيح من ضل الدجى والفراقد

You are of a people whose faces

are lamps for those lost in darkness, and Farqad stars.

أكاسرة شم الأنوف إذا احتبوا

زهت بهم تيجانهم والمعاقدُ

Khosrows, lofty of nose: when they sit with knees clasped,

their crowns and assemblies glory in them.

أقام جداهم والغمام مقوض

وذاب نداهم والأكف جوامدُ

Their bounty stays encamped while the clouds strike camp,

and their bounty melts while hands are frozen.

فيا من حكت أخلاقه الروض راضه

حيا وزكت أعراق المحاتدُ

O you whose character resembles a meadow tended

by rain, and whose ancestral roots are pure—

إذا سار يوما ركب مدح فانده

بغيرك مجتاز ونحوك قاصدُ

if one day a caravan of praise sets out, then it

passes others by and makes straight for you.

عتادك للهيجاء بين صوارم

تؤى من دم الأجساد وهي جواسدُ

Your battle gear includes keen swords,

slaked with bodies' blood, caked with gore,

وجرد عتاق لم تزل بطرادها

لدى كل حرب تسترد الطرائد

and sleek, purebred steeds, through whose charges you have always

reclaimed the quarry in every battle.

فها أنت مريخ إذا احتدم الوغى

وفي السلم أنت المشترى وعطاردُ

Behold, you are Mars when battle blazes,

and in peace you are Jupiter and Mercury.

بدولتك الغراء يأمن خائف

وينصر موثور ويصلح فاسدُ

Under your resplendent rule, the fearful feel secure,

the wronged find aid, and what is corrupt is set right.

لقد كنت من قبل اجتادائك في لظى

وها أنا من نعماكفي الخلد خالدُ

Indeed, before seeking your bounty, I was in blazing fire;

now, through your blessings, I dwell forever in Paradise.

فهنيت عيد النحر يا ابن محمد

ولا برحت وقفا عليك المحامدُ

May the Feast of Sacrifice bring you joy, O son of Muhammad,

and may praises remain an endowment reserved for you.

فإنك للنعي معيد ومبدىء

ولله عند المنعمين عوائدُ

For you renew and initiate [bounties?],

and God has recurring favors for those who bestow blessings.

فلا حطت الأقدار من أنت رافع

ولا حلت الأيام ما أنت عاقدُ

May fate never bring low anyone you raise,

nor the days unbind what you bind.