أعندك للبين غير الدموع

ونار تأجح بين الضلوعِ

Have you, for parting, anything but tears,

and a fire blazing between your ribs,

ووقفة صب على معهد

تسائل عنه بغير السميعِ

and a lover's pause at a familiar haunt,

asking after him of what cannot hear?

نعم قد يطيع الأسى مكرها

فتى لم يكن للأسى بالمطيعِ

Yes, sorrow may be obeyed unwillingly

by a youth who had never obeyed sorrow;

ويخضع للبين من لم يذق

قبيل التفرق طعم الخضوعِ

and one may yield to parting who never tasted,

before separation, submission's flavor.

أحن إلى علوة كلما

تألق لي ضوء برق لموعِ

I yearn for ʿAlwa whenever

the light of gleaming lightning flashes before me.

ولست وإن بعدت أونأت

لعهد مودّتها بالمضيعِ

And I am not, though she has gone far away or withdrawn,

one to betray the covenant of her affection.

وإن غرامي غرامي الذي

عهدت بها وولوعي ولوعي

And indeed my passion is the passion that

you knew for her, and my ardor is still my ardor.

أيا زمنا مرّ لي بالحمى

مضيت حميدا فهل من رجوعِ

O time I spent within the sanctuary,

you departed, much praised; is there any return?

عشية كان الهوى سائقي

إلى وصلها وشبابي شفيعي

That evening when love drove me

to union with her, and my youth interceded for me.

عفا الله عن بدرتم نفي

جفاه عن الجفن طيب الهجوعِ

May God pardon a full moon whose coldness banished

the sweetness of slumber from my eyelids.

كأن قلائده والعقود

تنظم من ثغره أو دموعي

As though his necklaces and strings of jewels

were strung from his teeth or my tears.

إلام أروم ندى بأخل

بوصل وأطلب جدوى منوعِ

How long shall I seek bounty from one so sparing

of union, and ask favors of one who withholds?

وحسنى أبي الفرح الأريحي

ي أنجع من حسن خود شموعِ

And the kindness of openhanded Abu al-Farah

avails more than the beauty of a coy maiden.

ربيع العفاة إذا أمحلوا

وذو خلق مثل زهر الربيعِ

He is springtime for supplicants when drought afflicts them,

and has a nature like spring's blossoms.

يبشر ورّاده بشره

بربع فسيح ومرعى مربعِ

His cheerful face gives those who come to him glad tidings

of a spacious abode and a lush pasture.

هو الصدر ما زال يلقى العفا

ة في كل ضيق بصدر وسيعِ

He is the chief who always welcomes supplicants

in every strait with a spacious heart.

أصيل الحجى مستماح الندى

كريم الأصول نبيل الفروعِ

Of sound judgment, sought out for bounty,

noble in his roots, illustrious in his branches.

إذا ما تكلفت مسعاته

تكلفت ما لست بالمستطيعِ

If you try to match his striving,

you undertake what lies beyond your power.

وأروع ماخمد ناره

ولا بات جار له بالمروعِ

And a splendid man whose fire has never died,

nor has a neighbor of his spent the night afraid.

عزائمه في الوغى كالسيوف

وآراؤه خلفها كالدروعِ

His resolves in battle are like swords,

and his counsels behind them are like shields.

فلا فرح يزدهيه الغنى

ولا عند حاثدة بالجزوعِ

Wealth does not make him exultant and vain,

nor does he lose heart when calamity strikes.

ومغرى بتجميع شمل الثناء

وتبديد شمل الثراء الجميعِ

Devoted to gathering all praise together,

and scattering the whole of his amassed wealth.

بطيء الوعيد ولكنه

يناض ذاك بوعد سريعِ

Slow to threaten, yet he

counters that with a swiftly given promise.

أخو همة لم تزل ضخمة

تقارع كل همام قريعِ

A man whose ambition has always been mighty,

contending with every eminent champion.

أيا ابن الدوامي يا من به

أمنت أذى كل خطب فظيعِ

O Ibn al-Dawami, you through whom

I am safe from the harm of every dreadful calamity;

ويا من سكنت إلى ظله

فأسكنني ظل طود منيعِ

and you in whose shade I found repose,

who lodged me in the shade of an impregnable mountain.

حللتَ من المجد في باذخ

يطول الرعان منيف رفيعِ

You have settled on a towering height of glory,

overtopping the mountain crags, lofty and exalted.

لقد رضت من أملي جامعا

وأدنيتَ شخص رجائي الشسوعِ

You have indeed tamed my unruly hope [reading uncertain],

and brought near the far-off figure of my aspiration.

فلا زلت أحبوك من منطقي

وأكسوك كل ثناء بديعِ

May I never cease to bestow my words upon you

and clothe you in every wondrous praise:

ثناء جديد بتفريفه

فضلت على مسلم والخليعِ

fresh praise, through whose invention [reading uncertain]

I have surpassed Muslim and al-Khaliʿ.

فتى الحسن أسمع فأنت امرؤ

أقل فعالك حسن الصنيعِ

O champion of goodness, listen, for you are a man

whose least deed is an act of kindness.

تواضعت دهرات للقاصدين

فأغنيت قصد فدم رضيعِ

You have long humbled yourself before those who seek you,

and made a dull, unweaned child's quest rewarding [text uncertain].

فلا زال بحرك للواردين

عذب المناهل سهل الشروعِ

May your sea remain, for those who come to it,

sweet at its watering places and easy to enter.

وزارتك أشباحهم طلحا

على طلح جائلات النسوعِ

And may their weary bodies visit you,

on weary camels, their girth-straps swaying.

وعاد لك العيد ما أطربت

صنوف الحمام بطيب السجوعِ

And may Eid return to you as long as

the many kinds of doves delight with sweet cooing.