عاود القلب شجوه واد كاره

يوم سارت عن حاجر أقماره

Grief and remembrance returned to the heart

the day its moons departed from Hajir.

ليت ذاك الحبيب يوم استقل ال

حي تدنو من المحب دياره

Would that, on the day the tribe departed, that beloved's

dwellings had drawn near his lover,

فأداني بعد البعاد غزالا

تفر النوم عن جفوني نفاره

so I might, after separation, approach a gazelle

whose skittishness drives sleep from my eyelids.

لست إنساهِ زائرا في دجى ال

ليل وحاشا الحبيب ينسى مزاره

I never forget him visiting in the darkness of

night—far be it that the beloved's visit be forgotten!

حين طوقته عناقا فكفا

ى وشاح له وصدري صداره

When I encircled him in an embrace, my two hands

were his sash, and my breast his tunic.

طرفه واحو راره ملك الأن

فسر منا أم خده واحمراره

Was it his glance and its black-and-white beauty that mastered

our souls—or his cheek and its blush?

يا لها مقلة تبرح بالجل

د وخدا يهون النار ناره

Ah, what an eye, tormenting the steadfast,

and a cheek whose flame makes fire seem mild!

كيف لي بالدنو منه ومن أي

ن وحزوى داري وتيماء داره

How can I draw near him, and from where,

when Hazwa is my home and Tayma his?

لا استقلت حوافل المزن أوتن

تج في ذلك البحل عشاره

May the laden rainclouds never rise until

their pregnant she-camels calve in that place,

فيسقي حوذانه وأقاحي

ه ويروى خيريه وعراره

watering its buttercups and daisies,

and drenching its wallflowers and oxeye blossoms.

جار في مذهب الصبابة لا جار

ورام الهجران فالله جاره

He was unjust in love's ways—may he never be so!—

and sought estrangement; may God be his protector.

شهره صرت في هواه كأني

جود يحيى بين الورى وأشتهارُه

So renowned have I become through loving him that I seem

Yahya's bounty among humankind, and its renown.

المرجى نواله الغمر والمغ

شي مغناه والعلي مناره

He whose abundant bounty is hoped for,

whose dwelling is frequented, whose beacon is lofty;

والوقور الذي يخف ذرا أح

د وقدس ولا يخف وتارُه

and so grave that the summits of Uhud

and Quds grow light, yet his gravity does not.

رائق بشره هني نداه

طيب نشره زكي نجاره

Pleasing his cheer, wholesome his bounty,

sweet his fragrance, pure his lineage.

طالعا في دجى الحوادث بدرا

ليس يخشى منها عليه سراره

A full moon rising in the darkness of calamities,

with no fear that they will ever make him wane.

ليس تأتي يمينه عند بذل ال

عرف شيئا إلا وزاد يساره

His right hand does nothing, when bestowing

kindness, without his left hand adding more.

أريحي خالي العطاء من المن

نة ملآن من عفاف ازارُ

Openhanded, his giving free of

reminders of favors, his waistcloth full of chastity.

ذكرت قبله الكرام فلما

جاء أنست أخبارهم أخبارُه

The generous were mentioned before him; but when

he came, tales of him made theirs forgotten.

حبذا رفده الجزيل لراجي

ه وبعد الرفد الجزيل اعتذاره

How fine his lavish bounty to one who hopes in him,

and, after that lavish bounty, his apology!

يخجل القطر كفه حين يستم

طر والبحر طاميا تيارُه

His palm shames the rain when rain is sought,

and the sea when its current overflows.

ليس يعفو وطبعه العفو إلا

حين يبدو لجارميه اقتدارُه

He pardons—though pardon is his nature—only

when his power is manifest to those who wrong him.

أثبت الناس في الهياج إذا ما

أوقدت ناره وطار شراره

The steadiest of men in battle, whenever

its fire is kindled and its sparks fly.

لا يخاف الفرار منه إذا خي

ف من العاجز الجبان فرارُه

No flight is feared from him, when

the helpless coward's flight is feared.

وسواء حسامه ولسان

باتك حدة رهيف غرازه

His sword and tongue are alike:

cutting in sharpness, keen of edge.

ففداء الوزير كل بخيل

كاذب الوعد ربه دينارُه

Then may every miser be the minister's ransom,

false in promise, whose lord is his dinar.

ما الذي يستلذ في جمعه الما

ل وعار عليه وهو معارُه

What pleasure does he find in hoarding

wealth—a disgrace to him, and only lent to him?

يا جوادا غلا به الشعر لما

رخصت في زماننا أسعارُه

O generous one, through whom poetry grew dear, when

its prices had fallen in our age!

أنت عود الندى الرطيب ولا غر

و إذا ما حلت لجان ثماره

You are bounty's fresh bough; no wonder

its fruits are sweet to the gatherer.

هاك سحر الكلام تجلى على مج

دك يا واحد الندى أبكاره

Take this magic of speech: unveiled before

your glory, O peerless in bounty, are its virgins.

عشت في دولة تخلد مالا

ح مساء وما أطل نهارُه

May you live in a dominion that endures as long as

evening gleams and daylight dawns.