لا تعذلن فلست أقبل

لوبا على العذب المنبل

Do not reproach me, for I will not accept

[blame] for the sweet one [epithet unclear].

وأقل عذلك في هوى

من للتصبر عنه قلّل

And lessen your reproach for loving

one who has made patience without him scant.

جذلان حرم وصله

عمدا وللهجران حلل

Joyous, he forbade union with himself

deliberately, and declared estrangement lawful.

كالغصن أهيف حين يخ

طو ماشيا والدي أهيَل

Like a branch, slender when he

walks, his [haunches?] like a swelling sandhill.

بذوائب مثل الدجى

وترائب مثل السجنجل

With tresses like the darkness of night,

and a breast like a polished mirror.

يرنو إليَّ بمَلتَي

ظبي غضيض الطرفِ أكَّحل

He gazes at me with the two [eyes]

of a gazelle, downcast and naturally dark-rimmed.

ويزيدتيها بالجما

ل ورفعه بالصب أجمل

And his beauty makes him prouder,

yet [kindness] to the lovesick would be fairer.

لا والذي لولاه لم

يحمل محب ما تحمل

No, by Him without whom no

lover could bear what he has borne,

ووحتى خال فوق وج

نته وري في المخلخل

and [by] a beauty spot upon his

cheek, and fullness where his anklet rests,

ونحول خصر مدنف

أبلى به جسد وانحل

and the slenderness of a languishing waist,

through which a body has worn away and wasted—

إنّ السحائب من أبي

بكر وجودِ يديه تخجل

indeed, the clouds, before Abu

Bakr and his hands’ bounty, blush.

بدر تتوج بالندى

وببردة الحسنى تسربل

A full moon crowned with bounty,

and clothed in the mantle of goodness.

يكفي امرؤ بعد الإل

ه على سماحته توكل

Provided for is the man who, after

God, relies upon his generosity.

طال الأنام وقصروا

عن شاوه لما تطول

He outstripped mankind, and they fell short

of his reach when he lavished his favors.

كم نال مجدا بالذي

أسداه من رفد ونول

How much glory he won through what

he bestowed in aid and gifts,

بخلائق مثل الشّمو

ل سرت عليها ريح شمال

with qualities like wine

over which a north wind passed.

متثبت عند الرعيدِ

وفي نجاز الوعد يعجل

Steadfast in the face of bluster,

and swift to fulfill a promise.

وتراه يهمل ماله

ليصون عرضا غير مهمل

You see him neglect his wealth

to preserve an honor never neglected.

قل للأمين أخي النهى

خففت عمن كان مثقل

Tell al-Amin, the man of understanding:

You lightened the load of one weighed down,

وفتحت باب المكرما

ت على العفاة وكان مقل

and opened the door of noble deeds

to seekers of bounty, though he had little.

وقضيت فرض المأثرات

وكنت أحسن من تنفل

You discharged noble deeds’ obligation,

and were the best at giving beyond duty.

يفديك من يهوى العطا

ء تكلفا منه ويكسل

May he be your ransom who loves giving

only by forcing himself, and grows slack.

الجود أصعب عنده

شيئا وعند أنت أسهل

Generosity is, for him, the hardest

thing; for you, it is the easiest.

ما يعرف اليأس امرؤ

وعليك دون الناس عول

No man knows despair

who relies on you rather than others.

البرد قد أفى وجا

ء وأنت أكرم من يؤمل

The cold has [arrived] and is here,

and you are the most generous one to hope in.

ووحق من أعطاك ما

أعطاك من كرم وخَوَّل

And by Him who gave you what

He gave you of generosity, and endowed you,

ما لي به شيء يخا

طولا ولا سوى لحمي يفصل

I have nothing against it that can be

sewn, nor anything but my flesh to tailor.

لكن يقوّي دائما

قلبي بأَنك لست تبخل

Yet what always strengthens

my heart is that you do not stint,

أبدا بما تحوي يدا

ك وتبتدي من قبل تسأل

ever, with what your two hands hold,

and give before you are asked.

فانعم برسمي دائما

فالبِرَّ أحلى ما تعجَّل

So grant me my stipend continually,

for kindness is sweetest when bestowed promptly.