تبسم ضاحكا عن أقحوان

وماس تثنيا كقضيب بان

He smiled, laughing, revealing chrysanthemums,

and swayed, bending like a bough of the bān tree.

وطاف بخمرتي لحظ وريق

سواء والرحيق الخسرواني

He went round with the twin wines of glance and saliva,

on a par with the pure wine of Khosrow.

ومناني الوصال خلال عتب

الذ إلى المحب من الأماني

He held out hopes of union amid reproaches,

sweeter to the lover than wishful dreams.

وصادف طرفه الوسنان قلبي

فقلبه على مثل السنانِ

His drowsy gaze encountered my heart,

then tossed it upon the likeness of a spearpoint.

له خدا يري الورد غضا

جنيّاً لودنا من كف جاني

He has a cheek displaying a fresh rose,

ready for picking, were it near a gatherer's hand.

وألحاظ تبارك من براها

سهاما للقلوب بها براني

And glances—blessed be He who fashioned them

as arrows for hearts—with which he wore me away.

يقول لي العذول تسلّ عنه

وما عانى عذولي ما أعاني

The reproacher tells me, 'Forget him,'

yet my reproacher has not suffered what I suffer.

نأى عن ناظري فالصبر فان

غداة فراقه والدمع قاني

He has gone far from my sight, and patience is spent,

on the morning of his parting, while tears run crimson.

على أني سكنت ولا سكون

إلى فيض الجفون وقد جفاني

Yet I found comfort—though there is no comfort—

in the flood from my eyelids, after he had shunned me.

لئن لم يحل لي تعذيب قلبي

ويغلبني هواه على هواني

If indeed tormenting my heart has not grown sweet to me,

and love for him has not mastered me despite my abasement,

فقلت بأن للإحسان مول

سوى المولى أبي الفضل الهجانِ

then I have said that beneficence has a patron

other than the lord Abu al-Fadl, the pure-born.

فتى البيض المؤلّلة المواضي

وجرد الخيل والسمر اللدانِ

Champion of keen-pointed, sharp white swords,

of sleek horses and supple brown spears.

فتى يمتد ظل العفو منه

لهاف مذنب منا وجاني

A man from whom the shade of pardon stretches

over a faltering sinner among us and an offender.

جواد ما له في الفضل ثان

يعد ولا عن الأفضال ثاني

A generous man, with no equal in excellence

to be reckoned, and none to turn him from generous deeds.

أخو المنن الجسيما اللواتي

حلت وخلت لديه من إمتنانِ

Possessor of mighty favors, which

are sweet and free, with him, of reminders of indebtedness.

حري بالمكارم والعطايا

جريٌ القلب واليد واللسانِ

Worthy of noble deeds and gifts,

bold of heart, hand, and tongue.

طليق الوجه محمود السجايا

طويل الباع فياح المغاني

Cheerful of face, praiseworthy in character,

long of reach, spacious in his dwellings.

كريم العود بسام المحيا

غزير الجود هطّال البنانِ

Noble in stock, ever smiling of countenance,

abundant in bounty, his fingertips pouring like rain.

يضيء جبينه في كل خطب

مضبّ الجود كالعضب اليماني

His brow shines in every crisis,

where bounty is mist-shrouded, like a keen Yemeni blade.

يعم النازحين ندى يديه

ويعلي المادحين بلا تواني

The bounty of his hands embraces those far away,

and he elevates those who praise him without delay.

فأسرع حين يكرم من سحاب

وأثبت حين يحلم من إبانِ

Swifter than clouds when he gives,

and firmer than Abān when he shows forbearance.

ورب وغى ورى في جانبيها

زناد من ضراب أو طعانِ

And many a battle, in whose two flanks was kindled

fire struck from sword-blows or spear-thrusts,

دلفت إلى فوارسها ببيض

أعدت لجينها كالأرجوانِ

you advanced upon its horsemen with white swords,

whose silver you made like crimson dye.

لقد حاز العلى باب كريم

أقام بعد له ميل الزمانِ

Indeed, a noble gate has attained high glory,

and by his justice straightened time's crookedness.

شأى الوزراء حزما واضطلاعا

وصدق أمانة وعلو شانِ

He outstripped the ministers in resolve and competence,

in faithful trustworthiness and lofty standing.

كمال الدين يا ملكاً نداه

لعاف نازع منا ودانِ

Kamal al-Din, O king whose bounty

is for petitioners among us, far and near!

تهزك نغمة المدّاح حتّى

كانّ ثناهم نغم المثاني

The panegyrists' melody so stirs you

that their praise seems the music of doubled lute strings.

فما روض أريض النبت غض

يغاديه سقيط كالجمانٍِ

No meadow, lush and tender in growth,

visited at dawn by dew like pearls,

ينم على سرائره نسيم

ضعيف فاتر الحركات وإني

whose hidden secrets a breeze betrays,

gentle, languid in its movements, listless,

بأطيب منك يوما نشر عرض

وأحسن من خلائقك الحسانِ

is ever more fragrant than your good name,

or lovelier than your lovely qualities.

فدم يا أكرم الكرماء واسلم

لكبت ملعاند ولخفض شانِ

Live on, O most generous of the generous, and be safe,

to humble a stubborn foe and lower his standing.

ولا هدمت صروف الدهر يوما

من الأيام مجدا أنت باني

May time's vicissitudes never demolish,

on any day, a glory whose builder you are.