حتام أعذل في الهوى وألام

وإلام تسهر مقلتي وينامُ

How long shall I be reproached for love and blamed?

And how long must my eye keep vigil while he sleeps—

قمر غريمي في هواه تفجع

ما ينقضي وتوجع وغرامُ

a moon, my adversary, for love of whom comes anguish

that never ends, and pain and passion?

كالريم يغتال الأسود إذا رنا

بلواحظ تعنو لها الآرام

Like a gazelle, he slays lions when he gazes

with glances to which gazelles bow.

جذلان يغلي وصله متيقظا

وتبيت ترخصه لي الأحلامُ

Joyful, he makes union with him costly in waking life,

while all night dreams make it cheap for me.

في مثل خط عذاره ذاك الذي

كاللام حسنا تعذر اللوامُ

For the likes of that line of his cheek-down,

lovely as a lām, even reproachers are excused.

يا عاذلي دعا ملامة مغرم

قد شاب والوجد القديم غلامُ

O my two reproachers, cease blaming a lover

who has grown gray while his old passion is still a youth.

يصبو إذا هبت صبا من عالج

ويحن إن جاد الغميم غمامُ

He yearns when an east wind blows from ʿĀlij,

and pines if a cloud lavishes rain on al-Ghamīm,

شوقا إلى بيض الوجوه نواعم

كالبيض الحفه الجناح نعامُ

longing for fair-faced, delicate women,

like eggs that ostriches have cloaked with their wings.

ألحاظهن الساجيات سواحر

ورضا بهن مع السحير مدامُ

Their languid glances are enchantresses,

and their lip-moisture at early dawn is wine.

من كل ظامية الموشح وجهها

صبح وفاحمها الأثيث ظلامُ

Among them, each slender-waisted woman's face

is dawn, and her luxuriant, coal-black hair is darkness.

خود تمائمها الأسنة والظبى

تبدو فيخفي البدر وهو تمامُ

A tender maiden whose amulets are spearheads and sword-edges,

she appears, and the moon is hidden though it is full.

للورد منها وهو أحمر ناصع

خد وللغصن الرطيب قوامُ

The rose, vivid red, has in her

a cheek; the tender bough has a graceful figure.

يا دار سلمى لاعدتك تحية

وطفاء من دمع الحيا وسلامُ

O Salmā's dwelling, may a greeting never pass you by,

cloud-laden with the rain's tears, and peace.

وعلام تستجدى سوى يد منعم

خرق لديمة راحتيه دوامُ

And why seek alms from any but a benefactor's hand,

a magnanimous man whose palms' steady rain is unceasing?

الصاحب الملك الذي إحسانه

طبع وغامر جوده الهامُ

The minister, the king, whose kindness

is innate, and whose overflowing generosity is inspiration.

ذي النائل الفضفاض والمنن التي

خفت بها الأثقال وهي جسامُ

Possessor of copious bounty, and favors through which

burdens grow light, though they are immense.

إن أظلمت شيم اللئام فوجهه

طلق يضيء وثغره بسامُ

If the natures of base men grow dark, his face

is cheerful and radiant, and his mouth ever smiling.

واغرا روع لا يروع جاره

يوما وينهك ما له ويضامُ

And noble-faced, awe-inspiring—his neighbor is not frightened

on any day, nor is his property ravaged, nor is he wronged.

يا أيها الذمر الشجاع أخا الوغى

وابن القنا المتقحم الهجامُ

O valiant, courageous man, brother of battle,

and son of lances, boldly plunging, fiercely attacking!

لا ترج من يده السلامة ما أرتدى

حصداء أحكم نسجها سلامُ

Hope for no safety from his hand while he wears

close-woven mail whose weave Sallām made firm.

كالبحر يغرق في أنامله الحيا

كرما ويفرق بأسه الضرغامُ

Like the sea, in his fingertips the rain is drowned,

so generous is he; the lion fears his might.

رب الرواء وواحد الرأى الذي

أضحى يفل السيف وهو حسامُ

Lord of fine bearing, unrivaled in judgment, which

now blunts the sword, though it is a keen-edged blade.

تلقاه يوم الحرب ثبتا مقدما

متقدما إن زلت الأقدامُ

You meet him on the day of war, steadfast and daring,

advancing when feet falter.

وتراه عام الجدب رب مرابع

يأوى إليها المعتم المعتامُ

And in a year of drought, you see him lord of pastures

where the benighted, milk-craving traveler takes refuge.

وفصيح أقوال فتس عنده

حصر اللسان مجمجم تمامُ

And eloquent in speech: measured against him,

Tammām is tongue-tied and stammering.

لله همته التي يسمو بها

منه فتى جزل العطاء همام

God be praised for his resolve, by which he rises—

a youth of lavish giving and dauntless spirit.

غمر الندى لولا فواضل كفه

لم يعرف المعروف والأنعام

A flood of generosity; but for his hand's lavish gifts,

kindness and beneficence would never be known.

مولاي مجد الدين يا طودا رسا

حلما يخف له حرا وشمام

My lord Majd al-Dīn, O mountain standing firm

in forbearance, beside which Ḥirā and Shamām seem light.

يا كعبة الجود التي في ربعها

ربع المكارم تغفر الأجرام

O Kaaba of generosity, within whose precinct

noble deeds have their abode, and offenses are forgiven.

أنست بعد لك بعد جور عمها

دار السلام وأيد الإسلام

Through your justice it found solace, after oppression had engulfed it—

Dār al-Salām—and Islam was strengthened.

وشددت أزر الملك شد مؤازر

ما أنحل منه وقد شددت نظام

And you braced the kingdom's back as a supporter

of what had slackened in it, and bound its order firm.

ونرى بجودك يا أبا الفضل الذي

سن المكارم يُعدم الإعدامُ

And through your bounty we see, O Abū al-Faḍl, who

instituted noble deeds, destitution itself undone.

أنت الذي ما زال مورد جوده

عذبا عليه للعفاة زحامُ

You are he whose fountain of bounty has always remained

sweet, with throngs of gift-seekers around it.

أنت الذي جعلته فذا في الورى

نعم تواتر من يديه تؤامُ

You are the one made peerless among humankind

by twin favors arriving in succession from his hands.

بك تفخر الدنيا وأنت نعيمها

والدهر أنت وجندك الأيامُ

In you the world takes pride, and you are its delight;

you are Time, and the days are your army.

لك معمر أفنى العشار قراهم

كرما وقوم بالعلى قوامُ

You have a household whose hospitality has consumed pregnant she-camels

in generosity, and a people steadfast in high honor.

أسد لها البيض الحداد أظافر

والسمهرية ذبلا آجامُ

Lions whose claws are bright, sharp swords,

and whose thickets are slender Samharī lances.

خدمتهم الأملاك في تيجانها

خضعا وهم لضيوفهم خدامُ

Kings in their crowns have served them

humbly, while they are servants to their guests.

فسلمت ما عنت بروق بالحمى

وهنا وغنت في الحصون حمامُ

May you remain safe as long as lightning flashes over the protected pastures

at night, and doves sing in the fortresses.