دع ملام المستهام

في هوى بدر تمام

Leave off reproaching the love-stricken one,

in love with a perfect full moon;

في هوى ممشرق غصن ال

قدّ معشوق الكلام

in love with a radiant one, branchlike in

stature, whose speech is adored;

لؤلؤى المبسم الوا

ضح خوطيّ القوام

Pearly of smiling mouth, bright

and clear, with a twiglike figure.

بت في حملي حبي

ه غريما للغرام

I spent the night bearing my love

for him, a debtor to passion.

وأهب جفني للدم

ع وجسمي للسقامِ

And I give my eyelids to

tears, and my body to sickness.

باخل سلَّمه الل

ه علينا بالسلام

He is sparing—may God preserve him—

with greetings to us.

بأبي شمس تبدت

منه في جنح ظلام

May my father be ransom for a sun that appeared

from him in the depths of darkness.

والرياض الحوقد أض

حكن من دمع الغمامِ

And the dark-green gardens have been made

to laugh by the clouds’ tears.

وغصون البان نشوى

بأغاريد الحَمامِ

And the bān-tree boughs are drunk

with the songs of doves.

رشا عطل بالري

ق أباريق المدامِ

A fawn who, with his saliva, rendered

the wine flagons useless.

أشبع الخلخال منه

ونطاق الخصر ظامي

The anklet is sated by him,

while the girdle of his waist is thirsty.

زار لم يسلك على اللذ

ذة طرق الإحتشامِ

He visited, and in pleasure did not take

the paths of modest reserve.

لا ولا مل وقد با

ت نديما لي ندامي

No, nor did he tire; he spent

the night as my boon companion, with my fellow drinkers.

بل قطعنا الليل وصلا

بين ضم والتزام

Rather, we passed the night in union,

amid embracing and clasping.

واخ ما زال بالعط

ب ملجا في خصامي

And a brother, ever bent on

ruin, was insistent in disputing with me.

لام في الرزق وهل ي

ترك رزق بملامِ

He reproached me over sustenance; can

sustenance be forsaken for reproach?

ويبح حر يترجى الر

رفد من عبد حطامِ

Alas for a free man who hopes for

aid from a slave to worldly dross.

ويمينا لا تخلق

ت بأخلاق الكرامِ

And I swear: may I never possess

the character of noble men,

إن وقفت السهر ما عش

ت بأبواب اللئامِ

if I stand sleepless, for as long as I live,

at the doors of the base.

موئلي من هو معنى

ى بمدحي ذو اهتمامِ

My refuge is he who is attentive

to my praise, a man of solicitude;

والذي عن حوزة الشع

ر بما يحوي يحامي

And he who defends the realm of

poetry with all he possesses;

والذي غيث نداه

هامر المزنة هامي

And he whose bounty is rain,

pouring from its cloud, streaming down;

والذي خفف ثقلي

بأياديه الجسام

And he who lightened my burden

with his mighty benefactions.

واحد الدنيا بهاء الد

دين ذو الجود التؤام

The world’s peerless one, Bahāʾ al-

Dīn, master of doubled bounty.

واهب الأجرد بالسر

ج المحلّى واللجامِ

Giver of the sleek horse with

an ornamented saddle and a bridle;

والفتاة الكاعب الرو

د تهادى كالغلامِ

And the tender maiden with budding breasts,

bestowed as a gift like a young boy;

ملك حلو مجاني ال

عفو مرّ الانتقامِ

A king: sweet are the fruits of his

pardon, bitter his revenge.

طود حلم بحر علم

زاخر اللجة طامي

A mountain of forbearance, a sea of knowledge,

its deep waters swelling, overflowing.

عم جودا فهو يعطي

كل يوم قوت عام

His bounty embraces all: he gives

each day a year’s sustenance.

بطل يجلو باصبا

ح الظبي ليل القتامِ

A hero who dispels, with the dawn-light

of sword-edges, the night of battle dust.

مورد هيم الموا

ضي دم أشلاء وهامِ

He waters the thirsty keen

blades with blood from limbs and heads.

ذو خيول كالنعامي

أو كإرسال النعامِ

He has horses like the south wind,

or like flocks of ostriches.

ليس بالجهم ولا بال

خلب البرق الجهامِ

He is neither grim-faced nor a

rainless cloud with deceptive lightning.

لا ولا الإحسان منه

رمية من غير رامي

No, nor is his kindness

a shot by one who is no archer.

ما له في مجده ضد

د ولا ندّ مسامي

He has no adversary in his glory,

nor any peer matching his eminence.

همه بذل العطايا

وكذا هم الهمامِ

His concern is bestowing gifts,

and such is the concern of the magnanimous.

مقدم أن زلَّت الأق

دام فالليث المحامي

Foremost when feet falter,

he is the defending lion.

ذويد تحيي وفيها

للعدا صرف حمامِ

He has a hand that gives life, yet in it

lies a stroke of death for his foes.

يا أبا الفضل لك الفض

ل على كل الأنامِ

O Abū al-Faḍl, yours is preeminence

over all humankind,

بحياء وإباء

فعل آباء كرامِ

Through modesty and proud dignity,

the conduct of noble forefathers.

شدت ما فما

أشبه رضوى بشمامِ

You built what ... [text unclear]; how

like Shamām is Raḍwā!

جاءك العيد بشيرا

بعلو ودوامِ

Eid has come to you as a herald

of eminence and continuance,

مخبرا عنك بتقوى ال

لّه في شهر الصيام

Proclaiming your devotion to

God in the month of fasting,

وبما أوليت من بر

ر وإطعام طعامِ

And the kindness you bestowed,

and your providing food.

فابق لي ما شئته

حصنا وفيا بالدوامِ

So remain for me, as long as you wish it,

a faithful stronghold forever,

هازما عسري بجيش

من عطاياك لهامِ

Defeating my hardship with an army

of your gifts, a teeming host.