1. أمّا تَحيّةِ الطَّرْفِ الكَحيلِ

    عَشِيّةَ همَّ صَحْبي بالرَّحيلِ

    As for the greeting of the kohl-dark gaze,

    on the evening my companions resolved to depart—

  2. لقد قطَع النَّوى إلاّ ادِّكاري

    وبلَّتْ عَبْرتي إلا غليلي

    indeed, separation has severed all but my remembrance,

    and my tear has moistened all but my burning thirst.

  3. يُرَوّي ضاحِيَ الوجَناتِ دَمْعي

    ويَعدِلُ عن لَهيبِ جَوىً دَخيل

    My tears water the exposed surface of my cheeks,

    yet turn aside from the blaze of anguish lodged within.

  4. وما نَفْعي وإن هطَلتْ غُيوثٌ

    إذا أخطأْنَ أمكِنةَ المُحول

    And what use is it to me, though downpours fall,

    if they miss the places stricken by drought?

  5. هُمُ نَقَضُوا عهودي يومَ بانوا

    فأبدَوْا صفحةَ الطَّرْفِ المَلول

    They broke their pledges to me the day they departed,

    and showed the side of their fickle gaze.

  6. وفَوْا بالهَجْرِ لمّا أوعَدوني

    وكم وَعَدوا الوِصالَ ولم يَفُوا لي

    They kept their pledge of desertion when they threatened me;

    and how often they promised union, yet failed to keep faith with me!

  7. وفي الرَّكْبِ الهِلاليِّينَ خِشْفٌ

    تَعرّضَ يومَ تَوديعِ الحُمول

    And among the Hilali riders was a fawn,

    who appeared on the day of farewell to the laden camels.

  8. أصابَ بِطَرْفهِ الفَتّانِ قَلْبي

    وكيف يُصابُ ماضٍ من كَليل

    His enchanting gaze struck my heart—

    and how can the keen be struck by the dull?

  9. بَخِلْتَ وقد حَظِيتَ بصَفْوِ وُدّي

    وإنّ منَ العناءِ هَوَى البخيل

    You were miserly, though you enjoyed the purity of my love,

    and among the torments is love for a miser.

  10. وبِتُّ لو استزَرْتَ النَّومَ طَيْفي

    لجَرَّ إليك شَخْصي من نُحولي

    And I passed the night—had you summoned my phantom in sleep,

    it would have drawn my very body to you, so wasted was I.

  11. ولكنْ لا سبيلَ إلى شفاءٍ

    إذا مالَ الطّبيبُ على العَليل

    But there is no way to a cure

    if the physician turns against the patient.

  12. ومِمّا هاجَ لي طَرباً خَيالٌ

    تأوَّب والدُّجَى مُرخي السُّدول

    And among what stirred my rapture was a phantom

    that returned by night as darkness lowered its curtains.

  13. وصَحْبي قد أناخوا كُلَّ حَرْفٍ

    مُقلَّدةٍ بأثناءِ الجَديل

    And my companions had made every lean she-camel kneel,

    each necklaced with loops of braided rein.

  14. يَبيتُ ذِراعُ ناجيةٍ وِسادي

    ويُضْحي ظِلُّ سابقةٍ مَقيلي

    A swift she-camel's foreleg is my pillow by night,

    and a fleet mare's shade is my midday resting place.

  15. وأفخَرُ إن فَخَرْتُ بمَجْد نَفْسي

    إذا لم يَكْفِني شَرفُ القَبيل

    And if I boast, I boast of my own glory,

    when the tribe's nobility does not suffice me.

  16. ويَملِكُ سِرَّ قلبي كُلُّ ظَبْيٍ

    عليلِ اللّحظِ كالرَّشأ الخَذول

    And every gazelle possesses my heart's secret,

    languid of glance, like a fawn apart from its herd.

  17. حكَى بَدْءُ العِذارِ بعارِضَيْهِ

    مَدبَّ النّملِ في السّيْفِ الصَّقيل

    His first beard-down along both cheeks resembled

    the trail of ants on a polished sword.

  18. يَخِرُّ النّاظِرونَ له سُجوداً

    إذا أبدَى عنِ الخَدِّ الأميل

    Those who gaze on him fall prostrate before him

    when he uncovers his tilted cheek,

  19. كما نظرَ المُلوكُ إلى كتابٍ

    على عُنْوانهِ عَبدُ الجَليل

    as kings did on looking at a letter

    with Abd al-Jalil upon its heading.

  20. مَليكٌ عَمَّ إحساناً وعَدْلاً

    فجَلَّ عنِ المُضاهي والعَديل

    A sovereign whose bounty and justice embraced all,

    and so exalted above any rival or equal.

  21. أظَلَّ على بَني الدُّنيا اشْتِهاراً

    كما استَغْنَى النّهارُ عنِ الدَّليل

    His renown overshadowed the sons of the world,

    as daylight has no need of proof.

  22. له كَفٌّ يَزِلُّ المالُ عنها

    وكيف يَقِرُّ ماءٌ في مَسيل

    He has a hand from which wealth slips away;

    and how could water stay still in a watercourse?

  23. وأقلامٌ تَفوتُ شَبا العوالي

    بطَوْلٍ في المَواقف لا بِطُول

    And pens that outstrip the points of lofty spears,

    through prowess in encounters, not through length.

  24. وزيرَ الدَّولتَيْنِ دُعاءَ راجٍ

    لصِدْقِ مَقالِه حُسْنَ القَبول

    O minister of the two states, hear a hopeful man's plea

    for his truthful words to be graciously received.

  25. أعدْتَ نِظامَ هذا الدّينِ لمّا

    تَطَرَّفَ نَجْمُه أُفُقَ الأُفول

    You restored the order of this faith when

    its star edged toward the horizon of its setting.

  26. ومِلْتَ على بَني الإلْحاد حتّى

    تَركْتَ جُموعَهمْ جَزرَ النُّصول

    And you fell upon the sons of heresy until

    you left their hosts as meat for the blades,

  27. بيومٍ عَزَّ دينُ اللهِ فيه

    وحَلَّ الكُفْرُ مَنزِلةَ الذَّليل

    on a day when God's faith grew mighty

    and unbelief took the station of the abased.

  28. غسَلْتَ أديمَ تلكَ الأرضِ منهمْ

    بغَيْثٍ من دِمائِهم هَطول

    You washed that land's skin clean of them

    with a pouring rain of their blood.

  29. ويومَ أتَتْ جُيوشُ الشّرْقِ طُرّاً

    رَعيلاً يَجْنِبونَ إلى رَعيل

    And on the day the armies of the East came, all together,

    drawing up troop beside troop,

  30. ثنَيْتَهمُ على الأعقابِ صُغْراً

    وقد زَحفوا كإفْراطِ السُّيول

    you turned them back on their heels, humbled,

    though they had advanced like overflowing torrents.

  31. فولَّوا غيرَ ملُتفتِينَ رُعْباً

    يَلُفّون الحُزونةَ بالسُّهول

    So they fled in terror without looking back,

    mingling rugged ground with plains.

  32. فحينَ رأيتَ خَوفَ سُطاكَ فيِهمْ

    وقد قطعَ الخليلَ عنِ الخَليل

    Then, when you saw fear of your onslaught among them,

    which had severed friend from friend,

  33. عطَفْتَ على الجُناةِ وإنْ أساءوا

    سَجِيّةَ حازمٍ بَرٍّ وَصول

    you showed the offenders compassion, though they had done wrong,

    in the manner of a resolute, kind man who keeps bonds:

  34. مَطولٍ بالوَعيدِ إذا انْتضَاه

    وما هو في المَواعدِ بالمَطول

    slow to act on a threat when he unsheathes it,

    but never slow in fulfilling promises.

  35. سَديدِ الرّأْيِ لا فَوْتُ التّأنّي

    يُلِمُّ به ولا زلَلُ العَجول

    Sound in judgment: neither delay's lost opportunity

    befalls him, nor the rash man's misstep.

  36. تَعيبُ مَضاءه وقَفَاتُ حِلْمٍ

    كَعيْبِ المَشْرفيَّةِ بالفُلول

    Pauses of forbearance mar his keen resolve,

    as notches mar Mashrafi swords.

  37. ولم نَسمَعْ بأكرمَ منه طَبْعاً

    وأبعدَ عن فعالِ المُستَطيل

    And we have never heard of one more generous by nature than he,

    or farther from the deeds of the overbearing,

  38. وأسْرفَ في عَطِيَّةِ مُستَميحٍ

    وأصْفَحَ عَن جِنايةِ مُستَقيل

    or more lavish in giving to a petitioner,

    or more forgiving of the offense of one who seeks pardon.

  39. فلمّا أحْدَثَ الأقْوامُ نَكْثاً

    إباءً من رِضاهمْ بالقليل

    But when the peoples broke their pledges,

    refusing to be content with little,

  40. وصَدُّوا عن صَلاحِهمُ لَجاجاً

    صُدودَ الصَّبِّ عن نُصْح العَذول

    and stubbornly turned away from their own welfare,

    as a love-struck man shuns the reprover's counsel,

  41. جلبتَ عليهمُ للبأْسِ يَوماً

    ضُحاهُ من العَجاجةِ كالأصيل

    you brought upon them a day of battle

    whose forenoon, from the dust-cloud, resembled late afternoon.

  42. نشَرتَ ذَوائبَ الرّاياتِ فيه

    وبُرْدُ النّقْعِ مَجْرورُ الذُّيول

    You unfurled the banners' tresses that day,

    while the mantle of dust trailed its hems.

  43. وثُرْتَ إليهمُ بالخَيْلِ شُعْثاً

    تُصرِّفُها فَوارِسُ غَيْرُ مِيل

    And you surged upon them with disheveled steeds,

    guided by horsemen steady in the saddle.

  44. ففَرَّقَ جَمْعَهمْ طَعْنٌ دراكٌ

    وضَرْبٌ مثلُ أشْداقِ الفُحول

    Successive thrusts scattered their gathering,

    and blows like the gaping jaws of camel stallions.

  45. وأجلَى الحَربُ منهمْ عن شَقِيٍّ

    أَسيرٍ أو جَريحٍ أو قَتيل

    And war receded, revealing the wretched among them:

    captive, wounded, or slain.

  46. كأنّهمْ وقد صُرِعوا نَشاوَى

    تَساقَوا عن مُعتّقةٍ شَمول

    They seemed, as they lay struck down, like drunken men

    who had served one another aged wine.

  47. خُلِقْتَ مُؤيَّداً بعُلُوِّ جَدٍّ

    بغايةِ كُلِّ ما تَهْوَى كَفيل

    You were created, upheld by lofty fortune,

    guaranteeing the utmost of all you desire.

  48. إذا حَثَّ الجَوادَ إليكَ باغٍ

    لِيُرْكِضَه تَشكّلَ بالحُجول

    If an aggressor urges his steed toward you

    to make it gallop, it is shackled by its anklets.

  49. إذا ألقَى حُساماً في يَمينٍ

    عَصاهُ وصارَ منه في التّليل

    If he puts a keen sword into his right hand,

    it disobeys him and lodges in his own neck.

  50. إليكَ مِنَ الحِصارِ سلَلْتُ شَخْصي

    خُروجَ القِدْحِ من كَفِّ المُجِيل

    Toward you I slipped myself out of the siege,

    as a lot-arrow leaves the shuffler's palm.

  51. فَجِئتُك عاريَ العِطفَيْنِ أَسعَى

    لأَلبسَ بُرْدَ نائِلِكَ الجْزيل

    So I came running to you, bare on both sides,

    to wear the mantle of your abundant bounty.

  52. ولم تك كَعبةَ الإحسانِ إلاّ

    لِتُصبِحَ مَوْسمَ الوَفْدِ النُّزول

    You were the Kaaba of beneficence only

    to be the gathering place of guests who come to lodge.

  53. فتَعْرَى حينَ نَلْقاها حَجيجاً

    ونُكْسَى حين يُؤْذِنُ بالقُفول

    So it goes bare when we meet it as pilgrims,

    and we are clothed when he gives the signal to return.

  54. فحَقِّقْ مُنتهَى ظَنّي وأظْفِرْ

    يَدَيَّ فأنت مَسْؤولي وسُولي

    So fulfill my highest hope, and grant success to

    my hands, for you are the one I petition and all I desire.

  55. وعِشْ في ظِلِّ أيّامٍ قِصارٍ

    تَمُرُّ عليكَ في عُمُرٍ طَويل

    And live in the shade of short days

    that pass over you within a long lifetime.