1. أريقُكِ أَم صَهباءَ في الكَأسِ إِسفِنطُ

    وَثَغرُكِ أَم دُرٌّ تَضَمَّنَهُ السِّمطُ

    Is it your saliva, or tawny, spiced wine in the cup?

    And is it your mouth, or pearls enclosed by a necklace?

  2. وَلَفظُكِ هَذا أَم جُمانٌ مُبَدَّدٌ

    وَلَيسَ لَهُ إِلّا بِأَسماعِنا لَقطُ

    And is this your speech, or scattered pearls,

    which can be gathered only by our ears?

  3. وَقَدُّكِ أَم غُصنٌ عَلى الدِّعصِ مائِلٌ

    تَحارُ لَهُ لا بَل تَغارُ القَنا الخَطُّ

    And is it your figure, or a branch leaning over a sand dune,

    before which Khatt lances marvel—no, rather, grow jealous?

  4. لَقَد ضَمَّ مِنكِ المِرطُ فِتنَةَ عاشِقٍ

    فَيا لِأُصَيحابي لِما ضَمَّهُ المِرطُ

    Indeed, your mantle enfolds in you a lover's temptation;

    O my dear companions, how wondrous what the mantle encloses!

  5. تَكَنَّفَني شَوقٌ إِلَيكِ يَزيدُهُ

    عَلى كُلِّ حالٍ قُربُ دارِكِ وَالشَحطُ

    Longing for you has surrounded me; it is increased

    in every circumstance by your home's nearness and remoteness.

  6. لأَرهَفتِ وُدّي حينَ قَلَّمتِ رَأسَهُ

    كَما أَرهَفَ الأَقلامَ وَالشَمعَ القَطُّ

    You surely sharpened my love when you trimmed its tip,

    just as trimming sharpens pens and candles.

  7. لَبِستُ الهَوى مِنكُم قَشيباً لِباسُهُ

    صَبِيّاً إِلى أَن لاحَ في المَفرِقِ الوَخطُ

    I donned love for you, its garment fresh,

    as a boy, until gray flecks appeared at my hair's parting.

  8. وَجارِيَةٍ باتَت تُعاطي مُدامَةً

    نَدامى أَرَتهُم جيدَ جارِيَةٍ تَعطو

    And many a maiden spent the night passing aged wine

    to drinking companions, showing them a maiden's neck as she reached out.

  9. هِيَ البَدرُ تَجلو شَمسَ راحٍ بِكَأسِها

    وَفي أُذنِها نَجمُ الثُرَيّا لَها قُرطُ

    She is the full moon, displaying wine's sun in her cup;

    and in her ear the Pleiades' star serves as her earring.

  10. غَدَت تَجتَني حَبَّ القُلوبِ بِحُبِّها

    فَإِن شَرَطَت وَصلاً فَلَن يوجَدَ الشَرطُ

    She set out to harvest the seeds of hearts through love of her;

    and if she sets a condition for union, it can never be met.

  11. فَعاداتُها أَن تَلزَمَ القِسطَ في الهَوى

    وَعاداتُ نورِ الدينِ في العالَمِ القِسطُ

    For her habit is to cleave to injustice in love,

    while Nur al-Din's habit in the world is justice.

  12. بِهِ طارَ عَنّا الخَوفُ وَالأَمنُ واقِعٌ

    وَخَيَّمَ رَكبُ الخِصبِ وَاِرتَفَعَ القَحطُ

    Through him fear has flown from us, while safety has alighted;

    and the caravan of plenty has camped, while drought has lifted.

  13. يُقابِضُ أَرواحَ العِدا باسِطَ النَدى

    فَلِلَهِ مِنهُ ذَلِكَ القَبضُ وَالبَسطُ

    He seizes his enemies' souls while lavishing bounty;

    by God, how wondrous such taking and giving from him!

  14. إِلى المَلِكِ المَيمونِ طائِرُهُ اِنبَرَت

    مَطايا رَجاءَ الخَيرِ راتِكَةً تَمطو

    Toward the king whose omen is auspicious have set out

    mounts in hope of bounty, trotting and striding onward.

  15. إِلى المَلكِ مِن أَقلامِهِ وَرِماحِهِ

    بِيُمناهُ أَبدى فَخرَهُ الخَطُّ وَالخَطُّ

    Toward the king, through whose pens and spears

    in his right hand, writing and Khatt lances display their pride.

  16. فَمِن ضَربِهِ طولاً وَعَرضاً بِسَيفِهِ

    يُرى القَدُّ في صَرعى أَعاديهِ وَالقطُّ

    Thus, from his sword strokes, lengthwise and crosswise,

    lengthwise cleaving and crosswise severing appear among his fallen foes.

  17. هُوَ الأَسَدُ الدامي الأَظافِرِ في الوَغى

    تَقَهقَرُ عَن كَرّاتِهِ الأُسُدُ الضُّبطُ

    He is the lion with bloodied claws in battle;

    lions strong in both forepaws retreat before his charges.

  18. هُوَ الدَهرُ يُرجى كُلَّ وَقتٍ وَيُتَّقى

    هُوَ البَحرُ جوداً ما يُوافى لَهُ شَطُّ

    He is Time, hoped for at every hour and feared;

    he is the sea in generosity, whose shore is never reached.

  19. تُقَبِّلُ أَفواهُ السَلاطينِ بُسطَهُ

    فَتَفنى مِنَ التَقبيلِ لا غَيرِهِ البُسطُ

    The mouths of sultans kiss his carpets,

    and the carpets wear away from kissing, and nothing else.

  20. وَسَل عَنهُ عُبّادَ الصَليبِ وَخَيلُهُ

    سَواهِمُ مِن تَحتِ العَجاج لَها نَحطُ

    Ask the worshippers of the Cross about him, while his horses

    are gaunt beneath the dust cloud, snorting heavily.

  21. حَكَوا بَلَهَ الضَّأنِ المُمَزِّقِ شَملَها

    سَراحينُ مِن فُرسانِهِ في العَضا مُعطُ

    They showed the witlessness of sheep, whose flock was torn apart

    by wolves from among his horsemen, bare-furred amid thorn trees.

  22. فَما عَطَفَتهُم عِندَ ذَلِكَ رَحمَةٌ

    وَلا رَحِمٌ لَمّا اِستُبيحوا لَها أَطُّ

    No mercy softened them at that moment,

    nor kinship crying out when they were given over to slaughter.

  23. فَمِنهُم قَتيلٌ أَو أَسيرٌ وَمِنهُمُ

    جَريحٌ وَمُستَولٍ عَلى جَنبِهِ العَطُّ

    Among them are the slain or captives, and among them

    the wounded, and those whose flanks are ravaged by gashes.

  24. فَإِن بَكَرَ العافونَ أَغناهُمُ الرِّضى

    فَمِن بَأسِهِ العادونَ أَفناهُمُ السُخطُ

    If seekers of bounty come early, his favor enriches them;

    but through his might, wrath annihilates the aggressors.

  25. إِلى بابِ مَولانا اِزدَهَتنِيَ رَغبَةٌ

    وَما كانَ دونَ البابِ عَن قاصِدٍ لَطُّ

    Desire has swept me to our lord's gate,

    and no barrier before the gate has kept a seeker out.

  26. فَلَيسَ لِرَهطِ الفَضلِ إِلّا ظِلالُهُ

    إِذا ما اِشتَكى مِن وَعرَةِ العَسرَةِ الرَّهطُ

    For people of merit have no shelter but his shade

    when their company complains of hardship's rugged terrain.

  27. وَراجٍ سِوى أَبناءِ أَيّوبَ في الوَرى

    كَعَشواءَ في جُنحِ الظَّلامِ لَها خَبطُ

    And one who hopes in any but Ayyub's sons among mankind

    is like a night-blind she-camel blundering under cover of darkness,

  28. كَتارِكِ كِلتا جَنَّتَيهِ وَلَم يَكُن

    لَهُ بَعدُ إِلّا الأَثلُ وَالأُكُلُ الخَمطُ

    like one who abandons both his gardens, with nothing remaining

    to him afterward but tamarisk and bitter fruit.

  29. وَهَل في مُلوكِ الأَرضِ مِثلُ أَبيهُمُ

    يُرى أَبَداً أَو كانَ مِثلٌ لَهُ قَطُّ

    And is anyone like their father among the kings of earth

    ever seen—or has he ever had an equal?

  30. قَبيلٌ هُمُ الأَسباطُ لِلمُلكِ كُلَّما

    مَضى مِنهُمُ سِبطٌ تَقَيَّلَهُ سِبطُ

    They are a clan, the scions of kingship; whenever

    one scion of theirs passes, another follows in his footsteps.

  31. يَكادُ نَداهُم يُغرِقُ الأَرضَ طَلُّهُ

    وَيُحرِقُها مِن زَندِ بَأسِهِمُ سِقطُ

    The dew of their bounty almost drowns the earth,

    and a spark from the fire-stick of their might burns it.

  32. وَمُلتَمَسي رِزقٌ عَلَيَّ يُدِرُّهُ

    لَعَلَّ يُوافي عُقدَتي عِندَهُ نَشطُ

    And what I seek is a stipend he makes flow to me;

    perhaps my knot will find release with him.

  33. فَوَقِّع بِإِعطائي الَّذي أَنا طالِبٌ

    إِلى مَعشَرٍ إِن يُنطَ أَمري لَهُم يُنطُوا

    So sign an order that I be given what I seek,

    addressed to men who, if entrusted with my case, will grant it.

  34. وَمَن رامَ مِن بَحرِ المَكارِمِ رَيَّهُ

    فَما هُوَ فيما رامَهُ مِنهُ مُشتَطُّ

    And whoever seeks to quench his thirst from the sea of noble deeds

    is not asking too much in what he seeks from it.

  35. وَلَم آلُهُ في الدَّهرِ ما عِشتُ داعِياً

    يُؤَمِّنُ حَولي مِن تَلامِذَتي رَهطُ

    And throughout my life I have never failed to pray for him,

    with a band of my pupils around me saying 'Amen.'

  36. وَمَن ساوَرَ الإِعدامَ لا فَرقَ بَينَهُ

    وَبَينَ اِمرِئٍ باتَت تُساوِرُهُ الرُّقطُ

    And whoever grapples with destitution is no different

    from a man assailed all night by speckled snakes.

  37. عَلِيٌّ لَقَد جَلَّت أَياديكَ كَثرَةً

    فَقَصَّرَ عَن إِحصائِها الهِندُ وَالقِبطُ

    Ali, your favors have indeed grown so great in number

    that Indians and Copts fall short of counting them.

  38. فَلا ذاقَتِ الدُنيا فِراقَكَ ساعَةً

    وَجَدُّكَ فيها صاعِدٌ لَيسَ يَنحَطُّ

    May the world never taste separation from you for an hour,

    with your fortune rising in it, never declining.

  39. وَلا زِلتَ تولي أَولِياءَكَ أَنعُماً

    وَتَسطو عَلى الأَعداءِ ما شِئتَ أَن تَسطو

    May you never cease bestowing favors on your allies,

    and assailing your enemies whenever you wish to assail them.