بات يرعى السها بطرف مؤرق

بات يرعى السها بطرف مؤرق

وفؤاد من الغرام محرق

وفؤاد من الغرام محرق

He spent the night watching al-Suha with a sleepless eye,

He grazes the dawn with a restless gaze,

and with a heart scorched by passion.

His heart inflamed with passion's blaze.

ليست أيامه السواف يرجعن

ليست أيامه السواف يرجعن

ويجمعن طيب عيش مفرق

ويجمعن طيب عيش مفرق

His bygone days do not return,

Gone are the days when he would roam,

nor gather the scattered sweetness of life.

And gather the sweet fruits of a scattered home.

دمن أنبت الجمال ثراها

دمن أنبت الجمال ثراها

ورعى الشوق غصنها حين أورق

ورعى الشوق غصنها حين أورق

Campsite ruins: beauty made their soil bloom,

He nurtured the beauty that was her ornament,

and longing tended their branch when it put forth leaves.

And tended the branch of yearning as it grew supple and bent.

فتح الطل زهرها

فتح الطل زهرها

وتولت نشره راحة النسيم الذي رق

وتولت نشره راحة النسيم الذي رق

Dew opened their blossoms,

The dawn uncovered her blossoms,

and the gentle breeze's palm undertook to spread their fragrance.

And the gentle morning breeze spread their fragrance wide.

فتوهمتها أعيرت سجايا

فتوهمتها أعيرت سجايا

شرف الدولة السديد الموفق

شرف الدولة السديد الموفق

So I imagined they had been lent the traits

I imagined she had lent her qualities

of Sharaf al-Dawla, upright and favored with success.

To the honorable, rightly-guided ruler.

عرف الجود كفه فاصطفاها

عرف الجود كفه فاصطفاها

قبل أن يعرف السؤال ويخلق

قبل أن يعرف السؤال ويخلق

Generosity recognized his hand and chose it

His palm knew generosity, so she chose him

before asking was known or brought into being.

Before he knew to ask, before he was even created.

فلها راحة تروح وتغدو

فلها راحة تروح وتغدو

في عراص الرجا بنار المحلق

في عراص الرجا بنار المحلق

So its palm goes forth at evening and dawn

She goes and returns at her leisure,

in the courts of hope, with al-Muhallaq's fire.

Soaring through the land of men like a flaming bird.

يا ابن جبر ولم أقل يا ابن جبر

يا ابن جبر ولم أقل يا ابن جبر

جاهلاً أن ذكري النعت أليق

جاهلاً أن ذكري النعت أليق

O Ibn Jabr—and I did not say 'O Ibn Jabr'

O son of Jabr - no, let me not say "son of Jabr",

unaware that mentioning the title would be more fitting.

Ignorantly using a title more fitting.

غير أن الألقاب كالعرض الزا

غير أن الألقاب كالعرض الزا

ئل والاسم جوهر متحقق

ئل والاسم جوهر متحقق

Yet titles are like an accident that is transi—

For titles are like borrowed garments,

—ent, while a name is an established substance.

While names are the essence, the truth fulfilled.

لست ممن يقول فيك جزافاً

لست ممن يقول فيك جزافاً

مستحيلاً بل لا أقول سوى الحق

مستحيلاً بل لا أقول سوى الحق

I am not one to speak of you recklessly,

I am not one to randomly proclaim about you.

uttering impossibilities; rather, I say only the truth.

Rather, I will only speak the truth.

أنت تجري على سجية نفس

أنت تجري على سجية نفس

كل ساع لشأوها ليس يلحق

كل ساع لشأوها ليس يلحق

You run in keeping with a soul's innate nature;

You follow the disposition of your soul,

no striver pursuing its reach can catch up.

Constantly striving for its ambitions, holding nothing back.

شفع الفضل وترها بسجايا

شفع الفضل وترها بسجايا

همها تخطب المهم ولو شق

همها تخطب المهم ولو شق

Excellence has paired its singularity with traits

Your excellence has interceded and ransomed it

whose aim is to court weighty tasks, however hard.

As it seeks out achievements, no matter how difficult.

شيم يقصر المخبر عنها

شيم يقصر المخبر عنها

وسماع مثل العيان المحقق

وسماع مثل العيان المحقق

Traits the teller cannot fully convey,

It is a quality the storyteller falls short of expressing,

and hearing of them is like seeing them with certainty.

And hearing is not like eyewitnessing the evident truth.

شوق الشعر ذكرهن إليهن

شوق الشعر ذكرهن إليهن

وقلبي إلى لقائك أشوق

وقلبي إلى لقائك أشوق

Their mention has made poetry yearn for them,

My poetry's longing reminds them of him,

and my heart yearns still more to meet you.

While my heart longs to meet with you.

وعجيب أني بعثت القوافي

وعجيب أني بعثت القوافي

نحو مثر بفضلها يتصدق

نحو مثر بفضلها يتصدق

And it is strange that I have sent rhymes

Strange that I have sent these rhymes

to a rich man who gives their surplus in alms,

Toward a fruitful palm tree known for its charity,

فاتحاً باب وده بقواف

فاتحاً باب وده بقواف

لم يزل بابها عن الناس مغلق

لم يزل بابها عن الناس مغلق

opening the door of his affection with rhymes

Opening the door of affection that had been

whose door has always remained closed to people,

Shut tight against people, with rhyming keys.

خاطباً عنده كريمة ود

خاطباً عنده كريمة ود

يشرط المجد أنها لا تطلق

يشرط المجد أنها لا تطلق

seeking from him affection's noble daughter:

Addressing one noble of spirit there

glory stipulates that she must never be divorced.

On whom glory has placed the condition – do not reject.