ما هاج مزنة دمعه المترقرق

إلا تألق بأرق بالأبرق

Nothing stirred the raincloud of his shimmering tears

Except a lightning flash gleaming at al-Abraq.

برق يذكرني وميض مباسم

يسري الهوى في ضوئها المتألق

Lightning that reminds me of the gleam of smiling mouths,

Through whose sparkling light love steals.

من كل ثغر مثل ثغر مخافة

خاف طريق رضابه لم يطرق

From each mouth, like a frontier of fear,

With the path to its sweet saliva hidden and untrodden.

نسج العفاف عليه ثوب صيانة

هم الخيانة عندها لا يرتقي

Chastity wove over it a robe of protection,

Before which no thought of betrayal can rise.

سقياً لأيام الشباب فإنها

روض الحياة وزهرة المستنشق

May rain bless the days of youth, for they are

The garden of life and the flower of all one breathes.

أيام يصطحب الغواني والغنى

في ظل أغصان الشباب المورق

Days when lovely women and wealth keep company

In the shade of youth’s leafy boughs;

ومواطن اللذات حالية الثرى

تثني على نعم السحاب المغدق

And pleasure’s haunts, their soil adorned,

Praise the blessings of the lavishly pouring cloud.

والليل يخضب فرقه بممسك

والصبح يمسح لونه بمخلق

While night dyes its hair-parting with musk,

And dawn brushes its color with saffron perfume,

ويد النعيم تخط فوق عراصها

من لم يقض بك الحياة فقد شقي

And the hand of bliss writes across their open grounds:

“Whoever has not spent life in you has been wretched.”

واللوم يفرق أن يلم بمسمعي

برق متى ما لم يلاطف يبرق

And reproach fears to approach the ears

Of a timid one who takes fright unless gently treated.

تندى أسرة وجهه فكأنه

ريان من ماء النضارة قد سقي

His features glisten with dew, as though he were

Sated, having been given the water of freshness to drink.

كالبدر إلا أنه مستوهب

نور المحيا من سواد المفرق

Like the full moon, except that he seeks as a gift

His face’s radiance from the blackness of his hair’s parting.

عبث الفراق بشمله فتمزقت

أثواب ذاك العيش كل ممزق

Parting played havoc with his union, tearing

The garments of that life utterly to shreds.

واعتاض بعد نمارق مصفوفة

حر الهواجر وافتراش النمرق

And after cushions set in rows, he took in exchange

Noonday heat and a cushion spread for his bed,

مستبدلاً بلذيذ عيش مونق

وصدور أندية ظهور الأنيق

Trading a sweet, delightful life

And the chief seats of assemblies for she-camels’ backs.

يا حادي القلص النواجي قل لها

نصي إلى صدر الزمان واعنقي

O driver of the swift young she-camels, tell them:

Speed toward the foremost man of the age, and stride apace.

وتجنبي ثمد النطاف وأوردي

هيم المنى بحر الموفق تستقي

Avoid the shallow pools of scant water, and bring

Hope’s thirsting herd to al-Muwaffaq’s sea to drink.

وخذي أماناً من يديه ففيهما

شعب السلامة والمهالك تلتقي

Take a pledge of safety from his hands, for in them

The paths of safety and destruction meet.

يجد المسائل والرسائل ربها

من علمه ونواله المتدفق

Questions and letters find their master

Through his knowledge and his overflowing bounty.

وتروع أفئدة الملوك يراعه

في كفه كالأفعوان المطرق

And his reed pen strikes terror into the hearts of kings,

In his palm, like a serpent with lowered head.

تمضي إذا نبت الظبي وتطول إن

قصر القنا وتفل غرب الفيلق

It cuts through when sword-edges glance off, and reaches farther when

Lances fall short, and blunts the army’s edge.

يخشى ويرجى بؤسها ونعيمها

فالدهر مجموع بها في مهرق

The woe it brings is feared, its bliss is hoped for;

For all of time is gathered by it upon a parchment.

كم أطلقت من أسر كل بلاغة

في الخافقين وقيدت من مطلق

How often it has freed all eloquence from captivity

Across east and west, and fettered those who were free!

وتقلدت منها الطروس محاسناً

تحكي بجوهرها نطاق المنطق

And pages have worn its beauties as necklaces,

Whose jewels resemble Orion’s belt.

أهدت له طوق الثناء مناقب

أعربن في تقليل كل مطوق

Virtues bestowed on him the necklace of praise;

They spoke clearly, belittling every other collared one.

حجت أبا الحجاج نحوك همة

تختار أفراد الزمان وتنقي

An aspiration has made pilgrimage to you, Abu al-Hajjaj,

Choosing the age’s exceptional men and sifting out the best.

جعلتك جنتها وجنتها التي

ضمنت أمان المنتقى والمنتقي

It has made you its paradise and its shield, which

Has guaranteed safety to the chosen and the chooser.

ترتاد روض الورد لا روض الندى

رفعاً لها عن وبله المترقرق

It seeks the garden of roses, not the garden of bounty,

To lift itself above bounty’s glistening downpour.

فاجعل قبولك للمديح ثوابه

وانشر مطارفه على العرض النقي

So let your acceptance of this praise be its reward,

And spread its rich cloaks over your spotless honor.