أيخفى صحيح الوجد والسقم لائح

ويكتم سر الشوق والدمع بائح

Can true passion be hidden when sickness is plain to see?

And can longing's secret be kept while tears disclose it?

جنحت إلى الواشي ولولاه ما التقى

سهادي وطرفي والجوى والجوانح

You inclined toward the talebearer; but for him, never would

my sleeplessness and my eye, my anguish and my ribs have met.

منعت الكرى لما منحتك مهجتي

وهل مانع نوماً سواي ومانح

I denied myself slumber when I gave you my heart's blood;

who but me both withholds sleep and gives?

وليلة هوّمنا بذي الطلح زارنا

خيالك وهناً والمطايا طلائع

And one night, when we dozed at Dhu al-Talh, there visited us

your apparition, late at night, while the mounts went in the vanguard.

فبت ولم أشكر سوى منة الكرى

أطرحه ذكر الهوى ويطارح

So I spent the night thanking nothing but slumber's favor;

I offered him love's remembrance, and he exchanged it with me.

حديث الندى عما سواه مطوح

وركن الهدى ما لم يشيده طائح

Talk of bounty carries one away from all else,

and the pillar of guidance falls unless he builds it.

يشاركه في ماله دون مجده

إذا استأثر الأملاك دان ونازح

His wealth, but not his glory, is shared

by those near and far, when kings keep theirs to themselves.

لئن شاركوه في اسمه دون فعله

فما يستوي البحران عذب ومالح

Though they share his name, they do not share his deeds:

the two seas are not alike—one fresh, one salt.

تهب له ريحا غمام وغمة

ففي كل قطر منه ساق وسافح

For him blow two winds, of rain cloud and gloom;

in every land he has a giver of drink and a shedder of blood.

على شاكر بل ماكر من سحابه

منائح إن يسخط بهن مذابح

Upon the grateful—nay, the scheming—from his cloud fall

gifts that, if he grows angry, become instruments of slaughter.

لئن حل في دست الوزارة عادل

سما قبله فيها إلى النجم صالح

Even if Adil sat in the vizierate's seat,

Salih rose there before him to the stars;

فإنك يا بدر بن زريك عنهما

لنعم المكافي للعدى والمكافح

then you, O Badr ibn Zurayk, in their stead,

are indeed a splendid match for foes and a fighter against them.

ولما تجاوزت النهاية في العلى

ولاذت بعطفيك الملوك الجحاجح

And when you passed the utmost bound of eminence,

and mighty kings sought refuge at your sides,

خفضت جناحي قدرة فارسية

لهمتها طرف إلى الطرف طامح

you lowered the two wings of Persian might,

whose ambition has an eye straining toward the farthest reach.

بعزمك لاذ الملك واعتصم الهدى

وذلت صعاب الدهر وهي جوامح

In your resolve kingship took refuge, and guidance found protection;

and Time's hardships were subdued, though they ran wild.

نهضت بأمر الدولة النهضة التي

جزاك بها خيراً ولي وكاشح

You rose to uphold the state with an effort for which

friend and foe alike rewarded you with blessings.

وقام بما تحتاجه منك أروع

كفتها صفايا ماله والصفائح

And a noble man undertook all it needed from you;

his choicest wealth and sword-blades sufficed it.

ومهدت قطريها فلا منزل العلى

بناب ولا ناب النوائب كالح

You secured its two regions, so neither the abode of glory

is remote, nor is calamity's fang bared.

وأوريت ناريها عقاباً ونائلاً

وما وريا إلا وزندك قادح

You kindled its two fires, punishment and bounty;

and they never burned unless your fire-stick struck the spark.

خلقت بها عزاً وكنزاً عمادها

عليه إذا اجتاحت سواها الجوائح

You created within it might and treasure; its support

rests on that when calamities ravage all others.

فما اعتلقت إلا وسيفك سابح

ولا اغتلقت إلا وسيفك فاتح

So it was never ensnared without your sword swimming forth,

nor shut fast without your sword opening the way.

ولو لم يفح مسكاً عليك ثناؤها

لأثنت عليك الباقيات الصوالح

And even had its praise of you not breathed musk,

the enduring good deeds would surely have praised you.

وغر مساع لو أردت اختصارها

غدت ألسن الأيام وهي شوارح

And shining endeavors: if I tried to abridge them,

the tongues of days would be there to expound them.

وجوهر أشعار تبيت عقودها

وهن على الشعري روام روامح

And jewels of verse, whose necklaces spend the night

as archers and lancers set against Sirius.

يغوص لها في بحر جودك خاطري

وغيري على الأصداف طاف وطافح

For them my imagination dives into the sea of your generosity,

while another floats and bobs upon the shells.

إذا سرحت في وصف مجدك هجرت

له وسرت فهي السواري والسوارح

When they roam in describing your glory, they travel at noon

for its sake, and by night: night travelers and daytime roamers.

وإن مسحت أعطافها بك هزها

ثناء لأقطار البسيطة ماسح

And if they brush their flanks against you, they are stirred

by praise that sweeps the earth's far reaches.

وقد يبسط الإحسان منقبض الثنا

وتبرأ من بعد القروح القرائح

And kindness may unfurl praise once held back,

and poetic gifts heal after their wounds.

وقربت مني وادعاً نازح الفنا

وكم خاب بعد الكر ساع وكادح

And while I rested at ease, you brought the far-off courtyard close to me,

though many a striver and toiler failed after repeated efforts.

وأوردتها غزو الندى بعد نزره

وعند ضياء الصبح تخفى المصابح

And I led them to raid bounty after its scarcity;

and in the light of dawn, lamps fade from view.

عرائس لولا وجود بدر يصونها

لباتت بمدح الباخلين تسافح

Brides who, but for Badr's presence to guard them,

would spend the night prostituting themselves in praise of misers.

وكيف أرجى صونها عند باخل

وقد فسدت في الأكرمين المناكح

How could I hope to preserve their honor with a miser,

when marriages have soured even among the most generous?

خذ العفو واصفح عن قصور قصائدي

فإنك عن ذنب المقرين صافح

Accept what is freely offered, and pardon my poems' shortcomings,

for you overlook the offense of those who confess.

وسامح وخذ بعض الذي تستحقه

فمن عادة أن الكريم يسامح

Be lenient, and accept a portion of what you deserve;

for it is the generous person's habit to forgive.

وأسجح لها ماء البشاشة وحده

فما قصدها إلا السجايا السجائح

And gently grant them only the water of your cheerful welcome;

for they seek nothing but gentle virtues.

فكم منة أخفيتها فتكفلت

بشهرتها عنك القوافي الفصائح

How many a favor you concealed, yet the charge

of proclaiming it for you was taken up by eloquent rhymes.

وضافية الأذيال رحت أجرها

وتحتي من نعماك أجرد سابح

And an ample-skirted robe I went forth trailing,

and beneath me, from your bounty, a sleek, swimming steed.

صحائف جود ينشر الحمد طيها

وعنوانها فوق المدائح لائح

Pages of bounty, whose folds praise opens,

their heading shining above all panegyrics.

مضى عنك صوم وهو بالبر مفرح

وقابلت فطراً قلبه بك فارح

Fasting departed from you, gladdened by your goodness,

and you welcomed the breaking of the fast, its heart rejoicing in you.

فلا زال عيد الفطر أسعد قادم

تزورك فيه بالهناء المدائح

May Eid al-Fitr ever be the happiest arrival,

when praise-poems visit you with congratulations.

فما يستحق الشكر غيرك منعم

ولا يستحق البر غير مادح

No benefactor but you deserves gratitude,

nor does anyone but a praise-poet deserve bounty.

إذا راح غيري بالثنا وهو خاسر

فإني بكم في متجر الحمد رابح

If another goes forth with praise and makes a loss,

then through you I profit in the marketplace of praise.