أعندك أن وجدي واكتئابي

تراجع مذ رجعت إلى اجتنابي

Do you suppose my longing and despondency

Have waned since you returned to shunning me?

وأن الهجر أحدث لي سلواً

يسكن برده حر التهابي

And that separation has brought me solace

Whose coolness stills the heat of my burning?

وأن الأربعين إذ توالت

بريعان الصبا قبح التصابي

And that forty years, when they followed

Youth's prime, made playing at youth unbecoming?

ولو لم ينهني شيب نهاني

صباح الشيب في ليل الشباب

Even had gray hair not checked me, I was checked by

The dawn of gray within the night of youth.

وأيام لها في كل وقت

جنايات تجل عن العتاب

And days whose every hour holds

Offenses too grave for mere reproach—

أقضيها وتحسب من حياتي

وقد أنفقتهن بلا حساب

I pass them, and they count toward my life,

Though I have spent them without reckoning.

تفيض همومها والسيل يطمر

إذا رفدته أفواه الثغاب

Their sorrows overflow, and the torrent floods

When the mouths of rock pools feed it.

إذا أصلحتها فسدت كأني

أهيب بها إلى نغل الإهاب

Whenever I set them right, they spoil, as though I

Urged them toward the rotting of a hide.

أوابد لاتزال العون منها

تواصلني بأيدة كعاب

Wild calamities: their mature ones never cease

Visiting me with a mighty, nubile maiden.

كأن الدهر يفرح أن يراني

على طول المدى قلق الركاب

As though Time rejoiced to see me

Restless on riding camels through all the years.

كأن الدهر يفرح ألا يرضيه إلا

إراقة ماء وجهي في الطلاب

As though Time rejoiced that nothing pleased it but

The spilling of my face's honor in seeking favors.

وكيف يهون ذلك عند نفس

تخاف العار من منن السحاب

And how could that seem easy to a soul

That fears the shame of even the clouds' favors?

وكم حر يعد الصاب شهدا

فيعذب عنده طعم العذاب

How many a freeborn man counts bitter sap as honey,

So that the taste of torment becomes sweet to him!

وقد حالت بنو رزيك بيني

وبين الدهر بالمنن الرغاب

Yet the sons of Ruzzik have stood between me

And Time, with lavish favors.

تركت الاغتراب وكنت قدماً

أحن إلى ركوب الاغتراب

I abandoned wandering abroad, though once

I longed to ride away from home.

وزرت أغر من غسان يسلي

غريب الدار عن ذكر الإياب

And I visited a radiant man of Ghassan, who distracts

One far from home from thoughts of returning.

ولولا الصالح انتاش القوافي

لكان الفضل مجتنب الجناب

Had al-Salih not rescued the rhymes,

The precinct of excellence would have been shunned.

وكنت وقد تخيره رجائي

كمن هجر السراب إلى الشراب

And when my hope had chosen him, I was

Like one who left a mirage for a drink.

ولم يخفق بحمد الله سعيي

إلى مصر ولا خاب انتخابي

Nor did my striving fail—praise be to God—

Toward Egypt, nor did my choice prove vain.

ولكن زرت أبلج يقتضيه

نداه عمارة الأمل الخراب

Rather, I visited a radiant man whose

Bounty demands that he rebuild hope's ruins.

أزال حجابه عني وعيني

تراه من الجلالة في حجاب

He lifted his veil from me, yet my eye

Sees him veiled by majesty.

وقربني تفضله ولكن

بعدت مهابة عند اقترابي

His graciousness brought me near, yet

I drew back in awe even as I approached.

وعلمني اقتضاب المدح فيه

مكارم دائمات الاقتضاب

And I learned to improvise praise of him from

Noble deeds perpetually invented anew.

تزيد مثوبة وأزيد شكراً

وذلك دابها أبداً ودابي

They give ever greater rewards, and I give ever greater thanks;

That is their habit forever, and mine.

قسمت مشاع مجدك وهو جم

على ضربين من ضرب وصاب

I divided your freely shared glory, abundant as it is,

Into two kinds: honey and bitter sap.

فنصف في جفون مهندات

ونصف في جفان كالجواب

Half is in the sheaths of Indian-forged swords,

And half in great bowls like cisterns.

وحين سموت قدراً أن تسامى

وعز الناس قدرك في الخطاب

And when your stature rose beyond all rivalry,

And your rank defied men's attempts to address you,

أقمت الناصر المحيي فأحيى

رسوماً كن بالرسم اليباب

You appointed al-Nasir al-Muhyi, and he revived

Customs that had become mere desolate traces.

وبث العدل في الدنيا فأضحى

قطيع الشاء يأنس بالذئاب

He spread justice throughout the world, until

The flock of sheep felt at ease with wolves.

وأنت شهاب حق وهو منه

بمنزلة الضياء من الشهاب

You are a flame of truth, and he stands to it

As radiance stands to a flame.

سعى مسعاك في كرم وبأس

وشب على خلائقك العذاب

He followed your course in generosity and valor,

And grew up with your sweet qualities.

فأصبح معلم الطرفين لما

حوى شرف انتساب واكتساب

So he became distinguished on both counts, having

Possessed nobility of lineage and achievement.

وصنت الملك من عزمات بدر

بميمون النقيبة والركاب

And you shielded the kingdom from Badr's designs

With one blessed in disposition and mounts,

بأروع لم يزل في كل ثغر

زعيم القب مضروب القباب

With a splendid man who, at every frontier, has ever been

Commander of lean steeds, his pavilions pitched.

مخوف البأس في حرب وسلم

وحد السيف يخشى في القراب

His might is feared in war and peace,

And a sword's edge is feared within its sheath.

إذا دعي المظفر نحو خطب

فما للخطب من ظفر وناب

When al-Muzaffar is summoned to a crisis,

The crisis has neither claw nor fang.

وإن قدحت يداه نار حرب

فزند النصر زند غير كاب

And if his hands strike the spark of war,

Victory's fire-stick is one that never fails.

حسام الناصر الماضي إذا ما

نبت بيض السيوف عن الضراب

He is al-Nasir's keen sword whenever

Bright swords glance off without striking home.

وهضبة عزه والطود ينأى

عليك صعوده بين الهضاب

And the mountain of his might—a towering peak

Among the hills whose ascent is beyond your reach.

ألم تر آل رزيك أعادوا

وجوه المجد سافرة النقاب

Have you not seen how the house of Ruzzik restored

The faces of glory with their veils lifted?

ملوك أصبحوا سلماً وحرباً

غيوث مخيلة وليوث غاب

Kings who have become, in peace and war,

Showers from rain-laden clouds and lions of the forest.

علوا باالصالح الهادي على من

مشى في عصرهم فوق التراب

Through al-Salih the Guide, they rose above whoever

Walked upon the earth in their age.

سموا بأغر تفرده المعالي

وإن شركوه في النسب القراب

They rose through a radiant man whom high honors single out,

Though his kinsmen share his lineage.

أسف جناح نعمته عليهم

وحلق مجده فوق الثقاب

The wing of his bounty swooped low over them,

And his glory soared above the piercing stars.

كفيل أئمة أثنى عليهم

كلام الله في آي الكتاب

A guardian of imams praised by

God's word in the verses of the Book.

أجاب نداءهم لما دعوه

وقد خرس الكفاة عن الجواب

He answered their call when they summoned him,

While capable men were speechless, unable to reply.

وحاط ذرى الشريعة فاستقرت

قواعد أمرها بعد اضطراب

He guarded the heights of the sacred Law, and firm stood

The foundations of its order after turmoil.

وذب لسانه وظباه عنها

فأصبح روضها غرد الذباب

His tongue and his blades defended it,

And its meadow grew musical with humming flies.

جلاد كل يوم أو جدال

يعدهما لخطب أو خطاب

Each day, sword combat or debate—

He readies both for a crisis or an address.

وشاور في الجهاد شريف عرض

أشار بحسن صبر واحتساب

In holy war he consulted one of noble honor,

Who counseled steadfast patience and hope of God's reward.

فأنفذ حكمه والدهر آب

وأمضى عزمه والسيف ناب

He enforced his judgment though Time refused,

And executed his resolve though the sword failed to strike.

وأدمن قرع باب العز حتى

غدا والفتح يفتح كل باب

He kept knocking on the door of glory until

He arose with victory opening every door.

وأرسلها مسومة عراباً

تفيض من الوهاد على الروابي

And he sent them forth, marked, purebred Arabian steeds,

Pouring from the lowlands over the heights.

تريك البر بحراً من حديد

عظيم الموج مصطخب العباب

Showing you the land as a sea of iron,

With mighty waves and a roaring surge.

كتائب إن سرت في ليل نقع

سرت ونجومها زرق الحراب

Battalions that, if they march through a night of dust,

March with blue spears for their stars.

إن وقد الهجير فليس إلا

ظلال من عقاب أو عقاب

If the midday heat blazes, there is only

Shade from an eagle-banner or an eagle.

أذل بها ملوك الشرك ملك

يذلل شامس النوب الصعاب

With them a king humbled the kings of polytheism,

Who tames the unruly, harsh calamities.

مهيب البأس فياض العطايا

مليء بالثواب وبالعقاب

Fearsome in might, overflowing with gifts,

Fully able to reward and punish.

ترى الأملاك بني يديه صوراً

من الإشفاق خاضعة الرقاب

You see kings before him with heads inclined,

Their necks bowed in apprehension.

إذا ما افتر يغر الدست عنه

بدت لك عزة الملك اللباب

When the throne's mouth parts in a smile to reveal him,

The pure essence of royal majesty appears to you.

جنحت إلى الإقامة في ذراه

ولم أجنح إلى غير الصواب

I inclined to dwell within his shelter,

And inclined toward nothing but the right course.

فلا ماء الفرات بمورد لي

ولا أكناف دجلة من رحابي

So the Euphrates's water is no watering-place for me,

Nor are the Tigris's banks among my dwelling grounds.

ولما لم أجد عندي جزاء

لكم غير الثناء المستطاب

And since I found no recompense within my power

For you but delightful praise,

شفعت جواهر الألفاظ فيكم

بمرفوع الدعاء المستجاب

I paired the jewels of my words about you

With prayers raised high and answered.