إن قلت قد خرست خلاخل ساقها

فاسمع لما يوحيه نطق نطاقها

If you say the anklets on her leg have fallen silent,

then listen to what the speech of her girdle reveals.

هيفاء حابى الحسن صورة وجهها

حتى كأن الحسن من عشاقها

Slender-waisted, beauty has favored the form of her face,

until beauty itself seems one of her lovers.

تلقى اللثام بوردة شفقية

تشتق عند اللثم من إشفاقها

She meets the veil with a twilight-colored rose,

whose hue, at a kiss, is drawn from her bashfulness.

عجب الهوى لثلاثة لم تتفق

إلا لها فاعجب لحسن وفاقها

Love marveled at three things that never came together

except in her; so marvel at their lovely accord:

السقم من ألحاظها والسحر من

ألفاظها والضعف من ميثاقها

sickness from her glances, and enchantment from

her words, and frailty from her pledge.

لولا سكون السكر في أجفانها

ما نابت الأقداح عن أحداقها

Were drunkenness not dwelling in her eyelids,

the cups would not have taken the place of her eyes.

شمس إذا شرق الدجى بجبينها

حيث بأخت الشمس في إشراقها

A sun: when darkness chokes upon her brow,

there she shines beside the sun’s sister.

بكر إذا عقد الزلال نكاحها

فألهم أول خائف لطلاقها

A virgin: when clear water contracts her marriage,

then sorrow is the first to fear her divorce.

وإذا الدجى حيتك حية همه

بزعافها فأفزع إلى ترياقها

And when night’s serpent of sorrow greets you

with its deadly venom, hasten to her antidote.

كرمية تسقي العروق مجاجة

كرم الثرى قد مج في أعراقها

A vine-born wine that waters the veins with sap

the earth’s bounty has spat into her roots.

كالنار يكتب نورها بشعاعه

أمناً على الوجنات من إحراقها

Like fire, her light inscribes with its ray

safety upon the cheeks against her burning.

كالبرق مازجه الغمام بمزنة

تتلهب الجمرات من رقراقها

Like lightning, mingled by the clouds with a shower,

embers blaze from her shimmering flow.

أخلاق حضرة أحمد بن محمد

أحلى وأعذب من مدار مذاقها

The virtues of the honored Ahmad ibn Muhammad

are sweeter and more delightful than her fullest savor.

هو رحلة الدنيا التي عقدت له

فوق الهدى ما انحل من أصفاقها

He is the world’s destination; for him it has fastened

upon guidance whatever had come loose at its sides.

وكأنما الإسكندرية مكةٌ

والرفق والتوفيق زاد رفاقها

It is as though Alexandria were Mecca,

and kindness and good fortune its companions’ provisions.

من مشرق الدنيا ومغربها إلى

يمنيها مع شامها وعراقها

From the world’s east and its west to

its two Yemens, with its Sham and its Iraq,

وفد إليك وطالبون ودائعاً

قيدت ما جهلوه من إطلاقها

delegations come to you, and seekers of entrusted treasures;

you have bounded the unrestricted meanings they did not understand.

هجروا الديار وكل واضحة الطلى

ذاقوا افتراق العيش يوم فراقها

They left their homes and every fair-necked beauty;

they tasted life’s rupture on the day of leaving her.

وتعوضوا عنها بقصدك زلفة

فكوا بها الأعناق من أرباقها

In seeking you, they gained nearness in her stead,

with which they freed their necks from their halters.

بيض الركائب والوجوه كأنما

خلع الأنوق عليه لون نياقها

White are their mounts and faces, as though

the camel herd had bestowed on him the color of its she-camels.

يتزاحم الركبان في أكوارها

كتزاحم الأعناق في إعناقها

Riders crowd together in their saddles,

as necks jostle in their swift advance.

عصب إذا خفقت ملائكة السما

من فوقها لم أخش من إخفاقها

Companies—when the angels of heaven beat their wings

above them, I do not fear their failure.

قصرت خطا الإسناد عنك ولم تطل

ونقلت ما تطويه عن حذاقها

The steps of the chain of transmission from you grew short, not long,

and you transmitted what you gather up from its masters.

درجوا وجئت من الرواية عنهم

بطرائق قربت على طراقها

They passed away; you came, transmitting from them,

by paths made short for those who travel them.

فالمستقي بين النبي وبينها

داني الرشاء لواردي أعماقها

Thus the water-drawer between the Prophet and them

offers a short rope to those who come to their depths.

ولقد طويت السابقين بهمة

سيان خاطف برقها وبراقها

Indeed, you surpassed your predecessors with a resolve

whose lightning-flash and Buraq are equally swift.

وحملت أوساق الرياسة عالماً

أن الفحول تضج من أوساقها

And you bore the loads of leadership, knowing

that bull camels groan beneath its loads.

وأبى كمالك أن يحوز نقيصة

حاز الرجال جذاعها بحقاقها

And your perfection refused to admit a shortcoming;

men acquired its four-year-old she-camels for its three-year-olds.

وكأنها فرض يرد بردة

ألزمتهم بعقالها وعناقها

And as though it were a duty rejected through apostasy,

you bound them to its tether and its young she-goat.

ولرب غامضة إذا ما استقبلت

كشفت بالبرهان من إغلاقها

And many an obscure question, when you encounter it,

you dispel its obscurity with proof.

ويد من المعروف لما استبهمت

أبوابها فتحت من أغلاقها

And a hand of kindness, when hidden were

its doors, you opened them, undoing their locks.

أحرزت دينك خلف ظهرك والتقى

يمتاز أهل الصدق عن مذاقها

You safeguarded your faith behind your back; and piety—

the truthful are distinguished by its savor.

ورقعت نفسك أن تبيت مزاحماً

لمناكب الأخلاط في أسواقها

And you mended your soul, lest you spend the night jostling

the rabble’s shoulders in their markets.

وتنافست في الرزق أنفس معشر

كان اليسير يكف من أرزاقها

The souls of a company competed for provision,

though a little of their provisions would have sufficed.

أطفا تكاثرها سنا أنوارها

فأضاء نور تقاك عند محاقها

Their rivalry in wealth extinguished their lights’ radiance,

so the light of your piety shone as theirs waned.

وإذا تعقدت النوائب والتوت

أشطانها حللت عقد وثاقها

And when misfortunes knot themselves and twist

their ropes, you untie the knots of their bonds.

وعظيمة يشكو المخنق ضيقها

وسعت منه بعد ضيق خناقها

And a great calamity, whose tightness the throat bewails,

you gave it room after its choking grip had tightened.

هذا ارتجال روية يعنو لها

عصف الرياح الهوج يوم سباقها

This is an improvisation of considered thought, before which bows

the blast of raging winds on the day of their race.

لو راهنت خطراتها طيف الكرى

لا عتاق في المضمار دون عتاقها

If its passing thoughts wagered against the phantom of slumber,

there would be no thoroughbreds on the course but its own.

تفنى على الإنفاق كل ذخيرة

وكنوزها تنمو على إنفاقها

Every store is exhausted by spending,

while its treasures grow as they are spent.

وهني الإماء عقيدة دينية

إن لم ترع أسماعها بعتاقها

And they are bondwomen as a matter of religious belief,

if you do not startle their ears with their emancipation.

وهي الحرائر إن برمت برقها

متفضلاً وبخلت باسترقاقها

And they are freeborn women if you tire of their bondage,

acting generously, and begrudge enslaving them.

وصداقها صدق المودة وحده

إن المودة من أجل صداقها

And their bridal gift is sincere affection alone;

indeed, affection is among the noblest of their bridal gifts.

وإذا دعوت لها فقد وفيتها

بل زدتها شرفاً على استحقاقها

And if you pray for them, you have paid them their due;

rather, you have given them honor beyond their deserts.