هي سلوة حلت عقود وفائها

مذ شف ثوب الصبر عن برحائها

It is solace that has undone the bonds of its fidelity,

since patience's robe grew thin, revealing its anguish.

وبقلبه الريم الذي لو رامها

طيف الكرى لم يخف عن رقبائها

And in his heart is the gazelle: were she sought

by sleep's phantom, it would not escape her watchers.

محمية بشبا الأسنة لم تزل

سمر القنا يحمين سرب ظبائها

Guarded by sharp spearheads, she has ever been;

dark lances protect her herd of gazelles.

فازت ظهور جمالها بجمالها

يوم الرحيل وخاب ظن خبائها

The backs of her camels won her beauty

on departure day, while her tent's hopes were dashed.

وتأرجحت أطلالها إذ عرجت

أشجاننا يسألن عن أنبائها

And her ruins swayed as they turned aside—

our sorrows, asking after her news.

دمن يضل عن الهدى من لم يسر

نحو الهوى العذري في أهوائها

Ruined camps: he strays from guidance who does not journey

toward chaste Udhrite love amid their passions.

لم أسأل الركبان عن أسمائها

كلفاً بها لولا هوى أسمائها

I would not have asked the riders about their names,

enamored of them, but for love of their Asma.

وسألت أيامي صديقاً صادقاً

فوجدت ما أرجوه جل رجائها

And I asked my days for a true friend,

and found my hope to be the chief of their hopes.

ولرب معسول اللقاء ترى له

قولاً تسر به وفعلاً شائها

And many a man, honey-sweet in greeting, shows you

words that please you, yet deeds that are ugly.

يلقاك بالحسنى وإن تك غائباً

عن طرفه أمسى بذمك فائها

He meets you kindly; but if you are absent

from his sight, he begins speaking ill of you.

ولقد خرجت إلى الجليس مهاجراً

عصباً يضيم الدهر جار فنائها

Indeed, I set out for al-Jalis, forsaking

groups whose courtyard's neighbor Time oppresses.

مستنجداً لأبي المعالي همة

تغدو المعالي وهي بعض عطائها

seeking help from Abu al-Ma'ali's lofty resolve,

with lofty honors but a portion of its gifts.

لما مدحت علاه أيقنت العدى

أن الزمان أجار من عدوائها

When I praised his eminence, the enemies knew

that Time had sheltered me from their hostility.

وأغر سعدي الأواصر أبلج

يلقى سقيمات المنى بشفائها

A radiant man, Sa'di in lineage, bright of brow,

he meets ailing wishes with their cure.

شتان ما بين الرجال وبينه

إن قست فضل غنائه بغنائها

How far apart are other men and he,

if you compare the excellence of his aid with theirs.

وردوا ثماداً للمكارم شابها

كدر وفاز بغمرها وصفائها

They came to scant pools of noble deeds, tainted

by murk; he won their deep waters and their clarity.

نذرت مصافحة الغمام أناملي

فوفت غمائم كفه بوفائها

My fingers vowed to shake hands with the clouds;

so his palm's clouds faithfully fulfilled that vow.

لو سمته نيل الكواكب أصبحت

وسماؤها كفاك دون سمائها

If you asked him for the stars, you would awake

with your two palms their sky instead of their own heaven.

وإذا غدت لك شافعاً في حاجة

أغنتك نخوته عن استقضائها

And when it becomes your intercessor in a need,

his noble pride spares you from requesting its fulfillment.

وعقتها منه بأكرم شافع

لا ينتهي منها إلى إنهائها

And you held it back from him through the noblest intercessor,

who does not stop at merely fulfilling it.

ما ضيقت حيل الملوك ملمة

إلا وقابل ضيقها برخائها

No calamity ever strained the resourcefulness of kings

but he met its distress with relief.

لما تعين حق خدمته ولم

أنهض بفرض حقوقها وأدائها

When the duty of serving him became binding, though I had not

risen to fulfill its obligations and discharge them,

ووجدت أنفس ما يليق بمجده

فقراً نفيس الدر من حصبائها

and I found the most precious thing befitting his glory

to be verses whose pebbles include the choicest pearls,

أهديت منها كل بكر حرة

أجرى عليها الرق صدق ولائها

I offered him every freeborn virgin among them,

whose true loyalty had placed her in bondage.

لا تبتغي غير القبول مثوبة

وتعد ذلك من أجل جزائها

She seeks no reward but acceptance,

and counts that among the greatest of her rewards.