ماست بلدن والأثيث تميم

يخشاه طعنا عامر وتميم

She swayed with a supple shaft, her luxuriant hair full and perfect;

Amir and Tamim dread its thrust.

وبخدها رب الجمال قد استوى

من فوق كرسي لديه نعيم

Upon her cheek the lord of beauty has enthroned himself,

Atop a throne, with bliss beside him.

ناجي مليك جمالها في طوره

قلب شجي بالغرام كليم

The sovereign of her beauty on his Mount was addressed

By a sorrowful heart, love-wounded like Moses.

ترمي بقيس قيس قلب ناشد

أبثينةٌ صبري الجميل سقيم

With Qays's measure she strikes the heart of one who sings:

'O Buthayna, my fair patience is ailing.'

يروي ضحوك الثغر عن ميّ وقلب

الصب غيلان الغرام يهيم

Her smiling mouth tells of Mayy, and the heart

Of the lover—love's Ghaylan—wanders in longing.

أربى على الخنسا الفؤاد بوجده

وفؤادها صخر عليّ صميم

My heart surpasses al-Khansa in its grief,

While hers is Sakhr—a solid rock against me.

وتملّك النسرين عقرب صدغها

وسما السماك بجيدها ونعيم

The scorpion of her temple possessed the Two Eagles,

And al-Simak rose by her neck, along with bliss.

ان انكرت قتل المحب وخاصمت

فدمي الشهيد بخدها مرقوم

If she denies killing her lover and disputes it,

Then my blood, the witness, is inscribed upon her cheek.

لم أنسها إذ أقبلت وتبسمت

والثغر درّ كالجمان نظيم

I have not forgotten her when she approached and smiled,

And her mouth was pearls, strung like pearl-beads.

مالت وقد ثملت بخمر دلالها

تهتزّ ما هزّ الغصون نسيم

She swayed, drunk on the wine of her coquetry,

Trembling whenever a breeze stirred the boughs.

وسعت بكاس من سلافة ثغرها

فاق الشموس فطعمه التسنيم

And she hastened with a cup of her mouth's pure wine;

It outshone the suns; its taste was Tasnim.

حلت فؤادي ثم حلت بعضه

خالا بوجنتها هو المرسوم

She dwelt in my heart, then melted part of it

Into a mole, traced upon her cheek.

وشكوت ما بي من جوى وصبابة

فصبت تقول لمن صبوت غريم

And I complained of my burning grief and ardent longing;

She inclined, asking, 'For whom do you pine, love's captive?'

فأجبتها أني رضيع هوى التي

سالت وإني بالهوى لعظيم

I answered her, 'I am a nursling of love for the one

Who asked; in love I am mighty indeed.'

قالت ألا ادن فقلت أخشى رمية

من نبل طرف ليس منه سليم

She said, 'Come closer!' I said, 'I fear a shot

From the arrows of a gaze that leaves no one unharmed.'

كيف السبيل إلى الدنو وأسود

من آل عبس بالجفون مقيم

How can I draw near, when a black warrior

Of the clan of Abs dwells within her eyelids?

أو ليس ان ذؤابتيك إذا بتا

جسدي وقلبي يا سعاد حسيم

And are not your two tresses, when they sever

My body and heart, O Suad, deadly blades?

كرّت تعاتبني وذاك العتب لي

عذبٌ ولكن الفؤاد شليم

She returned to reproach me; that reproach to me

Is sweet, yet the heart is stricken [uncertain reading].

هجرت سليمى بعد عقد مودتي

وجفت فما ترثي ورثّ أديم

Sulayma abandoned me after I pledged my love,

And shunned me without pity, while my skin wore away.

والدهر جاد فقلت يا دهر انتصف

لم أخش من جور ولي حيم

Time grew generous; I said, 'O Time, be fair!'

I feared no oppression, with Hayyim on my side.

بدر سما بسما الرباعة والحجى

ونما له فضل رواه نديم

A full moon rose in the heaven of mastery and wisdom,

And his merit grew, recounted by a companion.

حاكي سليمان الحكيم بحكمة

وإلى سليمان الكريم حكيم

He matched Solomon the Wise in wisdom,

And to Solomon the Generous he is a sage.

قد لاح كابن ذكا لنا بذكائه

وبراعه ورد البيان سجيم

He shone for us like Dhuka's son, the dawn, through his brilliance,

And his skill, a draught of eloquence, flows abundantly.

فترى الورى وفدت عليه كأنه

ثمر عجيب بالأنام كميم

So you see mankind flock to him, as though he were

A wondrous fruit, with mankind as its husk;

أوانه قمر أحيط بهالة

وكأنه بين الأنام كليم

Or a moon encircled by a halo,

And among mankind he seems a Moses.

قمر ينير بما يشير مدبرا

وعطارد الأفلاك والتقويم

A moon shedding light through his guiding counsel,

And Mercury of the spheres and their reckoning.

فهو المشار إليه بالحاجات ان

حمّت فعج يا صاح حيث تروم

He is the one to whom needs are referred, when

They press—so turn aside, friend, where you wish.

كم حل خطب المشكلات خطابة

يتلوه داعي السلم والتسليم

How many tangled crises he has resolved with oratory!

The herald of peace and submission follows him.

قالت وجوه العصر ان زماننا

من مثل هذا الموسوي عقيم

The notables of the age said, 'Our time

Is barren of the like of this follower of Moses.'

فكأنه والآل سمط جواهر

لكنه من بينهنّ كريم

He and his kin are like a necklace of jewels,

Yet he among them is the precious one.

عرج له سبتا تحز سبتا لدى

أفضال محيي السبت وهو بسيم

Visit him on a Sabbath; gain repose amid

The bounties of the Sabbath's reviver, who smiles.

كزبور داودٍ تردد ذكره

بين الورى يحلو به الترنيم

Like David's Psalms, the mention of him resounds

Among mankind; through it, chanting grows sweet.

ولآل اسرائيل أضحى سيدا

منه القضاء ويؤخذ التعليم

He has become a leader of the house of Israel;

From him come judgments, and instruction is received.

فكأنه هارون عند تكلم

وكأنه هارون حين يقوم

He is like Aaron when he speaks,

And like Aaron when he stands forth.

شهم إذا هزّت يداه يراعه

يرتاع ليثٌ بالعرين أجيم

A noble man: when his hands wield his reed pen,

A thicket-dwelling lion takes fright in its lair.

ذو مقول صدق أبرّ معلن

خير المقال وسره مكتوم

With a truthful tongue, most upright, he proclaims

The best of speech, while his secret remains hidden.

انشا أحاديث الفصاحة بارعا

يروي فسحبان لديه فحيم

He composed discourses of eloquence with mastery,

And recites them; beside him Sahban is tongue-tied.

وبغيث معروف يروّي طالبا

وندا يديه بالجميل عميم

With a rain of kindness he quenches a seeker's thirst,

And the dew of his hands spreads kindness to all.

فهو المعرّف بالندى بل أهله

وأبو الكمال فحقه التقديم

He is known for generosity—indeed, its true kin,

And father of perfection: precedence is his due.

أضحي بديوان البراعة نيراً

بالراي منه تستنير نجوم

He became a luminary in the court of mastery;

Stars draw their light from his judgment.

قد خُصّ بالأفضال من تقضى على

يده مساعي الناس فهو وسيم

He is favored with bounty, the man through

Whose hand people's aims are fulfilled; he is comely.

فإليك يا ذا الألمعي خريدة

وفدت تغرد زانها التنغيم

So to you, O discerning one, a maiden

Has come singing, adorned with melody.

خذها فعقد ثنائكم مصباحها

وبنظم مدحكم حلا الترقيم

Take her: a necklace of praise for you is her lamp,

And through verses praising you, her inscription grows lovely.

تنبيكم عن مغرم دنف الهوى

في حبكم بالسمع قبل يسيم

She tells you of a devoted lover, wasted by passion,

Loving you through hearing, before beholding you [uncertain reading].

فختامها مسك كعرف ثناءكم

وبثغرها مدح لديك تميم

Her ending is musk, like the fragrance of praise for you,

And in her mouth, before you, is praise made perfect.