من الأحبة أم من طيب ربعهم

وافيت يا عاطر الأرواح بالنسم

Was it from the beloved, or from their dwelling's fragrance

that you came, O fragrant wind, bearing gentle breaths?

أم من ثنيات ذياك الكثيب أت

نوافح الطيب أم من نشر طيبهم

Or from the folds of yonder sand dune came

these wafts of perfume—or from the spreading of their fragrance?

سقى الحمى مدمعي يوما تذكرني

به النسيم بريّا نفحة الخزم

My tears watered the sanctuary one day, as I was reminded

of it by the breeze, bearing a fragrant breath of khazm.

ويا حمى اللَه ذاك الحيّ ثم دعا

مخضل مربعه بالأمن والسلم

And O, may God protect that tribe! Then he prayed

for its dwelling to be drenched in safety and peace.

فلي عهود به قد بت أرقبها

عسى الرياح تهاديني بنشرهم

For I have pledges there, which I spend my nights awaiting;

perhaps the winds will bring me their fragrance as a gift.

وبالمنازل عرب ما ذكرتهم

إلّا وعدت من الأشجان ذا ألم

And in those dwellings are Arabs whom I never recall

without returning, through sorrow, to a state of pain.

لهنّ في كبدي طعنات ذي حور

وكم فتنت بهم أيام قربهم

They have pierced my liver with a dark-eyed beauty's thrusts;

how often I was enchanted by them in the days of their nearness!

من كل أهيف ممشوق القوام له

فتك بالحاظه اللاتي سفكن دمي

By every slender-waisted one, tall and graceful, who has

deadly power in those glances that shed my blood.

يا صاح إن جئت فياح الحمى سحرا

فانشر من الشوق منثوراً بمنتظم

Friend, if you come before dawn to the sanctuary's broad expanses,

then unfold longing's prose in measured verse.

وحيّ أطلال نعما نعم ما ضمنت

من كل العس المي الغر مبتسم

And greet the ruins of Na‘ma—how fine was what they held:

every dusky-lipped, dark-lipped beauty with a radiant smile.

ويمم الحي من تلك الطلول وقف

واقرأ تحية صبّ غير متهم

And head for the tribe from those ruins, and halt,

and recite the greeting of a lover whose sincerity is beyond suspicion.

وسل بتلك الربى عن قلب عاشقها

هل نام في ربعها أم هام بالأكم

And ask on those hills about her lover's heart:

has it slept in her dwelling, or wandered among the hillocks?

كيف السبيل وقد شط المزار بنا

أم كيف اسلو ولي قلب بحيهم

How can we reach them, when the place of visitation has grown so distant?

Or how can I forget, when my heart is among their tribe?

بذمة اللَه من ناءت ديارهم

عنا وفي كبدي نار لبعدهم

In God's protection be those whose homes have grown far

from us, while a fire burns in my liver at their distance.

للَه صبّ غريب نازحٌ قلقٌ

مقرّح الجفن يجري الدمع كالعنم

Ah, God! A love-stricken stranger, far away and restless,

his eyelids ulcerated, his tears flowing like red ‘anam.

مد الزمان له كف الخطوب وقد

وافاه في كيده يسعى على القدم

Time stretched out to him the hand of calamities, and

came to him in its scheming, hastening on foot.

وجار دهري ولم يرع لنا حكما

ولم يكن بيننا غبنٌ سوى الحكم

My age wronged me and heeded no judgment for us;

there was no injustice between us except the ruling.

إن لم يكن للفتى حظ يقوم به

فليس ينفعه مستحسن الكلم

If a young man has no good fortune to uphold him,

then fine words are of no use to him.

ولا العلوم ولا الآداب نافعة

سوى الحظوظ فكل جاء كالعدم

Neither learning nor letters are of any use;

only good fortune—all else comes to nothing.

للَه من كبد حرّى تذوب أسى

تحكم الوجد فيها أي محتكم

Ah, God! A burning liver melts with grief,

where passion has taken power—what an absolute ruler!

ويا فؤادي الذي قد ذاب من وله

صبرا فإنك ما استسمنت ذا ورم

And O my heart, which has melted with lovesick longing,

be patient: you have not mistaken swelling for stoutness.

لعل من بت أرعى طيب معهدهم

أفوز في أمل يوما بظلهم

Perhaps, with those whose sweet haunts I spend my nights cherishing,

I shall one day win, as I hope, a place beneath their shade.

وعلّ أيامنا اللاتي سلفن لنا

تعود يوما ولو في طارق الحلم

And perhaps those days of ours that have passed

will one day return, if only in a dream that comes by night.

ورب يوم بدا قلبي يخاطبني

دع التغزل بالأشباح والرمم

On many a day my heart began to address me:

Leave off love-songs to phantoms and decayed bones,

وانظر لمختارة بالحسن قد خطرت

كأنها للعلى طبع من القدم

and look at Mukhtara, stepping forth in beauty,

as though she were greatness's imprint from of old.

أنا القتيل بها حبّا وان هجرت

فما سلوت ولا عهدي بمنفصم

I am slain by love for her, even if she shuns me;

I have not forgotten, nor is my pledge broken.

ولا رايت سلوا لا ومبسمها

ولم يزل كل آن ذكرها بفم

Nor have I found forgetfulness—no, by her smiling mouth!

And at every moment her remembrance remains upon my lips.

سحارة اللحظ بالألباب فاتكة

فتك ابن قاسم والهيجاء في ضرم

Her glance bewitches, dealing death to minds,

as Ibn Qasim deals death when battle is ablaze.

بشيرنا الجنبلاطي الذي شهدت

له المحامد من عرب ومن عجم

Our Bashir al-Junblati, for whom witness is borne

to praiseworthy deeds, by Arabs and non-Arabs.

غدا له شرفا إذ قال قائله

هذا البشير بشير الفضل والكرم

It became an honor for him when someone said:

This Bashir is the herald of excellence and generosity.

شيخ الشيوخ وإن شاخ الزمان يعد

من مجده أحمر الخدين ذا شمم

Chief of chiefs: though Time grows old, it returns

through his glory, rosy-cheeked and proud.

فهو الذي علّمت اراؤه وغدت

تغني عن المرهفين السيف والقلم

For he is the one whose counsels have taught and now

suffice instead of the two keen instruments: sword and pen.

مهذب معلم تحكي مآثره

زهر النجوم سنيٌّ عاطر الشيم

Refined and distinguished, his glorious deeds resemble

the bright stars; radiant, fragrant in character.

تروي معالمه عن عز همته

وسحب كفيه منهلّ بمنسجم

His monuments tell of his lofty ambition,

and the clouds of his palms pour in streaming rain.

كأن في كفه إذ جاد وابله

فيضا من الأجودين البحر والديم

As though in his palm, when his downpour falls,

were a flood from the two most bountiful: the sea and steady rains.

فكم له يوم سلم من مسالمة

وكم له يوم هم الدهر من همم

How many acts of conciliation are his on a day of peace,

and how many lofty resolves when Time brings grief!

شهم همام لدى الهيجاء قد شهدت

له المواضي على إقدام كل كمي

A gallant hero amid battle—witness has been borne

for him by keen blades against every armored champion's charge.

غضنفر أروع ان سل صارمه

في مهمه فالعدا لحم على وضم

A majestic lion: if he draws his cutting sword

in a wilderness, his foes are meat upon a butcher's block.

أو هزّ لدنا ترى الأعداء هاربة

ما بين منسفج منهم ومنهزم

Or if he brandishes a supple lance, you see his enemies fleeing,

some of them sprawling, others routed.

كريم أصل تسامى بالثنا كرما

لما يواليه من جود ومن نعم

Of noble stock, exalted in praise for his generosity,

for the bounty and favors he continually bestows.

مثقف شبّ في حجر الكمال له

عزم عن الفضل لم يفتر ولم ينم

Cultivated, he grew up in perfection's lap; his

resolve for excellence has neither slackened nor slept.

وصادقته المعالي وهي باسمةٌ

تهتز حبا له كالشارب النهم

And high honors befriended him, smiling,

swaying with love for him like an insatiable drinker.

للَه آيات حسن قد أشاد لنا

في خير مختارة تسمو على أرم

Ah, God! What signs of beauty he has raised for us

in fairest Mukhtara, towering above Iram!

حاكت دوائر أفلا مطالعها

أو كالثريا بدت حسنا بمرتسم

Its rising forms mirrored the circles of the [celestial spheres],

or, in its outline, appeared as lovely as the Pleiades.

كأن أيوانها السامي بعزته

قوس لدارة برج الليث فيما سمي

As though its lofty iwan, in its grandeur,

were an arc of the circle of the sign called Leo.

مختارة للعلي صاح النزيل بها

ردوا حمى امنها يا معشر الامم

Mukhtara is for glory! Its guest cried there:

Enter its safe sanctuary, O company of nations!

منازل قد زهت حسنا وزينها

بشيرها العلم ابن المفرد العلم

Dwellings radiant in beauty, adorned

by their illustrious Bashir, son of the peerless luminary.

يا من هو البدر لا تخفى اشعته

وكيف يخفى ضياء لاح في علم

O you who are the full moon, whose rays cannot be hidden,

how could a light shining on a mountain be concealed?

إني امرء بثنا أوصافكم غزلي

وفي محامدكم قد طاب مغتنمي

I am a man whose love-song praises your qualities,

and in celebrating your merits my reward has proved sweet.

فاشمل بعاطفة الأفضال عبدك من

أتى يلوذ بكم يا خير محتشم

So enfold in the kindness of your favors your servant, who

has come seeking shelter with you, O noblest dignitary.

لعلّ عاطفة منكم أحوز بها

نصراً على الدهر يستشفى بها سقمي

Perhaps a kindness from you will let me win

victory over Time, and thereby a cure for my sickness.

لا زال سعدك بالعلياء مقترنا

وغيث مجدك يروي حر كل ظمي

May your good fortune ever remain joined to the heights,

and the rain of your glory quench every thirsty one's burning.

إليك أهدي عروس المدح مبتكرا

سناء نظم زها يا وافي الذمم

To you I offer the bride of praise, freshly devising

the splendor of shining verse, O faithful keeper of pledges.

هيفاء تهدي في دعاء بالثناء لكم

معطرا لاح في بدء ومختتم

A slender beauty offering you praise in a prayer,

perfumed, radiant at its beginning and its close.