1. بني العشق ما أحلى إلى كلِّ عاشقٍ

    طِلاً لمشوقِ زفها كفُّ شائق

    O sons of love, how sweet to every lover

    is wine brought like a bride to a yearning soul by a lover's hand.

  2. ولم أرَ في الأحشاء ألطفَ موقعاً

    وأرشقَ من نبل العيون الرواشق

    Never have I seen a gentler impact within the heart,

    or a more graceful one than the arrows of darting eyes.

  3. وأغرق أهلُ الحبِّ في الحبِّ مهجةً

    بكلِّ غريرٍ من المحاسنِ فائق

    And the lover whose heart is most deeply drowned in love,

    for every guileless youth surpassing in loveliness,

  4. أظنُّهم حتَّى على لحظِ عينه

    بما احمرَّ من وردٍ بخدَّيه رائق

    is the most jealous of them—even of his own eye's glance—

    over the lovely roses reddening on his cheeks.

  5. وما العمرُ عندي كلُّه غير ليلةٍ

    يبيتُ رهيفُ الخصر فيها معانقي

    To me, all life is nothing but a single night

    when a slender-waisted one lies embracing me.

  6. ترفُّ على صدري خوافقُ فرعه

    رفيفَ حشاً مني على الشوقِ خافق

    The fluttering strands of his hair stir against my chest,

    like the flutter of a heart within me, beating with longing.

  7. كأَنَّ الثريَّا طوَّقته هلالها

    ومن حسدٍ مدَّتْ له كفَّ سارق

    As though the Pleiades had encircled him with their crescent,

    and, in envy, stretched toward him a thief's hand.

  8. من الريمِ لم يألفْ سوى الرمل ملعبا

    ولم يرتبعْ إلاَّ بأحناء بارق

    One of the white gazelles, he knew no playground but the sand,

    and sought spring pasture only in the bends of Bariq.

  9. ونشوانَ من مشمولة الدلِّ قدُّه

    أرقُّ من الغصنِ انعطافاً لوامق

    And one drunk on the cool wine of coquetry, whose figure

    bends more softly than a branch toward a lover.

  10. مورّدُ ما بين العذارين زارني

    فنزَّه أحداقي بلونِ الحدائق

    Rosy between his two lines of cheek-down, he visited me,

    and delighted my eyes with the colors of gardens.

  11. وقلتُ وقد أرخى على الخدِّ صدغه

    لقد سلسلَ الريحان فوقَ الشقائق

    I said, as he let his temple-lock fall upon his cheek,

    “He has surely strung basil in chains above anemones.”

  12. أقبلُ طوراً وردَ خدَّيه ناشقاً

    عبيرَ شذًى ما شقَّ عرنين ناشق

    At times I kiss the roses of his cheeks, inhaling

    a fragrant perfume that has never pierced an inhaler's nostrils.

  13. وألثمُ طوراً ثغره العذبَ راشفاً

    سلافة خمرٍ لم تدنسْ بذائق

    At times I kiss his sweet mouth, sipping

    the choicest wine, unsullied by any taster.

  14. خلوتُ وما بي ريبةٌ غير نظرةٍ

    تزوَّدتها منه بعيني مُسارق

    I was alone with him, with no cause for suspicion save a glance

    I took from him as provision, with a furtive watcher's eyes.

  15. وراودته لكنْ من الثغرِ قبلةً

    ألذُّ وأشهى من غبوقٍ لغابق

    I coaxed him, but only for a kiss from his lips,

    more delicious and desirable than evening wine to its drinker.

  16. وأعرضتُ عمَّا دون عقد إزاره

    عفافاً وقد زالتْ جميع العوائق

    I turned away from what lay beneath the knot of his waistcloth,

    out of chastity, though every obstacle had fallen away.

  17. وحسبُكَ منِّي شيمةً قد ورثتُها

    من الغالبيين الكرام المعارق

    Let this suffice you from me: a trait I have inherited

    from the Ghalibis, noble in their ancestral roots.

  18. خليليَّ ما للكأس كفِّي ولا فمي

    ولا كبدي للناهدات العواتق

    My two friends, neither my hand nor my mouth belongs to the cup,

    nor does my heart belong to maidens with budding breasts.

  19. نسيتُ وما بي يعلمُ الله صبوةً

    ولا اجتذبتْ أحشاي بعض العلائق

    I have forgotten; God knows no youthful passion is in me,

    nor have any attachments drawn my heart.

  20. عشقتُ ولكن غيرَ جارية المها

    وما العيشُ إلاَّ للمعالي بلائق

    I have loved, but not an oryx-like maiden;

    life is fitting only for lofty pursuits.

  21. خذا من لساني ما يروقُ ذوي النهى

    ويترك أهلَ النظم خرس الشقاشق

    Take from my tongue what delights those of understanding

    and leaves the poets' tongues mute:

  22. مديحاً له تجلو مفارقُها العُلى

    وسلمانُ منها غرةٌ في المفارق

    praise before which Glory unveils the partings of her hair,

    and Salman is a bright forehead-blaze among those partings.

  23. وقورٌ على الأحداث لا تستخفه

    إذا طرقتْ في الدهر إحدى السوابق

    Dignified amid calamities, which cannot unsettle him,

    when one of time's onrushing blows strikes.

  24. ومن كعليّ القدر كانَ أباً له

    يزن بحجاهُ راسيات الشواهق

    One whose father was like Ali in rank

    weighs the firmly rooted mountain peaks with his wisdom.

  25. نقيبُ بني الأشراف أعلى كرامهم

    عماداً وأسناهم فناءً لطارق

    Chief of the noble descendants, loftiest of their generous men

    in stature, and brightest in courtyard for a night visitor.

  26. فما قلّبتْ أمُّ النقابة قبله

    ولا بعده في مثله طرفَ رامق

    The mother of the chieftainship has never turned, before him,

    nor after him, a watching eye toward his equal.

  27. فتًى إن سرى يوماً لإحراز مفخرٍ

    فليسَ له غيرُ العُلى من مرافق

    A young man who, whenever he journeys by night to win an honor,

    has no companion but lofty Glory.

  28. لقد غدت الدنيا عليه جميعُها

    مغاربها تُثني ثناءَ المشارق

    The world in its entirety has turned toward him,

    its western lands praising him as its eastern lands do.

  29. تطرَّق أُمَّ المجد في بيت سؤددٍ

    يظلِّلُ عزًّا بالبنودِ الخوافق

    He approached the mother of glory in a house of lordship,

    sheltering honor beneath fluttering banners.

  30. فأنجبَ من سلمان وهو ذكا العُلى

    ببدر نهًى يجلو ظلام الغواسق

    Thus he begot through Salman—himself the sun of glory—

    a full moon of wisdom that dispels the darkness of nights.

  31. همامٌ نمته دوحةٌ نبوية

    إلى مثمرٍ في المجد منها ووارق

    A hero whom a prophetic tree traces

    to its fruitful and leafy boughs of glory.

  32. لهُ النسبُ الوضَّاح في جبهته العُلى

    مع الحسب السَّامي جميع الخلائق

    He has radiant lineage, with Glory upon its brow,

    along with nobility surpassing all created beings.

  33. يعدُّ رسول الله فخراً لمجده

    وحسبك مجداً في الذرى والشواهق

    He counts God's Messenger as the pride of his glory—

    glory enough for you upon the summits and heights.

  34. تضوعُ بعطفيه السيادة مثلما

    تضوَّع عرف المِسك طيباً لناشق

    Sovereignty wafts fragrance from his two flanks, just as

    the scent of musk wafts sweetly to one who inhales it.

  35. به اقتدحتْ زند النجابة هاشمٌ

    ففي وجهه من نورها لمعُ بارق

    Through him Hashim struck the firestick of nobility,

    and in his face its light gleams like lightning.

  36. سما في المعالي طالباً قدرَ نفسه

    إلى شرفٍ فوقَ الكواكب باسق

    He rose among lofty deeds, seeking his own true worth,

    to an honor towering above the stars.

  37. وفاتَ جميعَ السابقين إلى العُلى

    فقصَّر عن إدراكه كلُّ سابق

    He outstripped all who raced toward Glory,

    and every forerunner fell short of overtaking him.

  38. وقالوا رويداً حكَّ عاتقك السهى

    فقال وما قدرُ السهى حكُّ عاتقي

    They said, “Gently! Suha has brushed your shoulder.”

    He said, “What rank has Suha, that it brushes my shoulder?”

  39. تمنطقَ طفلاً بالرياسة واحتذى

    بأخمصها تيجانَ أهل المناطق

    As a child he girded himself with leadership, and made

    the crowns of girdled lords footwear beneath its instep.

  40. إليكم ملوكَ الأرض عن ذي سرادقٍ

    تجمَّعت الدنيا به في السرادق

    Away, kings of the earth, from the lord of a pavilion

    where the world has gathered around him within the pavilion.

  41. تقبِّل أهلُ الفخر أعتابَ داره

    فيأرج منها طيبُها في المفارق

    The people of honor kiss the thresholds of his house,

    and their fragrance wafts into the partings of hair.

  42. فداء مفاتيح الندى من بنانه

    أكفٌّ على أموالها كالمغالق

    A ransom for his fingertips, the keys to bounty,

    are hands that lie like locks upon their wealth.

  43. تعلل راجيها إذا اسودَّ ليله

    بكاذب وعدٍ فجرُه غير صادق

    They lull their supplicant when his night grows black,

    with a false promise whose dawn is no true dawn.

  44. نديُّ بنان الكفّ في كلِّ شتوةٍ

    يجفُّ بها ضرع الغيوم الدوافق

    Dewy are his fingertips in every winter

    when the udder of rain-pouring clouds runs dry.

  45. فحين تشيمُ المجدبون بوارقاً

    تمنَّوا نداه غيث تلك البوارق

    When the drought-stricken watch for lightning,

    they wish his bounty were the rain of those flashes.

  46. وضيءُ المجالي والمعالي كليهما

    وعذبُ السجايا والندى والخلائق

    Radiant in both outward features and lofty deeds,

    and sweet in disposition, bounty, and character.

  47. أخفُّ على الأرواحِ طبعاً من الهوى

    ولكنَّه في الحلمِ هضبة شاهق

    Lighter on souls by nature than love,

    yet in forbearance he is a towering mountain-crag.

  48. فما طلعةُ البدر المنير مضيئة

    كطلعته الغرَّاء في كلِّ غاسق

    The shining full moon's appearance is not so radiant

    as his bright countenance in every darkness.

  49. مهيبٌ فلولا ما به من تكرُّمٍ

    لما لمحته القعساء دون السرادق

    Awe-inspiring: were it not for his generosity,

    even unassailable Pride could not glimpse him outside his pavilion.

  50. لقد كتبَ اللهُ الفخارَ له على

    لواء عُلًى في الغرب والشرق خافق

    God has indeed inscribed glory for him upon

    a banner of greatness fluttering in west and east.

  51. تضايقت الدنيا ببعض فخاره

    على أنَّه فرَّاجُ كلّ المضايق

    The world grows cramped with just a portion of his glory,

    though he is the reliever of every strait.

  52. يضيعُ فضاءُ الأرض في رحب صدره

    إذا هي غصتْ في الخطوب الطوارق

    Earth's expanse is lost within the breadth of his breast,

    when it chokes beneath calamities that strike.

  53. من الفاطميين الذين تراضعتْ

    قناهم على الأعداء في كلِّ مازق

    Of the Fatimids, among whom suckled together

    their spears upon foes in every perilous strait.

  54. هُم توّجوا هامَ الملوك ببيضهم

    وداسوا على أنماطهم بالسوابق

    They crowned the heads of kings with their bright swords,

    and trampled their patterned carpets with fleet steeds.

  55. إذا نزلوا كانوا ربيعَ بني المنى

    وإن ركبوا كانوا حماةَ الحقائق

    When they alight, they are springtime for the sons of hope;

    when they ride, they guard all things held sacred.

  56. تعانق فوقَ الخيل عاليةُ القنا

    عناقَ سواها الغيد فوقَ النمارق

    Above the horses, the upper shafts of spears embrace,

    as others embrace—graceful maidens upon cushions.

  57. هو القومُ ما للشيخ منهم لكهلهم

    وما منهم في كهلهم للمراهق

    He is that people: what their elders have, their mature men have,

    and what their mature men have, their youths have.

  58. وهذا ابنهم سلمانُ والفرع طيبه

    يجيءُ على مقدار طيب المعارق

    And this is their son Salman; a branch's goodness

    comes in proportion to the goodness of its roots.

  59. إذا مسحتْ منه العُلى وجهَ سابق

    جلتْ من أبي محمود غرَّة لاحق

    When Glory strokes a forerunner's face in him,

    she reveals in Abu Mahmud a successor's forehead-blaze.

  60. فتًى علمه يحكي غزارة جوده

    وما علمُ قومٍ غير محض التشادق

    A young man whose knowledge mirrors the abundance of his bounty,

    while some men's knowledge is nothing but sheer bombast.

  61. وقد قوّمت منه الإصابة رأيه

    فكان لفتق الدهر أحزم راتق

    Accuracy has indeed set his judgment straight,

    making him the surest mender of Time's torn seams.

  62. ومنطيقُ فصلٍ لو يشاء لسانه

    لفلَّ حدودَ الفاصلات البوارق

    And eloquent in decisive speech: if his tongue wished,

    it would blunt the edges of flashing, cutting swords.

  63. يحاكي بقطع الخصم أسياف قومه

    فيمضي مضاها في الطلى والمرافق

    In cutting down opponents, he matches his people's swords,

    and slices as they do through necks and elbows.

  64. ويطعنه في قلبه بنوافذٍ

    نفوذَ قناهم في قلوب الفيالق

    He pierces his opponent to the heart with telling words,

    as their spears penetrate the hearts of battalions.

  65. أبا المصطفى أرغمت أنتَ وذو النهى

    شقيقك في العلياء شمَّ المناشق

    Abu al-Mustafa, you and the man of wisdom—

    your brother—have humbled proud noses in glory's heights.

  66. لقد زنتما جيد العُلى من بنيكما

    بسمطي فريدٍ في العُلى متناسق

    With your sons, you two have adorned the neck of Glory

    with two strands of matchless pearls, harmoniously set in glory.

  67. فيا قمراً سارت بذكر علائه

    نجومُ القوافي في سماءِ المهارق

    O moon, whose exalted fame is carried

    by the stars of rhymes through the sky of parchments,

  68. إليكَ تعدتْ فكرتي على فكرةٍ

    لما لم يكنْ فيه مجالُ محاذق

    toward you my thought has ventured beyond thought,

    to what offered no room for a master of skill.

  69. سلمتَ على الدنيا وفخرُك مشرقٌ

    يضيءُ ضياءَ الشمس في كلِّ شارق

    May you live safe in this world, your glory radiant,

    shining with the sun's brightness in every dawn.

  70. لك الدهر عبدٌ لا يرى المجدُ عتقه

    ولا هو يلوي عنكمُ جيدَ آبق

    Time is your slave; Glory will not approve its emancipation,

    nor does it turn its neck from you like a runaway.