أعيونهن أم بيض الصفاح

وقدودهن أم سمر الرماح

Are those their eyes, or gleaming sword-blades?

And their figures, or the dusky shafts of lances?

فأراها إن رنت أو خطرت

في الحشا تفعل أفعال السلاح

For I see her, when she gazes or sways,

doing the work of weapons within my breast.

مستبيحات لم دموعي ودمي

ودم الأنفس غير المستباح

Why do they deem my tears and blood lawful spoil,

when the blood of souls is not lawful to shed?

بأبي ذات لمى أشهى إلى

غلة الصادي من الماء القراح

My father be ransom for a dusky-lipped beauty, sweeter to

the parched one's burning thirst than pure water.

عطر النكهة أحرى بالشذا

من فنيت المسك في أقداح راح

Fragrant of breath, worthier of sweet scent

than [crumbled?] musk in cups of wine.

غاص ماء الورد منه حسداً

وبكي الطل على ثغر الأقاح

Rosewater sank away in envy of him,

and dew wept on the mouth of the daisies.

جوهري ما ردى مبسمه الدر

والياقوت إلا عن صحاح

A jeweler: his smiling mouth [transmits?] pearls

and rubies only from sound sources.

وسناوجه حيي ان تضى

معه الشمس فبالوجه الافاح

And the radiance of a bashful face—if the sun shines

beside it, she does so with a [brazen?] face.

وترى الصبح به من حنق

أزرق اللون على الغيد الصباح

You see the dawn, from anger at him,

blue in color, enraged at the fair, graceful beauties.

لست من يعدل ما لاح لنا

عن هواه بعذول أو بلاح

I am not one to turn, while he shines before us,

from loving him because of a censor or reviler.

وقذا ناظر من هام هوى

ذات واشيه على ذات الوشاح

And a mote in the eye of whoever falls madly in love

with his slanderer rather than the lady of the sash!

يا أخا اللوم وما اللوم سوى

عظة تفسد ما فيه صلاحي

O brother of blame! What is blame but

an admonition that spoils what serves my well-being?

لا تمل إلا إلى الحق فهل

في الملا أعذب من حب الملاح

Incline only toward the truth—is there

among people anything sweeter than loving the fair?

والردى ينزع عن عطفي الردى

إن تبدلت رذالا برداح

And may death strip the cloak from my shoulders

if I take the base in place of a full-figured beauty.

وإذا ما خامر الحب الحشا

صاح أن يلاقى على الدهر بصاح

And when love has intoxicated the heart,

friend, [how?] could one ever be found sober?

فسقى الله حماها سحباً

سحبت ذيل غدو ورواح

May God water her domain with clouds

that trail their hems, morning and evening.

تحسب البرق بها ينضى ظبا الأمجد

الجودى في وقت الكفاح

You would think their lightning unsheathes the blades of the most illustrious

al-Judi in the hour of combat.

وملث القطر من انوائها

جودا يديه لنا عند السماح

And the ceaseless rain from their rain-bearing stars

is the twin outpouring of his hands when he gives to us.

اظهر الدهر به عما جنا

اعتذاراً وجنوحا عن جناح

Through him, Time has shown, for what it wrought,

an apology and a turning away from wrongdoing.

تنجلي اللأواء من ارائه

كتجلي الليل عن ضوء الصباح

Hardship clears away through his counsels

as night draws back from morning's light.

فهو في الخطب لنا غوث نجاة

وهو في الجدب يرى غيث نجاح

In calamity he is our saving aid,

and in drought he is seen as a rain of success.

وعلت شهباؤنا الشهب علا

منه في الأفق وفاقت في البطاح

And our Shahba outsoars the stars in eminence,

through him, in the skies, and excels upon the plains.

وبها نوء حيا راحته

راحة الأرض واحياء النواحي

Within her, the rain-star of his palm's showers

brings repose to the earth and life to its regions.

لم تكن فازت بد فتر دارها

قبله فوز المعلّى بالقداح

Never had she triumphed through her defterdar

before him, as al-Mu'alla wins among the gaming arrows.

جاءها كالبرء من اداوئها

ما حيا والبرء للعلة ماح

He came to her like recovery from her ailments,

[effacing them?]—for recovery effaces disease.

واحد في الفضل من ابنائها

جامع فضل امتنان وامتداح

Unique in excellence among her sons,

uniting the merits of beneficence and praise.

فرأت ما يبره الشمس سنا

منه وارتاحت له أي ارتياح

She saw what dazzles the sun in radiance,

from him, and delighted in him—what delight!

ولقد يعظم مع يأس المنى

لعل يدنو لنا بعد انتزاح

And amid despair of wishes, hope indeed grows great:

'Perhaps he will draw near to us after estrangement.'

يا رفيع المجد اسفرت لنا

عن منيع العرض والوفر المباح

O lofty in glory, you have revealed yourself to us

as one of inviolable honor, with wealth freely offered.

ان يكن قصرت في السعي خطاً

فلقد غودرت مقصوص الجناح

If my steps have fallen short in striving,

I have indeed been left with my wing clipped.

بي من الدهر خطوب جمة

اشفعت منها متاحاً بمتاح

Time has afflicted me with many calamities,

one destined trial coupled with another.

لو رمتني بعدها رامية

لمت تجد في مكانا للجراح

Were another archer to shoot at me after them,

she would find no room in me for wounds.

فاقبل العذر ودم مصطحبا

دعة العيش غيوقاً باصطباح

So accept my excuse, and ever enjoy

life's ease, evening draught joined to morning cup.

تتحاشاك المنايا والمنى

طوع أيديك على حكم اقتراح

May the fates of death shun you, and your wishes

lie obedient in your hands, subject to your choosing.

واسلم الدهر على اعياده

خيرى مستجدى واندي مسماح

And live secure through Time and its feast days,

the best from whom to seek bounty, and the most open-handed giver.

تنحر البدن وتضحى آمنا

فيه والأعداء من بعض الأضاحي

You slaughter the sacrificial camels and greet the morning safe,

while your enemies are among that day's sacrifices.

وإليك الفكر زجي بكرة

نتجت منه على غير لقاح

And thought has driven to you a young she-camel,

born from it without mating.

حملت روضة حمدٍ عاطر

بشذا ازهارها جيب الرياح

A garden of fragrant praise has laden

the winds' bosom with its blossoms' scent.

فأعطها منك قبولا حساً

شارحاً منها التعالي بانشراح

So grant it a gracious acceptance from you,

unfolding its loftiness with gladness.

لا نقسها بقوافي غيرها

كرمت لفظاً على تلك الشحاح

Let us not compare it with the rhymes of others:

its wording is more generous than those stingy verses.

فالورى اكثرهم الاك لم

يفرقوا بين زئير ونباح

For most of humankind, except you, have not

distinguished between a lion's roar and a dog's bark.