أشاقك من هذا الرديني قده

ومن صفحات المشرفي فرنده

Did this Rudayni spear's stature stir your longing,

and the watered pattern on the Mashrafi sword's sides,

ومن صهوات المقربات تقلقل

هدوت به كالطفل حرك مهده

and the swaying on the backs of prized steeds,

that soothed you like a child whose cradle is rocked;

ومن لهوات الواخدات وشدقها

لغام بُغامٍ يزجي السحب رعده

and, from swift-striding camels' throats and jaws,

the foam of a bellow whose thunder drives the clouds onward;

ومن كالحات الوجه ضنك مواقف

يسفه فيها سيد القوم عبده

and the strain of grim-faced encounters,

where the people's lord is scorned by his own slave;

ومن فاغرات الفم ضمن دلاصها

كما افتر في صاف من الورد ورده

and gaping mouths within their smooth mail,

as its rose opens amid pure roses;

ومن فلوات الأرض درعك فدفدا

يقيني بالنكباء ليست تحده

and, from earth's wildernesses, a vast plain as your armor,

shielding me from a crosswind that cannot bound it;

ومن حالكات الأدم بحر إذا طما

طفا دره الزاهي واورى زنده

and a sea among the dark-skinned, which, when it swells,

its radiant pearls float, and its fire-stick sparks?

فلكفتني الأساد في طرق المني

ومن دونه طرق المنى لي وطرده

Then lions assailed me on the paths of desire,

and, short of it, hope's paths and its pursuit are mine.

وحملتني عبء الليالي وانني

ليثقلني هجر الحبيب وصده

And you loaded me with the burden of nights, though I

am weighed down by the beloved's abandonment and rejection.

لك اللَه يا قلبي إلى م تعسفا

وحتام يا جدى عثاراً وجده

God help you, my heart—how long this reckless wandering?

And how long, my fortune, this stumbling and anguish?

ألم يأن من هذا الزمان افاقة

وما آن أن يمحو الضلالة رشده

Is it not time for this age to awaken,

and for its good judgment to erase error?

أفي كل يوم لي على البعد همة

يضام لها خلى وتأرق جرده

Must I have each day an ambition reaching far away,

for which my friend suffers and his sleek steeds lose sleep?

وما بين اثناء الضلوع مآرب

يضيق بها غور الفضاء ونجده

And within the folds of my ribs lie desires

for which the depths and heights of space are too narrow.

يظن غبي القوم إني خامل

ويجهد في أقواله ساء جهده

The foolish man among the people thinks me idle,

and strains at his assertions—what a wretched effort!

وما دام لي عزمي وحزمي وعفتي

ففي كل ارض لي صديق اوده

As long as I retain my resolve, prudence, and self-restraint,

in every land I have a friend whom I cherish.

رعا اللَه من فارقت لا عن ملالة

ورب قضاء ليس بملك رده

May God guard those I left, not out of weariness;

many a decree is beyond one's power to reverse.

أقاموا وسرنا والغرام مظنة

فما فطنوا حتى تأكد وقده

They stayed and we departed, while passion was only suspected;

they did not notice until its blaze became certain.

وودعتهم والدمع ينزو جمامه

فلما تفرقنا تأجن ورده

I bade them farewell while my tears' brimming waters leapt,

but when we parted, their water grew stagnant.

أحباي إن القلب ملك رقه المحبة

واستولى على الجفن سهده

My loved ones, love has held the heart in bondage,

and its sleeplessness has taken possession of my eyelids.

فهل من سبيل للدنو فما أرى

بأتعب من عانٍ يعنيه بعده

Is there any path to nearness? I see no one

more weary than a captive tormented by his distance.

ولست على هذا التنائي بآيس

فيا رب انجازٍ تقادم عهده

Yet despite this separation I am not despairing:

many a fulfillment comes after its promise has grown old.

عهدت الليالي لا تدوم بحالةٍ

واي زمان ما تغير عهده

I have known the nights never to remain in one state;

what age has not changed its ways?

ومن شام هذا الدهر شيمي وذافه

حلا صابه وانمج في فيه شهده

For whoever surveys this age as I do and mixes it,

its bitter sap grows sweet, and its honey pours into his mouth.

فكم كاسب فيه وليس بطالب

وساعٍ له بالكد خيب كده

How many gain in it without seeking,

while a man striving for it through toil has his toil thwarted.

وسيان منع من يديه ونائل

إذا كان ما يوليك ما يسترده

Withholding and giving from its hands are alike,

if what it gives you is what it takes back.

عسى اللَه يثني جامح الحظ مرةً

لتدركه آمالنا فتصده

May God rein in headstrong fortune once,

so our hopes may catch it and hold it back.

واصبح من روع الحوادث آمنا

بمن جوده عم الأنام ومجده

And may I become safe from the terror of calamities,

through him whose generosity and glory embrace mankind.

فيا طالما خصصت منه بنائل

يعيي الورى والوفد بالوفر رفده

How often he has singled me out for a gift,

his abundant bounty overwhelming mankind and visiting delegations.

هو الماجد السيفي الأمير محمد

ومن هو سيف والمحامد غمده

He is the noble al-Sayfi emir, Muhammad,

a man who is a sword, with praiseworthy deeds for its sheath.

قد استن اسباب اللها شغفا لها

فها شكره فرض علينا وحمده

He has established the means of bounty out of love for it;

so, behold, thanking and praising him are duties upon us.

كريم إذا ضن السحاب بقطرة

حليم ان استولى على القلب حقده

Generous when the clouds begrudge a drop,

forbearing when resentment takes hold of his heart,

شجاع له في كل يوم فريسة

وأصغرها سيد الأكام وأسده

brave, with prey each day,

the least of it the lord of the hills, their lion.

إذا أم جيشا خلت نور جبينه

هلالا وأسراب الكواكب جنده

When he leads an army, you would think the light of his brow

a crescent, and the flocks of stars his troops.

لقد عددت منه الأعادي فضائلا

وما الفضل الاما الأعادي تعده

His enemies have indeed counted virtues in him,

and merit is only what enemies acknowledge.

وقد شهدت منه الغوادي مواهبا

فحزت على راحاته تستمده

The morning rain clouds have witnessed his gifts,

and cut across his palms, seeking replenishment from him.

فيا ابن الذي ان عد فرد زمانه

فأنك يا مولاي اوهو فرده

O son of him who, when reckoned, was the peerless man of his age,

you, my lord—or he—are its peerless one.

ويا ابنالذي ضاق الفلا بعدوه

لكونك في الدنيا وما ضاق لحده

O son of him whose enemy found the wilderness too narrow,

because you are in the world, his grave has not grown narrow.

ويا من اتاه الضد بالرغم راجيا

ولم ار من شخص برجيه ضده

O you to whom an adversary comes against his will, yet hopeful,

I have never seen a man whose enemy hopes in him.

ويا غير مأمور ويا خير آمر

مُر الدهر ما ترضى فقصدك قصده

O you who take no orders, and best of those who give them,

command Time as you please, for your aim is its aim.

ويا بشراً من بشره لعفاته

سؤال فما بشر المعنى وهنده

O man, whose cheerfulness toward his petitioners

is an invitation to ask—what are tormented Bishr and his Hind?

هناؤك بالعيد الذي أنت عيده

وسعدك باليوم الذي أنت سعده

Joy to you at the feast whose own feast you are,

and good fortune on the day whose good fortune you are.

وما دمت لا دامت عداك مخلداً

أرى كل يوم مر عيداً اعده

As long as you endure forever—may your foes not endure—

I count every passing day a feast.

وهاك فقد جاءت تقصر خطوها

حياءً ويزجيها من الشوق وخده

Take her: she has come, shortening her steps

in modesty, while longing's swift stride urges her onward.

بها ما بنا من شدة الوجد رقةً

ويبلى الفتى ما حالف القلب وجده

She shares our tenderness, born of yearning's intensity,

and a young man wastes away while longing clings to his heart.

جعلت لها سلكاً لرصف جمانها

فنظمتها والليل بدد عقده

I made her a thread for arranging her pearls,

and strung her together as night scattered its necklace.

نرجى سماحاً عن معان تزيفها

ومثلك لا يخفى على الزيف نقده

We hope for indulgence toward meanings you deem counterfeit,

and the scrutiny of one like you is not lost on counterfeit.

فهبها قبولاً منك مولاي انها

نتيجة عضب قد تكهم حده

So grant her your acceptance, my lord, for she is

the offspring of a keen blade whose edge has grown blunt.

ودم أبداً ترجى وتخشى لعادمٍ

تهاديه إحسانا وعادٍ تهده

May you forever remain both hoped for and feared: to a needy man

you bring kindness, while an aggressor you crush.

مدى الدهر ان لاح نجم وما خفى

وما فاح نوار العذيب ورنده

throughout time, whenever a star appears and whenever it hides,

as long as al-Udhayb's blossoms and its laurel give fragrance,

وما انهل من جفن السحاب حياً على

محيا الثرى سحا فحدد خده

and as long as rain pours from the cloud's eyelid onto

the earth's face in torrents, etching its cheek.

فأنك من ذا الدهر انسان عينه

وانسان عين الشيء يؤلم فقده

For you are the pupil of this age's eye,

and the loss of the pupil of any eye brings pain.