شكت شجي وبكت يوم النوى شجنا

فأرخصت من نفيس الدر ما ثمنا

She lamented my grief and wept in sorrow on the day of parting.

Thus she cheapened what was costly among the precious pearls.

وأشفقت من وداعي ثم قائلة

استودع اللَه قلبي إثر من ظعنا

She feared my farewell, then said:

I entrust my heart to God after the one who departed.

حوراء ترنو بأجفان مسهدة

لم تكتحل قبل إلا السحر والوسنا

A dark-eyed beauty gazes with sleepless eyelids,

Never before kohled with anything but enchantment and drowsiness.

والبين اوهى لها مني لواعجه

لا يصلح الرود داء افسد البدنا

Parting's burning pangs are weaker for her than for me;

Gentleness cannot cure an illness that has ravaged the body.

يا هذه لا ازال الدهر مضطرباً

فلا سكوناً أرى فيه ولا سكنا

O you, I remain forever tossed about,

Finding neither rest nor a dwelling in this age.

والأرحبيات لا تنفك ترفل بي

طوراً شآما وطوراً تغتدي يمنا

The Arhab camels never cease swaying onward with me,

Now toward Syria, now setting out at dawn for Yemen.

ويح المطالب كم أشقى بها وأرى

الفتى بممتنع الأشياء ممتحنا

Alas for these pursuits! How I suffer through them, and see

The young man tested by things beyond his reach.

سقى الحمى وليالينا به زمنا

حيا ملثٌ وحيا ذلك الزمنا

May the sanctuary and our nights there long ago be watered

By lingering rain; may it greet that bygone time.

إذا الحمي روضة غناء ما صبحت

الا القدود غصونا والخدود جنا

When the sanctuary was a luxuriant garden, at dawn I met

Only forms like boughs and cheeks like ripe fruit.

والعيش اعذب من كأس حباك به

رشا تشابه خديه صفا وسنا

And life was sweeter than a cup bestowed on you by

A fawn, the cup matching his cheeks in clarity and radiance.

حلا مذاقاً ولم تحلوغوائله

ومر لا منحاً ابقى ولا محنا

It was sweet to the taste, though its treacheries were not;

And it passed, leaving neither gifts nor trials.

وقل في الدهر من تصفو موارده

الا تجرع منها الآسن الأجنا

Rare is the man whose watering places run clear in this world

Without his gulping from them stagnant, fetid water.

ومهمهٍ غير منجاب لراكبه

ضل الغطاط ضحى في جوزه السننا

And a desert waste that would not open to its rider,

Where sandgrouse lost the paths in its midst at midmorning.

طفا من الآل في قيعانه وطغى

بحر ركبنا المطايا فوقه سفنا

From mirage in its hollows there rose and overflowed

A sea over which we rode our mounts as ships.

ونحن في رهب حتى بلغن بنا

الأمان والأمن والأيمان والمننا

We were afraid until they brought us to

Protection, security, pledges, and favors.

حيث الندى لا يوارى في تسرعه

وهل توارى يداك العارض الهتنا

Where bounty cannot be concealed in its swift outpouring;

Can your hands eclipse the cloud pouring down rain?

والحلم حتى يظن الطائعون له

ان المبر لديه من عصى وجني

And such forbearance that those obedient to him think

The one he favors is whoever has disobeyed and done wrong.

وما يصدك في ارص يحل بها

نجل ابن سيفاء ان لا تظفرن بمنى

What could keep you, in a land inhabited by

The son of Ibn Sayfa, from attaining your wishes?

ولست احصر في قطر صنائع من

ابر صنعاء من عكار أو عدنا

I do not confine to one region the benefactions of one who

Has favored Sanaa or Aden from Akkar.

يخفى نداه ولا تخفى محامده

عرف الألوة مطاوق وان سجنا

His bounty is hidden, but his merits are not.

The scent of aloeswood is [unclear], even when imprisoned.

ابر من هذه الدنيا بجاهلها

لنا واسمح من صب بكى الدمنا

He is kinder to us than this world is to those ignorant of it,

And more generous than a lover weeping over ruined camps.

لا عيب ان كان عيب في نداه سوى

اني به قد نسيت الأهل والوطنا

No fault—if there is a fault in his bounty—except

That through him I have forgotten family and homeland.

مولاي يا ابن علي المجد من سبقت

به سجاياه اسمعيل والحسنا

My lord, son of glorious Ali, you who have surpassed

Ismail and Hasan through your own virtues.

ان صدني عنك دهر لا زمام له

فالدهر يغدر بالأنسان ما أمنا

If an unbridled age has kept me from you,

Time betrays a man just when he feels secure.

وان رجوت السوى جهلا بلا صلةٍ

فقد تقدمني من يعبد الوثنا

And if, ignorantly, I hoped for others without receiving a gift,

Idol-worshippers had already preceded me.

ولست اكفر ما اوليت من نعم

تترى وتبقى وان غال الزمان فنا

I do not deny the blessings you have bestowed,

Coming in succession and enduring, even as time brings annihilation.

فكل من يكفر النعماء تهلكه

ان لم تكن حلة كانت له كفنا

For whoever denies a blessing is destroyed by it:

If it is not a robe, it becomes his shroud.

فداً لك الدهر بل أهلوه وابق به

وحاسدوك فهم في علةٍ وعنا

May time—rather, its people—be your ransom; live on within it,

While your enviers remain in sickness and suffering.

فأن اقتل داء لا دواء له

قلب يضم به الشحناء والأحنا

For the deadliest disease, for which no cure exists, is

A heart enclosing hatred and grudges.

هل يجحدونك اياماً علوت بها

على العدا أو اقمت الفرض والسننا

Do they deny you the days when you rose

Above your foes, or upheld the obligatory duties and traditions?

يداك تحتقر الآمال وهي لهي

فيها وتعتقل الآجال وهي قنا

Your hands dwarf hopes, with gifts

Within them, and bind the fates when wielding spears.

وتقدم الفيلق الجرار ضاق به

دمث فكيف يلام الحزن ان حزنا

You lead the vast army, which crowds

Even smooth ground; how blame the rugged ground if it grieves?

يشقى به كل من يلقي عوامله

كأنه الصب من اعطافها افتتنا

Everyone who meets its spearheads suffers from it,

Like a lover bewitched by their curves.

حرب كحرب الليالي لا سجال به

فذو الشجاعة فيه مثل من جبنا

A war like the war of nights, with no alternating fortunes;

The courageous in it are like those who turn coward.

يخشاك ذو اللب فيما أنت تضمره

من العدى وأخو جهل إذا فطنا

The discerning man fears you for what you harbor,

Among your foes, and the ignorant man once he understands.

والغمر لم يلق ما لم يلق مصرعه

هما ويرتقب العلات من كهنا

Until he meets his downfall, the naive man has felt

No anxiety; the diviner foresees afflictions.

هجرت الاك من تبلي مودته

لا يهجر الضرع ما لم يفسد اللبنا

Except for you, I have left those whose affection wears away;

The udder is not forsaken unless its milk goes bad.

بورحت حاشاك عمن في ضمائره

ترى السريرة ان اودعتها علنا

May you be kept apart—far be it from you—from one in whose heart

You see a secret made public if you entrust it.

فدم تدم بر ادواء الزمان فقد

وضعت في نقب الدنيا يديك هنا

Live on, sustaining the cure for time's ailments, for

You have placed your hands here in the breaches of the world.

وهاك تحمل اثقال الثناء وما

أظن من صدها في حمدها وثنا

Take her, bearing the burdens of praise; I do not

Think the one who rejects her an idol in her praise.

طُمرةً من مذاكي الفكر سابحة

جرداء ما صحبت حلاً ولا رسنا

A nimble mare from thought's seasoned steeds, galloping,

Sleek and bare, never wearing adornments or a halter.