إليك فلو أدركت مغنى الهوى مغنا

لطلت على لبنا تلوب كما لبنا

Away with you! Had you grasped love’s meaning with us,

you would long have circled Lubna, just as we circled.

غزال عليها قلبي الصب طائر

ألست تراها في غلائلها غصنا

A gazelle above whom my lovesick heart flies;

do you not see her as a bough in her sheer robes?

وما شك من هزت عليه قوامها

بأن القنا منها تعلمت الطعنا

And none before whom she swayed her figure doubted

that spears learned from her how to thrust.

تقد الحشا باللحظ فأعجب إذا رنت

لسيف له قطع وما فارق الجفنا

She cleaves the vitals with her glance; marvel, when she gazes,

at a sword that cuts without ever leaving its sheath.

فهذا دمي آثاره في بناتها

وقد اوهمتكم أنه أثر الحنا

Here is my blood, its traces on her fingertips,

yet she has made you think it is the stain of henna.

موردة الوجنات ساحرة الربا

تدانا وبعد الشمس من قربها أدنا

Rosy-cheeked, enchantress of the hills,

she draws near, yet the distant sun is closer than her nearness.

ترى ورد خديها وصارم لحظها

طليقين ذا يجني وذلك لا يجنا

You see the roses of her cheeks and her glance’s keen sword

both unrestrained: the sword wounds, the roses go unplucked.

إذا شام من بالغور ابتسامها

بنجد جرى دمعي فصدق ما ظنا

When one in al-Ghawr glimpses her smile

in Najd, my tears flow, proving his surmise true.

ويا مطبقا جفنيه يحسب أنه

تغشاه لمع البرق والليل قد جنا

O you who close your eyelids, supposing that

lightning flashes envelop you when night has fallen:

إلا أنها فافتح عيونك زينب

تخلت عن الجلباب ضاحكة سنا

it is Zaynab—open your eyes!—

who has cast off her cloak, beaming with radiance.

أتتنا كلطف الله جل جلاله

بلا موعد منها ولا حيلة منا

She came to us like God’s grace—exalted be His majesty—

with no appointment from her, no contrivance from us.

فلا تسألوا عن ليلة ظفر الهوى

يجيش النوى فيها فافنى الذي أفنا

Do not ask about a night when love triumphed

over separation’s army there, destroying what had destroyed us.

عكفنا على اللذات فيها بمعزل

عن الناس لا عينا تخاف ولا أذنا

We devoted ourselves to pleasures that night, apart

from people, with neither eye nor ear to fear.

تنازعني كأس العتاب وتجتني

يدي من ثمار الوصل أحسن ما يجنا

She shares with me the cup of reproach, while

my hand plucks the finest fruits of union.

وتودعني سرا وتخشى انتشاره

فأفهم مغناها واحلف ما يثنا

She entrusts me with a secret, fearing it may spread;

I grasp her meaning and swear it will not be repeated.

فما راعنا إلا الصباح كأنه

سنا أحمد فرجى به حصنا

Nothing startled us but morning, as though it were

Ahmad’s radiance—hope for a stronghold through him [reading uncertain].

صلاح الأنام الناصر الملك الذي

ملوك الورى لفظ أحمد المعنى

Mankind’s well-being, al-Nasir, the king beside whom

the world’s kings are mere words, and Ahmad is the meaning.

مفلق هام المعتدين بسيفه

إذا اقتحم الهيجاء مروي القنا اللدنا

He splits aggressors’ skulls with his sword,

when he plunges into battle, slaking his supple spears.

وباعث أموات الندى بأنامل

إذا انهل منها التبر أخجلت المزنا

And resurrects dead generosity with fingers

that shame the rainclouds when gold pours from them.

مواضيه تفني كل شيء إذا سطا

وايديه تغني كل شيء إذا منا

His keen blades annihilate everything when he strikes,

while his hands enrich everything when he gives.

أذل صعاب المشكلات برأيه

ولين ما شا من مراكبها الخشنا

He tamed intractable difficulties with his judgment,

and gentled whichever of their rough mounts he wished.

وجاء وطيش الدهر في عنفوانه

فرد عليه عقله بعد ما جنا

He came while Time’s recklessness was at its height,

and restored its reason after it had done wrong.

تظن الأعادي أنهم في قرارهم

ينالون بالابعاد من خوفهم أمنا

The enemies think that, in their settled homes,

they gain security from fear by keeping far away.

وجيشك مثل الليل يدرك من نأى

وأين من الليل الفرار إذا جنا

Yet your army, like night, overtakes whoever goes far away;

and where can one flee from night once it falls?

وكم مخطئ لم يؤت من سوء رأيه

ولكن أتى أمر خلاف الذي ظنا

Many a man who erred was not undone by poor judgment,

but something happened contrary to what he expected.

وكم جاهل عد الحصون معاقلا

يرد بها عن نفسه الإِنس والجنا

Many a fool counted fortresses as strongholds,

with which to shield himself from humankind and jinn.

فعلت به مالم يكن في حسابه

وأخرجته منها كما يطبق الجفنا

You did to him what he had never reckoned with,

and drove him out of them as swiftly as an eyelid shuts.

كصاحب نعمان ملكت بلاده

وأبدلته بالسيف من حصنه سجنا

Like the lord of Nu‘man: you took his lands,

and by the sword exchanged his fortress for a prison.

له معقل قد بات معتقلا به

إليه المنايا فيه من نفسه أدنا

He has a stronghold in which he now lies imprisoned,

where death is nearer to him than his own self.

ولو كان في حصن ينال به السما

فما هو الا قبض راحتك اليمنا

Even were he in a fortress that reached heaven,

he would still be in the grasp of your right palm.

مشاهد ما للسيف فيها ولا القنا

مجال ولكن السعادة في اليمنى

Battles where neither sword nor spear

has any scope; instead, good fortune lies in the right hand.

وقد جرب الأعدا لقاك فما رأوا

لحربك إقداما يفيد ولا جبنا

Your enemies have tried facing you, and found

neither courage nor cowardice of use in fighting you.

إذا ملك ناواك هدمت عزه

وعز تولى هدمه أنت لا يبنا

When a king opposes you, you demolish his might;

might that you yourself tear down is never rebuilt.

فمد على الدنيا ظلالك واطوها

بسيفك طي الطرس واستفتح المدنا

So spread your shade across the world and fold it up

with your sword as a scroll is folded, and conquer cities.

وعش سالما حتى ترا ابنك وابنه

يرى من بني ابناء ابنائه ابنا

And live unharmed until you see your son, while his son

sees a son among the sons of his sons’ sons.