أترى النسيم إذا سرى من نجده

يعدي السليم على تظاهره وجده

Do you think the breeze, when it wafts by night from his Najd,

infects the healthy with its longing, despite their outward show?

ما ضر معتل النسيم لو أنه

أهدى إليَّ تحية من عنده

What harm would it do the ailing breeze if it

brought me a greeting from him?

ومورد الوجنات أهوى وصله

فبليت جسما إذ بليت بصده

And I yearn for union with a rosy-cheeked one;

so my body wasted away when I was tried by his rejection.

زاه إذا انثنت الغصون تأودا

قلت استعارت لينها من قده

He is radiant; when the boughs bend and sway,

I say they borrowed their suppleness from his figure.

وإذا رأيت الورد في أكمامه

خيلته في الشبه حمرة خده

And when I see roses within their calyxes,

I fancy they resemble the redness of his cheek.

هو منتهى السؤل الذي من أجله

اسنا ونشر عرار نجد وزنده

He is the utmost object of desire, for whose sake

[Unclear], and the fragrance of Najd's arar and its firestick.

يا أهل ودى هل رأيتم سيدا

رضى المقام على قطيعة عبده

O my loved ones, have you seen a master

content to persist in forsaking his servant?

إن رابكم شيب القذال فان في

صقل الحسام أثارة من حده

If the gray at my nape disquiets you, then in

a sword's polish lies a trace of its sharpness.

والليل لولا شبهه في افقه

لم يسلك السارون في مسوده

And night, but for that likeness on its horizon,

night travelers would not pass through its darkness.

وكذا السحاب يروق منه سواده

فيما اضاء ببرقه وبرعده

Likewise, the clouds' darkness is pleasing

as they shine with their lightning and thunder.

ردوا عليَّ القلب أن لم تعطفوا

فالعذر ليس بجائز في رده

Give me back my heart, if you will not relent,

for no excuse concerning its return is acceptable.

انيى امرؤ صحب الزمان فصانه

عن غيه قلب يصان برشده

I am a man who has kept company with Time, shielded

from its waywardness by a heart safeguarded by good judgment.

وإذا الخليل نبا وأعرض جانباً

عني وبات منكبا عن قصده

And when a friend grows cold and turns aside

from me, and persists in straying from his proper course,

لم تشتبه سبلى عليَّ ولم أبت

متشكيا منه حرارة فقده

my paths do not grow confused, nor do I spend the night

lamenting, on his account, the burning pain of his absence.

أبقاي في كنف الوزير أقام لي

أملا يقل الدهر صادق وعده

My remaining in the vizier's shelter has given me

a hope true to its pledge, such as Time seldom offers.

أمل دفعت به الخطوب فجيدها

أمسي اسيراً في حبائل حده

A hope with which I repelled calamities, so their neck

became captive in the snares of his edge.

وإذا دعوت أجابني بعزيمة

كالسيف حين تسله من غمده

And when I call, he answers me with resolve

like a sword when you draw it from its sheath.

الصاحب الندب الذي أقواله

كالدر عند نظامه في عقده

The gallant vizier, whose words

are like pearls when he strings them in his necklace.

ملكت محبته القلوب فلو بدت

لرأيتها مملوة من وده

Love for him has captured hearts; were they laid bare,

you would see them filled with affection for him.

يا سيد الوزراء دعوة باذل

في الود والتفويض غاية جهده

O chief of viziers, hear the prayer of one expending

his utmost effort in affection and trust.

أنت الذي وسع الأنام بعدله

وبفضله وبعفوه وبرفده

You are he who embraces all mankind with his justice,

and with his bounty, pardon, and gifts.

لبنى معيبد الكرام بأحمد

فخر يطول على الفخار بسعده

The noble Banu Muʿaybid have, in Ahmad,

a glory towering above all others through his good fortune.

كالبحر جاش وإنما حسباؤه

درر تفيض به قرارة مده

Like the sea when it surges, yet its pebbles

are pearls with which the depths of its tide overflow.

كالطود ليس يجل جلوه حلمه

ريح الخطوب ولا يحول بعهده

Like a mountain, his forbearance is unshaken [wording unclear]

by the winds of calamity, nor does he alter his pledge.

تتضاءل الاضداد عنه تقاصراً

والضد يظهر حسنه في ضده

His rivals shrink before him, falling short,

and a thing's beauty stands out against its opposite.

يغني الوفود لقاه حتى أنه

مازال يلتمس الغنى من رفده

Meeting him enriches delegations, so much so that

wealth is ever sought from his bounty.

هو حاتم في وجوده هو أحنف

في حلمه هو حيدر في جده

He is Hatim in his very being; he is Ahnaf

in his forbearance; he is Haydar in his resolve.

انظر تقي الدين إن تك غائباً

نظر الخبير في برده

Look at Taqi al-Din, if you are absent,

with an expert's gaze into his mantle.

فرع وذلك أصله فمحله

منه محل الكف نيط بزنده

He is a branch, and that one is his root; his place

beside him is that of a hand attached to his forearm.

يا أيها المولى الوزير ومن له

كرم ينوب الوصف غاية حده

O lord vizier, you who possess

a generosity whose utmost bounds overwhelm description,

حسنت بوجهك هذه الدنيا معاً

فلتبق آمنة مرارة قصده

all this world has grown beautiful through your face;

so may it remain safe from the bitterness of his intent.