تذكر السفح فانهلت سوافحه

وليس يخفاك ما تخفى جوانحه

He remembered the hillside, and his tears poured down.

Nor is what his breast conceals hidden from you.

صدع الهوى يا عذولي غير ملتثم

يدريه بالبان من اشجاه صادحه

Love's wound, O my reproacher, is unveiled;

Among the bān trees, whoever their songbird saddens knows it.

هي المنازل أشجاناً خلقن لنا

فلا يزيد على المشجون ناصحه

Such are the dwellings: they were created as sorrows for us.

So let his counselor add no more to the grief-stricken man's sorrow.

سقى العقيق من الساري الملك بما

شاء العقيق وشاءته صحاصحه

May the King water al-ʿAqīq from the night-passing cloud with all

That al-ʿAqīq desires and its open plains desire.

حتى تخب بابناء الرجاء له

في سندس لا ترى ابنا طلائحه

Until, bearing the sons of hope in him, there trot

Through flawless silk its weary mounts.

تؤم من طيبة النجاء طيب ثرى

لا تشتكي السقم اجفانٌ نصافحه

The swift mounts seek the fragrant earth of Ṭaybah;

No eyelids with which we greet it complain of sickness.

فثم قبر من الأملاك في زجل

وثم عرف من الفردوس فائحه

For there lies a tomb amid the angels' chanting,

And there is a perfume whose scent wafts from Paradise.

وثم اشرف مبعوث وأكرم من

تكفلت بغنى الراجي منائحه

And there is the noblest messenger, the most generous of those

Whose gifts ensure abundance for the hopeful seeker.

قالوا حمدت السرى فامدحه قلت لهم

تحصى النجوم ولا تحصى مدائحه

They said, 'You praised the night journey; praise him.' I told them:

The stars can be counted, but his praises cannot.

وما أقول إذا ما جئت امدح من

جبريل خادمه واللّه مادحه

And what can I say when I come to praise one

Whose servant is Gabriel and whose praiser is God?

مدح الكرام رشاء لاستماحتهم

وليس يعوزُ بحر عم طافحه

Praise of the generous is a well-rope for seeking their bounty,

But a sea whose overflow reaches all has no need of one.

ثق بالنبي وقف قدام حضرته

واسأل فمهما ترمهُ فهو مانحه

Trust in the Prophet, and stand before his presence;

And ask: whatever you seek, he grants it.

يا أكرم الخلق فاعذر شاعراً وقفت

عن درك أوصافك العليا قرائحه

O most generous of creation, forgive a poet whose

Poetic gifts have fallen short of grasping your exalted qualities.

صفر اليدين غريب الدار منكسراً

أتاك والذنب أعنى الظهر فادحه

Empty-handed, far from home, broken,

He has come to you, his back worn out by sin's crushing burden.

يهوى النجاة ولم يسلف له عملاً

بسر يوم يسر المرء صالحه

He longs for salvation, but has sent ahead no deed for himself

[To gladden him] on the day when a man's good deeds gladden him.

يا ويله يوم يأتي للحساب غداً

ان لم يكن بك مولاه يسامحه

Woe to him when tomorrow he comes to the reckoning,

Unless his Lord forgives him through you.

عسى بقربك ان تنفى رعونته

وتستحيل إلى الحسنى قبائحه

May nearness to you banish his folly,

And may his ugly deeds be transformed into goodness.

وما أحثك في حق الجوار له

وكيف أوضح معنى منك واضحه

Nor do I urge you concerning his right as a neighbor;

How could I explain a meaning whose clarity comes from you?

وإنما طالب الحاجات ذو قلق

كل على من به تقضى مصالحه

But the seeker of favors is anxious,

A burden on the one through whom his needs are met.

فاستدن من هو بالاعتاب منطرح

غير الاسى ما له خلّ يطارحه

So bring near the one cast down at your thresholds;

He has no friend but sorrow with whom to share confidences.

فالفتح بالباب لا تخفى علاقته

لا سيما باب جود انت فاتحه

For the connection between opening and the door is plain,

Especially a door of generosity that you open.

وكيف لا يأمن الاغلاق في حرم

لا يحرم الجود غاديه ورائحه

And how could he fear a closed door in a sanctuary

Where its morning and evening visitors are never denied bounty?

عليك أزكى صلاة كلما ختمت

بالمسك عادت بتسليم فواتحه

Upon you be the purest blessing: whenever it is sealed

With musk, its opening words return with salutations of peace,

ما امتد للصبح باع الشرق فاعتنقا

أو حنّ نحو لقاء الإلف نازحه

As long as the East stretches its arms toward dawn and they embrace,

Or one parted from his beloved yearns to meet him.

والآل والصحب ما روض الدجا ابتسمت

ثغوره فاستعارتها مصابحه

And upon your family and companions, as long as the garden of night smiles

With mouths that its lamps borrow.