1. أَمَّا الكثِيبُ فَمَا يُطَارُ حِمَاهُ

    مِنْ دُونِهِ تُجْرِي الدِّماءَ دُماهُ

    As for the dune, none can approach its sanctuary;

    before it, its idol-like beauties make blood flow.

  2. لَوْلا حَيَاءُ الحَيِّ مِنْ أَكْفَائِهِ

    لَكَفَاهُ سِحْرُ جُفونِهن عِدَاهُ

    Were it not for the tribe's shame before its peers,

    the spell of their eyelids would shield it from its foes.

  3. مَا بَالُهُ أَنهَى الأَسِنَّةَ وَالظُّبَى

    وَعَلَى المَطيِّ ظِبَاؤُهُ وَمَهَاهُ

    Why has it brought forth spearheads and blades,

    when its gazelles and white oryx ride the camels?

  4. بِيضُ الأَنامِل قُنِّيتْ بِخِضَابِها

    تُغْنِي غناءَ مُخَضَّبَاتِ قَناهُ

    White fingertips, dyed crimson with their henna,

    serve as well as its blood-stained spears.

  5. وَعُيُونُهُن السَّاجِياتُ قَوَاتِلٌ

    ما لَيسَ تَقْتُلُ ماضِيَاتُ ظُبَاهُ

    And their languid eyes kill

    what its keen sword-blades cannot kill.

  6. لِبَنِي هِلال فِي القِبَابَ أَهِلَّةٌ

    مِنْها استَمَدَّ الصبْحُ فَضْلَ سَنَاهُ

    Banu Hilal have crescent moons within their pavilions;

    from them dawn has drawn its surpassing radiance.

  7. شَحُّوا بهِنَّ وفيهِمُ حَطَّ النَّدَى

    قِدْماً رِحالَتَهُ وَخَطَّ بِنَاهُ

    They are miserly with them, though generosity among them set down

    its saddle long ago and marked out its dwelling.

  8. يَقْرُونَ مَنْ رُفِعتْ لَهُ نِيرانُهُم

    إِلا المُحِبَّ فَما يَرَوْنَ قِراهُ

    They entertain all for whom their fires are raised,

    except the lover: they will not grant him hospitality.

  9. لا يَنْظُرونَ لَهُ علَى غَيْرِ القِلَى

    وَهَوَى فَتَاتِهُم النوارِ طواهُ

    They regard him with nothing but hatred,

    though love for their chaste maiden has wasted him.

  10. قَسَتِ القُلُوب عَليهِ حَتَّى قَلبُها

    فإِذا رجَا لُطْفَ الحَبيبِ جَفاهُ

    Hearts have hardened against him, even hers;

    and when he hopes for the beloved's kindness, she shuns him.

  11. يَا وَيْحَ مَفْؤُودِ الفؤَادِ صَبابَةً

    يَلْقَى الرَّدَى في الخَوْدِ لا تَلْقاهُ

    Alas for one heart-stricken with yearning,

    who meets death through the maiden, while she will not meet him.

  12. خافَ النحولَ علَى نَحَافَةِ جِسمِهِ

    فَبَراهُ حَتَّى لا تَكَادُ تَراهُ

    He feared wasting for his already slender body;

    so it wore him down until you could scarcely see him.

  13. سِرْبِي إلَى سِرْبٍ لحَربِي ناهِدٍ

    لا هِنْدُهُ سَلْمٌ وَلا سَلْمَاهُ

    My course leads to a herd advancing to war against me;

    neither its Hind nor its Salma offers peace.

  14. مِنْ كُلِّ رِيمٍ لا يُرامُ خِباؤُهُ

    أَنَّى لِتَبرِيحِ الصَّدَى بِلَمَاهُ

    Each is a white gazelle whose tent is beyond reach;

    how can tormenting thirst attain her dusky lips?

  15. صالَتْ تُحَاوِلُ صَيْدُهُ لَحظَاتُهُ

    وَرَمَاهُ مِنْ جَفْنَيِهِ ما أَصْمَاهُ

    Her glances assailed him, seeking to capture him,

    and from her eyelids came a shot that slew him outright.

  16. إنْ رُمْتُ سُلْواناً لَهُ عَجِب الهَوى

    مِنِّي وَقَالَ سَلاهُ ما سَلاهُ

    If I seek forgetfulness of her, Love marvels

    at me and says, 'Ask him; he has not forgotten her.'

  17. يَا أخْتَ مَنْ فَخَرَتْ عَمَائِرُ عامِرٍ

    وَسَراتُها بِالقُربِ مِنْ قُرباهُ

    O sister of him whose kinship made Amir's clans proud,

    and their chiefs proud of nearness to his kin.

  18. لا أَنْتِ زُرْتِ وَلا خَيالُكِ في الكَرَى

    حَتَّى لَقَد هَجَر العَمِيدَ كَراهُ

    You have not visited, nor has your phantom in sleep,

    until sleep itself has deserted the lovesick man.

  19. وَاهاً لِقَلبكِ لا يَرِقُّ ورُبَّما

    رقَّ الجمَادُ بفَرْطِ ما عنَّاهُ

    Alas for your heart that will not soften, though often

    even lifeless things soften at his overwhelming anguish.

  20. هَلا تَقَيَّلَتِ الإمَامَ المُرتَضَى

    فيمَا استَرَقَّ الخَلْقَ مِنْ رُحْمَاهُ

    Why did you not emulate Imam al-Murtada

    in the mercy by which he has enthralled all creation?

  21. مَلِكٌ أَجارَ مِن الزَّمَانِ جِوارُهُ

    وَكَفَى البَرِيّةَ جَورَهُ وأَذَاهُ

    A king whose protection shelters against Time,

    and spares mankind its oppression and harm.

  22. قَعَدَ الهُدَى فأقَامَهُ بِمَضَائِهِ

    وَمَضَى النَّدَى فأَعَادَهُ بِلُهاهُ

    Guidance sank down; he raised it with his resolve;

    generosity departed; he restored it with his gifts.

  23. إنَّ الذِي سَوَّاهُ فَرْداً فِي العُلَى

    لَمْ يَرضَ لِلحَقِّ المُبينِ سِواهُ

    Indeed, He who made him peerless in the heights

    approved none but him for the manifest Truth.

  24. قَدْ كَانَ أَرْدَاهُ الغُواةُ وَإِنَّما

    يَحْيَى بنُ عبدِ الوَاحِدِ اسْتَحْيَاهُ

    The misguided had brought it to ruin, but it was

    Yahya ibn Abd al-Wahid who gave it life again.

  25. للَّهِ مِنْهُ خَلِيفَةٌ فِي أرْضِهِ

    يَقْفُو الخَلائِقُ هَدْيَهُ وَهُدَاهُ

    In him God has a caliph upon His earth;

    all creatures follow his conduct and guidance.

  26. وَلاهُ أَمْرَ عِبَادِهِ وَبِلادِهِ

    لَمَّا ارْتَضَاهُ لِحَمْلِ ما وَلاهُ

    He entrusted him with the affairs of His servants and lands,

    when He chose him to bear what He entrusted to him.

  27. واخْتَارَهُ حَكَماً لِبَالِغِ حِكْمَةٍ

    بِصُدُورِها بَلَغَ الصَّلاح مَدَاهُ

    And He chose him as arbiter through profound wisdom,

    through whose expression righteousness reached its utmost.

  28. هَذِي البَسيطَةُ فِي خِفَارَةِ بَأسِهِ

    وَنَدَاهُ مِنْ هَذَا الذِي تَخْشَاهُ

    This earth lies in the protection of his might

    and his bounty—who is there for it to fear?

  29. لا خِيفَةٌ مَع سَيْفِهِ لا ضِيقَةٌ

    مَع سَيْبِهِ وكَفَاكَ مِنْ عَلياهُ

    No fear with his sword, no hardship

    with his bounty—and this suffices to tell his greatness.

  30. لِلشَّرقِ والغَربِ اسْتِبَاقٌ نَحْوَهُ

    كُلّ قُبَيْلَ دُعَائِهِ لَبَّاهُ

    East and West race toward him;

    each answers him even before his call.

  31. وَبِدَارِ سَبْتَةَ والمَرِيَّة مُخْبِر

    أنْ سَوفَ تَحْوِي الخافِقَين يَداهُ

    And the haste of Ceuta and Almeria is a sign

    that his two hands shall encompass East and West.

  32. اللَّهُ أَيَّدَ أَمْرَهُ بِمُؤَيَّدٍ

    قوَّاهُ مَا يُخْفِيهِ مِنْ تَقْواهُ

    God has upheld his rule with one divinely aided,

    strengthened by the piety he keeps concealed.

  33. عُقِدَتْ حُبَاهُ علَى الأَنَاةِ كأَنَّما

    ثَهْلانُ ما عُقِدتْ علَيهِ حُباهُ

    His knee-bands are tied around composure, as though

    Thahlan were what his knee-bands encircled.

  34. لَيْثُ الحِفَاظِ تَعَلَّمَتْ إِقْدَامَهُ

    أَشْبَالُ أَبْنَاء لَهُ أَشْباهُ

    A lion defending honor, whose daring has been learned

    by lion-cub sons, his very likenesses.

  35. وَحَيا السَّماحِ إِذا السَّحائِبُ لَم تَجُد

    يَحْيَى كَفَى استِسْقَاءهَا كَفَّاهُ

    And life-giving rain of bounty: when clouds withhold their gifts,

    Yahya's two palms make prayers for their rain needless.

  36. فَضْلُ المُلُوكِ سَجَاحَةً وسَمَاحَةً

    أَدْنَى فَواضِلُها الغِنَى والجَاهُ

    Foremost among kings in gentleness and generosity,

    whose least gifts are wealth and high rank.

  37. أَهْلاً بِعَصْرٍ زَانَهُ سُلْطَانُهُ

    لا حُسْنُهُ خافٍ وَلا حُسْنَاهُ

    Welcome to an age adorned by its sovereign,

    whose beauty and blessings are not concealed.

  38. وَبِعِيدِ فِطْرٍ للفُتوحِ مُعَقِّبٍ

    كاليَوْمِ أَعْقَبَ صُبْحَهُ بِضُحاهُ

    And to an Eid al-Fitr following victories,

    as a day follows its dawn with its full morning.

  39. يَجْلُو الدُّجُونَ بِنُورِهِ فَكَأنَّما

    سِيمَا الأَمِير المُرتَضَى سِيماهُ

    It clears the gloom with its light, as though

    the countenance of Emir al-Murtada were its own.

  40. وَيُطيلُ فِي حُلَلِ الجَمَالِ تَخايُلاً

    فَتَخالُهُ حَلاهُ بَعْضَ حُلاهُ

    And it struts at length in robes of beauty,

    so you fancy he has adorned it with some of his own finery.

  41. بُشْرَايَ باشَرتُ الغِنَى بِجَنابِهِ

    وَظَفِرتُ مِنْ غَرْس المُنَى بِجَنَاهُ

    Glad news for me! I have found wealth at his side,

    and from the planting of hope I have won its fruit.

  42. تاللَّهِ مَا أَمْلَقْتُ مِنْ بُؤسِي بِهِ

    إِلا وَقَدْ أَثْرَيْتُ مِنْ نُعْمَاهُ

    By God, never in my distress was I poor before him,

    but I had already grown rich through his favors.

  43. هَذِي الثرَيَّا فِي ارتِقاء مَكانِها

    باتَت تُنافِسُنِي حلولَ ثراهُ

    Here are the Pleiades, high though their station,

    vying all night with me to dwell upon his soil.

  44. ولَطَالَمَا أَذْرَتْنِيَ الآمَالُ عَنْ

    صَهواتِها لَمَّا حُمِيتُ ذَراهُ

    And how often hopes had flung me from

    their saddlebacks when I was barred from his shelter!

  45. قَد عَزَّزَ العِيدَينِ عِنْدِيَ ثَالِثٌ

    الفِطْرُ والأَضْحَى وَيَوْمُ رِضاهُ

    A third now joins the two feasts for me:

    Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha, and the day of his favor.