1. ثَنى الصّعْدَةَ السّمْراءَ منْ لِينِ قَدِّهِ

    وجَرّدَ منْ أجْفانِهِ سَيْفَ خَدِّهِ

    He bent the tawny lance with the suppleness of his figure,

    And from his eyelids unsheathed the sword of his cheek.

  2. وأقْبَلَ في جَيْشٍ منَ الحُسْنِ رائِعٍ

    ترَى العَرَبَ العَرْباءَ منْ دونِ بَنْدِهِ

    And he advanced in a magnificent army of beauty;

    You see the pure-blooded Arabs beneath his banner.

  3. فمِن ثُعَلِ الزّوْراءِ لمحَةُ طَرْفِهِ

    ومنْ مُضَرِ الحَمْراءِ صَفْحَةُ خدِّهِ

    For the flash of his gaze is from Thuʿal al-Zawra,

    And the surface of his cheek is from Mudar the Red.

  4. ولاحَتْ لهُ في حوْمَةِ القَلْبِ فتْكَةٌ

    تعجَّلَ نصْرَ اللهِ فيها لوَعْدِهِ

    And a deadly stroke presented itself to him on the heart's battlefield;

    He sought swift victory from God there, trusting His promise.

  5. فحكّمَ سيْفَ اللحْظِ في عسْكَرِ الهَوى

    فكَمْ مُهْجةٍ مطْلولَةٍ فوقَ خدِّه

    So he made the sword of his glance arbiter over love's army;

    And how much lifeblood lay shed unavenged upon his cheek!

  6. وكم منْ فُؤادٍ ضاعَ في مأزَق الهَوى

    فَقيداً وقد أبْلَى بمَبْلَغِ جُهْدِهِ

    And how many a heart was lost in love's perilous straits,

    Missing, though it had fought to the utmost of its strength.

  7. وأشْكَلَ فيها موْتُهُ منْ حَياتِهِ

    فعُمِّرَ في حُكْمِ الغَرامِ لفَقْدِهِ

    And there its death was hard to distinguish from its life,

    So love's judgment granted it long life because it was missing.

  8. بنَفْسي حِجازيُّ الجَمالِ إذا انْتَمى

    تَطأْطَأَتِ العُلْيا لعِزّةِ مجْدِهِ

    My soul as ransom for the Hijazi in beauty! When he names his lineage,

    The heights bow before the might of his glory.

  9. تبسَّمَ عنْ دُرٍّ منَ السِّمْطِ رائِقٍ

    تأنّقَ صُنْعُ اللهِ في نَظْمِ عِقْدِهِ

    He smiled, revealing pure pearls from a strand;

    God's handiwork was exquisite in stringing his necklace.

  10. ثَناياهُ قد أبْدَتْ مَعالِمَ بارِقٍ

    وأنْفاسُهُ أبْدَتْ نَواسِمَ نجْدِهِ

    His front teeth have revealed the landmarks of Bariq,

    And his breaths have revealed the breezes of his Najd.

  11. وأعْطافُهُ تبْدو علَيْها إذا انْثَنى

    شَمائِلُ منْ بانِ الحِجازِ ورَنْدِهِ

    And on his flanks, whenever he sways, appear

    The graces of the ban-trees and laurels of the Hijaz.

  12. تفَجَّرَ منْ عيْنِ الجَمالِ بمَوْرِد

    تَحومُ القُلوبُ الهِيمُ منْ دونِ وِرْدِهِ

    From beauty's spring he welled forth at a watering place;

    Thirst-maddened hearts circle, without reaching his water.

  13. يَلوحُ على أزْرارِهِ قَمَرُ الدُّجى

    ويَمْرَحُ غُصْنُ البانِ في طيِّ بُرْدِهِ

    Above his buttons shines the moon of night,

    And a ban-tree bough frolics in the folds of his cloak.

  14. ويحْتالُ أثْناءَ الذُّوابَةِ هازِئاً

    كما اخْتالَ سيْفٌ في حَمائِلِ غِمْدِهِ

    And he works his wiles within his forelock's folds, mockingly,

    As a sword struts in the straps of its sheath.

  15. لَئِنْ قَلِقَتْ أعْطافُهُ في وِشاحِهِ

    فكمْ أقْلَقَتْ قلْبَ المَشوقِ بوَجْدِهِ

    If his flanks are restless within his sash,

    How often they have troubled the longing lover's heart with his passion!

  16. وإنْ كَحَلَ السِّحْرُ المُبينُ جُفونَهُ

    فكَمْ كحِلَتْ طَرْفُ المُعنّى بسُهْدِهِ

    And if manifest magic has lined his eyelids with kohl,

    How often the tormented lover's eye has been kohled by his sleeplessness!

  17. وقالوا عِذارٌ قلْتُ لا بَلْ صَحيفةٌ

    عَقَدْتُ لهُ فيه وَثيقَةَ وُدِّهِ

    And they said, 'Down on his cheek.' I said, 'No, rather a page'

    On which I drew up for him a covenant of his love.

  18. وشَى صَفحَةَ الخدِّ الصّقيلِ فزانَها

    كما زانَ صَفْحَ السّيْفِ وشْيُ فِرِنْدِهِ

    It patterned the surface of his polished cheek and so adorned it,

    As the pattern of its watered steel adorns a sword's flat.

  19. فَيا لابِساً شَعْرَ الذُّؤابَةِ ناسِكاً

    ليُخْبِرَ في وَصْلي بمَذْهَبِ زُهْدِهِ

    So, O wearer of a forelock's hair in ascetic guise,

    To proclaim his creed of abstinence concerning union with me:

  20. ركِبْتُ طَريقَ الصّبْرِ وهْيَ مَفازَةٌ

    ليَ اللهُ منْ غَوْلِ الطّريقِ وبُعْدِهِ

    I took the road of patience, though it is a desert waste;

    God help me against the road's perils and its length!

  21. مَواقيتُ هَجْرٍ أرْبَعونَ قَضيْتُها

    فَيا مَنْ لصَبْري منْ بُلوغِ أشُدِّهِ

    Forty terms of estrangement I have endured;

    Oh, who will save my patience from reaching its full maturity?

  22. إذا حَمَلَتْ طَلَّ الغَمامَةِ أدْمُعي

    رَوى القلبُ منّي في الهَوى سِقْطُ زَنْدِهِ

    When my tears bear the light rain of a cloud,

    The sparks of its firestick water my heart in love.

  23. سَقى اللهُ عهْدَ القُرْبِ أفْضَلَ ما سَقى

    عُهودَ الهَوى العُذْريِّ منْ صَوْبِ عهْدِهِ

    May God water the days of closeness with the best rain He ever bestowed

    On the days of chaste, ʿUdhri love, from His recurring downpours.

  24. ويوْماً على رَغْمِ الوُشاةِ اخْتَلَسْتُهُ

    جَهَرْتُ بشُكْرِ اللهِ فيهِ وحَمْدِهِ

    And a day I snatched despite the talebearers—

    I openly thanked God and praised Him that day.

  25. تَناعَسَ جَفْنُ الدّهْرِ عنّيَ قاصِداً

    ورُبّتَما نالَ امْرؤٌ فوْقَ قَصْدِهِ

    Time's eyelid feigned sleep, deliberately overlooking me,

    And sometimes a man attains beyond his aim.

  26. وحَلّ عَميدُ البيْتِ بيْتيَ زائِراً

    كما حلّ بدْرُ التِّمِّ في بَيْتِ سَعْدِهِ

    And the chief of the household entered my home as a visitor,

    As the full moon alights in the house of its good fortune.

  27. فيا لَيْتَ قومِي يعْلَمونَ بأنّني

    ظَفِرْتُ على يأسي بجَنّةِ خُلْدِهِ

    Oh, if only my people knew that I

    Had won, despite my despair, his everlasting paradise.

  28. فقبّلْتُ في لَيلِ الذّؤابَةِ وجْهَهُ

    وعُذْتُ بذاكَ النّورِ منْ ليْلِ صَدِّهِ

    So I kissed his face in the night of his forelock,

    And sought refuge in that light from the night of his rejection.

  29. وعاطَيْتُهُ حَمْراءَ في لونِ أدْمُعي

    إذا سَكَبَتْ ذوْبَ العَقيقِ لبُعْدِهِ

    And I shared with him red wine the color of my tears,

    When they poured molten agate because he was far away.

  30. وقلْتُ لِساقِيها وللأُنْسِ طاعَةٌ

    تحَكَّمُ في هَزْلِ الحَديثِ وجدِّهِ

    And I said to its cupbearer, while obedience to conviviality

    Ruled the jest and earnestness of conversation:

  31. أدِرْها فَرَوْضُ الخَدِّ أخْضَلَهُ الحَيا

    وحَفَّ طِرازُ الآسِ منْ حوْلِ وَرْدِهِ

    'Pass it round, for rain has moistened the garden of his cheek,

    And a border of myrtle encircles its rose.'

  32. فناوَلَها مَمْزوجَةً برُضابِهِ

    ولوْ أنّني أنْصَفْتُ قُلْتُ بشُهْدِهِ

    So he offered it, mixed with his saliva,

    Though, had I been fair, I would have said, 'With his honey.'

  33. فلمّا بدَتْ للرّاحِ فيهِ ارْتياحَةٌ

    ومالَتْ شَمالٌ للشَّمولِ بقَدِّهِ

    Then, when the wine's exhilaration appeared in him,

    And a north wind of wine swayed his figure,

  34. توسّدَ أضغاثَ الرَّياحينِ وانْثَنى

    يغِطُّ غَطيطَ الطِّفْلِ منْ فوْقِ مَهْدِهِ

    He pillowed himself on bundles of fragrant herbs and curled up,

    Snoring like a child upon his cradle.

  35. فبايَعْتُ سُلْطانَ العَفافِ ولمْ أُجِزْ

    على فِكْرَتي إلا الوَفاءَ بعَهْدِهِ

    So I pledged allegiance to chastity's sovereign, and let nothing

    Cross my mind except fidelity to his covenant.

  36. أبا الشّرف الأرْضَى تلطَّفْ بأنْفُس

    غَزاها غَرامٌ أصْبَحَتْ نهْبَ جُنْدِهِ

    O Abu al-Sharaf al-Arda, be gentle with souls

    That passion invaded; they have become its army's plunder.

  37. ترفَّقْ وعَلِّلْها بأيْسَرِ نائِلٍ

    يَحوطُ ذَماها كالسَّلامِ ورَدِّهِ

    Be gentle, and soothe them with the slightest favor

    That protects their last spark of life, like a greeting and its reply.

  38. وإنْ أنْتَ لم تَفْعَلْ فما أنْتَ في الوَرى

    بأوّلِ موْلَى جارَ في حُكْمِ عبْدِهِ

    And if you do not, you are not, among mankind,

    The first master to act unjustly in judging his slave.