1. أرأيتَ لنَا ولهم ظُعُنا

    وصنيعَ البين بهمْ وبنا

    Have you seen our departing caravans and theirs,

    and what separation has done to them and us?

  2. أرأيتَ نشاوَى قد سكروا

    بكؤوسِ نوىً مُلئتْ شجنا

    Have you seen the tipsy ones, already drunk

    on cups of parting filled with grief,

  3. ومهاً نَظَرَتْ ونواظرُها

    وَصَلتْ دمناً وجفت دمنا

    and oryxes that gazed, whose eyes

    reached some camp-ruins and shunned others?

  4. رحلوا فأثار رحيلُهُمُ

    من حرّ ضلوعك ما كمنا

    They departed, and their departure stirred

    the heat that lay hidden within your ribs.

  5. وحسبتُ سرابَ تتابعهمْ

    لججاً وركائبَهمْ سُفُنا

    And I thought the mirage of their procession

    deep seas, and their mounts ships.

  6. ومهاً نَظَرَتْ ونَوَاظرُها

    خُلِقَتْ لنواظرنا فتنا

    And oryxes that gazed, whose eyes

    were created as temptations for our eyes;

  7. من كلّ مُوَدِّعةٍ نَطَقَتْ

    بالسّرّ مدامعُهَا عَلَنَا

    from every woman bidding farewell there spoke

    her tearful eyes, revealing her secret openly.

  8. سفرتْ لوداعك شمسَ ضحىً

    وَثَنَتْ بكثيبِ نقا غُصُنا

    She unveiled for your farewell a midmorning sun,

    and swayed a bough above a dune of fine sand.

  9. ورَمَتْكَ بمقلةِ خاذلةٍ

    هَجَرَتْكَ وعاوَدتِ الوَسنَا

    And she shot you a glance from a doe's eye,

    which forsook you and returned to drowsiness.

  10. وترى للسحر بها حركاً

    فبه تؤذيك إذا سكنا

    And you see magic stirring within it,

    and with that magic it hurts you when at rest.

  11. كثرتْ في الحبّ بها عللي

    فظهرتُ أسىً وخفيتُ ضنى

    Through her my ailments in love grew many;

    I was visible as sorrow, yet hidden by wasting sickness.

  12. يا وجدي كيف وجدت به

    روحي وغدوت له بَدنا

    O my longing, how did you find in him

    my soul, while I became a body for him?

  13. دَعْ ذكرَ نَزُوحٍ عنك نأى

    وتَبَدّلْ من سَكَنٍ سَكَنَا

    Leave the memory of one who went far from you,

    and exchange one solace for another;

  14. ونزولَ هواكَ بمنزلةٍ

    كَتَبَتْ زمناً ومحتْ زمنا

    and leave your passion's lodging in an abode

    that wrote for a time and erased for a time.

  15. واخضبْ يمناك بِقانِية

    فلها فَرَجٌ ينفي الحزنا

    And stain your right hand with crimson wine,

    for it brings relief that banishes sorrow.

  16. وتريك نجوماً في شَفَقٍ

    يَجلو الظلماءَ لهنّ سنَا

    And it shows you stars in a twilight,

    their radiance dispelling the darkness,

  17. من كفِّ مطرِّفَةٍ عَنَماً

    كالبدر بَدا والرئمِ رنا

    from the hand of one with fingertips like red ʿanam fruit,

    like the full moon appearing and the white gazelle gazing.

  18. لا ينكثُ فيها ذو شَغَفٍ

    بالعَذْلِ وإن خلعَ الرّسنا

    No one enamored of it breaks his pledge

    because of reproach, even if he casts off the reins.

  19. إنّي استوليتُ على أمدي

    ووطئتُ بفطنتيَ الفِطَنَا

    I have mastered my course,

    and with my wit trodden other wits beneath me.

  20. وسبقتُ فمنْ ذا يلحقني

    في مدح عُلا الحسنِ الحسنا

    And I raced ahead—who can catch me

    in praising al-Hasan's fair glories?

  21. ملكٌ في الملك له هِمَمٌ

    نَالَتْ بيمينيه المنَنا

    A king whose aspirations in kingship

    have attained favors through his two right hands.

  22. قُرِنَتْ باليُمْنِ نَقيبَتُهُ

    والعفوُ بقدرتِهِ قُرنا

    His nature is joined to good fortune,

    and pardon is joined to his power.

  23. كالشمسِ نأتْ عن مبصرها

    بُعْداً وسناها منه دنا

    Like the sun, far from the one who sees it

    in distance, yet its radiance draws near to him.

  24. من صانَ الدينَ بِصَولَتِهِ

    وأذلّ بعزّتهِ الوَثَنَا

    He who guarded the faith with his might

    and humbled the idol with his glory;

  25. من يَحْدِرُ فقراً عنك إذا

    فاضَتْ نعماهُ عليك غِنَى

    he who drives poverty away from you when

    his bounty pours over you as wealth.

  26. ورأى مَنْ ضنّ فضائلَهُ

    فسخا وتَشَجّعَ مَنْ جَبُنَا

    And the miser saw his virtues

    and grew generous; the coward grew brave.

  27. وإذا ما أَمَّ له حَرَماً

    مَنْ خافَ مِنَ الدنْيا أمِنَا

    And whenever his sanctuary is sought

    by one who feared the world, that person finds safety.

  28. ولئنْ هدَم الأموالَ فَقَدْ

    شادَ العلياءَ بها وبنى

    Though he demolishes wealth,

    with it he has raised and built high glory.

  29. إن صانَ العِرْضَ وأكْرَمهُ

    فقذال الوفر قد امتهنا

    If he guards honor and holds it dear,

    then the nape of riches has been abased.

  30. وكأنّ الحجّ لساحته

    في يوم نداه يومُ مِنى

    It is as though the pilgrimage to his courtyard

    on the day of his bounty were the day at Mina.

  31. ولنا من فَضْلِ مَذاهِبِهِ

    آمالٌ نَبْلُغُها ومُنى

    And from his generous ways we have

    hopes we attain, and wishes,

  32. وصَوَارمُ للأقدارِ فلا

    تقفُ الكفّارُ لها جُنَنَا

    and keen swords serving fate; no

    unbelievers can stand as shields against them.

  33. تَشْدوه إذا سكرتْ بدمٍ

    في ضرب جماجمهم غننا

    When drunk with blood, they sing to him

    humming strains as they strike their skulls.

  34. يَتَنَبّعُ ماءُ تألُّقِهَا

    فيقالُ أفي سَكَنٍ سكنا

    The water of their gleam wells forth,

    and one asks, "Has it dwelt within a flame?"

  35. لا رَوْضَ ذَوَى منها قِدماً

    بالدّهْرِ ولا ماءٌ أسنا

    No meadow of theirs has ever withered

    with time, nor has their water grown stagnant.

  36. وتسيلُ سيولُ جحافله

    فحقائقها تنفي الظَّنَنا

    And the torrents of his armies flow,

    their realities banishing conjecture.

  37. وإذا ما هَبْوتُها كَثُفَتْ

    تجِدُ العقبانُ بها وُكُنَا

    And when their dust-cloud grows thick,

    eagles find roosts within it.

  38. إن ابنَ عليّ حازَ عُلاً

    فالفعلُ له والقولُ لنا

    If the son of Ali has won high glory,

    the deeds are his, and the words are ours.

  39. قَمَرٌ تُسْتَمْطَرُ مِنه يَدٌ

    فتجودُ أناملُه مُزُنا

    A moon whose hand is entreated for rain,

    and his fingers pour forth rainclouds.

  40. ينحو الآراءَ بفكرته

    فيصيبُ لها نُقَباً بِهِنَا

    He pursues counsels with his thought,

    and finds for them men well versed in them,

  41. من غُلْبِ أسُودٍ ما عَمَرُوا

    إلّا آجامَ ظباً وقَنَا

    among thick-necked lions who have dwelt

    only in thickets of sword-edges and spears.

  42. وكأنّ الحربَ إذا فتحَتْ

    تبدي لهمُ مرأىً حَسنَا

    It is as though war, when it opens,

    reveals to them a beautiful sight.

  43. وتخالهمُ فيها ادّرَعوا

    بِسَلُوق وقد سَلّوا اليَمنَا

    And you would think they had donned in it

    Saluq's mail, and drawn Yemeni blades.

  44. وكأنّ سوابغَهُمْ حَبَبٌ

    قد جاشَ بهم ماءٌ أجِنا

    It is as though their full-length coats of mail were bubbles

    in stagnant water surging around them.

  45. يغشى الإظلامَ بها الضرغا

    مُ فتجعَلُ مُقْلَتَهُ أذُنا

    The lion enters the darkness within it,

    and it turns his eye into an ear.

  46. ولهم بإزاءِ قرابتهم

    أسماءٌ نُعْظِمُها وَكُنَى

    Alongside their kinship they possess

    names and bynames we revere.

  47. شَجَرٌ بالبّرِ مورّقَةٌ

    ننتابُ لها ظلّاً وَجَنى

    Trees leafing out with kindness,

    we visit them for shade and fruit.

  48. وإذا مَتَحَتْ مُهجاً يدُهُ

    جعل الخطّيّ لها شطنا

    And when his hand draws up lifeblood,

    he makes the Khatti spear its well-rope.

  49. وكفاه الرمحُ فَعالَ السيف

    فقيل أيضربُ مَنْ طَعَنا

    And the spear suffices him for the sword's work,

    so one asks, "Does one who thrusts need to strike?"

  50. يا من أحيا بالفخر له

    بمكارمه أدباً دُفِنَا

    O you who revived, through praise of him,

    by his noble deeds, a buried literary art!

  51. فأفادَ الشّعرَ مُنَقِّحه

    وأصابَ بمنطقِهِ اللّسنَا

    Thus its refiner enriched poetry,

    and attained eloquence through his speech.

  52. أشبهتَ أباكَ وكنتَ بما

    أشبهتَ مَعاليه قمنا

    You resembled your father, and were, through what

    you shared of his high virtues, worthy of them.

  53. وحصاةُ أناتك لو وُزِنَتْ

    أنْسَتْ برجاحتها حَضَنَا

    And if the pebble of your composure were weighed,

    its weight would make Mount Hadan forgotten.

  54. أنشأتَ شوانيَ طائرةً

    وبنيتَ على ماءٍ مُدُنا

    You launched flying war-galleys,

    and built cities upon the water,

  55. ببروجِ قتالٍ تحسبها

    في شُمّ شواهقها قُنَنَا

    with battle-towers you would think

    mountain peaks in their lofty heights.

  56. ترْمي ببروجٍ إنْ ظَهَرَتْ

    لعدوٍّ محرقةً بَطَنَا

    They hurl towers that, when they appear

    to an enemy, burn his belly,

  57. وبنفطٍ أبيضَ تَحْسَبُهُ

    ماءً وبه تذكي السّكَنَا

    and white naphtha, which you would think

    water, yet with it you kindle fire.

  58. ضَمِنَ التوفيقُ لها ظَفَراً

    من هُلْكِ عداتك ما ضمنا

    Success has guaranteed them victory,

    and all it pledged of your enemies' destruction.

  59. أنا مَن أهدى لك مُمْتَدحاً

    دُرَراً أغليتُ لها ثمنا

    I am the one who brought you, as a panegyrist,

    pearls for which I set a lofty price.

  60. وقديمُ الوِرْدِ جديدُ الحَمْدِ

    هناك أفوهُ به وهنا

    And the draught is old, the praise is new;

    I utter it there and here.

  61. ومدَحتُ غلاماً جدّ أبيك

    وها أنذا شيخاً يَفَنَا

    And as a boy I praised your father's grandfather,

    and here I am, a decrepit old man.

  62. وتخذتُ تَجِنّةَ لي وطناً

    وهجرتُ صقلّيَةً وطنا

    And I made Tajinna my homeland,

    and forsook Sicily as my homeland.

  63. لَقِيَتكَ عُداتُكَ صاغرَةً

    ترجو من نَوْءَيْكَ الهُدنا

    Your enemies met you humbled,

    hoping for truces from your two rain-stars.

  64. فسحابُ نداكَ هَمَتْ مِنَحاً

    وسماءُ ظباك هَمَتْ مَحنَا

    The clouds of your bounty rained gifts,

    and the sky of your blades rained ordeals.

  65. وبقيتَ بقاءَ مجاهدة

    وسلكتَ لكلّ عُلاً سفُنُا

    And may you endure as long as striving endures,

    and sail ships toward every height of glory.