1. رَعى مِن أخي الوجدِ طيفٌ ذماما

    فَحَلّلَ من وَصْلِ سلمى حرَاما

    A phantom kept faith with a brother of yearning,

    And made lawful the forbidden union with Salma.

  2. تَحَمّلَ منها بريّا العبير

    ومنْ أرْضِها بأريجِ الخزامى

    It came from her bearing the fragrance of perfume,

    And from her land the scent of lavender.

  3. تَعَرّضَهُ سُورُ قَصْرٍ فَطارَ

    وَسَاوَرَهُ مَوْجُ بَحْرٍ فَعاما

    A palace wall blocked its way, so it flew;

    A sea-wave assailed it, so it swam.

  4. مَشى بالتواصلِ بَيْنَ الجُفونِ

    وَداوَى السليمَ وأهدى السلاما

    It walked between eyelids, bearing reunion,

    And healed the snake-bitten one and offered peace.

  5. وَمَثّلَ للصّبّ في نومِهِ

    ضجيعاً إذا أرّقَ الصّبَّ ناما

    And conjured for the lover in his sleep

    A bedfellow who slept while keeping the lover awake;

  6. ومن صُوَرِ الفكر محبوبةً

    يعودُ عليلاً بها مستهاما

    And from thought's images, a beloved woman,

    Visiting one ailing and crazed with love for her.

  7. لها عَنَمٌ في غُصُونِ البنان

    يَعُلّ نَدى أُقحُوانٍ بشاما

    She has crimson 'anam shoots upon her finger-boughs;

    Daisy-dew gives balsam twigs drink after drink.

  8. ترى نَضْرَةَ الحُسْنِ في خَدّها

    تَمَيّعُ ماءً وتُذْكى ضِرَاما

    You see beauty's fresh bloom in her cheek,

    Melting into water and kindled into flame.

  9. تَرَنّحُ بالبدرِ غُصْناً رطيباً

    وترتجّ في السيرِ دِعْصاً ركاما

    She sways, a supple bough bearing the full moon,

    And quivers as she walks, a heaped sand-dune.

  10. فأمسيتُ منها بماءِ اللمى

    أُرَوّي أُواماً وأشْفي سقاما

    So I spent the evening, with the moisture of her dusky lips,

    Quenching burning thirst and curing sickness.

  11. حلا لي وأسكرني ريقها

    فهل خامرَ الأرْيُ منْهُ المداما

    Her saliva tasted sweet to me and made me drunk;

    Had its honey, then, mingled with wine?

  12. تلاقتْ صواعِدُ أنْفاسِها

    فمازَجَ منها السلوُّ الغراما

    Her rising breaths met one another,

    So, from her, oblivion mingled with ardor.

  13. ولا عَجَبٌ أنّ ضَمّاتنا

    جَبَرْنَ القلوبَ وَهِضْنَ العظاما

    No wonder that our embraces

    Mended hearts and fractured bones,

  14. بأرضٍ دحاها الكرى بيننا

    ننالُ الأمانيّ فيها احتكاما

    In a land that sleep spread out between us,

    Where we gain our wishes at our own command.

  15. فلا بَسَطَ الصبحُ فيها الضّياءَ

    ولا قَبَضَ الليلُ عنها الظلاما

    May dawn never spread its light there,

    Nor night withdraw its darkness from it.

  16. فلو عاينَ الأمرَ حلَّ الجوادَ

    وشدّ الحزامَ وسلّ الحساما

    For had he witnessed the scene, he would have untethered his steed,

    Tightened the girth and drawn his sword,

  17. وأقبلَ بالرّيحِ نحوَ السّحابِ

    يظنّ سنَا البرق منها ابتساما

    And sped with the wind toward the clouds,

    Thinking lightning's gleam a smile from her.

  18. ولما أتانا من الإنتباهِ

    دخلنا له بالوصال المناما

    And when it came to us out of wakefulness,

    We entered sleep to join it in union.

  19. جعلنا تزاوُرَنا في الكَرى

    فما نَتّقي من مَلومٍ مَلاما

    We made our mutual visits in sleep,

    And feared no reproach from one himself reproached.

  20. وَمَرّتْ لطائفُ أرْواحِنا

    بِلَغْوِ الهَوَى حيثُ مَرّتْ كراما

    The subtle essences of our souls passed

    By love's idle talk, noble wherever they passed.

  21. وطامٍ كجيشِ الوَغَى لا تخوضُ

    به غمرةُ الموتِ إلا اقتحاما

    And a swelling sea, like battle's host, into which

    Death's engulfing surge enters only by charging headlong.

  22. تُباري عليه الدَّبورُ الصَّبا

    مُنَاقَضَةً والشمالُ النعامى

    Over it, the west wind vies with the east,

    In opposition, and the north wind with the south.

  23. إذا ما ارتمى فيه قَرْمُ الرّدَى

    ركبنا له وهو يرغُو سناما

    Whenever death's great camel plunged into it,

    We mounted a hump to face it, while it foamed.

  24. وردنا فُراتاً يُنيلُ الحياة

    ومن كفّ يحيى انتجعنا الغماما

    We came to sweet water bestowing life,

    And sought rainclouds from Yahya's palm.

  25. لدى مَلِكٍ جادَ بالمكرمات

    تلاقيه في كلّ فَضْلٍ إماما

    Beside a king lavish with noble favors,

    Whom you find a leader in every excellence.

  26. أشَمُّ قديمُ تراثِ العُلى

    يراجِحُ بالحلم منه شَماما

    High-nosed, with an ancient inheritance of glory,

    His forbearance outweighs Shammam.

  27. إذا قَرّ في دَسْتِهِ جالساً

    رأيتَ الملوكَ لديه قياما

    When he sits settled upon his throne,

    You see kings standing before him.

  28. بنادٍ تَرَى فيه سَمْتَ الوقارِ

    يَزِينُ عظيماً أبيّاً هُماما

    In a gathering where you see the bearing of dignity

    Adorning a mighty, proud, valiant man.

  29. يقلل في الجفن عنه اللحاظَ

    ويبعثُ بالوزن فيه الكلاما

    It restrains the eyelids' glances toward him,

    And sends forth speech there in measured words.

  30. تَعَلّمَ عِفّتَهُ سيفُهُ

    فليس يُريقُ نجيعاً حراما

    His sword has learned his chastity,

    And sheds no forbidden blood.

  31. وما زالَ دينُ الهدى في الخطوبِ

    يشدّ عليه يديه اعتصاما

    Through crises, the faith of right guidance has ever

    Held fast to him with both hands for protection.

  32. ولا عَجَبٌ أنّ صَرْفَ الزّمان

    تُصَرّفُ يُسْرَاهُ منه زماما

    No wonder that the vicissitudes of time

    Are steered by a rein in his left hand.

  33. أما مَهّدَ الملكَ يحيى أما

    أرَاكَ لكلّ اعوجاج قَوَاما

    Has Yahya not secured the kingdom? Has he not

    Shown you a correction for every crookedness?

  34. أما نَشَأتْ منه سُحْبُ النّدى

    سواكبَ تهمي وكانت جهاما

    Have not the clouds of bounty risen from him,

    Pouring and streaming, though once they were rainless?

  35. أما ذِكْرُهُ ذِكْرُ من يُتّقى

    يداً ويكون كلامٌ كِلاما

    Is not his renown that of one who is feared

    For his hand, and whose words become wounds?

  36. يبيد العدا بِلُهامٍ يريك

    رداءً على منكبيه القَتاما

    He destroys his foes with a vast host that shows you

    Battle-dust as a mantle upon his shoulders.

  37. بعزْمٍ يُجَرّدُ منه السيوفَ

    ورأيٍ يفوّقُ منه السهاما

    With resolve from which he unsheathes swords,

    And judgment from which he nocks arrows.

  38. يَعُدّ من الصِّيد آبائِهِ

    كُفاةً حُفاةً وَغُرّاً كراما

    He numbers among his proud forefathers

    Capable men, barefoot, illustrious and noble.

  39. مجالسُهُمْ في الحروبِ السروجُ

    إذا قَعَدَ الموتُ فيها وقاما

    Their seats in war are saddles,

    When death sits there and rises.

  40. تُحَمّرُ حِمْيَرُ أرْضَ الوَغَى

    وَتَفْلُقُ بالبِيضِ بَيْضاً وهاما

    Himyar reddens the earth of battle,

    And cleaves helmets and heads with bright blades.

  41. تَكَهّلَ مُلكُهُمُ والزمانُ

    يُصَرَّفُ بين يديه غلاما

    Their rule has reached maturity, while Time

    Is commanded before it like a boy.

  42. وجيشٍ يجيشُ بأبطاله

    كما ماجَ موجُ العباب التطاما

    And an army surging with its champions,

    As the waves of a swollen sea surge and collide,

  43. بنقعٍ يُريكَ نجومَ السماء

    إذا الجوّ منه على الشمس غاما

    With battle-dust that shows you heaven's stars

    When it darkens the sky above the sun.

  44. إذا همّ بالفتكِ فيه الشجاعُ

    وحامَ على نفسه الموتُ خاما

    When a brave man there intends a deadly assault,

    And death circles over his life, he recoils.

  45. غدا ابن تميم به قَسْوَراً

    وقد لَبِسَ البدْرُ منه التماما

    Ibn Tamim became a lion within it,

    And the full moon clothed itself in fullness drawn from him.

  46. فيا مَنْ تسامى بهمّاتِهِ

    فنالَ بها للثريّا مَصَاما

    O you who rose so high through your ambitions,

    And through them gained a foothold at the Pleiades,

  47. ملأتَ الزمانَ على وُسْعِهِ

    أناةً وبطشاً فراضا الأناما

    You filled time in all its vastness

    With patience and might, which together tamed mankind,

  48. وحلماً مفيداً وروعاً مبيداً

    وعيشاً هنيئاً وموتاً زؤاما

    And beneficial forbearance and annihilating terror,

    And pleasant life and swift, grievous death,

  49. وَقُضْباً بضربِ الطّلى مقطرات

    وَقُبّاً على الهامِ تعدو هياما

    And blades dripping from blows upon necks,

    And lean steeds galloping wildly over heads.

  50. جعلتَ لكلّ مقالٍ فَعَالاً

    ولم تَحْتَقِبْ في صنيعٍ أثاما

    You matched every utterance with a deed,

    And stored up no sin in anything you did.

  51. ليهنك عودةُ عيدٍ مَشَى

    إليك على جَمْرَةِ الشوْق عاما

    May the return of a festival gladden you—one that walked

    To you for a year upon the live coal of longing,

  52. وأوْدَعَ في كلّ لحظٍ رنا

    إليك وفي كلّ لفظٍ سلاما

    And placed in every glance it cast

    Toward you, and in every word, a greeting,

  53. وحجّ بربعك بيتَ العلى

    وطافَ به لا يملّ الزحاما

    And made pilgrimage in your abode to the House of Glory,

    And circled it, never weary of the throng.

  54. ومن لَثْمِ يمناك لولا النّدى

    رأى حَجَرَ الركن يُغْشَى استلاما

    And from the kisses on your right hand, but for its bounty,

    It would have seen the Corner Stone thronged for ritual touching.

  55. حَمَيْتَ حِمى المُلْكِ بالمُرْهَفاتِ

    وَدُمْتَ له في المعالي دواما

    You guarded the kingdom's sanctuary with keen blades,

    And may you endure for it forever in exalted honor.