1. للأقاحي بفيكِ نَوْرٌ ونورُ

    ما كذا تَسْنَحُ المهاةُ النّفُورُ

    In your mouth, the daisies have blossom and light.

    The skittish oryx does not pass by like this.

  2. من لها أنْ تعيرها منكِ مشياً

    قَدَمٌ رَخْصَةٌ وخطوٌ قصيرُ

    Who could lend her your manner of walking—

    a supple foot and a short step?

  3. أَنتِ تَسبينَ ذا العَفافِ بِدَلٍّ

    يَستَخِفُّ الحليمَ وهو وقورُ

    You captivate the chaste with a coy charm

    that unsettles the forbearing man, though he is dignified.

  4. وهيَ لا تَستَبي بِلَفظٍ رَخيمٍ

    يُنزِلُ العُصْمَ وهيَ في الطود فُورُ

    She cannot captivate with a mellow utterance

    that brings down white-footed ibex bounding on the mountain,

  5. وَحَديثٍ كَأَنَّهُ قِطَعُ الرّو

    ضِ إذا اخضَلَّ مِن نَداهُ البكورُ

    nor with speech like patches of a garden

    when early morning is drenched with its dew.

  6. فَثَناني مِن رَوضِ حُسنِك عَنها

    نَرجِسٌ ذابِلٌ وَوردٌ نَضيرُ

    From the garden of your beauty, what turned me from her

    was a drooping narcissus and a fresh rose,

  7. وشقيقٌ يُشَقّ عن أُقحُوانٍ

    لِنقابِ النّقا عَلَيهِ خَفيرُ

    and an anemone parted to reveal daisies,

    over which a guard watches the passes through the dune;

  8. وأريجٌ على النَّوى مِنكَ يَسري

    وَيُجيب النسيمَ منه عَبيرُ

    and fragrance that travels from you despite separation,

    with perfume from it answering the breeze;

  9. وثنايا يضاحكُ الشمسَ منها

    في مُحَيّاكِ كوكبٌ يستنيرُ

    and front teeth from which, smiling back at the sun,

    a star shines brightly in your face.

  10. ريقها في بقيّةِ الليل مسكٌ

    شِيبَ بالرّاحِ منه شهدٌ مَشورُ

    Her saliva in the night's last hours is musk;

    honey drawn from it is blended with wine.

  11. لِسُكونِ الغرامِ مِنهُ حَرَاكٌ

    وَلِمَيْتِ السّقامِ فيهِ نُشورُ

    From it, love's stillness is stirred,

    and in it, one dead of lovesickness is raised.

  12. أَلبَسَ اللَّهُ صورةً منكِ حسناً

    وَعُيونُ الحسانِ نَحوَكِ صورُ

    God clothed a form of yours in beauty,

    and the eyes of beautiful women turn toward you.

  13. لَكِ عَينٌ إِن يَنبعِ السحرُ منها

    فهو بالخَبْلِ في العقول يغورُ

    You have an eye: if magic wells up from it,

    it sinks deep into minds, bearing madness.

  14. وجفونٌ تشيرُ بالحبِّ منها

    عن فؤادٍ إلى فؤادٍ سفيرُ

    And eyelids, from which a gesture of love

    is an envoy from heart to heart.

  15. وَقَعتْ لَحظَةٌ على القَلبِ منها

    أَفلا يَترُك الحَشا ويَطيرُ

    A glance from them has fallen upon the heart;

    will it not leave the breast and fly?

  16. يَطْبَعُ الوَشيُ فَوقَ حُسنِكَ لَمساً

    مِنهُ أَمثالُ ما له تَصويرُ

    Brocade imprints upon your beauty, through touch,

    copies of the designs it bears.

  17. فَإِذا ما نَمى الحديثُ إِلَيها

    قيلَ هَل يَنقُشُ الحريرَ حريرُ

    And when word of it reaches her,

    it is said: 'Can silk imprint silk?'

  18. أَنتِ لا تُرحمين منك فيفدَى

    مِعْصَماً في السوار منه أَسيرُ

    You will not pity and ransom even your own

    wrist, held captive within its bracelet.

  19. فمتى يَرْحَمُ الصِّبا منك صَبّاً

    فاضَ مُستَولِياً عَلَيه القتيرُ

    Then when will your youth pity a lovesick man

    whom gray hair has flooded and overcome?

  20. ودعيني فقد تَعَرّضَ بَيْنٌ

    بوشيكِ النوى إليَّ يُشيرُ

    Bid me farewell, for separation has appeared,

    signaling to me that departure is near.

  21. وَغَلى بالفراقِ مِرْجَلُ حُزْني

    فهو بالدّمع من جْفُوني يفُورُ

    The cauldron of my sorrow boils with parting,

    and seethes from my eyelids in tears.

  22. قالت اللثمُ لا أراهُ حَلالاً

    بيننا والعناقُ حظٌّ كبيرُ

    She said: 'I do not deem kissing lawful

    between us; an embrace is a great boon.'

  23. قلت هذا علمتُهُ غيرَ أنّي

    أسألُ اليومَ منك ما لا يضيرُ

    I said: 'I know that, yet I

    ask of you today only what does no harm.

  24. فاجعلي اللَّحظَ زادَ جسمٍ سيبقى

    روحُهُ في يديكِ ثُمَّ يَسيرُ

    So make your glance provisions for a body that will leave

    its soul in your hands, and then journey on.'

  25. فَلِيَ الشوقُ خاذلٌ عن سُلُوّي

    وَلِدينِ الهدى علَيَّ نَصيرُ

    For me, longing thwarts my forgetting;

    for the faith of guidance, Ali is a champion:

  26. مَلِكٌ تَتّقي الملوكُ سَنَاهُ

    أوَ مَا يَفْرِسُ الذئابَ الهَصُورُ

    a king whose radiance kings fear.

    Does not the rending lion prey upon wolves?

  27. وهو ضارٍ آجامُهُ ذُبّل الخطّ

    على مُقْتَضَى العلى وقصورُ

    He is a predator: his thickets are slender spears of al-Khatt

    and palaces, as lofty rank requires.

  28. حازمٌ للطِّعان أشرَعَ سمراً

    حُطِمَتْ في الصدورِ مِنها صُدورُ

    Resolute, he leveled brown spears for thrusting,

    whose heads were shattered inside chests.

  29. وَحَمَى سَيْفُهُ الثّغورَ فما تَق

    رَبُ رَشْفَ العُدَاةِ منها ثغورُ

    His sword has guarded the frontiers, so their mouths

    never come within reach of the enemies' sipping.

  30. ذو عَطاءٍ لَوَ انّهُ كان غيثاً

    أورَقَتْ في المحولِ مِنهُ الصخورُ

    Possessed of bounty—if his bounty were rain,

    rocks would sprout leaves from it in drought.

  31. تَحسِبُ البحرَ بَعضَ جَدواهُ لَولا

    أَنَّهُ في الورودِ عَذبٌ نَميرُ

    You would reckon the sea part of his bounty, were it not

    that his bounty, when sought, is sweet, wholesome water.

  32. مَن تَراهُ يَحِدُّ فَضْلَ عَلِيٍّ

    وهو مُسْتَصْعَبُ المرَام عسيرُ

    Who, do you think, could bound Ali's excellence,

    so formidable to seek and difficult to attain?

  33. فَبِمَعروفِهِ الخِضَمِّ غَنِيٌّ

    وإلى بأسه الحديدُ فقيرُ

    Through his bounty the great sea is rich,

    and iron stands in need of his might.

  34. كَم لَهُ مِن خَميسِ حَربٍ رَحاها

    بِسيولٍ منَ الغُمودِ تَدورُ

    How many battle-hosts he has, whose war-mill

    turns with torrents pouring from the scabbards!

  35. أَرضُهُ مِن سَنابِكٍ قادِحاتٍ

    شَرَرَ النّقْعِ والسماءُ نسورُ

    Its earth is made of hooves striking

    sparks of dust; its sky is vultures,

  36. واجِداتُ القِرى بِقَتلى الأَعادي

    مِن حَشاها لَدى النشورِ نُشورُ

    finding hospitality in the enemy dead;

    from their bellies, at the Resurrection, the dead shall rise.

  37. جَحفَلٌ صُبْحُهُ منَ النقعِ لَيْلٌ

    يضْحَكُ الموتُ فيه وهو بَسُورُ

    A vast host whose morning is night from dust,

    where Death laughs, grim though he is.

  38. تَضَعُ البيضُ مِنهُ سودَ المَنايا

    بِنِكاحِ الحروبِ وهيَ ذكورُ

    Its white swords give birth to black deaths

    through mating with wars, though they are male.

  39. وَكَأنَّ القتامَ فيها غَمامٌ

    بِنَجيعٍ مِنَ البروقِ مَطيرُ

    The battle-dust in them is as though a cloud,

    rain-laden with blood from lightning flashes.

  40. وكأنَّ الجوادَ والسيفَ واللأ

    مَةَ بحرٌ وجدولٌ وغديرُ

    And the steed, the sword, and the armor seem to be

    a sea, a stream, and a pool.

  41. وإذا ما استطالَ جبّارُ حربٍ

    يَجزِعُ الموتُ منهُ وهوَ صَبورُ

    And whenever a tyrant of war vaunts himself,

    whom Death fears, patient though Death is,

  42. والتَظى في اليَمينِ منه يَمانٍ

    كاد للأثر منه نَمْلٌ يَثورُ

    and a Yemeni blade blazes in his right hand—

    the ants of its patterned steel almost swarm—

  43. ودعا وهو كالعُقاب كماةً

    لهمُ كالبُغاثِ عنه قصورُ

    and he summons champions, himself like an eagle,

    while they fall short of him, like weak-winged birds,

  44. جَدَلتهُ يَدا عَلِيٍّ بعَضْبٍ

    لِرُبوعِ الحياةِ منه دُثُورُ

    Ali's two hands fell him with a keen sword

    that lays the dwellings of life desolate.

  45. فَغَدا عاطِلاً مِنَ الرأسِ لَمّا

    كَانَ طَوْقاً له الحسامُ البتورُ

    He is left bereft of a head when

    the keen, severing sword becomes his collar.

  46. لَحظَ الرومَ منهُ ناظرُ جَفْنٍ

    للرّدى فيه ظُلْمَهٌ وهوَ نورُ

    An eye in its scabbard glanced at the Romans;

    within it lies death's darkness, though it is light.

  47. رَمِدَتْ للمَنونِ فيهِ عُيونٌ

    فَكأَنَّ الفِرِنْدَ فيه ذَرَورُ

    Eyes in it grew inflamed with death,

    as though its watered pattern were powder for the eyes.

  48. يا ابن يحيى الَّذي بِكُلِّ مَكانٍ

    بالمعالي له لسانٌ شَكُورُ

    O son of Yahya, for whom in every place

    a grateful tongue gives thanks for noble deeds,

  49. لكَ من هَيبةِ العُلى في الأعادي

    خيلُ رُعبٍ على القُلوبِ تُغيرُ

    among your enemies, the awe of high rank gives you

    horses of terror that raid their hearts,

  50. وَسُيوفٌ مَقيلُها في الهَوادي

    كُلَّما شَبَّ للقراع هَجيرُ

    and swords whose midday rest is in necks

    whenever the noon heat of combat blazes;

  51. وَدُروعٌ قد ضوعِفَ النسيجُ منها

    وَتَناهَى في سَردِها التقديرُ

    and coats of mail whose weave is doubled,

    their links measured with consummate precision.

  52. كَصغارِ الهاءاتِ شُقّتْ فأَبدتْ

    شكلها من صُفوفِ جيشٍ سطورُ

    Like tiny hāʾ letters split open, they display

    their shape in lines across the ranks of an army.

  53. أنتَ شَجّعْتَ نفسَ كلّ جبانٍ

    فاقترَابُ الأسودِ منه غرورُ

    You have emboldened the soul of every coward,

    so lions are deluded when they approach him.

  54. فهو كالماءِ أحرقَ الجسمَ لمّا

    أحدث اللّذْعَ في قُواهُ السعيرُ

    He is like water that burns the body once

    a blaze infuses its strength with a scalding sting.

  55. خيرُ عامٍ أتاكَ في خيرِ وقتٍ

    لِوُجوهِ الرّبيعِ فيهِ سُفورُ

    The best of years has come to you at the best of times,

    with the faces of spring unveiled within it.

  56. زارَ مَثواكَ وهوَ صَبٌّ مَشوقٌ

    بِمَعاليكَ والمَشوقُ يَزورُ

    It visited your dwelling, a love-struck yearner

    for your noble deeds; the yearning lover comes to visit.

  57. فَبَدا مِنكَ في الجلالِ إِلَيهِ

    مَلِكٌ كابرٌ ومُلْكٌ كبيرُ

    From you there appeared to it, in majesty,

    an exalted king and a great kingdom.

  58. ورأى في فِناءِ قصرك حَفْلاً

    ما له في فِناءِ قَصْرٍ نظيرُ

    It saw in your palace courtyard a gathering

    unmatched in any palace courtyard,

  59. تَشتَري فيه بالمَكَارِمِ حَمداً

    لَكَ مِنهُ تِجارَةٌ لا تَبورُ

    where you buy praise with noble generosity,

    a trade for you that never fails.

  60. فَكَأَنَّ المُدّاحَ فيهِ قُرُومٌ

    مَلأ الخافقَينِ مِنهُ الهَديرُ

    The praise-poets there are like camel stallions,

    whose bellowing fills the east and west,

  61. بِقَوافٍ هُدوا إِلَيهِنَّ سُبْلاً

    ضَلَّ عَنهُنَّ جَرْوَلٌ وَجريرُ

    with rhymes, to which they were guided along paths

    from which Jarwal and Jarir strayed.

  62. إنّ أيّامَكَ الحسانَ لَغُرٌّ

    فَكَأَنَّ الوجوهَ منها بُدورُ

    Truly, your splendid days are radiant,

    as though their faces were full moons.

  63. واصَلَ العزَّ في مغانيك عِزٌّ

    دائمُ المُلكِ وَالسرورَ سُرورُ

    Glory joins glory in your dwellings,

    its rule enduring, and joy joins joy.