هزم الصباح طلائع الظلماء

وأتاك تحت عصابة بيضاء

Dawn routed the vanguard of darkness,

And came to you beneath a white headband.

وإليك أطلع من سناه غرة

قد أسفرت عن بهجة وضياء

And from its radiance it revealed to you a bright brow,

Which unveiled splendor and light.

ونأى غراب الليل قم واجنح الى

شدو الهزار وخل عنك النائي

The raven of night has gone far; rise and turn toward

The nightingale's song, and leave the departed one behind.

فالشمس ضاءت من مطالع افقها

وسمت ببدر خبائها الألاء

For the sun shone from the rising points of its horizon,

And radiance rose with the full moon of its pavilion.

وغدا النسيم مشببا وتراقصت

سمر القدود على غدا الورقاء

The breeze became a piper, and there danced

Dusky, slender figures to the gray dove's song.

وتخطرت اعطاف اغصان النقا

وتمايلت كتمايل الخيلاء

The supple sides of the dunes' boughs strutted,

And swayed with a swaggering, proud sway.

وكسى الربيع الأرض حلة سندس

بالوشي حاكتها يد الانواء

Spring clothed the earth in a robe of fine silk,

Which the hand of the seasonal rains wove with embroidery.

وزهت ثغور الاقحوان على الربا

وتبسمت عن لؤلؤ الانداء

The mouths of daisies shone upon the hills,

And smiled to reveal pearls of dew.

والروض بين مديح ومتوج

ومعطر ومعنبر الأرجاء

And the garden is brocaded here, crowned there,

And perfumed, its reaches scented with ambergris.

وعيون نرجه لنحوك قد رنت

وغدت تشير اليك بالايماء

And its narcissus eyes have gazed toward you,

And now beckon to you with silent gestures.

والورد منه تفتحت اكمامه

واحمر من خجل وفرط حياء

And the roses there have opened their buds,

And reddened from bashfulness and excessive modesty.

وشقيقه يزهو بتلك الوجنة ال

حماء تحت الثامة السوداء

And its anemone glories in that cheek,

Red beneath the black veil.

والشمس تجنح للغروب ونورها

شفقا يريك على سماء الماء

And the sun inclines toward sunset, while its light

Shows you twilight upon the water's sky.

والماء من فوق الصفا يجري وقد

وافى اليك يرقة وصفاء

And water flows over the smooth stone, and has

Come to you with delicacy and clarity.

فكأنه ذوب اللجين جرى على

ارض من الياقوت في بطحاء

As though it were molten silver flowing over

A ground of ruby within a pebbled plain.

او مرهفٌ قد جوهرته يد الصبا

بالوشي لا الصناع من صنعاء

Or a keen blade jeweled by the hand of the east wind,

With tracery—not by the craftsmen of Sana'a.

والرض بالانوار اشرق نورها

وبدت لنا منها نجوم سماء

And the earth's light shone with blossoms,

And from it, stars of a sky appeared to us.

وعلى رباها جاد بالدر الحيا

كندى جلال الدين يوم سخاء

Rain lavished pearls upon its hills,

Like Jalal al-Din's bounty on a day of generosity.

مولى اذا جادت سماء يمينه

تربو سحائبها على الانواء

A lord: when the sky of his right hand pours,

Its clouds surpass the seasonal rains.

من وجهه الضحاك بشر قد روى

ويمينه تروي حديث عطاء

Gladness has told its tale from his laughing face,

And his right hand narrates a tale of giving.

لا يدخل العذل الملوم بسمعه

حاشا مسامعه عن الفحشاء

No blameworthy reproach enters his hearing;

Far be his ears from foul speech.

يجلو ظلام الفقر صبح نواله

ويقول نائله انا ابن جلاء

The dawn of his bounty dispels the darkness of poverty,

And his gift declares, 'I am the son of clarity.'

يكفيه حسن المدح فخرا انه

كهف العفاة وملجأ الشعراء

Enough for his fair praise and pride is that he is

A sheltering cave for petitioners and a refuge for poets.

ينشي فينثينا سلافة سجعه

رشف الرحيق وقهوة الانشاء

He composes, and the choicest wine of his rhymed prose makes us forget

The sipping of nectar and the wine of composition.

واذا نحا نظم القريض اتى بما

عنه تكل خواطر الفصحاء

And when he turns to composing verse, he brings forth what

The minds of the eloquent fail to attain.

اقلامه تحكي القنا الفاته

فوق الطروس تسر عين الراءي

His pens resemble spears; his alif strokes

Upon the pages delight the beholder's eye.

بالجود في الأوراق تثمر كلما

جادت لها يمناه بالانداء

They bear bounty as fruit upon the leaves whenever

His right hand showers them with dew.

ساد الانام سماحة وحماسة

فعلى كلا الحالين فهو الطائي

He surpassed mankind in generosity and valor;

Thus in both regards he is al-Ta'i.

يغنيك عن ذكرى سعاد واسمه

يغنيك بالافعال عن اسماء

He frees you from remembrance of Su'ad, and his name

Through deeds frees you from Asma'.

حازت به آل النصيبي رفعة

وبنت لها مجدا على العلياء

Through him the house of al-Nasibi gained eminence,

And built itself glory upon the heights.

طابت مغارسه ومنبت اصله

دلت عليه عناصر الآباء

Goodly are his planting grounds and the soil of his root;

The stock of his forefathers bears witness to him.

ورث المكارم كابرا عن كابر

ان المكارم شيمة الكرماء

He inherited noble virtues, a great man from a great forebear;

Indeed, noble virtues are the nature of the generous.

بحر لقد زادت اصابع جوده

فيضا وبى قد آذنت بوفاء

An ocean! The fingers of his generosity have indeed increased

Its flood, and have heralded fulfillment for me.

وتراه في سوق المدائح يشتري

بالمال حسن الحمد يوم ثناء

And you see him in the marketplace of panegyrics buying

Fine praise with wealth on a day of acclaim.

ويرى سؤالك منة فكأنما

انت الذي تجبوه بالاعطاء

And he regards your asking as a favor, as though

You were the one bestowing gifts upon him.

يسطو على امواله يوم الندى

فكأنما يسطو على الأعداء

He assaults his riches on a day of bounty,

As though he were assaulting enemies.

يا ابن الكرام ومن وصلت بمدحه

اسباب آمالي وحبل رجائي

O son of the noble, and you through whose praise I have joined

The cords of my ambitions and the rope of my hope,

عذرا لتأخيري فاشعاري لقد

بارت ومنها ما بلغت منائي

Forgive my delay, for my poems have indeed

Found no market; through them I did not attain my wishes.

وغدت لفرط سواد حظي راحتي

صفرا من البيضاء والصفراء

And through the utter blackness of my luck, my palm became

Empty of white silver and yellow gold.

لكن بمدحك ما شدوت مشببا

الا وملت بثروة وغساء

But I never sang your praise in amorous strains

Without coming away with wealth and abundance.

فانعم بها في وصف حسنك روضة

يا حسنها من روضة غناء

Enjoy it, then: a garden portraying your beauty,

How lovely it is, a luxuriant garden!

ابياتها بالحسن عامرة وقد

جلت عن الاقواء والابطاء

Its verses teem with beauty, and have

Risen above mismatched rhyme-vowels and repeated rhyme-words.

حسناء در مدائحي قلدتها

والدر بعض قلائد الحسناء

A beauty: I have adorned her neck with pearls of my praises,

And pearls are among a beauty's necklaces.

لا زلت في مضمار فرسان العلا

سباق غابات على الغبراء

May you ever remain on the racecourse of the knights of high rank,

First to the finish lines upon the dusty earth.

ورقيت في درج الكمال مكانة

تسمو بها شرفا على الجوزاء

And may you climb perfection's steps to a station

Where your honor soars above al-Jawza'.

وبقيت ما بقي الزمان ولم تزل

في نعمة ومسرة وهناء

And may you endure as long as time endures, ever remaining

In blessing, joy, and ease,

ما حرك العود النسيم وهيجت

منا البلابل نغمة الورقاء

As long as the breeze stirs the bough, and there are stirred

Within us yearnings by the gray dove's song.