ماس من التيه في غلائل

بدر بديع الجمال كامل

He swayed proudly in sheer robes,

a full moon, wondrously beautiful and perfect.

جذلان يهتزّ من دلال

نشوان من رقة الشمائل

Joyous, he sways with coquetry,

intoxicated by the delicacy of his graces.

ظبي كحيل الجفون ساج

قد روت السحر عنه بابل

A gazelle, dark-lidded and languid-eyed,

from whom Babylon has transmitted magic.

معتدل القد غصن بان

عليه قد هاجت البلابل

Straight of stature, a bough of the bān tree,

for whom the nightingales have grown restless.

مهفهف يانع رطيب

ريان والقد منه ذابل

Slender-waisted, ripe and tender,

lush, though his figure droops.

قوامه عادل ولكن

مع الهوى لا يزال مائل

His stature is upright, and yet

with love it is always inclining.

عذاره بالجمال مثر

مع انه في الخدود سابل

His cheek-down is rich in beauty,

though it trails upon his cheeks.

بدا بشعر كليل هجري

طولا وما نلت منه طائل

He appeared with hair like the night of my separation

in length; yet I gained nothing worthwhile from him.

للبدر لو لاح مذ تبدى

يوما لولى وعاد آفل

Had he shone before the full moon since he appeared,

even once, it would have turned away and set again.

اذا رنا وانثنى دلالا

ويلاه من ناظر وعامل

When he gazes and bends coquettishly,

alas for me, from an eye and a spear!

تشاكلا خصره وجسمي

فذا سقيم وذاك ناحل

His waist and my body resemble each other:

this one ailing, and that one wasted.

من لي به والعذار اضحى

لسيف اجفانه حمائل

Who will bring him to me, now that his cheek-down has become

sword-belts for the blade of his eyelids?

اسال دمعي اسى وعندي

من ذلك الدمع صار حاصل

Grief made my tears flow, and in my keeping

a store of those tears has gathered.

وكم اعاصيه وهو هام

ومن سحاب الجفون هامل

And how often I resist it while it pours,

streaming from the clouds of my eyelids.

يا ابي من رشأ كريم

ممنع بالوصال ياخل

O my father, what a noble fawn—

unapproachable in union, my friend!

معسل الريق ليتني لو

كنت لذاك الرضاب عامل

His saliva is honey-sweet—if only I

were a collector of that sweet saliva!

ما ضره والرقيب غاف

لو زارني وهو عنه غافل

What harm would it do him, with the watcher asleep,

if he visited me while that man was unaware of him?

في ليلة فرعه دجاها

لا ينقضى الليل وهو سائل

On a night whose darkness is his tresses,

the night never ends while they flow.

والغيث ينهل مستمدا

من كاتب السر يوم نائل

And the rain pours, drawing replenishment

from the confidential secretary on a day of bounty.

مولى به في الانام سادت

آل اجا السادة الافاضل

A lord through whom preeminence among mankind was won

by the house of Aja, those virtuous, noble lords.

محمود الأفعال والسجايا

كنز الندى مجمع الفضائل

Praiseworthy in deeds and character,

a treasure of generosity, a gathering-place of virtues.

الطيب الاصل في انتساب

وغرة الدهر في الاصائل

Pure of origin in his lineage,

the age's white blaze among the nobly born.

من طاب في ظله مقبلي

وعمّ بالجود كل قائل

He in whose shade my coming was sweet,

and whose bounty embraced every speaker.

البارع الفضال الذي لو

ضاهاه قس لعاد باقل

The outstanding, lavishly generous one—if

Quss rivaled him, he would become Baqil.

كذاك سحبان لو رآه

يوما لانساه ذكر وائل

Likewise Sahban, if he were to see him

one day, would be made to forget the name of Wa'il.

محامد الوصف في علاه

قامت ببرهانها الدلائل

The praises that describe his exalted rank—

the evidence has established their truth.

بحر سريع الوفا مديد

بسيطه وافر وكامل

An ocean, swift to keep faith, far-reaching,

his expanse abundant and complete.

بالغير من قاسه لعمري

اخطا وما البحر كالجداول

Whoever has compared him with another, by my life,

has erred: the ocean is not like rivulets.

بالجود الامثال فيه سارت

وما له في الورى مماثل

Proverbs of his generosity have spread,

and he has no peer among mankind.

يرى عليه العطاء فرضا

ويتبع الفرض بالنوافل

He regards giving as a duty upon him,

and follows that duty with voluntary gifts.

لا يسمع اللوم يوم بذل

حاشاه يصغى تقول قائل

He hears no blame on a day of giving;

far be it from him to heed a speaker's slander.

تليد مجد سديد رأي

شديد بأس اغر باسل

Heir to ancient glory, sound in judgment,

strong in battle, radiant, valiant.

اقلامه في الطروس تنشي

بدائع الحسن في الرسائل

His pens upon the pages compose

marvels of beauty in his letters.

بالجود قد اينعت واضحت

تمدها بالندى الانامل

Through generosity they have ripened, and now

his fingers nourish them with bounty's dew.

يا من به المدح قد تحلى

وكان من قبل ذاك عاطل

O you through whom praise has adorned itself,

though before that it wore no ornaments.

عبدك بالظل منك يرضى

وذلك الظل منك وابل

Your servant is content with shade from you,

and that shade from you is a downpour.

فامنن وجد يا سحاب جودٍ

في كل عام به وقابل

So grant favor and give freely, O cloud of bounty,

with it, each year and the year to come.

وخذ عروسا اليك تجلى

بحسنها تشرق المحاقل

Accept a bride unveiled before you,

whose beauty makes the cultivated fields shine.

في المدح منها عليك درع

من الثنا سائغ وفاضل

In praise, she lays upon you a coat of mail,

made of eulogy, pleasing and ample.

من كل بيت بديع معنى

مشيد بالطباق آهل

From every verse, wondrous in meaning,

built high with antithesis and full of life.

فانت كفوه لها وكافٍ

وخير مولى ونعم كافل

You are its worthy match, and sufficient for her,

the best of patrons, an excellent guardian.

لا زلت بالسعد في علو

ترقى الى اشرف المنازل

May you ever, in good fortune, stand on high,

ascending to the noblest stations.

ولم تزل طالعا مجدا

الى العلا والحسود نازل

And may you keep rising, striving earnestly

toward the heights, while the envious descend,

ما ولد الجود غيث فضل

وباب ضرع النوال حافل

as long as generosity begets a rain of favor,

and the opening of bounty's udder is full.