هزم الصباح طلائع الظلماء

وأتاك تحت عصابة بيضاء

Morning routed the vanguard of darkness,

And came to you beneath a white headband.

وإليك أطلع من سناه غرة

قد أسفرت عن بهجة وضياء

Toward you it brought forth from its radiance a bright brow,

Revealing beauty and light.

ونأى غراب الليل قم واجنح الى

شدو الهزار وخل عنك النائي

Night's raven has flown far; rise and turn

To the nightingale's song, and leave the distant one behind.

فالشمس ضاءت من مطالع افقها

وسمت ببدر خبائها الألاء

The sun shone from the rising-points of her horizon,

And brilliance rose with the full moon of her pavilion.

وغدا النسيم مشببا وتراقصت

سمر القدود على غدا الورقاء

The breeze began singing love songs, and there danced

Slender, dusky forms to the gray dove's [song].

وتخطرت اعطاف اغصان النقا

وتمايلت كتمايل الخيلاء

The flanks of the dune-grown branches swayed gracefully,

Swaying as though in a proud strut.

وكسى الربيع الأرض حلة سندس

بالوشي حاكتها يد الانواء

Spring clothed the earth in a robe of fine silk,

Woven with embroidery by the hand of the rains.

وزهت ثغور الاقحوان على الربا

وتبسمت عن لؤلؤ الانداء

The mouths of the daisies shone upon the hills,

Smiling to reveal pearls of dew.

والروض بين مديح ومتوج

ومعطر ومعنبر الأرجاء

The garden is variously praised and crowned,

Perfumed, its reaches scented with ambergris.

وعيون نرجه لنحوك قد رنت

وغدت تشير اليك بالايماء

Its narcissus-eyes have gazed toward you,

And begun to beckon you with silent gestures.

والورد منه تفتحت اكمامه

واحمر من خجل وفرط حياء

The rose's buds opened there,

And it reddened with embarrassment and deep modesty.

وشقيقه يزهو بتلك الوجنة ال

حماء تحت الثامة السوداء

And its brother, the anemone, flaunts that cheek—

[Crimson] beneath the black veil.

والشمس تجنح للغروب ونورها

شفقا يريك على سماء الماء

The sun inclines to setting, and her light

Shows you twilight upon the water's sky.

والماء من فوق الصفا يجري وقد

وافى اليك يرقة وصفاء

Water flows over the smooth rock, and has

Come to you in delicacy and clarity.

فكأنه ذوب اللجين جرى على

ارض من الياقوت في بطحاء

It is as though molten silver flowed over

A ground of ruby in a broad riverbed,

او مرهفٌ قد جوهرته يد الصبا

بالوشي لا الصناع من صنعاء

Or a keen blade jeweled by the east wind's hand

With patterned ornament—not by craftsmen from Sanaa.

والرض بالانوار اشرق نورها

وبدت لنا منها نجوم سماء

The earth's light shone bright with blossoms,

And from it a sky's stars appeared to us.

وعلى رباها جاد بالدر الحيا

كندى جلال الدين يوم سخاء

Upon its hills the rain lavished pearls,

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

مولى اذا جادت سماء يمينه

تربو سحائبها على الانواء

A lord who, when the sky of his right hand pours forth,

Has clouds surpassing the seasonal rains.

من وجهه الضحاك بشر قد روى

ويمينه تروي حديث عطاء

From his laughing face, good cheer has told its tale,

And his right hand relates a story of bounty.

لا يدخل العذل الملوم بسمعه

حاشا مسامعه عن الفحشاء

No blameworthy reproach enters his hearing;

Far be his ears from obscenity.

يجلو ظلام الفقر صبح نواله

ويقول نائله انا ابن جلاء

The dawn of his bounty dispels poverty's darkness,

And his bounty declares, 'I am the son of Jala!'

يكفيه حسن المدح فخرا انه

كهف العفاة وملجأ الشعراء

It is fine praise and glory enough that he is

A shelter for supplicants and a refuge for poets.

ينشي فينثينا سلافة سجعه

رشف الرحيق وقهوة الانشاء

He composes, and the vintage of his rhymed prose makes us [forget]

Sipping pure wine and the wine of composition.

واذا نحا نظم القريض اتى بما

عنه تكل خواطر الفصحاء

When he turns to composing verse, he brings forth what

Defeats the thoughts of the eloquent.

اقلامه تحكي القنا الفاته

فوق الطروس تسر عين الراءي

His pens resemble lances; 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 pages whenever

His right hand lavishes dew upon them.

ساد الانام سماحة وحماسة

فعلى كلا الحالين فهو الطائي

He surpassed mankind in generosity and valor;

Thus, in either regard, he is al-Ta'i.

يغنيك عن ذكرى سعاد واسمه

يغنيك بالافعال عن اسماء

He spares you remembrance of Su'ad, and his name

Through deeds leaves you no need of 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

His plantings and the soil of his roots are good;

His forefathers' stock bears witness to it.

ورث المكارم كابرا عن كابر

ان المكارم شيمة الكرماء

He inherited noble virtues, great man from great man;

Noble virtues are the nature of the generous.

بحر لقد زادت اصابع جوده

فيضا وبى قد آذنت بوفاء

An ocean—his generous fingers have increased

Its flood, and heralded fulfillment for me.

وتراه في سوق المدائح يشتري

بالمال حسن الحمد يوم ثناء

You see him in the market of panegyrics, buying

With money fine acclaim on a day of praise.

ويرى سؤالك منة فكأنما

انت الذي تجبوه بالاعطاء

He deems your asking a favor, as though

You were the one favoring him with gifts.

يسطو على امواله يوم الندى

فكأنما يسطو على الأعداء

He assails his riches on a day of bounty,

As though he were assailing enemies.

يا ابن الكرام ومن وصلت بمدحه

اسباب آمالي وحبل رجائي

O son of the noble, to whose praise I have tied

The cords of my hopes and the rope of my expectation,

عذرا لتأخيري فاشعاري لقد

بارت ومنها ما بلغت منائي

Pardon my delay, for my poems have indeed

Gone unsold, and through them I have not gained my wish.

وغدت لفرط سواد حظي راحتي

صفرا من البيضاء والصفراء

And, from my luck's utter blackness, my palm became

Empty of white silver and yellow gold.

لكن بمدحك ما شدوت مشببا

الا وملت بثروة وغساء

Yet never have I sung your praise in amorous strains

Without growing rich in wealth and [plenty].

فانعم بها في وصف حسنك روضة

يا حسنها من روضة غناء

Enjoy it, then: a garden portraying your beauty—

How lovely a luxuriant garden it is!

ابياتها بالحسن عامرة وقد

جلت عن الاقواء والابطاء

Its verses abound in beauty, and have

Risen above faulty rhyme and sluggishness.

حسناء در مدائحي قلدتها

والدر بعض قلائد الحسناء

A beauty I have adorned with the pearls of my praises;

Pearls are but part of a beauty's necklaces.

لا زلت في مضمار فرسان العلا

سباق غابات على الغبراء

May you ever, in the racecourse of glory's knights,

Be first to the [goals] upon the dusty earth.

ورقيت في درج الكمال مكانة

تسمو بها شرفا على الجوزاء

May you climb perfection's steps to a rank

Through which you soar in honor above al-Jawza.

وبقيت ما بقي الزمان ولم تزل

في نعمة ومسرة وهناء

May you endure as long as time endures, ever

In blessing, joy, and well-being,

ما حرك العود النسيم وهيجت

منا البلابل نغمة الورقاء

As long as the breeze stirs the bough, and

The gray dove's note stirs longing within us.