تضاهيك بالجيد الغزالة والصلف

وتسمو عليها بالإضاءة والشرف

The gazelle rivals you in neck and haughtiness,

And you surpass her in radiance and nobility.

ومذ رام بدر التم يحكيك طلعة

فبان به نقص ولازمه الكلف

And when the full moon sought to match your countenance,

Its imperfection showed, and dark blotches clung to it.

فهب انه يحكيك معنى وصورة

فمن اين للبدر الرشاقة والطيف

Grant that it resembles you in essence and form:

Then whence would the moon have grace and a dream-phantom?

فلو شام قبل النصف منك قلامة

ورام يحاكيها لولى وما انتصف

For if, before midmonth, it glimpsed a nail-paring of yours,

And tried to match it, it would turn away, never reaching midmonth.

كذلك غصن البان ما زال عابثا

بقدك حتى عمره ضاع وانقصف

Likewise, the bān-tree's bough kept toying

With your stature, until its life was wasted and it snapped.

فطوبى لراء ورد وجنته اجتلى

وبشرى لصاد من لما ثغره رشف

Bliss to the beholder who gazed upon the rose of his cheek,

And joy to the thirsty one who sipped from his dusky lips.

فمن ثغره الصبح المبلج يجتنى

ومن خده الورد المدرج يقتطف

For from his mouth the radiant dawn is harvested,

And from his cheek the folded rose is plucked.

فاياك من تلك اللواحظ ان رنت

واياك من ذاك القوام اذا عطف

So beware those glancing eyes if they gaze,

And beware that figure when it sways.

فمن قده يخشى عليك اذا انثنى

ومن لحظه يخشى عليك اذا رهف

For one fears for you when his figure bends,

And one fears for you when his glance grows sharp.

اذاب جوى جسمي بنار غرامه

فلا عجب قلبي عليه اذا نطف

Love's anguish melted my body with the fire of longing for him;

So no wonder if my heart drips for him.

وابقى عقيق الدمع وقفا بمقلتي

واجرى على سفح المحاجر ما وقف

And left the agate of tears held fast within my eye,

And made what stood still flow down my eye-sockets' slopes.

قضى بعده صبري ومن قبل ما قضى

بجسمي اوحى بالسقام وبالتلف

His absence exhausted my patience, and before it did,

It intimated sickness and ruin within my body.

رعى الله عصرا طاب من خمر ريقه

وحيى زماناً بالسوالف قد سلف

May God preserve an age sweetened by the wine of his saliva,

And bless a bygone time spent beside his neck.

شريف جمال حل في القلب ساكنا

ونعم مكانا حل يوما به الشرف

A noble beauty has taken up residence in the heart,

And what a fine abode, where nobility one day settled!

امام من الانصار لا دنس به

ولا عيب الا انه طيب السلف

An imam of the Ansar, with no stain upon him,

And no fault—save that his forebears are worthy.

على نفسه الامساك يخشى من الغنى

على انه لم يخش فقرا ولم يخف

He fears that wealth might make him miserly,

Though he has never feared poverty or felt afraid.

وليس على الانفاق بلحقه الاسى

ولكن على الامساك بأخذه الاسف

No grief afflicts him over spending,

But regret seizes him over withholding.

هو السيف الا ان ليس به صدا

هو البحر الا ما لجوهره فدف

He is a sword, save that he bears no rust;

He is the sea, save that his jewels have no shell.

فتى لا يرى منه اشد اذا سطا

وليس يرى منه ابر اذا رأف

A youth whom none surpasses in fierceness when he strikes,

And none surpasses him in kindness when he shows mercy.

فمن قاسه بالليث لاشك ما درى

ومن قاسه بالغيث لا شك ما عرف

So whoever likens him to a lion surely has not known him,

And whoever likens him to rain surely has not understood.

اذا ما العطا والكف عنه سألته

اليك على الحالين مد يدا وكف

If you ask him for giving or for withholding it,

In either case he reaches toward you with hand and palm.

على نفسه قد اقسم الدهر حالفا

بمثلك لم يسمح وقام بما حلف

Time has bound itself with a solemn oath:

It would not grant your like—and it has kept its oath.

فيا حرم المأوى لمن هو خائف

ويا كعبة الجدوى لمن طاف واعتكف

O sanctuary of refuge for the fearful,

And O Kaaba of bounty for those who circle and retreat in devotion,

لعمرك قد تلفت ما ملكت يدي

هواة لاني واثق منك بالخلف

By your life, I have squandered all my hand possessed,

For lovers, since I trust in replenishment from you.

بعيدك قد ضاقت فجد لي تكرما

فانك رب الجود يا واسع الكنف

At your festival my means grew straitened; give to me graciously,

For you are lord of generosity, O you of ample shelter.

وخذها عروسا من حماة ولم تكن

لغيرك نهدى في الانام ولم تزف

And take her as a bride from Hama; she was never

Offered to anyone but you among mankind, nor led forth as a bride.

اتتك تروم النقد منك ونقدها

قبولك اياها على قول من وصف

She comes to you seeking coin; and her payment is

Your acceptance of her, as the one who described her said.

فلا زلت اهلا للجوائز ما شدا

على غصن بان طائر الدوح او هتف

So may you ever remain worthy of gifts, as long as song comes

From a bird of the grove on a bān bough, or its cry rings out.