راح يرنو مرنح الاعطاف

فهو ظبي النقا وغصن خلاف

He began to gaze, his body swaying,

for he is a gazelle of the dunes and a willow bough.

كم تلافيت في الغرام هواه

وهو يرضيه بالهوان تلافي

How often in passion I sought to win back his love,

while my abased efforts to make amends pleased him.

صد ظلما ولم يكن لي ذنبٌ

غير ذلي بحبه واعترافي

He turned away unjustly, though I had no fault

except my abasement in loving him and my confession.

كيف اخفى الهوى وواشى دموعي

من غرامي اذاع ما هو خافي

How can I conceal my love, while my telltale tears

have disclosed what was hidden of my passion?

انا في الحب لم اخالفه يوما

وهو دون الانام يهوى خلافي

In love I have never opposed him a single day,

yet he, of all people, loves to oppose me.

كلما زدت رقة في هواه

زادني من صدوده والتجافي

Whenever I grew more tender in loving him,

he increased his rejection and estrangement toward me.

فرقادي ومقلتي في اختلاف

وسهادي ولوعتي في ائتلافي

So my sleep and my eyes are at odds,

while my sleeplessness and anguish are in accord within me.

فكأني لدى عروض جفاه

بيت شعر وفيه بعض زحاف

Thus, before the prosody of his coldness, I seem

a line of verse with some metrical alteration.

لا تلمني ان اكتفيت غراما

بهواه فغيره ما حلا في

Do not blame me if, in passion, I am content

with loving him, for none other has been sweet within me.

بدر تم صرفت كلي اليه

وهو يسعى لشقوتي في انصرافي

A full moon—I turned my whole self toward him,

yet he seeks my misery in my departure.

أبصر الغصن قده ذا اعتدال

فانثنى عنه مائلا في انحراف

The bough saw his straight, well-proportioned figure,

and bent away from him, leaning aside.

طاف يسعى بكاس فيه وفيه

ذائب التبر فوقه الدر طافي

He went round hastening with the cup of his mouth, and in it

was molten gold, with pearls floating above it.

كم باصداغه وراح لماه

رحت نشوى سوالف وسلاف

How often, through his temple curls and the wine of his dusky lips,

have I grown drunk on sidelocks and vintage wine.

صائغ الحسن صاغ خاتم فيه

من عقيق وجوهر شفاف

The goldsmith of beauty fashioned the ring of his mouth

from carnelian and translucent gems.

خده بالعذار في الوضع يحكي

حلة قد تعلقت بسجاف

His cheek, with its down so placed, resembles

a robe with a border attached.

وجهه جامع المحاسن اضحى

فلهذا يطيب فيه اعتكافي

His face has become the gathering-place of all beauties,

so my devotional retreat there is sweet.

فهو ظبي اذا رنا بالنفات

وهو غصن اذا انثنى في انعطاف

For he is a gazelle when he casts a turning glance [reading uncertain],

and a bough when he bends and sways.

نسماً انني له عبد ود

لم اخنه لا وابن عبد مناف

I swear [reading uncertain]: I am his devoted servant,

and have not betrayed him—no, by Ibn Abd Manaf!

كيف شيطان سلوتي فيه اخشى

مع شهاب لدى العلا خطاف

How can I fear the demon of forgetting him,

with Shihab, a meteor darting through the heights?

من يداه قد اعربت عن نداه

وتحلى باحسن الاوصاف

He whose two hands have proclaimed his bounty,

and who is adorned with the finest qualities.

وعلى الفتح في المباني تلقى

قد بنى بابه لكل مضاف

And in his buildings you find openness as their foundation:

he has built his door for every guest.

الطويل النجاد رب المعالي

ذو العطا الوافر السريع الوافي

Long of sword-belt, lord of lofty deeds,

possessed of abundant, swift, full bounty.

روضة العلم جامع الفضل حلو

ذو بيان محرر كشاف

A garden of learning, a gatherer of excellence, sweet-natured,

possessed of eloquence, an accomplished expositor.

قسما ما اجتديت يمناه الا

وهمى سيل سيبها الوكاف

I swear, I have never sought bounty from his right hand

without a torrent of its copious gifts pouring down.

راحتاه بحر يفيض نوالا

فلهذا يطيب منه اغترافي

His two palms are a sea overflowing with gifts,

so my drawing from him is sweet.

علمتني اوصافه كل معنى

فلذا جئت بالمعاني اللطاف

His qualities have taught me every meaning,

and so I have come with subtle meanings.

يبذل المال رغبة وسخاء

وترى جمعه من الاشراف

He spends wealth willingly and generously,

and you see his company drawn from the nobles.

وتراه بالقوت يؤثر جودا

وبواسيك بالعطا من كفاف

You see him generously put others first in sustenance,

and share gifts with you from his modest means.

جوده جوده ولا عيب فيه

غير كسب الثنا وحسن العفاف

His generosity is generosity indeed; there is no fault in it

except winning praise and noble chastity.

كعبة البر نحوه جئت اسعى

فحلا لي سعيي به وطوافي

A Kaaba of benevolence—I came hastening toward him,

and my striving and circling round him were sweet to me.

مادحا سرت نحوه فحباني

فحمدت السرى ونظم القوافي

I journeyed toward him praising him, and he rewarded me,

so I praised the night journey and the composing of rhymes.

هاكها ما قوت حروف روي

تسلك السهل ليس سهل الفيافي

Take it—rhyme letters have not lent it strength [reading uncertain];

it treads easy ground, not the plains of desert wastes.

سالمات من كل عيب سمان

طيبات الخلال غير عجاف

Sound, free of every fault, plump,

fine in character, not lean.

قد كساها علاك ثوب فخار

وعرت من زخارف وسخاف

Your eminence has clothed them in a robe of pride,

and they are bare of ornament and triviality.

بنت فكر نتيجة ابن نظام

منك تبغي النثار عند الزفاف

A daughter of thought, the offspring of Ibn Nizam,

she seeks from you the scattered gifts at her wedding.

لم تزل من جواهر اللفظ تهدى

لعلاكم بدائع الاصناف

From jewels of language there are ever offered

to your eminence marvels of every kind.

فهي للجيد كالقلائد حسنا

وتراها للسمع كالاشناف

In beauty it is like necklaces for the neck,

and to the ear you find it like earrings.

فابق واسلم لكل عشر وعيد

في امان من هول يوم المخاف

So live on and stay safe through every ten-day season and feast,

secure from the terror of the day of dread,

ما بدا الروض يانعاً وشدا من

طائر فوق ايكة هتاف

as long as the garden flourishes and song comes from

a loud-singing bird above a thicket.