رأى العقيق فأجرى دمعه لولو

متيم دمه بالهجر مطول

He saw al-ʿAqīq and made his tears flow as pearls—

a man enslaved by love, his blood left unrequited through abandonment.

لا تحسبوا طرفه بالنوم مكتحلا

ما الطرف بعدكم بالنوم مكحول

Do not think his eye is lined with the kohl of sleep;

since you left, his eye has not been kohled with sleep.

تجرّح الجفن منه بالدموع وما

لجرحه عند قاضي الحب تعديل

His eyelid has been wounded by tears, yet there is no

redress for its wound before love's judge.

فمثلوا كيفما شئتم به فلقد

حلا له في بديع الحسن تمثيل

So mutilate him however you wish, for indeed

portrayal in wondrous beauty has grown sweet to him.

ما ضركم لو وصلتم حبله بكم

وكان شبب فيكم وهو موصول

What harm would it do you to join his cord to you,

when he sang love-verses about you while still joined to you?

بنتم وقلتم تصدى نصل بينكم

نعم تصدى لقتلي وهو مصقول

You parted and said your parting's blade stood ready;

yes, it stood ready to kill me, polished bright.

هواكم عاملا اضحى على تلفي

وها انا اليوم للهجران معسول

Love for you has set to work toward my ruin,

and here today I am honey-sweet for estrangement.

اوضحتم لي طريقا نحوكم عسر

وما لتوضيحكم في الحب تسهيل

You made clear to me a difficult road toward you,

yet your clarification brings no ease in love.

والجسم مني قد اودى الغرام به

لما غدا وله بالسقم تعليل

And passion has brought my body to ruin,

when sickness became the explanation for its condition.

ورق معناه من فهم بصوره

حتى كأني في الافهام تخييل

Its essence grew too subtle to grasp through its forms,

until, in people's minds, I seem merely an imagined image.

هذا وكم لكم مني صريع هوى

في الحب ميت له بالدمع تغسيل

All this—and how often I am your victim, struck down by passion,

dead in love, with tears for his ritual washing.

يلوم في الحب عذالي وما شعروا

لجهلهم ان بيت الحب مشغول

My reproachers blame me for love, not realizing,

in their ignorance, that love's house is occupied.

اني وان عذل العذال او عذروا

سيان عندي معذور ومعذول

Indeed, whether the reproachers blame me or excuse me,

the excused and the reproached are alike to me.

يا صاح دعني من ذكر الحبيب ومن

بانت سعاد فقلبي اليوم متبول

O friend, spare me mention of the beloved, and of

'Suʿād has departed, so today my heart is love-sick.'

وليس في ربة الخلخال لي ارب

بل خاتم الانبياء القصد والسول

I have no desire for the woman with the anklet;

rather, the Seal of the Prophets is my aim and desire.

محمد ابن الذبيحين الشفيع لنا

هذا حديث صحيح عنه منقول

Muhammad, son of the two offered for sacrifice, our intercessor—

this is a sound report transmitted about him.

مؤمل الصفح مأمون الجناب به

حلا جناسي مأمون ومأمول

His pardon is hoped for, his protection trusted; through him

my wordplay, 'trusted' and 'hoped-for,' has grown sweet.

طه ويس كهف الانبياء ومن

عليه قد انزلت حم تنزيل

Ṭā-Hā and Yā-Sīn, refuge of the prophets, and he

upon whom Ḥā-Mīm was sent down as revelation.

خير النبيين في فضل وفي كرم

وما سواه فمرجوح ومفضول

The best of prophets in merit and generosity;

all others are outweighed and surpassed.

من قد ترقى الى السبع الطباق الى

أن نال ما نال ميكال وجبريل

He who ascended to the seven layered heavens, until

he attained what Mīkāl and Jibrīl attained.

ومن له الاسد ذلت عند مبعثه

وقبل مولده قد خافه الفيل

He before whom the lions bowed at the beginning of his mission,

and whom the elephant feared before his birth.

ماضي العزائم والابطال في قلق

مهند من سيوف الله مسلول

Unwavering in resolve while champions tremble,

an Indian-forged blade, unsheathed from among God's swords.

وبالهدى رحمة للعالمين اتى

مبشرا ولكل منه تنويل

He came with guidance, a mercy to all worlds,

bearing glad tidings, with gifts from him for everyone.

وجاء للناس بالقرآن فانتسخت

بما به جاء نوراة وانجيل

He brought the Qur'an to humankind, and so were superseded,

by what he brought, the Torah and the Gospel.

ولم يزل ذلك الحق المبين به

يعلو وتسفل هاتيك الاباطيل

And through him that manifest truth never ceased

to rise, while those falsehoods sank,

حتى علت راية الاسلام وانتصبت

في الحال واندرست تلك التماثيل

until Islam's banner rose and stood upright

at once, and those idols were effaced.

وعصبة الكفر ولت وفي مدبرة

تدعو الفرار وسيف الشرك مفلول

And the band of unbelief turned away in retreat,

calling for flight, with the sword of idolatry blunted.

دعوا مقال النصارى في نبيهم

يا مادحيه ومهما شئتم قولوا

Leave aside what the Christians say of their prophet,

O you who praise him, and say whatever you wish.

هذا الذي مدحه جاء الكتاب به

مفصلا وله ذكر وترتيل

This is he whose praise the Book has brought

in detail, with remembrance of him and measured recitation.

هذا الذي ليس يحصى فضله وله

حقا على ما فعل التفضيل تفضيل

This is he whose merit cannot be counted, and he has,

truly, preeminence beyond whatever preference can confer.

هذا جرى الماء عذبا من اصابعه

فما الفرات وما سيحون والنيل

This is he from whose fingers sweet water flowed;

what, then, are the Euphrates, the Sayḥūn, and the Nile?

وصيحه الغر في بدر بطلعته

تهللوا ولهم بالنصر تكميل

And his radiant companions, at Badr, at the sight of his face,

beamed with joy, their victory made complete.

والدهر ضاءت لياليه بهم وزهت

كأنهم غرر فيها وتحجيل

Time's nights shone through them and grew splendid,

as though they were those nights' white blazes and white stockings.

من كل ابلج تجلو النقع طلعته

كأن نور المحيا منه قنديل

Each a bright-browed warrior whose face dispels battle dust,

as though the light of his countenance were a lamp.

سهامهم في سما الهيجاء تفعل في ال

اعداء ما تفعل الطير الابابيل

Their arrows in the sky of battle do to the

enemies what the birds in flocks do.

عن قسطل الحرب لم يثنوا عنتهم

وما لهم عن حيض الموت تهليل

They did not turn their reins away from war's thick dust,

and they never shrank from the pools of death.

لم يلههم عن غداء البيض غانية

ولا عن الاسمر العسال معسول

No beautiful woman distracted them from feeding the bright swords,

nor a honey-sweet beloved from the dark, quivering spear.

كم حرف جسم بسمر الخط قد تركوا

مزمّلا وهو منقوط ومشكول

How many a body-letter, with al-Khaṭṭ's brown spears, they left

shrouded, dotted, and vowel-marked.

سادوا وشادوا محلا في العلا ولهم

باعظم الرسل تعظيم وتبجيل

They held sway and built a station in the heights; theirs is

exaltation and honor through the greatest of messengers.

فليت شعري متى يوما اراه وهل

لي قبل موتي بذاك الترب تقبيل

Would that I knew when I might one day see him, and whether

before my death I might kiss that dust.

واكحل العين من ريا ثراه ولو

ميلا وما بيننا من بعدها ميل

And anoint my eye with his earth's fragrance, even with

one kohl-stick, with not a mile between us thereafter.

لولاه ما راق لي ماء العذيب ولا

صاف بابطح اضحى وهو مشمول

Were it not for him, al-ʿUdhayb's water would not delight me, nor

a clear draught in al-Abṭaḥ grown cool in the north wind.

يا خاتم الرسل يا كهف الانام ومن

عليه للناس يوم الحشر تعويل

O Seal of the Messengers, O refuge of humankind, and you

on whom people rely on the Day of Gathering,

كن لي اذا ما نهار العرض لي عرضت

جرائمي وغدا في موقفي طول

stand by me when, on the day of presentation, there are shown to me

my offenses, and my time at that station grows long.

فالظهر مني عظيم الذنب اثقله

مما جنيت وشرحي فيه تطويل

For the enormity of sin has weighed down my back

from what I have done; explaining it is a lengthy matter.

وها وهي بالضنا من حمله جلدي

وقد تطابق موضوع ومحمول

Behold, my endurance has weakened with wasting under its load,

and subject and predicate have come to correspond.

منك الشفاعة ارجو في المعاد غدا

في يوم لا نافع قال ولا قيل

I hope for your intercession at tomorrow's final return,

on a day when neither 'he said' nor 'it was said' will help.

لأن لي فيك يا كنز الرجا املا

وانت يا مطلب الراجين مأمول

For in you, O treasure of hope, I place my hope,

and you, O goal of those who hope, are hoped for.

ولو اصير ترابا في هواك فلا

اسلو لاني على الاشواق مجبول

Even if I become dust in love for you, I shall not

cease to love, for longing is woven into my nature.

خذها غريبة دار بالتحية قد

وافت لها منك بالامداح تأهيل

Receive her, a stranger far from home, who, bearing greetings, has

arrived; her praises find a welcome from you.

شابت لطول التنائي غير ان لها

على موائد فضل منك تطفيل

She has grown gray through long separation, yet she has

an uninvited guest's place at the tables of your bounty.

تسعى على قدم التقصير تابعة

كعبا وان كان للتقديم تفضيل

She walks on the foot of shortcoming, following

Kaʿb, though precedence has its own distinction.

فيا هنايَ اذا نلت القلوب بها

وقيل يا ابن مليك انت مقبول

O my joy, when through her I win hearts,

and it is said, 'O Ibn Mulayk, you are accepted!'

صلى عليك الذي حلاك في خلع

من الكمال لها بالمدح تفصيل

May He bless you who adorned you with robes

of perfection, whose details are unfolded in praise,

وآلك الغر والصحب الذين لهم

بنصرة الدين تكبير وتهليل

and your radiant family and the companions, who

magnify God and proclaim His oneness in supporting the faith,

ما لاح في جنح ليل بالسنا قمر

وما به نثرة ضاءت واكليل

so long as a moon shines radiant in the darkness of night,

and Nathra and Iklīl gleam in its light.