1. شَربتُ شربَ الهيمِ

    من فمِ ذاكَ الرِّيم

    I drank as thirst-crazed camels drink

    from the mouth of that gazelle.

  2. فضَّ لثمِي الختمَ عن

    رحيقهِ المختومِ

    My kissing broke the seal from

    his sealed nectar,

  3. حتَّى سمعتُ بفمِي

    التَّسليمَ من تَسْنِيم

    until I heard, with my mouth,

    the greeting from Tasnim.

  4. كَمْ لي بِذَاكَ الرِّيم من

    ريم بِغَيْرِ مِيمِ

    How much that gazelle has given me of

    rīm without its mīm—quenched thirst!

  5. يا عاذِلي في حُكْمه الـ

    ـمحكَمِ بالحَكِيمِ

    O my reprover concerning his judgment,

    made firm by the Wise One—

  6. وقَدْ سَقَاني حَبيـ

    ـبي بكَأسه حَميم

    my beloved has given me to drink

    scalding water from his cup.

  7. أَلْقَى سَفِيهَ عَذْلِه

    بِعشْقِيَ الحليمِ

    I meet his foolish reproach

    with my forbearing love.

  8. حاشايَ من عشقٍ خئو

    نٍ أَو هوىً لئيم

    Far be treacherous love from me,

    or a base passion.

  9. يعذِلُني رخيمُه

    في شادنٍ رَخيم

    His mellow voice reproaches me

    for a soft-voiced fawn.

  10. كالبدرِ لاَ حَاشَاه مِنْ

    خَدٍّ لهَ مَلطوم

    Like the full moon—no! Far be it from him

    to have a bruised cheek.

  11. وأَيْنَ ذاك القَدُّ مِنْ

    عُرجونِه القديم

    And how far that figure is from

    the moon's old palm-stalk!

  12. كالظَّبْي لا حاشَاه مِنْ

    فَمٍ له مَهْتُوم

    Like a gazelle—no! Far be it from him

    to have a gap-toothed mouth.

  13. قد غُمَّ بدرُ التِّم منـ

    ـه فهْو في الغُمُومِ

    The full moon has been clouded by

    him, and so it dwells in sorrows.

  14. تلكَ الغُمُومُ هي ما

    سمِّي بالْغُيومِ

    Those sorrows are what

    have been called clouds.

  15. يلدغُنِي عقرب ليْـ

    ـلِ صُدْغِه البِهيمِ

    I am stung by the scorpion of the night

    of his pitch-black temple-lock.

  16. لِذاك قد لبستُ حُلْـ

    ـىَ وجُهِه الوَسيمِ

    For that, I have put on the ornaments

    of his handsome face.

  17. حَلْى حُلاه في يميـ

    ـنِ قلبيَ السَّليم

    The amulet of his charms is in the right hand

    of my stricken heart.

  18. أَنزلْتُه في خَاطري

    مُجاوراً هُمومِي

    I lodged him in my thoughts,

    as a neighbor to my cares.

  19. وقد رقمتُ حُبَّه

    في القلبِ وفي الصَّمِيمِ

    And I inscribed his love

    in my heart and its innermost core.

  20. فصار منه آمِناً

    في ذَلِكَ الْحَرِيم

    So he became safe from it

    within that sanctuary,

  21. مستيْقِظاً لا نَائِماً

    في الكهْف والرَّقِيم

    awake, not sleeping,

    in the Cave and the Inscribed Tablet.

  22. لا تبعثِ الطَّيفَ فإِ

    نّ الطَّيْفَ من خُصوم

    Do not send the phantom, for

    the phantom is among my adversaries.

  23. يكادُ يَنْفي من مُحا

    لِ جَهْلِه عُلومِي

    It almost negates, through the absurdity

    of its ignorance, my learning.

  24. فالطَّيفُ معنىً عند عشـ

    ـقِي ليس بالمفْهومِ

    For the phantom is a notion that, to

    my love, is incomprehensible.

  25. وأَشعَرِيُّ الحبِّ لا

    يقولُ بالمعدوم

    And love's Ashʿarite does not

    affirm the nonexistent.

  26. والقلبُ لا يرْضَى من الـ

    ـغرامِ بالشَّميم

    And the heart is not content, in

    passion, with a mere fragrance.

  27. آهٍ لطرف ظالمٍ

    في صُورة المظلومِ

    Ah, for a tyrannous eye,

    wearing the guise of the oppressed!

  28. وهْو الصَّحيحُ ولَقَدْ

    تَراه كالسَّقيم

    It is quite sound, yet

    you see it as though sick.

  29. وآهِ من عصرٍ تو

    لَّى ليسَ بالذَّميمِ

    And ah, for an age

    now gone, that was not blameworthy:

  30. عصرِ شبابٍ طار بالنْـ

    ـعْمَةِ والنَّعِيم

    an age of youth that flew away with

    blessing and bliss.

  31. واشتَعَل الشَّيبُ كمثـ

    ـلِ النَّارِ في الهَشيم

    Gray hair flared up, like

    fire in dry brushwood.

  32. وأَصْبحَتْ جَنَّةُ إِطرا

    بِيَ كالصَّريمِ

    And the garden of my delight became

    a ravaged waste.

  33. ومُلكي أُزيلَ من

    شيطانِيَ الرَّجِيم

    And my dominion was wrested from

    my accursed devil.

  34. فاليومَ لا إِلْفي ولاَ

    كأْسي ولا نَديمِي

    So today there is neither my beloved nor

    my cup nor my drinking companion.

  35. وكنتُ كالمخصومِ

    ثُمَّ عُدت كالْمَعْصُوم

    I was like one defeated in a dispute;

    then I became like one shielded from sin.

  36. وخادِمُ الفاضل

    بَرٌّ ليسَ بالأَثِيمِ

    And al-Fadil's servant

    is righteous, not sinful.

  37. تُعدِّيه تقواه فتُنْـ

    ـجيه مِنَ الجَحيم

    His piety carries him across and

    saves him from Hell.

  38. ذاكَ الكريمُ ابنُ الكريـ

    ـمِ ابْنُ الكريمِ الخِيم

    That generous man, son of the generous,

    grandson of one generous in nature:

  39. يدعُوهُ بالأَوَّابِ والـ

    ـأَوَّاهِ والْحَليم

    he calls him the ever-returning, the

    deep-sighing, and the forbearing—

  40. المالِكُ الناسِكُ محـ

    ـيي دولةِ الْعُلوم

    the sovereign, the ascetic, reviver

    of the realm of learning,

  41. وعامرُ الدِّين وبا

    ني رُكْنِه المهدوم

    the cultivator of religion and builder

    of its demolished pillar,

  42. والواهِبُ الآلافِ لِلسـ

    ــائِلِ والمحْرُومِ

    the giver of thousands to the petitioner

    and the deprived.

  43. وأَوجدَ الجودَ يعمّم

    بالنَّدى العمِيمِ

    He gave generosity existence, spreading it

    with bounty embracing all.

  44. وأَعدَم الْعُدْمَ فما

    في الخلْقِ مِنْ عَديم

    And he abolished want, so there is

    no needy person among creation.

  45. وأَبرأَ الحالَ النحيـ

    ـفَ بالنَّدى الجسيم

    He healed the emaciated condition

    with ample bounty.

  46. فجاءَنا المسيحُ مِنـ

    ــهُ بيدِ الكَليم

    So the Messiah came to us from

    him, with the hand of Moses, God's interlocutor.

  47. تَخْفَى الملُوكُ صُغَّراً

    لقدرِه العَظيمِ

    Kings shrink into obscurity

    before his immense worth,

  48. كما عَنَتْ أَوْجُهُهَا

    لوجْهِه الْكَرِيمِ

    as their faces bow

    before his noble face.

  49. أَتَت إِلى مَوْرِدِهِ

    مثلَ العِطاشِ الهيمِ

    They came to his watering-place

    like thirst-crazed camels.

  50. وسقَطَتْ على الخبيـ

    ــرِ منْه والعَليمِ

    And they found one expert

    and knowing in him.

  51. يكفُّها بخوفِه

    عن طَبْعِها الظَّلُومَ

    Through fear of him he restrains them

    from their tyrannous nature.

  52. ونِعمَةُ الظَّالمِ بالظَّـ

    ـالمِ كالظَّليم

    And a tyrant's blessing through a tyrant

    is like an ostrich.

  53. ويُنتج السَّعْدُ لَها

    فِي مُلكِهِ العَظِيم

    And good fortune bears fruit for them

    in his mighty realm,

  54. كما أَقامَتْ مِنْه في

    نعيمِها المُقيمِ

    as through him they dwell

    in their abiding bliss.

  55. لَوْ لَمْ يَرُمَّ مُلْكَها

    لكان كالرَّمِيم

    Had he not repaired their dominion,

    it would have been like decayed remains.

  56. وكانَ كالمثلوبِ لو

    لاَه وكالْمثلُوم

    It would have been reviled, but

    for him, and breached as well.

  57. وكان لَو لَمْ يَدْعه

    يُدَعّ كاليتيمِ

    And had he not summoned it,

    it would be thrust away like an orphan.

  58. وكَمْ له من قَلمٍ

    والٍ على إِقْليمِ

    And how many a pen he has

    that governs a province!

  59. وذاكَ إِقليمٌ من الـ

    ـهندِ لأَقْصَى الرُّومِ

    And that province stretches from

    India to the farthest reaches of Rum.

  60. وذلِك الموقوفُ مِنْ

    كِتَابه المرقُومِ

    And that is what is set apart from

    his inscribed writing.

  61. ولفظُه المنثورُ مثـ

    ـلُ اللؤلؤِ المنظومِ

    And his prose is like

    pearls strung together.

  62. يا سيِّداً سِرُّ ندا

    هُ ليسَ بالمكْتُومِ

    O master, the secret of whose bounty

    is not concealed!

  63. يا مُسْهِرِي بِشكرِه

    وجودُه مُنيمِي

    O you who keep me awake with gratitude,

    whose generosity sends me to sleep!

  64. أَشكُو وما أَشكو نَعَمْ

    أَشْكُو إِلى رَحيمِ

    I complain—and I do not complain; yes,

    I complain to a merciful one.

  65. أَشْكُو إِليك أَنْعُماً

    قد مَلأَتْ حَيْزُومِي

    I complain to you of favors

    that have filled my breast.

  66. قد أَثْقَلتْ ظهرِي وقدّ

    تْ بالْحَيَا أَدِيمي

    They have weighed down my back and rent

    my skin with shame.

  67. وصرتَ إِذ قصَّرتُ يا

    محمودُ كالمَذْمُومِ

    And when I fell short, you became, O

    praised one, as though blameworthy.

  68. وربما أغرق مز

    ن الغيث بالسجوم

    Sometimes a raincloud causes drowning

    with its streaming rain.

  69. وربَّما عادَتْ نجو

    مُ الأُفْق كالرُّجُومِ

    And sometimes the stars

    of the horizon become missiles.

  70. أَقلُّ ما يوليه تبـ

    ـجيليَ مَعْ تَعْظيمِي

    The least he bestows is

    honoring and esteeming me,

  71. ووصْفُ تصنيفي ومنـ

    ـثوريَ مَعْ مَنْظومِي

    and praising my compositions and my

    prose alongside my verse.

  72. ومنكَ تعليمي ومَا

    عُلِّمت مَعْ تَفْهيمي

    From you comes my instruction, and what

    I was taught, along with my understanding.

  73. وعَمَّرْتُ دار طرا

    زِي منكَ بالمَرقُوم

    And I filled my embroidery-house

    with patterned cloth from you.

  74. كذا مُوشَّحاتِي صر

    نَ مِنْك كالطَّمِيمِ

    Likewise, my muwashshahs have become

    through you like a surging flood.

  75. وأَنْتَ إِنْ شَكَرْتَ فالشُّـ

    ـكْرُ إِليكَ يُومِي

    And if you give thanks, the thanks

    point back toward you.

  76. ولي عِدىً أَنفاسُهم

    كالسُّمِّ والسُّمُومِ

    I have foes whose breaths

    are like poison and venom.

  77. هُمْ عِلَّة الأَنْفُسِ

    والأَرواحِ والجُسومِ

    They are the sickness of souls,

    of spirits and bodies.

  78. رفَعْتني عنْهم مَن

    التُّخومِ للنُّجومِ

    You raised me above them, from

    earth's confines to the stars.

  79. ورَكَدَتْ ريحُهمُ

    عِنْدَك من نَسيمِ

    Their wind fell still

    before you, from a mere breeze.

  80. أَقمْتَنِي فرجَعُوا

    في المقْعَدِ المُقيمِ

    You made me stand, and they returned

    to their abiding seat.

  81. وقد قَضى تأخيرُهم

    ما شئتَ من تَقْديمِ

    And their relegation has secured

    the advancement you wished.

  82. وصرتَ مخدومِي فصا

    رَ كلُّهم خَديمِي

    You became the master I serve, so

    they all became my servants.

  83. فاهْنَأ بعيدٍ قادمٍ

    بأَسعدِ الْقُدومِ

    So rejoice in the approaching feast,

    with its most auspicious coming.

  84. أَتاكَ بالتكْميل للـ

    ـآمالِ والتَّتْمِيمِ

    It comes to you bringing fulfillment

    of hopes and their completion.

  85. تُحيي به السُّنَّةَ من

    أَبيكَ إِبْراهيم

    Through it you revive the tradition

    of your father Ibrahim.

  86. وتنحرُ الأَعداءَ فيـ

    ـــهِ بدالَ الْقُرومِ

    And during it you slaughter your enemies

    instead of the mighty camels.

  87. وتعزمُ الهباتِ

    والْغرْمُ على الرَّغيم

    You resolve to bestow gifts,

    and the cost falls on the humbled one.

  88. وتَجعلُ العارِضَ مِنْ

    روضِيَ كالْحَميمِ

    And you make the raincloud of

    my garden like scalding water.

  89. يا نعمةَ اللهِ علىَ

    عبدِ الرَّحيمِ دُومِي

    O blessing of God upon

    ʿAbd al-Rahim, endure!