حَيَّت صباحاً فَأحْيَتْ ساكني القَصَبَهْ

حَيَّت صباحاً فَأحْيَتْ ساكني القَصَبَهْ

واسترجعَت أنفساً بالسوقِ مُغتَصبَهْ

واسترجعَت أنفساً بالسوقِ مُغتَصبَهْ

She gave a morning greeting and revived the citadel’s dwellers.

Good morning, you revived the dwellers of the village

And she reclaimed souls seized in the marketplace.

And restored souls in the market that were violated

قَضَى البيان لها أن لا نظير لها

قَضَى البيان لها أن لا نظير لها

فأحرزت من معاني فضله قَصَبَهْ

فأحرزت من معاني فضله قَصَبَهْ

Eloquence ruled in her favor: she had no equal.

Eloquence decreed that none can equal her

So she won the victor’s reed through the meanings of its excellence.

Thus she attained the prime of its virtue

ناجَتْ طليح سُرَى لا يستفيق لها

ناجَتْ طليح سُرَى لا يستفيق لها

هدَّت جوارحَهُ واستوهَنَتُ عَصَبَهْ

هدَّت جوارحَهُ واستوهَنَتُ عَصَبَهْ

She whispered to one worn by night travel, unable to recover because of it.

She appealed to a sleepy love that does not awaken for her

It shattered his limbs, and I found his sinews weak.

She moved his sensations and regarded his determination as trivial

فحركته على فتك الكلال به

فحركته على فتك الكلال به

وأذهبت بسرور الملتقى نَصَبَهْ

وأذهبت بسرور الملتقى نَصَبَهْ

So she roused him despite fatigue’s deadly assault on him.

So she stirred him to fiercely eradicate his sorrows

And she dispelled his weariness through the joy of meeting.

And removed the pride of their meeting

وأذكرتُ عهد مهديها ويشكر

وأذكرتُ عهد مهديها ويشكر

فوجهها بعصاب الحس قد عصبه

فوجهها بعصاب الحس قد عصبه

And I brought her giver’s pledge to mind, and he gives thanks.

And I recall the era of her guidance, and he is thankful

So he has bound her face with a band of perception.

So the cheek of perception has contracted for her

ما كنت أسمح من دهري بجوهرة

ما كنت أسمح من دهري بجوهرة

لو كان يسمح لي بالقلب من غَصبَهْ

لو كان يسمح لي بالقلب من غَصبَهْ

I would not be more generous than my fate with a jewel,

I would not have been so generous with my life for a gem

if the one who seized the heart would yield it to me.

If my heart was permitted for me to violate

سَلْ أدمعَ الصَّبِّ مَنْ أعدى السحاب بها

سَلْ أدمعَ الصَّبِّ مَنْ أعدى السحاب بها

وقَلْبَهُ بجمار الشوق من حَصَبَهْ

وقَلْبَهُ بجمار الشوق من حَصَبَهْ

Ask the lovesick one’s tears who infected the clouds with them,

Ask the tears of passion, who afflicted the clouds with her

and his heart who pelted it with the embers of longing.

And his heart with the embers of longing that burned him

فالله يحفظ مهديها على شَحَطِ

فالله يحفظ مهديها على شَحَطِ

فعاودَ القلبُ من غَصبَهْ

فعاودَ القلبُ من غَصبَهْ

So may God preserve her giver despite the distance.

So may God protect the era of her guidance

Then the heart revisited the one who had seized it.

Thus the heart recovered from its violation

من كان وارث آداب يشعشعُها

من كان وارث آداب يشعشعُها

بالفرض إنّيَ في إرثي لها عَصَبهْ

بالفرض إنّيَ في إرثي لها عَصَبهْ

He who inherited literary arts and makes them shine,

Whoever inherits her elegant manners that shine

by a prescribed share—I, in inheriting them, am an agnatic residuary heir.

By duty I am entitled to her as a violated one

هو الملاذ ملاذ الناس قاطبة

هو الملاذ ملاذ الناس قاطبة

سبحان من لغياث الخلق قد نَصَبَهْ

سبحان من لغياث الخلق قد نَصَبَهْ

He is the refuge, the refuge of all people.

He is the refuge, the refuge of all people

Glory be to Him who appointed him to succor creation.

Glorified is He who established succor for the creation