1. دَعُوه يبكى دماً ودَمْعاَ

    يندبُ رسماً عَفَا ورَبْعَا

    Let him weep blood and tears,

    Lamenting a faded trace and a dwelling-place.

  2. لا تعذلُوه في الحب جهلاً

    فهو عن العذلِ صَمَّ سَمعَا

    Do not ignorantly reproach him for love,

    For he has turned a deaf ear to reproach.

  3. إذْ كان نِدِّى وروح وُدّى

    دَهْراً وكنَّا في الحب شرْعَا

    When he was my peer and the soul of my affection,

    For an age, and we were equals in love.

  4. أَبْلَتْ موداتُه الليالى

    فصارَ ماءُ الودادِ لَمْعَا

    His affections wore the nights away,

    And the water of affection became a mirage.

  5. سَقياً لأيامِنا المواضِى

    إذْ كان خفضى بهن رَفْعَا

    May rain bless our bygone days,

    When my lowliness in them was exaltation.

  6. أيام عودُ الشباب غضٌّ

    ونحن في روضتيه نَرْعَى

    Days when the branch of youth was tender,

    And we grazed in its two gardens.

  7. أيام ذاتِ اللَّمَى ترينى

    كالشمس وجهاً والليل فَرْعَا

    Days when the dark-lipped beauty showed me

    A face like the sun and tresses like the night.

  8. مَمْشُوقَةُ القدِّ ذاتُ سنٍّ

    لها تناهَى سبعاً وسبعَا

    Tall and slender of stature, whose age

    Had reached seven and seven.

  9. يا أيها العاذلونَ كُفُّوا

    عَنّى فما بي ليس بِدْعا

    O you reproachers, keep away

    From me, for what ails me is nothing new.

  10. فلو تدفعون ما أُعَانى

    لمَا أَطَقْتم لذاك دَفْعَا

    For if you sought to repel what I endure,

    You would not have the strength to repel it.

  11. أبيتُ ذَا حَسرة كأنى

    مُسَهَّدٌ ساوَرَتْه أَفْعَى

    I pass the night in anguish, as though I were

    A sleepless man assailed by a viper.

  12. كيف اصطبارِى ونارُ شَوْقى

    قد غادرتْ في الفؤادِ لَذْعَا

    How can I endure, when the fire of my longing

    Has left a burning sting within my heart?

  13. لا تعجبُوا إن بكيتُ شوقاً

    مِن بعد إلفى دماً ودَمْعَا

    Do not wonder if, from longing, I weep

    Blood and tears at my beloved's absence.

  14. فجود دمعى أسى وشوقا

    كجود سلطان صار طبعا

    For my tears' bounty, in sorrow and longing,

    Is like Sultan's generosity, become second nature.

  15. سليلُ سيفِ الملك الذي

    يقمعُ أهلَ الطغيان قمعَا

    Saif's scion, the king who

    Crushes the people of tyranny utterly.

  16. واليعربى النسبُ الذي

    يقطعُ عنق الأعداء قطْعَا

    And Ya‘rubi by lineage, who

    Severs the enemies' necks completely.

  17. فاقَ الورَى مَحْتِداً وأصلا

    كما تعالى عِرْقاً وفَرْعَا

    He surpassed mankind in ancestry and origin,

    As he rose high in root and branch.

  18. عمَّ البرايا ندًى وجوداً

    فاجتمعوا في ندَاه شرعَا

    He encompassed creation with bounty and generosity,

    So they gathered as equals in his bounty.

  19. سعيت للمكرمات طفلا

    لا زِلْتَ للمكرماتِ تَسْعَى

    You pursued noble deeds as a child;

    May you never cease to pursue noble deeds.

  20. أعدَيْتَ كلَّ الأنام جُوداً

    وجُدتَ حتى أفنيتَ جَمْعَا

    You infected all mankind with generosity,

    And gave until you exhausted what you had amassed.

  21. لا غاب راجيك من جوادٍ

    إن جاءَ قصداً إليك يسْعَى

    May one who hopes in you never lack a generous giver,

    If he comes with purpose, hastening toward you.

  22. أنتَ لريبِ الزمان عَوْنى

    قد صرتَ حِصْناً لنا ودِرْعَا

    You are my aid against time's misfortunes;

    You have become a fortress for us, and a shield.

  23. قد فُقْتَ أهل الزمان رأياً

    وحِجًى صافيا وصُنْعَا

    You have surpassed the people of this age in judgment,

    And in clear intellect and accomplishment.

  24. أنتَ المليكُ الإمامُ عدلا

    لا زلتَ كلَّ الأنام تَرْعَى

    You are the sovereign, the imam in justice;

    May you ever tend all mankind.

  25. أنتَ المرجَّى إنْ ظنَّ مزنٌ

    أو إن تمادى قطراً ورجْعَا

    You are our hope if rainclouds withhold their rain,

    Or persist in rainfall and returning showers.

  26. لك يومَ الهياجِ قلبٌ

    يُزْرِى على الخافقيْن وُسْعَا

    On the day of battle, yours is a heart

    That puts the two horizons to shame in breadth.

  27. لك وقْعٌ إذا المنايا

    في الحرب تغلى أشد وقْعَا

    You have a blow that, when deaths

    Seethe in war, is fiercer in its impact.

  28. أدعوك إن عَضَّني زمانى

    لا زلتَ للمكرمات تُدْعَى

    I call upon you if my time bites me;

    May you always be called to noble deeds.

  29. ما قلتُ ذَا الشعرَ فيك وحدى

    لكنه صارَ مِنك يَسْعَى

    I did not compose this poetry about you by myself;

    Rather, it came forth from you, hastening.

  30. هاكَ عروساً مِن ذِى ودادٍ

    فاخلعْ عليها الإحسانَ خَلْعَا

    Take this bride from one who loves you;

    So robe her richly in kindness.

  31. كأنها البدر لاحَ نوراً

    أو كالثريَّا تَرُوقُ لَمْعَا

    She is like the full moon, shining with light,

    Or like the Pleiades, dazzling in brilliance.

  32. لا عيبَ فيها سوى الأعادِى

    تَسْفَعُهم في الأحشاءِ سَفْعَا

    No flaw lies in her, save that the enemies

    Are scorched by her within their entrails.

  33. وادفعْ لها مَهْرَها وأجزل

    لأنها تستحق رَفْعَا

    And pay her her dower, and give lavishly,

    For she deserves exaltation.

  34. لو أنها تستطيعُ نُطْقَا

    لافتخرتْ مُذْ أتتْك تَسْعَى

    If she could speak,

    She would have boasted since she came hastening to you.

  35. فاقَتْ على نظمِ كلِّ شعرٍ

    لأنها في عُلاكَ تُدْعَى

    She surpassed the composition of every poem,

    For she is called forth in praise of your greatness.