أعلل فيكِ ببرد النسيمِ

فؤادا عليلاً بحرِّ الهمومِ

In longing for you, I soothe with the breeze's coolness

a heart ailing from the heat of cares.

وأعتاضُ بالبدر لو ناب عن

كِ قامةَ غصنٍ وألحاظَ ريمِ

I would take the full moon instead, if it could replace

you, with a bough's stature and a gazelle's glances.

وهذا اشتباهكما في الوجوه

فأين اشتباهكما في الجسومِ

Here is your likeness to each other in your faces;

but where is your likeness in bodily form?

أقامَ وبنتِ وأحظى لدَيْ

يَ أن يُفتَدَى ظاعنٌ بالمقيمِ

It stayed, and you departed; more pleasing to

me is that the departing one be ransomed with the one who stays.

سقاكِ الغمامُ وداراً تضُم

مُ أهلَكِ أعرفُها بالغَمِيمِ

May the clouds water you, and a home that shelters

your family, which I know at al-Ghamim.

أُحِبُّ ولم يك لي موطنا

لحبِّك نازِحَ تلك الرسومِ

I love—though it was never my home—

those distant traces, out of love for you.

وقال الوشاةُ ولاموا علي

كِ لو يظفَرون بسمع الملومِ

The talebearers spoke and reproached me over

you—if only they could gain the reproached one's ear!

رعَى اللهُ قلبَك من حافظٍ

صحيح على كلّ عهدٍ سقيمِ

May God guard your heart—what a guardian,

sound itself, though every pledge is sick!

أفي كلِّ يومٍ حبيبٌ يخون

فيُحمَلَ حادثُه للقديمِ

Must a beloved betray each day,

and his new betrayal be added to the old?

إلى كم تطيلُ وقوفَ النجو

مِ بعدَ هواك ارتقابَ النجومِ

How long will you prolong the stars' lingering,

watching the stars since you fell in love,

وتبغِي الرقادَ ابتغاءَ الخلِّي

ودون سَلامةَ ليلُ السليمِ

and seek sleep as the carefree do,

while a snake-bitten man's night lies between you and Salama?

خذوا عذلَكم ودعوا للغرام

حَشاً يقتضيه اقتضاءَ الغريمِ

Take back your reproaches, and leave to passion

a heart it presses as a creditor presses his debtor.

وقم يا نديمي وكم نخبةٍ

عصَيْتُ عليها اقتراح النديمِ

Rise, my drinking companion; over many a choice

I have defied a companion's suggestion.

فغنّ بذكرهِمُ واسقني

بماء جفونيَ ماءَ الكرومِ

Sing, then, of them, and pour me

the water of vines mixed with the water of my eyelids.

وغالطْ بشكرك شكرَ الزمان

بخفضِ الكريم ورفع اللئيمِ

And use your thanks to confound thanks offered to Time

for lowering the noble and raising the base.

ودافعْ بأيّامه ما استطعتَ

فيومٌ سفيهٌ بيومٍ حليمِ

And with its own days, fend off what you can:

a foolish day with a forbearing day.

ولكن إذا ما ذكرتَ الحسينَ

ذكرتَ الثراءَ لكفٍّ عديمِ

But whenever you mention al-Husayn,

you mention wealth for a destitute hand,

وجرَّدتَ سيفا تفُلُّ الخطوبَ

مضاربُه نافذاتِ العزيمِ

and unsheathe a sword, blunting calamities

with its striking edges, however piercing their resolve.

من البيضِ ما طبعَ الفُرسُ من

ه للهندِ زُبرةَ مَجدِ تميمِ

Among the bright blades, one from which the Persians forged

for India an iron mass of Tamim's glory.

هم القوم تُعقَدُ تيجانُهم

عمائمَ فوق الوقارِ العميمِ

They are the people whose crowns are bound

as turbans above their all-enfolding dignity.

ويَشْهدُ أبناؤهم مثلَهُ

لآبائهم بصفاءِ الأُرومِ

Their sons bear witness to the same

in their fathers, through the purity of their roots.

رأى شُعبةً ليَ من بينهم

مشعَّبةَ المجدِ في بيتِ رُومِ

He saw a branch of mine among them,

with glory branching in the house of Rum.

فقام بنُصرتها والكري

مُ صبّ الفؤادِ بنصر الكريمِ

He rose to champion it; and the noble

man's heart is enamored of helping the noble.

أبا قاسمٍ زعمَ المجدُ لا

أَخيبُ وأنتَ بأمري زعيمي

Abu Qasim, glory declared: I shall not

fail while you are my guarantor in my affairs.

نُجِمُّ رجالا لإمرارهم

وتحلو فنرعاك رعيَ الجميمِ

We leave men ungrazed because of their bitterness,

but you are sweet, so we graze you like fresh herbage.

وممّا أبُثُّك إلّا سواك

بشرّ مخوفٍ وخيرٍ مرومِ

And what do I complain to you of but others than yourself,

their dreaded harm and hoped-for good?

غدا الناسُ أعداءَ ما يُحرَمو

ن يَهزَأ جاهلُهم بالعليمِ

People have become enemies of whatever they are

denied; their ignorant mock the learned.

وصار الغِنَى قُربةً للعدُو

وِ والفقرُ مَبعدةً للحميمِ

Wealth now draws the enemy close,

while poverty drives the intimate friend away.

فكلٌّ وحاشاك خِلُّ اليسار

يُرَى مَعَه وصديقُ النعيمِ

So everyone—except you—is a friend of wealth,

seen beside it, and a companion of ease.

تعوّج ما اعوجَّ دهرٌ عليك

كما يستقيمُ مع المستقيمِ

He turns crooked when Time turns crooked against you,

just as he stands straight with one who stands straight.

ومَن شئتَ فالقَ بلا حاجةٍ

بوجهٍ طليقٍ ووُدٍّ سليمِ

Meet whomever you wish, so long as you need nothing:

you find an open face and sound affection.

فإن عَرَضتْ صرتَ أيَّ الذليلِ

لديه وقد كنتَ أيَّ الكريمِ

But if a need arises, you become utterly abject

in his eyes, though you were once utterly honored.

وكم صاحبٍ كنتُ بالقُرب منه

أجلَّ محلِّ النبيهِ العظيمِ

How many a companion—near him, I once held

the highest rank of a distinguished, great man!

فلّما رأى حاجتي عنده

رآني الوصيَّ بعين اليتيمِ

But when he saw my need of him,

he viewed me, the guardian, through an orphan's eyes.

وبُدِّلتُ من بِشره والسلامِ

بقولٍ مريضٍ ووجهٍ شتيمِ

In place of his cheerfulness and greetings I was given

ailing words and an ugly face.

ينزِّلني درَجا في اللقاء

بحسْبِ طروقي له أو لزومي

He lowers me by degrees when we meet,

in proportion to my visits or my persistence.

أعِنِّي متمِّمَ ما قد بدأتَ

فإن المفاتحَ رهنُ الختومِ

Help me, completing what you have begun,

for beginnings stand hostage to endings.

غدوتَ ونصري وُجوبا عليك

ذمامَ يدي من زماني الذميمِ

You have become—with aiding me a duty upon you—

my hand's safeguard against my blameworthy Time,

بما بيننا من ولاءٍ طريفٍ

وودٍّ وبيتٍ وأصلٍ قديمِ

through the recent allegiance between us,

and affection, a house, and an ancient root;

ولو لم يكن غيرُ حَلِّي لديك

رِحالَ المنى وعِقالَ الهمومِ

even if there were nothing but my untying before you

the saddlebags of hopes and the tether of cares.

وبالعصَبيّةِ بانَ الأبيُّ ال

حميُّ من العاجزِ المستنيمِ

Through loyalty to kin, the proud is set apart—

the zealous protector—from the helpless, yielding man.

فأُردِي كُلَيبٌ لحفظ الجوارِ

ورعيِ الذمارِ و صونِ الحريمِ

Thus Kulayb was slain for safeguarding his neighbors,

defending honor and protecting his sanctuary.

وللخوفِ في قومه أن يضا

مَ مات ابنُ حُجْرٍ قتيلَ الكلومِ

And fearing that his people might be

wronged, Ibn Hujr died, slain by wounds.

وخاطَرَ حاجبُ في قوسِهِ

فخلَّفها شَرَفاً في تميمِ

Hajib risked his bow,

and left it as glory among Tamim.

وما حطَّك الدهرُ في سؤددٍ

تسامَوْا له ووفاءٍ وخِيمِ

Time has not lowered you in the nobility

they aspired to, nor in loyalty and character.

ولا زال ذا الخُلُقُ السهلُ منك

طريقاً إلى كلِّ حظٍّ جسيمِ

May this gentle character of yours remain

a path to every great good fortune.

وودَّع دارَك شهرُ الصيام

وَداعَ مشوقٍ كثيرِ القُدومِ

The month of fasting has bid your home farewell,

like one who yearns and often comes again.

يعودُك والعيد من بعدِهِ

متى فارقا فلسعدٍ مقيمِ

It returns to you, and Eid follows after it;

whenever they depart, may abiding good fortune remain,

على عمل بالتقى ضيِّقٍ

خفيّ وملكٍ وسيع وسيمِ

with conduct kept narrow by piety,

hidden, and a dominion broad and fair,

وسعيٍ يوفِّرُ أجر المثابِ

عليك ويُحْبِطُ وِزْرَ الأثيمِ

and striving that increases the reward of the recompensed

for you, and wipes away the sinner's burden,

مدَى الدهرِ ما خُضِّرتْ أَيكةٌ

وطُوِّفَ بين مِنىً والحَطِيمِ

for all time, as long as a thicket turns green

and pilgrims make their rounds between Mina and al-Hatim.