1. بَرقٌ أضا من أيمن الجَرْعاء

    غيثاً مُلِثاً دائمَ الأنواءِ

    Lightning flashed from the right of al-Jarʿāʾ,

    with persistent rain and unceasing showers.

  2. وسقى ربوعاً من زَرُود وعالج

    فالرقمتين هتون ماءِ سماءِ

    It watered dwelling-grounds in Zarūd and ʿĀlij,

    then al-Raqmatayn, with streaming water from the sky.

  3. عهدي بها والشَّمْل مجتمع بها

    من أهلها كالروَّضة الغنَّاءِ

    I remember it with everyone gathered there,

    its inhabitants like a luxuriant garden.

  4. أمست خلاءً بعد ساكنها وما

    يحلو لها قلبي من البُرَحاءِ

    It lay deserted after its dwellers had gone, and no longer

    does my heart find solace there from bitter anguish.

  5. جرت عليها الرِّيح أوديةَ البِلَى

    من زعزع أو سجسجٍ ورُخاءِ

    The wind coursed over it through the valleys of decay,

    whether tempestuous or temperate and gentle.

  6. عُوجُوا بمربعها لكي ما يشتفى

    بترابها قلبي من الأدواءِ

    Turn aside to its springtime encampment, that healing may come

    through its dust to my heart, freeing it from ailments.

  7. لا تعدلوني إن بكيت صبابةً

    برسومها إن كنتمُ سُجرائِي

    Do not turn me aside if I weep with yearning

    over its traces, if you are my close companions.

  8. فعسى البكا يحدى بها ولعلَّما

    بطفي لهيب الشوق من أحشائي

    Perhaps weeping may be stirred by it, and perhaps

    it will quench the blaze of longing in my entrails.

  9. إني أنا الصَّبُّ المتيَّمُ في الهوى

    هو في الحَشاشة والبكاءُ وشفائي

    Indeed, I am the yearning lover, enslaved by love;

    it dwells in my inmost heart, and weeping is my cure.

  10. كيف الخلاصُ من الغرام ولم أفق

    بعد النَّوَى من لوعةٍ وبكاء

    How can I escape passionate love when I have not recovered,

    after separation, from anguish and weeping?

  11. يا عاذلي دعني ولومي إنني

    في الحب والبلوى من الأُسراءِ

    O my reproacher, leave me be and cease your blame, for I

    am among the captives of love and affliction.

  12. لو ذفت ما قاسيت من ألم الجَوَى

    لعذرتني وسميت في استشفائِي

    Had you tasted what I suffered of love's consuming pain,

    you would have excused me and striven for my healing.

  13. أو خِلْتَ مَن أهوى لهمت ولم تزل

    متحيِّراً في شدَّةٍ ورخاءِ

    Or had you imagined the one I love, you would become lovesick and remain

    bewildered in hardship and in ease.

  14. سقْيا لأيام الصبي من حيث لم

    يَنْأَ الحبيبُ مخافةَ الرُّقباءِ

    May rain bless the days of youth, when

    the beloved did not draw away in fear of watchers.

  15. أيام يرفُلُ في الشباب وعيشنا

    صافٍ من الأكدار والأقذاءِ

    Days when the beloved strode proudly in youth, and our life

    was clear of troubles and impurities.

  16. والدهر يرمُقُنا ونحن بلذة

    متنعِّمين بمقلة شوشاءِ

    And Time watched us while we, in pleasure,

    lived at ease beneath its darting gaze.

  17. والعيش أُغْيَدُ والحبيب مُواصل

    متلذِّذٌ في بهجةٍ ورُوَاءِ

    And life was supple, and the beloved remained close,

    delighting in joy and beauty.

  18. لما نضا ثوب الشَّبيبة والصِّبَي

    صدَّ الحبيبُ ولم يَجُدْ بِلِقاء

    When the robe of youth and boyhood was cast off,

    the beloved turned away and would not grant a meeting.

  19. كيف التَّغَزُّل والشبيبةُ أدبرت

    وأتى المشيب بِتَرْحَةٍ وعَناءِ

    How can one sing of love when youth has turned away,

    and gray hair has come with sorrow and hardship?

  20. فاربأْ بعمرك أن يمر ولم تَؤُبْ

    مُسترشدا من ذي الوَرَى بثَنَاءِ

    So hold your life too dear to let it pass without returning,

    seeking guidance, with praise, from the lord of humankind.

  21. وارفض جميع الشُّغْل عنك وجِدَّ في

    التأْويبِ والإدلاجِ والإسراءِ

    Cast off every distraction, and strive in

    daylong marches, early-night travel, and night journeys.

  22. واقطع مهامه كل خرق هَوْجِلٍ

    بشِمِلَّةٍ محبورَةٍ وَجْناء

    And cross the wastes of every vast, desolate tract

    on a swift, well-nourished, stout-cheeked she-camel.

  23. واقصِدْ أبا العَرَب بن سلطان الذي

    عَمَّ الوَرَى بكرامةٍ وسخاءِ

    And seek Abū al-ʿArab ibn Sulṭān, who

    has encompassed humankind with honor and generosity.

  24. فهو المؤمَّل والمرجَّى في الجَدَى

    لا زال يعلو في سَناً وسَناءِ

    For he is the one hoped for and looked to for bounty;

    may he ever rise in radiance and glory.

  25. أهل السماحةِ والفصاحةِ والنَّدَى

    وأبو السخاء مهجِّن الكُرماءِ

    A man of liberality, eloquence, and largesse,

    and the father of generosity, putting the generous to shame.

  26. لينُ الخلائق زاهدٌ متورعٌ

    لكنه كالليث في الهيجاءِ

    Gentle in disposition, ascetic, and scrupulously devout,

    yet like a lion in battle.

  27. غيث إذا ما الغيثُ ضَنَّ بمائه

    ونواله يزرى على الدأْماءِ

    He is rain when rain begrudges its water,

    and his bounty puts the dark sea to shame.

  28. عرف السياسة مُذْ نشا فكأنه

    ورث الذكا عن حكمة الحكماءِ

    He knew statecraft from his youth, as though

    he inherited intelligence from the wisdom of sages.

  29. فغدا وحيد زمانه متفَرِّدا

    بحذاقة العلماء والفصحاءِ

    Thus he became unmatched in his age, unique

    in the mastery of scholars and eloquent speakers.

  30. يا ابن الإمام العدل سلطان العروبةِ

    سيد الأرباب والعُرَباءِ

    O son of the just Imam Sulṭān of the Arabs,

    lord of lords and of the true Arabs,

  31. إني رجوتك أن تَسُدَّ خَصاصتي

    والظَّنُّ مِنِّي لا يخيب رجائي

    I have hoped that you would relieve my need,

    and my expectation is that my hope will not fail.

  32. ومُؤَمِّلٌ أملا بأن أحظَى وإنما

    أمَّلْتُ منك بأن تُجيبَ نِدائي

    And I cherish the hope of gaining favor; I only

    hoped that you would answer my call.

  33. إيَّاكَ أن تدَعَ الزَّمانَ يُصِيبُني

    بَلواهُ بالبأْساءِ والضَّرَّاءِ

    Beware of letting Time strike me

    with its trials, with hardship and suffering,

  34. أو أن يُكَدِّرَ ما صَفَا من مَشْرَبي

    بصُرُوفِهِ أو أن يَهُدَّ بِنائي

    or muddy the clear water of my drinking-place

    with its vicissitudes, or tear down my edifice.

  35. فادْرَأْ أذاةَ النائباتِ وكُفَّها

    عن أن يَعضَّ بها على أعضائي

    So ward off calamities' harm, and restrain them,

    lest Time bite into my limbs through them.

  36. ولْتَسْخُوَنَّ بما مَلَكْتَ فإنه

    فَانٍ ويبْقَى فيكَ حُسنُ ثَنائي

    And be sure to give freely of what you possess, for it

    passes away, while the beauty of my praise of you remains.

  37. وارحم وَجُدْ حتى يقولَ الناسُ ذا

    أَغْنَى الوَرَى من كثْرَةِ الإعطاءِ

    Have mercy and give, until people say, 'This man

    has enriched humankind through abundant giving.'

  38. مَدْحي لكم أرجُو به الحُسنَى غَداً

    أو أن يُبَوِّئَنِي بدار بَقاءِ

    Through my praise of you I hope for the best reward tomorrow,

    or that it may lodge me in an everlasting abode.

  39. خُذها هَدِيَّا لا يَفُوهُ بمثْلِها

    أحدٌ من الفُصَحاء والشُّعَرَاءِ

    Take it as a gift: nothing like it is uttered

    by any eloquent speaker or poet.

  40. نَزَّهْتُها من كل مُلْكٍ فاخِرٍ

    من حيثُ أنتَ لها من الأكْفَاءِ

    I have kept it apart from every splendid kingdom,

    since you are a worthy match for it.

  41. فاسمَعْ لها عَرَبِيَّةً فكأنَّها

    من حُسنِها كالغادَةِ الحَسناءِ

    So listen to it as an Arabic ode, as though

    in its beauty it were a lovely maiden.

  42. لا عَيْبَ في أبياتِها إلا إذا

    قُرِئَتْ تُسَوِّدُ أَوْجُهَ الأعداءِ

    There is no flaw in its verses, except that when

    they are read, they blacken the faces of enemies.