1. لونُ الرياحين ولينُ الغصون

    أرخَصَ مني كلَّ دمعٍ مصون

    The hue of fragrant blooms and the suppleness of boughs

    Made cheap every guarded tear of mine.

  2. وعاذلي في لَوْمه عاذلي

    قلتُ لقد هَوَّنت ما لاَ يهون

    And as my reproacher reproached me,

    I said: 'You have indeed made light of what is no light matter.'

  3. يا أهل وادي البان بي منكم

    أحورُ أحوى بابليّ الجفون

    O people of the valley of bān trees, I am stricken by one of you—

    A dark-eyed, dusky one with Babylonian eyelids.

  4. يَفْتُنَنِي تفتيرُ الحاظِة

    وما فتورُ اللّحظِ إلا فتون

    The languor of his glances enchants me,

    And the languor of a glance is nothing but enchantment.

  5. تقول عيناه لِعُشَّاقِه

    هَيْهَات هَيهَاتِ لمَا تُوعَدون

    His eyes say to his lovers:

    'Far, far beyond reach is what you are promised.'

  6. وردفُه يقرأ من خلفه

    لمثل ذا فليعمل العَاملون

    And his buttocks recite from behind him:

    'For the like of this, let the workers work.'

  7. ومنه فوق الخدّ سطرٌ يُرى

    ما لكمُ يا قومُ لا تعشقون

    And on his cheek a line can be seen:

    'What ails you, O people, that you do not fall in love?'

  8. قلت وقد تيّمني حُبُّه

    وأهْلُه عني لا يشعرون

    I said, when his love had enslaved me,

    While his family were unaware of me:

  9. ماذا جمالٌ هذه فتنةٌ

    ماذا هوى يا قومُ هذا جنون

    'What beauty! This is a temptation!

    What passion, O people! This is madness!

  10. يوسفُ إن قطّع أيدٍ فذا

    قطَّعَ أكبادَ أناس فُنُون

    If Yūsuf caused hands to be cut, this one

    Has cut to pieces the livers of people of every kind.'

  11. ماذا يشابه ردفُه والحَشَا

    وَحَاجبيه أقتسمتْك الشجون

    What can resemble his buttocks and his waist,

    And his two brows? Sorrows have torn you apart.

  12. تنظرْنقاً يهتزّ فيه قَناً

    ونرجساً حَوْليه نونٌ ونون

    You see a sand dune in which a lance sways,

    And a narcissus with a nūn and a nūn around it.

  13. يا رائدَ الحيّ تحدّثْ لنا

    أين استقَلّ الجيرةُ الظاعنون

    O scout of the clan, tell us:

    Where have the departing neighbors gone?

  14. هُمْ أوحشوني بعد أنسٍ وهم

    خانوا ومَا خِلْتُ مليحاً يخون

    They left me desolate after companionship, and they

    Betrayed me; I never thought a beauty would betray.

  15. وأنت يا مُعْملها طُلّحاً

    مثل قسي النبع خُمْصِ البطون

    And you, who drive them until they are worn out,

    Like bows of nabʿ wood, with sunken bellies,

  16. قابَل بها القطَب الشآمي لا

    خِبْتَ ولا خيَّبْنَ منك الظنون

    Steer them toward the Syrian pole-star; may you not

    Fail, nor may they disappoint your hopes.

  17. فإنّ في الراحة ان زرْتَها

    لراحةٌ عن جودِها الغيثُ دُون

    For in al-Rāḥa, if you visit it,

    There is indeed a palm whose bounty the rain cannot match.

  18. متى ترد عيسى النميريّ في

    بيشٍ فنعم الأرضُ والساكنون

    Whenever you reach ʿĪsā al-Numayrī in

    Bīsh, how fine the land and its inhabitants!

  19. حيث أبو يحيى ويحيى ابنُه

    نِعْمَ الأبُ البَّرُ ونعم البنون

    Where Abū Yaḥyā is, and Yaḥyā his son—

    How fine the virtuous father, and how fine the sons!

  20. حيث العطايا والقِرى والقنا

    والبَيْض والبِيْض جلتها القيون

    Where there are gifts, hospitality, and lances,

    And helmets, and bright swords polished by smiths,

  21. والسابريّات صوافي المتون

    والأعوجيات المذاكي صُفونُ

    And Sābirī coats of mail with gleaming surfaces,

    And full-grown Aʿwajī horses, poised with one hoof raised.

  22. واخضرُ الساحة بل أبيضُ الراحة

    يغنى عندَه المُعْتَفُون

    And his courtyard is green—rather, his palm is white;

    Those seeking his bounty grow rich in his presence.

  23. القائد الجائدُ والماجد الزائد

    والكلُّ له يشهدون

    The commander, the generous giver, the noble one who excels—

    And all bear witness for him.

  24. أقراهم للضيفِ أقراهم للسيف

    مهما هاج حربٌ زبون

    Their best host to guests, their best host to the sword,

    Whenever a fierce war erupts.

  25. ملء قلوب القومِ إن حاربوا

    وهو إذا سُولم ملء العيون

    He fills the people's hearts when they wage war,

    And when at peace, he fills their eyes.

  26. لم تَرَعيْني قمراً أدْهماً

    من قَبْلِه الناسُ به يهتدون

    My eye had never seen a dark-hued moon

    Before him; by him people find their way.

  27. وفارساً يُنْسب من هاشمٍ

    قومٌ هُمُ الصَّفا والحجون

    And a horseman descended from Hāshim—

    A people who are al-Ṣafā and al-Ḥajūn.

  28. مولى بني الزهراء من فخرهم

    يفخر مهمَا فخرَ الفاخرون

    An ally of al-Zahrāʾ's sons; in their glory

    He boasts whenever the boasters boast.

  29. من أهل طَسم ويسين بل

    من أهل حمّ وطهِ ونون

    From the people of Ṭā-Sīn-Mīm and Yā-Sīn—rather,

    From the people of Ḥā-Mīm, Ṭā-Hā, and Nūn.

  30. أوليك حزب الله في الأرض بل

    اولئك القومُ هم المفحلون

    Those are God's party on earth—rather,

    Those people are the successful ones.

  31. أقسمتُ ما كان كعيسى ولا

    مشبه عيسى في زمان يكون

    I swear: none has been like ʿĪsā, nor

    Will anyone resembling ʿĪsā exist in any age.

  32. ولا الثريا بمقام الثرىٍ

    ولا طريقُ الحمد مثل المجون

    Nor are the Pleiades at the level of the dust,

    Nor is the path of praise like wantonness.

  33. الحمد مِنْ مَكسبِه والثنا

    والحصنُ مِن مَوْهُوبه والحصون

    Praise and acclaim are among his gains,

    And stallions and fortresses are among his gifts.

  34. لمّا أتاني عنه في بلدتي

    ذكرٌ ولا ذكر الغمَام الَهتُون

    When a report of him reached me in my town,

    A report beyond even that of a pouring raincloud,

  35. نجعتُ في ذا الركبِ حيُ الحَيَا

    يمطر والناسُ له ينجعُون

    I sought with this caravan the camp of life-giving rain;

    He rains, and people come to him seeking sustenance.

  36. وكم رجال قصدوا غيرَه

    فقلت لا أعبدُ مَا تَعبدُون

    And how many men sought someone else!

    So I said: 'I do not worship what you worship.'

  37. أقررت رحلي في محل الغِنى

    وكلهم في فلك يسبحون

    I settled my saddle in the abode of wealth,

    And all of them swim in an orbit.

  38. إيهٍ أبا يحيى أجب دعوةً

    من شاعر جارت عليه السنون

    Come now, Abū Yaḥyā, answer a plea

    From a poet whom the years have wronged.

  39. لو أخطلٌ جارَاه أو جرول

    لقيلَ هذا يومَ لا ينطقون

    Were Akhṭal or Jarwal to rival him,

    It would be said: 'This is the day when they do not speak.'

  40. ما الجائدُ السَمْحُ كَمنْ كفّهُ

    جَعدٌ ولا السابق مثلُ الحرون

    The generous, open-handed giver is not like one whose hand

    Is clenched, nor is the front-runner like a balking horse.

  41. جملةُ أهل المدح أغنيتَهُم

    فكلّهم في شُغَلِ فاكهون

    You have enriched all the panegyrists;

    So all of them are occupied in delight.

  42. ولي على جُوَدِك دينٌ مَضى

    قِدماً وقدحان قضاء الديون

    And your generosity owes me a debt from the past,

    From long ago; now the time has come to repay debts:

  43. مَدائح من قبلِ أنْ نلتَقي

    ينشدُها فيك لي المنشدون

    Poems of praise from before we met,

    Reciters chant them in your praise for me.

  44. من يتقي الذمَ ومَنْ يفعَل الحُسَنى

    فهم في روضةٍ يُحبرَون

    Whoever guards against blame and whoever does good—

    So they are gladdened in a garden.

  45. لا زلت بالراحةِ ذا راحةٍ

    تنهلّ مثلَ الغيثِ والغيث جُون

    May you always live at ease in al-Rāḥa,

    Pouring forth like rain—and the raincloud is dark.