1. يا رَبعُ أين تَرى الأحبَّةَ يمَّمُوا

    هل أنجدوا من بعدنا أم أَتهمُوا

    O dwelling, where do you think the beloved have headed?

    Did they go to Najd after us, or to Tihāmah?

  2. نزلوا من العَين السَّوادَ وإن نَأوا

    ومن الفؤاد مكانَ ما انا أكتُمُ

    They settled in the eye's dark pupil, though far away,

    and in the heart, in the place of what I keep concealed.

  3. رحَلُوا وفى القلبِ المُعَنَّى بعدهم

    وَجدٌ على مرِّ الزَّمانِ مُخَيَّمُ

    They left, and in the anguished heart, after them,

    yearning lies encamped as time goes by.

  4. وسَرَوا وقد كتمُوا المسيرَ وإنَّما

    تَسرِى إذا جَنَّ الظَّلامُ الأنجُمُ

    They traveled by night, concealing their journey; and only

    when darkness falls do the stars travel.

  5. وتَعوَّضَت بالأُنس رُوحي وحشَةً

    لا أوحَشَ الله المنازلَ مِنهُمُ

    And my soul exchanged companionship for loneliness;

    may God never leave the dwellings desolate without them.

  6. لولاهُمُ ما قُمتُ بين ديارهم

    حيرانَ أستَافُ الدِّيارَ وألثِمُ

    But for them, I would not stand among their dwellings,

    bewildered, breathing in the dwellings' scent and kissing them.

  7. أمنازلَ الأحبابِ أين هُمُ وأي

    نَ الصَّبرُ من بعد التَّفَرُّقِ عنهُمُ

    O dwellings of the beloved, where are they, and where—

    —is patience after parting from them?

  8. يا ساكني البلدِ الحرامِ وإنَّما

    في الصدرِ مَع شحطِ المزارِ سكنتُمُ

    O dwellers of the Sacred City, yet in truth

    you dwell in my breast, despite your distant abode.

  9. يا ليتني في النَّازلين عَشِيَّةً

    بِمِنىً وقد جمع الرِّفاقَ الموسِمُ

    Would that I were among those encamped one evening

    at Minā, when the pilgrimage season gathered the companions,

  10. فأفوزَ إن غَفَلَ الرَّقيبُ بنَظرَةٍ

    منكم إذا لبَّى الحجيجُ وأحرمُوا

    so I might win a glance, if the watcher were distracted,

    from you, when pilgrims chant 'Here I am' and enter ritual consecration.

  11. إنّي لأذكركم إذا ما اشرقَت

    شمسُ الضّحى من نحوكم فأسلِّمُ

    I surely remember you whenever there rises

    the morning sun from your direction, and I send greetings.

  12. لا تبعثُوا لي في النّسيم تحيّةً

    إنِّي أغارُ من النّسيم عليكمُ

    Send me no greeting on the breeze,

    for I am jealous over you, even of the breeze.

  13. إنّي امرؤٌ قد بِعتُ حظِّ راضِياً

    من هذه الدنيا بحظِّى منكمُ

    I am a man: I gladly sold my share

    of this world for my share of you.

  14. فسلَوتُ إلا عنكمُ وقنعتُ

    إِلاّ منكمُ وزهدتُ إِلاَّ فيكمُ

    So I have forgotten all but you, and been content,

    except with you; I have turned away from all but you.

  15. ورأيتُ كلَّ العالمين بمُقلَةٍ

    لو ينظُرُ الحسادُ ما نَظَرَت عَمُوا

    And I have looked upon all the world's people with an eye:

    if the envious saw what it saw, they would go blind.

  16. ما كان بعد أخي الذي فَارقتُهُ

    ليبوحَ إلا بالشكايةِ لي فمُ

    Since I parted from my brother,

    my mouth has uttered nothing but complaint.

  17. هو ذاك لم يَملك عُلاهُ مالِكٌ

    كلاَّ ولا وجدي عليه مُتَيَّمُ

    He is the one whose eminence none has attained;

    no, nor has any lovesick soul matched my yearning for him.

  18. أقوَت مغانِيه وعُطِّل رَبعُهُ

    ولرُبَّما هجرَ العرينَ الضَّيغَمُ

    His dwellings became deserted, and his abode stood empty;

    and often the fierce lion has abandoned its lair.

  19. ورَمَت به الأهوالَ هِمَّةُ ماجدٍ

    كالسيفِ يُمضي عزمَهُ ويُصَمِّمُ

    A noble man's high resolve hurled him into terrors;

    like a sword, he carries through his resolve and strikes decisively.

  20. يا راحِلاً بالمجد عنَّا والعُلاَ

    أتُرى يكونُ لكم إلينا مَقدَمُ

    O you who departed from us with glory and eminence,

    will you, I wonder, ever come back to us?

  21. يَفديكَ قومٌ كُنتض واسِطَ عِقدِهم

    ما إن لهم مُذ غِبتَ شَملٌ يُنظَمُ

    May the people ransom you—you were their necklace's central jewel.

    Since you left, their company cannot be strung together.

  22. لك في رِقابِهِمُ وإن هم أنكروا

    مِنَنٌ كأطواق الحَمامِ وأنعُمُ

    You have upon their necks, though they deny it,

    favors like the collars of doves, and blessings.

  23. جهلوا فظنُّوا أنّ بُعدَك مَغنَمٌ

    لمّا رحلتَ وإنّما هو مَغرَمُ

    They knew no better, and thought your absence a gain

    when you departed, though it was nothing but a loss.

  24. فلَقد أقرَّ العينَ أنّ عِداك قد

    هلكوا ببغِيهِمُ وأنت مُسَلَّمُ

    It has indeed gladdened the eye that your foes have

    perished through their wrongdoing, while you remain unharmed.

  25. لم يعصمِ اللهُ ابنَ معصومٍ من ال

    آفاتش واختُرِمَ اللعينُ الأخرَمُ

    God did not protect Ibn Maʿṣūm from

    calamities; the accursed, cleft-nosed one was taken by death.

  26. واعتَضتَ بعدهمُ بأكرمِ معشرٍ

    بدءوا لك الفِعلَ الجميلَ وتَمَّمُوا

    And in their stead you gained the noblest company,

    who began their gracious treatment of you and carried it through.

  27. فلَعَمرُ مَجدِكَ إن كرُمتَ عليهمُ

    إن الكريمَ على الكِرام مُكرَّمُ

    By your glory's life, if you are dear to them,

    surely a noble man is honored among noble men.

  28. أقيالُ بأسٍ خَيرُ مَن حَملُوا القنا

    ومُلوكُ قحطانَ الذين هُمُ هُمُ

    Mighty chieftains, the finest men ever to bear spears,

    and kings of Qaḥṭān—who are indeed who they are.

  29. متواضعون ولو ترى ناديهمُ

    ما اسطَعتَ من إجلالهم تتكلَّمُ

    Humble they are; yet if you saw their assembly,

    you could not speak, out of reverence for them.

  30. وكفاهُمُ شَرفاً ومجداً أنّهم

    قد أصبح الدَّاعِي المُتَوَّجُ منهمُ

    It is honor and glory enough for them that

    the crowned Dāʿī has arisen from among them.

  31. هو بدرُتِمٍّ في سماء عُلاهمُ

    وبنو أبيه بنو زُرَيعٍ أنجُمُ

    He is a full moon in the sky of their eminence,

    and his father's sons, the sons of Zurayʿ, are stars.

  32. ملكٌ حِماهُ جنَّةٌ لعُفاتِهِ

    لكنّه للحاسدين جَهَنّمُ

    A king whose protected domain is a paradise for seekers of his bounty,

    but he is Hell to the envious.

  33. أثنى عليك بما مَننتَ وأنت مِن

    أوصافِ مجدِك يا مليكاً أعظمُ

    I praise you for what you have bestowed, yet you are

    greater than descriptions of your glory, O king.

  34. فاغفر لىَ التقصيرَ وعُدَّهُ

    مَعَ ما تجودُ به علىَّ وتُنعِمُ

    So forgive my shortcoming, and count that

    among the gifts and favors you bestow on me.

  35. مَعَ أنّنى سيَّرتُ فيك شوارداً

    كالدُّرِّ بل أبهى لَدَى مَن يَفهَمُ

    Though I have sent forth far-roaming verses in your praise,

    like pearls—no, more splendid to those who understand.

  36. تغدو وهُوجُ الذَّارياتِ رواكِدٌ

    وتبيتُ تسرى والكواكبُ نُوَّمُ

    They go forth in the morning while the fierce, dust-scattering winds lie still,

    and journey through the night while the stars sleep.

  37. وإذا المآثِرُ عُدِّدَت في مشهدٍ

    فبِذِكرها يبدا المقالُ ويُختَمُ

    And when noble deeds are recounted at a gathering,

    their mention opens and closes the discourse.

  38. وإذا تلا الرَّاوون محكمَ آيها

    صَلَّى عليك السَّامعون وسلَّموا

    And when reciters recite their finely wrought verses,

    the listeners invoke blessings and peace upon you.

  39. وكفى برأيِ إمامِ عَصرِك ناقضاً

    ما أحكمَ الأعداءُ فيك وأبرمُوا

    And the judgment of your age's imam is enough to undo

    what your enemies have made firm and bound fast against you.