قَدَحت في مزجها بالماء ناراً

فأعادت ظلمةَ اللَّيل نهارا

She sparked a fire with water in her mixing,

And brought back the darkness of night as day.

شمس راحٍ في الدجى يحملها

طلعة البدر إذا البدر استنارا

A traveling sun in the darkness carries her,

Like the rising moon when the full moon lights up.

عُتِّقَتْ في الدَّنِّ حتَّى إنها

لتعي ما كانَ في الماضي وصارا

She was liberated in life until she

Knows what was in the past and what happened.

فسلوها كيف كانت قبلنا

عادٌ الأولى صغاراً وكبارا

So ask her how she was before us,

The first ones, young and old.

أيّ نادٍ للهوى يومئذٍ

يوم نادينا إلى اللهو البدارا

What caller to passion was there then

When we called out to joy and amusement?

وجلوناها عروساً طالما

حبيب من حَبَب المزج نثارا

We crowned her a bride for so long,

A lover who stirred the mixing into foam.

وكسونا بالسَّنا جسم الدجى

وخلعنا في اللذاذات العذارا

We clothed the body of night with splendor,

And put on it the ornaments of virginity.

وسعى ساقٍ بها تحسبُه

غصناً يهدي إلينا الجلَّنارا

A leg moved with her you’d think

A branch giving us wine from its clusters.

علَّمَ الغصن التثني والصّبا

طرب الأنفس والظبي النفارا

The branch taught bending and the zephyr

The rapture of souls and the roe’s shying.

وبما فُضِّل من بهجته

تفضل المرو على البيض العذارى

With the surplus of its delight

It excelled the white camels in excellence.

سمحٌ ممتنعٌ قيل له

أدِرِ الكأسَ علينا فأدارا

Gentle yet prohibitive, it was told:

“Pass the cup around to us,” so it passed around.

فترى الناس سكارى في هوى

ذلك الساقي وما هم بسكارى

You see the people drunk with passion for

That cup-bearer, though they are not drunk.

يا شبيه الورد والآس وما

أحسن التشبيه خدًّا وعزارا

O match of the rose, myrtle and what

A fine match—a cheek and place of tattoos!

بأبي أنتَ وإن جلَّ أبي

عاطنيها مثل خدَّيك احمرارا

By my father you are, though my father

Is gone, give me the likes of your red cheeks.

واسقني من فيك عذباً سائغاً

إنَّ بي منك ومالسكر خمارا

And serve me from you something sweet and delectable,

I have a craving from you though not for wine.

بين ندمانٍ أراقوا دَمَها

بنت كرم تسلبُ الشيخ الوقارا

Among two repenting ones who shed her blood,

A daughter of nobility who robs the revered old man of dignity.

حنفاءٍ حلَّلوا ما حرّمت

ورأوا في أخذها رأي النصارى

Upright ones who made lawful what she prohibited,

And saw in taking her the view of Christians.

ركبوا لِلَّهو في مضماره

أشقراً يصدم أجراهم عثارا

They rode amusement in its racecourse,

A blond who collides with their chariots unexpectedly.

وكميتاً ما جرتْ في حلبةٍ

للوغى يوماً ولا شقَّت غبارا

And a protected one who never entered

The arena for commotion, neither raising dust a day.

فكأَنَّ الكأسَ فيما فَعَلَتْ

أدركتْ عند عقول القوم ثارا

So it is as if the cup, in what she did,

Attained vengeance in the minds of the people.

كلُّ مختال بها في عزَّةٍ

قد مضى يسحبُ في الفخرِ الإِزارا

All boastful through her in pride

Went pulling up the skirts of arrogance.

وإذا ما عاودته نشوةٌ

ألبسته تاج كسرى والسوارا

And if ecstasy came over him again

It would dress him in Khusraw’s crown and bracelet.

خَفَّ بالراح فلو طارَ امرؤٌ

قبل هذا اليوم بالراح لطارا

One feather-light with happiness, if a man flew

Before this day with happiness, he would have flown.

وسمرنا بالذي يطربنا

من حديث وشربناها عقارا

And we passed the night with what delights us

Of talk, and drank it as a healing potion.

وتناشدنا على أقداحها

مِدَحاً تزهو نظاماً ونثارا

And we recited to the tune of her goblets

Praise that flourishes in meter and prose.

بأغرٍّ أبلج من هاشم

أبلَجَ المحتد فرعاً ونجارا

Of a tender one whiter than the noble Hāshim

Who whitened the radiant branch and carpenter.

تشرق الأقمار في غُرَّته

فهو الشمسُ التي لا تتوارى

The moons shine in his blushing,

For he is the sun that never sets.

سرّ رمز المجد مبنى بيته

علم السؤدد سرًّا وجهارا

The secret code of glory is built on his house,

A standard of felicity secretly and openly.

كالحيا المنصبِّ بل أندى يداً

والحسام العضب أو أمضى شفارا

Like the outstretched serpent, or sharper, more cutting sword,

His hands that one of them inherits good fortune, and with the other, ill fortune.

تلك أيديه التي إحداهما

تورثُ اليُمْنَ وبالأخرى اليسارا

Bounty overflows from him, a spring of dew,

A day you meet with him nothing but honors.

مستفاض الجود منهلُّ الندى

يوم لا تلقى به إلاَّ الأوارا

The foreign rhymes in his days

He harvests with his hands as fruits.

والقوافي الغرّ في أيَّامه

يجتنيها بأياديه ثمارا

In a time of sin, none apologized

With a generous one, to the noble people, an apology.

في زمانٍ مذنبٍ لم يعتذر

بكريم لبني الفضل اعتذارا

He left time humble and obedient

To the Protector, of the most honorable people, a neighbor.

ترك الدهر ذليلاً طائعاً

لمنيع من أعزّ الناس جارا

To me belongs the pride that I am a poet

Of people who wear piety as their motto.

ولي الفخر بأنِّي شاعر

لأناس لبسوا التقوى شعارا

They established the pillars of religion, and they

Clarified the truth for people, a beacon.

هم أقاموا عَمَدَ الدِّين وهم

أوضحوا في الحقِّ للخلق المنارا

Every ornament of pride and elevation

Was an ornament borrowed from their ornaments.

كلّ حِلي من فخارٍ وعُلًى

كانَ حِلياً من حُلاهم مستعارا

For the cause of God, what they spent

From hands, so ask them as thriving and prosperous.

في سبيلِ الله ما قد أنفقوا

من أيادٍ فاسألوها نضارا

A people from whom rain is implored

And through them people uncover harm.

أمَّةٌ يستَنزَلُ الغيثُ بهم

وبهم تَستكشِفُ الناس الضرارا

When you seek their help, they are angry lions,

And when you seek rain from them, they are pouring clouds.

فإذا استنجدتهم كانوا ظبا

وإذا استمطرتهم كانوا قطارا

They compelled every obstinate one to elevation,

And they returned unbelief, disgraced and broken.

جبروا كلّ مهيض للعُلى

وأنابوا الكفر ذلاًّ وانكسارا

They stirred up its fires on the day of battle

In their dwellings, though they were seas.

أجَّجوا نيرانها يوم الوغى

بمواضيهم وإن كانوا بحارا

In a position the speeches fell short in

Which were long, and they were not short.

في مقامٍ قَصُرَتْ فيه الخُطا

بالطَّويلات وما كنَّ قصارا

So bestow upon them prayers forever,

That accompany them morning and evening.

فعليهم صلوات أبَداً

تَتولاّهم غُدُوًّا وابتكارا

Or are you not now, after them,

A spark from that light which illuminated?

أو لستَ الآن من بعدهم

قبساً من ذلك النور أنارا

Whenever an ode guided it as rhythm,

Unfettered, it did not take on earth a house.

طالما سيّرتها قافيةً

غرَّة لم تتَّخذ في الأرض دارا

Bearing, like the souls of the zephyrs,

From the fragrance of your praise, aromatic plants.

حاملات مثل أرواح الصبا

من شذى مدحك شيحاً وعرارا

These are the days of the prime of life,

Your breezes have still been plentiful.

هذه أيَّام أنواء الحيا

إنَّ أنواءَكَ ما زالت غزارا

So serve me in them an overflowing cup,

Bringing glory and attaining superiority.

فاسقني فيهنَّ سحًّا غدقاً

أجلب العزّ وأستقصي الفخارا

And make me for you one who has not found

In your praise, patience for an obstruction.

واتَّخذني لك ممَّن لم يجِد

عنك في معترض المدح اصطبارا

And live forever, and excel on the feast day

Proudly rising to a WILL sublime and noble.

وابق للعيد وحزْ في مثله

مفخراً يسمو وصيتاً مستطارا