قَلبٌ يذوبُ عليك وَجْدا

وحشًى تَوَقَّدُ منك وَقدا

A melting heart for you, burning with love,

And ardent longing kindled by you like a flame,

وجفون صبٍّ لا تزال

بهذه العَبرات تَنْدى

Tears keep falling

From this woeful lament

من زفرةٍ تحت الضلوع

ومُقْلَةَ الرَّشأِ المفَدَّى

And the whimpers beneath my ribs,

O slender form of the juicy branch,

يا قامةَ الغصنِ الرطيبِ

قَد جاوزت في القتل حدَّا

You have exceeded in killing any limit,

Hours between us I still count

ساعات بينك لا أزال

أعدُّها للهجر عدا

And say: will union draw near

And hopes be fulfilled as promised?

وأقولُ هل يدنو الوصالُ

وتنجز الآمال وعدا

I have no respite from loving you

And this fervor has no bed,

ما لي مراحٌ من هواك

ولا لهذا الشوق مغدى

How many reproachers blamed me

So I blocked my hearing altogether,

كم عازلٍ قد لامني

فسدَدتُ عنه السمع سدَّا

And disobeyed my blamer over you

And said to the critic: away!

وعصيت عذَّالي عليك

وقلت للوّام بعدا

I tend to the pact of one

Who did not tend to the pact of love,

إنِّي لأَرعى عهدَ من

لم يرعَ لي في الحبِّ عهدا

Oh my soul! I kept my pact

While the loved ones wasted affection,

يا ويحَ نفسي قد حفِظْتُ

وضيَّع الأَحبابُ وُدَّا

And I bought their love

With my soul before today in cash,

ولقد شَرَيتُ هواهم

بالرُّوح قبل اليوم نقدا

And after them I lost my patience

Having not tasted the loss of my loved ones,

وفَقَدتُ صبري بعدهم

لا ذاقَ من أهواه فقدا

And I ransom the one

Who did not satisfy me in love as a slave,

وأنا الفداءُ لمالكٍ

لم يرضني في الحبِّ عبدا

Like the juicy branch, violets

Appearing, and the cheeks of roses,

كالغصن قدًّا والبنفسج

عارِضاً والوردِ خدَّا

O gazelle! how many times did you fell

Lions that were before us in time,

يا ظبيُ كم صَرَعت عي

ونُك قبلَنا في الدهر أُسْدا

And shot your glance but never pierced

With that look’s arrow deliberately,

ورَمَت فلم تُخْطِ الفؤاد

بسهم ذاك اللحظ عمدا

And the sickness of those eyes

Afflicted me, rather exceeded,

وسقام هاتيك الجفون

لقد عداني بل تعدَّى

And I recalled you while worries

Pass by me backwards and driven away,

ولقد ذكرتك والهموم

تمرُّ بي عكساً وطردا

And the night ignites its falling stars

In the darkness of gloom like sparks,

واللَّيل يقدح شهبه

في فحمة الظلماء زندا

So I shed my tears out of duty

When I recall you, to be fulfilled,

فقضت دموعي واجباً

في مثل ذكرك أنْ يُؤدَّى

I revived it with you regrettably

And spent it sleepless and wakeful,

أحييْتُهُ بك حَسْرَةً

وقَضَيتُه أرقاً وسُهدا

My patience in your estrangement faltered

And the fervor of passion became serious,

هزل اصطباري في جفاك

وعاد هزل الوجد جدا

And hostile time softened me

And guided me to separation gently,

وألانني الدهر المشومُ

وهدَّني بالبين هدَّا

Were it not for you I would be

As prudence wants, firm,

لولاكَ كنتُ على الزَّمان

كما يريدُ الحزمُ صَلْدا

You who unjustly torment me

Stubbornly, bitterly, and harshly,

أمُعَذِّبي من غير ذنبٍ

صَبوةً وجوًى وصدَّا

You are the one who tempted me

Until I saw misguidance as guidance,

أنتَ الَّذي أغويتني

حتَّى رأيت الغيَّ رشدا

And your love emaciated me so

I became skin and bones from grief,

وهواك أضناني فك

نتُ من الضنى عظماً وجلدا

You freed my tears after you

Had shackled me in fervor,

أطْلَقْتَ دمعي بعدما

قيَّدتني بالوجد قيدا

And I accompanied my fervor in loving you

So it became a most hostile adversary,

وصَحِبتُ وجدي في هواك

فكان لي خصماً ألدَّا

By God, I do not find wine

Sweet and life prosperous,

تالله لا أجدُ المدامَ

لذيذةً والعيش رغدا

Since the gazelles marched away

And headed to separation,

مذ قَوَّضَتْ عنِّي الظعون

وأزْمَعَتْ للبين سُعدى

For there I gain what I wish

And succeed in its pursuit intentionally,

فهناك أظفرُ بالمنى

وأفوزُ في جدواه قصدا

Sweet is humor if I taste it

And find it wine and honey,

حلو الفكاهة لو تذاق

وَجَدْتُهَا خمراً وشهدا

And I go about, visiting,

The happiest prince, Saad,

وأَروحُ أزجرُ طائراً

في أسعدِ الأُمراء سَعْدا

Among men there is no peer

For this hero an equal,

ما في الرجال نظيرُه

فيهم لهذا القرم ندَّا

He continues to suppress rivals

In his glory, angering enemies,

لا زالَ يُكْبِتُ حاسداً

في مجده ويغيظُ ضدَّا

So his reward and recompense

Were wondrous, taking and responding,

فجوابه وثوابه

قد أعجبا أخذاً وردَّا

And virtues told in prose

I compiled in the necklace of time,

ومناقب مأثورة

نظمت بجيد الدهر عقدا

How excellent Iraq is for having

Majid who increased its honor and glory,

نَعِمَ العراقُ بماجدٍ

قد زادَه عزًّا ومجدا

With the greatest of rulers

Who gifted it solutions and jewels,

بأجلّ من ولي الأُمور

وجادها حلاًّ وعقدا

It reached through him its highest

Goals and did not reach maturity,

بلغت به غاياتها

العليا ولم يبلغ أَشُدَّا

His hands carried like the clouds

Dew, lightning, and thunder,

حَمَلَتْ يداه كالغمامة

للنَّدى برقاً ورعدا

So guide him in all goodness

He is the most guided in goodness,

فاستهدِهِ في كلِّ خيرٍ

إنَّه في الخير أهدى

And with that praised character

My capacity, thanks and praise,

وبذلك الخلق الحميد

وسِعتُه شكراً وحمدا

The compounder of virtue who

In the evening and morning was matchless,

الجامعُ الفضلَ الَّذي

أمسى وأَصبَحَ فيه فردا

Flooded the deprived with gifts

From him to the prosperous running over,

غَمَرَ العفاة بنائلٍ

منه إلى العافين يسدى

Whoever came to drink from his rivers

I think time will not prevent him,

من راح يُسقى من نداه

فلا أظنُّ الدهر يصدى

And if he sets himself to good

Trust him in what he undertakes,

وإذا تصدَّى للجميلِ

فَثِقْ به فيما تصدَّى

O you who can transform its poisons,

If he wills, after harm into coolness,

يا مَنْ يُحيل سمومَها

إنْ شاءَ بعد الحرِّ بردا

How he gave good news with his optimism

Of aid before receiving any aid,

كم بشّر استبشاره

بالرفد قبل النيل رفدا

Take it, and do not the camels that roam

With praise of you be challenged,

خُذها ولا الإِبل الشَّوارد

بالثناء عليك تحدى

And rhymes I maneuvered

So they walked advancing steps,

وقوافياً سيَّرتُها

فمضَتْ تقدّ السَّير قدَّا

So delight in an Eid that does not cease

To be hoped continually renewed,

فاهنأ بعيدٍ لا يزال

كما تُؤمّل مستجدَّا

Do not let any share deprive me

In fatherhood that flowed,

لا يحرمني منك حظٌّ

بالأُبوَّة قد تردَّى

And he was so wrong in what he reaped

That I filled with hatred toward him,

ولقد أساءَ بما جنى

حتَّى امتليتُ عليه حقدا

How and where and do I see

In his law, justice and acceptance?

أنَّى وكيف وهل أرى

في شرعه الإِنصاف وردا

Whoever was free in his time

Time was to him obliging and tomorrow,

من كانَ حُرّ زمانه

كانَ الزَّمان عليه وغدا