لهذي النُّوقِ تنحَطُّ كَلالا

وتَجوبُ البيد حِلاًّ وارتحالا

For these she-camels their necks hang low in languor

And they roam the wide desert in their journeying's to and fro

نَحِلَتْ حتَّى انبرت أعظُمُها

والهوى يُنْقِبُ أهليه نكالا

They have toiled until the strongest among them grew gaunt

And yearning has extracted its due from its own kin unkindly.

كلَّما شامتْ سناً من بارق

قذفت لوعتها دمعاً مذالا

Whensoever the lightning of the clouds illumined the dark

It flung aside its garment and wept copious tears in woe

أَصبحَتْ تفري فَيافيها سُرًى

وتحاكي باقتحام الآل رالا

They wander the horizons at the break of dawn

And struggle against the flood waters with utmost strain.

فتَرَفَّقْ أيُّها الحادي بها

فلَقَدْ أوْرَثَها الوجدُ خبالا

So, O guide, show mercy unto it -

Sorrow has made its meagre body frail.

لستُ أنسَى وقفةً في رامة

لم يدع منها النوى إلاَّ خيالا

I never forget a halt at Rāma

Where nothing was left save traces and shadows pale

ووَشَتْ عن كلّ صبٍّ عبرةٌ

فكَفَتْ عَبْرَته الواشي المقالا

Every mortal being wept in bereavement -

Their weeping stopped the flow of tears without fail.

وأساة لحشًى مكلومةٍ

جَرَحَتْها حَدَقُ الغيد نصالا

And what sorrow for a stricken flock -

Wounded by the piercing glances of the antelope's eyes!

يا مهاةَ الجزع أنتنَّ له

سالباتٌ قَلْبَه المضنى جمالا

O epitome of anguish! You have made him frail,

Wresting the woeful heart of its beauty and hale.

يا أخلاّئي تناءى زمن

مرَّ لي فيكم وصالاً وانفصالا

O my companions, time called me -

In you it passed, conjoining and dividing without fail.

وليالٍ ما أُحَيْلى أُنْسِها

أصبَحَتْ في وجنة الأَيَّام خالا

Nights whose intimacy I prized -

Became mere apparitions in days gone stale.

نقلَ الواشي إليكم خبراً

لك يكنْ يقبل ما قالَ احتمالا

The guide has conveyed tidings to you -

Though you'd scarce bear what was told, it will prevail.

يتمنَّى سَلْوَتي لكنَّه

يتمنَّى وأبي أمراً محالا

I wish for your company, but my want -

Is a wish for what will never transpire nor avail.

لا تلمني لائمي في صَبْوَتي

فالهوى ما زال للعقل عقالا

Blame me not, O critic, for my youth -

Passion reigns over reason without fail.

فاتركاني والهوى إنِّي فتًى

غالني دونكمُ الوجد اغتيالا

So leave me to my love - I am a youth

Whose fervor for you has murdered reason's hale.

من ظِباءِ الرَّمل ظبيٌ إنْ رنا

سَلَّ من جَفْنَيْهِ صمصاماً وصالا

Among the oryxes of the sands - an oryx that trills,

Distils from its eyelids a tear-drop without fail.

ظبيةُ الخِدْر الَّتي لمَّا جفتْ

أَدَلالاً كانَ منها أَمْ ملالا

The oryx of Khadr when it grew emaciated -

Was it out of longing, or simply its body frail?

هلْ وَفَتْ مديونها مستغرماً

يشتكي منها وإنْ أَوْفَتْ مطالا

Did it repay its creditor though aggrieved -

Complaining of it, even if the payment's without fail?

لو أباحَتْني جنى مرشفها

لَشَفَتْ مِنْ ريقها الدَّاء العضالا

If she allowed me to kiss her rosy cheek -

It would cure me of my lasting incurable ail.

يا رعى الله نُزولاً بالحمى

عَثْرةَ المُغرمِ فيهم لَنْ تُقالا

O folk, may God protect them from fever -

For the passion of the lovers is blameless without fail!

حلَّلوا ظُلماً حراماً مثلما

حرَّموا في شرعهم شيئاً حلالا

They have permitted wrongly the forbidden,

And forbidden in their creed what is made lawful and hale.

فاصطبر يا قلبُ يوماً ربَّما

أصبَحَ الخُلَّبُ بعد اليأس خالا

So be patient O heart, perhaps one day -

The intimate may, after despair, become close and hale.

كم يُريني الدَّهر جدًّا هازلاً

فأُريه من ظُبا عزمي جدالا

How often does time show me seriousness in jest -

Then I show it of the oryxes my purpose fixed and hale!

إنْ يكنْ في النَّاس محمودٌ فلا

غير محمود مقالاً وفعالا

If there is a praised one among men, then none -

Other than the praised in word and deed will avail.

فتفاءل باسمه في سَيْبه

فاسْمه كانَ لكن يرجوه فالا

So think good thoughts in pursuing him -

For his name provides hope even when hope is frail.

إنْ تحاولْ شَخْصَهُ تَلْقَ علًى

صَحِبَ العِزَّ يميناً وشمالا

If you seek his person, turn to the right -

And to the left, for the noble gather left and right without fail.

لا يُرجَّى غيره في شِدَّةٍ

أوَ ترجو بوجود البحر ألا

None but He is hoped for in times of woe -

Or do you hope when oceans swell and prevail?

ليثُ غابٍ وسحابٌ صيّبٌ

حيثُ تلقاهُ نوالاً ونزالا

A formidable lion who is absent, and a pouring cloud -

Wherever you meet him, he brings blissful rain and hail.

كرمٌ يُخْجِلُ هتَّان الحيا

وعُلًى تُورثُ أعداه الوبالا

A generosity that shames the baseness of life -

And an eminence that bequeaths foes misery and flail.

ويدٌ ما انقبضتْ عن سائلٍ

بلْ كَفَتْ في سَيبها العافي السُّؤالا

A hand that never tightened around a beggar -

Rather, in generosity it rains bounty without fail.

صارِمُ الله الَّذي لم يخشَ من

حادث الدَّهر انثلاماً وانفلالا

God's sword that did not fear -

The world's caprices of breaking and undoing without fail.

ولكمْ أجدى فأَسدى كرماً

مِنَناً طوَّق فيهنَّ الرّجالا

For you all he showed utmost generosity -

Bestowing favor whereby men are adorned without fail.

صُنعُه المعروف مغروزٌ به

لا يجودُ الجود حتَّى أنْ يقالا

His benefaction is implanted in him -

He does not act generously until he is asked without fail.

كم وَرَدْنا فَضْلَه من مَوْرِدٍ

فوجَدْناه نميراً وزلالا

How often we attained his bounty from a source -

And found it pure, delicious water and hail.

منَحَ الله به يا حبَّذا

مِنَحٌ من جانب الله تعالى

God granted by means of him - favors,

Favors from God the Almighty without fail!

قلْ لحُسَّاد معاليه اقصُروا

لم تَزَلْ أَيديه في المجد طوالا

Tell his envious foes: fall short! -

For his hands in glory have always been long without fail.

يتمنَّوْن مع العجز العُلى

وإذا قاموا لها قاموا كسالى

They wish for supremacy in their incapacity -

And when they stand for it, they stand with indolence and fail.

ليسَ من يَذْخَرْ جميلاً في الورى

كالَّذي يذخر للأَخطار مالا

None hoards good deeds in the world -

Like one who hoards wealth for times of peril and flail.

لا ولا مَن صَلُبَتْ راحته

كالَّذي يَقْطُرُ جوداً ونوالا

None with hardened luxury -

Like one who rains generosity and bounty without fail.

آل بيت الوحي ما زلنا على

فضلكم يا سادة الدُّنيا عيالا

O House of Revelation, we have not ceased

To be dependents upon your favors, O Princes without fail!

ما برحتُم مُذْ خُلِقتُم سادةً

تكشِفون الغيَّ عنَّا والضَّلالا

You have not ceased, since you were created,

To be the Elite, removing oppression and travail.

لا يغالي فيكم المادحُ إنْ

أطنبَ المادح في المدح وغالى

The praiser cannot exaggerate praising you -

Even if the praiser is excessive in praise andavail.

أيُّها البدرُ الَّذي زادَ سَناً

زادك الله سَناءً وكمالا

O moon ever-increasing in splendor -

May God increase your splendor and perfection without fail!

هاكَ من عَبدِكَ نَظماً إنَّه

ينظمُ الشّعر بعلياك ارتجالا

This, from your slave, is a poem -

He composes poetry extemporizing about your ascent without fail.

كلَّما ضِقْتُ به ذَرعاً أرى

يوسع الفضلَ على الفكر مجالا

Whenever it narrows around me, I see -

Your bounty expand the field of thought without fail.

واهنأ بالعيد الَّذي عَوَّدْتَنا

لَثْمَ كفَّيْك الَّتي تكفي نوالا

And be congratulated on the feast day -

You have accustomed us to kiss your hand that rains bounty without fail.

مَلِكٌ أَنْتَ بنا أَمْ مَلَكٌ

ما وَجَدْنا لك في النَّاس مثالا

A king you are to us or an angel? -

We have found none among men that compare without fail.

كيفَ أقضي شكر أيديك الَّتي

حمَّلتني منك أحمالاً ثقالا

How can I fulfill thanking your hands -

That have burdened me with your generous loads without fail?

ى عَدِمنا فيكَ يا بحر النَّدى

أيدياً تولي وفضلاً يتوالى

We have found in you, O sea of bounty -

Hands that care for us and favor continuously without fail.