رآها قد أَضرَّ بها الكلال

وقد ساءَت لها يا سعد حال

She saw it had weakened her,

And her condition had worsened, O Saad!

فذكّرها شميمَ عَرارِ نجدٍ

ولا سيَّما إذا هبَّتْ شمال

So the gentle breeze of Najd reminded her,

Especially when the north wind blew,

فحرّكها وأَينَ لها بنجد

لهيبُ الشَّوق والدَّمع المذالُ

It stirred her, and where was Najd for her?

The fervor of longing and the abased tear,

وقد كانت كأَنَّ بها عقالاً

فأَطْلَقَها وليس بها عقالُ

She used to be as if sane,

Then it unleashed her while she had no restraint,

ولولا النَّازلون هضاب نجدٍ

تحاماها الضَّنى والاختلال

Were it not for the descending the plateaus of Najd,

Grief and turmoil would have overwhelmed her,

تخال الدَّمع سابقها عَلَيْهم

فكيفَ تسابق المزنَ الرؤال

She imagined the preceding tear racing them,

So how can the slender female oryx keep pace with the stallion?

يحمِّلها الهوى عبئاً ثقيلاً

وللأَشجان أَعباءٌ ثقال

Ardent is her passion, and union is near,

So how must she be when union is denied?

ويقذفها النوى في كلّ فجٍّ

لها فيه انْسياب وانثيال

We recalled the days of your abode, O Sulaima,

And the necklace of tears, its links crumbling.

تمدُّ به فيقصرُ في خطاها

من البَيْداء أبواعٌ طوال

Stages of passion I see but not envision,

Like my eyes that cannot envision them.

تشيم البرق يومئذٍ سناه

كعَضْب القين أَرْهَقَه الصقال

Its happy beginnings and congratulations,

And its outcomes are betrayal and affliction.

وما أدري أهاج النّوق منه

غرام حين أَومَضَ أَمْ خيال

It used to be the delight of sights until

The vicissitudes of time changed its condition.

شديدُ وَجْدُها والوصلُ دانٍ

فكيف بها وقد مُنِعَ الوصال

I asked you, where is your livelihood in the first days?

Scrutiny and questioning are futile.

ذكرنا عَهْدَ رَبعك يا سُلَيْمى

وعقد الدَّمع يوهيه انحلال

In the morning, your grove and the cresses

Were covered by the white sands and tall spears.

منازل للهوى ما لي أراها

كطرفي لا يلمّ بها خيال

Before this, gazelles and antelopes used to breed

In your orchard from the herd adorned with beauty.

مباديها المسَرَّة والتَّهاني

وغايتها التغابن والوبال

Radiant moons used to rise from your tents,

With houses enveloping them in perfection.

وكانتْ بهجةَ الأَبصار حتَّى

أحالَتْها من الحدثان حال

And every swaying palm tree praises it

As its fronds and clusters praise it.

سألتك أينَ عيشُك بالأَوالي

وما يغني التفحُّص والسُّؤال

Archers whose brows are harsh,

Pluck from the eyelids arrows for it.

غداة الشِّيح نبتُك والخزامى

حَمَتْها البيض والأسل الطوال

Would that my eyes could see its radiance

To delight the eyes and give comfort to the heart.

وتسنَحُ في عِراصِك قبلَ هذا

من السَّرْبِ الغزالة والغزال

The beloveds turned away, so I found my heart

Parting with them while the living depart.

وتَطْلُعُ من خيامك مشرقات

بدورٌ من أسِرَّتها الكمالُ

Those she-camels kneeled down after

Gazelles had lightened their burden.

وكلُّ مهفهفٍ تُثني عليه

معاطفه ويَثْنيه دلال

How much carrion they protected and hid

While my innermost being has always been humbled before it.

رماة من حواجبها قِسِيٌّ

تُراشُ لها من الحَدَق النبال

So they inclined to the sands, not toward us,

And we inclined to passion, wherever they inclined.

ومن لي أن ترى عيني سناها

فتنعم أعينُ ويُراح بال

I seek refuge for you from a person whose mention

Is a malady, its cure formidable.

تنافَرَتِ المها فوَجَدْتُ قلبي

يجدُّ به وللحيِّ ارتحال

They who loved you and whom you were miserable for

Asked of your tears what they asked.

وهاتيك الرَّكايب أَرْقَلَتْها

ظِباءٌ قَدْ أَقلَّتها الجِمال

For the fires of passion, O camel driver,

Distance causes burning and inflammation for me.

وكم صانَتْ أَكِلَّتها وُجواً

عَليها مهجتي أبداً تذال

I justify hopeless wishes and wishes

Are matters made of the impossible.

فمالوا بالأَباعر لا إليْنا

ومال بنا الهوى من حيث مالوا

A mirage which cannot quench thirst,

And has no fresh water for the wayfarer.

أعيذك من حشاً تذكر لظاها

وهمٍّ داؤه الدَّاء العضال

It suffices you, if you come to Abu Jameel,

A beauty that pleases you or grace.

أحبّتك الذين شَقِيتَ فيهم

أسالوا من دموعك ما أسالوا

Send from its cloud sweet fresh water,

For there lies the fresh sweet wellspring.

لنيران الجوى يا ناقُ عندي

على البُعد اتّقادٌ واشتعال

Hopes flock to his door ceaselessly

And are filled from his gifts the mounts.

أُعَلِّلُ بالأَماني والأَماني

أُمورٌ من زخارفها المحال

Calamities magnify him and he scorns them

Without formally celebrating their greatness.

سرابٌ ولا يُبَلُّ به غليل

ولا فيه لوارده بلال

And he rises above fatherhood with a burden

Too small for even men to carry.

وحَسبُك إنْ وَرَدْتَ أبا جميل

جميلٌ ما يروقك أو جمال

Of high-reaching lofty deeds,

Whose foundations exceed any height.

رِدِي من سَيْبه عَذباً زلالاً

فثَمَّ الموردُ العذب الزُّلال

And when reckless men go too far,

He is revered, their insolence being but hills to him.

تُناخ ببابه الآمال طرًّا

وتُملأُ من مواهبه الرِّحال

Polished striker of resolute deeds, proceeding,

His striking place never chipped by the whetstone.

تعظّمه الخطوب ويزدَريها

وليسَ له بمعظمها احتفال

The pillar of religion and world altogether,

Their remedy when disorder prevails.

وينهضُ من أُبوَّته بعبءٍ

قليل ما تنوءُ به الرِّجال

His cloud shaded us with a shade,

When the hot wind blew with spears.

من الشّمِّ الشَّوامخ في المعالي

يطولُ الرَّاسيات ولا يُطال

A day sunny, in it clarity,

So a sun whose place of rising lasts.

ويوقره إذا طاشتْ رجالٌ

حلومُ لا تضاهيها الجبال

A night in it an illuminating moon,

Upon the cheeks of this age without blemish.

صقيلُ مضارب العزمات ماضٍ

فلا فُلَّت مضاربُه الصّقال

It relieves every distressed one of hardship,

Near a day where there is little room.

قوام الدِّين والدُّنيا جميعاً

شفاؤهما إذا كانَ اعتلال

A heaven among the heavens of glories,

Its planets are merits and virtues.

أظلَّتْنا غمامَتُه بظلٍّ

إذا لفح الهجير به ظلال

Deeds precede words from him,

And words precede deeds.

ويومٍ مشمسٍ فيه مضيءٍ

فشمسٌ لا لمطلعها زوال

You see the ink of his generosity, on a day of giving,

Applied as kohl to the eyes of the seekers.

وليلٍ فيه أقْمرٌ مستنيراً

على وجنات هذا الدَّهر خال

And of his words, some are said

To be the magic chain and the permitted sorcery.

ينفّس كلَّ كاربة بكَرٍّ

لدى يومٍ يضيقُ به المجال

My tongue is honest in praising him

Truthfully saying what is said of him.

سماءٌ من سماوات المعالي

كواكبها المناقب والخصال

When he bestows wealth upon me,

Hearts incline toward me and are inclined.

فعالٌ تسبق الأَقوال منه

وأَقوالٌ تقدّمها الفعال

So I have from his wealth prominence and status,

And I have from his stature might and wealth.

يريك مِدادَه في يوم جودٍ

لأحداق النَّوال به اكتحال

Near in attainment, lofty in qualities,

Remote in attainment the distant goal.

ومن كلماته ما قيل فيها

هي السّلسال والسِّحر الحلال

You are enveloped by mercy and gentleness,

While loftiness and majesty raise you.

لساني في مدائحه صدوق

يصدّق فيه منِّي ما يُقال

Dear soul, dear to the wilderness, your peer

In glories and exemplary character.

إذا أَسدى إليَّ المالَ أَمْسَتْ

تُمالُ لي القلوب وتستمال

As if among traveling people, a guidance

Beyond which is but misguidance.

فلي من ماله شرف وجاه

ولي من جاهه عِزٌّ ومال

And I have seen toward you from them

An aspiration that may be aspired but not attained.

قريبُ النَّيل ممتنع المعالي

ومُدني النَّيْل ما بَعُدَ المنال

They cannot offer, try as they may,

Your noble refined merits and qualities.

تحطّك رأفةٌ شملَتْ ورقَّتْ

وترْفَعُكَ الأُبوَّة والجلال

Chivalry is your nature wherever it was,

As generosity and free giving are your traits.

عزيز النَّفس عزَّ على البرايا

نظيرك في الأَماجد والمثال

Why would I fear detachment by fate?

When I have the honor of your company.

كأنَّك بين أقوامٍ سراةٍ

هُدًى ما بعده إلاَّ الضَّلال

Graciousness and generosity please you,

As do courage and combat.

وإنِّي قد رأيت علاك منهم

مرامٌ قد يرامُ ولا ينال

You are not like some people who only

Give wealth until spoken of.

وليسَ لهم وإنْ دفعوا إليها

مناقِبُك الشَّريفة والخلال

So O lofty towering mountain of glories,

Lasting, unchanging, eternal upon us.

خليقتك المروءةُ حيثُ كانتْ

وشيمتك السَّماحة والنَّوال

Gifts from you come to both near and far,

Neither promise nor expectation from you.

وهل أخشى من الحظِّ انفصالاً

ولي من قرب حضرتك اتّصال

تَلَذُّ لك المكارم والعطايا

وتطربك الشَّجاعة والنزال

ولستَ من الكرام كبعض قوم

يجود بماله حتَّى يقالُ

فيا جبلاً أطَلَّ من المعالي

عَلَيْنا لا تزول ولا تزال

هباتٌ منك للعافين تترى

ولا وعدٌ لديْكَ ولا مطال