أيُّ نارٍ بها الجوانحُ تُصْلى

وجُفونٍ تَصوب بالدَّمع وبْلا

What fire is it, in which wings are roasted,

And eyelids pour tears copiously?

كلَّما لاح بارق هاج وجد

وجرى مدمعٌ له واستهلاّ

Whenever a flashing lightning appeared, a passionate one raced,

And a tear flowed for it and it burst into tears.

مغرم لا يعي الملامة في الح

بِّ ولا يرعوي فيقبل عذلا

A lovesick one who does not know blame in love,

Nor regards any rebuke, so he accepts no reproach.

ما يفيد المشوق يا سَعْدُ أمسى

مُكثِراً من بكائه أو مقلاّ

What benefits the lovesick, O Sa’d, who spends

His night increasing his weeping or decreasing it?

صَرَعَتْه العيون نُجلاً وهل تص

رع إلاَّ عيونها الغيد نجلا

Eyes have overwhelmed him completely, but do eyes

Ever feel overwhelmed except by their own tears?

وسَقَتْه كأسَ الغرام وما كا

نَ ليشفي الغرام عَلاً ونَهلا

And it gave him a cup of passion, and it was not

A passion that could be healed by any potion or drink.

ما يعاني من الصبابة صَبٌّ

كانَ قبل الهوى عزيزاً فذلاّ

What a youth suffers from falling in love! He was

Honorable before love, but then he lost dignity.

قد أذلَّ الغرامُ كلَّ عزيز

والهوى يترك الأَعزّ الأَذلاّ

Passion has humiliated every honorable one,

And love leaves the most honorable as the lowliest.

وبنفسي مهفهف العطف أحوى

حرَّم الله من دمي ما استحلاّ

And with my breath, redolent of kindness, I guard

What God has made unlawful for me from my blood to make lawful.

قل لأحبابنا وهل يجمع الده

ر على بعدهم من الدار شملا

Say to our loved ones - does time still gather

Their presence from afar in the abode once more?

ما تسلَّيت في سواكم ومن لي

بفؤاد في غيركم يتسلَّى

I have found no consolation but in you, and who else

Has a heart among others that can find solace?

فرَّق الدهر بيننا بالتَّنائي

وقضى بالنَّوى وما كانَ عدلا

Time has separated us through distance,

And decreed the banishment - it was not just!

علِّلونا منكُم ولو بخيالٍ

يهتدي طيفه فيطرق ليلا

Send us your apparitions, even if only in a dream,

Whose shadows wander in the night to arrive.

فعسى المهجة الَّتي أظْمَأَتْها

زفرةُ الوجد بعدكم أن تُبَلاّ

For the hopes that the sincerity of passion has watered

Through yearning for you may then sprout leaves.

إنَّ وُرْقاً ناحت على الغصن شجواً

أنا منها بذلك النَّوح أولى

Surely leaves that lamented on the branch with sadness -

I am more rightful than them in this lament!

وشجتنا بنوحها حين ناحت

فكأَنَّ الورقاء إذ ذاك ثكلى

Their lamentation has saddened us whenever they lament,

So it is as if those leaves, at that time, lost an infant!

ذكَّرتني وربَّما هيَّج الذِكرُ

زماناً مضى وعصراً تولَّى

It reminded me, and perhaps the remembrance would incite

A past time that is gone and an era that has ended,

وهوى مربع لظمياءَ أقوى

تسحب المزن في مغانيه ذيلا

And the gusts of a pasture whose traces of beauty lingered still

Dragging tails of meadows in their melodies,

فسقى ملعبَ الغزال وميضٌ

من هطول يسقي رذاذاً وهطلا

Bathing the land of gazelles. And flashing therein

Is a downpour that pours drizzle and rain.

أفأشفي الجوى بآرام رَبْعٍ

صحَّ فيه نسيمه واعتلاّ

Can I heal bitter separation in the peacefulness of a meadow

Where its breeze blew gently and rose tall?

رُبَّ طيفٍ من آل ميٍّ طروق

زار وهناً فقلت أهلاً وسهلا

How many a dear visage from the house of Mays has visited,

So I said: welcome! And: enter easily!

نوَّلتني الأَحلامُ منه الأَماني

وانقضى عهده وما نلت نيلا

Dreams have diverted me visions of it, but its era has passed

And I attained no union from that which I aspired.

إذ تصدَّى لمغرم مات صدَّا

وتولَّى حرّ الغرام وولَّى

When it confronted a passionate lover who then died of yearning,

And it turned away from the heat of passion and turned away,

زائراً كالسَّراب لاحَ لصادٍ

قبل أن يذهب الظماء اضمحلاّ

Visiting like a mirage - it did not appear clearly to one who straining to see

Before the thirst disappeared and totally vanished.

واللَّيالي تريك كلّ عجيبٍ

وتزيد الخطوب بالشَّهم عقلا

And the nights show you every wondrous thing,

And increase perplexities with great intrigue,

وإذا ما محت أعاجيب شكلٍ

أثْبَتَت من عجائب الدهر شكلا

And when the wonders of a vision fade away,

It establishes from the wonders of fate another vision.

قد أكلت الزَّمان حلواً ومرًّا

وشربت الأيام خمراً وخلاّ

Time has consumed the sweet and the bitter,

And I have drunk the days’ wine and vinegar.

وأَبَتْ لي أُبوَّتي إنْ أُداري

معْشراً من مدارك الفضل غفلا

And my mind refused me - if I were to consult

A group of the highest virtues - that I be neglectful,

لا أُداري ولا أُمالي ولا أش

هدُ زوراً ولا أُبدِّلُ نقلا

I do not consult or consider or falsely claim

Or change my words - no!

قد كفاني ربِّي استماحة قومٍ

أشربوا في الصُّدور غِلاًّ وبخلا

My Lord has spared me appeasing a people

Who drank rancor and stinginess into their breasts.

بأبي القاسمِ الَّذي طابَ في النَّا

س نِجاراً وطابَ فرعاً وأصلا

By the father of al-Qasim, who pure was among all people -

A carpenter - and pure of origin and branch!

وإذا عَدَّدَتْ بنيها المعالي

كانَ أعلى بني المعالي محلاّ

And if one were to count his outstanding traits,

The highest of outstanding traits would be his place!

فخر آل الزهير والجبل الباذخ

أضحى على الجبال مُطلاّ

Pride of the house of al-Zuhayr, and the lofty mountain peak

Has become, over mountains, most towering!

ظلَّ من يستظلّ بظلٍّ

لا عدمناه في الأَماجد ظِلاّ

It casts shade over one who takes shade in its shade

We never fail to have it for magnificent shade!

كلَّ يومٍ وكلَّ آنٍ لديه

يجتدي سائل ويبلغ سؤلا

Every day and each instant he has

A seeker attaining his request and goal.

بأبي وافر العطايا إذا ما

أكثرَ النَّيل بالعطاء استقلاّ

By my father - abundant in giving - when he makes

Abundance through gifts to increase, he rises above any insignificance!

وعيال ذوو العقول عليه

في أُمور تدقّ فهماً وعقلا

Over the minds of the intelligent, upon him

In matters requiring understanding and reason,

عصمة للأفكار من خطأ الرأ

ي وهادٍ للفكر من أن يضلاّ

A safeguard for ideas from judgment’s error,

And guide of thought from going astray.

نوَّر الله منك قلباً ذكيًّا

ظُلَمُ الشَّكّ فيه لا شكَّ تجلى

God has enlightened for you an intelligent heart -

The darkness of doubt in it, no doubt - has been unveiled!

غادر المحل في أياديه خصباً

في زمان يغادر الخصب محلا

He has left the land, by his hands, fecund,

In an era which leaves fecundity desolate.

كم أيادٍ تلك الأَيادي أفاضت

وأسالت من وابل الجود سيلا

How many hands are those hands that have poured forth

And unleashed from clouds of generosity a deluge!

سابق من يجيء بالفضل بَعْداً

لاحقٌ بالجميل من كانَ قبلا

Surpassing who comes later in merit a far lead,

And close pursuit of the beautiful by whoever was before!

شَهِدَ اللهُ والأنام جميعاً

أنَّه الصَّارم الَّذي لن يُفلاّ

God and all people bear witness together

That he is the one with the cutting sword that does not fail!

إنْ تُجرِّده كاشفاً لِمُلِمٍّ

فكما جرَّدَت يمينك نصلا

And if you were to unsheathe it, exposing the polished blade

As your right hand unsheathed its sharp sword,

وعلى ما يلوح لي منه مرأًى

قَرَأَ المجدُ سَطْرَه واستملاّ

And by what appears to me of him plainly,

Glory has read his line and dictated!

يا حُساماً هززته مشرفيًّا

صَقَلَتْهُ قيْنَ المروءة صقلا

O sword that you have brandished proudly,

The whetstone of manliness has polished it smooth!

مِن جليلٍ أعزَّك الله في العا

لم قدراً سما فعزَّ وجلاّ

From an illustrious one whom God has ennobled in the world -

To tower high in nobility and sublimity!

أيّ نادٍ ولم يكنْ لك فيه

آيةٌ من جميل ذكرك تتلى

In which assembly has your name not been

A verse of your handsome mention being recited?

قد حكيت الشّمّ الرَّواسي وقاراً

وثباتاً في الحادثات ونبلا

You have related steadfastness and dignity in adversities

And composure through tribulations and nobility.

وبنات الأَفكار لم ترضَ إلاَّ

كُفؤها من أكارم النَّاس بعلا

The daughters of ideas have accepted none but

Their equals from the noblest of people as husband!

أيُّها المُنعم المؤمَّل للفضل

حباك الإِله ما دمت فضلا

O you who grants favor - the favor is hopeful -

May God clothe you, as long as you live, in favor!

أَلْبَسَتْني نعماك من قبل هذا

جِدَّةً من مفاخر ليس تبلى

Before this, your blessings have dressed me

In a new coat of honors that will never wear out!

كلّ يومٍ تراك عيناي عيدٌ

عند مثلي ولا أرى لك مثلا

Every day my eyes see you as a celebration

To one such as I, and I do not envision the like of you!

فإذا قلتُ في ثنائك قولاً

قيلَ لي أنتَ أصدق النَّاس قولا

So when I say any words in your praise,

I am told: you are the most truthful of people in speech!

فبما نعمةٍ عليَّ وفضلٍ

أثقَلَتْني أيديك بالشُّكر حملا

So with what blessing and favor upon me

With which your hands have burdened me heavily with gratitude,

لا يزال العيد الَّذي أنتَ فيه

عائداً بالسُّرور حَوْلاً فَحَوْلا

The celebration in which you exist will never cease to return,

Cycle after cycle, with joy!