أَدارَ الكأْس صافيةَ المُدامِ

كحيلُ الطَّرْفِ ممشُوقُ القوامِ

He passed round the cup, clear wine,

Slim as an eyelash, erect in form,

وَقَد رَكَضَتْ بأقداح الحميّا

خيولُ الصُّبْح في جنحِ الظَّلام

And the steeds of dawn had galloped

In the wings of darkness with goblets of rapture.

وأبصر غادةً من آل سام

على الباقين من أولاد حام

And I saw a maiden of the clan of Shem

Superior to the rest of Ham’s descendants.

ومالت للغروب نجومُ أفق

كما نثر الجمان من النظام

The stars of the horizon inclined toward sunset

As the Pleiades scattered from their setting.

ونحنُ بروضة تَندى فتُبدي

لنا شكران آثار الغمام

And we were in a meadow bedewed, displaying

For us the traces of clouds in thankfulness.

وقد أمْلَتْ حمائمُها علينا

من الأوراق آياتِ الغرام

And its doves had dictated to us

From the leaves verses of love.

أقمْنا بينَ أفناءِ الأغاني

وما اخترنا المقام بلا مقام

We stayed among the courts of songs

And we chose no mode without a mode.

تَلَذُّ لنا القِيان بها سماعاً

إذا اتَّصَلَتْ بمنقطع الكلام

We enjoyed listening to them

When they were joined to the interrupted utterance.

وما رقَصَتْ غصونُ البان إلاَّ

لما سمعَته من لحن الحمام

The boughs of the wild plum swayed only

Because they heard the melody of the ringdove.

فمن طربٍ إلى طربٍ توالى

ومن جامٍ سعى في إثر جام

From one rapture to another rapture ensued

And from one cup another was sought.

رَضَعْنا من أفاويق الحميّا

وقلْنا لا منعنا بالفطام

We suckled from the goblets of rapture

And we said, “Do not wean us from it.”

نَفُضُّ خِتامَها مِسْكاً ذكيًّا

وكان الدَنُّ مسكيَّ الختام

We opened its seal, fragrant aloes-wood,

The base was of musk and its seal.

تحلُّ بها المسرَّةُ حيث حَلَّتْ

ودبَّت بالمفاصل والعظام

In it happiness came wherever it halted

And crept in the joints and bones.

عَصَيْنا من نَهى عنها عتوًّا

وفزنا بالمعاصي والأثام

We disobeyed the one who forbade it defiantly

And won by disobedience and sins.

وحرَّمنا الحلالَ على الندامى

وما يغني الحلال عن الحرام

And we prohibited the lawful to the penitents

For the lawful avails not against the forbidden.

وكم يومٍ تَركنا الزِّقَّ فيه

جريحاً من يد الندمان دامي

And how many days we neglected the truth in it,

Wounded by the hand of the remorseful tyrant!

وعُجْنا بالكؤوس إلى التصابي

وما عُجْنا لأطلال رِمام

And we were drunk with cups unto disagreement

And we were not drunk for the ruins of past abodes.

وليلٍ يجمعُ الأحبابَ شملاً

بمن نَهوى شديد الالتحام

And a night that gathered intimates together

In her who we passionately loved and embraced.

وباتَتْ تُسْعِف اللَّذات فيه

ببنتِ الكرم أبناءُ الكرام

And she lavished the pleasures therein

On the generous offspring of the generous.

فمِنْ وَجهٍ تَقَرُّ به عُيوني

ومن رشفٍ أبُلُّ به أُوامي

So from a cheek my eyes were refreshed

And from a draught I sipped my thirst.

فيبعثُ بالسرور إلى فؤادي

ويهدي بالشفاء إلى سقامي

It sent joy to my heart

And bestowed healing on my malady.

وقد طاب الزمان فلا رقيب

يكدر صَفْوَ عيشي بالملام

And time had become sweet without a censor

To embitter the joy of my life with blame.

وما أهنا شموسَ الراح تترى

وقد أخَذَتْ عن البدر التمام

Were it not that the suns of comfort were seen

Having assumed perfection from the full moon!

وغانيةٍ تجود إذا استُميحَتْ

بطيب الوصل بعد الانصرام

And a singing girl who lavishes

When she dedicates herself after estrangement.

فما غَدَرَتْ لمشتاق بعهدٍ

ولا خَفَرَتْ لصبِّ بالذمام

She betrayed no ardent lover after a covenant

Nor ignored any enamored one with rejection.

تركتُ العاذلين بها ورائي

وقدَّمتُ السرور بها أمامي

I left the blamers behind me

And I placed happiness with her ahead of me.

تعير بوجهها الأقمار معنىً

إذا وافتك بارزة اللثام

With her face she shames the orbs

When she draws near with her veil withdrawn.

كأنِّي قد أخَذتُ على الليالي

عهود الأمن من ريب الحمام

It was as if against the nights

I had taken oaths of safety from the doubts of the ringdoves.

ومَن أضحى إلى سلمان يُعزى

وخِدْمَتِه فمحمول السلام

And the one who now goes to propitiate Sulayman

And serves him – may peace be upon him!

أصَبْتُ بنيله أمَلاً بعيداً

وما طاشت بمرماها سهامي

I gained through his attainment a distant hope

And my arrows did not swerve from their goal.

كأنِّي أستزيد ندى يديه

بشكراني لأيديه الجسام

It was as though I gained more of his cloudlike hand

Out of thankfulness for his mighty hands.

وكم نِعَمٍ له عندي وأيدٍ

رغمتُ بهنَّ آنافَ اللئام

And how many blessings of his I have

With which I shut up the sneering mouths of slanderers!

وصالَحْتُ الخطوبَ على مرادي

وكنتُ عَهِدتُها لَدَّ الخصام

I reconciled misfortunes according to my desire

After I was accustomed to dispute and conflict.

وما انْفَصلتْ عُرى أملٍ وثيقٍ

وفيه تَمسُّكي وبه اعتصامي

The ties of firm hope were not severed in it

Wherein lies my adherence and my dependence.

مكان تمسكي بالعهد منه

مكان الكف من ظبة الحسام

The place of my adherence to the pact with him

Is like the palm’s place with the sword hilt.

وسَيَّال اليدين من العطايا

تسيل من العطاء لكل ظامي

The pouring of the hands with generosity

Pours forth generosity to every thirsty one.

إذا ما فاتني التقبيل منها

فليس يفوتني نَوْءُ الغمام

If kissing her eludes me,

Her face’s brightness does not elude me.

تمام جماله خَلَقٌ رضيٌ

وحَسْبُك منه كالبدر التمام

The perfection of his beauty is wholesome creation,

And it suffices you to liken him to the perfect full moon.

وتلك خلائقٌ خَلُصَتْ فكانت

نُضاراً لا تُدَنَّسُ بالرغام

And those are pure natures that,

When created, turned out to be fresh, unsullied by filth.

فتًى في الناجبين لقد أراني

وقارَ الشَّيخ في سِنِّ الغلام

A youth, even though I see in him

The dignity of an old man in the prime of youth.

ركبتُ إليه من أملي جواداً

بعيدَ الخطو جوَّابَ الموامي

I rode to him on my hope, a steed

Far-stepping, responding to the spur.

فأبْرقَ واستهَلَّ ورحت أروي

سجام القطر عن قطر سجام

So it flashed, neighed, and I went about watering

The torrent bed from torrent bed.

كما نَزَلتْ على أرضٍ سماءٌ

تسيل على الأباطح والأكام

As rain descends on land

Pouring on hilltops and dunes.

فأمسى كلَّ آونةٍ قريضي

يُغَرِّدُ منه تغريد الحمام

Thus after every lapse my poetry

Warbles from it the warbling of the ringdove.

أرى مديحي لآل البيت فرضاً

كمفتَرَضِ الصلاة أو الصيام

I see my praise of the House of the Prophet as a duty

Like the duty of prescribed prayer or fasting.

أئِمة ملَّة الإسلام كلٌّ

يُقالُ له الإمام ابن الأمام

The imams of the religion of Islam

Each is called: son of the imam.

وما شرَفُ الأنام بغير قومٍ

هُمُ مذ كُوّنوا شرَفُ الأنام

The nobility of mankind is through no other people

Who, since created, are mankind’s nobility.

أفاضوا بالعطاء لمجتديهم

وللأعداء بالموت الزؤام

They poured forth in charity to those in need

And to their enemies, certain death.

وكلٌّ منهمُ ليثٌ هصورٌ

وبحرٌ من بحور الجود طامي

Each of them a fierce lion

And a sea of the overflowing sea of generosity.

بنفسي سيّداً في كلّ حالٍ

يرى فيها احتشامي واحترامي

With myself a lord in every situation

Wherein he beholds my dignity and veneration.

ظفِرْتُ به حُساماً ليس ينبو

نُبُوَّ مضارب السَّيف الكهام

With him I gained a sword that does not

Brandish the brandishing of a pointless sword.

وقد يُدعى الكريمُ إلى نوالٍ

كما يُدعى الشجاع إلى صِدام

The generous may be summoned for booty

As the brave are summoned for the fray.

وعندي في صنائعه قوافٍ

يضيق بهنَّ صدرُ الاكتتام

In his feats of arms there are swift horses

With which the chests of misers are straitened.

وشعري في صفات بني عليّ

رُفعتُ به إلى أعلى مقام

My poetry concerning the attributes of the House of ‘Aliyy

I have been raised by it to the highest station.

سأُطْرِبُ في مديحك كلَّ واعٍ

ولا طربَ الشجيّ المستهام

In praise of you I will captivate every heart and mind

And not the excitement of one remembering a ruin.

وأشكرُ منك فضلك ثم أدعو

لوجهك بالبقاء وبالدوام

I thank you for your bounty, then I pray

For your existence and for your duration.