نَظَرنَ بأَسيافٍ عَليها جُفُونُها

قَواطِعُ في أيدي هَوىً لا تَخُونُها

With swords upon which their sheaths are shut

Blades in the hands of passions that do not betray them

سَواكِنُ إلا أنَّ بينَ جَوانِحي

لَها حَركاتٌ يَقتَضِيها سُكونُها

Still but that between my ribs

There are motions that their stillness necessitates

هُو السُّقمُ إمَّا في قُلوبٍ يُذيبُها

كقَلبي وإمَّا في جُفُونٍ يَزينُها

It is sickness, consuming hearts like mine

Or adorning eyelids as decoration

فإن تَكُ ألحاظُ الغَواني ضَعِيفةً

فَلي نظَرٌ فيها قَوِيٌّ يُعِينُها

If the glances of the flirts are weak

I have a strong gaze to assist them

ومَن عَبدَ الأهواءَ مثلَ عِبادَتي

فَليسَ يُبالي أيّ دِينٍ يَدينُها

And whoever worships passions like I worship them

Does not care what religion he believes in

وحَمراءَ كَالمرِّيخِ لَوناً وَقِدمَةٌ

أتَت عَينُها لمَّا مَضَى عَربُونُها

A redhead the color of Mars, with a freckled complexion

Her eye came when its down payment had gone

فجاءَ بِها القِسِّيسُ يُوصي بِصَونِها

وما أبتَغي ما كنتُ ممَّن يَصُونُها

So the priest brought her, commanding she be guarded

But I did not seek what I would have guarded

لهَا حَبَبٌ يُنبِيكَ عَن طُولِ عُمرِها

ألستَ تَراها كيفَ شابَت قُرونُها

She has a charm that alerts you to her lifelong youth

Do you not see her how her horns have become youthful?

أقولُ لِساقِيها عَلى الظنِّ إنَّها

تَدورُ وقَد رقِّت فَما أستَبِينُها

I say to her cupbearer guessing she

Spins, and her mouth has become gentle, I cannot discern it

ألا عَدِّها عَنِّي حَياءً فإنَّني

أراها تَراني والحَبابُ عُيونُها

Please count her away from me out of shyness

For I see her looking while her loved ones are her eyes

يُلَقِّحُها الشَّادِي وإن لم يَمَسَّها

فَينشُو سُرُوراً في النُّفُوسِ جَنينُها

The hunter provokes her though he does not touch her

So happiness sprouts in the souls like her fetus

طَرقتُ بها دارَ الهُمومِ وكيفَ لي

هِي الأرضُ جَمعاً أو تكادُ تكُونُها

I came upon her at the home of worries, but how could it

Be the land in its entirety or nearly all of it?

ولكنني أحبُو عقُولاً بشُربِها

فَتَنسى نُفُوسٌ كيفَ تَجري شُؤونُها

But I love minds drunk with it

So souls forget how their affairs flow

فكلُّ فتىً يَسمو إلى حَيثُ نَفسُهُ

علواً بأخلاقٍ له يَستَعِينُها

For every young man soars to where his soul is

Lofty in morals he uses to aid himself

كَما الدَّولةُ الزَّهراءُ حيثُ مكانُها

مِن الأُفُقِ الأَعلَى يَكونُ مكِينُها

As the radiant state, wherever its place is

From the highest horizon, its nest will be

أبو عَزَماتٍ كلُّ مَن جاءَ بَعدَه

أخُوها إِذا جانَبنَه وخَدينُها

Abu Azama, all who come after him

Are its brothers if they are sincere to it

يُجيرُ عَلى الأيَّام وهيَ تَوَدُّهُ

فَصارَ شَجاها عِندَه وشُجُونُها

It shelters from the days and it loves him

So its ardors near him became his ardors

وتَلقاهُ فيما يَقبلُ الشُكرَ حائِزاً

عَلى فَعَلاتٍ كلُّ شُكرٍ رَهينُها

And it meets him in what gratitude can gain

Over deeds every gratitude is indebted to

فقَد جُدِّدَ الطُّوفانُ في الأرضِ والتَقَى

بجُودِ يَدَيهِ مُزنُها ومَعينُها

So the flood on earth was renewed and its surge met

With the generosity of his hands, its pillar and its refuge

إِذا ما بِحارُ النَّائِباتِ تَغَطمَطَت

فإنَّ المذاكي السَّابِحاتِ سَفِينُها

When the seas of afflictions surge tempestuously

The floating palm trees are its ships

عَلى مثلِ هبَّاتِ الرِّياحِ اعتِسافُها

إلى كلِّ خَطبٍ والرِّياحُ شُطُونُها

Agitated by gusts of wind like wind gusts

To every plight as the winds roam

تَهونُ عَلَيهِ والجَبانُ يُعِزُّها

وليسَ يُعِزُّ النَّفسَ إلا مُهِينُها

They seem trivial to him though the coward esteems them

And nothing animates the soul but debasing it

وإن بعَّدَت آراؤهُ البِيضَ قَبلَهُ

فَأتباعُها حُمرُ المَنايا وجُونُها

And if its views take the lead before the whites’

Then its followers are the red deaths and their illnesses

يؤلِّفُ بينَ الأسدِ تحتَ لِوائِه

وكلُّ مكان حَلَّ فيهِ عَرِينُها

It brings together the lion under its banner

And every place its den occupied

عَوادٍ ولا في كُلِّ حِينٍ وإنَّما

إذا شاءَ أن يَعدُو بِها جاءَ حِينُها

Unremitting, not at every time, but only

When it wanted to race with them did its time come

كَساها كَما تُكسَى الرِّجالُ فأشكَلَت

وشَكَّت نُفُوسٌ ثمَّ صحَّ يَقينُها

It clothed them as men are clothed so they became ambiguous

And souls doubted, then its certainty became clear

أخَذنا أحاديثَ الكِرامِ بِقسمَةٍ

أسانِيدُها فينا وفيهم مُتُونُها

We took the accounts of the generous in portions

Its chains with us and its texts with them

إذا سُرِّحَت لي في الثَّناءِ قَصِيدةٌ

فَليتكَ في طُولِ البَقاءِ قَرينُها

If an ode is released praising me

I wish you to be its companion in prolonged survival