ألا كتَبَت أبعدَ اللَهُ دارَه
لماذا أطالَ عَلينا سفارَه
Alas! After Allah, has he settled far from his abode?
Why did he prolong his journey upon us?
وطالَ الكتابُ فلانَ الخطا
بُ إلى قولها هاج للقلبِ نارَه
And the letter was long, so it pained my heart,
Saying: his heart’s fire has blazed for her.
فإن لم أكن عبدَه حلةً
فتحنو عليَّ أما كنت جارَه
If I were not his companion,
He would have been kind to me, for I was his neighbor.
وقد كان يوجبُ حقَّ الجِوا
رِ ألا يَبيتَ يُقاسي انتظارَه
It was incumbent, by right of neighborhood,
That he not spend the night suffering his waiting.
فوا أسَفي أينَ ذاك اللما
مُ بِنا كلَّ وقتٍ وتلكَ الزيارَه
Oh my sorrow! Where is that gathering,
With us, every time, and that visit?
فقلتُ تعرَّضني دونها
رجاءٌ يبشِّرُني عن بشارَه
So I said, your avoiding me
Gives me hope, bringing me news of his tidings,
يبشِّرُني بالغِنى عن فتىً
أجارَ على الدهرِ حتَّى استَجارَه
Bringing me tidings of being needless of a youth,
Who sought refuge with time until he sought refuge with it.
ومازال ذا غَيرةٍ للعفاةِ
تكادُ تكون على القُدم غارَه
He still has a jealousy for the chaste,
That is almost a jealousy ingrained in his nature.
كأن الندى طافَ بين الوَرى
لينزلَ حيثُ ينالُ اختِيارَه
As if the dew roamed among mankind
To descend wherever it attains its choice.
فسار طَويلاً فلما رآهُ
قرَّ فأمسَت يداهُ قرارَه
So it traveled long until when it saw him,
It settled, and its hands attained tranquility with him.
أَقامَ على خُلقٍ واحِدٍ
من الناسِ والجود طوراً وتارَه
He remained of a single nature
With people, his generosity alternating with its opposite.
فليسَ يزالُ الندى شأنَه
وليسَ تزالُ المعالي شعارَه
The dew does not cease being as it is,
Nor do glories cease being his mantle.
وكم جَحفلٍ لجِبٍ قادَه
إلى جَحفلٍ وغُبارٍ أثارَه
And so many regiments of brave men he has led
To regiments and dust their number has stirred.
وخيلٍ لفرسانِها في الحرو
بِ مدرَّبةٍ قرحٍ لا مِهارَه
And horses whose wounds in battle
Were trained, having no skill.
رَماها بيَومٍ تَرى النقع فيه
يسود في كل يومٍ نهارَه
He charged them on a day you see the pools in it
Darkened, and every day its light obscured.
وأقبلَ مُشتَهراً نحوَها
بحيثُ يخافُ الجبانُ اشتهارَه
And he came gloriously toward it,
Where the coward fears its notoriety.
يضيفُ الوحوشَ بفرسانِها
كأن على كلِّ طرفٍ جزارَه
He hosted wild beasts with its horsemen
As if for every side there was a butcher.
أضافَ العفاة ولاقى الكماةَ
فأَفنى عِداهُ وأفنى عشارَه
He added the chaste and met the warriors
So he destroyed its enemies and decimated its tithe.
معالٍ تَراها إذا عُدِّدت
على الناسِ تُنسي الفخور افتِخارَه
Glories, if enumerated upon mankind,
Would make the arrogant forget their pride.
لئِن قصَّر الشِّعرُ عن وَصفِها
لقد أسمَع الثقلين اعتِذارَه
If poetry falls short of describing it,
It has made the two noble records admit their incapacity.
أبا حسنٍ ربَّ شِعرٍ أطلت
وإن قيل إني اعتَمَدتُ اختِصارَه
Oh Abu Hasan, lord of poetry! I have prolonged,
And if it is said I relied upon brevity,
إذا ما معانيهِ طالَت فما
يضرُّك إلا تطول العبارَه
When its meanings were long, then what
Harms you unless the expression is prolonged?
