أَلا قُلْ لَخِيْرِ النَّاسِ نَفْساً وَوَالِداً

وَرَهْطاً وَأجْدَاداً مَقَالَةَ مُخْتَصِّ

Tell the best of people in self and forebears,

And tribe and ancestors an eloquent speech -

مَحمَّدٍ الْمَأْمُولِ وَالْمُقْتَدَي بهِ الْ

أَمِيرِ أبي الْعَبَّاسِ ذِي الْفَضْلِ النَّقْصِ

Muhammad the hoped for and the exemplar to be followed,

The Commander Abu al-Abbas, possessing outstanding merit and defectlessness.

وَمَنْ جَمَعَ الآدَابَ بَعْدَ افْتِراقَهِا

وَثَقَّفَهَا بِالْبَحْثِ مِنْهُ وبِالْفَحْصِ

And whoever gathered manners after their separation

And gained them through research and examination -

دقِيقِ حَوَاشِي الذّهْنِ هُذِّبَ طَبْعُهُ

وَمُحِّصَ فِي قُرْبِ الْمَدَى أَيَّمَا مَحْصِ

Refined in the margins of his mind, his nature polished,

Purified through proximity the best of purifications.

بَعِيدِ الْقَبُولِ مِنْ حَسُودِ مُكَاشِرٍ

تَخَلَّفَ عَنْ بِالنَّزْغِ والْفَرْصِ

Far from accepting the envy of an associating envier

Who lags behind with slander and opportunism -

لِئَنْ سَاغَ لِي أَكْلِي وَشُرْبِي فَإِنَّني

كَذِي شَرَقٍ مِنْ غَيْبَتِي عَنْهُ مُغْتَصِّ

If my eating and drinking are pleasant then I am like one

Yearning from my absence from him in the east.

وَقَدْ كُنْتُ ذَا حَظٍّ لَدَيْهِ وَزُلْفَةٍ

فَجَاءَ الَّذِي حَاذَرْتُ فِيهِ عَلَى غَفْصِ

I used to have fortune and intimacy with him

Then that which I feared happened suddenly -

بِفَسْخِ الَّذِي سَدَّى وأَلْحَمَ بَاطِلاً

وَقَد وَقَصَاهُ عَاجِلاً أَيَّمَا وَقْصِ

With the nullification of that which he patched up and falsely joined,

And he soon recounted it - the best recounting.

مِنَ أكْلُبِ خُوِزَسَتانَ نَغْلٌ مُحَقَّرٌ

ضَئِيلٌ خَفِيٌ الشَّخْصِ فِي صُورَةِ الدَّرْص

From the dogs of Khwarizm, an accursed weakling,

Insignificant, hidden in appearance, in the form of a plane tree.

وَأَلْهَبَ مِنهُ الْجَمْرَ بِالنَّفْخِ حَابِلٌ

عَلُوقٌ بِأَذْنَابِ الأَكَاذِيبِ كَالشَّصِّ

And a kindler ignited the embers against him with blowing,

A deceiver tied with the tails of lies like a buttress.

بَنُو مُعْوَرَاتِ الطُّرْقِ جَاءُوا بِعَوْرَةٍ

ذَوُو الآنْفِ الذَّكَّاءِ والأَعْيُنِ الرُّمْصِ

The sons of the crooked roads came with crookedness -

Possessors of slender noses and bleary eyes.

أَولُوا بِظَنةٍ فِي بَاطِلٍ وتَكَذُّبٍ

وَصِدْقُهُمُ يَأْوِي إلَى أَبْطُنٍ خُمْص

Foremost with suspicions in falsehood and lies,

While their truth retreats to deceitful bellies.

فَمَا أَسْنَدُوا قَوْلاً إلَي ذِي تَمَاسُكٍ

ولاَ شَيَّدُوا زُورَ الْمَقَالِ عَلَى إِصِ

They did not lean any coherent saying,

Nor build up the lies of speech on a foundation.

وَبِالْقَصْرِ قَوْمٌ إِنْ رَأَوْنَا تَبَلَّغُوا

وَحَطُّوا لَنَا الأَعْيَاقَ كَالرَّخَمِ الْقُصِ

And in the palace some people, if we saw they were informed

And they lowered for us the high necks like ossified necks.

تَلاَقَتْ بِتَأَلِيبٍ عَلْينَا جُفُونُهُمْ

وَفَرَّقَتِ الأَقْوَالَ بِالثَّلْبِ والْغَمْصِ

Their eyelids met with incitement against us

And the words separated with roundedness and chewing.

وَمَا قَبُلوا نُصْحَ الْعَرُوضِيِّ فِي الَّذِي

رآهُ وَرَصُّوا إفْكَهُمْ أَيّمَا رَصِّ

They did not accept the advice of the profferer in that

Which he saw, and they butted their calumny - the best butting.

وَقَدْ هَطَلَتْهُ غَيْبَةٌ مِنْ سَحَابِهِمْ

وَكَالُوا لَهُ صَاعاً مِنَ النَّثِّ والْقَصّ

Absence from their clouds deluged him,

And they measured out for him a sa`a of riffraff and Stories.

وَهَبَّ لهُ فِي بُعْدِه لَكَ قَاصِفٌ

مِنَ الْحزْنِ يُنْئِي عَنْكَ بَلْ بُقْصِي

So a drinker came to you from sorrow over him

To distract you - or rather to fully distract you -

فَغَصَّ بِشُربٍ مِنْ فِرَاقِكَ آجنٍ

عَصُوفٍ بِجَدْوَاهُ أَمَرَّ مِنَ الْعَفْصِ

Who choked on a drink of parting from you,

contracted, bitterer than wormwood.

وَإِنْ أَنْجَزَ الإِمْكَانُ يَوْماً بِجَلْسَةٍ

لَدَيْكَ أَتَاكَ الْقَوْلُ بِالشَرْحِ واللَّخْصِ

And if possibility one day actualizes a session

With you, the words will come to you in explanation and summation.

فَأَدْنَيْتَ حَقّاً قَدْ أُطِيحَ بِشَخْصِهِ إلَى

نزَوَانِ الْقَوْمِ بِالزُّورِ والْقَنْصِ

So you will restore the right of one who was toppled

To the lowliness of the people through lies and hunting.

فَأَقْتَبَلُ الْعَيْشَ الْغَرِيرَ بِقُرْبِكُمْ

وَأَسْحَبُ فِي لَذَّاتِهِ أَذْيُلَ الْقُمْصِ

Then I will happily live life in your proximity

And drag in its pleasures the train of a shirt.

بِحَقّ أَفَاضَ الْقَلْبُ فَاضِل شَرْبَةٍ

مِنَ الهَمِّ حَتَّى جَاءَنِي الأَمْرُ مِنْ فَصِّ

By the right! The heart overflowed, the surplus of a draught

Of worries, until the matter came to me from unstitching.

وَأَطْلَعَ شَخْصُ الْحَقِّ عنْدَكَ وَجْهَهُ

إلَى أَنْ يَقُودَ الْقُرْبُ مَنْطِقَ مُسْتَقْصِي

And the person of truth raised his face to you

Until nearness leads the articulated inquiry.

تَحَيَّفَنِي رَيْبُ الزَّمَانِ بِبُعْدكُمْ

تَحَيُّفَ مِقْراضِ الْمُجَازِفِ فِي الْقَصِّ

Doubt of the times wrapped me in your absence,

The wrapping of one gambling openly in cutting.

إِلَيْكَ تَرَامَتْ بِي الأَمَانِي هِمَّةٌ

عَلَى لُحُق الأَقْرَابِ ضَامِرَةٍ حُصِّ

To you hopes carried me, an resolve

To restore relations, binding and focused.

وَخُوصٍ سَقَتْهَا الآلَ كَأْسُ هَجِيرِهِ

فَأَفْنَتْهُ بِالْوَجْدِ الْمُواشِكِ والرَّقْصِ

And sorrow which the family's cup intoxicated with its bitterness,

So it distracted him with ardor, trembling, and dancing.

إلَى ابْنِ الَّذِي أَحْيَا الْبَرِيَّةَ عَدْلُهُ

فَشُبِّهَ بِالْفَارُوقِ فِيهمْ أَبِي حَفْصِ

To the son whom his justice revived the wilderness,

So he was compared in it to al-Faruq, their father Hafs.

وَقَدْ كَانَ لِي وَعْدٌ عَلَيْكَ بِخَاتَمٍ

عَلُوقٍ بِلَحْظِ الْعَيْنِ مُسْتَمْلَح الشَّخْصِ

I had a promise to you with a ring,

fastened with an amorous glance, excellent in person.

شَرِيف إِذَا ما رفعوه لسيد

تعاظم واستعلى به شرف الفص

Noble, whenever they carry it to a master,

His nobility magnifies and rises through it.

فَلاَ أَنَا طَالَعْتُ الأَمِيرَ بِذْكِرهِ

بِتَعْرِيضِ قَوْلٍ فِي الْخِطَابِ وَلاَ نَصِّ

So I have not glimpsed the Commander by mentioning it,

With indirect words in speech, nor directly.

وَلاَ أَنْجَدَتْنِي مِنْهُ فِي ذَاكَ حُظْوَةٌ

تُذَكِّرُ إِنْجَازاً وَلَسْتُ بذِي حِرْصِ

Favoritism from him has not assisted me in that

To remind of fulfillment, and I am not covetous.

وإِنِّي لأَرْجُو أَنْ يُسَرِّيَ لُبْسُهُ

فَيَأْخُذَ مِنْهُ اللَّبْسَ أَخْذَةَ مُقْتَصِّ

I exaggerate praise only for one

Who exaggerates in giving, and I am not deficient.

وَإِن لَمْ يَكُنْ كَرْعٌ يُقَاوِمُ غُلَّتِي

بِرِيٍّ قَنَعَا فِيه بِالرَّشْفِ والْمَصِّ

One inspired with yearning, his heart not with a vile

Which a pliant branch rubs, aromatic on dais.

إِذا لَمْ يَكُنْ كُلُّ الَّذِي يَشْتَهِي الْفَتَى

فَفِي الرَّأَيِ أَنْ يَرْضَى ويَقَنَعَ بالَشِّقْصِ

Its crucible is the heart’s resolve, like rock his heart,

Though it is confined in a despised body.

وَلَسْتُ كَمَنْ يُمْضِي عَلَى الظَّنَّ حَكْمَهُ

وَيَجْعَلُ إِسْنَادَ الرِّجَالِ إلىَ حَصِّ

Nor with inclusive delight of taste, a gourd,

Whose match is in a bottle and cage.

وإِنِّي لأُغلِي الْمَدْحَ إِلاَّ عَلَى الَّذِي

يُغَالِي بِإِعَطَاء وَلَسْتُ بِذِي نَقْصِ

So if the like of it were hoped for in chickpeas,

The men would lead my mounts to chickpeas!

بِذِي هامَ قَلْبٌ لاَ بِخَرِيَدةٍ بِهَا

يَميسُ بِهَا غُصْنٌ رَطِيبُ عَلَى دعْصِ

I incline to drink nobly with my darkness,

And I am not a sucker for the rabble's veins.

صَليبَهُ عَزْمٍ الْقَلْبِ كَالصَّخْرِ قَلْبُهَا

عَلَى أَنَّهُ يَكْتَنُّ فِي جَسَدٍ رَخْصِ

So say to whoever compared the Commander to other than him:

Be firm, for precise measure is not like guesswork.

وَلاَ بِشَمُولِ لَذَّةِ الطَّعْمِ قَرْقَفٍ

مَنَاسِبُهَا في كَركْينَ وَالْقُفْصِ

You have arbitrarily aimed falsehood and invalidity

Beside a cleft that mastered the rocks with trembling.

فَلَوْ كَانَ في حِمْصٍ يُرَجَّى شَبِيهُهُ

لَسَاقَ مَطَايَايَ الرِّجَالُ إليَ حِمْصِ

The beauties of this creation began with you,

And a pretentious one pulls them like a sneak thief.

أَمِيلُ إلَى شُرْبِ الْكِرَامِ بِغُلَّتي

وَلَسْتُ لأَوْشَالِ اللِّئَامَ بِمُمْتَصِّ

Thus glory is not gathered together through wealth

And with homes built with mudbricks and plaster.

فَقُولُوا لِمَنْ قَاسَ الأَمِيرَ بِغَيْرِهِ

تَأَيَّدْ فَمَا الْكَيْلُ الْمُحَصَّلَ كَالخَرْصِ

You have remained for the eternal kingdom its possessor,

Obeyed by it in what you desire, not disobeyed.

تَيَمَّمْتَ زَوراً فِي الْمَقَالِ وَبَاطِلاً

لَدَى خُرْقٍ سَادَ الصُّخُورَ عَلَى رَهْصِ

You have taken from lifetimes the furthest extent

That calculation's hand misses in counting them.

مَحَاسِنُ هَذَا الْخَلْقِ مِنْكَ ابْتَداؤُها

وَيْجْذُبَها ذُو كُلْفَة مِنْكَ كَاللِّصِّ

كَذَا الْمَجْدُ لاَ بِالْمَالِ يُجْمَعُ شَمْلُهُ

وبِالدُّورِ شِيدَتْ بِالقَرَامِيدِ وَالْجِصِّ

فَلاَ زِلْتَ للدَّهْرِ الْمُمَلَّكِ مَالِكاً

يَطيعُكَ فِيمَا تَشْتَهِيهِ وَلاَ يَعْصِي

وَحُزْتَ مِنَ الأَعْمَارِ أَقْصَى نِهَايَةٍ

تفُوتُ مَدَى الإِحْصَاءِ فِيهَا يَدُ الْمُحصِي