أما الخيال فما يغب طروقا — Al Sari Al Raffa

As for the phantom, it never fails to visit by night.

It draws near with your affection, stirring longing and full of longing.

It came and proved faithful to me; and ever has

Love's companion been worthy of fidelity.

It departed, while the eyelids had been kept from drooping

By a heart whose beating never stills at the thought of you.

Will our days at the sandbend of al-Shaqiqah return,

So that union there may once again be a brother to me?

The days when union with you was a trackless wilderness of longing,

Where forgetfulness knew no path.

I love one of exquisite beauty, in youth's first bloom,

And visit a lovely place with verdant grounds.

The cloud came there at evening, its robe thick,

And at dawn the breeze's robe there was fine.

It is a betrayal by Time that has left love

After faithfulness, clouded and stricken.

I will not look upon the days with a lover's gaze

Until Time restores our cherished time.

And riding camels emerge from the murk of night;

Like arrows, they shot swiftly out of it.

And dawn, its mantle burnished, seems

A maiden's cloak, steeped by her in saffron perfume.

Was it a cloud in al-Sham whose lightning they watched,

Or did they watch lightning flashing from the prince's glad face?

A king whose right hand, through generosity, smooths

Rough ground, and with keen swords makes narrow places wide.

He greets generosity with a gentle, radiant face;

But when the two armies meet, it becomes unyielding.

His quarters are spacious while he stays; but if he travels by night

With a mighty host, he leaves open country cramped.

He never ceases to appear before his foes bearing death

At dawn, and to visit them by night with doom.

And when he races for glory, he wins its morning draught

By coming first, while others gain from it an evening draught.

And when the sea of battle swells, he plunges into it,

And makes whoever opposes him die drowned in it.

Hold, enemies of the faith: your adversary has

A nature well suited to bringing the enemy low.

I have warned you of honor's defender, who recognizes

No rights except those of sharpened swords.

His resolves secured the frontiers, and

His counsels allied themselves with sound judgment and success.

And he struck the lands of Rum with the resolve that

Has always been a dawn breaking through darkness.

Portents of his might hung heavy in a cloud-bank,

Flashing, its brilliance overwhelming the eyes.

An army—when the enemy meets its front ranks,

You find no chance of overtaking its rear.

For it, the sun of day was veiled, and there rose

The sun of iron, radiant on both its flanks.

He emptied their strongholds and seized their spoils

By force, and utterly scattered their host.

So those broad valley floors were stained with blood through him,

And those mountain passes blazed with fire.

And he turned the steeds back, tearing the bosom of their dust-cloud,

And drove the swords onward, so it folded back, split open.

And Time smiles, delighting, as though

At his appearance it bared its prominent front teeth.

A conquest of great worth that made right guidance grow

In righteousness, as it made error grow in impiety.

O Ali, how many great favors you have bestowed,

Which granted you a subtle theme for praise!

And bounty by which you raised, for Taghlib's two clans,

A glory that towered high and embraced al-Ayyuq.

So live in safety for a noble deed whose love has filled

A heart deeply attached to the love of noble deeds.

And long enjoy my praise: it is a fragrant flower.

It breathed out fragrance, and the discerning man touched it, smiling.

I made its wording sparkle, then strung it into verse,

As though I had diluted pure wine drawn from it.

It was unmarked before your bounty, but became

Through your bounty a banner, admired among humankind.