يريك قوامها الغصن الرطيب — Al Sari Al Raffa

The supple bough shows you her figure,

And the hand-reared fawn the glance of her eyelids.

One morning, a smooth cheek of hers appeared,

A henna-dyed hand embellishing its brocade.

And separation brought her nearer to the lovesick lover;

So sunset brings the sun nearer.

Ah, a cheek that tears furrow,

And a heart a beloved turns about,

For a gazelle with a roaming-place among the tents,

And a full moon with a setting-place in secluded chambers!

How often the watcher was far away, and I was aided

By the turns of time, when the watcher was far away,

With a dawn shining forth from his beauty,

And a night melting from his tresses.

Take your time, O tormented heart,

And restrain yourself, O freely flowing tears.

Generosity has withdrawn so far it no longer draws near,

And good cheer has vanished and does not return.

A skilled master of poetry has been held back,

And a suspect plagiarist has been put ahead.

As with some game, a poor shot gets a share,

While the marksman who hits is denied its bounty.

I shall offer extraordinary praise of Ibn Fahd,

For he is extraordinary among humankind.

He shone while calamities had their darkness,

Then beamed while darkness wore a frown.

While the eyes' corners had grown sore mourning generosity,

And collars had been torn in mourning for poetry.

An ornament among the ornaments of letters, enriching

The man of letters with his adornment and character.

When his lightning flashes are sighted, rain begins

To pour from a sky of his gifts.

Abu al-Fawaris was raised to lofty honors

By qualities in which he has no peer.

A resolve to which the nights submit,

And judgment to which the unseen yields.

He added distinction to al-Azd, so now

They have a share in every noble honor.

You bestowed on your loyal friend the favors that

Shielded him from every calamity that befalls.

And your breast's breadth was revealed by qualities

Whose vastness even a spacious breast cannot contain.

But when the nights' watching eye was charmed

By the youth of companionship, gray hair swiftly overtook it.

When will he turn the reins of cheer toward him,

So that calamities turn their faces away from him?

For from him your praises have been spread

By an orator whom no other orator can match.

Thus he sent forth from it a brocade that never wears out,

And from it raised a sun that never sets.

And your right hand has already planted him as a sapling;

So protect it lest withering touch it.

Does one of distant kinship draw close to you,

While one of close kinship stays far away?

And praise that lofty virtues nocked for you

Came like a new, fine cloak.

When one day it shakes hands with the ears,

Inner selves and hearts smile.

So its beauty comes from the beauty of benefactions,

And its fragrance from the fragrance of praiseworthy deeds.

And the garden's blossoms shed no fragrance until

A north wind or a south wind opens them.