عِشْ مدَى الدَّهْرِ يا أبا إسحاقِ

ووَقاكَ الخطوبَ ما عشتَ واقي

Live long, O Abu Ishaq

And may hardships avoid you as long as you live

فلقَد أطلقَتْ يَمينُكَ جُوداً

كان من قبلُ مُوثَقاً بوِثاقِ

For your generosity has been unleashed

After being bound by covenant

إنَّ داراً تَضُمُّ أخلاقَكَ الغُرَّ

لَدارُ الجِنانِ غيرَ اختلاقِ

Surely a home that harbors your sublime morals

Is none but the home of Heaven without pretense

مَنزِلٌ كالرَّبيعِ حَلَّتْ عليه

حالياتُ السِّحابِ عِقْدَ النِّطاقِ

A dwelling like spring, visited by

The ornaments of clouds binding waistbands

يُمْتِعُ الطَّرْفَ من طَرائِفِ حُسْنٍ

يَتَجافى بها عن الإطراقِ

Delighting the eyes with its beautiful spectacles

Turning them away from squinting

بينَ ساجٍ كأنَّه ذائبُ التَّبْ

رِ على مِثلِ ذائبِ الأوراقِ

Among cushions as if dripping with moisture

Like the dripping of leaves and boughs

وعَذارَى كأنَّهُنَّ مِنَ الحُس

نِ عَذارَى سَفَرْنَ للعُشَّاقِ

And maidens as if they are made of beauty

Maidens who have adorned themselves for lovers

تتلاقَى رؤُوسُها لِتَدانٍ

وتَناءى جُسومُها لافتراقِ

Their heads meet in affection

While their bodies keep apart

حَلِيَتْ من ثِمارِها فتَراءَتْ

حالياتِ النُّحورِ والأَعْناقِ

Graced with fruits, their throats and necks appear

Like the ornaments of wells and water channels

تَخْرُقُ المُزْنَ والتُّرابَ إلى الما

ءِ بتلكَ الفُروعِ والأعراقِ

Their branches and twigs pierce the earth and dust

Reaching the water through those branches and limbs

فَلِماءِ البُحورِ إذ رَسَخَتْ في

هِ وماءِ الغَمامِ فيه تَلاَقي

For they are rooted in the water of seas

And the water of clouds unites in them

كيفَ قابَلتَها أَرَتْكَ رِياضاً

وسَماءً مُخْضَرَّةَ الآفاقِ

When they appeared before you, did you see gardens

And a green sky with vast horizons?

يَنثُرُ الرِّيحُ حَلْيَها فتَراه

نَهْبَ أيدي العُفاةِ والطُّرَّاقِ

The wind sheds their ornaments, leaving them

Prey to the hands of vagabonds and harvesters

بِدَعٌ لو تحقَّقَتْ ببَقاءٍ

كُنَّ أَولى من الحِلَى بالحِقاقِ

Wondrous, if they lasted, more deserving of reality

Than jewels are deserving of rights

وإذا كانَتِ الجواهِرُ للزِّي

نَةِ كانَتْ جَواهِرَ الأرزاقِ

And if gems are for beauty

Then gems are the sustenance of livelihoods

فكأنَّ الطَّلْعَ النَّضيدَ جُفونٌ

يَتَصَدَّعْنَ عن سُيوفٍ رِقاقِ

Their tender sprouts appear to be eyelids

Split open by thin, sharp swords

وكأن الحمام من حمرة الأر

جل قد خضن في دم مهراق

Their doves as if dyed red in the blood

Of sandgrouse, cooing or alighting in thickets

تتغنى على العراجين أو تن

دب منها أهلة في محاق

And when the warblers fall silent there

They are a kind of everlasting warbler

فإذا أفنت المحول سواما

فهي ضرب من السوام الباقي

Among them lies a pool refreshing

The green of its orchards with water channels

بينها بركة تسل على خض

رة بستانها سيوف السواقي

And curtains as if they are the spring

With daylight gleaming from smooth shells

وستور كأنهن ربيع

شرق النور من حيا رقراق

Upon them, incompetent hands fashioned idols,

Incapable of the Creator's handiwork

صَنَعَتْ فوقَها التماثيلَ أيدٍ

عاجِزاتٌ عن صَنعَةِ الخَلاَّقِ

Of faces like full moons at dawn

And slender bodies like swaying branches

مِنْ وُجوهٍ مثلِ البدورِ صِباحٍ

وقُدودٍ مثلِ الغُصونِ رِشاقِ

Clothing them in creation's beauty when

They fell short of moral beauty

أَلبَسَتْها مَحاسِنَ الخَلْقِ لَمَّا

عَجِزَتْ عن مَحاسِنِ الأخلاقِ

So when the winds stirred them

Their horses appeared to compete in race

فإذا ما الرِّياحُ حرَّكْنَ منها

خَيَّلَتْ أنَّ خَيْلَها في استباقِ

Their lions and leopards pounced out

Baring the fangs of their clenched jaws

وتَراءَتْ أُسودُها واثِباتٍ

مُبْدِياتٍ خَناجِرَ الأشداقِ

The cheetahs preyed upon the gazelles

The greens of their eyes, the blacks of their brows

يَغْتَدي بينَها الفُهودُ على الغِز

لانِ خُزْرَ العُيونِ سُودَ المآقي

Creatures without life, so some departed

From death while others met their fate

حَيوانٌ بلا حَياةٍ فمنه

حائِدٌ عن مَنِيَّةٍ ومُلاقي

And spies who denied our hearing delight

Depriving it by covering their ears

وقِيانٌ مَنَعْنَ أسماعَنا الحظْ

ظَ وَوَفَّرْنَه على الأَحْداقِ

And gardens whose flowers were not nursed by soil

Nor watered by a water bearer

ورِياضٌ لم يُنْشِ زَهرَتَها التُّر

بُ ولم يَسْقِها منَ الغَيْثِ سِاقِي

You enjoyed utter bliss living among them

In the mornings of pleasure and intimate embrace

فتَمَلَّ السُّرورَ ما عِشْتَ فيه

باصطباحٍ من لَذَّةٍ واغتباقِ

And praises were lavished upon you by maidens

Unafraid of rejection or divorce

وثَناءً زُفَّتْ إليكَ عَذارا

هُ فليسَت مَرُوعةً بِطَلاقِ