أكانَ لقلبِه عنكَ انقلابُ

أمالَ به إلى الغَيِّ العتابُ

Did his heart turn away from you

Or did it incline towards blame out of passion?

أشأنُ دموعِهِ إلا انسكابٌ

أذابَ ضلوعَه إلا التهابُ

Is it in the nature of his tears to flow

Except from the burning in his ribs?

يُجابُ الشَّوقُ فيك إذا دعاه

ويُمتَهَنُ العذولُ فلا يُجابُ

Yearning is answered through you when it calls you

While the one who distances himself is not answered

تنادوا للفراق فحجبوها

على أن العفاف لها حجاب

They summoned separation but veiled it

As modesty has a veil for her

ورفَّعْتَ القِبابَ ضُحىً فقُلنا

أَزُهْرٌ ما تضمَّنَتِ القِبابُ

You lifted the veils at dawn, so we said

What is concealed by the veils is blossoming

ظعائنُ أشرقَتْ بالدمعِ عيني

وقد شَرِقَتْ بها تلك الشِّعابُ

With tears our languishing eyes shone

And those valleys shone with them

محاسنُها لأعيُننا نِهابٌ

وأنفسُنا لأعيُنِها نِهابُ

Her charms are a source of fear for our eyes

While our souls are a source of fear for her eyes

نَشيمُ لها بوارِقَ جاوزَتْنا

كما يجتازُ شائمَه السَّحابُ

We sniffed her lightning that went past us

As clouds go past one who reproaches them

أَآنسةَ الدُّمى لولا التثِّني

ونافرةَ المَهى لولا السِّخابُ

The companion of the abandoned places were it not for the doubling

And the companion of delusions were it not for the grey hair

صفا لك وُدُّنا من كلِّ شَوبٍ

وأحلى الودِّ ودٌّ لا يُشابُ

Sincere is our love for you from any defect

And the sweetest love is that without blemish

ومن عَجبٍ ثَناي على رُضابٍ

تَضِنُّ به ثناياكِ العِذابُ

Is it any wonder that my folds complain

About folds that trouble them with agony?

أجَدَّ وقوفُنا بالدارِ شوقاً

إليكِ وجِدَّةُ الشَّوقِ اكتئابُ

Standing still intensified our yearning for you

And the intensity of yearning is melancholy

وحنَّت في رُباكِ العِيسُ حتى

كأنَّ طُلولَهُنَّ لَها سِقابُ

The saplings leaned over in your courtyard until

It was as if their slender bodies had gutters

سأُبرزُها سَوافرَ لا يُواري

محاسِنَها إذا برزَتْ نِقابُ

I shall expose her braids that do not conceal

Her beauty when her veil is lifted

مُكرَّرَةً على راووقِ فِكرٍ

مُروَّقَةً كما راقَ الشَّرابُ

Repeated in the meadow of thoughts

Refined like refined wine

محبَّبةً لها في كلِّ قلبٍ

وإن بُعدَتْ مناسبُها اقترابُ

Beloved to her in every heart

Even if her compatibility is rare

هي الكَلِمُ اللُّبابُ صَفاً وحُسْنَاً

وسيفُ الدَّولةِ الملكُ اللُّبابُ

She is the gentle, eloquent word

And the sword of the state, the gentle king

َلأُدني من غرائِبها إليه

وكان لهنّ في الأرضِ اغتِرابُ

I will come closer to its wonders for him

Though they are estranged on earth

فها هي لا تَزَحْزَحُ عن ذَراه

ولا ترجو سواه ولا تَهابُ

There it is, not moving from its atoms

Not hoping for other than it or fearing

هو الليثُ الذي إن يَحْمِ أرضاً

فكلُّ فِجاجِ تلك الأَرضِ غابُ

It is the lion that if it defends a land

Then all the valleys of that land disappear

مُهنَّدُه إذا ما زارَ ظِفرٌ

وعاملُه إذا ما صاب نابُ

When victory visits it, its blade hisses

And when calamity strikes its foe yelps

وأينَ الليثُ من طَلْقِ المُحيَّا

يجُدُّ ثوابُه ويَني العقابُ

Where is the lion compared to the howling jackal

Whose reward is effort and whose punishment is loss?

وسَهْلٍ حينَ يسألُ غيرِ صَعْبٍ

وقد ذلَّتْ له العُربُ الصِّعابُ

And easy when it asks for the difficult

And the difficult Arabs submitted to it

له في كلِّ أُنمُلَةٍ سَحابٌ

يَسُحُّ وكلِّ جارحةٍ شِهابُ

And how many stubborn hearts submitted

When its punishment whipped with violence

وحظُّ عُداتِه ومُؤَمِّليه

حَرائبُه النفائسُ والحِرابُ

And Egypt shook when the Afri conquered

With the swords' edges and the spears' drizzle

وقد خضعتْ له كَعْبٌ وخافَت

سَطاه حينَ خوَّفَها كِلابُ

And all the horizons of the countries

Bend to its determination or harden to its seekers

وكم خضعت بخرشنة قلوب

وقد خفقت بعقوبته العقاب

A situation that protects the noble ones

With generosity, compliance or punishment

وريعَتْ مصرُ إذ وثب العِفَرْنى

بحَدِّ السَّيفِ وانسابَ الحُباب

If kings summon it one day

Then the kings' submission to it is the answer

وآفاقُ البلادِ له جميعاً

تراخَى العزمُ أو جدَّ الطِّلابُ

Your status where glories converge

And your mention where dust disappears

خلالٌ يحرُسُ العلياءَ منها

سَماحٌ أو طِعانٌ أو ضِرابُ

Your ransom, O son of Abdullah, is a people

Whose right hand is proof while they are a mirage

إذا دعَتِ الملوكُ إليه يوماً

فإذعانُ الملوكِ له جَوابُ

If your mountains are counted against an enemy

Then the hilltops would bow to you and the plateaus

مقامُكَ حيثُ تتَّصلُ المعالي

وذِكرُكَ حيثُ ينقطعُ التُّرابُ

Kings whose necks were humbled

As their necks were honored by their honor

فداؤُكَ يا ابنَ عبدِ اللهِ قَومٌ

يمينُكَ لُجَّةٌ وهم سَرابُ

The torment of words if they spoke they hit their mark

The downpour of generosity if they gave they brought comfort

إذا عُدَّتْ جبالُكَ من عديٍّ

تطأطأَتِ الرُّبا لك والهِضابُ

If they camped, they are moons in the night

And if they rode out, they are angry lions

ملوكٌ ذُلَّلَت بهمُ رقابٌ

كما عزَّت بعزِّهِمُ رقابُ

It is the pedigree which there is no doubt about

And is there any doubt in the clear dawn?

عِذابُ القَولِ إن قالوا أصابوا

غِزارُ الجودِ إن جادوا أطابوا

If the convoy traveled in praise's concern

Then convoys traveled in your generosity

إذا نَزَلوا فأقمارٌ بليلٍ

وإن ركبوا فآسادٌ غِضابُ

I have in your courtyard a lake of my bliss

Pure, far-reaching, from which foam is removed

هو الحسبُ الذي لا رَيبَ فيه

وهل في الصُّبحِ ما وضحَ ارتيابُ

And shade which no cacophony disturbs

And a sun no clouds can sully

لئن سارَ الرِّكابُ بحُرِّ مَدحي

فقد سارت بجَدواك الرِّكابُ

And days so beautiful for me until

Grey hair and youth are equal in them

ولي في ساحَتْيكَ غديرُ نُعمى

صفا مَتناه واطَّرَدَ الحُبابُ

So if you match your reward with clothes for me

The easiest thing you reward with is clothes

وظِلٌّ لا يُمازِجُه هَجيرٌ

وشَمسٌ لا يُكدِّرُها ضَبابُ

When the guest of honor arrives, you are the wedding

And when the iron becomes hot, you are the file

وأيامٌ حَسُنَّ لديَّ حتى

تساوى الشِّيبُ فيها والشَّبابُ

And if the truth is hidden from kings

Then all the truth leads back to you

فإن تُلحِقْ ثوابَك بي ثياباً

فأيسرُ ما تجودُ به الثِّيابُ

إذا احتفلَ النَّدِيُّ فأنتَ أَرْيٌ

وإن حَمِيَ الحديدُ فأنتَ صابُ

وإن خفي الصوابُ على ملوكٍ

فإنَّ جميعَ ما تأتي الصَّوابُ