أحوالُ مجدِكَ في العُلُّوِّ سَواءُ
يومٌ أَغَرُّ وشيمَةٌ غَرَّاءُ
Every state of your glory is equally exalted.
Your day is radiant, your character resplendent.
أصبحتَ أعلى الناس قِمَّةَ سُؤدُدٍ
والناسُ بعدَكَ كلُّهم أكفَاءُ
You have become the highest of men, at the summit of lordship;
after you, all other men are merely peers.
أيمينُكَ البحرُ الخضمُّ إذا طمتْ
أمواجُهُ أم صدرُكَ الدَّهناءُ
Is your right hand the fathomless sea when
its billows surge—or is your breast al-Dahna?
أَذْكرْتَنا شِيَمَ اللَّيالي في النَّدى
والبأسِ إذ هي شِدَّةٌ ورَخاءُ
You recalled for us the virtues of nights gone by—in bounty,
and in valor, whether the times be hardship or ease.
نَسَبٌ أضاءَ عَمودُه في رِفعةٍ
كالصُّبحِ فيه ترفُّعٌ وضِياءُ
A lineage whose pillar shone aloft,
like dawn, combining loftiness and radiance.
وشمائلٌ شَهِدَ العدوُّ بفَضْلِها
والفضلُ ما شَهِدَتْ به الأعداءُ
And qualities whose excellence the enemy attested—
excellence is what one’s enemies attest.
وإذا عَبسْتَ فصارِمٌ ومَنِيَّةٌ
وإذا ابتسمْتَ فمَوعِدٌ وعَطاءُ
When you frown, there are sword and death;
when you smile, promise and gift.
وبنو قُبَيْصَةَ معشرٌ أخلاقُهُم
سيلٌ فمنه حَياً ومنه دِماءُ
The sons of Qubayṣa are a people whose nature is
a torrent: in part life-giving rain, in part blood.
وإذا تتابَعتِ النَّوائبُ أحسَنوا
وإذا تشاجَرتِ الرِّماحُ أساؤوا
When calamities follow one another, they act nobly;
when spears interlock, they wreak havoc.
فَضَلَتْ ليالي القَصْفِ ليلتُكَ التي
هي في المحاسنِ غادَةٌ حَسناءُ
Your night surpassed all nights of revelry—that night which,
among beauties, is a graceful, lovely maiden.
رَقَّتْ غياهبُها فهنَّ غَلائلٌ
وسَخَتْ جنائِبُها فهنَّ رَخاءُ
Its depths of darkness grew delicate, becoming gauzy robes;
its expanses opened wide, becoming spacious.
وُصِفَتْ لكَ اللذّاتُ بينَ غَرائبٍ
للعيشِ في أفيائِهنَّ صَفاءُ
Pleasures came clear to you amid marvels,
and life within their courtyards was serenity.
بِرَكٌ تحلَّتْ بالكواكبِ أرضُها
فَأَرَتْكَ وجهَ الأرضِ وهو سَماءُ
Pools whose earth was adorned with stars
showed you the face of earth transformed into sky.
رُفِعَتْ إلى الجوزاء فوَّاراتُها
عُمُداً تُصابُ بصَوْبِها الجَوزاءُ
Their fountains were raised as high as Gemini,
columns whose falling streams struck Gemini itself.
كادَتْ ترُدُّ على الحَيا أَعْطَافَهُ
لو لم يُمِلْ أعْطَافَهُنَّ حَياءُ
They nearly turned their graceful flanks back upon the rain,
had modesty not bent those flanks.
مثلَ القَنا الخَطِّيِّ قُوِّمَ مَيلُهُ
وجَرَتْ عليه الفِضَّةُ البَيضاءُ
Their curves were straightened to resemble Khatti lances,
and white silver flowed over them.
حتى إذا انتشرتْ جلابيبُ الدُّجى
وتكاثَفَتْ من دونِها الظَّلماءُ
Until, when night’s trailing robes spread
and darkness thickened before them,
فرَّجْتَها بصائحٍ إن تَعتَلِلْ
فلهنَّ من ضَرْبِ الرِّقابِ شِفاءُ
you cleft it with broad blades which, should they fall ill,
find healing in the striking of necks.
شَمعاً حملتَ على الرِّماحِ رماحَه
فقدودُهُنَّ وما حملْنَ سَواءُ
Candles—you mounted their lances upon lances,
their slender forms and what they carried equal in stature.
لقيَ النجومَ وقد طَلعْنَ بمثلِها
وأعادَ جِنحَ اللَّيلِ وهو ضَحاءُ
They met the stars as those stars rose with their like,
and turned the wing of night into broad daylight.
يا سيِّدَ الوزراءِ نِلْتَ من العُلى
والمجدِ ما يَعيا به الوزراءُ
O master of the viziers, you attained such heights
of exaltation and glory as leave viziers powerless.
هي ليلةٌ لا زِلْتَ تَلبَسُ مثلَها
في نِعمَةٍ وُصِلَتْ بها السَّرَّاءُ
It is a night whose like may you never cease to wear,
amid blessing, with prosperity joined to it.
أغنيتَ قوماً حينَ هَزَّ غناؤُها
عِطْفَيْكَ رُبَّ غِنىً حَداه غِناءُ
You enriched a people when singing stirred
your two sides—many a wealth has song urged onward.
وقطعتَها والليلُ يصدعُ قلبَه
ضدانِ نارٌ تستنيرُ وماءُ
You traversed it while night had its heart split
by two opposites: fire that gives light, and water.
نَعَمَ البريَّةُ في بَقائِكَ فلتَدُمْ
لهُمُ بطولِ بقائِك النَّعماءُ
Creation lives in bliss through your survival; so may there endure
for them, through your long survival, every blessing.
