أَلْم تَر انَّ الشَوقَ لجَّ فبَرحَّها

وَراجَعَ قلْبي نشْوَة بعدما صَحا

Did you not see that longing has overwhelmed me

And made my heart regain delight after waking?

واصْبحْتُ ما يَشْفي جَوى النفس عَبرةٌ

من الدَّمع إلاَّ انْ تجُودَ فتَسَفْحا

I have become one whose burning soul is not cured

By tears unless generously poured and overflowing.

إَلا حيِّ دارَ الحي مُسْتَسقْياً لها

غَواديَ من نَوءِ السّماكين دُلَّحا

Except, my life, the abode of the Living I seek

Valleys watered from the celestial stream being poured.

ومَغنىً غنيناً فيه إذ نحن جيرةٌ

جميعاً ولم يطْرَح بنا البيُنَ مطْرحاً

And songs sung wherein we are neighbors altogether

Never separated and cast off from each other.

وكنتُ به القى الكَواعبَ كالدُّمى

ربَائبَ اتْراباً نواعمَ وَضَّحاً

With it I would meet gazelles like statues -

Maidens, gentle, their veils being lifted.

إلَا طالَما اجرَيتُ في طَلَقِ الصَّبا

مَطايا بطالاتٍ جِذاعاً وقُرّحا

Oh how often did I race on the plains of youth

Riding she-camels, smooth flanks, trotting and ambling.

أُقَطّع يَومْي أو أَقَصِّرَ ليلْتَي

بأحسَن من شْمسِ النَّهار وامْلحَها

Cutting my days short or making my nights brief

With the finest sun of daylight and its brilliance.

واحلى بشكل الدَّل من أُم جؤذرٍ

ومن مُغْزِلٍ نُزْجي اغَنَّ مُرَشَّحَاً

And sweeter than the bending branch of Mijzur

And from a spindle flowing copiously and twisting.

وازين أَعْطافاً واشْهى مُؤشَّراً

وأَليَنَ اطرافاً وابهى مُوَشَّحاً

Adorning thighs, arousing desire, softening sides

Embroidering the fairest, decorating and embellishing.

ولكنّه ولّى الشَّيابُ واصبحت

ديارُ الهوى مّمن الفناهُ نُزّحا

But the hair turned white and the abode of passion became

A land of perdition, inhabited and settled.

وكيف بلوغي للهوى بعد ما غَدَت

ركابُ الصِّبا منّي لواغبَ طُلَّحا

How can I attain passion after the mounts of youth

From me have become wild mares, yearning and craving?

ومّما يهيج الشَّوقَ أو يصْدعُ الحشا

بكاءُ الحَمام الوُرْقِ تَهتف بالضُّحَى

What stirs longing or splits open sorrow

Is the crying of doves on the branches, hailing the dawn.

إذا غرَّدَت وسطَ الأَشاءِ حسبتهَا

وإن لم تُفض دمعاً مثا كيلَ نُوحَّا

If cooing amidst the thorn-trees, I think it

As if tears pour copiously without cease.

وما عادةُ التّذكار من نازحِ الهوى

على القَلْب إلاّ ان يُلِمَّ فَيَجْرحَا

The wont of remembering departed love

Is but to touch the heart that it may bleed and wound.

اتَعْجَب من تَجْديد عَهدي على النّوى

وردّيَ للْواشي وعصيانِ من لَحَا

You wonder at my renewing a pact with ardor

And my returning to the lover and disobeying the advisor.

ارَاضٍ انا من زَيْنَبٍ زَيَنباً بِها

ومُسْتبدلٌ من ابطَحِ السّهل ابطَحَا

Pleased am I with Zainab instead of Zainab

And exchanging plain for plain, terrace for terrace.

إلاَرُبَّ ان يستْطرفَ القلبُ معشقاً

جديداً إذا ما اسْتَحسَنَ الطّرْفُ ملْمَحَاً

Perhaps the heart may glance upon a new beloved

If the eye judges a feature fair and sightly.

ولو انَّها نفسٌ على البُعد سُلّيَت

بيأسٍ لكانَ الياسُ للقلب ارَوْحَاً

Had it been a soul eased in distance

With despair, despair for the heart would have been rest.

فدَع ذكر تَزْدادُ وجْداً بذكرِه

وصِفْ مغتْديّ للْعيس أو متروّحا

So leave memories - they increase burning with remembrance -

And describe a transgressor of passion, one seeking diversion.

وجدتُ بأن لا يكشف الهمَّ غيران

تَجوب بهِ مَرْتاً من الأَرْض صحْصَحاً

I found that grief is unveiled only by

Roaming the land, rambling and peregrinating.

ودوايةً لو انَّها دون ميّةٍ

حاولها غَيلان اهلكَ صيدَحا

An affliction, if less than the span of life

Assailed by calamities, seek it and choose it.

تَجشّمَتْها بالضُّمَّر القُودِ تنْبَري

رواسمَ تطْوي كلَّ امْسَ افْيَحَا

Undertake it, lighting the firebrand at night in darkness

Covered and at times with poison smeared and saturated.

ياشعثَ مثل النّصل في الليل بالدُّجى

مغشَّىً وطوراً بالسَموم مَلوَّحا

Seeking relief after hardship and distress wherever

You see a trace of God, call out and make space.

يحاول بعد العسْر والضيق اينَما

رآي من بلا الله اندى وَافسحَا

Reciting excellent poetry and praise, guiding

Marvels from it wherever gaining most profit.

ويزجى بديعَ الشعر والحمد مهدياً

غرائبَ منه حيث صادَف أربحَا

None deserve it but Abu al-Qasim, upon whom

It is duty to praise and eulogize him.

وما اهلُها إلا أبو القاسم الّذي

من الفرض ان يُثني عليه ويمدحا

A youth in whom God gathered all noble traits

And so he came to be the best of creation morn and eve.

فتىً جمع اللهُ المكارم عنده

فأمسي بها خيرَ الانام وأصبحَا

Beautiful in wearing the garb of all virtues -

He adorned himself with gravity and became ennobled.

جميل بالباسِ الفضائل كلِّها

تَقَلَّد اعلاق الحَجى وتَوَشَّحا

We found Ali the best of all Qahtan

And the choicest of Adnan's sons, as admitted plainly.

وجدنا علياً خير قَحطَان كلها

وخير بني عدنان قَولا مُصرحّا

Braver than the lion in its den in courage

And more generous than Muzn in spring, munificently.

واشجعَ من لَيثِ العَرينِ بسالةً

وأَجوَدَ من مُزْن الرَّبيع واسْمَحا

Blessed are the approaches of the square abode when

Its owner of honor resides, successful and prospering.

مُباركَ أَفناءِ الرّباعِ خصيبها

إذا حَلَّ فيها صاحبُ الحاجِ أَنْجَحا

You see people in droves on their way

To the flourishing abode, hastening and hurrying.

ترى النّاس أَفواجاً لدى سيرهم إلى

ذَرى دارِه المَعْمور يسْعَون جُنَّحا

An abode that became a pasturage and resort for needs

And still a refuge and theater for hopes.

ذرىً صارَ للْحاجات مَرْعىً وَموْرداً

وما زالَ للآمالِ ماوىً وَمسْرحَا

In its environs he planted for the prosperous

Meadows that revive them when the plants flourish and thrive.

وأَنَبتَ للْعافينَ بين رباعهِ

مَراعيَ تُحييهم إذا النَّبتُ صَوحَّا

He wishes to gratify the seeker with his bounty

Or forgive the sinner's lapse with pardon and clemency.

يَوَدُّ سؤآلَ المجْتدي من نوالهِ

ليعطيَ أو ذَنبَ المُسيء ليصفَحا

Most auspicious is his grandson Mubarak in every good

Excelling his ancestor and prospering.

وأَروَعُ ميمونُ المحيَا مبارك

علا جَدّه في كل خير وافلحا

The ways of order appeared as stellar fortunes

For him, and the birds of wishes nested and roosted.

بدت مستقيماتُ الامور طوالعاً

له وغدتْ طير الاماني سُنَّحا

When the man of dignity saw him one day

Soliciting noble wishes, he lauded and extolled.

إذا ذو الحجى يوماً رآه معانيا

معانيةَ الحسنى أَهلَّ وسبَّحا

He ruled the kings of this world and did good

Between the two realms, reforming and correcting.

تملّك دنياه رسادَ ملوكَها

وأحسنَ بين العالمين وأصْلحَا

It is admitted, O Abu al-Qasim, the world

Confesses, seeing you from the unjust, praising gratefully.

ودان اعترافاً يا أبا القاسم الوَرى

بفضلك عن ذالم يروا مُتندّحا

Except the Lord who deserves proximity, He has seen

Your station from the Lofty House so He brought you nearer.

إلا ربّ من ينبغي المناواةَ قد رأى

مكانك من بيت العلى فتزحزحا

He saw you in place of the star at the peak of a lofty

Palm tree, firmly established in the highest branch, triumphing.

رآك مكان النَّجم في رأس باذخٍ

تمكّن في فرع العُلى وتَبَحْبَحا

Neither did He let His heart crave your elevation

Nor did His eye attain longing for your rank.

فلا في علاك قَلبُه جالَ مطعماً

ولا يف سناك طرفُه نالَ مطمحا

You are generous, O Ali, and fulfiller of needs tomorrow

Your overflowing pool is filled and flooding.

وأنتَ جوادٌ يا عليُّ ومُجتدّى غدا

حوضُك المورود ملآن مُطْفحا

When one seeking your bounty apprehends

The ways of kindness lead to you, elucidated.

إذا ازمعَ الرّاجي سُلوكاً لحاجةٍ

رآى سُبل المعروف نحوك وضَّحا

Rich boons come from you if they

Are stimulated by your hopes and fertilized.

وتُنْتج حاجاتِ المنى عندك الغنىَ

إذا هي كانت من رجائك لُقَّحَا

The sincerest people in love and obedience to you are seen

And the most eloquent in poetry and rhetoric.

رآى لك أَصفى الناس حُبّاً وطاعةً

وأحلى ذوي الآداب شعراً وافصَحا

They present you polished eulogy, carrying it

To you, and adorning you with panegyric, refined and polished.

أجادَلكَ المدح البديع يزفّه

إليك وحلاّكَ القريضَ المصحِّحا

Your radiant virtues in you are as if

They appeared from the bud of the blossom when it opens.

محاسنكَ الغَرَّاءُ فيك كأنّها

بدتْ من كمام الْزّهرِ لمّا تفتّحا

So may your livelihood last, and last for the people,

And lasting rule is destined for you, so be forgiving.

فدامت لك الدُّتيا ودامت لأهلها

ودام لكَ الملك الْعتيد واسَمحا

That you may rise to glorious might and ascend

And delight in pleasant life and rejoice.

لتعلوَ في العزّ المنبع وترتقي

وتنعمّ في الْعيش الرّغيد وتفْرحا