شِعْرِي وجودُكَ يا أَبا العبَّاسِ

مَثَلانِ قد سارا بنا في النَّاسِ

My poetry, your existence, O Abu al-Abbas

Are two examples that have circulated among the people

أدنى سماحُك كلَّ شأوٍ نازحٍ

وأَلانَ شعري كلَّ قلبٍ قاس

The least of your generosity defeats all hostility

And the softness of my poetry melts every hardened heart

فإذا التقينا مَتَّ طُلاَّبُ العُلاَ

بأواصرٍ وَبَنَوْا على آساس

So if we meet, ambitious students

Will unite with stronger bonds and build on firm foundations

وإذا افترقنا لم يزلْ ما بيننا

أَرِجَ المهبِّ مُعَطَّرَ الأنفاس

And if we part, what remains between us

Is the fragrant breath of affection’s ember

كم نهضةٍ لك بالمعالي أَطْلَعَتْ

نُوْرَ الرجاءِ على ظَلاَمِ الياس

How many triumphs for you have unveiled

The light of hope upon the darkness of despair

وإشارةٍ لك في المكارم زاحمتْ

ضَيْقَ الهمومِ بِفُرْجَةِ الإيناس

And gestures from you in generosity have squeezed

The narrowness of worries with the relief of intimacy

أنت الصباحُ فما يضرُّ مؤَمّلٌ

أَلا يقيسَ سناكَ بالنبراس

You are the morning, so what does a hopeful care

If your brilliance is not weighed against the saw

ونوالُكض الفرجُ القريبُ وإن رَنَتْ

بعضُ العيونِ إلى الحيا البجَّاس

And your victory is the near deliverance, even if

Some eyes still shout for the live coal

أذللتَ صَرْفَ الدهرِ بَعْدَ تَخَمُّطٍ

وَأَلَنْتَهُ من بعدِ طولِ شِماس

You have subjugated the turns of fate after writhing

And softened them after the long persistence

وحذوتَ حَذْوَ أبيكَ تَرْمِي بالندى

صَرْفَ الزمان وَتَتَّقي بالباس

And you followed in your father’s footsteps, pelting generosity

And dodging time’s twists by being steadfast

شِيَمٌ بَهْرتَ بها الغمامَ مواطراً

والشهبَ زهراً والجبالَ رواسي

Traits you have watered the clouds with as a downpour

And embers as flowers and mountains as firm roots

حَزْمِيّةٌ ما ضرَّها إن لم تَكُنْ

قطَعَ الرياضِ برملةِ الميعاس

A resoluteness that does not harm it if it does not

Cut through meadows with the blade of a drawn sword

مشهورةٌ بين المكارمِ والعُلاَ

تأْسُو بها أَدْواءَهَا وتواسي

Well known among all noble deeds and glories

Curing their ailments and consoling them

سبقتْ إليَّ الحادثاتِ فأمسكتْ

عني بأيدي الذلِّ والأبلاس

They have spared me from the occurrences so they held

Me back with hands of disgrace and trials

فاليوم أُعْرِيها فهبني لم أكنْ

لظهورها حلساص من الأحلاس

Today I strip it bare, so grant me, I have not been

For its exposure, a deficient fabricator of trials

أَعْلَى أبو مروان منها رُتْبَتِي

وَحَمَى بها سِرْبي أبو العباس

Abu Marwan has raised my status above it

And protected my flock, O Abu al-Abbas

إنسانُ عين المجدِ سَمَّوْهُ به

لا أنَّه ناسٍ ولا متناس

A human exemplar of glory, they have named him as such

Not because he is people or forgetful of people

عاجَتْ عُلاهُ على القوافي عَوْجَةً

نَفَضَتْ رِمامَ رسُوْمِها الأدْرَاس

His glories have bent rhymes’ running course

Shaking off the bridles of its conventions

في حيثُ أوْحَشَها الزمانُ وأهْلُهُ

فاستعجمتْ مِنْ غربةٍ وتناسي

Where time and its people have frightened it

So it recoiled from strangeness and neglect

ومحا بَشَاشَتها الخمولُ فَأْطَرقَتْ

وكأنها آناءُ ليلٍ غاسِ

And its cheer was erased by inactivity, so it fell silent

As if it were vessels of a dark night

مَوْتَى أجَنَّتْهَا الصدورُ وربما

رَجَعَ النشورُ بها على الوسواس

Deadened in breasts, and maybe

Restoration will return to it by constant doubts

إيهٍ أبا العبّاسِ دعوةَ آملٍ

عن صِدْقِ تقليدٍ وَحُسْنِ قياس

Alas O Abu al-Abbas the wish of a hopeful

Of sincere conformity and excellent proportion

يا حافظَ الأحباس إن وسائلي

قد ضِعْنَ فاحفظها مع الأْحبَاس

O keeper of prisoners, if my means are weak

Then preserve them among the prisoners

لعبتْ صروفُ الدهرِ بي وبهمتي

من بعدِ تجربتي لها ومراسي

The turns of fate have toyed with me and my concerns

After my trials with them and milestones

كالكاسِ طاف بها المديرُ فلم يكنْ

ليَ ظئرها وغداً صريعَ الكاس

Like a cup time’s turner circled round but was not

For me its periphery or tomorrow’s cup fragment

أدعوك بين صعودِها وصَبُو بِها

كالعِشْقِ بين الشَّيبِ والإفلاس

I call you between its ascent and nightfall

Like love between graying and bankruptcy

أُدْلي بمجدكَ أو أُدِلُّ فإنما

أَضَعُ الحنيَّة في يدِ القوّاس

I submit to your glory or I submit, for I only

Place affection in the hand of an archer

وأزفُّ من شعري إليكَ عقيلةً

أحظيتُها من حليةٍ ولباس

And I send to you from my poetry a bride

I gained from its adornment and dress

ذهبتْ بحسنِ الوردِ إلا أنها

قامتْ عُلاكَ لها بعمرِ الآس

She left with the beauty of roses, except she

Stood for your glories, aged as myrhh