هوىً قاتلٌ ينتابُهُ الهجرُ والنَّوى

فقلْ أيَّ شيء قبلُ منها أُحاوِلُهْ

A lethal passion afflicts him when we part

What can I attempt with her beforehand?

ومُغرىً بقتلي لحظُهُ مَشرَفيَّةٌ

يقيه الردَّى مُشْتَاقُهُ وهو قاتله

Alluring is the glance that kills me

His longing shields him while it slays him

غزالٌ سقاهُ خَمْرَهُ الحسنُ فانْتشى

ومالَ دلالاً وازْدَهَتْهُ دلائله

A gazelle who drank the wine of beauty intoxicated

Reeling tipsily, the signs overwhelmed him

أحَلّتْ دمي أحْكَامُهُ فأَسالَهُ

بلحظٍ ينالُ الشيءَ قَبْلَ يُحَاوِلُه

My blood is made lawful by his rulings

With a mere glance, he takes all ere you attempt it

رشا عطَّلَتْ ما في الجفونِ جُفُونُهُ

وألقتْ على ما في الشَّمولِ شمائله

Evil that has paralyzed what his lids envelop

And draped over what his garb embraces

حياتي ومالي لا أقولُ وميتتي

شفاءُ غليلي ما حَوَتْهُ غلائله

My life, my wealth - I won’t say, nor my demise

Is solace for my agony, whatever it embraces

ومن لي بغَرْثانِ الوشاحِ مُهَفْهَفٍ

يُجَاذِبُ عِطْفَيْهِ الصّبا ويُغازِله

Where can I find a loose-flowing scarf

Fluttering coquettishly with the morning breeze?

فَسَلْني به أوْ سلهُ بي أيّ شادنٍ

لهُ سِمةٌ من دهرهِ لا تُزَايله

Ask me by it or ask it about me, which companion

Bears a mark of fate that time cannot erase?

وحسبي به مهما تجافى وإن جَفَا

وزيرٌ أدَلَّتْني عليه فضائله

I'm content with it whatever the estrangement, even if aloof

A minister the merits acquainted me thereof

مِحَشُّ حروبٍ حِلْف كلِّ تَنُوفةٍ

قَنَاهُ بها مَنْصُوبةٌ وَقَنابِلُهْ

Foe of fierce wars - ally of each august summit

Its bridges and missiles defend it

بني بَيْتَهُ في الحربِ مُشْتَجِرُ القَنَا

وبيضُ الظُّبا ما بينهنَّ جداوله

He built his abode in war, vying in glory

The antelopes walk between its streams

ينيرُ هلالاً في دُجى هَبواتِنَا

فتطلعُ شُهباً في سَمَاها ذَوَابِلُهُ

Illuminating a crescent in the dark of our nights

Its meteors shine in their sky

يسلُّ من العزمِ المُؤَيَّدِ صارماً

يودُّ القَضا أنْ لو غدا وهو حامله

Unsheathing from resolved intent a sharpened sword

Fate would prefer that on the morrow he bears it

ملاذاُ لملهوفٍ وأمناً لخائفٍ

وعصمةَ جانٍ أوْبَقَتْهُ أباطله

Refuge for the anxious, safety for the fearful

Sanctuary for a beautiful voyager, ruined by his knaveries

بنى مَجْدَهُ حَرْساً وبأسْاً ونائلاً

ولم يُلْهِهِ ما شَيَّدَتْهُ أوَائِله

He built his glory as a guard, by might

Not distracted by what its onset established

كذا فليكنْ بانيه لا كَمَنِ اغْتَدَى

يخادِعُهُ عنْ مِثْلِهِ ويخاتله

So let its builder be, not one who transgressed

Deceived about the like of it, warring against it

إليهِ حَدَتْ بي أو سمتْ بيَ هِمَّةٌ

على رغم دهرٍ أُغْرِيَتْ بي غوائله

Toward him my resolve guided me, though

Fate incited me, with all its intrigues

زمانيْ غشومٌ لا يُغِبُّ ولا يَنِي

ذُنُوبي إليه أنّني لا أُشَاكِله

My time is unforgiving, it neither wanes nor flags

My sins to it - that I do not defy it

أُعلّمُ نفسي العلمَ عنه وربما

تجاهلتُ حتى ظَنَّ أنِّيَ جَاهِلُه

I teach myself about it, though perhaps

I’ve ignored it, so it thinks me ignorant of it

فواهاً لهُ ماذا الذي هُوَ صانعٌ

ويا ليتَ شِعْرِي ما الذي هُوَ فَاعِلُه

Woe to it! What is it doing?

Would that I knew what it is doing!

وقد عَلِقَتْ كفّي بأروعَ

ماجدٍ وسائِلُهُ مبثوثةٌ وَوَصائِله

My hands have clung to the most wondrous

Pillar, its means strewn, its methods plenty

حسامٌ بكفِّ العزم طابَعُهُ الرّدى

وشاحِذُهُ الأقلامُ والنصرُ صاقله

A sword - in the grip of resolve its stamp is ruin

The pens sharpen it and victory polishes it

تُبَاهي به حُمْرُ المنايا وسودُها

ويُزْهَى فَخاراً جَفْنُهُ وحمائله

The redness of death’s throes take pride in it

Its eyelid blossoms, its brow exalts

فعدِّ عن البرقِ اليمانيْ وَشِبْهِهِ

وشمْ منه برقاً لا تخونُ مخايله

Regard the Yemeni lightning and its like

Inhale from it untainted inspiration

زعيمٌ مليٌّ بالأماني وغيرِها

وإن رَغِمَتْ حُسَّادُهُ وعواذله

A stalwart leader, his reign abounds

Even if his envious foes and slanderers spurned

وحدِّثْ عن البحرِ الذي هو كَوْثَرٌ

تَغارُ عليه أو تُغيرُ سواحله

And speak of the sea that is like Kawthar

The coasts vie over it jealously

إذا ما نَوَاهُ في المهمَّاتِ آملٌ

فقدْ نَجَحَتْ أسْبابُهُ ووسائله

When one who aspires undertakes grave affairs

His means will succeed, his methods prove worthy

ومُذْ قَدِمَتْ أضيافه ووفوده

فقد سَقِمَتْ أموالُهُ ومراجله

And since his guests began frequenting his abode

His wealth fell ill, his dwellings deserted

بعيدٌ من الزَّهْوِ المتَبّرِ في الورى

وإنْ زُهِيَتْ نُزَّالُهُ ومَنَازلَهُ

Far from the conceit and luxury of the world

Even if his lodgings and encampments seem splendid

مآثرُ جَلَّتْ أن يحيطَ بِوصْفِها

مقالاً فما هذا الذي أنا ناقله

Deeds so majestic, description falls short

What capacity have I then to convey them?

لعلَّكَ تُصْغي يا ابنَ زُهْرٍ على النَّوى

فقد آنَ يَقْضي ساهمُ الوَجْهِ ناحِلُه

Perhaps you may heed, O gleaming scion, my passion

For lo, the arrows of love have pierced their prey

عليلٌ رأى الشّكْوى إليكَ شفاءَهُ

وأيقنَ أن الكَتْمَ لا شكَّ قاتله

An ailing one who saw his cure in your aid

And knew that silence would surely kill him

بقيَّةَ دهرٍ طالما عَبَثَتْ به

يدُ السقم حتى ليس يَمْثُلُ ماثله

A remnant of time that long toyed with him

The hand of sickness left him unlike his likeness

رَأى البُرْءَ في كفّيْكَ ملءَ جفونه

وقد رَجَفَتْ أشْجَانُهُ وبلابله

He saw, within your grasp, the fullness of health His essence quaked, his being tottered

Good fortune blesses you, blesses your era, a brilliant glory Whose daybreak and galloping steeds illuminated it

ويهنيك بلْ يهني زمانَكَ أوْبَةٌ

أنارتْ لها أسْحَارُهُ وأصائله

An era like the burgeoning bloom of youth

Would that the early morn thereof be praised!

زمانٌ كريعانِ الشّبابِ وَحُسْنِهِ

ألا ليتَ ذاكَ الدهرَ تُثْنَى أوائله

The horizons donned it as a mantle, East and West

Its perfume wafts - we said, “The scent of two abodes!”

تَضَوَّعَ منها الأُفْقُ شَرْقاً ومغرباً

وفاحَ فَقُلْنَا مسكُ دارينَ شامله