قِف بالديارِ دِيار الحيِّ من إضم

واِعلن سَلامك في أطلالِ ذى سلمِ

Stand in the abode of the living from Etam

And declare your peace in the ruins of one with firmness

واِقضِ الفرائضَ واِسفح كلّ منسجم

في كلِّ رسمٍ قديم العهد منطسمِ

And fulfill your religious duties and be gentle with all that is harmonious

In every ancient tradition that is accustomed

وصافحِ الريحَ إِن جاءت مصافحةً

شقائقَ الروض بين الضال والسلمِ

And shake hands with the wind if it comes with a handshake

The flowers of the garden between the lost and the firm

ريحٌ إِذا ما جرَت ظلّت غبارتها

تُنبي بأعلام أهلِ السفح والعلمِ

A wind which if it blows its dust remains

It indicates with flags the people of the plain and the elevated

ليتَ الأحبّة ما زمّوا ركائبهم

عنّا ولا زيّلوا ساحات ربعهمِ

If only the loved ones did not tighten their mounts

And turn away from us and did not fold their quarters

ساروا شعاعاً فسارَت خلفَ ظعنهم

نَفسي شعاعاً على آثارِ ركبهمِ

They travelled like a ray so their tracks travelled

Like a ray behind their riding company my soul

فَقلتُ يا صاحبي والسرب يَرشُقني

بِأسهمِ اللحظِ سربي نحو سربهمِ

So I said oh my companion and the flock strikes me

With the arrows of glances, my flock towards their flock

فالأرى والصاب ما حاسيت طعمَهُما

إلّا بقربهم منّي وبعدهمِ

So I do not see and the morning whose taste

I do not feel except by their nearness and their distance

للّه منّي هوى شبّت ضرامته

بجاحمٍ في شغافِ القلب مضطرمِ

For God, from me a passion which grew

In the most fervent folds of my heart kindled

ما أكله غير لَحمي إِن شكا جوعا

وَإِن شكا ظمأً ما الشرب غير دمي

It eats nothing but my flesh if it complains of hunger

And if it complains of thirst nothing quenches but my blood

يا لائِمي لو تقاسي ما تؤنّبني

شبّبت في مذهبي عذري ولم تلمِ

Oh you who blame me, if you suffer what reproaches me

You would excuse my doctrine and not blame

هَل يردع اللوم مَن في الحبّ مهجتهُ

تصلى منَ الوجدِ جمراً مسعر الضرمِ

Can blame restrain one whose innermost being

Prays from the passion burning embers stoked?

بهِ إلى شربِ كاساتِ الهوى ظمأ

فكلّما روى من شربهنَّ ظمي

With it towards drinking the cups of passion thirst

And the more it is quenched from drinking them the thirstier

لي مسمعٌ لدعاءِ الحبّ منفتقٌ

واعٍ وعن دعوة العذّال في صممِ

I have an ear open to love’s prayer and responsive

Aware and from the prayer of reproach deafened

لا غرو أَن صرتُ في هذا الزمان خلفا

لِمَن مَضى سلفاً في الأعصر القدمِ

No wonder I became in this time late

To those who passed, predecessors in the ancient times

وَليسَ إِن بعتُ روحي قطّ من غبنٍ

بقُبلةٍ من لمى سعدى ولا ندمِ

And it is no loss if I gave my soul never

For a kiss from my Sa’diyah’s union and no regret

فَلثمُ مَبسمها بالنفسِ لي عوض

وقيمة تُقتنى من أبلغ القيمِ

So kissing her smile with the soul is compensation for me

And a price to be gained from the most eloquent prices

إِذا كتمتُ هواها قال مشهدهُ

هل أنتَ تكتمُ شيئاً غير منكتمِ

If I concealed her love her apparition said

Do you conceal anything other than what is concealed?

وَلا شاهداً أدّى شهادته

هل أنت تكتمُ شيئاُ غير منكتمِ

And no witness carried out his testimony

“Do you conceal anything other than what is concealed?”

كأنّ ريقتها مشمولة مُزِجت

بنطفةٍ مِن غديرٍ باردٍ شبمِ

As if her saliva was mixed with a drop

From a cold pure pool

يا حبّها حينَ قامَت لي مودّعةً

يومَ الرحيلِ ولم ينفكّ عن أممِ

Oh her love when she stood to bid me farewell

The day of departure and did not detach from the tent pole

قامَت وَأدمُعها في صحنِ وجنتها

كالطلِّ في الوردِ أضحى غير منسجمِ

She stood and her tears in the platter of her cheek

Like the dew in the rose had become inharmonious

وَحدّرت لؤلؤ الأجفانِ منتثراً

يَجري عَلى لؤلؤٍ في الثغرِ منتظمِ

And the pearls of her eyelids spilled

Flowing onto organized pearls in the mouth

يا هَذه إنّني طاردت محتسباً

خيلَ الملاهي بخيلِ العزمِ والهممِ

Oh you I pursued recklessly

The horses of pleasures with the horses of resolve and ambition

لا تَحسبي من قلى هذا الرحيلِ وأو

لى رغبة في اِقتحامِ البيدِ والأكمِ

Do not reckon from the burning of this departure and that

I have an inclination to penetrate the expanse and the sand dunes

لكنّني راغبٌ فيما أحاول في

غنىً لراجٍ وفي عزٍّ لِمُهتضمِ

But I am desirous of what I attempt in

Wealth for the aspiring and in glory for the suppressed

عدِّي السنينَ لغيباتي وأشهرها

وَاِستَشعري واِستعدّى الصبرَ واِعتصمي

Count for me the years of my absence and number them

And feel it and prepare for patience and stick to it

بسحرِ عينيكِ هل من بعد ذا قسم

منّي عَلى كلِّ حالٍ أيّما قسمِ

By the enchantment of your eyes, is there after this allotment

For me in any state, whatever allotment?

لأرتمي في فجاجِ البيدِ مطّرحاً

إِن قدّر اللّه لي بالأينق الرسمِ

I will fling myself into the crevices of the expanse prone

If God destines for me good direction

وَأَركبنَّ خطوبَ الدهرِ مُقتحماً

مِنها مهالكَ يبلى كلّ مقتحمِ

And I will mount the calamities of fate audaciously

From them disasters wear out every audacious one

فخر الفَتى باِرتكابِ المُشكلات وفي

اِستطرافه المجدَ لا بالأعظم الرممِ

The pride of a young man is in embarking on problems and in

Achieving through it glory, not in the greatest buildings

وَالمرءُ مَن يركب الأهوالَ مُصطحباً

أشادها الغلب في الغابات والأجمِ

And a man is one who rides terrors accompanied

The conflicts made him strong in the jungles and the crowds

للدهرِ حكمٌ قضت فيه الحوادث إن

تصطاد في أهلها العقبان فالرخمِ

Fate has a judgment in which events hunt

For its family the eagles then the vultures

وَإن تروحُ وإن تغدو قساورهُ

فيه فرائس بينَ الضأنِ والغنمِ

Whether it roams or it comes fate’s shackles

In it prey between the sheep and the cattle

ما الدهرُ فيّ بما يقضيه مبتدعٌ

فَكم أديبٍ بسهمِ الحادثات رُمِ

Fate is not with me in what it decides an innovator

So how many gentle by the arrows of events are shot

فَكَم من قويٍّ عزيزٍ لم يجد وزرا

مِن عثرة الدهرِ أَو مِن زلّة القدمِ

So how many strong and mighty did not find armor

From fate’s stumbling or from a foot’s slip

تَمضي الحياةُ ويَمضي ماءُ رَونَقِها

وَلم يدم من على الدنيا ولم تدمِ

Life passes and the water of its elegance passes

And none who is upon the world lasted nor did it last

وَالعيشُ للمرءِ لو طالت نهاينه

للمرء إلّا كأضغاثٍ من الحلمِ

And life for a person even if its ends are long

Is nothing for a person except like scattered dreams

نَفسي إِلى سبلِ الآداب قد خُلقت

أَهدى وأَقصد سعياً من يدٍ لفمِ

My soul towards the path of manners was created

More guiding and more upright in effort than a twisting hand

أَعمى إذا الجار وافا بالعيوبِ وعن

حسنِ الجوارِ له ما عشت غير عمِ

Blind if the neighbor comes with faults and from

Good neighborliness for him as long as I lived not blind

وأمنحُ الشكرَ حسّادي لأنّهمُ

دونَ الوَرى بجمانِ الفضل والنعمِ

And I give gratitude to my enviers because they

Fell short of people with the beauty of virtue and blessings

وَإِن أَتت مِن أخٍ عوراءُ قمتُ لها

منّي بسالمةِ العينينِ من كلمِ

And if suspected slander comes from a brother I stood for it

From me with the wellness of the eyes from any blemish

لا تنكرن تهمةً ظُلماً رُميت بها

إِن أنتَ صاحبتَ قوماً من ذوي التهمِ

Do not deny an accusation of injustice you were blamed with

If you accompanied a people of suspicions

فإنَّما المرءُ بالأقرانِ مُنتسبٌ

في السعيِ وَالطبع والأخلاق والشيمِ

So a person is attributed to companions

In conduct, nature, morals, and qualities

مَن فاتهُ مجدهُ مِن جدّ صارمه

فَليطلب المجدَ والعلياء بالقلمِ

Whoever his glory escaped from serious endeavor

Then let him seek glory and supremacy with the pen

يا طالبَ الرزق لا تعدل إلى سمن

تختاله وهوَ أحداثٌ من الورمِ

Oh you who seek provision do not incline

To fat that struts while it is skin lesions

لا تطيبك رجال ليسَ تَخدمهم

مالٌ وللمالِ همُ أضحوا من الخدمِ

Do not please you men that wealth does not serve

And for wealth they became from the servants

وَلا يشوقك ما تحوي أكفُّهمُ

فإنّما يسرُ أهلِ البخل كالعدمِ

And do not tempt you what their palms contain

For it only pleases the people of stinginess like nothingness

مالٌ تقضّا أحداث الزمان وعن

جوادِ الحوادثِ في أمنٍ وفي حرمِ

Wealth the events of time vanquished and from

The generous of events in safety and inviolability

لولا المظفّر أزديّ الأرومه لم

تلمح لمزنِ الندى برقاً ولا تشمِ

If not for the victorious Izz al-Din al-Arami

You would not glimpse beauty for splendor or smell it

ملكٌ إِذا المحلُ اِستَسقى أناملهُ

أَغنت مواهبُهُ عن واكفِ الديمِ

A king whose fingers if the realm sought rain

His gifts made the buckets of blood dispensable

يلوحُ مفخرهُ بالحمدِ مطّرزاً

وَالبردُ يحسنُ بالتطريزِ والعلمِ

His pride flashes with praise embroidered

And the coolness looks good with embroidery and flags

تنبي سياستهُ عمّا لديه وفي

حسنِ السياسةِ ما ينبي عن الكرمِ

His politics indicates beyond what he has and in

The goodness of politics what indicates generosity

ليسَ الشمول بِأزكى في خلائقهِ

منهُ وليسَ بأوفى منه للذممِ

There is no one more immaculate in his nature

Than him and no one more faithful to promises than him

يا مَن أياديهِ لي في شأوها نسخت

ما قَد لقيه زهيرٌ في ندا هرمِ

Oh you whose hands to me in their affair transcribed

What Zuhair encountered in the help of Harim

دانَت أعاديك لمّا أن صدمتهمُ

لكلّ أرعن بالفرسان مزدحمِ

Your enemies bowed when you collided with them

To each stubborn knight crowded

بعثت خيلَك مِن أقصى فراسخها

يمرح الأسد في الفرسان واللجمِ

You sent your horses from the furthest reaches

The lion frolics among the horsemen and the regiments

لَم يَشعروا قطّ إلّا بالصواعقِ من

وقعِ الصوارم بالهاماتِ والقممِ

They never felt but the meteors from

The impact of the swords upon the skulls and the summits

وَاِستَسلموا وهم ما بينَ منطرحٍ

يخورُ في دمه منهم ومنهزمِ

And they surrendered while between vanquished

Drowning in his blood among them and routed

حتّى رضوا بكَ سلطاناً بأرضهم

كَما رضوا بقدومِ الشيب والهرمِ

Until they accepted you as sultan in their land

As they accepted the arrival of old age and senility