أَلا غنّيا بالعامرية واِطربِ

وَهاتِ لنا شرح اللوى والمحصّبِ

Sing joyfully of Al-Aamiriya and be delighted

And bring us the explanation of intimacy and celebration

وَجدّد لنا عصرَ الصبا واِرث ما مضى

وَخُذ في أغاريد النشيد وشبّبِ

And renew for us the era of youth and inherit what is past

And embark upon singing melodies and make them subtle

أغاريد من شعرِ الوليدِ وجرولٍ

وَغيلان والمجنون وابن المقرّبِ

Melodies from the poetry of Al-Waleed and Jarwal

And Ghailan and Majnun and Ibn Al-Muqarrab

فَإنّي رأيتُ اللهوَ عذباً لدى الهوى

وَمَهما يَكُن مِن ديدن الحبّ يعذبِ

For I have seen pleasure to be sweet in passion

And whatever the way of love is, it torments

وَيا عاذلاً مهلاً ورفقاً لمدنفٍ

مَتى يلحه اللّاحي يحنّ وينحبِ

And O critic, wait and be gentle to one who is blamed

When the blamer assails him, he sighs and weeps

فَما حيلَتي في سؤلِ قَلبي أَأَنثَني

أغنّى بِأَسما أَو أغنّى بزينبِ

What can I do about the question of my heart, shall I bend it

Sing about Asma or shall I sing about Zainab

أَلا إِنّما كلتاهما صارتا غداً

عذاباً لقلب المستهام المعذّبِ

Lo, both of them have become tomorrow

Torment to the swooning, tormented heart

فَهاذي لها نصفٌ ونصف لهذهِ

أَلا فاِعجبي يا نفسُ كلّ التعجّبِ

So this one has a half and that one has a half

Lo, O soul, have all the astonishment

فَنصفٌ غدا في ظعن حيٍّ مشرّق

ونصفٌ غدا في ظعن حيّ مغرّبِ

So one half has become tomorrow in the bosom of a living radiant one

And one half has become tomorrow in the bosom of a living veiled one

وَكم ظاعنٍ في الظاعنينَ مقوّض

من الربعِ في سوداءِ قلبي مطنبِ

And how many wounds in the two wounded ones are festering

In the chambers of my black heart, bloodied

وَساقية تسقي بكأسٍ وَقولها

أَلا صل الصهباءَ في الكأسِ واِشربِ

And a cupbearer who offers a cup saying

“Drink the pale drink in the cup and enjoy”

تُدير علينا قهوةً ذات نشوةٍ

مِنَ الخمرِ لَم تُمزَج بماءٍ فتقطبِ

She makes for us coffee of an intoxicating delight

Not mixed with water, so it is thickened

وَتَحسبها إِن نضّت الكأس كوكباً

مِنَ التبرِ يَسعى للنديم بكوكبِ

And if she shakes the cup you’d think it a planet

Of amber, racing to the companion as a planet

إِذا ما أَدارت كأسَها الخمر مرّةً

ثَنته بِمعسولِ المجاجةِ أشنبِ

When she turns her cup of wine once

She softens it with the sweetness of fruit syrup

وَتَسمح لي من ظلّها ورضابها

بِأبرد مِن ماء الغمام وأعذبِ

And she allows me of her shade and pleasure

The coolest of cloud water and the sweetest

وَإِن رمت تقبيلاً لِعقرب صدغها

حَسبت لها في القلبِ لسعة عقربِ

And if she throws a kiss to the scorpion of her cheek

I reckoned for her in the heart the sting of a scorpion

لَهوتُ بها أيّام لا الدهر عابسٌ

وَلا مسرحُ اللذّات فينا بمجذبِ

I sported with her days without gloom

Nor was the theater of pleasures among us plundered

وَإِذ أنا غربيب الذوايبِ إن رنت

إِلى الخرّدِ البيض نادت بمرحبِ

And when I, a stranger to loves, moaned

To the little white gazelles they called out “welcome!”

بلوتُ وفتّشتُ الأنامَ جميعهم

وَجرّبت مِنهم كلّ من لم يجرّبِ

I experienced and searched all the people

And tried from them everyone who was not tried

وَأصبحتُ أقرى في قبيلي ومعشري

منَ الغيبِ ما لم يقر قلبي ويكتبِ

And I became more well-versed in my tribe and company

Than the unseen that my heart did not read and write

ولا غروَ إِن كانت محل محلتي

وَقَد صغرت من عظمِ شأني ومذهبِ

And no wonder that my abode became my abode

When my stature had diminished from the greatness of my purpose and creed

فَإِنّ رسولَ اللّه قد حلّ بعدما

تمنّته أمصارُ البلاد بيثربِ

For the Messenger of God had settled after

The regions of the lands longed for him in Yathrib

ولمّا رَأيتُ الدهرَ يَقرع سروتي

وفرّق أَحبابي وكدّر مشربِ

And when I saw time hitting my throats

And separating my loved ones and muddying my watering place

رَحلت مَطايا العزمِ في صحصحِ الدجا

إِلى ملكٍ يَنمو إلى آل يشجبِ

I mounted the camels of determination into the darkness of night

To a growing kingdom, of the family of Yashjub

إِلى ملكٍ مِن آل نَبهان شكلهُ

مَدى الدهرِ في الأملاكِ عتقا مغرّبِ

To a kingdom from the family of Nabhan, whose likeness

Throughout the ages among kingdoms, most magnificent

إِلى كوكبِ العليا فلاح بن محسن

إِلى بدرِ قحطان إلى شمس يعربِ

To the star of the high, Faisal bin Mohsen

To the full moon of Qahtan, to the sun of Ya'rub

فَأَضحى رَجائي فيه يرعى مسارِحاً

بروق يروض للسماحةِ مخصبِ

So my hopes in him came to shepherd meadows

Lightning taming for munificence, fertile land

وَأطلقت أَبكارَ المدائحِ كلّها

وَخالعت منّي هبة المتأهّبِ

And I released the first fruits of all praise

And stripped off from me the gift of the one preparing

وَأَصبحتُ مِن بين البريّة واثقاً

بِأفصح مِن سحبانَ نطقاً وأخطبِ

And I became among the wilderness, trusting

In more eloquent than Suhban in speech and sermon

وأسمح من كعب زمانه في الندا

وأفرس من زيد الجياد وأدربِ

And more generous than Ka'b in his time in help

And finer than Zayd's steeds and most trained

وَأشرق مِن شمسِ البلاد وبدرها

وَأثقل مِن قدس ورضوى وكبكبِ

And more brilliant than the sun of the lands and their full moon

And weightier than holiness, satisfaction, and solidity

تُناط العلا منه بأروع ماجدٍ

كريمِ الأيادي حول القلب قلّبِ

High ambitions are entrusted in him in the finest conquests

Bountiful, turning hearts over and over

إِذا نحنُ آسنّا سنا برق جودهِ

وَشمناه شِمنا صادقاً غير خلّبِ

When we seek help, we seek the lightning of his munificence

And smell him, sincerely smelling, not perfidious

هِزبر ولا غابات غير عواسلٍ

مراكبهُ فيها أَسنّة قعضبِ

Swords but not forests other than lions

His ships among them fangs of carnivores

أَلا أيّها الشعر الّذي أَنا قائلٌ

وَمبتدعٌ في نظمهِ المتركّبِ

Lo, O poetry I am the one saying

And innovating in its intricate composition

هَنيئاً لك الكفؤ الّذي أنت لايق

بِه فأجزن في كلّ شرق ومغربِ

Congratulations to you for the accomplice fitting for you

So reward me in every east and west

وَطالَ بهِ في كلّ دستٍ ومحفلٍ

وجرّر ذيولَ التيهِ والعجب واِسحبِ

And continue through every land and gathering

And drag the trains of bewilderment and wonder and pull

إِليكَ أَبا سلطان كم هجرت وكم

سَرت بي أمون السير في كلّ سبسبِ

To you, Abu Sultan, how much I have abandoned and how much

The sawing of travel has moved me in every Sabsab

وَهاكَ منَ الشعرِ الغريبِ غريبه

أتَت من غريبٍ ليس هو بيغرّبِ

And here is from poetry its strangest strangeness

That came from a stranger who is not becoming estranged

أتاكَ وصرف الدهرِ يعرف عضوه

ويلبسه من خطبه ثوب غيهبِ

It came to you though the era knows its member

And dresses it from its situations in the garb of perplexity

وَلم ير بعد اللّه إلّاك ناقداً

لَه مِن شبا ظفر وناب ومخلبِ

And it saw none other than you as critic

For it among the youths, fingers, canines, and claws