سَرت مِن برزخٍ ناءٍ بعيد

وَوجه الصبح متّصح العمودِ

She emerged from a distant, dewy wilderness

And the face of dawn gleamed, erecting its pillars.

وَأَهدت من تحيّتها سلاماً

أَعاد الروحَ في جسم العميدِ

She sent me a greeting that restored

The spirit to the body of this weary soul.

أَلا ليتَ شعري هل لِما قد

عَهدت من البشاشةِ من معيدِ

Oh, would that I knew if what I had

Grown used to of cheerfulness would return anew!

ويا تلكَ اللئيلات المَواضي

أَلا عودي لنا بالوصلِ عودي

And oh you, lovely nights, places of leisure,

Return to us with reunions, return!

وَكم وطر قضيت بها وكم قد

لهوت بخرّد لدن القدودِ

How often I sported and how often

I reveled in your moonglow beside the cooking pots.

لئيلاتٍ بها كم من غزالٍ

يَصيدُ الأسدَ أَضحى من مصيدِ

Lovely nights wherein were many gazelles

That made the lions their prey—now themselves prey.

وحاملة قضيباً مِن كثيبٍ

تهزّع في الغلائل والبرودِ

And bearing a staff of intertwined bamboo

Swaying through the darkness and cold.

تَراءَت بين سجسجها فلاحَت

لنا كالشمسِ في درج السعودِ

You appeared between your curtains, shining

Like the sun rising in the east.

فَتلكم نصب عيني في اِنتباهي

وَنومي أَو قِيامي أو قعودي

Thus you are before my wakeful, watching eyes

Whether I sleep or rise or sit.

إِذا ما رمتُ أَسلوها تتالت

بي الزفرات مسعرة الوقودِ

When I hurl their mentions they come in succession,

Firing within me burning embers.

وَمن شَهدت مدامعهُ عليهِ

فَقد عدمتهُ حجّاب الجحودِ

And he whose tears bore witness for him

I have lost behind the veil of estrangement.

تصدّ تذلّلاً طوراً وطوراً

تَجود بِوصلها بعد الصدودِ

You softened, relenting time and again,

Bestowing your union after rejections.

وربّة وقفةٍ منّي ومنها

قَضَيناها على عهدٍ جديدِ

And, mistress, a stance you and I shared

We spent in a new covenant.

وَقَفنا مَوقفاً ما قطّ فيه

نُحاذرُ مِن رقيبٍ أَو حسودِ

We took a stand in which never before

Had we feared a watcher or envier.

فَقلتُ لها اِرحمي فتبسّمت لي

بِكشرٍ لاح كالسمطِ الفريدِ

So I said “have mercy!” and you smiled at me

With a grin that shone like a singular crescent.

وَلاح لناظري وردٌ طريٌّ

عَلى الوجنات منها والخدودِ

And there bloomed for my eyes a fresh, rosy cheek

Against which the pommels of swords were powerless.

وَقابلني لها نحرٌ صقيلٌ

يُدافِعُني برمّان النهودِ

Question me, and truthful words will dispel

Suspicions of certainty—ask me and I will inform you!

أَسائلتي وصدقُ القولِ ينفي الش

شكوك منَ اليقينِ سلي وزيدي

Ask me and you will find me a brother of meaning

Who benefits you in questioning, so you benefit.

سَلي تَجدي المسولَ أخا بيانٍ

يُفيدك في السؤالِ فتستفيدي

And here is a saying from me whose proofs

Were made straight by its steadfast position.

وَهاكِ مقالةً منّي اِستقامت

شَواهدها بموقفها الشهيدِ

Enduring glory and loftiness we see

Established in the eternity of the Eternal.

خلود المجدِ والعليا نراهُ

مُقيماً في خلود أَبي الخلودِ

A sword of God’s swords—verily

It has no pillar but praise.

حسامٌ من سيوفِ اللّه ما إِن

لَه غير المحامدِ من عمودِ

The clouds of his generosity to the delegation are not

Like rain-clouds or thunderclouds.

مخايلُ جودهِ للوفدِ ليست

بِمخلية البروقِ ولا الرعودِ

A praise of outstanding merit that has no

Match among people nor peer.

مَديحٌ في فلاحٍ ما له من

مثيل في الأَنام ومن فريدِ

For it the swords of warriors are unsheathed

It has dispensed with need for any scabbard.

متونُ الصاهلاتِ له مهودٌ

قَدِ اِستغنى بهنّ عن المهودِ

I have found praise in him to be excellent

So the excellent has given excellence to the excellent.

أجدت المدحَ فيه مستجيداً

فَجاد على المجيدِ المستجيدِ

And he has preferred me with what his hands contain

There of pleasantness or gentle gift.

وَآثرني بِما تحوي يداهُ

هَنالك مِن طريفٍ أَو تليدِ

And he deflects harms from me, good deeds like those

Gained in bowing down and prostrating.

وَيدفعُ كاد لي حسنات ما قد

تكسّب في الركوع وفي السجودِ

You have succeeded among us, O outstanding one,

And won the profit of good deed.

لَقد أفلحتَ فينا يا فلاح

وَفُزت بمكسبِ الفعلِ الحميدِ

And you have prided yourself on glory

And on noble deeds, success and fortune.

وَبالفخرِ اِفتخرتَ وبالمعالي

وَبالتوفيقِ والفأل السعيدِ

How many a band of people and tribes

Grew tyrannical, being owners of fierce might!

وَكَم مِن معشرٍ وقبيل قومٍ

طَغوا وهم أولو بأسٍ شديدِ

You dispatched against them army upon army

With lions lying in wait for the black ones.

بَعثت لهم جيوشاً في جيوشٍ

لَديها الأسد تقنص بالأسودِ

When they saw them approaching

Armored in iron weapons,

فلمّا أن رَأوها مقبلات

مدجّجة بآلاتِ الحديدِ

They saw and were certain there was no escape

From those armies and soldiers.

رَأوا وَاِستيقنوا أَن لا مناص

هناكَ منَ العساكرِ والجنودِ

And all their hearts trembled

Quivering in fear of harm like lutes.

وَقد خفقت قلوبهمُ جميعاً

مَخافات الردى خفق البنودِ

Some of them died while others

Became captives in chains and shackles.

فَمِنهم مَن ثوى قتلاً ومنهم

أسير في السلاسل والقيودِ

This is the punishment and crushing blow

They earned, ordained for them.

فَهذا ما اِستحقّوا من نكالٍ

وَمِن بطشٍ يكون ومن عتيدِ

And the power of Him who made Ezra taste

The cup of harm for a hundred years beyond count,

وقدرة من أذاقَ عزير كأسَ الر

ردى مائة سنيناً في العديدِ

Then resurrected and revived him thereby

So after that he existed again in the world,

وَأَنشره وأَحياه اِقتداراً

فَأَمسى بعد ذلك في الوجودِ

And held up its elevated ceiling until

It was still, needing no pillar,

وَأَمسك سقفهُ المرفوعَ حتّى اِس

تقرّ ولَم يكن بالمستميدِ

Remaining—neither nearing collapse

Nor rising upward.

مقيماً ليس يدنو لاِنحدارٍ

وَلا يعلو هناك الى صعودِ

And brought Joseph out of his prison when

He was blessed therein with beneficial knowledge.

وأَخرجَ يوسفاً من سجنهِ إذ

حظي في السجن بالعلم المُفيدِ

And reunited him with his father after he

Had been thrown in and sold for a paltry price.

وَلقّاه أَباه بعد ما إن

رُمي واِبتيع بالثمن الزهيدِ

And made mention of the People of the Cave a sign

Among His signs, for a prolonged time.

وصيّر ذكرَ أهلِ الكهف منه

منَ الآياتِ في الزمن المديدِ

They remained three hundred years

And nine more—that makes it longer.

همُ لَبثوا ثلاث مئين عاماً

وَتسعاً بعد فهي من المزيدِ

Asleep, while their dog in the cave

Amazed by the sleep of those sleepers,

رقودٌ كلبهم في الكهفِ فاِعجب

بِرقدة هؤلاء من الرقودِ

And their dog was near them, its forelegs

Outstretched in the direction of the courtyard.

وَكلبهمُ لديهم وهو ملقٍ

ذِراعيه بناحية الوصيدِ

You are the greatest thing on earth whose

Value upon the surface of the earth is unmatched!

لأنتَ أَجلّ ما في الأرض ماست

لَه قدرٌ على وجه الصعيدِ

You inherited glory from Aud the founder

And from Mayl al-Sama and from eternity.

وَرِثتَ المجدَ عن عون بن نبت

وَعن ماءِ السما وعنِ الخلودِ

You have no peer in superiority

Nor match in praise.

فَما لكَ في المفاخر من شكيلٍ

وَما لك في المحامد من نديدِ