بوسميِّ حبِّ المُزنِ لا بوليِّهِ

غدا الرّوضُ زهواً في ملابِ زَهيِّهِ

With my kiss of melancholic love, not fleeting fancy,

The garden became radiant in the beauty of its blooms.

وأولاهُ إرفادُ الوليِّ برفدِه

حَباءً بِمُنهلّ الشُّؤونِ حَبيّهِ

Its caretaker nourished it with his provisions,

Loving the wellspring of favors with his affection.

وأتبعهُ جودُ العِهادِ بِحبوِه

فأصبحَ ظاميهِ شرُوقاً بريّهِ

The servants followed with their generosity,

So its darkness became brilliant with auspicious light.

دِراكاً بأنواءٍ تباعٍ ثلاثةٍ

بحُوتيّهِ ثوريّهِ أسديّهِ

Successive in consistent rhythms, threefold melodies

Melodious, revolutionary, leonine.

فراحَ ثراهُ شاكراً لسمائهِ

بلفظٍ عليليِّ التهادِي هديِّهِ

So its prosperity became thankful for its skies

In refined language of gentle calm and guidance.

تَرى سُندسيّ النبتِ تحتَ كِمامهِ

كموشيِّ صُبغِ العِهنِ في عبقريّهِ

You see the lily’s stalk beneath its headwrap

Like the dye’s infusion in its delicate fragrance.

تبدّى حلياً في قلائدِ زهرِهِ

فقلنا حليّاً في فنون حُليّهِ

It appeared adorned with necklaces of its flowers

So we said “Adorned with the diverse arts of its adornment.”

كأنّ أقاحيهِ نِظامُ لآلئٍ

تداعى نِثاراً في جِنانِ جنيّهِ

As though its buds were a string of pearls

Cascading blossoms in its gardens of harvest.

كأنَّ يواقيتَ الشّقائقِ شُقّقت

فَصِيغت مِن الحوذانِ في عسجديّهِ

As though the daisies’ rubies were split

And crafted from blister pearls in its craftsmanship.

يُطرّزُها حُسناً زمرُّدُ آسهِ

بما يتراءى مِن صفا جَوهريّهِ

Emerald embellishes them beautifully

With the purity gleaming from its essence.

فأحسِن بنورِ الشّمسِ ناظر نُورهِ

فتلقى سَناها في كِمامِ سبيّهِ

So the sun’s light perfected the sight of its light

And met its brilliance in the headwrap of its captivating one.

وقد عبثت هوجُ الرّياحِ بنشرهِ

عَراريِّهِ رنديِّه إذخَريِّهِ

The winds’ passions have toyed with its dispersal

Myrrh, reed, sweetgrass in its redolence.

إذا ما أتت مشمولةٌ بشمولهِ

أتت بشذيِّ النّدِّ عن عنبريِّهِ

Whenever it came filled with its fullness

It brought the fragrance of nadd from its ambrine.

فقلتُ أنشرٌ تمّ أم نشوةٌ نَمت

بذكرِ عريقٍ في العلاءِ عليِّهِ

So I said “Is it a joyful celebration or blissful intoxication

With the mention of venerable virtues in the Most High?”

بمستنصريِّ النّحرِ مُستنجديّهِ

رشيديّهِ مهديّهِ هاشميّهِ

With the victorious aided one pleading for help,

The rightly guided, the divinely guided, the Hashimite one.

ضربتُ اليه الدوَّ والدوُّ مجهلٌ

فلا معلمٌ في طامسي سبسبيّهِ

I turned to him confused and confused is one without a teacher

In the darkening gloom of its murky dark.

تلاقى بهِ ذؤبانُ غزلانِ فأوِه

وذؤبانُ غزوٍ في فيافي فليّهِ

There the wolves of gazelles met him oh how they wailed

And the wolves of marauders in the melee of its confrontation.

تُلاقي فتشكو هذه ثم هذه

طوىً مُستكِنّاً في مطاوي طويّهِ

These would meet and complain, then those,

Far off, finding refuge in the shelters of its valleys.

اذا ما ذكت فيه ذُكاءٌ لهيبها

رأيتَ أجيجَ النارِ في لهبيّهِ

Whenever a spark of its flames was kindled

You would see the blaze of fire in its combustion.

كأنّ بهِ مِن جمرةِ القيظِ قابساً

يُرى زَندُهُ مِن مُستطارِ وريّهِ

As though in it was an ember from the heat of noon

Its sparks seen from the kindling of its flames.

فمُصطخدُ الحِرباءِ مِن وقعِ حرّهِ

طنيٌّ يُراعي راحةً مِن طنيّهِ

So the warrior’s coat of mail was heated from the impact of its heat

A clay oven seeking refuge in its clay.

فكلُّ قرا غُصنٍ مُمالٍ براكبٍ

كمرتبئٍ مُستوسِقٍ بِرُبيّهِ

For every vine branch laden with its rider

Was like a water skin filled to capacity by its rain.

بعيرانةٍ مزؤودةٍ مُشمعِلّةٍ

تَشقُّ بضبعيها قَرا فَدفديّهِ

With bellowing camels, their humps kindled,

Tearing through its knolls with their knee joints.

أمونٍ كمِرادةِ الصَفاةِ أطاحَها

جُحافٌ تمطّى في مطا قردديّهِ

Securely, like the hut of the watchman toppled

By ravaging winds swirling in the eddies of its whirlpools.

ترتّعتِ السّقطينِ مِن مرتعِ اللّوى

ببارضهِ حتّى التوت للويّهِ

The two harvests have grazed on the pasture of afflictions

Until the fruits belonged to their possessor.

تُريغُ كلاهُ بينَ ذاوٍ ويانعٍ

بأصهبِ عافيهِ وجَونِ عفيّهِ

Each is diverted by a fertile and tender branch

With its plentiful grace and beautiful tenderness.

أقامت بهِ حتّى بدا النجمُ طالعاً

تطيرُ سَفى البُهمى سوافي سفيّهِ

They stayed until the star rose ascending

As the birds of gloom took flight in its foolishness.

اذا ما رعت منها المهامهُ جانباً

رَعى سيُرها مِن مُنتأى مهمهيّهِ

Whenever the ostrich turned away

It watched its departure from a distant vantage.

كعَيرٍ اذا عاينتهُ متوهّماً

وعيرٍ اذا عاينتهُ في هويّهِ

Like a camel, when you see it lost

And a camel when you see it in its love.

بأيدٍ تبذُّ الطرفَ سرعةُ جِدّها

بأيدٍ تبُذُّ الطرفَ في جَددّيهِ

With hands whose swiftness of attack

And hands whose attack was swift in its onslaughts.

بعيديّةٍ جاءت ترامى بعيدِها

الى باب محجوجِ الذُّرى نَبويهِ

With aRemote she-camel that extended its distance

To the door, veiled from sight, of its Prophet’s dwelling.

فلما أناخت تحتَ ظلِّ جنابهِ

أناخت بضافي الظّلِّ مستعصميّهِ

So when it knelt in the shade of his honorable threshold

It knelt protected in the shade’s hospitality.

فخُذها أميرَ المؤمنينَ بديعةً

تُزفُّ بموشيِّ الحلا مُبدعيّهِ

So the Commander of the Faithful accepted it as unique

Paraded in the adornment of beauty and creativity.

فلا زلتَ بالأعيادِ تُلقى مهنّاً

بعيشٍ على مرِّ الزّمانِ هَنيّهِ

You continue to receive honors on holidays

With a life of ease throughout the passage of time.