غيدَ باريسَ ليس فيكِ هُيامي

بل بهذي الأَوراقِ والأقلامِ

Paris did not captivate me,

Only these papers and pens,

فهي أَوفى منكنَّ عهدَ ودادٍ

وغرامي بها أَلذُّ غرامِ

For they are more loyal to the covenant of love,

And my passion for them is sweeter than passion.

فاحفظي هذه السهامَ لغيري

ما بقلبي من موضعٍ لسهامِ

So keep these arrows for someone else,

My heart has no room for arrows.

كان لي في الهوى مرامٌ فأَمسى

في طِلابِ العلومِ كلُّ مرامي

I once had a passion for youth, which passed,

Among the students and books.

لهفَ قلبي على شبابٍ تقضَّى

بين ذاك اللَّمى وهذا القوامِ

My heart lamented the passing days,

Between that sin and piety.

وليالٍ سهرتُها في قبيحٍ

حَسَنٍ وجهُهُ مليحِ الكلامِ

And nights I spent awake in the ugly,

With a face whose beauty is pleasing in speech.

ذاك عهدٌ للهوِ فات وهدا

زمنُ الجدِّ والمساعي الجسامِ

That was an era of passion which is past,

A time of earnestness and formidable deeds.

فلأَستَبدِلنَّ عمراً جديداً

بقديم يضيِّعُ الأَيامِ

So I will take a new life,

In place of the old wasting time.

ولأَستقبِلَنَّ كلَّ عسيرٍ

في سبيل العُلى بعزم الهُمامِ

And I will meet every difficulty,

On the path to sublimity, with the determination of the courageous.

كلُّ مستصحبٍ يهون على مَن

كان ذا همَّةٍ وذا إِقدامِ

All who take companions find them a burden,

Except those with the determination and boldness.

والذي عونهُ النجيبُ ابو ال

فضل يرى النجمَ موطئَ الاقدامِ

And the noble man whose aid I seek

Sees the stars as a foothold for his feet.

إنا من مجدهِ تعلَّمتُ مجداً

وعلى عزمه بنيتُ اعتزامي

Verily from his glory I have learned glory,

And upon his determination I have built my determination.

قد نكرتُ الكرام حتى أراني

جودُهُ أَنهُ وحيد الكرامِ

I disregarded the generous when I saw that

His generosity singled me out among people.

وبكيتُ الشرقَ الكئيبَ إلى أن

حلَّ من ثغرهِ محلَّ ابتسامِ

And I wept over the misery of the East

Until his smile shone from its lips.

ربَّ عصرٍ محجَّبٍ بظلامِ

شقَّ فردٌ عنه حجابَ الظلامِ

Lord of an era obscured by darkness,

And he tore apart the veil of darkness.

وبلادٍ سادَ الخمولُ عليها

فاستعزَّت بواحدٍ مقدامِ

In a land which laziness prevailed upon,

And which was invigorated by the efforts of a unique one among men.

ليس الأكَ يا نجيبُ هُمامٌ

نحنُ نرجوهُ للخطوبِ العظامِ

You are not, O noble one, an ambition,

We hope in you when facing grave tribulations.

ووفيٌ من غيرِ وعدٍ إذا ضاعَ

وفاءُ الوعودِ بين الأنامِ

And loyal without a pact, when loyalty among men,

To pacts, has vanished.

كيف أُثني على أياديكَ عندي

وهي أسمى من أن يفيها كلامي

How can I praise your hands, when before me,

They are loftier than any eulogy can reach.

انا منها في غبطةٍ ونعيم

لم يتما لشاعرٍ في المنامِ

I am in felicity and bounty because of them,

A pleasure no poet has ever dreamt of before.

أَرمُقُ الحادثات وهي عبيدي

نائِماتٍ في حرمتي وذمامي

I observe events and they are your slaves,

Asleep in my security and my fortresses.

شعراءَ الملوكِ لا يزدهيكُمُ

ما لتيجانهم من الإِعظامِ

The poets of kings do not esteem you,

For their crowns are lesser than the tears of orphans.

إِن أحجارَها أَقلُ سناءً

وصفاءً من أدمع الأيتامِ

And with it the poet of the noble one boasts,

Over every crown and every lofty seat.

وبها شاعر النجيبِ يباهي

كلَّ تاجٍ وكلَّ عرشٍ سامِ

My master and chief, but more than that, my beloved one,

And he is to me the dearest of these names.

يا أميري وسيدي بل حبيبي

وهو عندي أحبُّ هذي الاسامي

Verses said for other than celebrating your praise,

Are forbidden to me, a thousand times forbidden.

إِن شعراً يقالُ في غير مد

حيك حرامٌ عندي وأَلفُ حرامِ

Indeed, for my life, those who gained praises gained them,

Because of you, in place of inspiration.

لقد لعمري نال المدائحَ قومٌ

أنت منهم قدراً مكان إِلهامِ

How many compositions are gifted to one who does not know,

Whether it is praise or dispraise.

كم قريضٍ يهدى لمن ليس يدري

أبمدحٍ نفحته ام بذامِ

If I could monopolize the rhymes,

Disdaining to subject them to the rabble.

فلو استطعتُ لاحتكرتُ القوافي

أَنفاً من تعريضها للطغامِ

I would send them as missives travelling the horizons,

To gift your praise to the people.

ولأرسلتها جوائِبَ في الآ

فاقِ تُهدي ثناك للأقوامِ

Every verse more precious than the news of reunion,

To the ear of the youth struck with separation.

كلُّ بيتٍ أَرقُّ من خبر ال

وصل على مسمعِ الفتى المستهامِ

I knew not the envious before they came to me,

From your hand, towards the clouds.

ما عرفتُ الحسّادَ من قبلُ حتى

جادني من يديكَ صَوبُ الغمامِ

I was grazing with eyes that before them,

Their people had no matter in dreams.

بتُّ أُرعى بأعينٍ لم أكن عندَ

ذويها أَمرٌ في الأحلامِ

I was like a pearl covered in dirt,

Your hands plucked me from the dirt.

كنتُ كالدرُّ قد علاه رُغامٌ

نشلتهُ يداك من ذا الرغامِ

If I live I will shine brighter,

With you, blinding the eyes of the wicked.

ولئَن عشتُ سوفَ ازداد نوراً

بك تعمى بهِ عيونُ اللئامِ