أهيفُ عبلُ الردف صِفرٌ حشاه
لو قيل للحسن انتسبْ ما عداه
The crescent glows bright as the evening star descends,
Had Beauty competed, none could rival it or transcend.
أسخط من يهواهُ مستيقظاً
وعادَ يستعطفه في ثواه
My Love turned from me though to him I kneeled,
But came back repenting as soon as dawn revealed.
فكانَ كالكاتبِ سطراً سها
فيهِ فما لبَّثَ حتى محاه
Like a scribe whose flowing script a careless hand offends,
No sooner had he penned than he erased those lines he’d penned.
إن كانَ لا يصدق في قولهِ
ويخلف الوعدَ فوا خجلتاه
If his words prove false, if he breaks his vow,
Then shame on him! My aching heart his glances now allow.
قد قدَّ قلبي سيفُ الحاظه
واختضبت من دمهِ وجنتاه
The sword of his eyes has pierced my core open and raw,
And I am drunk on the blood from his blows without flaw.
وليسَ فوق السحر من بابلٍ
إلاّ الذي قالته لي مقلتاه
No magic of Babylon over my soul holds such awe
As the spell of his voice, his sweet lips of honey and nectar pure.
يا لائمي حسبكَ من عاشقٍ
جاد عليه بمناه مناه
My critic, leave this poor Lover be, who is impassioned evermore!
Fortune itself against me has shut each door.
لولا انتباه اللحظِ لي لم يقع
في شَرَكِ الكاسِ غزالُ الفلاه
Had I not turned to see his sweet face once more,
The deer of the wilderness had not fallen into a hunter's trap for sure.
ولم أنَل سُوءاً سوى انَّني
أدنيتُهُ منِّي وقَبَّلتُ فاه
My only crime was that I drew him close and kissed his lips.
I warded off the swelling sea though its tide at my shore passionately dips,
وذدت عَنهُ كبداً شارفَت
وِرداً فحفَّت كحفيف القَطاه
And nearly drowned in a secret whirlpool that powerfully grips,
Despite my resistance to its frothing, foaming rips.
وكِدتُ من بكراء مكتومة
املؤ كفيَّ برغم الوشاه
Oh, the joy before he kissed me! None but he my thirst could eclipse.
Without his embrace, lifeless am I, savoring not life's sips.
يارشاً من قَبلِ تقبيلهِ
وضَمِّه ما ذقتُ طَعمَ الحياه
What can I, a hopeless Lover, do but endure these torturous whips?
Repeated incantations in my prayers bring no eclipse
ماذا الذي تأمُر في مغرمٍ
قد بلَغ الشوقُ بهِ مُنتَهاه
To the light of your eyes that sets my passion glowing like ember chips.
Shall I renounce the lineage I proclaimed, though forbidden love it rips?
هَل نافعي من سحر عينيك ما
كَررته من عُوَذٍ في الصَّلاه
Though I've reached the celestial sphere of highest leadership,
The jewel appears on branches where it rightfully fits.
أو انتسابي بودادي إلى
مَن بشتُّ ممنوعَ الحمى في ذراه
His actions proved the noble blood that through his veins swift ran.
The cypress manifests the spring from which the stream began.
إلى سَماءِ الرؤساء انتهت
وراثةُ السؤدد شمس الكُفاه
Ali saw his ancestors' path stretched to highest ranks a man could scan.
He donned his crown and escaladed to the apex as only he can.
دلّ على اعراقِهِ فِعلُهُ
وانّما السَروُ لنجل السَّراه
They monopolized rule’s fortress which was the finest in the land,
While he stood excluded though valor did his being span.
رأى عَليٌ قَصدَ آبائِهِ
لوضَحَ نَهجٍ في العُلى فاقتَفاه
He sprouted like a noble tree, rooted in soil so grand
That the luminous stars themselves coveted its station if they could or can.
تعَمَّموا التيجان واستأثروا
بمبتنى المُلكِ فاعلَو بناء
One who knows not his name’s meaning will never understand
No matter how hard he tries or how broad his schemes expand.
نَبتُ نباتِ العِزِّ من تربه ال
عالم مَن حازَ السُهى وامتطاه
Had I viewed the horizon as the sun’s limit or edge,
I'd have seen "His Name" inscribed like a shining badge.
من كانَ لا يَعلم مَعنى اسمه
فانَّه يَغلَطُ مَهما ادّعاه
Had this Nile flowed from his palm, it would surpass the Tigris in its hedge,
His face is the sun and moon together, his hands the sea without ebb or edge.
لو كانَ حدُّ الشمس ممّا يُرى
رأيتَ مكتوباً عليه كناه
When he saw the glory great deeds bring, he pledged
To shun all acts that virtues tarnish or dim and dredge.
أو كانَ هذا النيل من كَفِّهِ
يجري جرى التِّبرُ مكانَ المياه
While many a slandered man has gained more renown from the attention edge,
His praiser, though hostile, spread his name to the world's uttermost edge.
البدرُ والشمسُ معاً وجهُه
والبحرُ والمزن جميعاً يَداه
The noble youth sees but his own deeds when viewing the poetic hedge,
While poetry is but the mirror that seeks his attributes to ennoble and edge.
لمّا رأى المَدحَ اللَّذي يُقتَنى
من بِرِّهِ عالى به واقتَناه
Like an echo impartially voicing all audible on the stage,
It articulates his words, nothing else, as reason would judge.
وربُّ مسبُوبٍ بمدحٍ غدا
ناظِمُهُ أبلغَ ممَّن هجاه
A gentle breeze picks up his fragrance as it blows past that hedge,
Then conveys it onwards as appointed when it has reached its edge.
يرى الفتى في الشِّعرِ أفعالَهُ
وإنّما الشعرُ له كالمِراه
The feast has ended but will start anew when again we unite at your door’s edge.
For us, every day spent with you is a special celebration we forever pledge.
وكالصَّدى يَسمَعُ ما قاله ال
قائِلٌ لا يسمَعُ شيئاً سِواه
As long as you are happy, protected by the Almighty’s caring hedge,
Then blessings unlimited and joy pure shall be our lifelong privilege.
مِثلَ نسيم الريح ما واجَهَت
مَرَّ عليه ثم أدّى ثَواه
تَرَحَّلَ العيدُ ولكِنَّهُ
لما انتَهى دارَكَ القَى عصاه
وكلُّ يومٍ بك عيدٌ لنا
دمتَ سعيداً ورعاكَ الإله
