هل لكَ فيهِ يا ابنَ حمدٍ كما
تؤثرُ من بسط ومن قَبضِ
Do you have, O son of Hamad, as you like
To extend or retract as you wish?
كأَنَّ هاديهِ اذا عِجتَه
يَرغَبُ بالبعضِ عن البعضِ
As if when his guide hurries him
He longs for some over others
فكلَّما زدتَ الى جيدِه
عِنَانَه ذادَك في الركضِ
So whenever you give his reins
More slack he races you faster
طوراً وطوراً زيغُ مُرانِهِ
تلعبُ بالتثقيفِ والعَضِّ
Now and then his training swerves
You toy with spur and lash
كأَنه البرقُ اذا رِعتَه
أَو هربُ السهمِ مِنَ النبضِ
As if he were lightning you startled
Or an arrow recoiling from the bowstring
من آل حلابٍ سَرى عِرقُه
فنالَ أَقصى سِرّها المَحضِ
Of the family of Hilab his pedigree stems
Reaching the utmost of their pure breed
منغَمِسٌ في مائِها منقعُ
يعطيكَ أَو يَجزيكَ بالقَرضِ
Immersed in its water, fully soaked
To give or reward you with a loan
تذعرُ منه ناشِطاتُ المَلا
بكوكبٍ في الجَوِّ منقَضِّ
The celestial spheres are startled by him
Like a shooting star darting through space
مطرداتٌ ككعبوبِ القَنا
أَو لُؤلُؤٍ في السلكِ مُرفَضِّ
Galloping like a stud of horses
Or pearls strung on a necklace
وهي اذا طالَ بها طيلُها
كأَنما تفخرُ في رَبضِ
And when she lengthens her path with him
It's as if she boasts in her resting place
اذا سما في صَيَدٍ رأسهِ
أكرمتُ فوديهِ عن العضِ
When his head rises to noble game
I ransom my love from the hunt
تقريبُه أَدبُ خداريةٍ
الى سليلٍ خَدِرِ النهضِ
Bringing him near is the discipline of nurses
To a cub numb from rising
لا عيب فيه غيرَ تيسيره
وأَنه يمشي على الأرضِ
He has no fault but his docility
And that he walks upon the earth
لعله ينعلُ في نقعه
قوماً تلافيتَ من الدَّحضِ
Maybe horseshoes on his hooves
Will protect some from slipping away
لك الذي في العَظمِ من نَقيهم
وما على العَظمِ من النحضِ
Yours is the essence of their elite
And what clings to that essence
من هادمٍ ينبيكَ أو ناقضٍ
ينشُجُ ما أَوليتَ بالنقضِ
No destroyer can alarm you or critic
Rend what you tied with a bond
عسى ظلومٌ جارَ في حكمهِ
يقضي عليه بالذي يَقضي
Perhaps an unjust ruler in his rule
Will pass judgment on him for what he judges
لله وافٍ جارُه منه في
ظلٍّ ظليلٍ وجَنى غَضِّ
God protects his neighbor from him in
Shady, shaded refuge and harvest
نال العلا بالكدِّ من عيشهِ
والخفضُ يدنيكَ من الخفضِ
He reached glory by striving in his life
And humility brings you closer to humility
لا يَفطِم الدالق من جَفنِهِ
ويَفطِمُ العينَ من الغَمضِ
Sleeplessness does not wean an eyelid
And wakefulness weans the eye from slumber
لم يُتبدلْ والده أَوقاتُه
تبدلُ مسوداً بمبيضَّ
His times have not changed from his father's
Exchanging blackness for whiteness
فالبؤس كالنعمةِ في جسمهِ
والحُبُّ في عينيه كالبُغْضِ
So misery in his body is like bliss
And love in his eyes like hatred
تجاوزَ الوصفَ فتىً لطفُه
يُخْرِجُ زُبدَ الماءِ بالمَخضِ
A youth whose charm surpasses description
Can extract water's foam by churning
ليس بمحدودٍ اذا قِستَهُ
يُعلمُ منه الكلُّ بالبعضِ
He cannot be measured if compared
The whole is known by the part
كيف يقيسُ الفلكَ المعتلى
مَنْ طرفُه يُنضى ولا يَنضي
How can the revolving celestial sphere be measured
Whose edge twists but does not twist
ومَنْ اذا حل بديمومةٍ
لم يعرفِ الطولَ من العَرضِ
And when it lingers aimlessly
It knows no length from width
يا ناقَ سِيري وذري وادياً
مرتعُهُ يُسرعُ في العرضِ
O camel of my travels, make my way a valley
Whose pasture hastens across its width
انَّ مرادَ العِزِّ ترعينَه
خيرٌ من الخُلَّةِ والحَمضِ
The wish of glory is to pasture it
Better than swamp plants and sour fruit
