إِذا عَزَّت صِفاتُكَ أَن تُراما

قَضَينا في الحَديثِ بِها ذِماما

If your noble traits disdain to be desired,

We have delimited them in our talk with restraint.

وَما قَصُرَت يَدٌ دونَ الثُّرَيّا

فَخافَت عِندَ عارِفِها مَلاما

No hand falls short of high ambition

Unless before the knower it fears blame.

لَكَ النَّسَبُ الَّذي مَن سارَ فيهِ

فَما يَخشى الضَّلالَ وَلا الظَّلاما

Yours is the lineage one who journeys therein

Fears no straying, no darkness.

إِذا طَلَعَت بُدور بَني حُمَيدٍ

فَحَقٌّ لِلكواكِبِ أَن تُضاما

When the full moons of the Bani Humeid appear,

The stars have every right to shut tight.

أَما وَقُبورُهُم فَلَقَد أَجَنَّت

عِظاما في ضَرائِحِها عِظاما

As for their graves - they have brought forth

Bones within their burial places - bones.

لَقَد أَبقَيتَ مَجدَهُمُ وَماتوا

فَكانوا لا حَياةَ وَلا حِماما

You have made their glory endure though they died;

Thus no life, no dovelike moan.

وَرُبَّ مُنازِع لَكَ في المَعالي

سَهِرتَ عَلى الطِّلاب لَها وَناما

While many contend with you for supremacy,

You have stayed sleepless seeking it out as they slept.

يُحَدِّثُ عَن لِقائِكَ بِالأَماني

فَقالَ العارِفونَ بِها سَلاما

With wishes he speaks of meeting you,

While the knowledgeable say "Peace" to him.

وَمُجتازٍ بِأَرضِكَ حَذَّرَتهُ

سُيوفُكُ إِن يُريدُ بِها مُقاما

And to one passing through your land you have cautioned

Your swords, should he desire a stay.

أَدَلَّ بِجَدِّهِ فَكَفاكَ جدٌّ

يَفُلُّ سُعودُهُ الجَيشَ اللُّهاما

His ancestor's probity suffices you - a probity

That makes his good fortune a crushing torrent.

ضَرَبناهُ بِذِكرِكَ وَهوَ لَفظ

فَكانَ القَلب وَاليَد وَالحُساما

We have struck him with your mention, and it is a word -

Thus the heart, the hand, and the sword.

عَجِبتُ لِقَصدِهِ المولى بِعَزم

يُقَصِّر أَن يَنالَ بِهِ الغُلاما

I wonder that the Protector with resolve

Seeks to attain through him while a stripling.

حَلَفتُ بِها خِماصاً كَالحَنايا

وَإِن كانَت لِسُرعَتِها سِهاما

I swear that it, nimble as a serpent,

Though it be arrows in its speed.

تَخبُّ بِمُحرِمينَ تَسَنَّموها

وَأَمّوا فَوقَها البَلَدَ الحَراما

It fathoms those who have assumed its climbing,

And they harbor above it the holy precinct.

لِيَوم فيهِ دَولَتُك اطمَأَنَّت

قَواعِدُها حَقيقٌ أَن يُضاما

For a day on which your dynasty settled down,

Its foundations warrant buttressing indeed.

أَبَيتَ اللَّعنَ إِن كَثُرَت شُجوني

فَإِنّي قَد وَجَدتُ لَها مَساما

You refused blasphemy though my agonies multiplied,

For I found in them a place for breathing.

فَإِن بَلَغَت إِلَيكَ بيَ اللَّيالي

فَقَد زَجَّيتُها عاماً فَعاما

Should they reach you through the nights I have strung them,

Year upon year.

شَكَرتُ جَميلَ ذِكرِكَ وَهوَ عِندي

تَمامُ الجودِ أَنَّ لَهُ تَماما

I thanked the beauty of your mention which is with me

The perfection of bounty, its perfect form.

وَرَوَّتني سَحابُكَ في بِلادٍ

كَثيراً ما شَكَوتُ بِها الأُواما

Your clouds sated me in lands wherein

Often I complained of burning thirst.

وَأَغناني عَطاؤُكَ عَن أُناس

حَسِبتُهُمُ وَلا بَلَغوا كِراما

Your gifts have enriched me beyond people

I deemed - but they attained no nobility.

بَعَثتُ إِلى نَوالِهمُ رَجاء

تَعَلَّمَ كَيفَ يَنتَجِعُ الجَهاما

To their spending I sent hope

To learn how the arid wastes fill.

فَإِن أَكدى لَئيمُ الظَّنِّ فيهِم

فَإِنّي قَد عَرَفتُ بِهِ اللِّئاما

If the vile think ill in them,

I have recognized in it the vile.

وَما لي وَالبَخيلُ وَقَد كَفَتني

مَواهِبُكَ الَّتي كَفَتِ الأَناما

As for me and the miser - your gifts already

Suffice me, those which sufficed men.

إِذا ضَنَّ السَّرابُ عَلى نَداهُ

فَقَد نالَت يَدُ الصّادي الغَماما

If the mirage is stingy with its moisture,

The hand of the rain-seeker has grasped the raincloud.

وَما غَبَّت مَكارِمكَ القَوافي

وَإِن كانَت زِيارَتُها لِماما

Not absent are your generous deeds, though

Their visit be rare.

وَكَيفَ يَضيعُ جودُكَ في كَريم

أَعَدَّ لِشُكرِهِ هَذا الكَلاما

How could your bounty be lost on a generous one

Who has prepared for thanking you this utterance?

قَصائِدُ إِن تَرَنَّحَ سامِعوها

فَإِنّي قَد أَبَحتُ بِها المُداما

If the ode should lean when listeners hear it,

Then I have poured in it the wine unmixed.

تَزورُ صَبابَةً وَأَحِنُّ شَوقاً

كِلانا يَدَّعي فيكَ الغَراما

It visits lightly while I yearn ardently -

Each of us claims passionate love of you.

إِذا زُفَّت إِلَيكَ عَلِمتُ أَنّي

مَلَكتُ لِكُلِّ جامِحَةٍ زِماما

When brought to you, I know that I

Have tamed every raging lioness.

وَلَولا أَنَّها وَجَدَتكَ كُفؤاً

لَكانَت في الصُّدورِ مِنَ الأَيامي

Had she not found you a matching peer,

She would be among the epochs ruinous.

وَلَو قَصَدَت سِواكَ لَقُلتُ فيها

أَراني اللَّهُ نقبَكِ في السُّلامى

And had she sought other than you I would say

Show me her grave amidst the channels!