يا من أبحت حمى قلبي مودته
ومن جعلت له أحشاي أوطانا
O you who set ablaze the zeal of my heart with your affection,
And made its veins a homeland for it,
أرسلت نحوي أبياتاً طربت بها
والفضل للمبتدي بالفضل إحسانا
You sent me verses that delighted me,
And to begin with kindness is the best favor.
فرحت أختال عجباً من محاسنها
كشارب ظل بالصهباء نشوانا
I strutted around in wonder at their beauty,
Like one quenching thirst with clear wine.
رقت وراقت فجاءت وهي لابسة
من اللاغة والترصيع ألوانا
They were gentle and graceful, adorned
With eloquence and embroidered metaphors.
حكت بمنثورها والنظم إذ جمعا
بأحرف حسنت روضاً وبستانا
With their prose and verse they related a tale,
With letters that adorned a meadow and garden.
جرت على جرول أثواب زينتها
إذ أصبحت وهي تكسو الحسن حسانا
They flowed on the train of robes that adorned them,
Having adorned beauty itself with more beauty.
أضحت تغبر وجه العنبري فما
بنو اللقيطة من ذهل بن شيبانا
They appeared, veiling the face of amber,
Leaving the sons of Luqayt stunned.
يمسي لها ابن هلال حين ينظرها
يحكي أباه بما عاناه نقصانا
Ibn Hilal looks upon them by evening,
Telling his father of the flaws he endured.
كذاك أيضاً لها عبد الحميد غدا
عبداً يجر من التقصير أردانا
So too does Abdel Hamid, who by morning
Became a slave, dragging the rags of laziness.
أتت وعبدك مغمور بعلته
فغادرته صحيحاً خير ما كانا
They came while your slave was immersed in his ailment,
Yet they left him healed, in the best of states.
وكيف لا تدفع الأسقام عن جسدي
وهي الصبا حملت روحاً وريحانا
How could they not banish illness from my body,
When they carried the spirit and basil in youth?
فما على طيفها لو عاد يطرقنا
فربما زار أحياناً وأحيانا
If their specter were to return and visit us,
Perhaps it would come by now and then.
فاسلم وأنت أمين الدين أحسن من
وشى الطروس بمنظوم ومن زانا
So be at peace, O trustee of the faith, excelling
The slander of poets and the fornicator.
ولا تخطت إليك الحادثات ولا
حلت بربعك يا أعلى الورى شانا
Let not events pass you by, nor befall
The land you inhabit, O highest of humanity.
