عاطنيها وارح قلب المعنَّى

فالهوى رقّ وشاجي الصوت غنى

Give me the cup and soothe the heart's meaning,

For passion is gentle and the voice of the singer is melodious.

عاطني كاساً وخذ كاسا ودع ما

لفَّق الناسك من هنَّا وهنا

Give me a cup, take a cup, and leave what

Has preoccupied the ascetic here and there.

واعدها مترعاً أَقداحها

فلقد تبنا زمانا ثم عدنا

Invite her to drink from its cups,

For we have built up over time and then returned.

قد شربنا الخمر في حانوتها

ولقد رَّقت لنا لفظاً ومعنى

We drank the wine in its tavern,

And it softened speech and meaning for us.

وقتلنا صرفها بابن غمام

ونحرنا لابنة الزرجون دنَّا

We slaughtered its declension with Ibn Ghammaam,

And sacrificed the daughter of Zarjoon for her sake.

واختلناها بعيني شادنٍ

سرّح الواشي به عيناً واذنا

We disputed it with the eyes of a young gazelle,

Who glanced at it and lent it an ear.

وانطوينا طية الدملج جمعا

وانتشرنا بعد وحدانا ومثنى

We gathered in the shade of the oak,

Then dispersed after our solitude and pairs.

نسحب الريط وكم من عبقري

عبق منه على الروض سحبنا

We draw the fragrance and how much scent

Has wafted from it onto the meadow we inhaled.

بي غزالا بمغانيه اغنَّا

راح ينحو البان والوادي الاغنا

In it we sang the melodies to a gazelle

Who inclined towards dunes and valleys.

وربيعا روض الجزع بخبتٍ

نافج منه بطفل الروض حضنا

In the garden of sadness sprang a spring

Whose rushing waters embraced its banks.

هبَّ في حجر الخزامى ساغباً

فانحنت ترضعه الانواء مزنا

It gushed in the lap of vine leaves, eager

As the vines leaned over to nurse it in clusters.

عبثت فيه النعامى فاستفزَّت

من سواهي اعين النرجس جفنا

The ostriches toyed with it until provoked

The eyes of the narcissi to blink.

دقَّ طبل الرعد فاستشرفها

رافعاً اعلامه في الارض دكنا

The drum of thunder beat loudly

Raising its flags over the land it conquered.

كلما الغيث بكى في حافة

عرض البرق بها يضحك وهنا

Whenever the rain wept at the edge,

The lightning smiled and winked back at it.

يا معير الرشأ الاغيد جيداً

ومعير الجؤذر الوسنان عينا

O changer of the noble, untainted saliva,

And changer of the pure, immaculate eye!

ومباهي القمر الطالع وجهاً

ومضاهي الشمس اشراقا وحسنا

O rival of the rising moon in face,

And competitor of the sun in brilliance and beauty!

وخدين السلب اللدن قواما

كلما رنَّح رمح القد لدنا

Your cheeks are like the smooth, curving spear shaft

That straightens every time the spear inclines.

ان يبن بالرمل مغناك فحسبي

لك قلبي يا غزال الرمل مغنى

To build your singing-house in the sand suffices me -

My heart is your singing-house, O gazelle of the sand!

ما لقلبي عنك اسعادٌ بسعدي

حيث حلَّت ولبانات بلبني

My heart has no joy in my own happiness

Since the gum trees arrived at Laban.

لك عين دعجة لو لم يكن

لحظها السيف لما قدَّ المجنَّا

You have a languorous eye - if not for

Its glance, the sword would not have drawn the scabbard.

لم افز بالقرب منها غير أني

بؤت بالوزر وفازت بالمهنا

I have gained nothing from being near it except that I

Was given a burden while it gained distinction.

مثلما فازت معاقيد الصفا

بزفاف قارنٍ باليمن يمنا

Just as the bunches of Sifa gained

An auspicious marriage to the blessed Yemen.

هم ثمار الشجر النضر الذي

ليس يجنى الفضل الا منه يجنى

They are the fruits of the blossoming tree which

Only bestows its prime produce to be picked.

وغصونٌ بسقت ايكاتها

فتدلَّت بالجنى غصنا فغصنا

Branches it watered so its unions

Hung with fruit, branch after branch.

كل فرع سلَّ من جرثومة

رفعت للشرف العلوي مبنى

Every branch it put forth from its roots

Elevated an edifice to the highest honor.

شيمٌ لم يتصف فيها مراءٌ

غيره انّي له في ذاك انَّى

A disposition in which no blame can be found -

I am to it in that as I am.

وعطاء لم يشب يوماً بمنّ

والفتى من لم يشب بالجود منَّا

And a generosity that never resembled

One who is stingy - and the young man is as we are.

مثلما كان الفتى كان الجدى

ان يكن شهماً فصدقا او فمينا

As the young man was, so too was the elder -

Whether valiant, truthful, or skilled.

قل لمن قد قاس فيه غيره

قست لا عن خبرة بالتبر تبنا

Tell the one who judged it otherwise than us:

"You have judged not from experience, but from supposition."

يهب البدن جميعاً بعصاها

ولكم ضاعف حمر البدن بدنا

It gives its all with its staff,

And doubly compensates the redness of bodies with bodies.

عارضٌ إِن جاد اغنى جوده

وكذا الغيث اذا ما جاد اغنى

A critic, if he is generous, enriches generosity,

Just as heavy rain, when generous, enriches.

قد حوى من همم ماهمَّها

غير نيل المجد اذ لم ترض خدنا

It contained ambitions it harbored

Other than attaining glory, if our cheeks were not satisfied.

صحَّ ما صرحت في حسن السنا

لمن اليوم ابا محسن يكنى

What you declared about the excellence of traits is true -

Today, who is the father that is nicknamed "Virtuous"?

لم يزل يقرع سمع الخصم زجل

وقعه منه بهام الدهر رنَّا

He ceaselessly strikes the ears of the adversary with poetry

Whose impact resounded from him with life's blows.

لسنٌ يستلُّ بالقول لساناً

لوذعياً غادر الالسن لكنا

A tongue that pulls out tongues with speech,

Vicious to tongues, if they dare to be impudent.

قد روى محض العلى عن جدّه

وله محض العلى نحن روينا

He related the sheer sublime from his grandfather,

And from him we related the sheer sublime.

قلَّد الدين بما لو قرنوها

بالدراري لا دَّعت بالشهب غبنا

He handed down the religion with what - if paired -

With his pearls, his night would claim to outshine the meteors.

ضنَّ فيها البحر لفظا بفمي

فدع اللفظ وخذ للدر معنى

My words failed to fully express it,

So leave speech and take the meaning of the pearls.