طافَ عَلى النَدمانِ بِالكاسِ
وَخَدُّهُ مِن لَونِها كاسِ
He moved among the boon companions with the wine cup,
his cheek clothed in the wine’s own hue.
مُفهَفُ القامَةِ مَمشوقُها
يَخجَلُ مِنهُ غُصُنُ الآسِ
Slender-waisted, his figure finely drawn,
the myrtle bough blushes before him.
كَم أَتَصَدّى لِجَفا صَدِّهِ
وَكَم أُقاسِ قَلبَهُ القاسي
How often I face the harshness of his rebuff,
and how I endure his hard heart!
دِعصُ نَقاً تَحمِلُهُ بانَةٌ
شَمسُ ضُحىً في زِيِّ شَمّاسِ
A rounded dune-mound borne by a slender bān-tree;
a morning sun in a deacon’s vestments.
تَحكي ثَنا الصالِحِ أَنفاسُهُ
وَصُدغُهُ أَيّامَ عَبّاسِ
His breaths recount the praises of al-Ṣāliḥ;
his temple-lock, the days of ʿAbbās.
شَتانَ ما بَينَ الوَزيرَينِ
في العِفَّةِ وَالإِقدامِ وَالباسِ
How vast the gulf between the two viziers
in chastity, daring, and valor!
وَالفائِزُ الصالِحُ في مُلكِهِ
أَصلَحُ عِندَ اللَهِ وَالناسِ
And al-Fāʾiz, with al-Ṣāliḥ in his realm,
stands better with God and the people.
في الشَرقِ وَالغَربِ غَدا ذِكرُهُ
يَسيرُ مِن بَلخٍ إِلى فاسِ
Throughout East and West his renown has spread,
journeying from Balkh as far as Fez.
وَرَأسِهِ لَو أَمكَنَ الدَهرُ ما
أَتَيتُهُ إِلّا عَلى راسي
By his head—if Fate allowed it—I would
come to him only upon my own head.
Sol 5.6