فَلَولا اللهُ ثُمَّ نَدى اِبنِ لَيلى
وَأَني في نَوَالِكَ ذو اِرتِغابِ
Were it not for God, and then Ibn Layla’s bounty,
and that I yearn for what you bestow,
وَباقي الوُدِّ ما قَطَعَت قَلوصي
مَهامِه بَينَ مِصرَ إِلى غُرابِ
and the affection that endures, my she-camel would never have crossed
the trackless wastes between Egypt and Ghurab.
وَنازَعَني إِلى مَدحِ اِبنِ لَيلى
قَوافيها مُنازَعَةَ الطَرابِ
And toward the praise of Ibn Layla I was drawn
by its rhymes, tugging with the force of rapture.
فَلَيسَ النَيلُ حِينَ عَلَت قراهُ
غَوالِبُهُ بِأَغلَبَ ذي عُبابِ
The Nile, when its surging waters overtop its settlements,
is no more overwhelming, for all its roaring flood,
بِأَفضَلَ نائِلًا مِنهُ إِذا ما
تَسامى الماءُ فانغَمَسَ الرَوابي
nor richer in bounty than he, whenever
the waters mount and the hills sink beneath them.
وَيَغمُرُنا إِذا نَحنُ اِلتَقَينا
بِطامي الموجِ مُضطَرِبِ الحَبابِ
And whenever we meet, he engulfs us
in a cresting wave, its foam in turmoil.
وَأَنتَ دَعامَةٌ مِن عَبدِ شَمسٍ
إِذا اِنتُجِبوا مِن السِرِّ اللُبابِ
You are a pillar of Abd Shams,
when the purest core is chosen from its inmost stock—
مِن اللائي يَعُودُ الحِلمُ فيهُم
وَيُعطَونَ الجَزيلَ بِلاحِسابِ
one of those in whom forbearance is ever renewed,
who give lavish gifts without reckoning.
وَهُم حُكّامُ مُعضِلَةٍ عَقامٍ
فَكَم بَعَثوا بِها فَصلَ الخِطابِ
They are the judges of a barren, intractable quandary;
how often they have brought forth for it the decisive word.
إِذا قَرَعوا المَنابِرَ ثُمَ خَطّوا
بِأَطرافِ المَخاصِرِ كَالغِضَابِ
When they strike the pulpits, then trace
with the tips of their staffs, like men enraged,
قَضَوا فيها وَلَم يَتَوَهَّموها
بِفاصِلَةٍ مُبَيَّنَةِ الصَوابِ
they judge it without entertaining conjecture,
with a decisive ruling that makes the right plain.
وَهُم أَحلى إِذا ما لَم تُثِرهُم
عَلى الأَحناكِ مِن غَذَقِ اِبنِ طابِ
And, when they have not been provoked, they are sweeter
upon the palate than a bunch of Ibn Tab dates.
أَبوكَ حَمى أُمَيَّةَ حِينَ زالَت
دَعائِمُها وَأَصحَرَ لِلضِّرابِ
Your father shielded Umayya when
its pillars gave way, and strode into the open for combat.
وَكانَ المُلكُ قَد وهنت قِواهُ
فَرَدَّ المُلكَ مِنها في النِصابِ
Kingship was tottering, its powers grown feeble,
so he restored its kingship to its proper line.
