أمن خفوق البرق تُرزِمينا

حِنِّي فما أمنعُك الحنينا

Do you startle me with the flashing of lightning?

Bend to me, for I do not forbid your yearning.

سَرَى يمينا وسُراك شأمةً

فضَلَّةٌ ما تتلفَّتينا

My happiness flowed to the right, and your joy startled me,

An abundance that does not turn away from us.

هبَّ كما تخاطفَتْ هِندِيّةٌ

مُخلَصَةٌ أجهدتِ القُيُونا

Blow as an Indian woman blew,

Pure, who exhausted the bows.

فكم أراكَ بثنيَّاتِ الحمَى

على البعادِ الثغرَ والجبينا

So how often do I see you in the folds of passion

On the distance, the mouth and the forehead.

وكم ذكرتَ روضَه وغُدْرَه

والعَمَمَ الملتفَّ والمَعِينا

And how often you recalled its meadow and pond,

And the twisted turban and the curved sword.

نَعم تُشاقينَ ونَشتاقُ له

ونُعلنُ الوجدَ وتكتُمينا

Yes, we yearn and long for it,

And we declare ecstasy while you conceal it.

فأين منّا اليومَ أو منك الهوى

وأين نجدٌ والمغورونا

So where is our love today or where is your passion,

And where is delight while we are ruined?

سقَى الحيا عهدَ الحمى أعذبَ ما

تسقِي السمواتُ به الأرْضِينا

The life watered the covenant of passion with the sweetest

That the heavens rain upon the lands.

وخَصَّ باناتٍ على كاظمةٍ

فزادها نضارةً ولينا

And it singled out soft, slender date palms

Increasing their bloom and tenderness.

وواصَلتْ ما بينها ريحُ الصَّبا

فعانقت غصونُها الغصونا

And the breeze of morning connected between them

Embracing their branches to branches.

ورَدَّ أوطارا بها ماضيةً

عليَّ أو أحبّةً باقينا

It cast memories that passed by us

Upon me or loved ones who remain.

أيامَ تاجرتُ الصِّبا فلم أكن

فيه على خَسارتي غبينا

Days I traded in youth but was not

In them for my loss unaware.

آخذُ من عيشي الرضا وأصطفي

من المنى جوهرَها المكنونا

I take from my life satisfaction and carefully select

From desires their hidden essence.

وفي حِبالات الشباب لي دُمىً

أسرى ولا يُسْرَحْن لو فُدينا

And in the ropes of youth I have figures

I walk, and if ransomed would not be freed.

يَسفِرن عن حرائرٍ مجلوَّةٍ

ما وَصَفَت في عِتقها هَجينا

They reveal free noblewomen

That I have not described in their embrace.

إذا اللحاظُ صافحتْ جلودَها

قلتَ تضرَّجنَ وما دَميِنا

When the glances touch their skin

You would say they blushed but did not bleed.

تطعنُ بالأعين مَن طاردها

يا مَن رأى أسنّةً عيونا

They stab with the eyes whoever chases them

O you who saw the most beautiful eyes.

بناتُ كلِّ مُترَفٍ منعَّمٍ

يعُدُّهنَّ عزَّةً بنينا

Daughters of every wealthy dignified man

Who counts them his honor over sons.

يكاد أن يَرزقَهن لحمَه

حيّاً إذا طُفنَ به عِزِينا

He almost sustains them with his flesh alive

If they encircle him with glory.

ملأنَ أبكارا وعُونا صدرَهُ

فكاثرَ الحُورَ بهنَّ العِينا

They filled his breast with virgins and young women

So he multiplied the Houris for the eye.

كم ليلةٍ بتُّ بهنَّ ناعما

ثم غدوتُ هائما مفتونا

How many a tender night I passed with them

Then went infatuated and obsessed.

يفسُق كفّي بينهنَّ وفمي

فتكا ويُمسي مئزري حَصينا

My hands wander between them and my mouth

Kissing, and my cloak becomes a barrier.

بِنَّ فبُدِّلتُ بحلمي سفَها

يُعذَر من ظنّ الهوى جنونا

Girls, so I replaced my dream with foolishness,

To be excused if passion is seen as madness.

عيشٌ نصَلتُ من حُلاه والفتى

يلبَس حينا ويُبَزُّ حينا

A life whose smoothness I stole, and the youth

Wears a garment then takes it off another time.

وطارقٍ والليلُ قد مدَّ له

على بياض الطُّرُق الدجونا

And a visitor, and the night stretched for him

Its darkness on the white roads.

سرى وأبصارُ النجوم حيرةً

بفحمة الشباب قد غشِينا

It walked, and the eyes of the stars wandered

In the darkness of youth that overcame us.

والكلبُ يستافُ البيوتَ طاويا

شطرَيْهِ حتى يلجَ الدَّخينا

And the dog curses the houses, circling

Its sides, until it enters the warmth.

يَكفُرُ تحت كَشحه خَيشومَه

تسمعُ من نُباحِه أنينا

It hides its snout under its paw,

You hear a moan from its barking,

كأنما يخاف في ضلالِه

أن يطرُقَ البيتَ الذي يلينا

As if it fears in its straying

To knock on the house next to ours.

قمتُ له من رقدة معسولةٍ

أُكرِهُ عنها الجنبَ والجفونا

I rose from a sweet sleep

Disliking stillness and eyelids.

ثم أنخت خيرها عقيلةً

بالسيف حتى اعترقَ الوتينا

Then I slaughtered its best sheep

With the sword until the knife was bloodied.

وقلتُ للجازر قم فاختر له

على مناه الرَّخْص والسمينا

And I said to the butcher, stand and choose for it

From its resting place, cheap and fat.

جدلاء قد بات خِماصا أهلها

والضيفُ قد نام بها بطينا

Neighbors who spent the night arguing,

And the guest slept there with a full stomach.

ومزلقٍ من الكلام موئِسٍ

بلاغةَ المفصح أن يُبينا

And smooth speakers despair

Of the eloquence of the articulate to explain.

تُراوِدُ الألسنُ من عَوصائِهِ

شامسةً لا تَتْبَعُ القَرينا

The tongues court from its tangled parts

A doubt or summarize the certainty.

جَمعتُ من شُذَّانِهِ منتقيا

شكوكَه أو خلَصت يقينا

I collected from its disorders carefully selecting

Its doubts or articulated conviction.

وضعتُه محلِّيا برصْفِهِ

أعراضَ قومٍ خُلِقوا حالينا

I put in order just as it is

The traits of people created confused.

شيعة مجدٍ آمنوا بمعجزي

فيه فهم يفضّلوني دِينا

A group who believed in my miracles

So they favor me a religion.

عَدِّ بني أيّوبَ أو جوّز بهم

ولا ترى إلا المنافقينا

Count the sons of Ayyub or permit them

And you will not see except the hypocrites.

واشدُد يديك بقُوى محمدٍ

في الخطب تعلَقْ مُحصَدا متينا

And strengthen your hands with the powers of Muhammad

In the sermons a strong, ripe harvest clung.

مَدَّ يداً إلى المنى فنالها

والعمرُ ما مدَّ له السنينا

He stretched a hand to purpose and attained it

Though life did not extend the years for him.

وأحرزَ الكمالَ في سنينه

في الخمس حتى ناهز الخمسينا

And he attained perfection in his years

In the five until he neared fifty.

تر الوقارَ والحلوم زنة

معتدلا في خلقه موزونا

You see dignity and patience weighing

Balanced in his creation, proportional.

تر الرجال مائة في واحد

بل واحدا ترى به مئينا

You see men one hundred in one

Rather one you see in him two hundred.

كأنما كان له الحلمُ أخا

مضاجِعا في مهده ملبونا

As if wisdom was for him a brother

Lying together in his cradle twisted.

لم يفترش عجزا من الرأي ولا

ساور في الأمر الهوى الظَّنِينا

He did not lay down helplessness of mind and no

Suspicion in the matter courted opinion.

يكفيه أُولى قَدحةٍ من رأيه

إن بيَّت الرأيَ المُخمِّرونا

The prime of his opinion suffices him

If the thoughtful considered the opinion carefully.

مبارَكُ الغرّة فوق وجهه

طلاوةٌ تستفرح الحزينا

Blessed is the radiance above his face

A sweetness that delights the sorrowful.

لو شاء من قال اسمه محمد

زاد فسمى وجهه ميمونا

If he who said his name Muhammad willed

To add and name his face fortunate.

جرى على أعراض عرقٍ صانه

صيَّره لمالِهِ مَهينا

There flowed in the traits of a clan he protected

Making them for his wealth disgraced.

لو جَمعتْ كفّاه ما فرّقتا

في الجود ضاهى بالغنى قارونا

If his palms gathered they would not divide

In generosity rivaling Qarun in riches.

كأنه آلَى على يمينه

ألا تضمَّ درهما يمينا

As if he swore by his right

Never to hold a dirham in his right hand.

مكارمٌ ينقُلها عن أُسرةٍ

كانوا كراما يومَ كانوا طينا

Virtues he carries from a family

Who were generous when they were clay.

بنوْا على مجدهِمُ أحسابَهم

فاستشرِفوا عالين يا بانينا

They built their glory on their lineage

And aspired to high, O builders.

وسمِعَ الناسُ على تفضيلهم

أن عَرَّفوا الماضين بالباقينا

And the people heard of their merit

That they introduced the ancients to the surviving.

كلّ أبٍ سيماه في وجه ابنه

يرَوْن منه مثل ما يروونا

Every father’s mark is in his son’s face

They see in him the like of what they see.

يُعطون إفراطا وتستجيرُهم

فيمنعون مثلما يعطونا

They give to excess and you seek their protection

So they refuse just as they give.

ألسنُهم إخوةُ أرماحِهمُ

مطاعنين ومخاطِبينا

Their tongues are brothers of their spears

Wounding with their tongues and their spears.

كأنهم بالسُّمر يكتبون أو

بقصَب الأقلام يطعنونا

As if they write with spearpoints

Or stab with reed pens.

كانوا وجوهَ دهرهم وكنتَ في

وجههم الغرَّةَ والعِرنينا

They were the visages of their time and you were in

Their faces radiance and delight.

أيِّدتُ منك بيدٍ ذَرّاعةٍ

تُعطي المنى وتمنع المنونا

I supported you with an outstretched hand

That gives purpose and prevents mortality.

وَكَّلَكَ الفضلُ على الأيام في

نصري فكنتَ الثقةَ الأمينا

Merit appointed you over the days in

My victory so you became the trusted confidante.

فصرتُ لا أشكر من أرفدني

غنىً ولا أعاتب الضنينا

So I do not thank who lavished me,

Wealth, nor blame the stingy.

كفيتني الناسَ على عِلَّاتهم

فوقاً رأيتُ صاحبي أو دونا

You sufficed me against people despite their faults

Above or below I saw my companion.

فما أدراي خُلُقا مموَّها

ولا أروم نائلا ممنونا

So I do not know manners hidden from me

Nor do I intend to attain what is granted.

فَلا تُصبْك من يدٍ ولا فمٍ

كائنةٌ أَفرَقُ أن تكونا

So do not be grieved by any hand or mouth

However it turns out to be.

ولا يزلْ جاري المقادير على

ما تبتغي مساعدا مُعينا

And the course of fate continues

Upon what you seek, aiding supporter.

ما كرّ يوم المِهرَجانِ وأرت

ليلةَ عيدٍ من هلالٍ نونا

The day of festival never grew old, and I saw

A night of feast from a new crescent.

وما صبت للحج نفسٌ واجتبت

ركنَ الصفا يجاورُ الحُجُونا

And no soul yearned for Hajj and attained

The corner of Safa neighboring Al-Hujun.

دعاءُ إخلاص إذا رفعتُه

قال الحفيظانِ معي آمينا

A prayer of devotion when I raise it

The two recorders say with me, Amen.