اليوم أنجزَ ماطلُ الآمالِ

فأتتك طائعةً من الإقبالِ

Today my prolonged hopes have been fulfilled

As good fortune came to me willingly

بمُنىً وفين له وهنَّ غوادرٌ

ولقِحن قربكَ بعد طولِ حِيالِ

With wishes, and for it there was tenderness, while hardships have departed

And your proximity has been achieved after long separation

قطعَ المنَى يستام ذاك بنفسه

مسترخِصا والدهرُ فيه يغالي

One who desires must strive for it himself

Seeking it persistently, while time exaggerates it

فأتى يدوس الهولَ نحوك شوقُه

والشوقُ مشَّاءٌ على الأهوالِ

So his longing came trampling over fears toward you

And longing is an igniter of fears

يلقي الخطوبَ بمثلها من همة

قطعت جبالاً في ابتغاء جبالِ

It casts challenges according to its determination

It crossed mountains seeking mountains

في ظلّ وحدته وإنّ رفاقَه

كُثْرٌ ولكن قِلّة الأشكالِ

In the shadows of its solitude, though its companions are many

But few are proper

فرداً فليس يرد صوب صوبه

إلا مصدقه اختيار الغالي

So individually, none turn to face it

Except those who choose what is most valuable

ملءُ الإهاب عليمةٌ بطلابها

خفَّتْ ليومِ تحمّل الأثقالِ

The briskness of resolve is a sign of its seekers

Lightened for the day of bearing burdens

سيّارةٌ فكأنها طيّارةٌ

بشِمال فارسها عنانُ شَمالِ

A steadfast runner, as though it could fly

With its rider's left hand holding the reigns steadily

تجتابُ أربَعُها الوهادَ وطرفُها

بالراسياتِ موكَّلُ الإشغالِ

It roams the valleys and its edge

Is assigned to settled affairs

في الأرض تشخصُ للسماء كأنها

عرفَتْ ذَراك من السِّماك العالي

It rises from the earth to the sky, as though

It has recognized your lofty character

تلقَى غزالتها بجيدِ غزالةٍ

وهلالَها من غُرّةٍ بهلالِ

It meets its gazelles with the neck of a gazelle

And its crescent from the first crescent

فسعى قِبالك جدُّه لا حاله

عفو النفوس ولا اجتهاد المالِ

So your grandfather hastened toward you, his state unhindered,

By bounty of souls, not by wealth

فلتُرغم الأيّامَ زورةُ عاشقٍ

هجرَ الكثيرَ وزار غيرَ التالي

May the days be forced by a lover's fraud

Who abandoned much and visited the select few

ولقد يكون من المحال بلوغُها

لولا تصرُّمُ دولةِ الإمحالِ

And reaching you might have been impossible

Had the state of the impossible not intervened

ولتيأس الآمالُ منّي بعدها

رؤياك كانت منتهى آمالي

And after you, hopes despair in me

For seeing you was the height of my hopes

حولٌ شفَى حالي التي أشفَتْ وقد

تتقلّب الأحوالُ بالأحوالِ

A state that healed my state, though

States change constantly

أنا من جذَبتَ بضَبعِه فسقيتَه

في البحر وهو مخادَعٌ بالآلِ

I am one whose throat you have pulled, and given to drink

In the sea, while I was playing with tools

وخطبتَه فحظيتَ من أفكاره

بغرائبٍ نشزت على البُذّالِ

And from his thoughts you have attained

Wonders that dazzled the negligent

صينت زمانا في الخدور فعُنِّستْ

وجمالها حيٌّ بحظٍّ بالي

I protected her beauty for a time, so it was defiled

Yet her beauty is alive with declining fortune

كم غادةٍ منها رضيتُ لمهرها

منك القبولَ فشيد بالإفضالِ

How many charming ones have I accepted their bride price

Being your acceptance, and built with charity

وجميلةٍ ذلَّت فحينَ رضيتَها

عادت تشوب جمالَها بدلالِ

And a beautiful one humbled, so when you accepted her

She returned to add coquetry to her beauty

كَرَمٌ يفيض على وصول رسائلي

نِعماً فكيف يكون يومَ وصالي

Bounty overflows at the arrival of my messages

Favors, so how will my day of union be?

والبحرُ ينضح للبعيد وكلّما از

داد الدنوُّ ازدادَ فضلَ بِلالِ

And the sea gushes for the distant one, and whenever

TheRelationship grew closer, Bilal's favor increased

ولئن رأيتك بالصفاتِ وبالذي

أوليتني وبصالح الأعمالِ

And if I saw you with traits, and with what

You granted me, and righteous deeds

فالنفسُ عند المعجزات بأن تَرى

أحرَى وإن سكنتْ إلى النُّقَّالِ

Then the soul, when seeing wonders, is more

Deserving, even if it settles for little

لولا حظوظٌ في ذَراك سمينةٌ

ما جئت ملتحفاً بجسمِ هُزالِ

Were it not for abundant fortunes in your company

I would not have come adorned with an emaciated body

ولتُهتُ في وادي الجليدِ فكيف بي

ما خضت لولا أنّه لمعالي

And I would wander in the valley of ice, so how could I have crossed

Had it not been for your noble character

وأُرِي غنيّ القوم أني فوقه

مع خَلَّتي أن صنتُ عنه سؤالي

And I show the rich that I am above him

Despite my deficiency, because I refrained from asking him

وأبيتُ مقتنعاً بفضلة ما معي

علماً بشغل الحظّ بالجُهّال

And I remained content with the favor of what I possess

Knowing fortune preoccupies the ignorant

متزمّلاً بالصونِ أرقع دائباً

بالصبر من أثوابه الأسمالِ

Covering myself in protection, patching constantly

With patience from its rough garments

حتى وددت لوَ انَّ حُسنَ تصبُّري

في نائِبات الدهر أعدى حالي

Until I wished that the beauty of my patience

In the adversities of fate had improved my condition

ولمثل غرّتك الكريمة أن يُرى

حَمْلُ امرىء ما ليس بالحَمّالِ

And for your noble delusion to be seen

Bearing my concerns though not a porter

فأُقِرَّ جنب وهو غير ممهَّدٍ

وأسيغَ شُربٌ وهو غير زلالِ

So I settle on my side though not prepared

And I drink a drink though not pure

شكت الوزارة ذلّ منتحلِ اسمِها

لفظاً وما الأسماء كالأفعالِ

The ministry complained of the humiliation of one claiming its name

In words though names are not like deeds

لما تحلَّى الدّسْتُ أصبحَ عاطلاً

منه ودستك في التعطُّل حالي

When the hand adorned itself it became inactive

From it, while your hand makes my state active

ركب الخطار مجرّباً لا عارفاً

يا قربَ رِكبتهِ من الأوحالِ

He rode dangers unexperienced, not knowledgeable

Oh how close his riding came to the marshes

وخلا فحدَّثَ باعتلاقك نفسَه

لمّا جريتَ وقد يُسِرُّ الخالي

And he imagined your intimacy in himself

When you flowed and the emptiness was pleased

فاعطف لها أو فاتخذ بدلاً بها الز

وراء حُبَّ لها من الأبدالِ

So turn to it or take another in its place

Beyond love for it from the alternatives

ولقد تحنّ إذا ذُكرتَ عراصُها

شوقَ المُعرَّةِ بُشِّرتْ بالطالي

And it surely grieves when you are mentioned, the longing

Of an outcast who was given good news of a meeting

تصبو إليك وأهلُها ورسولُهم

شِعري وقد بَلَّغتُ في الإِرسالِ

They yearn to you, its people and their messenger

My poetry, which I have delivered well in sending

ولقد تكون وإن نأيتَ أباً لهم

بَرًّا بفاقتهم وأمَّ عيالِ

And you may be, even if distant, a father to them

Righteousness, by their destitution, and a mother to dependents

وإذا سقى الغيثُ البلادَ بمسبِلٍ

غدَقٍ وهتَّانِ الحيا هطَّالِ

And if the rain saturates the country with pouring

Flowing, and the downpour of hail

فبدا بدارك ثم عاد فجادها

جَوْدَ الجفون غداةَ شدِّ رحالي

It first appears through your abode then returns and gives it

The rain of eyelids the morning of departure

فاختصّ غزلاناً هناك ووفَّرت

منه العزالي قسطَها لغزالي

So it singled out gazelles there and spared

From it just enough for my gazelle

أفدي بنفسي من يجلّ مكانُه

في النفس أن أفديه بالأموالِ

I would sacrifice myself for one whose position

Is glorified in the soul, that I may sacrifice wealth for him

قمراً أخذتُ على السهاد ذمامَه

إلا توقُّعه طروقَ خيالي

I held the reigns of a moon relaxed on pillows

Unless I anticipated its crescent in my imagination

وكفلتُ عنك له بأكرم أوبةٍ

فسلا عن الإعجال بالإيجال

And I guaranteed good character to you on its behalf

So it asked about haste with composure

فاردد عليه كما يُحبُّ حبيبَهُ

ضخمَ السلامة ناحلَ الأجمال

Then return to it as a lover likes his beloved

Grand with well-being, beautiful in totality

فالسيف يعلَقُ بالأنامل حدُّه

والعين تأباه بغَير صقالِ

For the sword hangs by fingers its sharpness

And the eye refuses it without polishing

قد كان يأتيني قصيراً ناحلا ً

فنهضت أطلب منه حظَّ طوالِ

It used to come to me short, slender

So I got up seeking from it the favor of height

ولقد حلا فسعيتُ حتى حلّ لي

ما كان يحلو طعمُه بحلالِ

And it has beautified, so I strived until

What tasted good to me became permitted