يا وحشة المجد ثقي بالأَنَسِ

قد عطّت الشمسُ رداءَ الغَلَسِ

O glory's wildness, trust in intimacy

The sun has shed the garb of darkness

ويا حمى الزوراء أمنا حرَّمتْ

رَعيك كفُّ الأخدريّ الأشوسِ

And O Zawra's fever, did it forbid

Your pasture from the forearm of Al-Khadiri, the most valiant

من بعد ما كنتَ ببعد صوته

مهبِط كلِّ خابطٍ مَلَسِّسِ

After you had been far due to his voice

The landing place of every disputant and smooth talker

عاد الحيا مرقرقاً على الثرى

بمائه قبَّل كلَّ يَبسِ

The serpent returned writhing on the ground

With its water it kissed every dryness

وانتشرت خضراءَ دوحةُ العلا

فالساقُ وَحْف والقضيبُ مكتسي

And the green oasis of Al-A’la spread

So the palm trees and rods are clad

ورَدَّ مجدُ الدين في أيامه

دِينَ الندى كأنّه لم يَدرُسِ

And the glory of religion returned in his days

The religion of dew as if it had not waned

عزَّ به الفضلُ كأن لم يُهْتَضَمْ

وقامت العليا كأنْ لم تجلسِ

Merit was honored by it as if it had not been infringed

And the eminent arose as if they had not sat

ووضَحتْ على ضَلالاتِ السُّرى

طُرْقُ المنى للرائد الملتمسِ

And the paths of purpose became clear

To the searching guide on the obscure roads

فيا مثيرَ العيسِ جعجعها ويا

مُرسلَ أفراسِ الرجاءِ أحبسِ

So O stirrer of the stallion, restrain its clamor and O

Sender of the steeds of hope, withhold them

كُفِيتُما تهجيرَها مُظهِرةً

وخوضَها في الليل بحرَ الحِندِسِ

You both have sufficed in stirring them up

And driving them into the night sea of branches

جاءكما الحظ ولم تقامرا

بناقةٍ فيه ولا بفرسِ

Luck came to you both and you did not gamble

With a she-camel among it or a horse

لم تضرِبا أعناقَها وسُوقَها

حرصاً لإدلاجٍ ولا معرَّسِ

You did not strike their necks and haunches

Eagerly for traveling by night or armor

رَدَّ الكرى إلى العيون قُرّةً

وعاد للأنفس روحُ الأنفسِ

Fate returned pleasure to the eyes

And the soul of souls returned to the selves

بالحلو والمرّ على أعدائه

والطائشِ السرج الوقورِ المجلسِ

With sweet and bitter against his enemies

And the reckless, dignified, wise assembly

ببابليٍّ مالُه لم يمتنعْ

وسامريٍّ عِرضُه لم يُمسَسِ

With a Babylonian whose wealth was not withheld

And a Samarian whose honor was not touched

أروع لا يعثر من آرائه

بمشكل هافٍ ولا ملتبسِ

Most wondrous, his opinions do not stumble

Upon any convoluted or ambiguous problem

إذا دجى الخطبُ سرى مستقدماً

من عزمه في قمرٍ أو قبَسِ

When fate frowns, he proceeds willingly

With his resolve in a moon or kindling

لا هاشم مغرِّر لم يعتبر

ولا حريصٌ مُعجَبٌ لم يقِسِ

Neither a deceitful Hashimite who did not learn

Nor a greedy admirer who did not measure

نجَّذتِ الأيام منه قارحاً

بفضله والسنُّ لم تُعنَّسِ

The days snatched from him a harvest

With his merit though old age was not geriatric

وطال أمّاتِ العضاهِ مشرِفاً

وهو قريبٌ عنده بالمغرسِ

And the mothers of censure prolonged in eulogy

While he is near them with the planted

تختمر الزُّهْرةُ في لثامه

بصُدغِها حتى الدجى المعسعِسِ

The blossom ferments in his wrappings

At his cheeks until the murky gloom

فإن غلت بصدره حميَّةٌ

راعك وجهُ الضيغم المعبِّسِ

So if anger swells in his chest

Watch the frowning face and frown

رمَتْ به صحنَ السماء فسما

مدارجَ البيتِ الأشمِّ الأقعسِ

It cast him into the celestial bowl so he rose

To the degrees of the solemn, lofty house

فأنت من أخلاقه في مغزل

ومن حمى غيرته في محمِس

You are of his ethics in disposition

And of his protective zeal in inspiration

بيتٌ يقول الله بيتٌ مثلُه

عندِيَ لم يُبْنَ ولم يؤسَّسِ

A house that God has said, a house like it

Has not been built or founded for me

سماحةُ الغيث وفي أرجائه

مهابطُ الوحي وروحُ القُدُسِ

The generosity of rain and in its corners

Are the landing places of revelation and the Spirit of Holiness

ومنه فرعا مكةٍ وطيبةٍ

تشعَّبا ومنه بيتُ المقدِسِ

And from it branched Mecca and Tayba

They diverged and from it the Holy House

قَوْمٌ بهم ثَمَّ ونحنُ فترةٌ

فَرْجُ المضيقِ وانكشافُ اللَّبَسِ

A people then through whom we are an interval

The relief of distress and clarity of confusion

هم حملوا على الصراط أرجلاً

لولا هداهم عثرتْ بالأرؤسِ

They carried legs upon the Path

Else their heads would have stumbled

وحطَّموا وَدَّاً وخلو هُبَلاً

مبدّلين بالعتيق الأملسِ

And they smashed passion and emptied folly

Changing the old to the smooth

ديست من الشِّرك بهم جماجمٌ

ترابُها من عزةٍ لم يُدَسِ

Because of them, skulls of polytheism vanished

Whose soil was never trodden from glory

ساروا بتيجان الملوك عندنا

معقودةً على الرماح الدُّعَّسِ

They marched with the crowns of kings among us

Tied to resolute spears

آلُك آلُ الحجراتِ أيقظوا

للرشد أبصارَ القلوبِ النُّعَّسِ

O people of the chambers, they awakened

The insights of wretched hearts for integrity

وأخَذُوا إلى فسيح لاحبٍ

بالناس من جهل المضيق المُلبِسِ

And they took to the spacious meadow

People from the narrowness of confusing ignorance

قالوا فجادوا فكأنّ الرعدَ لم

يُرزِمْ وماءَ المزن لم ينبجِسِ

They spoke and so they were generous as if

Thunder had not rumbled nor torrents burst forth

وحدُّك الناطقُ بالصدق له

طاعةُ كلّ ناطقٍ وأخرسِ

You alone speaking truth, obedience to you

From every speaker and mute

وبأبيك حبه وبغضه

غداً يَرَى المحسنُ خسرانَ المُسي

And by your father his love and hatred

Tomorrow the benefactor will see the loss of the wretched

وأنت ما أنت لُحوقاً بِهمُ

زُرارةٌ تجري وراءَ عُدَسِ

And you are who you are, following them

A button running after lentils

يفديك مملوكٌ عليه أمرُهُ

رِخوُ البِدادين ضعيفُ المَرِسِ

A slave who owns himself would ransom you

Weak of forearms, feeble in resolution

يأكله العيبُ فلا يُميطُه

بماله عن عِرضه المضرَّسِ

Faults eat him yet he does not remove them

From his honor with his money, patched

لو خنقته ذلَّةُ البخل لما

قال بدينار لها تنفَّسي

If the humiliation of stinginess strangled him, he would not

Say a dinar, take a breath

يغزو أباك ويظنّ مقنعاً

عزَّ الأصول مع ذلِّ الأنفسِ

He raids your father thinking masked

The glory of ancestry with the disgrace of souls

ضُمَّ إليك فعلوت ولَطَى

سومَ الأشمِّ قستَه بالأفطسِ

Joined to you so he rebelled and allied

The mark of the wise, he matched its stubbornness with impudence

عاد بظلّ بيته وأصحرت

غرُّ مساعيك بقاعٍ مشمسِ

He returned under the shade of his house and your

Efforts were fruitless in barren lands

تأخذ حقَّ العزّ قسراً وسُطاً

والأسد لا تعاب بالتغطرسِ

You seize the right of glory forcibly and justly

While the lion is not shamed by ferocity

فاصدع بها داميةً نحورُها

صدعَ فتىً في نقعها منغمسِ

So shock thereby bodies, striking their throats

With the shocking blow of a young man immersed

وقم بنا نطلبها عاليةً

إما لمرمى العزّ أو للمرمسِ

And rise, we will seek it loftily

Either for the goal of glory or the spearhead

فالسيف ما لم يمض قُدماً زُبرةٌ

والليثُ كلبُ البيت ما لم يفرِسِ

For the sword unless it steps forward boldly

Is an idle stick and the lion a home guard dog unless it hunts

نادى البشيرُ وفؤادي جمرةٌ

للشوق من يرفع له يقتبسِ

The bearer of good tidings called and my heart is an ember

For longing, who will kindle for him, let him light

والبينُ قد أوحدني فليس لي

بعدك غير وحشتي من مؤنسِ

While separation has isolated me so I have no

Comfort after you except my anguish from a companion

والبعد باستمراره يطلع لي

كيف طمعتُ من ثنايا الموئسِ

And continuous remoteness appears to me

How I hoped from the intimacy of the desolate

دعا وقد ضعفتُ عن جوابه

كأنّ نفْسي خُلقتْ من نَفَسِ

He called and I was too weak to answer him

As if my soul was created from a breath

هذا الزكيّ ابن التقيّ فطغى

شيطان شوقي وهفا موسوسي

This pure son of the pious so the demon

Of my passion prevailed and my whisperer seduced me

وقيل ممسوس ولكن واجد

قلباً له ضلّ ولمَّا يُمسَسِ

And it was said possessed but one who has

A heart that erred though it was not touched

فيا لها غنيمةً سِرِّي بها

لم يختلج وخاطري لم يهجُسِ

What a gain secretly so I was not

Troubled and my mind was not muddled

أحلَى على القربِ وقد تملَّأت

عيني بها من نظرة المختلسِ

Sweeter than nearness when my eyes had their fill

From a fleeting glimpse of the secretive

حباً غزيراً لا كما تُسنيه لي

من نَزرِ ماءٍ وقَلِيبٍ يبسِ

Abundant love, not as you accord me

A trickle of water and little to quench thirst

وشكر ما توسع من خلائقٍ

على البعاد ثوبُها لم يَدْنَسِ

And thanks for what expanded from manners

Though its garment was not soiled by distance

طاهرة إذا عركتَ جانبي

من ودّ قومٍ بالخبيثِ النجِسِ

Pure, if you wipe my sides

From the affection of a people of filthy evil

عرفتني والناس ينكرونني

وجدَك بالشفوف والتفرسِ

You knew me while people denied me

And your search found me with discernment and inquiry

أودعتُك الفضلَ فلا حقوقه

عندك ضاعت لي ولا العهد نُسي

I entrusted you with merit so neither its rights

Were lost with you nor was the covenant forgotten

فقصرُ ما أوليتَ أن أجزيَهُ

جزاءه في المطلَقاتِ الحُبُسِ

The least I expected you to reward

Was an eternal reward in imprisonment

شوارداً باسمك كلَّ مطرَحٍ

ولم تُرَحْ عنك ولم تُعَرّسِ

Wandering with your name at every resting place

But you were not content nor married

كالحور في خيامها مقصورة

وفي الفلا مع الظباء الكُنَّسِ

Like houris in their tents secluded

And among the oryx with the sheep at pasture

مما حويت برُقايَ فسرَى

سحرِيَ في حيَّاتهنّ النُّهَّسِ

From what my palm trees contained, magic spread

In their lively snakes of molting skin

يترك كلُّ ماسح غير يدي

دماً على نُيوبها والأضرسِ

Every wiper leaves behind but my hands

Blood on their fangs and canine teeth

تغشاك لا تحتشم الصبحَ ولا

ترهبُ في الليل دبيبَ العَسَسِ

Covering you, not shy of dawn

Nor fearing at night the creeping of insects

فأنت منها أبداً غوادياً

ورائحاتٍ في ثياب العُرُسِ

So you are forever roaming among them

And scents in the clothes of the bridegroom

فاسمع لها واسلم على اتصالها

واتّقِ أن تُعيرَها واحترسِ

So listen to her and greet her connection

And beware of ignoring her and take precautions

واستغن بي وأغنني عن معشرٍ

سُورَةُ فضلى بينهم لم تُدرَسِ

And dispense with me and make me needless of a people

Whose superiority between us was never studied

أعوذ من ليني لهم بجَعَدي

ومن ذحولي بينهم ببُلُسي

I seek refuge from being soft with them with my tangled hair

And my fawning among them with my garment

شفيتُ أعراضَهُمُ وعيشتي

فيهم متى تبرا اختلالاً تُنكسِ

I healed their honor and lived among them

Whenever it declined and stooped

ودّ القريضُ قبل ما قال لهم

على لساني أنَّ نطقي خَرَسي

The wish to meet them preceded what I said to them

On my tongue that my speech was mute to them

فإن تَغرْ أو تكفني جانبهم

فلستُ من ذلك بالمبتئسِ

So if they are deluded or disappoint me

Then I am not distressed by that