أهفو لعُلويِّ الرياح إذا جَرتْ

وأظنُّ رامةَ كلَّ دارٍ أقفرتْ

I am awed by the lofty winds when they blow,

And I think the homes of people are desolate when abandoned.

ويشوقُني روضُ الحمى متنفِّساً

يَصفُ الترائبَ والبروقَ إذا جَرتْ

And I yearn for the garden's meadow as a respite,

Describing the caravans and lightning when they pass.

متعلِّلاتٍ بعدَ طارقِةِ النوَى

أو أبرأت داءَ الجوى أو علَّلتْ

Excusing those who came late after staying up all night,

Whether they were healed of lovesickness or became lovesick.

يا دِينَ قلبٍ من ليالي حاجرٍ

مَكَرتْ به فقضتْ عليهِ وانقضَتْ

O heart consumed by long, sleepless nights,

Which toyed with it, then finished it off.

ومَضاجعٍ بالنَّعْفِ بات يعدُّها

غُنماً وأصبح ودُّه لو لم يبتْ

And beds that one counts as sheep when going to sleep,

Yet wakes finding his love for them would be better had he not slept.

ومليحةٍ لو أنصفتْ عينُ المها

ف الحسن ما ثَنَتِ الصليفَ ولا رنتْ

And a gorgeous one, had the eyes of beholders done her beauty justice,

Her charm would not have bent nor rung.

بيضاءَ من كلَلِ الخدور وربّما

ذُكرتِ بداوةُ قومِها فتسهَّمتْ

White like a new moon, sometimes

Her shyness is mentioned, so she frowns.

أخذَتْ وأعطتْ من ضياء الشمس ما اح

تكمت فجمَّعتِ الجمالَ ووفَّرتْ

She took and gave from the sun’s radiance what adorned,

She perfected, collecting beauty and excelling.

وكأنما وَلِيَتْ خَطائطَ وجهِها

يدُها فجاءتْ في الكمالِ كا اشتَهتْ

It is as if her hands had traced the lines of her face,

So it came out perfectly as she wished.

ملكت على باناتِ جَوٍّ أمرَها

فلها الأمارةُ ما استقامتْ وانثنَتْ

She ruled the gazes focused on her,

So she is the commander if she stands straight or leans.

فإذا أرادتْ بالقضيبِ مَسَاؤةً

وتنقَّمتْ جُرماً عليه تأوَّدتْ

When she wants to punish with her wand,

And is angry at an offense, she pretends affection.

سنحتْ لنا دون الغدير فما سَقَى

صفوُ الغدير وعذبهُ مَنْ أعطشَتْ

She leaned toward us, shorter than the pool, yet

The pool’s fresh cool water does not quench like she who thirsts.

ورَمتْ فَلَولا أنها ثُعَلِيَّةٌ

قُلنا رأت ثُعَلاً رَمى فتعلَّمتْ

And she threw - had she not been a proud beauty,

We would have said she saw and learned from a gazelle's throwing.

غَدَرتْ فلولا أنَّها نَذرتْ دمي

لم تعرِف النَّذر الذي فيه وفَتْ

She betrayed - had she not taken a vow to shed my blood,

She would not have known the vow in which she erred.

وعلى النقا والعيسُ تَحْفِرُ في النقا

أخفافُها من ثِقلِ ما قد حُمِّلتْ

Even on the soft sands, her steps dig in,

Her strides heavy with what she was made to carry.

حلَفتْ على قتلي فلمَّا أن رأت

بذَمايَ باقيةَ الرِّماقِ تأوَّلتْ

She swore to kill me, but when she saw

My blood still flowing, she interpreted it well.

أبشر فإنك في الحياةِ مخلَّدٌ

يا من رأى يومَ القليبِ ولم يَمُتْ

Good news! You have eternal life,

O you who saw the treachery and did not die.

وتشرَّفَت لتشبَّ جمرةَ صدرِهِ

بنتُ الأراكِ وهل تُشَبُّ وما انطفتْ

She tried in vain to kindle the embers in his chest,

The daughter of Arak - does she even know how to kindle a fire?

وُرقاء ذكَّرها الحداةُ هوىً لها

طارت ألائفُها به فتذكَّرتْ

Delicate Wurqa was reminded of her passion,

So her thoughts flew to it and she remembered.

هتفتْ على خضراءَ كيف ترنَّمتْ

من فوقِها مالت بها فترنَّحتْ

She cried out to the green meadow, how it hummed

When she leaned upon it and it moaned.

لو كان ينجو من علاقاتِ الهوى

شيءٌ لضُعْفٍ أو لمَرحمةٍ نَجتْ

If love's entanglements allowed escape

For weakness or mercy, it would have been saved.

ولقد طربتُ كما حزنتُ لصوتِها

فشككتُ هل غنَّت بشجوٍ أو بكتْ

I was enthralled when I heard her voice,

I doubted - did she sing sadly or weep?

قف يا أخا الملهوف وقفةَ مُرسَلٍ

حمل الأمانةَ هَضبةً أو أُدِّيَتْ

Stop, O brother of passion, stop like a released prisoner,

Carrying your secret chastely or it will be spread.

واجهَر بصوتك للتي لو خاطبتْ

في السرّ أوعالَ القِنانِ لأسمعتْ

Raise your voice to her - had she spoken

To you quietly, even jars would have heard.

وقل التحيةَ والسلامَ وحاجةً

من بعدِ أن خابت وإن هي أُنجِحتْ

Say greetings, peace, and a request -

Though failed, even if successful once sent.

يا أختَ سعدٍ فيم بات معذَّباً

قلبي عليكِ كأنما عينِي جَنَتْ

O sister of Saad, why does my heart

Lie tormented for you, as if my eyes betrayed me?

رُدِّي الفؤادَ عليَّ فهو وديعةٌ

مضمونةٌ مغرومةٌ إن ضُيِّعتْ

Return my heart to me, it is a trust

Guaranteed, owed - if lost it will be held against you.

إن كان ظنُّكِ بالخيانةِ والقِلَى

أَن يشمَتَ اللاحِي عليك فقد شَمِتْ

If you think I may betray or abandon you,

So enemies gloat over you, they have gloated.

وعميّةِ الأوضاحِ خرساءِ الصدَى

عَشِيَتْ على ضوءِ الصباحِ وأظلمتْ

Blind to warnings, deaf to echoes,

It lived upon the dawn but darkened.

مَرَدَتْ على عين الدليلِ ورأيِهِ

فتخالُه فيها أضلَّ بما خَرَتْ

It disobeyed the eye of proof and its judgment,

So its confusion in them led it more astray.

تتغايرُ البَوغاءُ تحتَ شميمِهِ

فيها ويُنكَرُ صَوتُهُ والمُلتفَتْ

The stars differ under its sky

Their voices unfamiliar there, even when turning to look.

مركوبةٍ جَوْبُ المهاري جوَّها

غَرَرُ المقامِرِ فيه أخسَتْ أو زَكتْ

A boat - the skilled sailor confused within it,

The gambler's deceit - did it lose or gain there?

وإذا الركابُ استيأستْ في جَهلها

كيف النجاءُ توكَّلتْ واستسلمَتْ

When passengers despaired of its ignorance,

How to survive - they entrusted themselves and surrendered.

داوستهُا أبغي العَلاءَ بهمّةٍ

لو شاورت أمَّ الشقيق لَمَا سَمتْ

I prodded it toward lofty goals with determination -

Had it consulted the Mother of Calamities it would not have hastened.

تفلى على الكرماء تنفضُ منهُمُ

طرقَ المطالبِ أسلهتْ أو أحزنَتْ

It turned from the generous ones, shaking off

Their pleas - either made forgetful or saddened.

ووراءها لولا المطامعُ منهُمُ

قُرَباءُ لو قنعتْ بهم ما أبعدتْ

And behind it, were it not for hopes from them,

Relatives - if content therewith it would not have abandoned us.

نبِّهْ بني عبدِ الرحيم ولا تُبَلْ

معهم عيونَ الدهر كيف استيقَظتْ

Wake the clan of Abdel Raheem, and do not mind

The times' eyes however they wake.

واستفتهم في المجدِ تسألْ أنفساً

لَقِنتْ على جهل الورى وتفهَّمتْ

And ask them about glory - question souls

That have realized the world's ignorance and understood.

خَبُثَ الترابُ وما عليه وماؤها

شرفٌ فطابت وحدَها وتطَهَّرتْ

The soil's wickedness and waters

Became honorable, purified and cleansed through it alone.

فكأن زاكِي عِرقِها لم يُسقَ من

ماءِ الزمانِ وفي ثراه ما نبتْ

It is as if the water of time did not water

The clan whose nobility sprouted from its ground.

قومٌ إذا حدَرَ التناكرُ لُثْمَهُمْ

وجلا الصِّفاحُ أكفَّهم فتحسَّرتْ

A people - when estrangement's veil falls upon them

And the outstretched hand is folded, it regrets.

كفرتْ وجوهُهُم البدورَ وآمنتْ

لأكفِّهم أيدي السحابِ فكَفَّرتْ

Their faces denied the full moons, and believed

Their folded arms shaded by clouds, so they were cleansed.

شفعوا العلاء تليدَه بطريفه

فتقدّمت علياؤهم وتأخَّرتْ

They interceded for the lofty, its ancient nobility preceding its new,

So their elite preceded and their lowlydeferred.

ولدتهم الأرضُ التي قد جمعتْ

في الأكثرين فأكيستْ وتنجّبتْ

The land that gathered in throngs bore them,

Wise, highborn - as if strangers come in hard times or few.

جاءت بهم وهي الوَلودُ كأنّهم

غُرباءُ جاءوا في العقامِ أو القَلَتْ

Flocking to the lofty, as if they

Had an appointed time that would not be missed.

متواردين على العَلاء كأنّهم

ضربوا له ميقاتَ يومٍ لم يفُتْ

They settled affairs - its youth like its elders -

Matching strides, succeeding each other.

راضوا الأمورَ فتيُّهم كمسنِّهم

سَوْمَ الكعوبِ تلاحقَتْ فتنظمَّتْ

They embarked on the battlefields selflessly -

Were it not for their character they would not have been preferred.

شَرَعوا إلى ثُغَرِ الخطوب ذوابلاً

لولا صنيعةُ نفسها ما فُضِّلَتْ

Empty inside, seeing the grim tribulations behind,

In war, they match what they embody, not pretending or acting.

جُوفاً ترى الصمَّ الصعابَ وراءها

في الحرب تقفُو ما حذَتْ أو مَثَّلتْ

They wrote upon the feathers of arrows for us as

They stabbed the racing horses, whether lean or fat.

كتبوا على شهب الطروس لنا كما

طَعنوا على الخيل الوِرادِ أو الكُمُتْ

And the eloquent seated speaker among them takes

From it the breaths of the courageous warrior.

والجالسُ القوّالُ منهم آخذٌ

منها بأنفاس الشجاع المنصلِتْ

Take from their talk the discourse of their ancestors,

And wonder at the summits of glory, how they met.

خذ من حديثِهمُ حديثَ قديمهم

واعجب لأطراف العلا كيف التقتْ

And ask the leader of faith what glory remains

From them - it is testimony and steadfastness.

واسأل زعيم الدين عما خلفه

من مجدهم فهو الشهادة والثَّبَتْ

A moon - it is the mirror of their qualities

However much it sees to reflect.

قمرٌ هو المِرآة عن أحسابهم

مهما رأت مما يقابلها حكتْ

It performed their duties and instituted supererogations

In glory - completing the duties and perfecting.

أدَّى فروضَهمُ وسَنَّ نوافلاً

في المجد تممت الفروضَ وكمّلتْ

Malik outshone the precedents, his strides

Racing the winds, so it flagged and was fettered.

فضحَ السوابقَ مالكٌ أشواطَه

جارَى الرياحَ فَخُلَّ عنه وقُيِّدَتْ

And his days clustered around him orphaned,

Arranging themselves for onlookers prominently.

وتقرّطت أيامُه بيتيمةٍ

منه صفَتْ للناظرين وأشرفتْ

The effort of divers and their cunning does not know

From which pearl shells of the sea it was brought out.

لم يدرِ جهدُ الغائصين وكيدُهم

من أيّ أصداف البحار استُخرِجتْ

They speculated with assumptions and frequently

Plunged into what was deemed strange and monumental.

قد جوَّلوا فيها الظنونَ وأكثروا

بالخوض لما استُغرِبتْ واستُعظِمتْ

They said it rose from the endless sea,

No - rather it descended from the endless sphere.

قالوا من البحر المحيطِ تصعَّدتْ

لا بل من الفَلكِ المحيطِ تنزّلتْ

White, filling the hand of purpose, fateful,

It possessed fate and contained favor for those granted it.

بيضاء ملء يد المنى ملمومة

مَلَكَ المنَى وحَوى الغنى مَن أُعطِيتْ

O gatherer of beautiful things after their dispersion

Torn apart - their time of loss has come.

يا جامعَ الحسناتِ بعد شذوذها

مِزَقاً وموجدَها أوانَ تعذّرتْ

O extractor of the exemplary from the vertices of

What was composed by authentic opinion and concealed.

ومقطِّر الأقران عن صَهَواتِ ما

رُبطتْ من الرأي الأصيل وضُمِّرتْ

How many confident in their opinion and calculation

Safe from error or deviation you have constrained.

كم واثقٍ منهم بِعصمةِ رأيه

وحسابِهِ من هفوةٍ أو من غَلَتْ

You pressured him until he acknowledged his weakness

When you placed your hands upon subtleties.

ضايقتَه حتى أقرَّ بعجزه

لما وضعتَ له يديك على النُّكَتْ

And one whose speech seemed an eloquent miracle

Erected as a banner and portrayed.

ومُنطَّقٍ ظنَّ البلاغةَ آيةً

نُصِبتْ له علَماً وشخصً صُوِّرتْ

He spoke excessively expanding his desires -

When you said just one, he fell silent.

ال الكثيرَ موسِّعاً لَهَواتِهِ

عُجْباً فلمّا قلتَ واحدةً سكتْ

He thought rhetoric was only bombast

Not everything described as deepest black is darkest.

حَسِب الفصاحةَ في التشادقِ وحدَه

ما كلُّ ما وُصِف الأُسودُ به الهَرَتْ

And I see since you carried its banner

The ministry was helped against failing leaders and scrubbed clean.

وأرى الوزارةَ مذ حَملتَ لواءَها

نُصِرت على فشل الولاة وظُفِّرَتْ

You supported its correction and corruption within

Whether reforming or corrupting.

ساندت فيها ما عليك صلاحُهُ

وفسادُه إن أصلِحتْ أو أُفسِدتْ

Your brother folded his brother within,

And you were sent as its third, empowered through you.

ثَنَّى أخوك أخاك فيها مُسهِماً

وبُعثتَ ثالثَها الذي بك عُزِّزتْ

You are its horsemen, defending it,

Whether warred upon or reconciled.

أنتم فوارسُها المَذَاودُ دونها

إن حوربت وملوكُها إن سولمتْ

And your backs are created for its chests

Wrongfully confined if narrowed or crowded.

وظهوركم لصدورها مخلوقةٌ

مظلومةٌ إن ضويقت أو زوحمتْ

It belongs to you - so when is it borrowed from you

For beauty and you want it back, it is reclaimed?

نُصبتْ لكم وتمهّدتْ فمتى طرا

من غيركم طارٍ واستوحشتْ

Children of its lineage and intimate with its excuse

When relying upon you it is chaste and widowed.

هي مِلكُكم فمتى استُعيرت منكُمُ

لتجمّلٍ وأردتموها استُرجِعتْ

It would ransom the ground you stepped on

With peaks fallen beneath your feet as you rose.

أبناء نِسبتِها وأبعُلُ عُذْرِها

وإذا عَدَتكم أعزبت وتأيَّمتْ

And one who whispers suspicions to himself about you -

By your life not an errant soul tempted him.

تَفدِي أبا الحسنِ الترابَ وطئته

قِممٌ هوت من تحتِ رِجلك إذ علت

If they burdened you with him, and withered

He would be apportioned what could not be adjusted.

ومحدِّثٍ بك في الوساوس نفسَه

نفسٌ لعمرك ضَلّةٌ ما سَوَّلتْ

You have enriched me beyond all others, so I do not care

If fingers are opened or closed to me.

لو ثاقلوك به وأُلقِيَ يَذبُلٌ

معه لكانت قِسمةً ما عُدّلتْ

I have drunk the sweetest of your drink, so I see

No harm in a fleeting cloud or vanishing mirage.

أغنيتني بك عن سواك فلم أُبَلْ

فُتِحت أناملُ معشرٍ أو أُقفِلتْ

You have described to me intimacy and friendliness - the minds

Were not drunk with its taste until you described it.

وسُقِيتُ أعذبَ شرتيك فما أرى

بأساً ببارقةٍ همَتْ أو أخلبتْ

I rejected the loyalty of a brother and loved ones -

Your precious loyalty is of unmatched make.

وصفوتَ لي بالودّ والصهباءُ لم

تَشُبِ العقولَ بطعمها حتى صفتْ

So whenever I sought other than you or your like

Then witness I was of the perverse faithless.

أنكرتُ ودَّ أخي وعهدَ أحبّتي

وكريمُ عهدك طينةٌ ما أخلقتْ

And to please you - when have thankful souls praised

The benevolent, fearing stinginess or blaming?

فمتى طَلبتُ من الزمان سواك أو

شَرْواك فاشهدْ أنَّ ذاك من العَنَتْ

Fulfilling what was owed by their hands generously -

Obligating creditors, excelling and enriching.

ولتُرضِينَّك ما سمعتَ نواهضٌ

بالشكر لم تَخَفِ اللُّغوبَ ولا وَنتْ

The poor are wealthy with it, and if it saw

A wealthy nature, it increased and graced it.

يقضِين ما أُسلفن من أيدي غِنىً

وَسِعتْ حقوقَ المقرضين وأفضلتْ

An affection that has not been sniffed to revive spirits,

And naturalness that awakens if intoxicated.

يَغنَى بها العرضُ الفقيرُ وإن رأت

عِرضاً غنيَّاً زيَّدته وأثَّلَتْ

It cuts through minds - where is its conclusion

From its defects, whether fortunate or erased?

يحانة ما استُنشِقت أرواحُها

وسلافة تُصحِي إذا ما أَسكرتْ

Its pulpits roared with its call to you

If calling prophethood through you, it would be believed.

تقضي على الألباب أين خلاصها

من شَوبها ما استُحظِيت أو أُلغِيتْ

If it accompanied you one vacant day

It would settle or the horizons would be scented through it.

ضجَّتْ منابرُها بدعوتها لكم

فلو ادعت بكم النبوَّةَ صُدِّقَتْ

And celebration - each of your days it adorns,

Beautifying with however it covered or embellished.

إن صاحبتْ يوماً إليكم عاطلاً

حلَّتْه أو تَفِلَ النواحي عَطَّرتْ

Until you see the youth shedding their nests

And the sun rolled up in their greens.

والمهرجان وكلّ يومٍ عادكم

في لطفه مما كستْ أو زَخرفتْ

فتملَّها وتملَّه مَتلوَّةً

ومُقابَلاً ما كرّ أو ما أُنشِدتْ

حتى ترى الأجداثَ تنفضُ أهلَها

والشمسَ في خضرائها قد كُوِّرتْ