مَن دلَّ ربّاتِ العيونِ النُّجُلِ

أنّ القلوب غرضٌ للمقلِ

The one who guided the mistresses of eyes, that hearts are a target for arrows,

So the black-eyed one did not aim at a black man except that he was wounded, if not killed,

فما رَمتْ سوداءُ منها أسوداً

فغير أن يُجرحَ إن لم يُقتَلِ

Sold his passion cheaply the day desires overwhelmed him,

Entrusting his innards to piercings,

باع رخيصا لبَّه يومَ اللوى

موكّلٌ أحشاءَه بالكِللِ

An unjust ruler's judgment, if he wrongs, does not apologize even if he rules he does not act justly,

My blood, unlawful to shed except for blood,

حكمُ سِوى مسلَّطٍ إذا جنى

لم يعتذِرْ وإن قضى لم يَعدلِ

For passion why was it made lawful, O you of adornment,

You were brought to test me, O creator of magic and temptation,

دَمِي وقد حُرِّم إلا بدمٍ

على اللوى لِمْ حُلَّ يا ذاتَ الحُلي

You claimed your love does not decay my body,

Yes, by your love it decayed, it truly decayed,

سيقتْ لبلبالِك بابليَّة

مالكِ يا خالقةَ السحرِ ولي

Your abode knows that if not for passion,

My eyelids would not have lingered upon your ruins,

زعمتِ لا يُبلِي هواك جسدي

بَلَى وحبِّيك بلَى لقد بَلِي

We hurried the camel drivers there, the camels quick of pace,

Yearning for you, leaning in their walking,

دارُك تدرِي أنه لولا الهوى

ما طُلَّ يوم مقلتي في طلَلِ

Between us there is love, not that we stopped,

When the camel caravan stopped, and the lord of camels,

عجنا بها العيسَ سريعاتِ الخُطَى

شوقاً إليها مائلاتِ الأرجلِ

I honored the waterskins and journeyed on,

So they rested their burdens gratefully,

بنا غرامٌ ما بنا أن وقفتْ

سيّارةُ الإبْل وربُّ الإبِلِ

The blamer in his censure did not know,

That the arrow of blame, my hearing is my death,

أوقرت المزنُ العيابَ وسرت

فوضعتْ حُمولَها بحَوْمَلِ

Take what you want, the more difficult, even if,

Your lot falls short, so extend it and make it longer,

ما علم العاذلُ في إنباضه

سهمَ الملام أنّ سمعي مقتلي

Who knows his soul's honor will be honored, and who,

Honors the judgment of time will be debased,

خذ بالأشدِّ كلَّ ما تبغي وإن

قصّر حظٌ فانبسط وطوّلِ

Moderation is the harvest of the sun at its zenith,

And in infinity there is salvation for the planets,

من يَعلُ عزُّ نفسه يَعلُ ومن

يَعلُ على حكم الزمان يسفُلِ

And how would matters not come from a high place,

When he clings to al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali’s rope,

توسُّطُ الشمس جنى كسوفَها

وفي التناهي نجوةٌ لزُحَلِ

He has blamed me for my hopes, and if the eternal,

Were tied for me, it would not be undone,

وكيف لا يأتي الأمورَ من علٍ

معتلقٌ حبلَ الحسين بنِ علي

I elucidate what is under the tongue, and it is clear,

With his right hand in every ambiguous speech,

أذَمَّ لي على الأماني ماجدٌ

لو عَقدَ الخلودَ لي لم يُحلَلِ

The doer of what he says by his high character,

When the clouds speak what they have not done,

أبلجُ ما تحت اللسان واضحٌ

بيمنه في كلّ خطبٍ مشكلِ

He is openhanded, giving more than asked,

A pleasure, giving what was not requested,

فاعلُ ما قال على عِلّاتِه

إذا السحابُ قال ما لم يفعلِ

I called him while fate had ripened for me,

Fruit not guarded against by any arrows,

جذلانُ ما سألتَه وزاده

مسرَّةً إعطاءُ ما لم يُسأَلِ

While my strategies against him were lost,

As the sands had multiplied against my strategies,

دعوتهُ والدهر قد أنبلَ لي

طريرةً لا تُتَّقَى بنَبلِ

An honorable soul enlightened me about him,

Youth disdained it, its taste like colocynth,

وحِيَلي ضائعةٌ في كيده

والرملُ قد كاثرته بحيلي

Until I rose against it lion-like,

The seats of indolence and decay turned away from me,

فبصَّرتْني منه نفسٌ حرّةٌ

شاب الإباءُ شهدَها بحنظلِ

My namesake taught me until I surpassed him,

That passion is a mount for poetry,

حتى نهضتُ نابها نابيةً

عنّي مقاعدُ الخمول المُرِملِ

And his generosity facilitated praise for me,

As generosity is the key to the locked tongue,

علمني النسيبَ حتى خلتُه

أنّ الهوى مطيّةٌ للغزلِ

Ask the Banū ʿAbd al-Raḥīm about their traits,

What qualities set out or was likened to their house,

وذلّل المديحَ لي نوالُه

والجودُ مفتاحُ اللسان المقفَلِ

They trod the wars under their pens,

Stabbing with them the first squadrons,

سل ببني عبد الرحيم وصفَهم

ما سار في بيتٍ لهم أو مثَلِ

How the insignificant attacked while mounted,

Upon a horse of theirs but did not dismount,

داسوا الحروب من قنا أقلامهم

بالطاعنات في الرعيلِ الأوّلِ

And he dragged along in his books,

An army that marched with him but he did not depart,

كم نازلَ الكميَّ وهو راكبٌ

راكبُ دَستٍ منهمُ لم ينزِلِ

So no occasion undermined your position,

No stumbling of my legs in the legs,

وجرَّ من كتيبةٍ في كتبهِ

سرَتْ به وشخصُه لم يرحلِ

And the day comes bringing you noble festival,

Conveying to you the covenant of a thousand coming festivals,

فلا أخلَّ بالعلاء موقفٌ

لقدميك زَلقٌ بالأرجلِ

A day that narrated your nobility and joy,

And surpassed what one reasonable comprehends or does not comprehend,

وأقبل الأضحى عليك مُوصِلاً

إليك عهدَ ألفِ عيدٍ مقبلِ

The superiority of people and time is due to you both,

In the onlookers’ eyes and in imagining,

يومٌ حكاك شرفا وبهجةً

وفاق من يعقِلُ ما لم يعقِلِ

As if the days in that single day,

And all the people from you in that single man,

فضلُ الأنام والزمان لكما

في نظر العين وفي التخيّلِ

كأنما الأيّام في يوم به

والناس منك كلُّهم في رجلِ