سَليتُ ذا القلبَ العميد فما سلا

وعذلْتُه فأبى يُطيعُ العُذّلا

I asked this steadfast heart but it would not beseech

I admonished it but it refused to heed admonition

وزجرتُ ذا القلب الجريح فما ارعوى

وكفَفْتُ ذا الجِفنَ القريحَ فقال لاَ

I scolded this aching heart but it was not made wary

I restrained these sickly eyelids but they said no

ليت الحداة غداة راحة ما حدوا

والركب ما حث القلاص البزلا

Would that the warriors at dawn were at ease after their warring

And the riders when the guide hastened the slow camels

مُذْ قِيل لي رحلت رُدينةُ خانني

صَبْري ولم أكُ راضياً أن ترْحَلاَ

Since I was told that Rudainah had departed and betrayed me

My patience was lost and I was not pleased that she left

رحلوا بمُثْقَلَةٍ الروادف خُفّفْ

خصْراً فما أحلى الخفيفَ المُثْقلاَ

They set forth with heavily loaded litters then lightened

Their burdens - how pleasant is the lightened heavy load!

وسروَا بها يُخفونَ خطو مطيهم

والليلُ حينَ جَلَتْ ترائبها أنجلا

They traveled with her, hiding the track of their mounts

And when night fell, its darkness hid them completely

هم عَطَّروا الوادي الذي عبروا به

فتُرابُه مِسْكُ يِفوحُ ومِندلاَ

They perfumed the valley through which they passed

So its dust became musk diffusing perfumes

يا ليتهُم حَبَسُوا المطي ولو عَلى

بصري ولا تفلْي بهم عرض الفلاَ

Oh would that they had tethered the mounts though

Before my sight and not disappeared into the horizon

شتانَ مَا بيني وبين أحبّتِي

ليسَ المُعافى يستوي والسُبنَلى

Great is the difference between me and my beloveds

The healthy cannot be compared to the injured and weak

قالوا هجرتَ الراحَ قلتُ هجرتها

وعَفَفْتَ شهر صيامهم إذ أقبلا

They said you have abandoned comfort, I said I have abandoned it

And refrained a month's fast when they arrived

وغدا إذا شوّال جَاء وَجَدتَني

بين الدنان مقمّصاً ومُسَرْبلا

Tomorrow when Shawwal comes I will still be found

Cloaked and robed between the threshing floors

والشيخ ليس تزيد توبتُه على

شهرٍ ولو كان الجُنيدُ الأفضلاَ

An old man's repentance amounts to no more

Than a month even if he were the greatest ascetic

هي شربُ سُكّانِ الجنانِ وسَائلوا

عن ذاك من قرأ الكتابَ المُنْزلاَ

It is the wine of Paradise drank by its dwellers when they asked

About the one who read the Book sent down

ما لي ومَا لتهامةٍ كَسَدَ الثنا

فيها وعاود كلُّ بابٍ مُقْفَلاَ

What is Tihama to me when its passes were closed

And every door returned locked

والشعرُ لي فإذا شَعَرْتُ فواجبٌ

أن أمدحَ الملكَ المظفر أوّلا

Poetry is incumbent on me so when I compose

I must first praise the victorious king

ويَقلُّ شعري عن أقلِّ صفاته

لو أنّني كنتُ البُعَيْثَ وجَرولاَ

My poetry falls short of even a few of his attributes

If I were Bu'ayth or Jarwal the most eloquent

ماذا عسى طرسي وأين أساطري

مِمن سحاب سَماحِه ملأ الملا

What can my poetry and epics do

Against the clouds of his magnanimity that filled the horizon

يا عيسُ أمّي بي تعزَّ ويُوسفاً

تَجدي الخمائل والزلاَل السّلْسلاَ

Oh Jesus my mother is honored and like Joseph

You find perfect and chained pearls

وتُقابلي وجهَ الفلاَحِ وتبصري

بحرَ السَّماح وتجتلي شمس العُلا

You meet the happy face and see the sea

Of benignity with the sun of loftiness shining

مَلِكُ أبو ملك أبوه بعلمكم

ملكٌ تتوج بالعُلاَ وتسَرْبلا

King Abu Malik his father with your knowledge

Is a king crowned with loftiness and clothed in power

نادته أطرافُ الثغورِ فشَدّها

خيلاً وساق لكل ثغرٍ جحفلا

The borders called him so he reinforced them

With troops and sent to each border an army

وكتائباً بِدَثْينةٍ وكتائباً

قد زلزت بيشاً فبات مُزَلزلا

With battalions in Dathina and battalions

That made the ground shake so it quaked

وبأهل حَلْي رُعدةٌ من خوفه

والبِرْك لو سمع المصفق هَرْولاَ

The people of Hail feared him

And would have fled terrified if they heard his shout

وخطيبُ مكةَ ليس يذكر يُوسفاً

إلاّ وكَبّر مَنْ هناك وهلَّلاَ

The preacher of Mecca cannot mention Joseph

Except that he exalts and praises from his minbar

والغورُ من عدنٍ إلى خَبْفي مِنىً

ملأته خيل جنوده حتى امتلاَ

The wilderness from Aden to Khabafi Minna

Was filled with the horses of his soldiers to overflowing

فسُعوده فوق السعود وملكُه

فوق التبابع والأكاسرة الأولى

So his rule is above all others and his kingdom

Above the Tababi and the first Akasira