هيَ الرُبوعُ فِقِف في عَرصَةِ الدارِ

وَحَيِّها وَاِسقِها مِن دَمعِكَ الجاري

The gardens are in full bloom, so pause in the courtyard of home

These are the ruins, so stand in the courtyard of the abode,

And give it life, and water it with your flowing tears

Greet them, and water them with your flowing tears.

مَعاهِدي وَلَيالي العُمرِ مَقمرَةٌ

قَضَيتُ فيها لُباناتي وَأَوطاني

My old dwelling, and the nights of my life lit up

My familiar haunts, where the nights of life were moonlit,

Where I spent my youth and homeland

Where I fulfilled my heart's desires and found my home.

بَكَت عَلَيها غَوادي المُزنِ باكِرَةً

وَجَرَّتِ الريحُ فيها ذَيلَ مِعطارِ

My love wept for it at dawn early on

The morning rainclouds wept over them early,

As the breeze stirred its sweet fragrance

And the wind dragged across them the tail of a perfumed robe.

مَجَرَّ أَذيالِ غَضّاتِ الصِبا خُردٍ

حورِ المَدامِعِ المَدامِعِ مِ الأَدناسِ أَطهارِ

The tresses of chaste youth fluttered

Dragging the skirts of tender, youthful maidens,

As pure as tears, cleansed of all impurities

With beautiful eyes, pure and cleansed of all stain.

كَأَنَّما أُفرِغَت مِن ماءِ لُؤلُؤَةٍ

نوراً تَجَسَّدَ في أَرواحِ أَبشارِ

As if poured from a pearl’s water

As though they were poured from the liquid of a pearl,

A light embodied in joyous spirits

Light embodied within spirits of human skin.

لِلسَّمعِ مَلهىً وَلِلعَينِ الطَموح هَوىً

فَهُنَّ لَذَّةُ أَسماعٍ وَأَبصار

A delight to the ear, the eye’s longing infatuation

A diversion for the ear and a passion for the ambitious eye,

For they are the pleasure of hearing and seeing

For they are the delight of hearing and of sight.

إِذا هَزَزنَ القُدودَ الناعِمات تَرى

أَغصانَ بانٍ تَثَنَّت شبهَ أَقمارِ

When they gently sway their delicate branches

When they shake their soft statures, you see

You’d see boughs of Bān bending like crescents

Willow branches bending, resembling moons.

تَشكو مَعاطِفُها إِعيا رَوادِفِها

يا لِلعَجائِب ذا كاسٍ وَذا عاري

Their outer garments complain of their underskirts

Their slender waists complain of the burden of their hips,

What wonders! One covered, the other bare

Oh, the wonder! This part is clothed, and that is bare.

فَكَم صَرَعنَ بِسَهمِ اللَحظِ من بَطَلٍ

عَمداً فَعَلنَ وَما طولِبنَ بِالثارِ

How many heroes fell slain by their deadly glance

How many heroes have they struck down with the arrow of a glance,

Intentional they did it, though not seeking vengeance

Deliberately they did it, yet no vengeance was demanded.

يَصبو إِلَيهِنَّ مَخلوعٌ وَذو رَشَدٍ

وَلَيسَ يَدنينَ مِن إِثمٍ وَلا عارِ

Smitten men and wise men alike desire them

The dissolute and the rational alike yearn for them,

Without sin or shame in their closeness

Yet they bring one near to neither sin nor shame.

تِلكَ العُهودُ التي ما زِلتُ أَذكُرها

فَكَيفَ لا وَالذي أَهواهُ سَمّاري

Those are the days I continue to remember

Those are the covenants I still remember,

How not when my beloved is chatting

And how could I not, when those I love were my night-companions?

أَستَغفِرُ اللَهَ لكِنَّ النَسيبَ حُلىً

يُكسى بِها الشِعر في بادٍ وَفي قاري

I beg God’s forgiveness, but charming poetry

I ask God’s forgiveness, but the love-prelude is an ornament

Adorns verse, whether settled or nomad

With which poetry is clothed, for the nomad and the city-dweller.

قَد أَنشَدَ المُصطَفى حَسّانُ مُبتَدِئاً

قَولاً تَغَلغَل في نَجدٍ وَأَغوار

Al-Mustafā Ḥassān poetically said

Hassan recited to the Chosen One, beginning

Words that echoed in Najd and its valleys

With words that penetrated the highlands of Nejd and the lowlands:

غَرّاءُ واضِحَةُ الخَدَّينِ خُرعُبَةٌ

لَيسَت بِهَوجا وَلا في خَمسِ أَشبارِ

“A fair one, with flushed cheeks, a bit chubby

"A radiant woman, clear-cheeked, tender,"

Not tall, nor even five handspans high

"Not reckless, nor short of stature."

كَأنَّ ريقَتَها من بَعدِ رَقدَتِها

مِسكٌ يُدافُ بِما في دَنِّ خُمّار

As if her spittle after her slumber

"As if her saliva, after her slumber,"

Were musk she exhales from her veil

"Is musk mixed with what lies in the vintner's jar."

أَقولُ لِلرَّكبِ لَمّا فَرَبّوا سَحَراً

لِلسَّيرِ كلَّ أَمونٍ عَبرِ أَسفارِ

I say to the riders when they set out at dawn

I say to the riders when they prepared at dawn,

For travel, every safe arrival across lands

To journey, on every trusty camel traversing the wilds,

عيساً كَأنَّ نعامَ الدَوِّ ساهَمها

ريشَ الجَناحِ فَزَفَّت بعدَ إِحضارِ

Quickly! As if the ostriches of Al-Daw’

White camels, as if the ostriches of the wasteland shared with them

Were flapping wings after adornment

The feathers of wings, so they glided after galloping.

حُثّوا المَطِيَّ فَغِبَّ الجِدِّ مَشرَبُكُم

مِن بحرِ جودٍ خَضمِّ الماءِ زَخّارِ

Urge on the horses, as your generosity’s sea

Urge on the mounts! For after the effort is your watering place,

With tumultuous water is an overflowing spring

From a sea of generosity, vast and surging with water.

يُروي عِطاشَ الأَماني فَيضُ نائِلِهِ

إِذا اِشتَكَت مِن صدى عُدمٍ وَإِقتار

It quenches the thirst of wishes for its attainer

The overflow of his giving quenches the thirsty hopes,

When it complains of the echo of destitution and dearth

When they complain of the thirst of poverty and want.

مَلكٌ تَجَمَّلتِ الدُنيا بِطَلعَتِه

وَأَسفَر الكَونُ عَنهُ أَيَّ إِسفارِ

A king whose rise adorned the world

A king by whose countenance the world is beautified,

And the universe shone with his greatness

And the universe shines from him with radiant light.

ملكٌ تَفَرَّعَ من جُرثومَةٍ بَسَقَت

في باذِخِ المَجدِ عَصراً بَعدَ أَعصارِ

A king descended from a root that yielded

A king branched from a stock that towered high

Fruit in the generous era after eras

In lofty glory, era after era.

هُم جَدَّدوا الدين إِذ خَفيَت مَعالِمُهُ

وَفَلَّلوا حَدَّ كِسرى يَوم ذي قارِ

They renewed the faith when its pillars faded

They renewed the Religion when its landmarks were hidden,

And cleft the edge of Kisrā in Dhi Qar

And they blunted the edge of Chosroes on the day of Dhi Qar.

هُم المُصيبونَ إِن قالوا وَإن حَكَموا

وَالطَيّبونَ نَثا مَجدٍ وَأَخبارِ

They who are right when they speak and judge

They are the correct ones when they speak or judge,

Goodly reports and news spread of them

And the pure ones in reputation and report.

وَالباذِلونَ نَهارَ الرَوعِ أَنفُسَهم

وَالصائِنوها عَنِ الفَحشاءِ وَالعارِ

They who expend themselves to face the horror

And those who sacrifice their souls in the day of terror,

And defend virtue from disgrace and shame

And those who guard them from indecency and shame.

مَجدٌ تَأَثَّلَ في نَجدٍ وَسارَ إِلى

مَبدى سُهَيلٍ وَأَقصى أَرض بُلغارِ

Glory flourished in Najd and spread

Glory rooted in Nejd and traveling to

To the horizon of Suhayl and furthest Bulgaria

The rising place of Canopus and the furthest lands of Bulgars.

مَحامِدٌ في سَماءِ المَجدِ مُشرِقَةٌ

مِثلَ النُجومِ التي يَسري بِها الساري

Praise in the illustrious heaven shines

Praiseworthy traits shining in the sky of glory,

Like the stars traversing the skies

Like the stars by which the night-traveler navigates.

لكِنَّ تاجَ مُلوكِ الأَرضِ إِن ذُكروا

يَوماً وَأُرجِحَ في فَضلٍ وَمِقدار

But the crown of earth’s kings, when mentioned

But the crown of the kings of the earth, if mentioned

One day, surpassing in merit and worth

One day, and weighed in merit and worth,

عَبدُ العَزيزِ الذي كانَت خِلافَتُهُ

مِن رَحمَةِ اللَهِ لِلبادي وَلِلقاري

Is ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, whose caliphate

Is Abdul-Aziz, whose caliphate was

Was God’s mercy upon settled and nomad

A mercy from God to the nomad and the settler.

أَعطاهُمُ اللَهُ أَمناً بَعد خَوفِهِمُ

لَمّا تَوَلّى وَيُسرً بَعدَ إِعسارِ

After their fear, God gave them safety

God gave them security after their fear

When he assumed power, and eased hardship

When he took charge, and ease after hardship.

أَشَمُّ أَروعُ مَضروبٌ سُرادِقُهُ

عَلى فَتى الحَزمِ نَفّاعٍ وَضَرّارِ

I sense the most terrifying lion whose canopy

Proud, magnificent, his pavilion is pitched

Shields the resolute, bold, and piercing hero

Over a youth of determination, who benefits and harms.

مُظَفَّرُ العَزمِ شَهمٌ غَيرُ مُؤتَشِبٍ

مُسَدَّدُ الرَأيِ في وِردٍ وَإِصدارِ

The victorious, valiant, undaunted in resolve

Victorious in resolve, gallant, of pure lineage,

Sound in opinion, in issuing and enacting

Guided in opinion in every undertaking.

ما نالَ ما نال إِلّا بَعدَ ما سَفَحَت

سُمرُ العَوالي دَماً مِن كلِّ جَبّارِ

He attained what he attained only after

He did not attain what he attained except after

The reddened swords spilled the blood of every tyrant

The brown spears shed the blood of every tyrant.

وَجَرَّها شُزَّباً تَدمى سَنابِكُها

تَشكو الوَجا بَينَ إِقبالٍ وَإِدبارِ

And he dragged them in the dirt, their litters bloodstained

And he dragged the horses lean, their hooves bleeding,

Complaining of assaults amid advance and retreat

Complaining of soreness between attack and retreat.

تَعدو بِأُسدٍ إِذا لاقَوا نَظائِرَهُم

باعوا النُفوسَ وَلكِنَّ القَنا الشاري

They charge with lions when facing their equals

Charging with lions who, when meeting their equals,

They sacrificed themselves, but the spears were the buyers

Sold their souls, but the spears were the buyers.

يَحكي اِشتِعالُ المَواضي في أَكُفِّهِمُ

تَأَلُّقَ البَدرِ في وَطفاءَ مِدرارِ

The blaze of battlefields in their palms tells

The flashing of sharp swords in their hands mimics

Of the moon’s radiance quenching the flames

The brilliance of the full moon in a dark, raining cloud.

وَكَم مَواقِفِ صِدقٍ في مَجالِ وَغىً

حَكَّمتَ فيها سِنانَ الصَعدَةِ الواري

And how many sincere scenes amid the fray

How many stands of truth in the arena of war,

Where you decisive the piercing blade arbitrated

Where you made the sparking spear-point the judge.

وَكَم عُلا طَلَّقَتها نَفسُ عاشِقِها

مِن خَوفِ بِأَسكَ لا تَطليقَ مُختارِ

And how many exalted ones their souls for love of you

And how many high stations the soul of their lover divorced

Freed without choice or consent

Out of fear of your might, not a divorce of choice.

قَهراً أَبَحتَ حِماهُم بِالقَنا وَهُمُ

أُسدٌ وَلكِن أَتاهُم ضَيغَمٌ ضاري

By compulsion you protected them with spears while they

By force you made their sanctuary open to spears,

Were lions, but a harmful wolf attacked them

They were lions, but a fierce predator came upon them.

سَربَلتَ قَوماً سَرابيلَ الندى فَبَغوا

فَسُمتَهُم حَدَّ ماضي الضَربِ بَتّار

You clothed a people in the garb of dew, but they wished

You clothed a people in robes of generosity, but they rebelled,

To cleave you with the strike of an unsheathed sword

So you branded them with the edge of a cutting sword.

نَسَختَ آياتِ مَجدِ الأَكرَمينَ وَما

يَبني المَعالي سِوى سَيفٍ وَدينارِ

You erase the verses of the glorious two, but none

You abrogated the signs of glory of the noble ones,

Builds glory except by sword and coin

For nothing builds heights like a sword and a dinar.

ذا لِلمُقيمِ عَلى النَهجِ القَويمِ وَذا

لِكُلِّ باغٍ بِعَهدِ اللَهِ غَدّارِ

For he who upholds the straight path, and for

This is for the one steadfast on the right path,

Every betrayer of God’s covenant, a plotter

And that is for every aggressor betraying God's covenant.

فَدُم شَجىً في حُلوقِ الحاسِدينَ هُدىً

لِلمُهتَدينَ غِنىً لِلجارِ وَالطاري

May their blood be anguish in enviers’ throats, and guidance

So remain a choking obstruction in the throats of the envious,

For the guided, wealth for settler and nomad

A guidance for the guided, wealth for the neighbor and visitor.

وَهاكَ مِنّي مَديحاً قَد سَمِعتَ لهُ

نَظائِراً قَبلُ مِن عونٍ وَأَبكارِ

You’ve heard before from ʿAwn and poetic pioneers

And take from me a panegyric... you have heard

Wonders encircling the horizons, dispersed

Its equals before from Awn and others.

غَرائِباً طَوَّقَ الآفاقَ شارِدُها

تَبقى عَلى الدَهرِ طَوراً بَعد أَطوارِ

To remain across time after eras

Rare verses, whose fame has encircled the horizons,

Were it not for you, I would not be so concerned with verse

Remaining through time, era after era.

لَولاكَ ما كُنتُ بِالأَشعارِ ذا كلَفٍ

وَلا شَرَيتُ بِها مَعروفَ أَحرارِ

Or gain by it nobility's acceptance

Were it not for you, I would not be fond of poetry,

And the station of disgrace does not satisfy a man

Nor would I have purchased with it the favor of free men.

وَمَوقِفُ الهونِ لا يَرضى بِهِ رَجُلٌ

لَو أَنَّهُ بَينَ جَنّاتٍ وَأَنهارِ

Even if amid gardens and rivers

For a position of humiliation is not accepted by a man,

You honored me generously, so I took pride among

Even if he were amidst gardens and rivers.

طَوَّقتَني كَرماً نُعمى فَخَرتُ بِها

بَينَ البَريَّةِ مِن بَدوٍ وَحُضّار

The nomads and settled folk of the wilderness

You adorned my neck with generosity and favor I boasted of

I will forever praise a time that was

Among all creation, nomad and city-dweller.

لَأَحمَدَنَّ زَماناً كان مُنقَلَبي

فيهِ إِلَيكُم وَفيكم ضُغتُ أَشعاري

My frequent return to you, and you my verse’s cradle

I will surely praise a time when my return

So if I thank, your gifts that have spoken

Was to you, and among you I composed my poems.

فَإن شَكَرتُ فَنُعماكَ التي نَطَقَت

تُثني عَليكَ بِإِعلاني وَإسراري

Will praise you in my proclamation and secrecy

If I give thanks, it is your favors that spoke,

And bless the Lord on the guide, his partisans

Praising you publicly and in secret.

وَصلِّ رَبِّ على الهادي وَشيعَتهِ

وَصَحبهِ وَارضَ عَن ثانيهِ في الغار

And companions, and be pleased with his second in the cave

And bless, O Lord, the Guide and his faction,

His companions, and be pleased with the Second in the Cave.