في الخَدِّ أَن عَزَمَ الخَليطُ رَحيلاً

مَطَرٌ تَزيدُ بِهِ الخُدُودُ مُحولا

In cheek decided the mixture to depart

On the cheek, as the caravan resolved to depart, fell rain that made the cheeks more barren still.

A rain you increase with cheeks more beautiful

O glance that banished sleep and left behind, upon my heart’s edge, notches that shall last as long as I live.

يا نَظرَةً نَفَتِ الرُقادَ وَغادَرَت

في حَدِّ قَلبي ما حَيِيتُ فُلولا

Oh a look denied sleep and left

My wish was from that dark-eyed gaze, yet my death appeared within my heart disguised as desire.

In my heart's cheek what revived embers

I deem coldness toward all but you a manly virtue, and patience fair in all things save your absence.

كانَت مِنَ الكَحلاءِ سُؤلي إِنَّما

أَجَلي تَمَثَّلَ في فُؤادي سولا

My questions were only from kohl

I see your excessive coyness as something to be loved, while scant caprice I find but wearisome.

My life imagined in my heart distracted

Your heavy hips complain against the mount beneath, like one who finds your love a burden on the heart.

أَجِدُ الجَفاءَ عَلى سِواكِ مُروءَةً

وَالصَبرَ إِلّا في نَواكِ جَميلا

I find grace except you gallantry

The tug of the rein turns her heart and mouth toward you, as one who seeks a kiss.

And patience except your coquetry beautiful

The eyes of fair beauties stirred within me, on the day of parting, yearning and a burning thirst.

وَأَرى تَدَلُّلَكِ الكَثيرَ مُحَبَّباً

وَأَرى قَليلَ تَدَلُّلٍ مَملولا

And I see your much coquetry lovely

Eyes that scorn all other lethal forces, save Badr ibn 'Ammar ibn Isma'il,

And I see a little coquetry boring

Who dispels great calamities with deeds as great, and leaves the mighty king brought low and humbled.

تَشكو رَوادِفَكِ المَطِيَّةَ فَوقَها

شَكوى الَّتي وَجَدَت هَواكَ دَخيلا

You complain of your spirited mare above her

Tenacious when a debtor defers his due; he makes the sword the guarantor of his will.

A complaint that found your love presumptuous

Eloquent when speech unveils its face; his logic grants new intellect to hearts.

وَيُعيرُني جَذبُ الزِمامِ لِقَلبِها

فَمَها إِلَيكِ كَطالِبٍ تَقبيلا

And the pulling of her bridle taunts me

His bounty infected Time itself with generosity, though Time had once been miserly with him.

So loosen her to you like a suitor seeking a kiss

As if a bolt of lightning in the belly of a cloud: his Indian blade drawn naked in his hand.

حَدَقُ الحِسانِ مِنَ الغَواني هِجنَ لي

يَومَ الفِراقِ صَبابَةً وَغَليلا

The gazes of beasts glared at me

The place of its hilt flows with such gifts that, were they a flood, no riverbed could hold them.

The day we parted raging and burning

Its edges are so fine they seem to show a lover's wasting from their passion for men's necks.

حَدَقٌ يُذِمُّ مِنَ القَواتِلِ غَيرَها

بَدرُ بنُ عَمّارِ بنِ إِسماعيلا

A gaze that dims other killers beside it

O you who humble the ferocious lion with a whip: for whom, then, have you saved your polished sword?

Badr son of Ammar son of Ismael

A calamity befell the Jordan from that beast, piling the skulls of comrades into hills.

الفارِجُ الكُرَبَ العِظامَ بِمِثلِها

وَالتارِكُ المَلِكَ العَزيزَ ذَليلا

Dispelling distresses with its like

A tawny beast: when he approached the lake to drink, his roar reached the Euphrates and the Nile.

And leaving the mighty king humiliated

Stained crimson with the blood of knights, clad within his lair in the thicket of his mane.

مَحِكٌ إِذا مَطَلَ الغَريمُ بِدَينِهِ

جَعَلَ الحُسامَ بِما أَرادَ كَفيلا

A judgment when the adversary delays with his debt

His eyes were never met in darkness but they seemed the campfires of a settled tribe.

It makes the sword with what it wants guarantor

He dwells in monkish solitude, yet knows no law of what is holy or forbidden.

نَطِقٌ إِذا حَطَّ الكَلامُ لِثامَهُ

أَعطى بِمَنطِقِهِ القُلوبَ عُقولا

A utterance when speech sheds its wrap

He treads the earth so softly in his pride, like a physician palpating a wound.

It gives hearts with its speech minds

He sweeps his tawny mane back to his skull, until it forms a crown upon his head.

أَعدى الزَمانَ سَخاؤُهُ فَسَخا بِهِ

وَلَقَد يَكونُ بِهِ الزَمانُ بَخيلا

Lavishness exceeded time so he was lavish with it

You’d think him, from his roaring, too consumed by rage to even heed his own existence.

And time can through it be stingy

Terror of him shortened every stride, as if the warrior rode a hobbled steed.

وَكَأَنَّ بَرقاً في مُتونِ غَمامَةٍ

هِندِيُّهُ في كَفِّهِ مَسلولا

As if lightning in the bosom of clouds

He dropped his prey and growled to guard the prize; you drew so near he deemed it an affront.

Indian in his palm unsheathed

Your natures matched in daring and in force, but differed in your gift of what was prey.

وَمَحَلُّ قائِمِهِ يَسيلُ مَواهِباً

لَو كُنَّ سَيلاً ما وَجَدنَ مَسيلا

And the place of his pillar pours gifts

A lion who sees his own limbs mirrored in you: a sleek, strong back and twisted, knotted arm.

If they were a flood they would not find an outlet

Saddled upon a lean and bounding mare, whose peerlessness permits no parallel,

رَقَّت مَضارِبُهُ فَهُنَّ كَأَنَّما

يُبدينَ مِن عِشقِ الرِقابِ نُحولا

His tent pegs so they are as though

She overtakes all quarry, yet yields up to the hand that reins her what she has attained.

They show from loving necks convulsed

Her neck runs wet with sweat when spurred to speed, though one would think her bridle rein hung loose.

أَمُعَفِّرَ اللَيثِ الهِزَبرِ بِسَوطِهِ

لِمَنِ اِدَّخَرتَ الصارِمَ المَصقولا

Did you crack the lion cub's whip

The beast bunched all his bulk within his chest, until his breadth seemed greater than his length.

For whom did you save the polished sword

He pounded stones with his massive chest, as if to force a path into the earth.

وَقَعَت عَلى الأُردُنِّ مِنهُ بَلِيَّةٌ

نُضِدَت بِها هامُ الرِفاقِ تُلولا

There fell upon the Jordan through him an affliction

As if a trick of sight lured him too close, blind to the gravity of his grave fate.

With which the zealots' resolves collapsed

A noble disdain for all things base makes legions seem but few within his eyes.

وَردٌ إِذا وَرَدَ البُحَيرَةَ شارِباً

وَرَدَ الفُراتَ زَئيرُهُ وَالنيلا

A lion when he comes to drink at the well

Shame stings the soul; and he who fears disgrace fears not the moment of his death.

And the Euphrates his roar and the Nile

He lunged to meet you with a predator’s leap; had you not struck, he would have soared a mile.

مُتَخَضِّبٌ بِدَمِ الفَوارِسِ لابِسٌ

في غيلِهِ مِن لِبدَتَيهِ غيلا

Dyed with the blood of knights wearing

His power failed him as you faced him down; he sought the only succor: to yield and fall.

In his twisting from his sides twisting

His death seized both his paws and tawny neck, as if you’d found him shackled in his chains.

ما قوبِلَت عَيناهُ إِلّا ظُنَّتا

تَحتَ الدُجى نارَ الفَريقِ حُلولا

His eyes were not met but were thought

His cousin heard the tale of his demise, and fled from you yesterday in frantic dread.

Under darkness the fire of separation lodged

More bitter than the death he fled was flight; to live unslain is akin to being slain.

في وَحدَةِ الرُهبانِ إِلّا أَنَّهُ

لا يَعرِفُ التَحريمَ وَالتَحليلا

In the seclusion of monks but he

The ruin of he who made courage his companion served as a sermon to he who chose flight.

Knows no prohibition nor permissibility

Were your knowledge of God shared among mankind, God would have had no need to send a prophet.

يَطَءُ الثَرى مُتَرَفِّقاً مِن تيهِهِ

فَكَأَنَّهُ آسٍ يَجُسُّ عَليلا

He walks on land gently in his wanderings

And were your speech dwelling within their midst, He would not have sent Torah, Gospel, or Quran.

As if a staff feeling out an invalid

Had your gifts been theirs before you gave them, they never would have learned what it is to hope.

وَيَرُدُّ عُفرَتَهُ إِلى يافوخِهِ

حَتّى تَصيرَ لِرَأسِهِ إِكليلا

And he returns his disheveled hair to his temples

You are known, yet your reality remains unknown; ignored by some, but never through obscurity.

Until it becomes for his head a wreath

The doves have sung your lordship in their cooing; the horses neighed it as they bore your weight.

وَتَظُنُّهُ مِمّا يُزَمجِرُ نَفسُهُ

عَنها لِشِدَّةِ غَيظِهِ مَشغولا

And you would think from his snarling self

Not every seeker of glory attains his aim, nor is every man a stallion among men.

He is preoccupied with the intensity of his rage

قَصَرَت مَخافَتُهُ الخُطى فَكَأَنَّما

رَكِبَ الكَمِيُّ جَوادَهُ مَشكولا

His fear shortened his steps so it is as though

He rode his camel kneeled

أَلقى فَريسَتَهُ وَبَربَرَ دونَها

وَقَرُبتَ قُرباً خالَهُ تَطفيلا

He threw down his prey and pounced without it

And approached a relation making him dependent

فَتَشابَهُ الخُلُقانِ في إِقدامِهِ

وَتَخالَفا في بَذلِكَ المَأكولا

So the two natures resembled in his audacity

And differed in enjoying that edible

أَسَدٌ يَرى عُضوَيهِ فيكَ كِلَيهِما

مَتناً أَزَلَّ وَساعِداً مَفتولا

A lion seeing in you his two kidneys

A prey pulled down and an arm unstrung

في سَرجِ ظامِئَةِ الفُصوصِ طِمِرَّةٍ

يَأبى تَفَرُّدُها لَها التَمثيلا

In the saddlebags of a bleary-eyed sly one a heap

Whose uniqueness it refuses to be an example

نَيّالَةِ الطَلَباتِ لَولا أَنَّها

تُعطي مَكانَ لِجامِها ما نيلا

A drinking vessel of requests if not for

Giving room for its cup it would not be filled

تَندى سَوالِفُها إِذا اِستَحضَرتَها

وَيُظَنَّ عَقدُ عِنانِها مَحلولا

Its conversations grow limp when you recall them

And its bridle is thought to be loosened

ما زالَ يَجمَعُ نَفسَهُ في زَورِهِ

حَتّى حَسِبتَ العَرضَ مِنهُ الطولا

He never stopped gathering himself in his cunning

Until you thought the width was the length

وَيَدُقُّ بِالصَدرِ الحِجارَ كَأَنَّهُ

يَبغي إِلى ما في الحَضيضِ سَبيلا

And he pounds rocks with his chest as though he

Seeks a way to what is in the abyss

وَكَأَنَّهُ غَرَّتهُ عَينٌ فَاِدَّنى

لا يُبصِرُ الخَطبَ الجَليلَ جَليلا

And as if an eye tempted him so he drew near

Not seeing the lofty, momentous peril

أَنَفُ الكَريمِ مِنَ الدَنِيَّةِ تارِكٌ

في عَينِهِ العَدَدَ الكَثيرَ قَليلا

The noble's nose is above baseness

In his eye the many are few

وَالعارُ مَضّاضٌ وَلَيسَ بِخائِفٍ

مِن حَتفِهِ مَن خافَ مِمّا قيلا

And shame stings but is not fearful

Of his doom from whoever feared what was said

سَبَقَ اِلتِقاءَكَهُ بِوَثبَةِ هاجِمٍ

لَو لَم تُصادِمُهُ لَجازَكَ ميلا

He preceded meeting you with the leap of an assailant

If he did not clash with you he would have passed you by a mile

خَذَلَتهُ قُوَّتُهُ وَقَد كافَحتَهُ

فَاِستَنصَرَ التَسليمَ وَالتَجديلا

His strength betrayed him though he struggled with you

So he sought aid in surrender and humility

قَبَضَت مَنِيَّتُهُ يَدَيهِ وَعُنقَهُ

فَكَأَنَّما صادَفتَهُ مَغلولا

His death grasped his hands and neck

So it was as if you met him fettered

سَمِعَ اِبنُ عَمَّتِهي بِهِ وَبِحالِهِ

فَنَجا يُهَروِلُ مِنكَ أَمسِ مَهولا

The son of his paternal aunt heard of him and his state

So he escaped fleeing terrified from you yesterday

وَأَمَرُّ مِمّا فَرَّ مِنهُ فِرارُهُ

وَكَقَتلِهِ أَن لا يَموتَ قَتيلا

And more bitter than his fleeing what he fled from

Is that he did not die a victim

تَلَفُ الَّذي اِتَّخَذَ الجَراءَةَ خُلَّةً

وَعَظَ الَّذي اِتَّخَذَ الفِرارَ خَليلا

Lost is he who took insolence as a trait

And counseled he who took flight as a friend

لَو كانَ عِلمُكَ بِالإِلَهِ مُقَسَّماً

في الناسِ ما بَعَثَ الإِلَهُ رَسولا

If your knowledge of God was apportioned

Among people God would not have sent a messenger

لَو كانَ لَفظُكَ فيهِمِ ما أَنزَلَ ال

قُرآنَ وَالتَوراةَ وَالإِنجيلا

If your words to them were what God sent down not

The Qur'an, Torah and Bible

لَو كانَ ما تُعطِيهِمِ مِن قَبلِ أَن

تُعطِيهِمِ لَم يَعرِفوا التَأميلا

If what you give them before you give

They would not have known delay

فَلَقَد عُرِفتَ وَما عُرِفتَ حَقيقَةً

وَلَقَد جُهِلتَ وَما جُهِلتَ خُمولا

So you were known but not known truly

And you were unknown but not dim

نَطَقَت بِسُؤدُدِكَ الحَمامُ تَغَنِّياً

وَبِما تُجَشِّمُها الجِيادُ صَهيلا

Your adversities the doves sing of

And what you torment the steeds with neighs

ما كُلُّ مَن طَلَبَ المَعالِيَ نافِذاً

فيها وَلا كُلُّ الرِجالِ فُحولا

Not all who sought the heights striving

In them and not all men are gallant