لَكِ يا مَنازِلُ في القُلوبِ مَنازِلُ

أَقفَرتِ أَنتِ وَهُنَّ مِنكِ أَواهِلُ

To you, O dwellings in hearts, dwellings

O abodes, you hold abodes within our hearts,

You are desolate, and your lovers have become disloyal

You are desolate, yet those within are populated.

يَعلَمنَ ذاكِ وَما عَلِمتِ وَإِنَّما

أَولاكُما يُبكى عَلَيهِ العاقِلُ

Only He knows that, though you do not know, but

They know this, while you know it not; indeed,

It is you two the reasonable one weeps for

It is for the first of you that the wise man weeps.

وَأَنا الَّذي اِجتَلَبَ المَنِيَّةَ طَرفُهُ

فَمَنِ المُطالَبُ وَالقَتيلُ القاتِلُ

And I am the one whose eyes the cup of death has turned

And I am he whose glance summoned his own doom,

So who is the accused and who is the killer?

So who is the accused, when the victim is the slayer?

تَخلو الدِيارُ مِنَ الظِباءِ وَعِندَهُ

مِن كُلِّ تابِعَةٍ خَيالٌ خاذِلُ

The abodes are devoid of gazelles, and with him

The dwellings are empty of gazelles, yet within his mind,

Is a fleeting mirage of each female companion

From every follower there is a haunting phantom.

اللاءِ أَفتَكُها الجَبانُ بِمُهجَتي

وَأَحَبُّها قُرباً إِلَيَّ الباخِلُ

The most cowardly of men has snatched them away with his forehead

The deadliest of them is the coward against my soul,

And the most beloved to me, the miser, draws nearer

And the most beloved to me is the one who withholds.

الرامِياتُ لَنا وَهُنَّ نَوافِرٌ

وَالخاتِلاتُ لَنا وَهُنَّ غَوافِلُ

The shooters at us, though they are very skilled

Those who shoot at us while they are shying away,

And the slanderers of us, though forgetfully inattentive

And those who beguile us while appearing unaware.

كافَأنَنا عَن شِبهِهِنَّ مِنَ المَها

فَلَهُنَّ في غَيرِ التُرابِ حَبائِلُ

They compensated us for their coy glances with

They repaid us for resembling them to the wild oryx,

Cords in other than dust, binds

For they have snares set in places other than the dust.

مِن طاعِني ثُغَرِ الرِجالِ جَآذِرٌ

وَمِنَ الرِماحِ دَمالِجٌ وَخَلاخِلُ

There are wounders of the mouths of men, snarling

Among those piercing the chests of men are fawns,

And from the spears, bloodstained and well-forged

And instead of spears, they bear bracelets and anklets.

وَلِذا اِسمُ أَغطِيَةِ العُيونِ جُفونُها

مِن أَنَّها عَمَلَ السُيوفِ عَوامِلُ

And so the name of eyelids covers are their shutters

For this reason, the covers of the eyes are named scabbards,

Because they are made by the deeds of swords, carriers

Because they perform the very work of swords.

كَم وَقفَةٍ سَجَرَتكَ شَوقاً بَعدَما

غَرِيَ الرَقيبُ بِنا وَلَجَّ العاذِلُ

How many stops have made you pine in longing after

How many a pause inflamed you with longing, after

The spy was fooled by us and the blamer drew near

The watcher grew obsessed with us and the scolder persisted.

دونَ التَعانُقِ ناحِلَينِ كَشَكلَتَي

نَصبٍ أَدَقَّهُما وَصَمَّ الشاكِلُ

Below embracing the two palm trees bent over

Without an embrace, wasted away like two vowels

Like the effort of a sculptor, fully chiselled

Of accusative script: the finer one, while the sign stood deaf.

اِنعَم وَلَذَّ فَلِلأُمورِ أَواخِرٌ

أَبَداً إِذا كانَت لَهُنَّ أَوائِلُ

Yes, and pleasures are transient

Enjoy and delight, for all matters have endings,

If they have beginnings then they have ends

Inevitably, just as they once had beginnings.

ما دُمتَ مِن أَرَبِ الحِسانِ فَإِنَّما

رَوقُ الشَبابِ عَلَيكَ ظِلٌّ زائِلُ

As long as you have the springtime of youth

As long as you seek the desire of beauties, know that

The charms of youth are but a vanishing shadow

The prime of youth casts a fleeting shadow upon you.

لِلَّهوِ آوِنَةٌ تَمُرُّ كَأَنَّها

قُبَلٌ يُزَوَّدُها حَبيبٌ راحِلُ

Frolic has a span, fleeting as if

Amusement has moments that pass as though they were

It were a farewell kiss of a travelling beloved

Kisses snatched by a lover departing in haste.

جَمَحَ الزَمانُ فَما لَذيذٌ خالِصٌ

مِمّا يَشوبُ وَلا سُرورٌ كامِلُ

Time has spoiled, so there is no pure sweetness

Time has run wild, so no delight remains pure

Nor complete joy that is unmarred

From taint, nor is any happiness complete.

حَتّى أَبو الفَضلِ اِبنُ عَبدِ اللَهِ رُؤ

يَتُهُ المُنى وَهيَ المَقامُ الهائِلُ

Except Abu Al-Fadl ibn Abdullah, his

Until the sight of Abu al-Fadl ibn Abdullah,

Delight of wishes and he is the lofty abode

Which is the ultimate wish, and the terrifying station.

مَمطورَةٌ طُرقي إِلَيها دونَها

مِن جودِهِ في كُلِّ فَجٍّ وابِلُ

Well-trodden are my paths to it, around it

My paths toward him are drenched before reaching him,

From his generosity in every rugged valley

With a downpour of his generosity in every ravine.

مَحجوبَةٌ بِسُرادِقٍ مِن هَيبَةٍ

تَثني الأَزِمَّةَ وَالمَطِيُّ ذَوامِلُ

Veiled with a canopy of awe

He is veiled by a pavilion of such majesty,

That turns away hardships, and the rider of transports

It turns back the bridles while the mounts are weary.

لِلشَمسِ فيهِ وَلِلرِياحِ وَلِلسَحا

بِ وَلِلبِحارِ وَلِلأُسودِ شَمائِلُ

For the sun within it, the winds, the clouds

He shares with the sun, the winds, and the clouds,

And the seas, and the lions, features

With the seas and the lions, his noble traits.

وَلَدَيهِ مِلعِقيانِ وَالأَدَبِ المُفا

دِ وَمِلحَياةِ وَمِلمَماتِ مَناهِلُ

And in his presence are fruits and refinement

Possessing wealth and the distinct disciplines of lore,

And water of life and death for wishes, streams

And watering places of life and death flow from his hands.

لَو لَم يُهَب لَجَبُ الوُفودِ حَوالَهُ

لَسَرى إِلَيهِ قَطا الفَلاةِ الناهِلُ

If it were not for the grazing livestock hosts surrounding him

Were it not for the clamor of crowds around him,

The camel of the barren lands would roam to him

The thirsty sandgrouse of the desert would travel to him.

يَدري بِما بِكَ قَبلَ تُظهِرُهُ لَهُ

مِن ذِهنِهِ وَيُجيبُ قَبلَ تُسائِلُ

He knows what is within you before you show it to him

He knows what is within you before you reveal it

From his mind, and answers before you ask

From his own mind, and answers before you ask.

وَتَراهُ مُعتَرِضاً لَها وَمُوَلِّياً

أَحداقُنا وَتَحارُ حينَ يُقابِلُ

You see him intercepting and facing

You see him confronting events and turning away,

Our eyelids, and they are confused when he reciprocates

While our eyes are bewildered when meeting his gaze.

كَلِماتُهُ قُضُبٌ وَهُنَّ فَواصِلٌ

كُلُّ الضَرائِبِ تَحتَهُنَّ مَفاصِلُ

His words are clubs, and they are separators

His words are sharp blades, and they are decisive;

under them are the joints of all sorrows

All other natures are mere joints beneath their edge.

هَزَمَت مَكارِمُهُ المَكارِمَ كُلَّها

حَتّى كَأَنَّ المَكرُماتِ قَنابِلُ

His virtues defeated all virtues

His noble deeds have defeated all other virtues,

As if the virtuous were mere ruins

Until it seems as if acts of honor are raiding parties.

وَقَتَلنَ دَفراً وَالدُهَيمَ فَما تُرى

أُمُّ الدُهَيمِ وَأُمُّ دَفرٍ هابِلُ

They killed Dafr and Duhaym relentlessly

They have slain Time and Calamity; thus one sees not

So do you see the mother of Duhaym or Dafr in labor?

The mother of Woe nor the mother of Time bereaved.

عَلّامَةُ العُلَماءِ وَاللُجُّ الَّذي

لا يَنتَهي وَلِكُلِّ لُجٍّ ساحِلُ

The sign of scholars, an ocean

The Scholar of scholars, and the deep ocean that

That has no end, and every ocean has a shore

Has no end, though every other ocean has a shore.

لَو طابَ مَولِدُ كُلِّ حَيٍّ مِثلَهُ

وَلَدَ النِساءُ وَما لَهُنَّ قَوابِلُ

If the birth of every living being were like his

If the birth of every living soul were pure like his,

Women would give birth, though they have no midwives

Women would give birth without need of midwives.

لَو بانَ بِالكَرَمِ الجَنينُ بَيانَهُ

لَدَرَت بِهِ ذَكَرٌ أَمُ اَنثى الحامِلُ

If the fetus showed generosity through birth

If the fetus could be distinguished by generosity,

The pregnant one would know, is it male or female?

The pregnant woman would know if she bore male or female.

لِيَزِد بَنو الحَسَنِ الشِرافُ تَواضُعاً

هَيهاتَ تُكتَمُ في الظَلامِ مَشاعِلُ

So that the sons of Hasan would increase in humility

May the noble Sons of Hasan increase in humility,

Alas! Lighthouses are not concealed in darkness

Though—far from it—can torches be hidden in darkness?

سَتَروا النَدى سَترَ الغُرابِ سِفادَهُ

فَبَدا وَهَل يَخفى الرَبابُ الهاطِلُ

They hid the dew, hiding the crow’s filth

They concealed their bounty as the crow hides its mating,

So it appeared, and does the pouring rain hide?

Yet it appeared; for can the pouring rain be hidden?

جَفَخَت وَهُم لا يَجفَخونَ بِهابِهِم

شِيَمُ عَلى الحَسَبِ الأَغَرِّ دَلائِلُ

They strutted, yet they do not strut with their vanity

Their natures boasted, though they themselves do not boast;

Traits of noble origin, the clearest proofs

For character traits are the proofs of noble lineage.

مُتَشابِهِي وَرَعِ النُفوسِ كَبيرُهُم

وَصَغيرُهُم عَفُّ الإِزارِ حُلاحِلُ

The piety of their souls is alike, elder and younger

Alike in the piety of their souls: the elder among them

Chastity of loincloth, flapping

And the younger are chaste of garment, dignified.

يا اِفخَر فَإِنَّ الناسِ فيكَ ثَلاثَةٌ

مُستَعظِمٌ أَو حاسِدٌ أَو جاهِلُ

Oh boast, for people are three in relation to you

So take pride! For regarding you, people are but three:

One in awe, or envious, or ignorant

One who idolizes, one who envies, or one who is ignorant.

وَلَقَد عَلَوتَ فَما تُبالي بَعدَما

عَرَفوا أَيَحمَدُ أَم يَذُمُّ القائِلُ

You have risen, so you care not after

You have ascended so high, you no longer care,

They knew, does he praise or criticize the speaker?

After they know you, whether the speaker praises or blames.

أُثني عَلَيكَ وَلَو تَشاءُ لَقُلتَ لي

قَصَّرتَ فَالإِمساكُ عَنّي نائِلُ

I praise you, and if you wished, you would say to me

I extol you, yet if you wished, you could say to me:

“You fell short,” so keeping quiet about me is attainment

'You have fallen short,' for silence from me is a gift.

لا تَجسُرُ الفُصَحاءُ تُنشِدُ هَهُنا

بَيتاً وَلَكِنّي الهِزَبرُ الباسِلُ

The eloquent do not dare recite a verse here

The eloquent dare not recite a verse in this place,

But I am the courageous composer

But I am the roaring lion, the courageous one.

ما نالَ أَهلُ الجاهِلِيَّةِ كُلُّهُم

شِعري وَلا سَمِعَت بِسِحرِيَ بابِلُ

None of the people of the Jahiliya attained

None of the people of the Age of Ignorance reached

My poetry, nor heard the sorcery of Babil

My poetry, nor did Babylon ever hear my sorcery.

وَإِذا أَتَتكَ مَذَمَّتي مِن ناقِصٍ

فَهِيَ الشَهادَةُ لي بِأَنِّيَ كامِلُ

And if deficiency comes to you from a critic

And if my defamation comes to you from a deficient man,

It is testimony that I am complete

It is the testimony for me that I am complete.

مَن لي بِفَهمِ أُهَيلِ عَصرٍ يَدَّعي

أَن يَحسُبَ الهِندِيَّ فيهِم باقِلُ

Who can I find to understand the ignoramuses of an era who claim

Who will help me with the people of an age who claim

That the Indian among them is inferior?

That the speechless fool among them is a sharp blade?

وَأَما وَحَقِّكَ وَهوَ غايَةُ مُقسِمٍ

لِلحَقُّ أَنتَ وَما سِواكَ الباطِلُ

But by your right, which is the purpose of the sworn

But by your right—and it is the utmost oath—

The truth is you, and anything other than you is falsehood

You are the Truth, and all other than you is the False.

الطيبُ أَنتَ إِذا أَصابَكَ طيبُهُ

وَالماءُ أَنتَ إِذا اِغتَسَلتَ الغاسِلُ

You are the pure one if purity meets you

You are the Essence, should the perfume touch you;

And the water if you bathe, the washer

And you are the Water, should the washer bathe.

ما دارَ في الحَنَكِ اللِسانُ وَقَلَّبَت

قَلَماً بِأَحسَنَ مِن نَثاكَ أَنامِلُ

The tongue has not gone round the palate and flipped

No tongue has ever turned in the mouth, nor have fingers

A pen better than your fingers have done

Turned a pen, with anything finer than your renown.