سِربٌ مَحاسِنُهُ حُرِمتُ ذَواتِها
داني الصِفاتِ بَعيدُ مَوصوفاتِها
A flock whose beauties I am barred from possessing,
Near in description, yet distant in essence.
أَوفى فَكُنتُ إِذا رَمَيتُ بِمُقلَتي
بَشَراً رَأَيتُ أَرَقَّ مِن عَبَراتِها
She appeared, and when I cast my gaze I found
A human form more tender than the tears she shed.
يَستاقُ عيسَهُمُ أَنيني خَلفَها
تَتَوَهَّمُ الزَفَراتِ زَجرَ حُداتِها
My groaning drives their white camels from the rear;
They mistake my deep sighs for the drover's chant.
وَكَأَنَّها شَجَرٌ بَدَت لَكِنَّها
شَجَرٌ جَنَيتُ المَوتَ مِن ثَمَراتِها
As if they were trees that rose to view, yet these
Are trees from whose fruit I have harvested death.
لا سِرتِ مِن إِبِلٍ لَوَ أَنّي فَوقَها
لَمَحَت حَرارَةُ مَدمَعَيَّ سِماتِها
May you never journey, O camels, for if I rode,
The heat of my weeping would brand your very hides.
وَحَمَلتُ ما حُمِّلتِ مِن هَذي المَها
وَحَمَلتِ ما حُمِّلتُ مِن حَسَراتِها
I carried the weight you carried of these wild does,
And you carried the weight I carried of their woes.
إِنّي عَلى شَغَفي بِما في خُمرِها
لَأَعِفُّ عَمّا في سَراويلاتِها
Though I burn with passion for what her veil conceals,
I hold myself chaste from what her garments hide.
وَتَرى الفُتُوَّةَ وَالمُرُوَّةَ وَالأُبُو
وَةَ فِيَّ كُلُّ مَليحَةٍ ضَرّاتِها
Chivalry, manhood, and fatherhood behold in me—
And every beauty sees within me—her rivals.
هُنَّ الثَلاثُ المانِعاتي لَذَّتي
في خَلوَتي لا الخَوفُ مِن تَبِعاتِها
These three are the guardians that forbid my delight
In solitude, not the dread of what follows after.
وَمَطالِبٍ فيها الهَلاكُ أَتَيتُها
ثَبتَ الجَنانِ كَأَنَّني لَم آتِها
Quests wherein lies destruction I have pursued,
With heart so firm, as if I pursued them not.
وَمَقانِبٍ بِمَقانِبٍ غادَرتُها
أَقواتَ وَحشٍ كُنَّ مِن أَقواتِها
And squadrons against squadrons I left behind,
Food for the wild beasts, who once consumed the food.
أَقبَلتُها غُرَرَ الجِيادِ كَأَنَّما
أَيدي بَني عِمرانَ في جَبَهاتِها
I met them with horses white-blazed, as though
The hands of the Banu Imran were upon their brows,
الثابِتينَ فُروسَةً كَجُلودِها
في ظَهرِها وَالطَعنُ في لَبّاتِها
Fixed in their saddle-craft like the horses' own hides
Upon their backs, while lances strike at their chests.
العارِفينَ بِها كَما عَرَفتُهُم
وَالراكِبينَ جُدودُهُم أُمّاتِها
Knowing the steeds as I have known the men,
Riders whose grandsires were these horses' dams.
فَكَأَنَّما نُتِجَت قِياماً تَحتَهُم
وَكَأَنَّهُم وُلِدوا عَلى صَهَواتِها
As though the steeds were foaled standing beneath them,
And they were born upon the saddles' backs.
إِنَّ الكِرامَ بِلا كِرامٍ مِنهُمُ
مِثلُ القُلوبِ بِلا سُوَيداواتِها
Truly, noble men without the noblest among them
Are like unto hearts without the life-blood within.
تِلكَ النُفوسُ الغالِباتُ عَلى العُلى
وَالمَجدُ يَغلِبُها عَلى شَهَواتِها
These are the souls that conquer every height,
While glory conquers them against base desire.
سُقِيَت مَنابِتُها الَّتي سَقَتِ الوَرى
بِيَدَي أَبي أَيّوبَ خَيرِ نَباتِها
May their roots be watered—roots that watered mankind—
By the hands of Abu Ayyub, the best of their stock.
لَيسَ التَعَجُّبُ مِن مَواهِبِ مالِهِ
بَل مِن سَلامَتِها إِلى أَوقاتِها
The wonder is not at the giving of his wealth,
But that it survived safely until the time of giving.
عَجَباً لَهُ حَفِظَ العِنانَ بِأَنمُلٍ
ما حِفظُها الأَشياءَ مِن عاداتِها
A marvel it is: he holds the reins with fingertips
That have no habit of holding onto things.
لَو مَرَّ يَركُضُ في سُطورِ كِتابَةٍ
أَحصى بِحافِرِ مُهرِهِ ميماتِها
Did he pass galloping through lines of script,
He would count with his colt's hoof the letters 'M'.
يَضَعُ السِنانَ بِحَيثُ شاءَ مُجاوِلاً
حَتّى مِنَ الآذانِ في أَخراتِها
He places the spear-point wherever he wills in the fray,
Even into the eyelets of the lance-butts.
تَكبو وَراءَكَ يا اِبنَ أَحمَدَ قُرَّحٌ
لَيسَت قَوائِمُهُنَّ مِن آلاتِها
The full-grown steeds stumble behind you, O Ibn Ahmad,
As if their legs were no part of their equipment.
رِعَدُ الفَوارِسِ مِنكَ في أَبدانِها
أَجرى مِنَ العَسَلانِ في قَنَواتِها
The trembling of knights, caused by you in their bodies,
Runs faster than the quivering in their spear-shafts.
لا خَلقَ أَسمَحُ مِنكَ إِلّا عارِفٌ
بِكَ راءَ نَفسَكَ لَم يَقُل لَكَ هاتِها
No creature is more generous than you, save one who knows you,
And seeing you, sees himself, and need not say 'Give'.
غَلِتَ الَّذي حَسَبَ العُشورَ بِاّيَةٍ
تَرتيلُكَ السوراتِ مِن آياتِها
He erred who calculated the tithes by mere verse,
For your chanting of the Surahs is one of its signs.
كَرَمٌ تَبَيَّنَ في كَلامِكَ ماثِلاً
وَيَبينُ عِتقُ الخَيلِ في أَصواتِها
Generosity becomes manifest in your speech,
As the breeding of horses is revealed in their neighs.
أَعيا زَوالُكَ عَن مَحَلٍّ نِلتَهُ
لا تَخرُجُ الأَقمارُ عَن هالاتِها
It is impossible for you to depart the station you reached;
The full moons do not depart from their halos.
لا نَعذُلُ المَرَضَ الَّذي بِكَ شائِقٌ
أَنتَ الرِجالَ وَشائِقٌ عِلّاتِها
We do not blame the sickness that longs for you;
For you captivate men, and you captivate maladies.
فَإِذا نَوَت سَفَراً إِلَيكَ سَبَقنَها
فَأَضَفتَ قَبلَ مُضافِها حالاتِها
If they intended a journey to you, you outstripped them,
And played host to their states before they arrived.
وَمَنازِلُ الحُمّى الجُسومُ فَقُل لَنا
ما عُذرُها في تَركِها خَيراتِها
The homes of the fever are human bodies, so tell us:
What is its excuse for leaving its finest abodes?
أَعجَبتَها شَرَفاً فَطالَ وُقوفُها
لِتَأَمُّلِ الأَعضاءِ لا لِأَذاتِها
It was amazed by your honor, so it paused for long
To contemplate the limbs, not to inflict pain.
وَبَذَلتَ ما عَشِقَتهُ نَفسُكَ كُلَّهُ
حَتّى بَذَلتَ لِهَذِهِ صِحّاتِها
And you gave away all that your soul held dear,
Until you gave away to this fever its health.
حَقُّ الكَواكِبِ أَن تَزورَكَ مِن عَلٍ
وَتَعودَكَ الآسادُ مِن غاباتِها
It is the right of the stars to visit you from on high,
And for the lions to visit you from their thickets,
وَالجِنُّ مِن سُتُراتِها وَالوَحشُ مِن
فَلَواتِها وَالطَيرُ مِن وُكناتِها
And the Jinn from their veils, and the wild beasts from
Their deserts, and the birds from their nesting places.
ذُكِرَ الأَنامُ لَنا فَكانَ قَصيدَةً
كُنتَ البَديعَ الفَردَ مِن أَبياتِها
Mankind was recited to us as a generic poem,
But you were the unique metaphor within its verses.
في الناسِ أَمثِلَةٌ تَدورُ حَياتُها
كَمَماتِها وَمَماتُها كَحَياتِها
Among people are shadow-figures whose life goes round
Like their death, and their death is like their life.
هِبتُ النِكاحَ حِذارَ نَسلٍ مِثلِها
حَتّى وَفَرتُ عَلى النِساءِ بَناتِها
I feared marriage, dreading a lineage like theirs,
Until I spared the women the bearing of daughters.
فَاليَومَ صِرتُ إِلى الَّذي لَو أَنَّهُ
مَلَكَ البَرِيَّةَ لَاِستَقَلَّ هِباتِها
So today I have come to one who, were he to possess
The whole of creation, would deem his gifts too small.
مُستَرخَصٌ نَظَرٌ إِلَيهِ بِما بِهِ
نَظَرَت وَعَثرَةُ رِجلِهِ بِدِياتِها
A look at him is a bargain for the eye that beholds,
And a stumble of his foot is worth a ransom of blood.
