بَدَت عَذارى مُدَّت سَرادِقُها
وَأَقسم الحُسنُ لا يُفارِقُها
The virgins' pavilions were erected,
And beauty swore it would not leave them.
كَواعِبٌ أُخرِسَت دَمالِجُها
عنّا وَقد أُنطِقَت مَناطِقُها
Silent maids whose throats were choked,
They cannot speak to us though their collars speak.
خَراعِبٌ حَقَّها وَصائِفُها
تَشي بِأَبدانِها قَراطِقُها
Shy does and gazelles belonging to them,
With their bodies the bangles on their ankles speak.
صينَت عَن العُطرِ أَن يُطَيِّبَها
إِلّا الَّذي حُمِّلَت مَخانِقُها
She refused any perfume to scent her
Except what her necklace that adorns her breasts emits.
أَم رَوضَةٌ أُبرِزَت مَحاسِنُها
وَما يَني قَطرُها يُعانِقُها
Is it a garden that has revealed its beauty,
And its branches embrace its dripping dew?
فَأَورَدَ الوَردَ غُصنُها بدعاً
وَشُقَّ عَن أَرضِها شقائِقُها
The rose has innovatively bloomed on its branch,
And anemones have split from its ground.
وَأَعشَت الناظِرينَ حِليَتُها
وَشاقَ أَحداقَهُم حَدائِقُها
Its jewelry has tempted the onlookers,
And its gardens have captivated their eyes.
أَم أَشرَقَت فِقرَةٌ بَدائِعُها
حَديقَةٌ زانَها طَرائِقُها
Or is it a full moon that has risen with its wonders,
A garden adorned with its paths?
أَتى بِها بِالكَمال ناسِجُها
وَزانَها بِالجَمالِ ناسِقُها
Its craftsman has perfectly created it,
And its tender has gracefully adorned it.
لِلَّهِ حَلف العلى أَبو حسنٍ
وَقَد جَرت لِلعلى سَوابِقُها
By God, Abu Hassan, the most high swore,
And the most high had pledged to him before.
فَحازَ خَصلَ الرِهانِ عَن كَثَبٍ
وَفُرِّجَت عِندَهُ مَضايِقُها
He won the bet swiftly,
And what stressed him was relieved.
لِلَّهِ تِلكَ الأَلفاظُ حامِلَة
غُرَّ مَعانٍ تُعيي دَقائِقُها
By God, these words bear
Meanings that their subtleties exhaust.
يَكادُ اِعجازُها يُشَكِّكُها
في سوَرٍ أَنَّها تُوافِقُها
Their eloquence almost makes one doubt
That they conform to the composition of a surah.
أُهدي سَلاماً حكى السَلامَةَ من
أَسقامِ سوءٍ يُخافُ طارِقُها
I wish safety that predicts salvation from
The evils of an affliction feared by its knocker.
كَأَنَّهُ دارُنا وَلم يَرَها
ناعِبُها لِلنَوى وَناعِقُها
It is as if it is our house, though its describer has not seen it,
Its caller to passion, and its confidante.
كَأَنَّها غَفلةُ الرَقيبِ وَقد
مُكِّنتُ من نَظرَةٍ أُسارِقُها
It is as if it is the absence of the sentinel, and I
Stole a look, pilfering its glance.
أَهديتُ مِنهُ ما لَو تَحَمَّلَهُ ال
أَيّامُ لَم يُستقلّ عاتِقُها
I wished from it what days, if they endured,
Would not accomplish its burden.
تَحدو بِهِ صَبوَةً ركائِبُها
راتكةً لا يملُّ سائِقُها
With it the dawns of youth ramble,
Endlessly, not tiring their rider.
خُذها وَقد أُحصِدَت وَثائِقُها
وَأُلحِقَت بِالسُهى شَواهِقُها
Take them as their pacts have been harvested,
And their towering aspirations attached to bliss.
ناشَدتُك اللَهَ حينَ تَنشدها
وَخلَّةً لا يَخيلُ صادِقُها
I adjure you by God, when you recite it,
And directly, without guile its confidant.
أَن لا تَعَمَّدتَ رَفع رايَتَها
لِيَملَأ الخافِقَينِ خافِقُها
That you do not deliberately raise its flag,
To fill the lowly with its swelling.
نعم وَعش في النَعيم ما طَلَعت
شَمسُ نَهارٍ وَذَرَّ شارِقُها
Yes, live in bliss as long as the sun of any day rises
And its ascending rays scatter.
