ما صِيدَ قلبُك إلّا باِبنةِ الكِلَلِ
وكم نجا النَّبلَ مَن لم ينجُ من مُقَلِ
Your heart was not hunted but by the daughter of dusk
And how many arrows escaped that did not escape from the twisted one
دعتْ هوايَ إليها فاِستَجاب لها
غنيّةٌ عن سوادِ الكُحلِ بالكَحَلِ
My passion called me to her, so I responded
She has no need for kohl with kohl on her eyes
بيضاءُ تفضح صبحَ اللّيلِ إنْ نشرتْ
ذُؤابةً في فروع الفاحمِ الرَّجِلِ
White, she shames the dawn of the night if she let down
Her braids among the branches of the tall, sturdy palm
وَلَو رأتْ وجهَها شمسُ النّهارِ وقدْ
ألْقَتْ معارجها غابتْ من الخَجلِ
And if the sun of day saw her face after
She climbed its steps, it would disappear from shyness
وَلَم يَطُر بِيَ لولا حبُّها غَزَلٌ
فساقني حسنُها كرهاً إلى الغَزَلِ
And my poetry would not have flown were it not for her love
So her beauty reluctantly led me to poetry
فلو رآها عذولٌ تاب معتذراً
من أنْ يعود إلى شيءٍ من العَذَلِ
If a virgin saw her, he would repent, apologizing
For ever returning to any part of virginity
مرّتْ بنا وفؤادي لِي فما برحتْ
حتّى كأنّ فؤادي قطُّ لم يكُ لِي
She passed by us, while my heart was mine, and did not stop
Until it was as if my heart had never belonged to me
وزارني طيفُها وَهْناً فأَوْهمني
زيارةً كنتُ أرجوها فلم أَنَلِ
Her specter visited me weakly, making me imagine
A visit I had hoped for but never attained
هي الزّيارةُ معسولاً تطعُّمُها
وليسَ فيها لنا شيءٌ من العَسَلِ
That is a sugared visit, yet it contains
Nothing of honey for us
لو كان طيفُك أوْلانا زيارَته
على الحقيقةِ ما ولَّى على عَجَلِ
If your specter had truly visited us
It would not have turned away so hastily
عَطِيّةُ النومِ مَنعٌ لا اِنتِفاعَ بها
للعاشقين وجودُ الطّيف كالبُخُلِ
The gift of sleep is useless
For lovers, the specter's existence is like miserliness
فَكيفَ جِئتِ إلينا غيرَ سائرةٍ
على جوادٍ ولا حِدْجٍ على جملِ
So how did you come to us not mounted
On a steed or camel litter
وَكيفَ لَم توقِظي صحبي وقد هجعوا
برنّةِ الحَليِ أوْ مِن فَغْمَةِ الحُلَلِ
And why did you not wake my companions as they slept
By the tinkling of anklets or the rustle of skirts
قد قلتُ للرّكب حثّوا كلَّ سَلْهَبَةٍ
جَرْداءَ أو جَسْرَةٍ من أينُقٍ بُزُلِ
I told the caravan to spur on every bare, smooth camel
Or short, beautiful foal of the finest pedigree
في مَهْمَهٍ لا ترى فيه لناجيةٍ
في ظهرها الكُورُ غيرَ الشدِّ والرَّحَلِ
In confusion where you see no she-camel for a confidante
Except firm saddles and luggage
حُطّوا بعَقْوَةِ ركنِ الدّين واِبتَهِجوا
بالمَنهلِ العَذْبِ أو في المنبَتِ الخَضِلِ
Stop at the cornerstone of religion and rejoice
At the fresh springs or the lush planted thickets
حيثُ الملوك ملوكُ الأرض خاشعةٌ
لمالك الأرضِ والأعناقِ والدُّوَلِ
Where kings are kings of the earth, bowing
To the King of the earth, necks, and states
وجانبٌ تُنهبُ الأموالُ فيه فما
يرضى لمن أمّل الأموالَ بالأملِ
And a side where money is plundered, so he who hopes for money
Will not be pleased with hopes
ومطرحٌ ليس فيه للملامِ يدٌ
ولا معابٌ لتفصيلٍ ولا جُمَلِ
And a meadow where there is no hand for the blamer
Nor critic of poems and compositions
ما فيهِ إلّا صريحٌ أو علانيةٌ
بالاِتّفاقِ ولا صلحٌ على دَخَلِ
Nothing but straightforward talk or honesty
In agreement, no truce for those who enter furtively
كم موقفٍ ثمَّ فيه ليس محتكمٌ
غيرَ الصّوارمِ والخطّيّةِ الذّبلِ
So many scenes therein, with none to arbitrate
Except swords and lethal blades
حيث النّجاءُ مَروقٌ كفُّ طالبه
ومَوْقِدُ الحربِ يرمي القومَ بالشُّعَلِ
Where salvation for its seeker is grasping his sword
And the pyre of war hurls men into flames
شهدتَه بجَنانٍ ما ألَمَّ به
ذعرٌ ولا مسّه مسٌّ من الوَجَلِ
You witnessed it in bliss - no panic touched it
Nor any contamination of fear
ثَبْت المقامة في دحضٍ مزالقُه
لو زالتِ الصُّمُّ يوماً عنه لم يزُلِ
It stood firm in its rejection of pitfalls
Were shadows to leave it one day, it would not falter
وأنتَ في ظهر ملطومٍ بغرّته
كأنّه شِدّةً قَدْ قُدَّ مِن جَبَلِ
While you were on its erect, proud back
As if it were sheer mountain rock
لا يعرف الطَيشَ في سِلْمٍ وممتلئاً
في ساعة الرَّوع ممّا شئتَ من خَبَلِ
Knowing no skittishness on smooth roads, brimming
In times of panic with whatever craziness you wished
مُحَكَّمٌ فيه أنّى شاء فارسه
للرّيث إنْ رامه طوراً وللعَجَلِ
Controlled by its rider wherever he willed,
Calmly for the steady, swiftly for the hasty
فقل لمن شكّ جهلاً في شجاعته
وإنّه قانصٌ نفسَ الفتى البَطَلِ
Say to those who ignorantly doubted its courage
That it rivals the bravest heroic man
من أين تحكم إِلّا في يديه ظُباً
يوم الكريهة في الأجسام والقُلَلِ
Where but in its hands can you rely on ibex
On the day of tribulation, in bodies and hills?
أَوْ مَن سواه تروّى فتقَ طعنتِه
نحرَ المدجّجِ طمآناً من الأَسَلِ
Or who but it can you see satisfying his thrust
Into the throat of armored men with ease?
مَن عالج الملك لولاه وقد طرأتْ
على ضواحيه صعباتٌ من العِلَلِ
Who aided the king but it when difficulties
Afflicted the outskirts of his domains?
مَن راشَهُ بعد أنْ حُصَّتْ قَوادِمُهُ
مَن صانه وهو في أظفارِ مبتذلِ
Who defended him after his troops were defeated
Who shielded him while in the claws of the debased?
مَن ذبّ عنه ببيصٍ ما عَرفن وقد
سُلِلْن في نصره عَوْداً إلى الخِلَلِ
Who warded off from him with a flashing blade what we knew
When they crept crookedly to help him?
مَن ردّ عنه نيوباً للخطوب وقد
هَفَوْن بالرّأي أو برّحْن بالحِيَلِ
Who drove away from him the fanged tribulations when they
Swayed with opinions or plotted with cunning?
مَن كفّ أيدِيَ أقوامٍ به عبثوا
وردّهنّ بما يكرهن من شَلَلِ
Who held back the hands of people who had betrayed him
And repelled them with what they hated of being repelled?
لا تحسبنّي كأقوامٍ خبرتَهمُ
قيدوا بأرشيةِ النَّعماءِ والنَّفَلِ
Think not of me as the people whose way you knew
Bound by the leashes of singing girls and gifts
بلا قرارٍ على دارٍ يحلّ بها
ولا مقامٍ على شيءٍ من السُّبُلِ
With no resolve to stay where they lodged
No halting place on any path
فإنّني لك صافٍ غيرُ ذي كَدَرٍ
وواردٌ منك عِدّاً غيرَ ذي وَشَلِ
I am sincere to you, without resentment
Coming to you again and again, without hesitation
وإنْ تبدّل قومٌ عنك واِنتَقلوا
فليس لِي منك عُمْرَ الدّهرِ من بَدَلِ
If people turned away from you and moved on
I have no one but you for the life of this world
وإنْ يحولوا ويَضحَوا غيرَ مَن عهدوا
فإنّني لم يَزُلْ ودّي ولم يَحُلِ
If they change and become other than what they once were
My affection remains, does not leave
وإنْ يُمَلّوا وما مُلَّ الجميلُ بهمْ
فإنّني مُعتَقٌ من رِبْقَةِ المَلَلِ
If they weary, though the beautiful does not weary them
I am free of the shackles of weariness
خوّلتنِي منك إكراماً يُخَيَّل لِي
أنّ الأنامَ لما خوّلتني خَوَلي
You granted me such honor from you I imagine
People granted me no honor when you honored me
وما جذلتُ لشيء في الزّمان وقدْ
أَسحبتني باِجتبائي حُلَّةَ الجَذَلِ
I have not been miserly about anything in life since
You made me wear the garment of generosity
فإنْ وردتُ زلالاً غبَّ معطشةٍ
ففي ولائك عَلِّي اليومَ أو نَهَلِي
If I come to fresh, gushing water, thirsty
In loyalty to you, water me today or provide me drink
ومذْ وصلتُك دون النّاس كلّهم
فقد قطعتُ على خُبْرٍ بهمْ وُصُلِي
Since I reached you, apart from all people
Indeed, I have cut off my ties and connections with them
ومذْ جعلتُ لظهري منك مستَنَداً
غَنِيتُ عن أَكَمِ القِيعانِ بالجبلِ
Since I made you the pillar upon which my back relies
I am needless of mountain peaks and crags
فَاِسعَدْ بذا العيد وليمضِ الصّيامُ فقد
أثنى عليك بخير القولِ والعملِ
So be joyous on this feast day and let fasting pass
For the best words and deeds have praised you
يمضي بلا هفوةٍ في عرضه مرقتْ
ولا عثارٍ ولا شيءٍ من الزَّلَلِ
Passing with no stumbling in its manner
No shame, nothing of lapses
وعشْ مُوَقّىً خطوبَ الدّهرِ محتمياً
عمادُ عزّك عن ثلمٍ وعن مَيَلِ
Live secured from the afflictions of fate
The pillar of your might against any leaning or bending
وثوبُ فخرك لا يُطوى على شَعَثٍ
وشمسُ ملكك لا تُدني إلى طَفَلِ
And the robe of your pride is not folded over filth
Nor does the sun of your kingdom near childhood
