أمالَكَ من غرامٍ ما أمالا

وزادَك نصحُ عاذلها خَبالا

My hopes in love are futile

And counsel from her rebuker increases my confusion

ولو كانتْ وقد هجرتْ أرادتْ

دلالاً لاِحتَملتُ لها الدّلالا

And if she who has forsaken me wanted

To return, I would bear her coquetry

وما زال العذول يقول حتّى

أذنتَ له فأسمعك المحالا

Still the censurer says, until

You allowed him, making you hear the impossible

فما لك والحِجالَ وقد جعلتمْ

قلوبَ العاشقين لكمْ حجالا

What is it to you and shyness when you have made

The hearts of lovers shackled to you

وما أُلحي سوى قلبي وفيه

نُدوبٌ منك كيف إليك مالا

None have been tormented but my heart in which

Are scars from you - how can it incline elsewhere

هجرتَ ونحن أيقاظٌ بوَجٍّ

وزرت بنَعفِ كاظمةٍ خيالا

You deserted while we were wakeful with love sickness

And you visited in the darkness of an imaginary specter

وليس الهجرُ عن سببٍ ولكنْ

خلوتَ وما خلونا منك بالا

It is not abandonment for a reason but

You isolated yourself while we are not without yearning for you

وطيفٌ منكمُ بجنوب نجدٍ

أراني من محاسنكمْ مثالا

A specter of you in the south of Najd

Shows me an example of your beauty

أقام على مضاجعنا هُدُوّاً

فلمّا زال عنّا النّومُ زالا

It stayed the night in our beds, conversing

When sleep left us, it departed

لَهَوْتُ بِباطل الأحلامِ حتّى

ودِدْتُ لهنّ أنّ اللّيلَ طالا

I indulged in vain dreams until

I wished the night would be prolonged for them

ألَيْلَتَنا بكاظمةٍ أضِلِّي

بياضَكِ أنْ يلمّ بنا ضلالا

O night of Kakomah, make stray

your whiteness before engulfing us in misguidance

فليس الصّبحُ من أَرَبي وحسبي

ظِلالُ اللّيل أسكنه ظِلالا

For dawn is not my concern, and it suffices me

The shadows of night make me dwell in shades

ومعسولِ المراشف لو سقاني

سقاني من مُجاجته الزّلالا

And the juicy pillows, if they quenched my thirst

Quenched me from their pure freshness

متى يَفَتَرّ يبسم عن نقيٍّ

شَتيتِ الرَّصْفِ تحسبه سَيالا

When will the smile loosen from the sincere

Scattered gravel that you suppose a torrent

كأنّ به سحيقَ المسك وُهْناً

تناثر أو عقيقَ الخمر سالا

As if in it the musk is pulverized and

Spread out or spilt wine is pouring

وكان الدّهرُ ألْبَسَنِي سواداً

أَروعُ به الغزالةَ والغزالا

Fate made me wear black

Frightening the gazelles and the young bucks

نعمتُ بصبغِهِ زمناً قصيراً

فلمّا حالتِ الأعوامُ حالا

I enjoyed its dye a short time

Then when years passed it changed

بفخر الملك أعتبتُ اللّيالي

وعاد أُجاجُنا عَذْباً زلالا

With the pride of the king I blamed the nights

And our bitterness turned fresh and pure

وسالمنا الزّمانُ به وكانتْ

حروبُ صُروفه فينا سِجالا

Time reconciled with it and there were

Battles with its caprices raging among us

وأصبحتِ العراقُ بخير حالٍ

وكانتْ أسْوَأَ الأمصار حالا

And Iraq became of good condition

While the worst of lands changed

دخلتُ عليه مجلسَه فأدنى

وأعلاني مكاناً لا يُعالى

I entered his presence so he drew me near

And seated me in a position that cannot be surpassed

وأثقلني ولم أكُ طولَ عمري

حملتُ لغيره المِنَنَ الثّقالا

He honored me though in my life

I never carried favors for another

بإكرامٍ إذا عظمتْ وجلّتْ

لدى قلبي أوائِله تَوَالى

With kindness - if it's magnified and revered

The beginnings of it multiply in my heart

وقولٍ كلّما اِضطربتْ قلوبٌ

بحظّي منه أعْقَبَهُ فِعالا

And words - whenever hearts are troubled

With my fortune, action follows

وبِشْرٍ يأخذ الأقوامُ منه

أمامَ نوالِ راحته النّوالا

And good news the people take from it

Before the reach of his comfort, bounty

ولمّا أنْ دعاك إليه بدرٌ

سبقتَ إلى تداركه العُجالى

And when Badr called you to him

You rushed to his aid urgently

فأحزنتَ السهولَ حمىً وجُرْداً

محصّنةً وأسهلتَ الجبالا

You saddened the plains, protected and bare

Impregnable, and you flattened the mountains

وأبصرها هِلالٌ خارقاتٍ

ذيولَ النَّقْعِ يحملن الهلالا

The crescent moon of polished swords saw them

The trailing edges bearing the crescent

عوابس كلّما طرحت قتيلاً

جَعلن ضَفير لمّتهِ قِبالا

Scowling - whenever they cast down a victim

They made his braided hair a turban

عليهنّ الأُلى جعلوا العوالي

وما طالتْ بأيديهمْ طوالا

The polished swords made them as necklaces

And their hands did not reach long

كأنّ على قُنِيّهمُ نجوماً

خَرَرْن على القوانس أو ذُبالا

As if upon their necks were stars

That slid down the slender necks or insects

ومذ صقلوا سيوفهمُ المواضي

بأعناق العِدا هجروا الصّقالا

And since they honed their swords on the whetstones

With the necks of foes, they abandoned the hones

تُمَدُّ الحربُ منك بلَوْذَعِيٍّ

يسعّرها إذا خَبَتِ اِشتعالا

War ignites from you with a blaze

That flares up when it wanes

وقلبُك يا جريء القلب قلبٌ

كأنّك ما شهدتَ به القتالا

And your heart, O audacious heart, is a heart

As if you never witnessed the fighting

وذي لَجَبٍ تألّق جانباه

كأنّ به على الآفاقِ آلا

With shining flanks

As if upon the horizons flags

وفيه كلُّ سَلْهَبَةٍ جَموحٍ

يعاسلن المثقّفةَ الطِّوالا

In it is every unruly flame

That rivals the tall, erect

فَلَوْتَ بكلّ أبيضَ مشرفيٍّ

بكَبَّتِهِ رؤوساً لا تُفالى

So you vanquished every high white fortress

With its domes, heads that cannot be transcended

ومَنْ لولاك زوّارُ الأعادي

إذا ملّوك زدتَهمُ ملالا

And who but you, warded off enemies

When you increased the kings' boredom

وشاهقةٍ حماها مُبتنيها

وطوّلها حذاراً أن تُنالا

And a towering fortress whose builder

Lengthened it cautiously lest it be seized

وحصّنها وعند اللَّه علمٌ

بأنّك لم تدع فيها عِقالا

And you fortified it, and Allah knows

That you did not leave any weakness in it

تراها تستدقّ لمن علاها

كأنّ بها وما هُزِلَتْ هُزالا

You see it tapering to one who surmounted it

As if it was always straight, never bent

وقُلَّتُها تمسّ الأُفقَ حتّى

تقدّرها بخدّ الشّمسِ خالا

And its pinnacle touches the horizon until

You judge it aligned with the sun's cheek

ظفرتَ بها وضيفك من بعيدٍ

يرى ما كان فيه إليك آلا

You won it, and your guest from afar

Sees what was conferred on you

وما كان الزّمانُ يرى عليها

لغير الطير جائلةً مجالا

Never did time see upon it

Any but birds having open range

نقلتَ بما نقلتَ قلوبَ قومٍ

ويحسبك الغنيُّ نقلتَ مالا

You transferred with what you transferred hearts of a people

And the wealthy suppose you transferred wealth

وسقتَ إلى قوام الدّين فتحاً

يرى كلّ الفتوح له عيالا

And you gave triumphal openings to the pillars of the faith

Each victory he sees as his dependents

وكم لك قبله من قاطعاتٍ

مدى الآفاق لم تَخَفِ الكلالا

And how many before it were conquering ones

Stretching the horizons, not fearing weariness

إذا ما بات يقلب جانبيها

قوامُ الدين تاه بها وصالا

When the pillars of faith turn its sides by night

He wanders, intoxicated by it

فخذها فوق ما تهواه منها

عطاءً ما لقيتَ به مِطالا

So take it above what you covet of it

A gift you did not meet with refusal

ومجدِك إِنّه قسمٌ جليلٌ

لقد أتعبتَ في الدّنيا الرّجالا

And your glory is indeed a great share

You have exhausted men in the world

إذا طلبوك فُتَّهُمُ جميلاً

وإنْ رَمَقوك رُعْتَهمُ جمالا

When they seek you, meet them graciously

And if they look at you, you captivate them with beauty

فما لَكَ ليس ترضى عن محلٍّ

كأنّك بعدُ لم تُصبِ الكمالا

So why are you not satisfied with a position

As if you never attained perfection

أَلَسْتَ أتمَّنا خُلُقاً وخَلْقاً

وأبسطَنا يميناً أو شمالا

Are you not the most perfect of us in manners and character?

And the most open handed of us right or left?

فما يبغي الّذي يضحي ويُمسِي

وقد جمع المهابةَ والجَلالا

So what does he who sacrifices morning and night want

Having attained awe and majesty?

ومَن لولاه كان الناسُ فَوْضى

وكان الأمر مُطّرَحاً مُذالا

And who but him made people orderly

And the command discarded and disgraced?

فدمْ يا فخرَ ملك بني بُوَيْهٍ

دواماً لا نريد به زوالا

So last, pride of the kings of the Buwayhids

Everlasting, which we do not wish to expire

وقبلك مَن حرامٌ فيه مدحي

فخذه اليوم مبذولاً حلالا

And before you, my praise is prohibited

So take it today, made permitted and lawful