تِلكَ الدّيارُ برامَتين همودُ

دَرَسَتْ ولم تدْرسُ لهنّ عُهودُ

Those are the abodes of Bramayin Hamoud

It studied but did not study for it periods

حَيثُ اِلتَوى ذاكَ اللّوى ثمَّ اِستَوى

وَاِلتفَّ مِن شَملِ الأراكِ بَدِيدُ

Where that twisting twisted then straightened

And the clusters of the bushes gathered fresh

أَوَ ما رأيتَ وُقوفَنا بمُحَجَّرٍ

والدّمعُ مِنْ جَفْنِي عليه يجودُ

Or did you not see our standing at Muhajjar

With tears from my eyelids flowing abundantly upon it

مُترنّحينَ منَ الغرامِ كأنّنا

قُضُبٌ تميلُ مع الصِّبا وتميدُ

Swaying from passion as if we were

Branches leaning with the breeze and swaying

والرّكبُ إمّا سادِرٌ مُتَهالكٌ

أو راكبٌ ثَبجَ السُّلوِّ جَليدُ

And the caravan either loaded and crumbling

Or a rider whose saddle is frozen solid

وعلى أهاضيب المُشقَّرِ غادةٌ

للرّيمِ منها طَرفُهُ والجيدُ

And on the slopes of Mushaqqar horned mountain goats

Flashing their eyes and beautiful necks at the onlooker

صَدّتْ ولم تُرِدِ الصُّدودَ وربّما

جاء العناءُ ولم يُرِدْه مريدُ

It turned away and did not want to turn back and maybe

Distress came but the suitor did not want it

ولقد طَرقتَ وما طَرقتَ صبابةً

عيني ونحن إلى الرّحالِ هُجودُ

And you did knock but you didn't knock gently

My eyes while we were headed to departure

في ظلِّ خوصٍ كالقسيِّ طلائحٍ

أخَذَتْ عَوارِيَهُنَّ منها البيدُ

In the shade of withered shrubs like dry spindles

Their loose fibers taken by them as tinder

أَنّى اِهتَديتَ وَكيفَ زُرتَ وَبَينَنا

دون الزّيارةِ مُرْبخٌ وزَرودُ

How did you find your way and how did you visit while between us

Without visiting a waterless desert and groves

ومفاوزٌ مِنْ دونهنّ مفاوزٌ

وتهائِمٌ مِنْ فوقهنّ نُجودُ

And ravines beyond them, ravines

And beasts above them, ibexes

وغرائرٍ أنكرنَ شيبَ ذوائبي

والبيضُ مِنَّي عندهنّ السُّودُ

And caves unknown to the graying of my temples

And my whiteness to them is blackness

أنكرنَ داءً ليس فيه حيلةٌ

وَذَممْنَ مفْضىً ليس عنه مَحيدُ

They denied an ailment that has no stratagem

And blamed a downfall that has no deviator

يُهْوى الشّبابُ وَإِنْ تَقادم عهدُه

ويُمَلُّ هذا الشّيبُ وهو جديدُ

Youth is loved even if its era has elapsed

And this gray hair is twisted while still fresh

لا تَبْعُدَنْ عهدَ الشَّبابِ ومِنْ جوىً

أَدعو لَهُ بِالقربِ وَهوَ بعيدُ

Do not make the era of youth remote, and from a confidant

I call it near though it is far

أَيّامَ أُرمَى بِاللّحاظِ وأرتمِي

وأصادُ في شَرَكِ الهوى وأصيدُ

Days I was smitten by gazes and I would smite

In the traps of love and hunt

قد قلتُ للرّكب السِّراعِ يحثُّهمْ

مترنِّمٌ بحُدائه غِرَّيدُ

I told the racing caravan to hurry

Humming my ode melodiously twittering

في سَبْسَبٍ خافي المعالمِ والصُّوى

فكأنّما موجودُهُ مفقودُ

In an obscure, imperceptible valley

As if its existence present is absent

مَنْ مبلغٌ فخرَ الملوكِ رسالةً

أَعيَتْ عليَّ يقولُها المجهودُ

Who is a messenger to the pride of kings with a message

That exhausts me when I try to say it

أتَرى ليالِيَّ اللواتي طِبنَ لي

في ظلّكَ الوافي عليَّ تعودُ

Do you think there will be nights like those that were good to me

In your constant shade that will recur

وَمَتى أَزور ربيعَ أرضِك زَوْرَةً

وعليَّ من نَسْجِ الرّبيعِ بُرودُ

And when will I visit the springtime of your land on a visit

While the coolness of spring is upon me

وأنا الّذي من بعد نَأْيِكَ نازحٌ

عن كلِّ ما فيه الهوى مطرودُ

And I am after your absence a fugitive

From all that desire in it is outcast

أُضحِي أَرى ما غيرُهُ عندي الرِّضا

وأُريدُ كُرهاً ما سواه أُريدُ

I sacrifice seeing what else pleases me

And reluctantly want what else I want

للَّهِ حِلْمُك والرِّواقُ يُرى بهِ

للسائلين من الوفود وفودُ

For God's sake your patience and the porch is seen through it

Caravans of visitors and delegations

والقول يُرزَقُهُ الشّجاعُ ويمتري

منه ويُحرَمُ نُطقَه الرِّعديدُ

And the brave is granted speech and derives benefit

From it while the coward is deprived of speaking

في مَوقفٍ ينتاب تامورَ الفتى

للرّعبِ إقرارٌ بهِ وجُحودُ

In a situation that makes the gallant youth tremble

From fear while acknowledging and denying it

وعلى الأسرّةِ من ضيائك بارقٌ

أو كوكبٌ جَهَر النّجومَ فَريدُ

And above the litters a gleam from your brilliance

Or a star distinct among the stars

وكأنَّ وجهَك قُدَّ من شَمسِ الضُّحى

أم مِنْ سَنا قمر الدّجى مقدودُ

As if your face was molded from the sun of dawn

Or from excellent moonlight drawn

لاذوا بمن ثَمَرُ المروءَة يانعٌ

منه وأُمُّ المَكْرُماتِ وَلودُ

Take refuge with one whom the fruit of glory flourishes

From him and the mother of glorious deeds brings forth

والمنهلُ العِدُّ النميرُ وحيثما

يُدنى المَذود ويُمنحُ المحدودُ

And the river of generosity, gifts, and wherever

Succor is given and limited bounty allowed

يا فخرَ مُلكِ بني بويه ومَنْ له

ظِلٌّ على هذا الورى مَمْدودُ

Oh pride of Bouyah's kingdom, and who has

A shade over this world outstretched

وَالمُعتلي قِمم العَلاء بهمّةٍ

قامَتْ وهمّاتُ الرّجالِ قُعودُ

And who ascends the summits of loftiness with ambition

That arose while men's ambitions sat

وَالمُنشئ الغُرِّ الغرائبِ في النّدى

حتّى تُعلّم منه كيف الجودُ

And who creates remarkable strangeness in dew

Until you teach how generosity is

هيَ دولةٌ مازلتَ تَرْأبُ شعبَها

وتذُبُّ عنها كالئاً وتذودُ

It is a state you still mend its people

And dissolve hardships from it and repel

تُنمى إِذا اِنتَسَبتْ إِليك وما لها

إِلّاكَ آباءٌ لها وجُدودُ

It grows if traced back to you, and it has none

But you as forebears and ancestors

وَرَدَدْتها بالأَمسِ ثلَّةَ قَفْرةٍ

شَطَّتْ فأحْرزَها علينا السّيدُ

And you returned it yesterday a mere rabble

That wandered so the Master confined it for us

أَوْقَدتها بعدَ الخبوِّ فما لها

أَبَدَ الزّمانِ تطامنٌ وخمودُ

You ignited it after extinction, so it has no

Endurance and dormancy everlasting

مَنْ ذا الّذي يَرنو إِلَيها طالباً

ولها ببابك عُدّةٌ وعديدُ

Who is he that aspires to it seeking

While at your door it has apparatus and materiel

لَولا دِفاعُك ما اِستَقَرّ بمَفْرَقي

ذاك المتوَّجِ تاجُهُ المعقودُ

Were it not for your defense that crown adorned with jewels

Would not have settled on my temples

ولَزال هذا الملكُ بعد مماتِهِ

وَلمالَ عنهُ دعِامُه المعمودُ

And this kingdom after his death would have declined

And its pillar you erected collapsed

كَم ذا صَليتَ وِقايةً لِنَعيمِهِ

يَوماً يَذوبُ بحَرِّهِ الجلمودُ

How much did you pray protecting its prosperity

A day its ice melts and thaws

في ظهرِ مُستَلبِ الفُتورِ كأنّه

هَيْقٌ بأجواز الفلاةِ شَرُودُ

On the back of one seized by numbness as if he

Is a hyaena in the tracts of desolation wandering

وكأنّه ينسابُ في خَلَلِ القنا

يومَ الكريهةِ أرْقمٌ مَزؤودُ

And as if he flows through the channels

On an inauspicious day, a mangy fox driven away

في غِلمةٍ سلكوا طريقَك في الوغى

والبيضُ منهمْ رُكّعٌ وسجودُ

In an intense darkness they walked your path in battle

And the whites of them bowing and prostrating

مُتَسرّعينَ إِلى القِراعِ كأنّهمْ

وعليهمُ زُبَرُ الحديد حَديدُ

Hastening to the battle as if upon them

Were coats of mail of solid iron

يُرْدُون مَنْ شاؤوا بِغَيرِ منيّةٍ

فَهُمُ وَإِنْ غَلَبوا الأسودَ أُسودُ

They drive back whom they want without hesitation

For even if they overcome the black they are blacker

لا يَأخُذونَ المالَ إِلّا بِالقَنا

تَحمرّ مِنه ترائبٌ ووريدُ

They do not take money except by the spearhead

That makes garments and veins red

أَو مِنْ ظُبا لم تَعْرَ يومَ كريهةٍ

إِلّا وَهاماتُ الكُماةِ غُمودُ

Or from prey that knew no disastrous day

Except the eyeballs of archers blinking

لا تَحقرنَّ منَ العدوِّ صغيرةً

وَاِرْدُد مكيدَةَ مَنْ تراه يكيدُ

Do not underestimate a small thing from an enemy

And foil the scheme of one you see scheming

وَإِذا اِسْتَرَبْتَ بِمنْ خَبَرْتَ فلا تَنَمْ

فَالدّاءُ يُعدِي والقليلُ يزيدُ

And if you detect treachery in one experienced betray

Do not sleep for disease is contagious and little increases

إِنَّ الحَسودَ هوَ العدوُّ وإنّما

سَتَروا قَبائِحَهُ فَقيل حسودُ

Indeed the envious one is the enemy though

They concealed their disgraces so he was called envious

وَالضِّغنُ تَطْمُرُهُ الأناةُ فتعترِي

حِزَقاً إليه ضغائنٌ وحقودُ

And hatred is buried by patience so it becomes

Rancor toward him, resentments and grudges

وَالعودُ إِنْ طَرَحَ التقادُم قادحاً

فيهِ وَلم تدلكه ظلَّ العودُ

And wood, if the passage of time casts it aside

And oil does not massage it, will not be wood

لَولا الصّلاحُ بِأنْ يُعاقَبَ مجرمٌ

ما كان وَعدٌ مُطمِعٌ وَوَعيدُ

Were it not for propriety that a criminal be punished

There would be neither a hopeful promise nor a threat

ضَمِنَتْ لك الأقدارُ كلّ محبّةٍ

وَأحَلَّكَ الرّحمَن حيثُ تريدُ

Fate guaranteed you every affection

And the Merciful allowed you wherever you wish

وَنَعِمْتَ بِالنّيروزِ نعمةَ ناشدٍ

أضحى وَحشوُ يمينِهِ المنشودُ

And you attained in Neyrouz the favor of an implorer

Who became the intent of his cherished right hand

وَعَرَتْكَ فيه جلالةٌ وإدالةٌ

وأتَتْكَ منه مَيامنٌ وسُعودُ

And it clothed you in it with majesty and influence

And good omens and prosperity came to you from it

حَتّى يَقولَ المستزيدُ لكَ العُلا

ما فَوقَ هَذا في العَلاءِ مَزيدُ

Until the over-ambitious says to you ultimate sublimity

Above this, is there increase in the most lofty