قَد هَوَيناهُ ناقِضاً للعُهودِ

وَضَنيناً بِالوعدِ والموعودِ

We blamed him for breaking covenants

And being unfaithful to his promise and what was promised

وَرَضينا ما كانَ منهُ وَإِنْ أرْ

مَضَنا من تجنّبٍ وصُدودِ

And we accepted what he did even though we

Steered away from him and erected barriers

يَمطُلُ الشيءَ في يديهِ وزادَ الْ

مَطلَ لؤماً أنْ كان بالمَوجودِ

He delays something in his hands and his

Delay becomes more hurtful if it was already present

يا خَليليَّ وَالرّكائبُ يطلُعْ

نَ بنا من تهائمٍ ونُجُودِ

O my friend, dawn is breaking upon us

With forebodings and generosities

وقفةً في زَرودَ فالقلبُ يهوى

منكمُ وقفةً بحَبْلَيْ زَرودِ

A stopover in Zarud where the heart desires

A stopover with you, O ropes of Zarud

فزَرودٌ ممّا أودُّ وإن كا

ن إلى الرّكبِ ليس بالمودودِ

So Zarud is what I love even if it was

Not destined to join the caravan

وهناكَ الغرامُ أضحى وإنْ أو

دى زرُودٌ وأهلُهُ غيرُ مودِ

And there lies passion though Zarud, if guided

Would be unguided and its people graceless

وظِباءٌ غَنِينَ بالنّظمِ في المي

سَمِ عن نظمِ لؤلُؤٍ في عقودِ

With does singing with threaded pearls

Not like strung pearls in necklaces

وبِحَلْيٍ قد صاغَه اللهُ في اللَّب

باتِ والجيد عن حُلِيِّ الجِيدِ

Adorned by God with natural beauty

Not with finery upon finery

قلن لمّا رأينَ وخْطاً من الشّي

بِ برأسِي أعيا على مَجهودِي

They said when they saw a streak of white

In my hair, my exertion has wearied me

كسَنا بارِقٍ تعرّض وَهْناً

في حواشِي بعضِ اللّيالِي السُّودِ

Flashes dazzled us and feebleness

Crept into edges of those dark nights

أبياضٌ مُجَدَّدٌ في سوادٍ

كان قدماً لا مرحباً بالجديدِ

Whiteness made new in darkness

That had long been inhospitable to newness

يا لحاكنَّ مِنْ رماكُنَّ بالحُس

نِ لِتَقْهرنَنا بغيرِ جنودِ

Oh you who targeted us with beauty

To subdue us without armies

ليس بيضِي مَنِّي فأجري عليهن

نَ صدوداً وليس مِنكنّ سودِي

My whiteness is not of my doing so bar

Them from me; my blackness is not of you

قلّما ضرّكنّ من شَعَرَاتٍ

كنَّ يوماً على الوَقارِ شُهودِي

Rarely did some hairs of mine

Once witness my dignity

لبهاءِ الملوكِ والدّين والدَّوْ

لة شكرِي والفَرْطُ من تمجيدِي

Grateful am I for the splendor of kings, religion and state

And exceeding in glorification

وَبِأيّامه السَّعيدةِ أعطي

تُ لواءَ التّعديل والتّوحيدِ

In his blessed days I was given

The banner of reform and unification

وبجَدٍّ منه أروح وأحرا

رُ المعانِي وإنْ غَمِضْنَ عبيدِي

Through his excellence I came alive

And became eloquent though slaves stayed mute

كُنتُ قبلَ اِصطِناعهِ أَنظرُ الدّن

يا عُزوفاً وعِفَّةً من بعيدِ

Before his patronage I saw the world

With disinterest and aloofness from afar

فَأَتاني منهُ كَريمٌ تَولّى

مَدَّ ضَبْعِي حتّى أقامَ قعودِي

Then came to me his noble gesture

That made me sit up after lying prone

ودعانِي ولو سواه دعانِي

ما رآنِي إلّا بعيدَ الهُجودِ

And called me though had another called

I would not have come, being far removed

قد أتتنِي نُعماك يا مالكَ النا

سِ على أَنّنِي بِمَرمى البعيدِ

Your favors came to me, O King of mankind

Though I had been at the range of farness

غافلاً عن مواهبٍ منك وافي

ن فحلَّينَنِي وقلّدْنَ جِيدِي

Oblivious of gifts from You that made me rich

And adorned me and garlanded my neck

جِئْن عفواً من غيرِ كدٍّ وما نَيْ

لُكَ فينا بالنّائلِ المكدودِ

Come to us freely without toil, for striving

Does not suit the Attainer of wishes

لقبٌ كنتُ قبله كاليمانيِّ

قد أتى عارياً بغير بُرودِ

A title I had before was like a poor Yemeni

Who came naked without raiment

أَو كَدَعوى صِدْقٍ أضرُّ بها عن

دَ أَلَدٍّ أنْ لم تكنْ بشهودِ

Or like a claim to honesty that hurts me more

With an obstinate people if not witnessed

وإذا كنتُ مرتضىً عند مَلْكِ النّا

سِ طُرّاً فمن يكون نديدي

And if I found favor in the King's eyes

Then who can be my equal?

بعد ما كنتُ ثاوياً في أُناسٍ

أرْتعي منهمُ جَميمَ الحقودِ

After I had dwelled among people

Sipping the curdled milk of closing hearts

نَشدوا الحالَ حيثُ ساءَ فإن كا

ن جميلاً فليس بالمنشودِ

They experienced life in its bitterness

And though it was sweet, it was not desired

أنَا نَصْلٌ سَلَلْتَهُ لأعادي

كَ وكم ذا سللتَ من مغمودِ

I am a sword You unsheathed against Your

Enemies - and how many blunted swords have you unleashed!

وَبِتَشريفك الّذي يرفع النّا

ظرَ ما بان سيّدٌ من مسودِ

By Your ennoblement that raises the sights

No lord was seen to emerge from darkness

أيُّ عزٍّ بحيثُ أنت لمن يم

تارُ عزّاً وأيُّ مَغْنى وفودِ

What glory compared to You for one who desires glory

What purpose in devotion and pilgrimage?

وإذا زارَهُ العُفاةُ أصابو

هُ مَرادَ النّدى ومَحْنى العودِ

When visited by the refined, they attained

The object of fondness and the passion of the lute

والمحلَّ الّذي به نَظَمَ الل

هُ من الملك كلَّ شملٍ بَديدِ

The place which God beautified with kingship

Knitted every fragmented dominion

قَد رَأَينا الّذينَ عاصوكَ بِالأَمْ

سِ وحادوا عن ظلِّكَ الممدودِ

We saw those who disobeyed You at dusk

And deviated from Your outstretched shadow

بَينَ عانٍ في القيدِ غير طليقٍ

وقَتيلٍ بالسّيفِ غير شهيدِ

Some helpless in shackles, not free

Others slain by the sword, not martyred

وشريدٍ يوَدُّ أنّ الرّدى صُب

بَ عليه في فَيلقٍ من حَديدِ

Some expelled, wishing destruction

Had poured over them torrents of iron

أَشِبٍ بالقنا يُخالُ وأبنا

ءُ المنايا فيه عرينُ أُسودِ

Some white-haired like reeds, deluded

And in them cubs of death nest like beasts

وَرِجالٍ لا يحفِلون إذا ما

رَئموا الضّيمَ حَفْلةً بالوعيدِ

And men who care not if they bear

Injustice without threatening vengeance

كَصلالِ الرِّمالِ أَو كَذئابِ ال

قاعِ رُقشاً هَبَبْنَ بعد رُكودِ

Like shifting sands or wolves of the wasteland

Howling, then slinking after stillness

كلِّ مُسترسلٍ إلى القِرْنِ ثَبْتٍ

للمنايا كالصَّخرةِ الصَّيخودِ

Each set loose like a torrent to destruction

Wed to death like deafening boulders

مُنْتَمٍ إنْ لَزَزْتَهُ عند جرثو

مَةِ فَخرٍ منها إِلى خيرِ عودِ

Haughty, so if you rouse him at a tyrant's

Grave, he rises to no better purpose

لا اِقتَرَبْنا إلّا إِليكَ ولا زُرْ

ناك إلّا عن سَيْبِكَ المورودِ

We approached no one but You

And visited none but by Your overflowing stream

وَقَضى اللّهُ في عَطاياك منهُ

وعطاياك عندنا بالمزيدِ

And God decreed in Your gifts from Him

Gifts that to us are ever increasing

ثُمّ نَادى في دارِ مُلْكك يادا

رُ أقيمِي محروسةً لا تبيدِي

Then He called out in Your kingdom: “O eternal

Abode, stay protected, do not perish!”

وَمِنَ الآنِ فَاِستَمعْ لِنِدائي

بأياديك كلَّ بيتٍ شَرودِ

“And from now hear my call at daybreak

By Your hands, every distant house!”

عَبِقٍ بِالقَبولِ ما كان عن حَب

بِ قلوبِ الرّجالِ بالمطرودِ

Fragrant with acceptance what was not

With the hearts of men ever rejected

وَإِذا لَم يَكُنْ إِلى بابِك المَع

مورِ قَصدِي لعائقٍ فَقَصيدي

And if my aspiration faces no obstacle

At Your gate, then my ode, to Your courtyard