عَوَّذْتُ حَاجِبَهُ ذَا النُّونِ بِالنُّونِ
وَخَدَّهُ وَعِذَارَيْهِ بِيَاسِينِ
I invoked his eyebrow, whose beauty is like the letter noon, with a noon,
And his cheek and chin with a yaseen,
وَعَيْنَهُ وثَنَايَاهُ وَمَبْسَمَهُ
مِنْ كُلّ عَيْنٍ بطه أو بطاسين
And his eye, dimples, and smile
With the most beautiful eyes, whether dark or light.
ظبيٌ سَبَى لحظُه لحظَ الغزالة إذ
حَلَّتْ مَحَاسِنُهُ فِي أفق تحسينِ
A gazelle whose glance is like the glance of a doe when
His beautiful features appeared on the horizon of perfection.
كَالزَّهْرِ في تَرَفٍ وَالظَّبْيِ فِي غَيَدٍ
وَالزُّهْر فِي شَرَفٍ وَالغُصْنِ فِي لِينِ
Like a flower in luxury and a gazelle in a meadow,
And the flower in nobility and the branch in softness.
قَدْ رَاقَ مَاءُ الحَيَا فِي نَارِ وجْنَته
كَالوَرْدِ رُشَّ عَلَيْهِ مَاءُ تَشْرِينِ
The water of life flowed in the fire of his cheek
Like a rose sprinkled with the water of October.
وَسَيَّجَتْ وَرْدَ خَدّيْهِ عَوَارِضُهُ
كَمَا تَسَيَّجَ نُعْمَان بِنسْرِينِ
And the apples of his cheek were fenced
As Nu'man fenced Nusaybin.
مُعَسَّلُ الجفن معسول اللَّمَى فَتَكَتْ
عُيُونُهُ بِعُيُونِ الخُرَّدِ العِينِ
With eyes intoxicating with happiness, his eyes
Captivated with the eyes of the one with beautiful eyes.
مُهَفْهَفُ القدّ لَمْ تَتْرُكْ عواطفهُ ال
سُّمْرُ الرشاقُ فُؤَاداً غَيْرَ مطعونِ
Of swaying gait, his passions did not leave
A heart that was not pierced by a slender and graceful one.
سهَامُ جفنيه فِي الأحشَاءِ قد رَشَقَتْ
من قَوْسِ حَاجِبِهِ إتْلاَفَ مَقْرُونِ
The arrows of his eyelids pierced my heart
From the bow of his eyebrow, perfectly paired.
مَا سَنَّ لحظاً رَأى قَتْلِي فَرِيضَتَهُ
إلاّ وَمُتُّ بِمَفْرُوضٍ وَمَسْنُونِ
He did not glance except to see my murder as his duty
So I die by what is obligatory and supererogatory.
أرْجُو لِقَاهُ وَأخْشَى صدّهُ أبدا
فلم أزَلْ بَيْنَ مَسْرُورٍ وَمَحْزُونِ
I hope to meet him and I fear his rejection forever
Thus I remain between happiness and sorrow.
يَا نسْمَةً عَلَّلَتْ قَلْبِي بصِحَّتِهَا
إذ حدَّثَتْ عن ظِبَا جِيَرانِ جيُرونِ
O breeze that makes my heart sick with your healthiness
When you told of the gazelle, the neighbor of Jurun.
مَا لِلَّذِي سلبتْ عقلِي مَحَاسنُهُ
أضحَى يُحَذّرُنِي منْ حَيْثُ يُغْرِينِي
Why does the one whose beauty robbed me of my mind
Now warn me against where he tempts me?
وَمَا لِسَاحِرِ هَاتِيكَ الجفونِ غدا
فِي الحبّ يُرشدنِي من حيث يُغْوِينِي
And why does the sorcerer of those eyelids tomorrow
In love guide me from where he misleads me?
وَمَا لِبَدْر سَنَا آفَاقِ وَاضِحِهِ
أضلَّنِي بِالَّذِي قَدْ كَادَ يَهْدِينِي
And why does the full moon whose horizons are bright
Mislead me with what almost guided me?
يَا عُذَّلِي فِيهِ كُفُّوا عَنْ ملاَمكمُ
فَلَيْسَ لوْمكمُ في حُبِّهِ دِينِي
O my reproacher in him, stop blaming me
For my religion is not to blame for loving him.
هَبْ أنكمْ قَدْ نصحتمْ كيفَ أقبلُهُ
وَالبعدُ يَقْتُلُنِي وَالحُبُّ يُحْيِينِي
Even if you have advised me, how can I accept
When distance kills me and love gives me life?
أم كيفَ أسمعُ فِيهِ لَوْمَ لاَئِمَةٍ
وَالحُب يُثْبِتُنِي وَالوجدُ يَنْفِينِي
Or how can I listen to the blame of a critic
When love affirms me and passion denies me?
أمْ كَيْفَ أقبَلُ مَا لاَ فِيهِ مَنْفَعَتِي
أمْ كَيْفَ أدْخُلُ فِيمَا لَيْسَ يَعْنينِي
Or how can I accept what does not benefit me
Or enter into what does not concern me?
لاَ أختشِي فِيهِ مِنْ منعِ المَلاَمِ ولي
فِي حُبِّهِ أي إخلاَص وَتمكينِ
I do not fear the prevention of blame, and for me
In loving him there is sincerity and empowerment.
أخلصتُ حبيَ فِيهِ بَعْدَ مِعْرِفَتِي
بِأن حَظِّيَ مِنْهُ حَظُّ مَغْبُونِ
I devoted my love to him after realizing
That my fortune with him is that of the cheated one.
أبْدَى هَوَاهُ وَعَفَّى بِالضنَى جسدِي
مِنْ حَيْثُ يَنْشُرُنِي طَوْراً وَيَطْوِينِي
He showed his love and my body wasted away
Where at times he inspires me and at times folds me.
تَظَلَّمَتْ مقلتَاهُ وَهْيَ ظَالِمَةٌ
فَطَرْفُه فَاتِنٌ فِي شَكْلِ مَفْتونِ
His eyelids complained wrongfully
For his glance is alluring in the form of the infatuated one.
تَأبَّطَ العُودَ يَشْكُو عَوْدَ صَبْوَتِهِ
كَمَاجِنٍ قَدْ حَوَى حالاَتِ مَجْنونِ
He hugs the lute complaining of the hardness of youth
As one possessed relating the state of the madman.
تَرَاهُ يُمْهِلُهُ جَسَّا وَيُزْعِجُهُ
ضَرْباً بِأنْوَاعِ إعَراب التَّلاَحِينِ
You see him gently plucking it and noisily striking it
With rhythms of musical modes and compositions.
كَأنّ مَأوَاهُ إذْ أُحْنِى عَلَيْهِ يَدِي
شَكْلٌ يَدُلُّ على أسلُوب قانُونِ
It is as if its place, when I lean my hand on it
Its shape indicates the method of the legal ruling.
تَشْكُو إلى الصحْبِ أعْضَاهُ وَألْسُنُهُ
نشرَ المَنَاشِرِ أوْ قَطْعَ السَّكَاكِينِ
It complains to friends of its parts and strings
Of the spreading of scrolls or the cutting of knives.
سَقَى الحَيَا تُونس الخضرا جوَانبُهَا
حَيْثُ الأسُودُ سَبَتْهَا أعْيُنُ العِينِ
The rain made the sides of fertile Tozeur drink
Where the black doe's eyes, the eyes of the scout, roamed.
وَحَيْثُ مُؤْنِسُ أزْهَار الكمَامِ حَكَى
كَافُورَ بَرْقٍ سَرَى منْ عَنْبَرِ الجُونِ
And where the confidant of the orange blossoms related
Camphorlike lightning flowing from ambergris perfume.
وَحَيْثُ أيدي انسيابِ النهر قدْ رَقَمَتْ
فِي صفحةِ الروض أشكَالَ الثَّعَابِينِ
And where the hands of the flowing river inscribed
On the page of the garden, shapes of serpents.
وَحَيْثُ غَرّدَ قُمْرِي الحَيَا سَحَراً
عَلَى مَعَاطِفِ أغْصَانِ الرّياحِينِ
And where my silver nightingale sang enchantingly
Among the robes of the fragrant branches.
وَحَيْثُ مَرّ نَسِيمُ المَنْدَلي وَرَوَى
عن عطرِ تونِسَ لاَ عن عطرِ دارِينِ
And where the Mandalī breeze passed and irrigated
Not with the scent of Tunis but with the scent of Darīn.
وَحَيْثُ شَبَّبَتِ الأطْيَارُ وامْتَدَحَتْ
مَوْلاَي عُثْمَانَ سُلْطَانَ السلاَطِينِ
And where the birds warbled and praised
My master Uthman, sultan of sultans.
المَانحُ الجَارِ صَوْناً غَيْرَ مُنْتَهَك
وَالماتِحُ الجُودِ بَذْلاً غَيْرَ مَمْنُونِ
The neighbor's protector, inviolably protected,
The open-handed one, generously unsparing.
مُبَرْقِعُ الخَيْلِ بِالبِيضِ الحِدَادِ إذَا
أضْحَتْ فَوَارِسُهَا صِيدَ المَيَاديِنِ
Who covers horses with white mourning robes when
Their horsemen become prey in battlefields.
وَمُصْدِرُ البِيضِ حُمْراً من دمائهمُ
وَجَاعلُ الهَامِ أغْمَادَ السكاكِينِ
And who turns the white to red with their blood
And makes scabbards into the sheaths of swords.
إمَامُ بَيْتٍ يؤم المَجْدُ قِبْلَتَهُ
بِبَيْعَةِ الشَّاهِدَيْنِ العقلِ وَالدّينِ
The imam of a house in whose direction glory prays
With the pledge of the two witnesses, reason and religion.
وَنجمُ رشدٍ أزَاحَ الغيَّ إذْ سَفَرَتْ
أنْوَارُه عَنْ يَقِينٍ غَيْر مظنُونِ
And the star of guidance that banishes misguidance when
Its lights shone with assuredness, not conjectured.
وَكَهْفُ ملكٍ حَمَى الإسْلاَمَ جانبُه
فِي الشَّرْقِ وَالغَرْبِ بِالهِنْدِيَّةِ الصّينِ
And the cave of the king who protected Islam on its side
In East and West with Indian and Chinese lands.
وَغَيْثُ جُودٍ أعَادَ الجدبَ صَيِّبُهُ
خِصْباً بِلاَ مِرْيَةٍ في الوَقْتِ وَالحِينِ
And the cloud of generosity that restored the barren lands’ rainfall,
Fertile without doubt, in time and place.
وَلَيْثُ غَابٍ إذَا مَا ازْوَرَّ عَنْ حَنَقٍ
أقَامَ جَيْشَ العِدَى في موْقفِ الدُّونِ
And the lion of the thicket, when provoked to anger,
Who makes the enemy army stand in the place of the lowly one.
مِنْ معشرٍ في سَمَا الهَيْجَا تَخَالُهُمُ
شُهْباً تُكَف بِهَا أيدي الشَّيَاطِينِ
Among a group in whose determination the stars
Appear as meteors by which the devils' hands are restrained.
بيضُ الوجوه ملوكَ الخَافِقَيْنِ غَدَوْا
صِيدُ الوَرَى في الوَغَى شُمُّ العَرَانِينِ
The fair-faced kings of the horizons appeared
As prey for creation in the confusion, the smell of naked ones.
زُهْرُ المَمَالِكِ أعْلاَمُ المُلُوكِ بَدَوْا
كالزهْرِ في الروْضِ وَالأقمَارِ في الجونِ
The flowers of kingdoms, the flags of kings they appeared
Like flowers in the meadow and moons in the darkness.
لاَ يُصْدِرُونَ أحِبَّاهُمْ عَلَى ظَمَإ
وَيُورِدُونَ عِدَاهُمْ مَوْرِدَ الهُونِ
They do not drive away their loved ones thirsty
And they deliver their enemies to humiliation.
يَا مَالِكاً أيَّدَتْ دَعْوَى خِلاَفَتِهِ
فِي الخَافِقَيْنِ أدِلاَّتُ البرَاهِينِ
O ruler whose claim to succession
Among the horizons was proven by evidence.
لِتُهْنَن عِيداً أتَى بالبشر متصلا
بِألْفِ عِيدٍ مَضَى بِالسَّعْدِ مَقْرُونِ
To celebrate a feast that came with good news to mankind
Connected to a thousand past feasts, associated with happiness.
هَلاَلُ شَوَّالِه أبْدَى لِعَيْنِكَ إذْ
وَافَى يُقَبِّلُ طَوْعاً شَكْلَ عُرْجُونِ
The crescent of his Shawwal appeared to your eye when
It came voluntarily kissing the shape of a crescent.
قَدْ عَوَّذَتْ إذْ بَدَتْ أنْوَارُ طَلْعَتِهِ
جَبِينَكَ الوَاضِحَ الدرّي بالنُونِ
It adorned your bright, shining forehead with a noon
When its lights appeared.
كَأن أهْل العُلَى لفظ وَأنْتَ لَهُم
مَعْنىً يَدُل عَلَى إيضَاحِ تَبْيِينِ
As if the people of the highest rank are a word
And you are their meaning, indicating explanation.
إنْ كُنْتَ فِي الوَقْتِ قد وَافيتَ آخرَهُمْ
فإنكَ الغيثُ وَافَى بعد تَشْرِينِ
If you came at the time to meet their last one
Then you are the rain that came after October.
فَارْقَ المَعَالِيَ مَخْدُوماً بِأرْبَعَةٍ
نصرٍ وجَاهٍ وتَعْظِيمٍ وَتَمْكِينِ
You surpassed the glories attended by four:
Victory, status, reverence, and empowerment.
وَقَر عَيْناً بِمَوْلاَيَ الَّذِي اتَّضَحَتْ
سُعُودُهُ فِي عُلَا عِزّ وَتَعْيِينِ
And delighted the eye with my master, whose
Fortune in the height of might and support became evident.
وَلِيّ عَهْدِكَ فِي مُلْكٍ وَفي شَرَفٍ
وَتِرْبِ مَجْدِك في دُنْيَا وَفي دِينِ
And your successor in kingdom, nobility,
And your soil of glory in life and in religion.
وَاسْتَجْلِ غَادَةً أبْكَارٍ قَد ابْتَسَمَتْ
عَنْ لُؤْلُؤٍ مِنْ نفيس الدرّ مَكْنُونِ
And choose a pearl from pure virgins
Who smiled with a concealed, precious pearl.
خرِيدةً مِنْ بَنَاتٍ الفِكْرِ ما عُرِفَتْ
فِينَا بنسبة حِلِّيٍّ وقَزْوِينِي
A masterpiece of daughters whose lineage of thought
Was not known to us traced back to Hilālī and Qazwīnī.
كَفَّتْ بَلاَغَتُهَا أيْدِي مُعَارِضِهَا
كَالشهبِ كُفَّتْ بِهَا أيدي الشياطينِ
Her eloquence surpassed the hands of her rivals
Like meteors the devils' hands were restrained by them.
أبَانَ عَنْ وَصْفش مَعْنَاهَا البَدِيعُ إذَا
قَدْ طَابَقَتْ بَيْنَ إعْرَابٍ وَتَلْحِينِ
Her meaning's description becomes clear in eloquence when
It matches between grammatical inflection and metrical composition.
إنْ لَمْ يَكُنْ صَاغَهَا العَيْنِي فَصَانِعُهَا
يَرْوِي عن ابن معين عقد تَبْيينِ
If her maker was not the Artful One then her maker
Relates from Ibn Mu`īn a necklace of explanation.
لاَ تندبُ الربْعَ إذْ أقْوَتْ مَعَالمُهُ
وَلاَ تَنُوحُ عَلَى سُكَّانِ يَبْرِينِ
She does not mourn the ruins when their features strengthened
Nor lament the inhabitants of Barīn.
خَلّ العَنَاءَ لِقَومٍ كَالجَمَادِ غُنُوا
عَنِ العرُوضِ بِنظمٍ غَيْر موزونِ
Spare the hardship for a people like inanimate matter
Who are deficient in prosody with unmetrical verse.
يُعْزَوْنَ للِشَّعْرِ لَكِن من جهالتهم
لم يفرقُوا بَيْنَ مخبول ومجنُونِ
They are attributed to poetry but out of their ignorance
They did not distinguish between the foolish and the insane one.
من كل ألكنَ عِنْدَ البَحْثِ مُنْقَطِع
كَأنَّهُ الثغ البحاث كالسينِ
From every perspective in research he is disconnected
As if he is the defective searcher like the letter seen.
فاسلْم وَدُمْ في عُلاَ عَلْيَاكَ مُفْتخراً
يَا عَاضد الملك بَلْ يَا نَاصر الدّينِ
So submit and remain prideful in your lofty height
O supporter of the kingdom, rather O helper of the religion.
مَا جَر ذيلُ الحَيَا عطفَ النسيم وَمَا
شُقَّتْ غَلاَئِلُ عذرَاء البَسَاتِينِ
The train of life did not drag the breeze of spring, and
The tresses of the virgins of gardens were not disheveled.
