واللَه ما ما ظلمت عيونُكِ مغرما

لو لم أَصِر هدفاً للحظكِ ما رمى

By God, your eyes have done no wrong in enslaving me,

Had I not become a target for your gaze, it would not have shot me.

ومن الذي ترك السيوف تنوشه

ونجا ومن عاداتها سفك الدما

Who leaves the swords to pierce him,

And survives, while their habit is shedding blood?

ردي جمالك أو رقاد نواظري

لأراك أو لأرى الخيال مسلما

Show me your beauty or let my eyes rest,

So I can see you or the phantom peacefully.

حاشا لحبك أن يكون موقتاً

ورضاب ثغرك أن يكون محرَّما

Far be it from your love to be fleeting,

Or the kissing of your lips to be forbidden.

ويجل عهدك عن مقالة قائل

لا عهد للحور الحسان ولا حمى

Your promise is too noble for the words of any speaker,

"No promise to the beautiful eyed gazelles, or sanctuary."

لا تحسبي أن البياض بعارضي

ولَهٌ ينسّيني اللمى والمبسما

Do not think the pallor in my cheeks is a defect,

Forgetting makes me forget sorrow and smiles.

فأنا أنا السن الصدوح إذا دعا

داعي الصبوح وغازلت غيد الحمى

When the caller to morn prayers calls,

I am the cracked bell that flirts with tender sprigs.

وخطَ المشيب بلمتي فتغيرت

أما هواك وهمتي فهما هما

And when old age streaked my temples gray,

My passion and cares remain the same.

أنسيت عهد الربوتين وبيننا

سرٌّ أحب إلي من راح اللمى

I forgot the covenant of the cypresses, between us,

Is a secret I love more than the herd of gazelles.

والكاس من طوق الحباب كأنها

جيدٌ تقلَّد أو توسد معصما

The cup from the bending of the wine-skin is as if,

A neck adorned or a wrist used as a pillow.

لو دام قلبك مثل كاسك صافياً

ما صار حظي مثل شعرك أسحما

If your heart remained as pure as your goblet,

My luck would not be like your hair, jet black.

يا صاحبيَّ قفا عليَّ بها عسى

أجد الطريق من العتاب إلى اللمى

My companion, stand over me, perhaps,

I will find the path from blame to union.

وأنال من سلسال ياقوت الرضى

قوتاً تجود به الشفاه مكرَّما

And gain from the necklace of red corundum,

Strength by which lips give generously.

واعتضت بالخد النقي عن النقا

ماذا علي أن اتخذتُ الأنعَما

I took refuge in the soft cheek from the sincere,

What is upon me if I took favors?

قد ضاق بي واللَه صدر أحبتي

فقصدت بعد اللَه صدراً أعظما

By God, the hearts of my loved ones are too narrow for me,

So I headed, after God, to the Greatest Heart.

وعلمت أن المدح يرجع كاسداً

إن لم يجد بملاذ مدحت موسما

And I knew praise comes back fruitless,

If it does not find, in the one praised, a chance.

فحططت رحلي في فناء رحابه

حتى غدوت على النجوم مخيما

So I pitched my tent in the courtyard of His sanctum,

Until I became, above the stars, an encampment.

فلتكسر الآفات قوس خطوبها

وتَصُغ ليَ اللذات طوقاً مُعْلَما

May troubles break the bow of their misfortunes,

And joys listen to me, honoring me with a decorated collar.

ولتقبل الدنيا علي بخيرها

وتحلَّني منه المحل الأكرما

And may the world treat me kindly,

And make me the most generous of places.

فهو المؤيد والمسدد رأيه

فيما قضى ومضى وحل وأبرما

For He is the supporter and the guide of His judgment,

Regarding what He decreed, passed, settled and decided.

ويد السماح المنتقى يده التي

نفت الشقا وجلت علينا الأنعما

And the hand of the chosen generosity is His hand,

Which rid hardship and bestowed favors upon us.

وهو الذي منح الكنانة موسما

وأقر في جوف اللجاة المأتما

And He is the One who gave prosperity a chance,

And settled in the heart of darkness, grief.

كالسيل يوجد سكَّراً في بقعةٍ

طابت ويوجد في الخبيثة علقما

Like a torrent that finds, in a good land, sweetness,

And finds, in the bad lands, only bitter colocynth.

شاهدت مدحت يا زمان فَعُد عن ال

عدوان وامتدح الهمام الأشهما

I saw your praise, O people of the time, so desist

From wrongdoing, and praise the respected protector.

إن الثناء عليه فرضٌ واجبٌ

قد شارك الذميُّ فيه المسلما

Praising him is an obligatory duty,

In which the protected has shared with the Muslim.

أكرم به لسناً ظباه وفوه في

فصل العواتق والخطاب تحكما

Honor the one who was ennobled with ministry, and whose mouth

Was eloquent in the seasons of youth and discourse.

بطل يريك من العجاب وسيفه

في كفه ناراً تصافح خضرما

A hero who shows you wonders, while his sword

In his grip is a fire that kisses the green of the sword.

قد عطلت بئر الضلال بعزمه

وبحزمه قصر الجلال تدعما

He has impeded the well of misguidance with his determination,

And with his composure, the palace of glory is supported.

لا ينتهي في المكرمات صعوده

وله استمر الدهر يصعد معلما

His ascent in generous deeds does not cease,

And the time continues to rise with him as a landmark.

فقد اصطفى التقوى سراجاً نيراً

واختار أفلاك الفضائل سلما

For he chose consciousness as a shining lamp,

And selected the orbits of virtues as a ladder.

فاكرم بنسر وزارة منه ارتقى

درج التقى فسما على نسر السما

Honored by him is the ministry by which he ascended,

The ranks of piety, and soared like the eagle of the sky.

كادت تميت الموت شدة بأسه

وتكاد رحمته تسد جهنما

The intensity of his might almost killed death,

And his mercy almost fills Hell.

يا خير من ركب المطهم وانتمى

واجل من سامي واعظم من سما

O best of those who rode to battle and belonged,

And highest of those exalted and most lofty.

لو شاء ذمَّك حاسدٌ أو جاحدٌ

ما قال إلّا أنت يا حامي الحمى

If an envious or spiteful person wished to blame you,

He would say nothing but, “It is you, O protector of the sanctuary!”

كالغيث جوداً والرياض بشاشةً

والليث بأساً والمنية مخذما

Generous like rain, cheerful like meadows,

Fierce like a lion, and deadly like fate.

فلقد رأيت الغيث يمنح عابساً

وأراك تسمح ضاحكاً متبسما

For I have seen the rain give grimly,

While you give generously, smiling and cheerful.

والروض يذبل وابتهاجك دائم

والليث ليس يصول مثلك معلما

The meadow withers while your joy remains,

And the lion does not rage like you, as a landmark.

والموت خادم سيفك الفصّال إن

أمسكت أمسك أو هممت تقدما

And death serves the separating sword of yours,

If you withhold, you withhold, or if you advance, you advance.

اللَه يوليك الأمور جميعها

بمحمدٍ صلَّى عليه وسلما

May God grant you power over all affairs,

Through Muhammad, may prayers and peace be upon him.