وخمرٍ ترشّفتُ سَلسالها

وأَجْرَيتُ في الشَّرب جِريالها

I sipped the wine and let its chains flow,

And drank abundantly, letting it run its course,

نعمتُ بها قبلَ وقتِ العذول

لأُشمِتَ بالشكرِ عُذّالها

I enjoyed it before the time of abstinence,

So I would spitefully thank its preventer.

لدى روضةٍ رَقَّمَتْها النجوم

سقتها السحائب تَهْطالها

In a garden watered by the clouds

With dripping rain adorning it,

فجاءت مُزَخْرَفَةً كالعروس

تُحَلَّى النواوِيرُ مِعْطالها

It emerged like a bride embellished

With the glittering of its pearls.

كأنَّ كواكبَ نُوَّارِها

مصابيحُ تُوقِد ذُبَّالها

As if its shining stars

Were lamps lighting its wicks,

وغانِيةٍ تشتكِي فَتْرةً

إذا جاذَبَ الخصرُ أَكفالها

And a singing girl complaining of estrangement

When her waist allures her shoulders.

نَرَى كَنَقَا الدِّعِص إِدبارَها

ومِثلَ الغزالةِ إِقبالَها

We see it sway like a supple branch

And prance like a doe,

سقَتْنا المدامَ وأَلحاظُها

من السِحرِ تفعل أَفعالها

We drank the wine while it winked

Bewitching with its sorcery.

إذا اشتعلتْ نارُها في الكؤو

سِ أَلْهَبْتُ بالمزجِ إشعالَها

When its fire blazed in the goblets

I ignited it by mixing.

وإِن أُعمِلت نَغَمات القِيا

نِ أَدْمَنْتُ للكأس إِعمالها

And when the tunes of the lute were played

I indulged the cup by sipping.

سأَدفعُ بالراح جيشَ الهموم

ومن عالَ نفسي وما غالها

I will repel the army of sorrows with ecstasy

And whoever rivals my passion, however intense.

فكم حيلةٍ لِيَ في الغانيا

تِ تُعْيي مِن الناس محتالها

So how many tricks do I have with the singing girls

That exhaust the schemes of schemers.

إذا غادةٌ منعت نَيْلَها

ببخل ولم تَخْشَ تَبْخالها

If a singing girl was stingy

And withheld her favor out of miserliness,

صرفتُ إليها عِنانَ المدام

وعلَّ الكؤوسِ وإنهالَها

I would point the cup to her

And make the goblets overflow towards her.

فذلّتْ وقد عزّ مِنها المَرام

وما كنتُ آمُلُ إذلالَها

So she would submit though she was proud

And I did not hope to humiliate her.

إلى اللهِ أَشكو مرِيضَ الجفون

ملِيحَ الشمائِلِ مُخْتالَها

I complain to God about the sickness of my eyelids

And the beauty of her gait and her allure,

تظلَّم مِنِّي وما إِنْ يزال

ظَلومَ المحاسِنِ مُغتالَها

She wrongs me but her wronging of beauty

Is not ceasing, it persists.

دَلالاً عَلَيَّ وكُنْتُ امْرَأً

أحِبّ من الخَودِ إِدلالَها

She points me out while I was a man

Who loved the rosiness of her cheeks.

فنُعْمٌ ولم أَرَ إنعامَها

وجُمْلٌ ولم أر إجمالها

Bounties I have not seen her favor

And beauty I have not seen her grace.

تعلّقْتُ ليلى كمِثلِ المهَاةِ

خَذولاً تراتِع خُذّالَها

I clung to Layla like a swooning person

Falling back on the shoulders of her carrier.

وإِني لأَحْسُدُ عينَ الرّقيب

إذا لم أَنَلْها وقد نالها

And indeed I envy the eye of the watcher

When I cannot attain her and he attains her.

تَرَى خَجَل الخَدِّ مِثل المدام

إذا أظهر الحسنُ إخجالَها

You see the shyness of the cheek like the wine

When beauty reveals its shyness.

وفرعاً لها مِلثل لونِ اسمِها

أَثيثاً يصافِح خَلْخالَها

And a branch like the color of its name

Whose bangles greet its anklets.

ولو عُلِّمَ الغصنُ مِن مَيْسِها

تعلّم مِنها وصلى لها

If the branch was taught from her swaying

It would learn from her and pray for her.

وكنت امرأً غَرِقاً في المجو

نِ عَفَّ السجِيَّةِ مِفْضالَها

While I was a man drowned in passion

By the morals of a virtuous woman.

ففرَّغتُ نفسِي من الغانيات

وصيّرتُ في المجد أَعمالها

So I emptied myself of singing girls

And made glory my deeds,

بأَبيضَ كالبدرِ طَلْقِ اليَدَيْنِ

تُسابِقُ جَدْواه سُؤَّالَها

With hands white like the full moon, pure

Her wrists racing to answer her calling.

هو البحرُ تُغْرِق أَمواجُه

بِحارَ النّوالِ ونُوّالَها

He is the sea, its waves drown

The oceans of gifts and grants.

هو الليثُ تُنْسِيك أهوَالُه

زئيرَ الليوثِ وأَهوالَها

He is the lion whose terrors

Make you forget the roars and horrors.

إمام إذا طاوَلَتْهُ الملوك

إلى فضلِ مَنْقَبةٍ طالها

The caliph when kings stand before him

Reaching to the superiority of his glory.

وإن نال في اليوم أَكرومةً

تناول في الغدِ أَمثالَها

And if he gained a munificence one day

He would take its like the next.

رأيت الإمام نِزَاراً به

تُتِمّ الخلافةُ أَحزالها

I saw the Caliph Al-Nizar thereby

Completing the caliphate’s burdens.

إمام إذا أَمر الحادثا

تِ أَرسل حالينِ أَرسالها

The Caliph when events occur

Sending two messengers to manage them.

فَيُحْيِي الولِيَّ ويُرْدِي العدوّ

بِكفٍّ تُفَرِّق أَموالَها

Bringing life to the loyal and death to the enemy

With a hand dividing its wealth.

من النفر الغُرِّ ممّن تَرَوْن

خيارَ البرايا وأَبدالها

Among the virtuous elite you see

The best of creations and its substitutes.

وممن يكونُ غِياثَ البلاد

فيُبدِل بالروضِ إمحالها

And among those who would be the refuge of nations

Changing the garden for its barrenness.

وممن تراهم غداة الهياج

مَغاويرَ حرب وأزوالها

And among those you see them as warriors on days of calamity

Stirring battle and its misfortunes.

رَقّى بالنبِيّ وآلِ النبيّ

هِضابَ المعالِي وأَجبالها

He ascended with the Prophet and the Prophet’s family

To the summits of glories and its mountains.

سما بالوصِيّ إلى حالةٍ

لو النجمُ يَجْهَدُ ما نالها

He reached with the successor a state

That even if a star exhausted itself it would not attain.

تراه الملوك بعينِ الحلال

فقد صَغَّرَتْ حالُه حالَها

You see him look at kings with permitted eyes

For his state belittled their state.

هو الحيّة الصّلّ من سُمِّها

تُميت وتَقتل أَصلالها

He is the adder whose poison

Kills and destroys its roots.

هو المسك من نِسبة غضّةٍ

إذا أَصبح الناس صَلَصالها

He is the musk from an honored lineage

If people smelled it in the morning its chains would jingle.

له شجراتُ عُلاً لم تكن

تَرَى نَبْعَ نجدٍ ولا ضَالها

He has towering trees that were not

Seen near the springs of Nejd nor its streams.

ولو واجَه الشمسَ وجهٌ له

لأَبدَتْ له الشّمْسُ إجلالها

If a face among faces faced the sun

The sun would revere it.

إذا أَشكلت مظلِماتُ الأمو

رِ أَوضح بالرُشْدِ إِشكالها

When the matters of destiny are unclear

He clarifies its ambiguity with righteousness.

يفوق البِحارَ ندى كفّه

وصوبَ الغمامِ وتَهْمالها

His palm’s dew transcends the oceans

And directs the clouds and collects them.

نَهوضاً بأَعباءِ حملِ العهود

رَكوبَ العظائمِ حَمّالَها

Bearing the burdens of fulfilling covenants

And riding the greatest of matters carrying them.

وأَبيض جَرّدَ بِيضَ السيوف

فَقَتَل في الحربِ أَبطالها

Pure white drawing the whites of swords

Killing the heroes in war.

يخوض بحار الوغى لِلوغى

كما خاضتِ الأُسْدُ أَوشالها

Plunging into tumultuous seas of calamity

As lions plunge into their lairs.

بِرأيٍ هو الدهر في قدرِه

يحطّ مِن الهَضْبِ أَوعالها

With an opinion that he is the time itself

In its decree breaking its eminence.

تزلزلتِ الأرضُ شواً إليه

فسكّن ذو العرشِ زلْزالها

The earth quaked in yearning to him

So the Lord of the Throne calmed its tremors.

وطوّقه الله تَدْبِيرَها

ومذ كان كان المسمّى لها

And God adorned him with its management

Since he was the designated for it.

لِيهنِ الإمامةَ ما نِلته

فقد تَمم الله آمالها

To facilitate the caliphate that he attained

For God completed his hopes.

لكانت تراسِلُه قبلَ ذا

يقِيناً ليحمل أَحمالها

The affairs would have consulted him before this

Believing he would bear its burdens.

وأَوحت إليه بأَمرِ الإله

قُبَيل الفطامِ وأَوحى لها

And it was revealed to him in God's command

Before he was weaned and it was revealed to him.

فجاءته من عجلٍ وادِعاً

تُسابق في الغيب إعجالها

It came to him hastily obeying

Racing in the unseen to hasten to him.

وزُفّت إليه بأمرِ الإله

فأَلبسه الإله سِربالَها

And it was presented to him by God's command

So God dressed him in its attire.

وتَوَّجَهُ الله تِيجانَها

وأطلع في وجهِه خالها

And God crowned him with its crowns

And showed its mole on his cheek.

وأُلبِس اَثوابَ إعزازها

ليِسحب في العِزّ أَذيالها

And he wore its robes of honor

To drag its tails in glory.

تَصدَّت لأَصيدَ يَرْعَى السوا

مَ مِنها ويحفظ أَهمالها

It confronted the prey that grazes

Protecting it and guarding its possessions.

ولو ساسها أَحدٌ غَيْرُه

لأخرجتِ الأَرض أَثقالها

If anyone other than him ruled it

The earth would weigh heavily.

فعاش العزيزُ لها سالماً

يَشُدُّ عُراها وأَقفالها

So the honored one lived in it safely

Tightening its bindings and shackles.

يُعِزّ على الدهرِ أَنصارَها

ويضرِب بالسيف خُذّالَها

Honoring its supporters against time

And striking its despicable with the sword.

ترى نِعماً مثمراتِ الغصونْ

إذا قَولةٌ في النَّدَى قالها

You see its laden branches when

A soft vocal tone speaks of it.

وترجُف منه قلوبُ العِدَا

إذا صَولَةٌ فيهمُ صالَها

And the hearts of enemies tremble from it

When a roar roars among them.

يُغذّي الأنامَ بمعروفِه

كما غذَتِ الأُسدُ أَشبالَها

Feeding people through his kindness

As lionesses fed their cubs.

يفوق الشموسَ وإشراقَها

ويعلو البدورَ وإِكمالها

Surpassing the suns and their rising

And ascending above full moons.

ترى البدرَ والبحرَ في سرجِه

وليثَ الحروبِ ورئبالَها

You see the full moon and sea in its saddle

And the battle’s lion and its swaying tail.

به يَقْبَلُ الله فَرَضَ الصّيام

وحَجّ الحجيج وإهلالها

Through it God accepts the obligation of fasting

And the Hajj of pilgrims and their chanting.

أبوكَ المعِزُّ هَدَى نورُه

لَدَى حَيْرَةِ النّاسِ ضُلاّلِها

Your father the honored, his light guided

When people were lost in their misguidance,

وبَصَّرَهُمْ بعدَ طولِ العَمَى

وقَوَّمَ بالعَدْل مُنْهالَها

And showed them after long blindness

And established justice among its channels.

له آيةٌ في العلا لم يكن

عدوّ لِيدرِك إِبطالها

He has a sign in the highest that no

Enemy could ever invalidate.

وأنتم شموسٌ إذا ما بدت

كَفَتْنا النجوم وأُفّالها

While you are suns that if you appear

We suffice from stars and their setting.

وكم نِعم ناعماتِ الغصون

لبِسنا بظِلّك اَظلالها

And how much gentle bounty on branches

We wore in your shade.

تفاءلتِ النفسُ نَيْلَ العلا

فَصَدَّقْتَ بالفِعل لي فالَها

My soul foretold attaining glory

And you confirmed the omen for me.

فَمُلِّيتَ عُمْرَكَ ما تابعتْ

لنا بُكَرُ الدَّهْرِ آصالَها

So you filled your life following

What the early morn told of us.