أسْربُ مَهاً عَنَّ أمْ سِرْبٌ جِنَّهْ

حَكَيْتُنَّهُنَّ ولَسْتُنَّ هُنَّهْ

Are you a herd of deer or jinn's apparitions?

I told them but they are not them

أأنْتُنَّ أنجم ذا الجوِّ أَمْ

بُروجُ النجومِ جلا بيبُكُنّهْ

Are you stars in the atmosphere or

Constellations that shone with their radiance?

فضحتُنّ بالكُحْل أُدْمَ الظِّباءْ

وعِبْتُنَّهُنَّ بأَجْيادِكُنّهْ

I exposed them with kohl the white oryxes

And blamed them for their perfumed tresses

أَلستُنّ كنتنّ قلتُنّ لي

بألا تَحوَّلْنَ عن عَهدكُنّه

Are you not the ones who told me

Never to break your pledge?

ولم أر غِيداً سِواكُنَّ مِسْنَ

فأشبهْنَ في لِينهِنّ الأعِنَّه

And I saw no singing women but you

Who resemble gazelles in their glances

غصون تقسَّمن شمسَ الضُّحا

وكُثْبانَ خَبْتٍ وصَبْغَ الدُّجنَّه

Branches that split the sun’s brilliance

And sand dunes with faded dye

حَمْلنَ محاجِرَ عِين المَهَا

وَأبدَيْن ألحاظَ أطلائِهنه

Bearing the pebbles of the doe’s eye

And revealing their alluring glances

فيا ما أُعَيْذِبَ ألفاظَهنّ

ويا ما أمَيْلِحَ ألحاظَهنّه

How they torment me with their words

And how salty are their glances!

إذا رُمْن ظُلْماً فسلطانُهُنّ

علينا مَلاحَةُ أحداقِهِنّه

When they wink wrongfully, their rule

Over us is the sharpness of their eyes.

بَرَزْن لنا عاطِراتِ الجُيوبْ

بسَفْحِ الكَثِيب بوادي بُوَنَّهْ

They came out to us, their robes scented,

On the hill’s slope, in Buwanna’s valley.

فَعطَّرْن مِن طِيبِهنَّ النَّسيمْ

وأبدَيْن مِن لَوْعتي المستِكنّه

They perfumed the breeze with their scent

And showed my burning passion for them.

ولمّا سَفَرْن صَبَغْنَ الضُّحا

بماءِ الخدودِ وتَوْرِيدِهِنّه

When they traveled, they dyed the dawn

With their cheeks’ water and their blush.

فِلِلَّهِ هاتَا غَدَاة انقضَتْ

بطاعتِنا وبِعِصْيانِهنّهْ

By God! Those mornings have passed

In our obedience and their disobedience.

وَصَهبْاءَ تَغْدو لِشُرّابِها

إذا ابْتَكروها مِن الهَمِّ جُنَّهْ

Dewy mornings where the drinking cups

Bring relief from worries and sorrows,

تَطُوف علينا بأقداحها

حسانٌ حَكتهُنّ في نَشْرهنّه

They circle around us with their cups.

Beauties described their diffusion.

نَواعمُ لا يستطِعن النُّهوضْ

إذا قُمْن مِنْ ثِقْل أردافِهِنَّه

Charming gazelles unable to stand

Under their heavy hips’ burden.

حَسُنَّ كحُسْنِ ليالي العزِيزِ

وجِئن ببهجةِ أيّامِهِنّه

Beauties like the nights of the glorious days,

Bringing the joy of their days.

إمامٌ يَضَنّ على عِرْضِه

ولا يَعْترِيه على المالِ ضِنّه

A leader who is protective of his honor,

Wealth does not make him greedy.

فسَلْ هل غَدَتْ قَطُّ أموالُه

وَأَمْسَيْن مِن جُودِه مطمئِنّه

Ask: Did his money ever diminish?

And did they sleep secure from his generosity?

وهل أبصَرَتْ قطُّ أرماحَه

عُيونُ الورى غيرَ حُمْرٍ الأسِنّه

Did the eyes of all see his spears

With anything but reddened tips?

سحائِبُ كفَّيْهِ مُنهلَّةٌ

علينا بمعروفِها مُرْجَحنّه

The clouds of his palms

Shower us with their known kindness.

معالي نِزارٍ عَلَوْنَ النُّجوم

ونِلْنَ مِن المجدِ ما لمَ يَنَلْنَهْ

The heights of glorious Nizar surpassed the stars,

And he gained from glory what none gained,

كذا يَكسِب الفضل من قد سعَى

إليه ويَبني العُلا إِنَّ إِنّه

Thus, one who strives for merit earns it,

And builds supremacy if he truly wants it.

كِلا راحَتْيك ندىً أو ردىً

كأنّك للناسِ نارٌ وجَنّه

Both your hands bring blessings or woes,

As if for the people, you are Hell and Heaven.

فلولاك لم يَغْدُ فينا الهُدَى

مُنِيراً ولم يُصبِحِ العفُو سُنّه

Without you, guidance would not shine amongst us,

Nor would pardoning become tradition.

إذا قال أَتْبَعَهُ بالفعال

وإن جاد لَم يُتْبِع الجُودَ مِنّه

If you say, you do it.

And if you give generously, you don’t take back.

مَنعتَ الخلافَةَ مَنْعَ الأسودِ

إذا ما غَضِبنَ لأشْبَالِهنّه

You guarded the Caliphate like lions guarding

Their cubs when they get angry.

وَأَمضَيتَ عزمكَ حتَّى أَخفْتَ

به في بطون النِّساءِ الأَجِنّه

You carried out your resolve until you hid

In the bellies of pregnant women the fetuses.

يَليقُ بك المُلْكُ حُسْناً كما

تَليق المَعالي بأَربابهِنّه

Kingship suits you in beauty, just as

Glory suits its lords.

وإنِّي وإن كنتُ نَجْلَ المُعِزِّ

لَعَبْدُك والحقُّ ما إنْ أُكِنه

And even though I am Musa’s son,

I am your slave, and the truth is I profess it.

رأى الخيرَ مَن أَضْمَر الخيرَ فِيكْ

وجُوزيَ بالشرِّ مَن قد أَجنّه

One who sensed good in you saw good,

And one who harbored evil met evil.