أماط لثاماً فاجتلِ القمر الأدنى

وألقى وشاحا فاجتنٍ الغصنَ اللّدنا

He unveiled, so the low moon shone

And threw off his cloak, so the tender branch bowed

وشمْ برق ذاك الابتسامِ الذي خبا

فكم شيم من برقٍ خبا فحبا المزنا

And gave off the lightning of that smile which had been hidden

So how much hidden lightning gave love and made love desired

لقد سلَّ سيفاً من لواحظ طرفهِ

فؤادي له ما زال أو جفنهُ جفنا

He drew a sword from his amorous glance

My heart is still his, or his eyelid, eyelid

بدا وتثنّى وجههُ وقوامهُ

فعاينتُ منهُ الشمسَ والدِّعصَ والغصنا

He appeared and bent his cheek and stature

So I saw in him the sun, the slender branch and branch

أمات اصطباري مالكاً لحياتهِ

وأسهرني في الحبّ ذو المقلةِ الوسنى

He killed my patience, possessing my life

And keeps me sleepless in love, he of the curly lock

وكم ظنَّ لي صبراً وليست حقيقةٌ

وهبتُ لعيتيهِ الحقيقةَ والظنّا

And how much patience he supposed in me, yet no truth

I granted to his supposition the truth and supposition

تثنّى فلم يثنِ التثنّي فؤادهُ

وعنّى محباً بالصدود وما عنّا

He bent, but his bending did not bend his heart

And he meant, loving the repulses - and meant not

ويعجبهُ إطلاق دمعي إن غدا

فؤادي أسيراً في محبتهِ رهنا

And he likes to see my tear, if it flows

My heart his prisoner in his love, a pawn

ذممنا على حكم الصدود ذمامهُ

وكم حاز حسناً ما حمدنا له حسنى

We blamed, for the sake of the repulses, his settling of scores

And how much good he gained, we never praised his goodness

ويطربني في البدر منه ملامحٌ

وفي عذبات البان من قدّه معنى

And his features in the full moon enchant me

And in the softness of his gait is meaning for me

فكم جزعٍ لاقيت في جزع دارهِ

وإمّا تبدّى الحزنُ هيّج لي حزنا

So many sorrows I met in the sorrow of his home

Or sorrow appeared, provoking sorrow in me

وفي ذلك المغنى إلى الدمع فاقةٌ

وكم مدمعٍ أغنى على فاقةٍ مغنى

And in that singer, need for tears

And how many a tear enriched the need of singers

زمانٌ مضى ما كان أقصر عمرهُ

كأنا بربع الوصل كنّا وما كنّا

A time passed, whose life was shortest

As if we were, for a quarter of intimacy, and were not

وكم ليلةٍ ليلاءَ من جنح بُعدهِ

نصبتُ بها وهماً فعلّقهُ وهنا

And how many a night of nights, whose remoteness wing

I passed in passion, and hung up fancy, and languor

بلغت بها منّا وأمناً وحبّذا

مزارُ حبيبٍ يجمع الأمنَ والمنّا

I attained in it from us refuge and wishes

A loved one's visit, joining refuge and wishes

سنيُّ عطاءٍ سنّهُ سنةُ الكرى

فلّلهِ ما أسنى وواهاً لما سنّا

Years of generous giving, whose years the spinning wheel spun

So by Allah what ripened, and alas what it spun

تقضي الليالي والسنون ببينهِ

فلا غروَ أن أبكى وأن أقرع السنّا

The nights and years pass in separation from him

Small wonder I weep and beat upon the years

أحنُّ وأحياناً أنوح صبابةً

ولولا الهوي ما ناحَ صبٌّ ولا حنّا

I yearn and sometimes moan youthfully

And were it not for love, neither youth nor elder would moan

وكم فننٍ أهدى إلى القلب بل هدى

وقد غرّد القمريُّ من لوعةٍ فنّا

And how much art he brought to the heart, or rather led

And the moon-like one sang out of heartache, art

فلا زال في عود من البان ناضرٍ

وأمسى له رفقاً به ناظري وكنا

He still sits with the lute in flowering branch

And my watcher became his companion, and we were friends

وما روضةٌ غناءُ هاجت لعاشق

عناءً وشادي الأيك في الأيك قد غنّا

No garden melody stirred for a lover

Trouble, while the boughs of the thicket for me sang

أجادت بها شدواً فجادت مدامعٌ

وأغربَ لحناً شائقاً معرباً لحنا

In it torrents wept, so torrents of tears poured

And he sang a yearning, witty, eloquent melody

تفاوح نشرُ المسك من نفحاتها

كذكر الأجلّ الفاضل اخترق المدنا

The wafting scent of musk breathed from it

Like mention of the noblest, noble, which pierced the cities

سماحُ يدي عبدِ الرحيم وبأسهُ

مدى الدهر كم أقنى وليّاً وكم أفنى

Magnanimity of my lord Abdurraheem and his power

Throughout time, how much he enriched and how much he impoverished

هو العارض الوسميُّ وهو وليّهُ

فيسراه فيها اليسر واليمنُ في اليّمنى

He is the brilliant celestial, and he is its guardian

So he made easy in it ease and good fortune, good fortune

إذا جرّدتْ عضبَ اليراعِ بنانهُ

كفى الدولة الإدلاجَ والضربَ والطّعنا

When it bared the sword's blade

The state sufficed for attack and blows and stabbing

حمى الملكَ أن يخشى مغيراً وغارةً

وكم غارةٍ من دون حوزتهِ شنّا

He protected the king from fearing a rebel or raid

And how many a raid below his rule we fended

إذا ما انبرى في طرسهِ قالت النّهى

قفوا فانظروا ما يصنع الناحلُ المضنى

When he sallied forth in his firmness, restraint said

Stand and watch what the busy bee does

وإمّا أتى يوماً عدوّاً كتابهُ

ثنى جيشهُ ثاني العنان وقد أثنى

And if one day an enemy came, his book

Bent back his army, slackening the rein, and bent

هو الدهرُ فالطّرس الصباحُ تبلّجت

ثناياه والنّقسُ الظلام إذا جنّا

He is time, so its firmness the dawn whose folds

Whitened, and the starset darkness, when it withdrew

فهل خطّهُ خطيّةٌ سمهريّةٌ

فلم نرَ خطّاً غيره يهزم القرنا

Did he make its line a line of Sammah, so we have not seen

A line but his to rout the centuries

بنا طربٌ ممّا يصوغ يراعهُ

فهل صاغ حلياً للمسامع أو لحنا

In us is rapture at what his eloquence composes

Did he compose a jewel for the hearing or melody?

غدا سجعهُ سجعَ الحمام كأنّما

أناملهُ ورقاءُ فارعةٌ غضبا

His rhyming became rhyming like doves, as though

His fingers were trembling, raging leaves

إذا الناسُ عدّوا كان أرفعهم سناً

وإنْ لم يكنْ في العدّ أرفعهم سنّا

When people count, he is highest in rank

And if in counting he be not highest in rank

أسحّهمُ في كلّ مسغبةٍ حياً

وأثبتهم في كلّ حادثةٍ ركنا

Most noble among all vile deeds while living

And firmest in every accident, pillar

كأنَّ ليالي الدهر خطُّ صحيفةٍ

وقد أصبحتْ أيّامهُ اللّفظَ والمعنى

As if the nights of fate were lines of scripture

And now its days meaning and text

متى ما بدا فالسّمعُ للعين حاسدٌ

وإن قال أمسى ناظري يحسدُ الأذنا

When he appeared, hearing envied seeing

And if he spoke, my watcher envied hearing

وإن ظعن القُصّاد نحو جنابهِ

همى علمهُ والجودُ فاشتمل الظّعنا

And if archers aimed at his side

His knowledge inspired him, generosity clothed the aim

وإن خزنَ الناسُ اللهى أنطق اللّها

بمثعنجرِ الشّؤبوب يأبى له الخزنا

And if people hoarded amusement, eloquence filled amusements

With the scratching of the storm winds, refusing hoarding

وما انبريا إلاّ أماتا وأحييا

بك المزنيَّ الخالد العلم والمزنا

And they did not declaim but to kill and bring to life

Through you the eternal glory and glory

بربعك أيّام الأيامى خصيبةٌ

وعودُ الأعادي ليّنٌ يبسُ المجنى

With your company, days are fertile days

And enemies' promises are smooth, the rough broken

وقافيةٍ مغبوبةِ الحقّ حزتها

فوفّيتها حقاً وأمّنتها الغبنا

And rhyme defrauded of truth, its right is seized

So I paid it its due and secured it from fraud

عروسٌ حصانُ النجرِ فكري وليّها

سهرتُ لها وهناً فما وجدتْ وهنا

A bride, steed of thought, my guardian her groom

I stayed wakeful for her and she found no wakefulness

وأطاقتها من سجن فهمي وإنمّا

مخافةَ بعلِ السوءِ أُودعها السّجنا

And she unleashed herself from the prison of my understanding, but

Fearing the evil husband, I confined her to prison

تفيد مودّات القلوب وتارةً

تهمُّ فتستلُّ العدواة والشّحنا

She benefits hearts' love, and sometimes

She stirs up, provoking enemies and conflict

إذاً ما تعاطى القومُ جريال بيتها

رأيتَ فصيحَ القوم يستنجد اللُّكنا

So when people bandy her house's wordplay

You see the eloquent of people seek help of puns

سُكارى وما دارت عليهم مدامةً

لدى مطربٍ من غير بمٍّ ولا مثنى

Drunk, though no wine-cup passed round them

By a singer, without vintage or tavern

وإن جاذبتهم في النديِّ عنانها

فكلُّ فتىً قيسٌ تجاذبهُ لبنى

And if she disputed with them rein to rein

Then every youth is Qays disputing with Layla

فلو أنَّ أهل الأرض جمعاً سموا لها

لأضحت سماءً أو لأعينهم وزنا

If all earth's people together named her excellence

She would be heaven, or weight in their eyes

وإنّي لآبى الضيمَ من كلّ صاحبٍ

وأكرهُ قلبي أن يكونَ لهُ خدنا

And I refuse wrong from every companion

And dislike my heart to be cheek to them

فإنْ بلدٌ لم أغدُ فيهِ مكرّماً

نهضتُ فأعلمتُ الجديليّةَ البُدنا

If a land I never helped in, I rose

And made known the Jinnis' forts, the ruins

وما شانَ فضلي بين أهلي خمولهُ

وقد بلغتْ آياتهُ الإنسَ والجنّا

And what of my merit amongst my people sullen?

Its signs reached men and jinn alike

فإنّي كعود الهند هينٌ بدوحهِ

وقد عبّقتْ أنفاسهُ السّهلَ والحزنا

I am Indian aloeswood, pliant in its hollow

And its breaths perfumed plain and sorrow