قف بالمنازل أو كناس ظبائها

فالقلب يعرفها على لأوائها

Stand at the stages or like a preacher of its gazelles

For the heart recognizes them by their markings

لم أبك إذا نشرت بنود سحابها

إلا لحاجتها إلى أنوائها

I did not cry when its clouds spread their texts

Except for their need for their winds

وارب غادية يسح دموعها

ضحك البروق على ثرى بطحائها

And many a departing woman wipes her tears

The lightning laughs at the ground of its plain

فكأن جذوة نارها من أضلعي

وكأن جمة أدمعي من مائها

So it is as if its embers are from my ribs

And as if the bulk of my tears are from its water

أسفي على الشرفين قولة مكبد

حنيت جوانحه على أحنائها

I'm sorry for the two noble sayings, a painful word

Its wings have pity on its tones

والبان ترقص من غناء حمامها

والأرض تضحك من بكاء سمائه

And the full moon dances from the singing of its pigeons

And the land laughs from the crying of its skies

وكأن حيالة الحسان بربعها

نظمت عقود الدر من حصبائها

And it is as if the beauty of its goodness in its expanse

Strung the pearl necklaces from its pebbles

فسقى دمشقاً كل مثقلة الخطى

تمشي فتسحب من فضول ملائها

So it quenched Damascus, every heavy-stepped

Walking, dragging from the excess of its floods

خفاقة العذبات ذات هيادب

أرج النسيم يفوح من أرجائها

The fluttering of the gentle, dignified

The fragrance of the breeze exhales from its spaces

باحت بها نفاحته فتحدثت

عنة مضمرات المزن في أحشائها

It smiled with his smile, so she talked

About the concealments of beauty in her interiors

أبكي على المقصور من أيامها

لو دام والممدود من أفيائها

I cry over the shortened of its days

If it lasted and the outstretched of its heights

وليالياً لم أسر طالب لذة

إلا مع الأقمار من ظلمائها

And I have not walked at night seeking pleasure

Except with the moons from its darkness

أبغي الثناء على حماة أسودها

جهدي فتشغلني صفات ظبائها

I want praise for the protectors of its lions

My effort distracts me with the traits of its gazelles

إني لأعجب كيف ينكر فضلها

بشر ومحيي الدين من أبنائها

I am amazed how its virtue is denied

By people whose religion is revived by its sons

يقظ جبال علومه في صدره

مثل الجبال الشم في بيدائها

He awakens the mountains of his knowledge in his chest

Like the mountains of Syria in its deserts

زفت لسؤدده فكان كفيها

لا ترغب الحسناء عن أكفائها

She hastened to his wooing, so her hands were

The beautiful woman does not dislike her peers

ولقد رأيت ما رأيت فضيلة

شهدت بها الأمثال من أعدائها

And I have seen what I have seen of virtue

The parables have testified to it from its enemies

من تستخف الطود حبوة حلمه

ويبخل الأنواء يوم حيائها

He who takes the mountains lightly, the patience of his forbearance

And the hardships are stingy on the day of its modesty

متشابه الإحسان عثر بنانه

تتلو وفود نداه محكم آيها

Similar in benevolence, its promptness stumbles

Missives of his call follow, articulate verses

فلت شباة الغيب حدة ذهنه

إن السيوف جلالها بمضائها

The subtleties of the unseen have blunted the sharpness of his mind

Indeed, the swords owe their majesty to their sheaths

لولا نداه لما وثقت لنفسه

بسلامة من نار فرط ذكائها

Were it not for his call, he would not have trusted himself

With the safety of one whose intellect burns him

خافت وقائعها العدا فكأنما

طبعت سيوف الهند من آرائها

His events feared the enemies, as if

The swords of India were molded by his opinions

وكأنما السمر اللدان متونها

نشوى وقد دارت سلاف ثنائها

And as if the brown birthmarks, their texture

Were branded, after his praise circulated

طالت يد إلطافها فلأجلها

قصرت بنان الحوب عن حوبائها

The hand of his kindness extended, so for it

The fingers of love have shortened towards its beloved

شيدت يا قاضي القضاة محمداً

خطط العلى ورفعت سمك بنائها

You have erected, O Judge of Judges Muhammad

The lines of highness and raised the thickness of its building

ونشرت أعلام الشريعة بعدما

طويت فسار العدل تحت لوائها

And you spread the banners of Sharia after

Being folded, so justice walked under its banner

كيف السبيل إلى مداك لعاثر

يبغي النجوم الزهر في عليائها

How is the way to you for one fallen

Seeking the stars, the flowers in its loftiness

يبس البنان يذم منك خلائقاً

ردت وجوه السائلين بمائها

Creation withers blaming you

While the faces of the questioners are restored by its water

قد كان يمكنه خفاء ظهورها

لو كان يخفي الشمس في أضوائها

It was possible for its appearance to be hidden

If the sun in its lights could be hidden

ولك المناقب كالنجوم كثيرة

إن النجوم أكل عن أحصائها

And you have merits like the many stars

The stars tire before counting them

ولقد عزمت على قضاء فروضها

لما زللت فلم أقم بأدائها

And I was determined to fulfil its obligations

When I slipped and did not stand up to it

حجبتني الأيام عنك ولم يزل

كدر الليالي دون عفو صفائها

The days cut me off from you and the

Turbidity of the nights always falls short of its purity

فلو استطعت بحر مدحك آنفاً

لكتبت صحف صباحها بمسائها

If I were able to the sea of your praise now

I would have written the pages of its dawn with its evening

أسديت مكرمة فإن أمهلـ

ـت لم تندم على إسدائها

I have given generously, so if I delay

You will not regret giving it

ولتأتينك على بكر طفلة

محجت بفضل وليها وولائها

And there will come to you at dawn a young girl

Gifted in virtue and loyalty to her guardian

تجلى فيدهش عندها الأسماع والـ

ـأبصار حسن رويها وروائها

Revealing in her the hearing and the visions are dazzled

By the beauty of her face and her storytelling

خصتك بالوصل الهني وعمت الحسـ

ـاد غمة صدها وجفائها

I have singled you out with intimate connection and the envious

Were grieved by her rejection and estrangement

من كل خالدة القوافي أشبهت

نعماك في الإكثار لا إيطائها

She resembled your blessings in proliferation

From every immortal harmony

تتسابق الأفهام علم رويها

من قبل إتيان الرواة بيائها

The minds race to know her face

Before the narrators come with her news

فأعد فرب صنيعة لو لم تعد

خفيت ولا أعنيك في إبدائها

So prepare, as a good deed, if not prepared

Would be hidden, and I do not mean displaying it

فلطالما صقلت مهندة الظبى

فازداد رونق حسنها ومضائها

For long have you polished the sword of the gazelles

Increasing the radiance of their beauty and brightness

والصبح غير صقيلة مرآته

ما لم تقم شمس الضحى بجلائها

And the dawn is not a polished mirror

Unless the sun of morning rises with its splendor