خلطَ الغرامُ الشّجوَ في أمشاجِه
فبَكى فخِلْتُ بُكاهُ من أوداجِهِ
Love and yearning intermingled
So it wept, and I lamented its weeping from its inner depths
ودعَتْهُ غِزلانُ العَقيقِ إلى السُّرى
فغدا يُساري النّجمَ في إدلاجهِ
The antelope-eyed maidens bid it to nightly trysts
So it came to pace the stars in their setting
ودعَتْهُ ناحلةُ الخُصورِ إلى الضّنى
فكسَتْهُ صُفْرَ الوشي من دِيباجِهِ
The slender-waisted called it to cherished intimacy
So she clothed it in the yellow silk of her robes
تُملي عُيونُ الغانياتِ عليه ما
يُملي النّديمُ به كؤوسَ زُجاجِهِ
The eyes of the singing girls cast upon it what
The drinking companion casts in his goblets
يا مَنْ لقلبٍ يَستضيءُ بقلبِه
فكأنّ جنّتهُ ذُبالُ سِراجِهِ
O you who has a heart illuminated by his heart
As if his soul were the glass of his lamp
دنِفٌ أعارَتْهُ الخُصورُ سَقامَها
أينَ الأطِبّا من عَزيزِ عِلاجِهِ
A fawn lent by the slender-waisted their sickness
Where are the healers from his precious remedy?
قد ظنّ سكْبَ الدّمْعِ يُخمِدُ نارَه
سَفَهاً به فتأجّجَتْ بأُجاجِهِ
It thought shedding tears would quench its fire
Foolishly, so it flared up more violently
من لي بوصلِ غَزال خِدرٍ صادَني
في صادِ لحظٍ تحت نُونِ حَجاجِهِ
Who will unite me with the cheek of a sleepy gazelle
Who glanced at me for a moment under the letter noon in her eyelashes
وبياضِ ساعدِه المُساعدِ لوعَتي
للّه ما صنعَتْ يَدا اِعوِجاجهِ
By the whiteness of his assisting arm, my agony
By God, no crooked hand made his bracelet
قرُبَتْ محاسنُه وعزّ وُصولُه
فبدا بُدوَّ البدرِ في أبراجِهِ
His beauties drew near and the ease of reaching him
So the full moon appeared among its mansions
كم من ظلامٍ فيه قد نادَمْتُه
حتّى بدَتْ نارُ الصّباحِ بساجِهِ
How much darkness in it I blamed
Until the dawn’s fire shone through its casements
ولَرُبّ زائِر أيكَةٍ لو أنّه
يدعو الجَمادَ لزادَ في إبهاجِهِ
Many a frequenter of ruins, if he called on the inanimate
Would add to its delight
ولقد تأمّلْتُ الزّمانَ وأهلَه
وأجَلْتُ عينَ النّقدِ في أفواجِهِ
And I observed time and its people
And examined the eye of criticism in its groups
فرأيتُ عربدةَ الزّمانِ عزيزةً
في حالِ سَكرتِه وصحوِ مِزاجِهِ
I saw time’s mare too dear
In her state of intoxication and temperament's balance
ولرُبّما ظنّ السّفيهُ بأنّه
يصحو بلى لكنّ لاستدراجِهِ
Sometimes the fool thinks he wakes up
But no, it is only to lure him
ويُسِرُّ قلبُ الدّهرِ كلَّ عجيبةٍ
لم يُفشِها إلّا بَنو أزواجِهِ
The heart of fate loves every wondrous thing
It only reveals to the couples it weds
ورأيتُ أغلى ما عليهِ من الحُلى
أربابَه وعليَّ درّةَ تاجِهِ
And I saw the most precious thing it had
Were its lords, and to me the pearl of its crown
قَيْلٌ تواخى بالمكارمِ والتُقى
والجودِ والمعروفِ منذ نِتاجِهِ
A tribe established in generosity, piety
Giving, kindness, since its offspring
سمْحٌ إذا فقدَ الثّرى صوبَ الحَيا
وشكا الظّما يَسقيهِ من ثجّاجِهِ
Noble, if the earth lacked direction to life
And he complained of thirst, watering it from his leather bottle
بطلٌ إذا هزّ القَنا بأكُفِّه
تُضحي القُلوبُ مَراجِزاً لزُجاجِهِ
A hero, when he shakes the spears with his palms
Hearts become fragments for his glass
أسدٌ إذا لقيَ الخميسَ فعندَهُ
كبشُ الكثيبةِ من أذلِّ نِعاجِهِ
A lion, if he meets Thursday, he has before him
The ram of al-Kathibah among the lowest of her sheep
جمْعُ الأسودِ إذا لَقيه لدى الوَغى
حذَراً يبدّلُ زأرَه بثؤاجِهِ
A pack of lions, when they meet him in battle
Fearfully, he changes his roar to bleating
لجَبُ الجيوشِ إذا يمرُّ بسمعِه
لجَبُ الذُبابِ يطنُّ في أهزاجِهِ
The mountains tremble when he passes
The buzzing of flies pounds in their bodies
يَقري بلحمِ الشّوسِ شاغبةَ الظُّبا
ويزيدُ حرُّ الضّربِ في إنضاجِهِ
He feeds on the flesh of muscular horses
And more heat increases the cooking of its broth
تُرجى منافعُه ويُحذَرُ ضُرُّه
في يومِ نائِله ويومِ هَياجِهِ
Its benefits are hoped for and its harm is feared
On the day of its ascent and the day of its rage
كسدَ المديحُ وأكدَحوا نُظامه
حتّى أتى فأقامَ سوقَ زواجِهِ
Eulogy grew dim and they toiled at its composition
Until he came and set up the market of its jewels
يا اِبْنَ الّذي ساد الأنامَ ونجلَ مَنْ
فاقَ الملائِكَ في عُلا أدراجِهِ
O son of the one who ruled people and son of the one
Who surpassed angels in the loftiness of his steps
إنّ المديحَ إذا أردْتُ ثناءَكُم
تَهوي النّجومُ إليّ من أبراجِهِ
If I wanted to praise you
The stars would swoop down to me from their mansions
وإذا قصدْتُ سواكُمُ فيه فلم
تظفَرْ يَدي إلّا ببيضِ دَجاجِهِ
And if I intended others than you in it
My hand would reap only the whites of eggs
أيّدْتَ دينَ الحقِّ بعد تأوّدٍ
وسدَدْتَ بالإحكامِ كلَّ فِجاجِهِ
You supported the religion of truth after despondence
And you fortified each of its gaps with precision
وشفَيْتَ علّتَهُ بكُتبٍ قد غدَتْ
مثلَ الطّبائِعُ لاِعتدالِ مِزاجهِ
And you cured its ailment with books that have become
Like natural dispositions in their balance of temperament
أسفارُ صِدْقٍ كلُّ خصمٍ مبطِلٍ
منها سيعلَمُ كاذِباتِ حِجاجِهِ
Books of truth, every invalid adversary
Will know the lies of his debate from them
نورٌ مُبينٌ قد أنار دُجى الهَوى
ظلم الضّلالة في ضياءِ سِراجهِ
A clear light that illuminated the darkness of passion
The darkness of misguidance by the illumination of its lamp
وغديرُ ختمٍ بعدَما لعبَتْ به
ريحُ الشّكوكِ وآضَ من لجّاجِهِ
And a deep pool after the winds of doubts had toyed with it
And settled from its turbulence
أمطَرْتَهُ بسحابةٍ سمّيْتَها
خيرَ المَقالِ وضاقَ في أمواجِهِ
You rained upon it with a cloud you named
The best speech, so it was too vast for its waves
وأبَنْتَ في نُكَتِ البيانِ عن الهُدى
فأرَيْتَنا المَطموسَ من مِنْهاجِهِ
And in the subtleties of rhetoric you showed us
The erased from its method
وكذاكَ منتَخَبٌ من التفْسيرِ لم
تنسِجْ يدا أحدٍ على مِنساجِهِ
And so a selection of exegesis whose fabric
No hand spun on its loom
للأعرَجينِ وإن بدَتْ شُرُفاتُه
لن يَبلُغا المِعشارَ من مِعراجِهِ
For the lame, though their merits appear
They will not reach a tenth of its ascent
مولاي قد ذهبَ الصيامُ مودِّعاً
وأتاكَ شهرُ الفِطرِ باِستِبهاجِهِ
My Master, fasting has departed in farewell
And the month of breaking fast has come to you in delight
شهرٌ نوى قتلَ الصيامِ هِزبرُه
فاِغتالَ مهجتَهُ بمِخلَبِ عاجِهِ
A month determined to kill fasting with its claws
So it ambushed its bowels with the talons of its heel
