قد بَراها للسُرى جذْبُ بُراها
فذَراها يأكلُ السّيرُ ذُراها
Her beauty attracted the captives,
So time made them taste her bitterness.
ودَعاها للحِمى داعي الهَوى
فدعاها فالهوى حيثُ دعاها
Passion called her to the sanctuary,
So she answered and passion was where it called her.
واِسقِياها من صَفا ذِكرِ الصّفا
وصِفا الخَيْفَ لها كي تُسكِراها
Give her a drink from the purity of al-Safa,
And describe to her the fear so it intoxicates her.
يا لها من أحرُفٍ مسطورةٍ
تسبِقُ الوَحيَ إذا الحادي تَلاها
What wonderful letters she has,
Transcending revelation, when the guide recites them.
ترتَمي شوقاً فلولا ثِقْلُ ما
في صُدورِ الرّكْبِ طارَتْ في سُراها
She yearns and were it not for the heaviness
In the chests of the caravan, she would have flown.
سُحْبُ صيفٍ قدْحُ أيديها الحصى
برقُها والرّعدُ أصواتُ رُغاها
Summer clouds struck by her hands turn to hail,
Her lightning and thunder are the sounds of her pride.
كلّما حنّتْ لأرضِ المُنحنى
وكَلاها أقرحَ السَّوْقُ كُلاها
Whenever she leans towards the land of the bent,
Her wrists wound by the market and her anklets.
كم ترى من خلفِها من مروةٍ
وردَتْ أخفافُها بيضَ حصاها
Look how many ascent follow her,
Her brisk feet returned the pebbles white.
سفنٌ تجري بأشباحٍ غدَتْ
معها غَرقى بطوفانِ بُكاها
Ships sailing with ghosts who drowned
Along with those who wept in her flood.
ذاتُ أنفاسٍ حِرارٍ صيّرتْ
فحمةَ الظّلماءِ جَمراً في لَظاها
One whose fiery breath made
The darkness into embers in her intensity.
كلُّ ذي قلبٍ مَشوقٍ لم يزلْ
للمطايا زَجْرُهُ أوْهاً وآها
Every heart that longs for her, its reprimand
To the horses was sighing and moaning.
أسهُمٌ فوقَ سِهامٍ مثلها
لا يُصيبُ النُّجْحُ إلّا في خُطاها
Arrows above arrows like her,
Success only hits its mark because of her.
تبتغي نَجماً بأطرافِ الحِمى
وهمُ همُّهُمُ بدرُ سَماها
She seeks a star on the horizon,
While their only concern is that she is their full moon.
أوشكَتْ تَعرُجُ فيها للسّما
إذ درَتْ قصدَهُم شمسُ ضُحاها
She almost ascends therein to the sky,
For she attained their goal, the sun at its zenith.
حيِّ أكنافَ الحِمى من أربُعٍ
ما سقَتْ أحياءَها المُزنُ حَياها
Give life to the edges of the sanctuary with someone
Whose life was not given by the rain clouds.
عرَصاتٌ عطّرَتْ أرجاءَها
بأريجِ المِسكِ أنفاسُ دماها
Openings perfumed its regions
With the scent of musk, her breaths of blood.
وبِقاعٌ قُدِّسَتْ لكنّها
نجّسَتْها الأُسْدُ في طَمْثِ ظُباها
And places that were sanctified but
She defiled in the stench of her slaughter.
ومغانٍ بالغواني لم تزل
غانياتٍ عن مصابيحِ دُجاها
And lovesickness which did not cease
To sing of her lanterns of darkness.
سمكَ العزُّ بها أبنيةً
أفصحُ الأعرابِ ما ضمّ بِناها
The glory lodged buildings in it
Articulated by the most eloquent of Arabs.
كم ثَنايا في ثناياها دُجىً
مَبعَثُ الفجرِ إلَينا من كواها
How much darkness within its darkness,
The dawn’s emergence to us from its core.
جنّةٌ فيها اللآلي فُصِّلَتْ
واليواقيتُ ثُغورٌ أو شِفاها
A paradise in which rubies were set
And sapphires are its breaches or lips.
ماؤها شهدٌ هَواها قرقَفٌ
طينُها العنبرُ والمِسْكُ ثَراها
Its water is honey, its air is camphor,
Its clay is ambergris and musk is its ground.
كم بهِ بيتٍ غَدا مضمونُه
درّةً بيضاءَ من بيضِ ثَناها
How many homes in it became guaranteed
As white pearls from the shells’ whiteness.
وقَطوفٍ من جُمانٍ ذُلِّلَتْ
عزَّ كلَّ العزِّ مُستَحلي جَناها
And bunches from vines were ripened,
The most esteemed of glory enjoyed its fruits.
يا بَني فهر سَلوا بَلقيسَكُم
كيف تَسبي مُهجَتي وهي سباها
O descendants of Fahr, ask your Bilqis,
How she took captive my mind while she was captive.
واِسألوا أجفانَكُم عن صحّتي
فهي عنّا عوّضَتْ جِسمي ضَناها
And ask your eyelids about my health,
For they compensated for my body's grief.
وُرْقُ نجدٍ بعدَكم لي رحمةً
ندبَتْ شجواً ورقّتْ في ضَناها
The leaves of Najd, after you, had mercy on me,
Crying in longing, shedding tears in grief.
وبكتْ لي وحشها حتّى محَتْ
كُحْلَها بالدّمعِ أحداقُ مَهاها
And wept in my absence until she wiped
Her kohl with tears, the pupil of her eyes.
تلِفَتْ نفسي بكم إلّا شَفاً
والشِفاهُ اللُّعسُ لم يُمنَحْ شِفاها
Only you can cure my soul except for healing,
And the cure is useless if not granted lips.
هي تدري ما بها من نَبلِكُم
والعيونُ السّودُ تدري مَن رَماها
She knows of your nobility within her
And the black eyes know who shot her.
ويحَها كم تتّقي بأسَ الهوى
وعليٌّ كلَّ محذورٍ كَفاها
Woe to her! How she fears the passions,
While Ali suffices for every danger.
كفُّها كافِلُها عِصمَتُها
من أذى الدّهرِ إذا الدّهرُ دَهاها
His palm protects her, his integrity preserves her
From the harm of fate if fate ruins her.
كنزُها جوهرُها ياقوتُها
قوتُها قوّتُها خمسُ قَواها
Her treasure is her essence, her ruby is her bread,
Her strength is his strength - her five pillars.
زينةُ الدُنيا وأهلِيها معاً
طوقُها دُملُجها تاجُ عُلاها
The adornment of the world and its people together
Is her necklace, her robe, the crown of her highness.
ساعِدُ الهيجاءِ مُوري زندِها
سيفُها عاملُها قُطْبُ رَحاها
The helper of valor, showing his sword -
Her sword, her worker - the pole of her shelter.
موسويٌّ عنده إذ لم تجدْ
نارَ موسى فيه إذ لاحَ هُداها
A Musawi who, if he did not find
The fire of Musa in it when his guidance shone.
قد حكاها في اليدِ البيضا وفي
رُمحِه عن عزمِه سرُّ عَصاها
A Haydari whose palms
Were about to ignite their fires were it not for his kindness.
حيدريٌّ أوشكَتْ راحاتُه
تلتَظي نيرانُها لولا نَداها
A rain of generosity, if a drop
From it irrigated the meadows, they would bloom.
غيثُ جودٍ لو أصابَتْ قطرةٌ
منه رَضْوى كان يخضرُّ صَفاها
A lion of war, the lions of evil
Feared him until they pledged allegiance to him.
ليثُ حربٍ أشفقَتْ أُسْدُ الشّرى
منه حتّى بايعَتْهُ في شراها
One who wades into a war whose fires
At the encounter snatch away the lion's passion.
خائِضُ الحربِ الّتي نيرانُها
في التّلاقي تنزعُ الأُسْدَ شَواها
Splitting the skulls with the rod that
When brandished splits the night with its sharpness.
فالقُ الهاماتِ بالقُضبِ الّتي
حين تُنضى يفلِقُ اللّيلَ سناها
He mistakes the whites for bits of pottery
While the blood upon them is sweetened juice.
يحسَبُ البيضَ ثنايا خُرّدٍ
وعليها الدّم معسولَ لِماها
The banners that attained victory for her
Made the fortunes of the enemy inverse.
حازَتِ النّصرَ لها ألويةٌ
جعلت معكوسهُ حظَّ عِداها
Whenever the inn is called out in battle's turmoil,
The lines glorify the verses they witness.
كلّما كبّر في حَشْرِ وغىً
سبّح الصّفُّ لآياتٍ يَراها
Surat al-Rahman in its image
Was written in light on the tablet of its purity.
سورةُ الرّحمن في صورته
كُتبَتْ بالنّورِ في لوحِ صَفاها
A king whom kingship ennobled,
And position and glory reached their utmost extent.
ملكٌ قد شرُفَ المُلكُ به
واِزدهى المنصِبُ والمجدُ تَناهى
A perfume, if news of him did not reach,
The camphor tree would not have been fragrant.
طيّبٌ لو لم تصِلْ أخبارُه
شجرَ الكافورِ ما طابَ شَذاها
If Najd poured poetry in his praise,
The lute would have told of its branches’ greenness.
لو صَبا نجدٍ تلتْ في مدحِه
بَيتَ شِعرٍ لحكى العود غضاها
Or if its leaves sang poetry to him,
They would have swayed the boughs in dance.
أو تغنّت وُرقُها في شِعرِه
هزّتِ الأعطافَ بالرّقْصِ رُباها
A tongue whose every subtlety
He dispersed in speech through its meanings.
لسِنٌ كلُّ لآلٍ يدُه
فرّقَتْها هو في النُطْقِ حَواها
An ocean of knowledge its turbulence from Ja`far
A flame whose torch is from the light of Taha.
بحرُ عِلمٍ لجُّهُ من جعفَرٍ
قبَسٌ شُعلتُه من نُور طهَ
How many gardens of scrolls are his
Words that resemble flowers in their freshness!
كم بروضاتِ القراطيسِ له
كلماتٌ تشبهُ الزّهرَ رَواها
His knowledge is clear light for guidance,
The darkness of trouble, clear in the text.
علمُه نورٌ مُبينٌ للهُدى
ظلُماتُ النُّصْبِ بالنّصِّ جَلاها
He was truthful in excellent speech, his honesty
Effaced the falsehood's similarity to truth.
جادَ في خَيرِ مَقالٍ صِدقُه
شُبهَ الباطلِ بالحقِّ مَحاها
Pure, if time had preceded him
In attracting nobility through dress.
طاهرٌ لو سبقَ الدّهرُ به
جاذبَ العِترةَ في فضلِ كِساها
Lenient, extending to the delegation a hand
That perfected generosity, reaching its extent.
سمِحٌ يبسُطُ للوفدِ يداً
تمّ معنى الجودِ فيها وتناهى
A relaxed palm, if he extended it
To the sky, it could grasp its orbit.
راحةٌ مبسوطةٌ لو مدّها
للسّما أمكنَها قبْضُ سُهاها
Its fire kindled in its bosom
Casting sparks, the waves of its fervor.
نارُها مشبوبةٌ في لجِّها
تقذِفُ العسجدَ أمواجُ لُهاها
His supremacy was shaded in a banner
That tears down the flags in the fluttering of its spread.
ظُلِّلَتْ علياؤهُ في رايةٍ
تنسِفُ الأعلامَ في خفْقِ لِواها
A hoisted banner in its loftiness
Lays low the enemies in its enclosure.
رايةٌ منصوبةٌ في رفعِها
تنصبُ الأعداءُ في كيِّ جَواها
Endowed with many traits that adorned
The suspension of time with its beauty.
حائزٌ غُرَّ خِصالٍ زيّنَتْ
عطلَ الأيّامِ في حُسْنِ حُلاها
The stars of the horizon envied it, thus
It surpassed them in brilliance, with none equal.
غبَطَتْها أنجُمُ الأفْقِ فَها
هيَ في الإشراقِ فيها لا تُضاهى
If thoughts in the nights conjured,
Their lights would blanch the darkness of worry.
لو بأفكارِ اللّيالي خطرَتْ
بيّضَتْ أنوارُها سودَ إماها
O you of glory, may it not cease through you,
The world shining while you are its illumination.
يا عليَّ المجدِ لا زالَتْ بكُم
تشرقُ الدُنيا ولا زِلتُم ضِياها
You were born and destiny was a flame
So its water flowed in its kindling.
ولدَتْكُم والنّواصي شُعلةٌ
فجرى في عودِها ماءُ صِباها
The days were sick before you
So they benefited from your meanings as their cure.
كانتِ الأيّامُ مرضى قبلَكُم
فاِستفادَتْ من معانيكُم دَواها
Its times improved through you so you still are,
O adornment of time, its splendor.
حسُنَتْ أوقاتُها فيكُم فلا
زلتُمُ يا رونَقَ الدّهرِ بَهاها
All accounts of glory and dew
Originated from you and began with you.
كلُّ أخبارِ المعالي والنّدى
عنكمُ صحّتْ ومنكُم مُبتداها
A progeny, it is clear to me, that
The days have no spirits other than it.
عِترةٌ قد صحّ عندي أنّها
ليس للأيّامِ أرواحٌ سِواها
My master, delight in fasting, and in
The joy of breakfasting and enjoy its bliss.
سيّدي هُنّيتَ بالصّومِ وفي
بهجةِ الإفطارِ واِنعَمْ في هَناها
Receive the holiday with good news, for
It has come from you, radiating worth and esteem.
وتلقَّ العيدَ بالبِشْرِ فقد
جاءَ منكُم يجتدي قَدراً وجاها
