قد أمكنت فرص اللذات فانتهز

وسامحتك وعود الدّهر فانتجز

The chances for pleasures are made possible, so seize them,

And the promises of fate have forgiven you, so take advantage.

روضٌ يزفّ ومعشوقٌ وكأس طلا

لقد ظفرت بعيشٍ غير ذي عوَز

A garden is in bloom, a beloved is present, and a cup of wine -

You have attained a life free of privation.

أما ترى الراح يهدي صفو مزنتها

غيم الزّجاج إلى أرض الحشا الجرز

Do you not see the breeze gently spreading its aroma,

Carrying clouds of glassware to the barren lands?

وحامل الكاس قد جاز الغرام به

قلبي ولولا فتاوى الحبّ لم يجز

The wine bearer has fallen in love,

My heart - had it not been for love's edicts - would not have allowed it.

خمريّ ثغرٍ فما نفسٌ بصاحبةٍ

تبريّ خدّ فما دمعٌ بمكتنز

My wine is the lip of a mouth - what spirit lacking a companion

Can render a cheek barren, what tear goes unused?

إذا خطا نفحت أعطافه أرجاً

نفحَ الثناءِ عليكم يا بني اللكز

When its edges sway, they spread pleasant fragrances -

The fragrance of praise upon you, O people of nobility.

أنتم أناسٌ إذا أجرى الورى نسباً

للجود عدَّ إلى أيديكمُ وعزي

You are people whom, when lineage is recounted,

Generosity leads back to your hands, and honor is ascribed to you.

نعم المفيدون للطلاب ما سألوا

والآخذون من الهلاك بالحجز

How excellent are those who aid the seekers when asked

And who snatch from demise with retention.

والجاعلون معاني المجد واضحة

بين الأنام وكان المجد كالّلغز

Who make the meanings of glory clear amongst the people,

Though glory had been like a riddle.

لم يبق بين بني الدنيا وبينكمُ

إلا مشابه بين الدّرّ والخرز

There remains naught between the people of the world and you

Save a similarity between jewels and beads.

دلَّ العلاء على إيضاح سؤددكم

دلالةَ القبسِ الموفي على نشز

The enlightened point to the clarification of your burdens

Like the indication of a loyal match to flint.

ذو الجود والبأس من يعرض لسطوته

يهلك ومن يرجُ نعمى كفه يفُز

The one of generosity and valor - he who opposes his authority

Perishes, and he who hopes for the bounty of his palm succeeds.

وشائد البيت لا حقٌّ بمطّرح

للقاصدين ولا وفرٌ بمكتنز

The resolute of the house have no right to be cast aside

By those seeking, no abundance in being stored away.

أما الندى فندى غر نخادعه

والعزم عزم سديد الرأي محترز

As for dew, it is dew whose fragrance cannot be imitated,

And resolve is sound of opinion and cautious.

جدوى على إثر جدوى غير قاصرةٍ

كالسيل محتفزٍ في أثر محتفز

Benefit upon benefit unending

Like an incentivized flood in the wake of incentive.

لو نازعته بيوت الأولين على

لصيرَ الصدرَ منها موضع العجز

If the houses of the ancients were to vie with it

Over the breast of them would be the place of inadequacy.

غزَا إلى الجيش منصور اللوا ودنا

جيش السؤال إلى أمواله فغزي

It marched against the army, Mansur of banners approached

And the army of questioning marched to its wealth, so it was ransacked.

يا ماجداً نال من حمدٍ ومن شرف

ما لم تنل آل حمدان ولم تحز

O Majid, who attained praise and nobility

That the clan of Hamdan did not attain and were deprived of.

تقاصر الشعر عن علياك من خجل

حتى البسيط تماماً آخر الرجز

Poetry falls short of your lofty stature out of shyness

Such that even the Basit meter ends before the Rajaz.

وما وفتك لطول المسهبات ثنا

فكيف نبغي وفاء الوعد بالوجز

And I have not fulfilled the promise of long eulogies,

So how can we hope to fulfill the promise of conciseness?