مبلبل الأصداغ والطّره

ومرسل اللحظ على فتره

He of the tousled sidelocks and forelock,

casting his glances languidly,

أرخى على أعطافه شعرة

قد جذبتني فيه للحسره

let a lock of hair fall over his shoulders

that drew me toward sorrow for him.

فأعجب لمن جار عليه الضنى

حتى غدا تجذبه شعره

How I marvel at one whom wasting passion has wronged,

until a mere hair came to draw him!

وأحرباً من رشاءٍ خاذِلٍ

مالي على عشقته نصره

Alas for a forsaking gazelle-fawn—

I have no champion against loving him.

مهفهف تعرف من جفنه

علامةَ التأنيثِ بالكسره

Slender-waisted—from his eyelid you discern

the feminine marker in the kasra.

ذو طلعةٍ تعلو على المشتري

وغرّةٍ تزهو على الزّهره

He has a countenance that rises above Jupiter,

and a radiant brow that outshines Venus,

ومقلة دعجاء ضاقت فما

تشبعُ من يقنع بالنظره

and a dark, wide eye, narrowed so that

it cannot sate one content with a single glance.

عشقته حلواً على مثله

يطاعُ في الغيّ أبو مرَّه

I loved him, sweet—for the likes of him

Abū Murra is obeyed in error.

لولا دجى طرته لم أبتْ

سهرانَ لا أجرٌ ولا أجرَه

Were it not for his forelock’s darkness, I would not have passed the night

sleepless, with neither reward nor wage.

يبدو كتاب الحسنِ في وجهه

فأقرأ العشقَ من الطره

The book of beauty appears upon his face,

and from the forelock I read of love.

يا ابن أمير الحرب يوم الوغى

كم لك في العشاق من إمره

O son of the commander of war on the day of battle,

how much command you wield among lovers!

إليك يشكو المرءُ أشجانُه

ولابن شادٍ يشتكي دهره

To you a man complains of his sorrows,

while to Ibn Shād he complains of his age.

الملك العالم والضيغم ال

باسل والمفرد والندره

The king, the learned one, the lion, the—

valiant, the peerless, the rarity;

ربّ العطايا عن غنًى قاصرٍ

والحلم كلّ الحلم عن قدره

lord of gifts, though wealth itself falls short,

and of forbearance—all forbearance—despite his power.

سبحان من صوَّرَهُ خالصاً

ما شيبَ من أخلاقه ذرّه

Glory be to Him who fashioned him wholly pure:

not a speck of his character was alloyed.

من آل مروانَ ويمناه في

حبِّ العطايا من بني عذرَه

Of Marwān’s house; and his right hand, in

its love of giving, belongs to Banū ʿUdhra.

لو لم تكن يمناه غيثاً لما

أضحت رُبى الطرس بها نضره

Had his right hand not been rain, then

the page’s hills would not have grown verdant beneath it.

حروفها تعطف يسر الفتى

فهي حروفُ العطف لليسره

Its letters turn ease toward the young man,

being conjunctions that lead to ease.

وسيفها ممتزجٌ بالدما

مزجَ بياضِ الخدّ بالحمرَه

And his sword is mingled with blood,

as the cheek’s white is mingled with red.

إذا مضى في الدرعِ إفرنده

عجبت للمرِّيخ في النثره

When its watered blade passes through armor,

I marvel at Mars among al-Nathra’s stars.

أكرِمْ بإسماعيلَ من شائد

أركان بيت الملك عن خبره

How noble is Ismāʿīl, builder of

the pillars of the royal house through experience;

ذي السلم لا تعبأ له ديمةٌ

والحرب لا يصلى له جمره

in peace, no raincloud can rival him,

and in war, none can endure his embers.

معطي جواد الخيل للمعتفي

وخلفه الصرّة كالمهره

He gives noble steeds to the petitioner,

with the purse behind them, like another filly.

دع حاتماً يفخر في قومه

بنحره البكرة لا البدره

Let Ḥātim boast among his people

of slaughtering a young camel—not of the money-purse.

ليسوا سواء المجد إلا إذا

تساوت الخزفةُ والدّرّه

They are not equal in glory—unless

a potsherd and a pearl are equal.

هو الذي يروي حديث الثنا

عن شخصه الباهرَ عن قرّه

He is the one who transmits the report of praise

from his radiant person, on the authority of delight.

للخَلق والخُلق على وجهه

نوران ردا ناظر الأمرَه

Upon his face, creation and character have

two lights that dazzle the eye of sovereignty.

إن كان ذا النورين فضلاً فكم

جهزَ من جيش ذوي العسره

If the Possessor of Two Lights excelled in virtue, how many

armies of the hard-pressed has this man equipped!

يا ملكاً يلقى المنى والعدى

بضعف ما ترضى وما تكره

O king who meets hopes and enemies

with twice what you desire—and what you hate:

وقَّرتني عن أهل ودِّي فلا

والله مالي فيهمُ فكره

you have raised me in dignity above my beloved friends; no—

by God, I have no thought of them.

إلى أياديك انتهى مطلبي

فيا لها فيحاء مخضرّه

My utmost quest has ended at your favors—

how spacious and verdant they are!

كذا مدي الأيام في نعمةٍ

باسمة الإخوان مفتره

Thus may the span of days continue in bounty,

with brothers smiling, broadly beaming,

في كلّ وجهٍ قد تيممته

سعادةٌ واضحةُ الغرَّه

and in every direction I turn,

happiness bright and open-browed.