كأنّ دارين لها دارُ

فروضها المِعطالُ معطارُ

It's as if it has a house with another house,

Its obligations are neglected yet it is still fragrant,

تحملُ عنه نفحاتُ الصَبا

نشراً به للصبِّ إنشارُ

It carries from it the breezes of youth,

Spreading with it the flowers' scent dispersed,

فكلما استنشقتَهُ شاقَه

لنازحِ الأوطانِ أوطارُ

So whenever you inhale it, it misses

The homelands for the homesick wanderer,

تلك شِفاءُ الوجدِ لو أنهم

صاروا بها من بعد ما ساروا

It is the cure for passion if only they

Became with it, after they had walked away,

علّقْتُ قلبي بذِمامِ الهوى

وهْو خفير منه إخفارُ

I hung my heart on the rein of passion,

And it was its unbridled galloping pace,

وكان قلباً فغدا طائراً

له من الأكوارِ أوكارُ

It was a heart but became a bird,

Having in dense thickets its nests,

في سُندسِ الكَلّة حوريّةٌ

تسكنُ قلبي وهو النار

In the silks of the howdah, a houri,

Dwells in my heart while it's still on fire,

أحدقتِ الشمسُ بها مثلَ ما

تحدِقُ بالمُقلةِ أشْفارُ

The sun stared at it just as

Eye lashes stare at the kohl's eyes,

يا كوكباً يمنعُ أن يُجتلَى

غيثُ مَهىً أوطَفُ مِدرارُ

An orbit that prevents being eclipsed

A rain of bliss or a pouring cloud,

ودرّةً يحجُبُ عن نيلها

بحرُ وغًى بالبأسِ زخّارُ

A pearl it blocks from being attained

A deep sea, turbulent with might,

أغريتِ بي الوجدَ وغررتِ بي

إنّ الغريرَ الطرْفِ غرّار

You seduced me with passion and fooled me

Seduction by the eyes is betraying,

لا تحسَبي أن ثرت فتاكة

كلُّ قتيلٍ ما لهُ ثارُ

Think not you are immune from my revenge

Each slain person has no avenger,

جورُكِ يمضي فيّ لو لم يكن

من أحمدَ المختارِ لي جارُ

Your tyranny persists in me even if

Ahmed the Chosen were not my protector,

حِبْرٌ له خُطَّ يَراعٌ به

يراعُ خطّيٍّ وخطّار

An ink with a line, minding

My lines and the lines of a writer,

يبسِمُ منه الطرفُ عن سؤدد

ضاحكَ فيه النورَ أنوارُ

From it the gaze smiles from the sadness

The light laughing within it lights,

دوحٌ من المُعْجِزِ لا يجتَني

منهُ بغير السَمْعِ أثمارُ

A miracle grove that does not yield

Without hearing, any fruits,

لفظٌ عَوانٌ بين أحشائه

من المعاني العُقْم أبكارُ

Words, between their folds, virgin

Meanings, of bareness and chastity,

يَبيتُ ساري النّهْجِ في فِكرها

رهنَ ضلالٍ وهْي إقْمارُ

It sleeps flowing in her thoughts

Held by misguidance while she is the full moon,

حظُّ الموالي والمَعادي به

نفعٌ كما شاءت وإضرار

The share of loyalists and opponents in it

Benefit as she willed and harm,

يرجو ويخشى حالتَيْها الوَرى

كأنها الجنّةُ والنارُ

People hope for and fear her two states

As if she were Hell and Paradise,

وراحةٍ دينارُها درهمٌ

ودرهمُ الباخلِ دينارُ

And her peace of mind is a gold coin

While the miser's coin is a dirham,

لا يُمتَرى في أنها تمترى

أخلافَ نُعماها وتُمْتارُ

None bargains that it bargains

For generations her boons and gifts,

شادَ بها ربعُ الندى بعدما

أرداهُ إعصار وإعصار

The horizon restored by it after

Many a storm and hurricane eroded it,

ومنظرٌ عزّ نظيرٌ له

والناسُ أشكال وأنظارُ

A rare splendid view the like of which

People are forms and sights,

في صفحتيهِ لمياهِ الحَيا

مُطّرِدَ الإجراءِ تيّار

In its two pages are the waters of life

A current, steady flowing,

للبِشْرِ برقٌ بين أرجائه

وللندى الفائضِ أمطارُ

For mankind is lightning in its corners

And for the excess of bliss are rains,

وليس يُجدي الأثْرُ في صارمٍ

ما لِشَبا حدّيْهِ آثارُ

In a determined fate, the trace is fruitless,

What effect can youth's mark make?

يا بنَ الألى طابتْ أحاديثُهُم

على التَمادي فهْي أسْمار

O son of the exalted, fair are their narrations,

For their fluency they are affluent,

خذ مِدَحاً سحرُ بلاغاتِها

في سُدَف الأشعارِ أسحارُ

Take praise, the magic of its rhetoric

Is sorcery in the collection of poems,

قصائدٌ أرسلَها خاطرٌ

في سُبُلِ الإحسانِ خطّارُ

Poems sent by a mind

On the paths of benevolence a caring messenger,

تثني البلاغاتُ بمنطوقها

مستعبداتٍ وهْي أحرار

Eloquences bow with their uttered meaning,

As if they were slaves yet they are free,

أغليتُها بَذْلاً وأعليتُها

فضلاً وللأشعارِ أسعارُ

I made them priceless with generosity

And supreme with merit, though poems have prices,

فليَهْنِكَ الشهرُ الأصمّ الذي

أسمعُهُ للمَدْحِ تَكْرار

So let the deaf month that hears not

My praises be worn down repeating them,

وليَبْقَ في المجدِ مقيماً فلي

جوّالُ مدحٍ منكَ سيّارُ

And let it stay eminently in glory, so let

The roaming praise from you go around.