مالكُ قلبي عن يدِ

يقتلُني ولا يدي

The owner of my heart escaped my hand,

He kills me yet my hand did nothing.

فأنثني ومهجتي

نهْبَ جيوشِ الكمَدِ

So I bent down in agony,

Prey for the armies of sorrow.

وإنما تخدعُني

بمُلق التودد

Yet he deceives me

With the sweetness of affection,

ينعَمُ بالطيفِ على

ناظريَ المسهَّدِ

Enjoying the breeze upon

My tired, sleepless eyes.

وأين من إلمامِه

مُقلةُ مَن لم يرقدِ

Where is his care

For the anguish of one who never rests?

وربما واصلني

لكن بخُلْفِ الموعد

Sometimes he visits me

But not at the promised time,

وجاء بالحب بما

لم يعترض في خلدي

Bringing love in a way

That my mind never expected,

ولم يجُدْ بربّةٍ

لغُلّةِ القلبِ الصدي

Finding no path

Through the tightness of my heart,

وإنما يُبردُها

برشفِ ذاك البرَدِ

Quenching it only

With a sip of that cool drink,

ودونه صَمصامةٌ

من لحظِه المعربدِ

Below which is a moustache

Of his twinkling glance,

قد أصبحتْ في جفنِها

كالصارمِ المهنّدِ

That has become in his eyes

Like a sharp, polished sword.

منكمْ أحومُ والهوى

يصدِفُني عن موردي

Among you all I wander while love

Knocks me away from my path,

وقد أذاب طولَ ه

ذا المَطْلِ روحُ الجلدِ

And the length of his absence

Melted the soul of endurance from my body.

الله في حُشاشةٍ

أنبَتُها عن جسدي

God grew a love

From my skinny frame,

طرفي جنى فما الذي

أوجب ظُلْمَ الكبِدِ

My eyes picked its fruit yet why

Did my liver earn such injustice?

وإنما حكمُ القِصا

صِ واقعٌ بالمُعتَدي

You made me forget

My yesterday and tomorrow,

دهيتَني فصِرْتُ لا

أعرف أمسي من غَدي

You returned the tears of my eyelids

To your rosy cheek.

ورّدْتَ دمْعَ مقلتي

بخدّك المورَّدِ

My state is like

A blind man’s eye,

وأشبه الحالُ به

إنسانَ عينِ الأرْمَدِ

A temple of beauty veiled

In black marble,

كعبةُ حُسنٍ كمُلَتْ

بالحجر المسوّد

Yet the palms of pilgrims

Can feel, not the hand's comfort.

لكنْ براحاتِ المُنى

تلمُسُ لا راحِ اليد

Idle of lip, unless

Adorned with the necklace of speech,

معطلُ اللبةِ إل

ا من حُليّ الغيَد

Beauty is gathered in him

Both paired and singular,

تجمّع الحُسنُ به

من مزوَجٍ ومفردِ

As if borrowing some traits

Of Ahmad’s attributes,

كأنما استعارَ من

بعضِ صِفاتِ أحمدِ

Where is her beauty compared

To saffron, not a prayer rug?

وأين منه حُسنُها

والصُّفرُ غيرُ المَسجَدِ

The master son of the master

Son of the master son of the master,

السيدُ بنُ السيد ب

نُ السيد بنُ السيدِ

Majesty from Adam

Remaining for eternity,

جلالةٌ من آدمٍ

باقيةٌ للأبدِ

And nobility which the stars

Of his birth had decreed,

ورفعةٌ قضتْ له

بها نُجومُ المَولدِ

With tranquility that ensured

Goodness to the zealous,

ذو راحةٍ قد ضمنَتْ

بالبَذْلِ برّ المُجتَدي

Awake though asleep

To the eye of envy,

يقظانُ إلا أنه

نائمُ طرفِ الحسَدِ

Humility that lowered him

Among the burial chambers,

تواضعٌ أنزلهُ

بين عِراضِ الفرقَدِ

And God folded for him

The most cunning enemies,

وقد لوى اللهُ له

أخدعَ كلّ أصيدِ

Who all answered him

Without calling the happiest,

فكلهمْ أجابَه

ولم يُنادِ أسعدِ

This one, and how many schools

Study the atheist’s confusion,

هذا وكم مدرسةٍ

تدرسُ إفكَ المُلحِدِ

Laughing despite their worries

At the shining smile of the city,

تُضحِك عن لألائها ال

مُشرقِ ثغرَ البلَدِ

As if it were a bargain

Of the present imitator,

كأنما خريدةٌ

حاليةُ المقلَّدِ

Suleiman stayed there

In his sturdy palace,

حلّ سليمانُ بها

في صرْحِه المُمَرَّدِ

And the rain admired it, so

It called to him from afar,

ورامَها الغيثُ فنا

دَتْهُ على البعدِ اجْهَدِ

And it tired him, so he turned

Away from it to the firmness of Najd,

وأتعبتْهُ فابْتَنى

عنها رسوخَ النجَدِ

Do not lie, without him

It would not have been built,

لا تكذبنّ إنها

لولاهُ لم تُشيّدِ

Through him God clarified

For us the path of guidance,

قد أوضحَ اللهُ به

لنا طريقَ الرَّشَدِ

And his stars blossomed

So woe to those not guided,

وزهّرَتْ نجومُه

فويلَ من لم يهتدِ

And if he narrated the news from

Its collectors and verified,

وإن روى الأخبارَ منْ

مُرسِلِها والمسنَّدِ

Then listen to him and take

The pearls of his assembly,

فاصغِ إليه والتقِطْ

من دُرِّه المنضَّدِ

And say: I heard it

From the eloquent Muhammad.

وقلْ لقد سمعتُها

من فلقٍ محْمَدِ

O you who ease dew

With your radiant, delighted face,

يا ضامناً يُسْرَ النّدى

ببشْرِ وجهه النّدي

And if I praise you

Elevation says: Go on!

ومن إذا مدحتَه

قال لي العُلا زدِ

One like you straightens

Whatever crookedness is in my poetry,

مثلُك من قوّم ما

في كلِمي منْ أوَدِ

So congratulations for a decade

That continues to increase,

فاهنأ بعشرٍ لم يزلْ

منه أخيرُ العددِ

This is so while you are still

At the start of every misfortune,

هذا على أنك في

أولِ كلِّ سؤدَدِ

And submit, continuing in bounty

Everlasting for eternity.

واسلمْ ودُمْ في نعمةٍ

باقيةٍ للأبدِ