لمَنِ الحُمولُ بجدّةٍ تسري

يدرينَ مَن حملَتْ ولا يَدْري

For whose camels does the convoy set forth at dawn?

They know whom the camels have carried but I do not know

في الآلِ طافيةٌ وراسيةٌ

سيرَ السفينِ بلجّةِ البَحرِ

In the family, a ship sailing and anchored

The voyage of ships in the swell of the sea

فعليكَ يا قلبي السلامُ فقد

بانوا كما قد بِنْتَ عن صدري

So greetings, my heart, for they have appeared

As you imagined, away from my breast

كم حجبت كلل الهوادج عن

عينيك من شمسٍ ومن بدرِ

How many veils of litters have concealed

From your eyes the sun and the moon

بيضٌ وسمرٌ سحرٌ أعيُنِهم

يُنسيكَ فعل البيضِ والسمرِ

White and brown, their eyes are magic

Making you forget the work of white and brown

وأنا العديمُ من السّلوّ فإنْ

ذُكِرَ الغرامُ فإنني المُثْري

And I, devoid of any cheer, for when

Love is mentioned, I am the one made happy

ولقد أمالَتْ للعناقِ ضُحًى

قدّاً كخوطِ البانةِ النّضْرِ

And at dawn, she leaned toward an embrace

With a neck like the shoots of soft green

وبكيْتُ فابتسمَتْ فلاح لنا

دُرّانِ في نَظمٍ وفي نثرِ

And I wept, and she smiled, so for us

There were two pearls in verse and prose

دأبَتْ على هجري فخالفَها

بالوصل طيفٌ في الدُجى يسري

She persisted in shunning me, but contrary to that

An apparition in the darkness came to reconcile

واهاً على عصرِ الشبابِ فما

أحلى شمائلَ ذلك العصرِ

Alas for the prime of youth, for how sweet

Were the features of that time

أيامَ أخلعُ غير مستَتِر

عُذُري فأُلفى واضح العُذْرِ

Days when I cast off all cover

My excuse was clear for all to see

وتنوفةٍ قفرٍ رمَيتُ بها

ولاّجَ كلِّ تنوفةٍ قَفْرِ

And I roamed a barren wilderness, having hurled

My fate into every barren wilderness

يهفو إذا لفحَتْ هواجرُها

قلبُ السراب بها من الذُعْرِ

When its gusts blow, the mirage stirs

With fright, its heart trembling

وكأنّ أعناقَ المطيّ وقد

وخدَتْ مياهٌ فوقَ تجري

As if the necks of the steeds, when they had

Swum waters flowing above them

لو لم أكُن صقْرَ السّباسِبِ لم

أصْبِحْ ومن أكوارِها وكْري

Had I not been a hawk of high ambition I would not

Have become, with its chicks, a resident of its nest

والى الأجلِّ الحَبْرِ جُبْتُ بها ال

آفاقَ من سهل ومن وعْرِ

And for a noble goal, with inscriptions I gained

Far horizons, of plain and rugged land

فاتَتْ بأبكارِ المديح الى

دفّاعِ رَيبِ الحادثِ النُّكْرِ

So I came to the prime of praise, to the

Repelling of shameful, monstrous events

حبّرْتُ ألفاظي فجئتُ بها

حِبَراً الى علاّمةٍ حَبْرِ

I wet my expressions, and so brought them

As ink, to a learned man of ink

جمع المحاسنَ كلّهُنّ فمَن

يفخَرْ به يفخَرْ بذي فخرِ

Embodying all virtues - so whoever

Boasts of him boasts of one worthy of boasting

فإذا روى الأخبارَ أصدرها

عن فرطِ معرفةٍ وعن خُبْرِ

So when he narrates accounts, he expresses them

From an excess of knowledge and experience

وإذا المسائلُ أشكلَتْ فغدَتْ

لا تستبينُ لصائِب الفكْرِ

And when issues become obscure, to the point

Where the keen minded cannot discern them

جلّى غياهِبَها بصُبْحِ حِجًى

منه وصارم فطنةٍ يَفْري

He clarifies their darknesses with the dawn of

His intelligence, sharp and penetrating

وإذا جرى في طِرسِه قلمٌ

بيمينه للنفعِ والضُرِّ

And when a pen flows in his handwriting

For benefit or harm

أبصرْتُ روضَ الفضلِ أخضَلَهُ

ماءُ الذكاءِ فجاءَ كالسّحْر

I saw the garden of virtue, greened by

The water of wisdom, appearing as if by magic

يا حافظَ الدين الذي شهدَتْ

آلاؤهُ في البَدْو والحَضْرِ

O guardian of the faith, whom

Its gifts have witnessed in desert and town

لك منّةٌ عظُمَتْ فقلّ لها

يا خير مولًى منه بالشكرِ

You have conferred an immense favor - so tell it

O best guardian - thankfulness from me

لجلوْتَ عنّي الحادثاتِ كما

تجلو الدّياجي غُرّة الفجر

You have averted misfortunes from me as

The morning light averts the gloom of dawn

وكسوتَني خِلَعَ الرضا فأتى

متنصِّلاً مما جَنى دَهري

And clothed me in the robe of contentment, so it came

Detached from what fate had gathered against me

واسلَمْ لجمع الحمدِ واحظَ به

فرداً فأنتَ مفرّقُ الوفرِ

And submit to the totality of praise, and take

Uniquely, for you disperse abundance