ألْحِقْ بَنَفْسِجَ فَجْرِي وَرْدَتَيْ شَفَقِي

كافُورَةُ الصُّبْحِ فَتَّتْ مِسْكَةَ الغَسَقِ

My purple flower at dawn and my blushing rose

The camphor of morning has melted the musk of dusk

قد عطَّلَ الأُفْقُ من أَسْمَاطِ أَنْجُمِهِ

فاعْقِدْ بخَمْرِكَ فينا حِلْيَةَ الأُفُقِ

The horizon has unfastened from its starry tents

So adorn yourself with its wine in our gathering

قُمْ هاتِ جامَكَ شمساً عند مُصْطَبَحٍ

وخَلِّ كأْسَكَ نَجْماً عندَ مُغْتَبِقِ

Arise, bring your cup, a sun at dawn

And pour your goblet, a star at dusk

واقسِمْ لكُلِّ زمانٍ ما يليقُ به

فإِنَّ للزَّنْدِ حَلْياً ليس لِلْعُنُقِ

And allot to each era what befits it

For the bracelet has an ornament the necklace does not

هبَّ النسيمُ وهبَّ الرّيم فاشتركا

في نَكْهِةٍ من نسيمِ الرَّوْضَةِ العَبِقِ

The breeze blew, and the gentle rain, and they shared

A scent of the breeze from the fragrant garden

واسْتَرْقَصَتْنِيَ كاسْتِرْقَاصِ حامِلِها

مُخْضَرَّةُ الوُرْقِ أَو مُخْضَرَّةِ الوَرَقِ

It intoxicated me, like its carrier intoxicated

The green leaves or the green paper

وبتُّ بالكأْسِ أَغنَى الناسِ كُلِّهِمُ

فالخمرُ من عسجدٍ والكأْسُ من وَرِقِ

I spent the night drunk with the cup, the richest of all people

For the wine is from stems and the cup from paper

كم ورَّدَتْ وجناتُ الصِّرْفِ في قدحٍ

فتحت بالمزج ما يعلوه من حذقِ

How often the gardens of the valley poured into a goblet

Opening with blending what surpasses it in skill

يَسْعَى بها رَشَأٌ عيناه مُذْ رَمَقَتْ

لم يُبْقِ فِيَّ ولا فيها سوى الرَّمَقِ

A young man with eyes that since they winked

Left me and it neither life remaining nor vigor

حَبَابُها وأَحادِيثي ومَبْسِمُهُ

ثلاثَةٌ كلُّها من لؤلؤٍ نَسَقِ

Her coquetry, my conversations, and his smile –

Three all of strung pearls

حتى إِذا أَخَذَتْ منا بسَوْرَتِها

ما أَخَذَ النَّوْمُ من أَجفانِ ذي أَرَقِ

Until sleep took from us with its drowsiness

What it takes from the eyelids of one suffering insomnia

ركبتُ فيه بحاراً من عجائِبها

أَنِّي سَلِمْتُ وما أَدرِي من الغَرَقِ

I sailed in it oceans of its wonders

I arrived safely though I know not from drowning

ولم أَزَلْ في ارْتِشافِي منه رِيقَ فم

أَطفأْتُ في بردِهِ مشبوبةَ الحُرَقِ

And I did not cease sipping from it a juice of mouth

That extinguished with its coolness my inflamed thirst

يا ساكنَ القلبِ عما قد رَمَيْتَ بِهِ

من ساكنِ القلبِ مُغْمًى فيه من قَلَقِ

O you who settled the heart from what you have cast into it

Of one settled of heart plunged into anxiety

لا تَعْجَبَنَّ لكل الجسمِ كيف مَضَى

وإِنَّما اعْجَبْ لبعضِ الجِسْمِ كيفَ بَقِي

Do not wonder that all the body is gone

Rather wonder that some of the body remains

لم أَستَرِقْ بمنامي وصلَ طيفِهِمُ

فما لهُ صارَ مقطوعًا على السَّرَقِ

I did not steal in my sleep the apparition of their likeness

So why did it become severed by theft?

ولا اجْتَلَى الطَّرْفُ برقًا من مباسِمٍهٍمْ

فما له مثلَ صوبِ العارِضِ الغَدِقِ

Nor did my eye secretly glimpse a lightning flash of their smiles

So why is it like the fleeing lightning in the dark clouds?

في الهندِ قد قيل أَسيافُ الحديدِ ولو

لا هندُ ما قيلَ أَسيافٌ من الحدقِ

In India, it is said swords of iron, even if

There was no India, it would be said swords of sharpness

نسيتُ ما تحت تفتيرِ الجفونِ أَمَا

خُلُوقَهُ الجَفْنِ أَثْرُ الصَّارِمِ الذَّلِق

I forgot what is beneath the fluttering of eyelids, though

Its creation by eyelids is the trace of the polished blade

وبِتُّ بالجِزْعِ في آثارهم جَزَعاً

إِن جرّد البَرْقُ إِيماضاً على البُرَقِ

I spent the night grieving their traces grievously

If lightning bared a flash upon the shining clouds

في نار وجدِيَ مغْنًى من تَلَهُّبِهِ

وفي فؤادِيَ ما فيه من الوَلَقِ

In my passion’s fire is solace from its flames

And in my heart is what is in it of disquiet

خوفٌ أَبو القاسِمِ الأَرزاقَ قَسَّمَهُ

عني فقد صحَّ إِفْراقِي منَ الفَرَقِ

A fear, Abu al-Qasim divided sustenance

From me, so separating from friends proved true

القائدُ الضِّدَّيْن في شِيَم

كالماءِ يجمع بينَ الرِّيِّ والشَّرَقِ

The leader of two opposites in nature

Is like water combining sweet and brackish

تهلَّلَ الوجهُ منه مثلَ شمسِ ضُحًى

وانهَلَّتِ اليدُ مثل العارضِ الغَدقِ

Joy lit his face like the morning sun

And his hand poured like the flowing stream

وجدَّد النِّعَمَ اللاتي نَثَرْتُ لها

أَزاهِرَ الرَّوْضِ باسْمِ المَلْبَسِ الخَلَقِ

And he renewed favors which I scattered

The blossoms of the garden in the name of the created robe

وحازَ وَصْفِي رقيقٌ رائِقٌ فَلَهُ

تَشَابَهَ الحُسْنُ بيْنَ الخَلْقِ والخُلُقِ

And he attained my description, refined and delightful, so for him

Beauty resembled between creation and character

وثقَّل المَنَّ حتى رُمْتُ أَحمِلُهُ

على عواتِقِ أَمْداحِي فَلَمْ أُطِق

And kindness weighed heavily until I, its bearer, bent

Upon the shoulders of my praises, unable to bear it

فلَسْتُ أَعرِفُ عَمَّا ذا أَقولُ له

خَفِّفْ عُنق الأَشعارِ أَم عُنُقي

So I do not know what to say to him

Lighten the neck of poems or my neck?

مُضَمَّرُ العَزْمِ لو جاراهُ في طَلَقٍ

من بَطْشَةِ البَرْقِ لم يُوجَدْ بمُنْطَلِقِ

Resolute in purpose, if he met it with ease

He would not be found with a place from which to set out

رياسَةٌ تَطَأُ الأَعناقَ صاعِدَةً

فلا كَبَتْ وَهْيَ بَيْنَ النَّصِّ والعَنَقِ

Leadership that treads upon necks rising

Without repressing while delicate between text and neck

خُصَّتْ بنِي الحَجَرِ الياقوتِ واعْتَزَلَتْ

قوماً همُ الحَجَرُ المَرْمِيُّ في الطُّرُقِ

It was particularized for the Children of the Stone ruby and withdrew

From people who are the stone cast in roads

تخالَفَ الناسُ إِلا في فضائِلِهِمْ

فليسَ تُبْصِرُ فيها غيرَ مُتَّفِقِ

People only differ in their virtues

It does not discern in them other than agreement

مراتبٌ لأَبي بكرٍ بلها سَبَقٌ

كما أَبو بكرٍ المخصوصُ بالسَّبَقِ

Steps for Abu Bakr, but precursorship

As Abu Bakr was particularized with being first

مُهِمَّةُ عُمَرٌ فيها رأَى عُمَرًا

فضمَّها عنده الفاروقُ في فَرَق

A commission for Umar in which he saw Umar

So the Discerner folded it with him in the separation

وبَسْطَةٌ يرتقي عثمانُ هَضْبَتَها

رُقِيَّ عثمانَ إِلا ساعة الزَّلَقِ

An outstretching that Uthman ascends its slope

None ascended Uthman except at the moment of slipping

فضلٌ أَبو القاسِمِ المشهورُ قَسَّمَهُ

فيهم فهُمْ في بهيمِ الدّهرِ كالبَلقِ

A favor, Abu al-Qasim the Famed divided it

Among them, so they in the time of life are like insignia

ولم تَزَلْ لعليٍّ فيه أَوْ حَسَنٍ

فَألٌ عُلُوٌّ وحُسْنٌ غير مُعْتَلَقِ

And for Ali or Hassan there was always

Sublimity, beauty, and loftiness without instability

وطاهِرٌ طاهِرٌ الأَعراضِ من دَنَسٍ

يدنو وخيرونُ ضَيْرُ الرَّاهِنِ الغَلَقِ

And a pure one, pure of nature from blemish

Who approaches while the ignorant of this time are bleary

وللفتوحِ من الخيراتِ أَجْمَعُها

أَبو الفتوحِ الذي صُفِّي من الرَّنَقِ

And for the openings of all good things

Abu al-Futuh who was cleansed of pretentiousness

تباركَ اللُّه بارِي المجدِ من حَمَإِ

وخالِقُ الكَرم الفيَّاضِ من عَلَقِ

Blessed is God, Maker of Glory from fervor

And Creator of Bounty pouring from clot

فشِدْ وسُدْ واستزدْ واسعَدْ وجُدْ وأَجِدْ

وسُق وأَرْق وفُقْ واسْمُق وشِقْ ورُقِ

Pull and block and gain more and be felicitous and struggle and find

And pour and be easy and succeed and rise high and split and heal

وإِنْ يَكُنْ فِيَّ جسمٌ عن ذَراكَ مَضَى

فإِنَّ عندكَ قلبًا في ذراك يَقِي

And if there was in me a body from your presence gone

Then there remains with you a heart in your presence residing