لم ترضَ أني قد حُرِمْتُ وصالَها
حتى حمَتْني في المنامِ خيالَها
She was not content that I was deprived of her company,
Until she came to me in a dream with her apparition.
قالت وروحي في السياقِ مخافةً
لي ما لَها وهي العليمةُ ما لها
She said, while my soul within me trembled in fear:
"What is mine is not for you, though she knows what is hers."
فتبدلتْ بعد البَياضِ بصُفْرةٍ
هجلاً وجرّتْ عن حياً أذيالَها
Then after the paleness, she turned yellow,
Bashfully, drawing her skirts away from my life.
ومضتْ وقد ضاقَ الوشاحُ بخصْرها
جزَعاً وأشبع ساقُها خلْخالَها
And she left, while her waist wrap had grown tight
In sorrow, and her anklets had been filled by her legs.
كالظبيةِ الأدْماءِ أتْلعَ جيدَها
رامٍ على شرفٍ رأتْهُ فهالَها
Like a shy, tawny gazelle, she curved her neck,
Yearning for a height she saw and it awed her.
ما كنتُ أزمعُ بالصبابةِ قبل ذا
حتى أرَتْني كيفَ فيّ فعالُها
I did not intend such coyness before,
Until she showed me what her deeds have done to me.
وتنائفٌ قطعتْ فراسخَها بنا
بُزْلُ الرِكابِ وجاوزتْ أميالَها
With stumbling steps, she crossed many miles,
The slipping of feet, going beyond yards.
هتكت بأيديها مطايا سيرِها
وتعسّفَتْ عقِبَ السّرى أهوالها
With her hands, she loosened the reins of her pacing,
And recklessly, behind the hiddenness, her terrors.
حتى أتتْ مثلَ القِسيّ تحنّياً
شمسَ البلادِ بدرَها وهلالَها
Until she came like the bow, bending down,
The sun of the land, her full moon and crescent.
وحليمَها وكريمَها وعظيمَها
ورفيعَها وربيعَها وثُمالَها
And her trinkets, her generosity, her glory,
Her loftiness, her springtime, and her fruits.
قصدتْ مكارمَ ياسرٍ فاستَدْبَرَتْ
أدبارَها واسقبلت إقبالَها
She sought the virtues of gentle Yasser, so she turned
Her back, and faced with welcome his advance.
رومُ الغِنى من راحتَيْهِ فإنّه
جعلَ الرؤوسَ من الملوكِ نِعالَها
Affluence comes from the comfort of his wings, for he
Has made the heads of kings into his slippers.
لولاهُ في عَدْنٍ لأهبطَ ربُّها
آمالَها وتزلزلتْ زلزالَها
If it weren't for him in bliss, her Lord would lower
Her hopes, and her pillars would shake with quaking.
لكنّهُ لما تقلّدَ أمرَها
أجرى الإلهُ على السعادةِ فالَها
But since he took charge of her command,
God made successes run through her days.
فرأتْهُ من بعدث الإلهِ مقسَّماً
أرزاقَها ومقدِّراً آجالَها
So she saw him, after God's revival, apportioning
Her livelihood, and preordaining her terms.
وأرتْهُ ما لم يطّلعْ من قبلِه
أحداً عليهِ وأخرجتْ أثقالَها
And she saw what none before him had been allowed
To see of him, and she brought out her treasures,
حتى كأن اللهَ جلّ جلالُه
أوحى له وكأنّه أوحى لها
As if God—may His glory be sublime—
Had inspired him, as if He'd inspired her.
لا يخطُبُ العوراءَ من فيهِ ولا
يخشى كريمةَ جارِه إقلالَها
The chaste woman is not sought by one in whom
Is doubt, nor does he fear his noble neighbor's lowliness.
لو كان يخلق للمكارم والعلا
باع لكان يمينها وشمالها
If creation were for noble deeds and heights,
His right and left hands would have sold her.
مُستفتحاً بلدانَها وحصونَها
ومصونَها وسهولَها وجبالَها
Vanquishing her cities and fortresses,
Her protected places, her plains, and her mountains.
فلتبْقَ في عزٍّ ومُلْكٍ قاهِرٍ
ما عاقبتْ ريحُ الجنوبِ شمالَها
So let her remain in power and conquering rule
For as long as the wind of the south blows north.
