رحلوا وهم بين الضلوعِ حلولُ

فالقلبُ عقدٌ سِلْوُهُ محلولُ

They left while they were still nestled between my ribs,

So my heart is an untied knot, unraveled.

وتبرّجوا للبينِ وهو تبرُّجٌ

ستْرُ التحفُّرِ فوقَهُ مسْدولُ

They flirted with separation while it was flirting

With the veil of bashfulness drawn over it.

طلعتْ بدورُهُمُ لتغرُبَ دوننا

فكأنّما ذاك الطلوعُ أفولُ

Their abodes rose only to set away from us

As if that rising were only a setting.

ما أطلقوا الأجمالَ تحت جمالهم

إلا وقد علِقَتْ بهنّ عُقولُ

They did not unleash their beauty except that

Intellects clung to them, besotted.

فاحبِسْ غرامَك بالطُلولِ صبابةً

فدمُ التصبُّر بينها مطلول

So restrain your love for the youths, O morning cupbearer,

For shedding tears between them goes unchecked.

أجرِ الرسومَ على الرسومِ فإنها

آثارُ مَنْ آثارُه التقْبيلُ

Trace the footsteps over the footsteps, for they

Are the vestiges of one whose vestiges are kisses.

دِمَنٌ صحبتَ مع الصِّبا فيها الصَبا

فأنا عليلٌ والنسيمُ عليلُ

A companion, you accompanied youth amidst which was prime,

While I am sick and the gentle breeze is sick.

عبثَ الهواءُ بها وعاثَ بي الهَوى

فمشى مُحول بيننا ونُحولُ

The breeze toyed with it and passion wreaked havoc on me,

So it strode tilted between us and I strode tilted.

ولطالما لعبتْ بعطفٍ متيّمٍ

في جانبيها شمألٌ وشُمول

And for long she would play with a slender flexuous form

On both her sides, a left curve and a right curve.

إذ جوّها يَنْدى وروضُ عِراصِها

يزهو وظلُّ الطيباتِ طليلُ

When her air was dewy and the lawn of her buttocks

Blossomed and the sweet-scented shade was languid.

والريحُ تلعبُ فوقَها بقوادمٍ

تهفو وريشُ جَناحِها مبلولُ

And the wind sported above it with roving feet

Panting while the feathers of its wings were soaked.

ولعابرٍ ولعاثرٍ بفَنائها

أبداً مقيلٌ طيبٌ ومُقيل

For every passerby and stumbler in her courtyard,

There was always a gentle, sweet stopover and rest.

حتى تعرّضَ بين أنهارِ الرِضى

كدَرٌ وفي روضِ الصفاء ذُبولُ

Until she flaunted herself among the rivers of pleasure

Like turbidity while in the meadow of purity was decay.

وعلى الركائب غادةٌ يدعونَها

شمساً يقومُ بما ادّعوهُ دليلُ

And upon the litters they called her a sun -

Whatever they claimed, that was the proof.

ولأجلِ ذلك حيثُ حلّتْ عيسُها

فالليل فجرٌ والنسيمُ بَليلُ

And for that reason, wherever her Ursa settled,

The night was dawn and the breeze without coolness.

إني وإن صلُبَتْ قناةُ عزائمي

لتُميلُني ريحُ الهوى فأميلُ

If the channel of my resolutions solidified,

The wind of passion would sway me and I would sway.

وكذا الكريمُ على جِماحِ عِنانِه

ينقادُ طوعَ هَواهُ وهو ذَلول

Thus the generous man is tractable in the rein of his will,

Obedient to his passion while being submissive.

وإذا الفتى خلعَ العِذارَ ولِبسُه

بُرْدُ الشبابِ فعُذرُه مقبولُ

And if the youth sheds his virginity and puts on

The coolness of youth, his excuse is accepted.

من يمنَحِ العشرينَ والعشرَ الصِبا

ففؤادُه المعْذورُ لا المعذولُ

One who bestows his twenties and prime upon youth -

His heart is the excused one, not the condemned.

ولقد صحبتَ الصِيْدَ يسمعُ فيهُمُ الت

فضيلَ مما قلت والتفصيلُ

And you accompanied hunting, amidst which one hears

A merit in what I said and the details.

وملأتَ أسماعَ الملوكِ غرائباً

سارت بها الأمثالُ وهْي مُثولُ

And you filled the kings’ hearing with wonders

That have circulated in proverbs while flowering.

وأنا امرؤ لو قيلَ في تصعيدِه

قوْلي لقيلَ كأنّه التنزيلُ

While I am a man who, if it was said in scaling his ascent,

“My saying”, it would be as if it were revelation coming down.

يتطفّلُ الكرماءُ في أحرازِه

وعليهِ يحسُنُ منهمُ التطْفيلُ

The generous welcome my begging into their stores

And for them, my freeloading is most welcome.

غيري يقالُ له ازدهاهُ منزلٌ

وزَها له المشروبُ والمأكولُ

It would be said about another, “Raising his status elevated him,”

And the drink and food was luxurious for him.”

لو كان ذلك سكّنَتْ من نهضتي

مصرٌ وبُلِّلَ من صداي النيلُ

If that had tranquilized my rising ambitions,

Egypt would have slept and the Nile hushed by my voice.

ولمَا دفعتُ الى صحابةِ معشَرٍ

سيانِ فضلٌ عندَهُم وفُضلوُ

And after I handed over to the society of a group

Among whom there was no distinction of merit or superiority,

وتركتُ بالفسطاط ملكاً وجهُه

متلألئٌ والقولُ فيه جميلُ

And I left in Fustat a sovereign whose face

Shone, and speech about him was beautiful.

سبقَ المنائحَ بالقرائحِ كفُّهُ

فغَدا يُطيبُ صلاتَهُ ويُطيلُ

His palm preceded songs of praise with intuitive talent,

So he began to scent his prayer nicely and lengthen it.

لكنْ سمعتُ عن السّديدِ وفعلِه

فأتيتُه لأريهِ كيفَ أقولُ

But I heard about the Righteous One and his action,

So I came to him to show him how I speak.

وعلمتُ أني إن سقيتُ سحابَهُ

نبتَ الرجاءُ وأثمرَ التأميلُ

And I knew that if I watered his cloud,

Hope would grow and optimism bear fruit.

كفٌّ أناملهُ الملاذُ بظِلّها

منها سُيوبٌ جمةٌ وسُيولُ

A palm whose fingers are refuge, in its shade,

Are plunging spears, thickets, and floods.

أعدى بشيمتِه الزمانُ فكلُّه

سِحْرٌ تأرّجَ زهرُه وأصيلُ

Time tested his high moral standards so everything about him

Is sorcery - its flowers have diffused their fragrance and are authentic.

فكأنّما الأيامُ طرفٌ أدهمٌ

وكأنّها غُررٌ له وحُجولُ

So it is as if the days are a bay-colored eyelid

And as if they are pearls belonging to him and foals.

وجرى الى شأوِ السماحةِ وحدَهُ

ويقولُ قومٌ والغمامُ رَسيلُ

The course of sublime generosity flowed toward him alone

While a group says and the pouring rain is streaming down.

قد قلتُ للساعينَ في إدراكِه

مهلاً فما لكُمُ إليه سَبيلُ

I have told the seekers in reaching him,

“Gently! You have no means to access him.”

لا تطْمَعوا فيه ففي مسْعاكُمُ

قِصَرٌ وفي طُرْقِ الرئاسة طولُ

Do not covet him. In your hearing

Is inadequacy, and in the paths to leadership is height.

جارى الرياحَ الى السَماحِ فأخبرَتْ

عنهُ وأين من الكريم بخيلُ

He raced the winds in sublime generosity, so they told

About him, and where is the generous man stingy?

ومُصرِّفُ الرُقْشِ المتونِ كأنّها

قبٌ بميدان الطُروسِ تَجولُ

He who folds the polished compositions is as if they are

A cup racing around the racetrack of wild pigeons.

تبكي فتضحَكُ عن أزاهرِ حكمةٍ

بنى الفصاحةِ روضُها مَطلولُ

Laughing and crying over the flowers of wisdom

Whose meadow of eloquence is in full bloom.

وصحائفٌ كصفائحٍ ليراعِها

في الحالتينِ من الصَريرِ صَليلُ

And compositions like tablets, made for his perusal,

Ring in both conditions from the ringing.

من كل ماضي الحدّ كفُّ غِرارِه

بالعَفْو فهو القاطعُ المَغلولُ

From all past, the edge of his liberal hands’ sharpness

In pardoning is the severing scimitar made rounded.

وبلاغةٌ تدعُ المبرِّدَ بارداً

وتقولُ جهْراً ما الخليلُ خليلُ

And an eloquence that leaves al-Mubarrad cold

And declares openly, “What is al-Khalil a friend to?”

أمروّضَ الآمالِ وهي مواحلٌ

ومشيّدَ العلياءِ وهي طُلولُ

He tamed hopes while they are proud and lofty,

And built high places while they were towering.

قد تيّمَتْك المكرُماتُ وهذه

آثارها بك دقةٌ ونحولُ

Graces were infatuated with you, and these

Are their vestiges in you, subtle and carven.

فكأنّ بثّك للنّوالِ بثينةٌ

وكأنّ رأيكَ في الجميلِ جميلُ

So it is as if your distribution of largesse is a storehouse

And as if your view of beauty is beautiful.

وفّيْتَ شهرَ الصومِ حقّ صيامِه

وقيامِه وكذاك ليس يزولُ

You fulfilled the month of fasting in its right of fasting

And night vigil, and likewise that will not disappear.

وكسوْتَ عيدَ الفِطْر حَلْيَ نباهةٍ

لعُقودِها في جيدِه تفصيلُ

And you clothed the feast of the breaking of the fast in the finery of lucidity

For its necklaces, in its beauty was the adornment.

أضحى بها القرآنُ ناشرَ غُرّةٍ

شهدتْ بها التوراةُ والإنجيلُ

The Qur’ān shone with the presentation of them

The Torah and Bible bore witness to them.

واسْلَمْ فقد كثر الكرامُ وإنهم

لولاكَ يا ابنَ الأكرمينَ قَليلُ

And submit! For the generous were many, and if not for you

O son of the most generous, they would be few!