أرحِ المطيّةَ برهةً يا حادي

قد كلَّ هاديها من الإسآدِ

Give the camel a respite, O driver

For every guide of it is tired of leading

هذا اللوى وبه شفاءُ صبابَتي

لو أنه أجرى على المُعتادِ

This is the bend, in it lies the remedy for my youth

If only it flowed in the accustomed manner

يا مُسقطَ العلمينِ هل من مُخبرٍ

عن مستقرّي زينب وسعادِ

O the place where the two flags fell, is there an informer

About the dwelling places of Zainab and Saad

حلّتْ مطاياهم بملتفِّ الغضى

فكأنّما شبّوهُ في الأكبادِ

Their camels walked with stooped necks

As if they grew up in the livers

قلبي من الشُعراءِ أصبحَ هائماً

من حبّهم في كل مسرحِ وادِ

My heart has become infatuated with the poets

Out of love for them in every theater and valley

ولقد عذلْتَ فما عدلْتَ عن الهوى

ورأيتَ غيّي فيه عينَ رشادي

And you have blamed yet not turned away from passion

And you saw my madness in it as guidance

وجعلتَ للعُذّالِ عزَّ تمنّعي

عنهمْ وللأحبابِ ذُلَّ قِيادي

And you made the blamer have the honor of my aloofness

From them and for the loved ones the submission of my guidance

علّ النوى يُدْنيكَ من ذي لوعةٍ

أضحى سقيمَ حشىً صحيحَ وِدادِ

Maybe calling on the lodestar will bring you closer

To the one suffering who has become sickly with sincere affection

بل عل طفَكَ إن يمنَّ بزورَةٍ

فأبثّهُ ما قد أجنّ فؤادي

Rather, your bestowal, if graced with a visit

Then pour forth what my heart has harvested

إمّا أقمتُ فإن حبّك لم يزَلْ

حظّي وإن أرحلْ فذكرُك زادي

Either I stay then your love always remains

My fortune, or if I leave then the remembrance of you is my provision

ومن العجائب أنني من مدمعي

أصبحتُ في بحرٍ وقلبي صادِ

And of the wonders is that from my tears

I have become in an ocean while my heart is blocking

وأما ولمعُ البيضِ ماءً سلسلاً

ما بين أغصانِ القَنا المُنآدِ

And when the whiteness of eggs flows as necklaces

Between the branches of the singing canes

لأكلفنّ العيسَ طيّ مهامهٍ

تُردي كواهلَها به والهادي

I would task the gleaming lightning

To smash their shoulders with it and the guide

فأروحُ والسيرُ المُجدُّ مُسامِري

منهنّ والأكوارُ لينُ مِهادي

So I walk while glorious travel is my confidant

From them and the pillows are gentle beds

لك يا جمالَ الملكِ هزّتْ معطَفي

ريحانُ ريحِ ندًى وريحُ ودادِ

For you O beauty of the King, the dew of the breeze

Shook my coat, the basil of the breeze of love and affection

فشقَقْتُ أثوابَ الدُجى عن مهمهٍ

عافى المسالكَ ما به من هادِ

So I tore the clothes of darkness off a resolute one

Healed are the roads from that which has a guide in it

بعرَنْدَسٍ كالطودِ خَلْقاً لم يزلْ

وقفاً على الإتهامِ والإنجادِ

With an unbending cypress in creation that never

Stopped standing in accusation and readiness to help

أطربْتَها وهْناً بذكركَ فانبرتْ

كالجأبِ أُنسّ بنائه المرتادِ

You made it gently pliant by the mention of you so it sprang up

Like the supple fiber gladdened by the one who frequents it

قالت وما قالت ولا شكتِ السُرى

حسبي وحسبُك ذكرُه من حادِ

She said and said what she said without the mysteries complaining

Sufficient for me and sufficient for you is the mention of the guide

حتى إذا جنّ الظلامُ وبحْتَ في

أسدافِه كالكوكبِ الوقّادِ

Until when darkness fell and you shone in

Its bundles like the blazing star

مادَتْ بناظرنا إليك وإنما

مادتْ بناظرنا الى مُمتادِ

Our sights turned towards you but rather

Our sights turned towards the outstretcher

فرأيتُ ليثَ الغابِ منك شهامةً

وحَيا السحاب ندًى وبدرَ النّادي

So I saw in you the boldness of the lion of the jungle

And the life of the resplendent clouds and the full moon of the caller

ونطقْتَ بالليثِ البديعِ فلم يدعْ

فضلاً يبينُ به خطيبُ إيادِ

And you spoke with the wondrous eloquence so the orator did not leave

An excellence to clarify with it the eloquence of Iyad

ولطالَما أنطقتَ في هام العِدى

يومَ الكريهةِ ألسُنَ الأغمادِ

And for long you made eloquent in the scattering of enemies

The day of hatred the tongues of scabbards

فافخَرْ بعزِّ فضائلٍ أحرزْتَها

إرثاً عن الآباءِ والأجدادِ

So pride yourself on the honor of virtues you have gained

As inheritance from the fathers and forefathers

الله جمّع فيك أشتاتَ العُلا

ومن العجيبِ تجمّعُ الأضدادِ

God gathered in you the dispersed grandeur

And of the wondrous is the gathering of opposites

فتكبرُ العلماءُ فيك جلالةً

شبّهتُه بتواضعِ الزُهّادِ

So the scholars pride themselves in you as majesty

I likened it to the humility of the devout

وحِجاكَ يهنو للندى ولربّما

قربُوا به طوْداً من الأطوادِ

And your valor is delighted by the dew and sometimes

They approached by it a towering towering mountain

أشكو إليك دعيّ شعري ماله

حظّي من الإصدارِ والإيراد

I complain to you of the lack of fortune my poetry has

In publishing and proceeds

لولاك مزّقتِ الأهاجي عِرضَهُ

مني بألسنةِ لديّ حِدادِ

If not for you the violent would have torn its honor

From me with the tongues of someone intensely hostile

لا يغرُرَنْكَ تجاوُزي عن فعلِه

فلقد أثارَ كمائنَ الأحقادِ

Do not let my disregard of its action deceive you

For it has provoked the hiding places of hatreds

أأحبِّرُ المدْحَ البديعَ وينثَني

هو بالحُبورِ يُفيضُ بيضَ أيادِ

Shall I perfume the wondrous praise while it bends me

With pus overflowing the hands of helpers?