مطايبُ عيشٍ زايلَتْهُ مخابِثُهْ

ومُقْبِلُ حظٍّ أطلقْته رَوائِثُهْ

The pleasures of a fleeting life have departed,

And the favors of ascending fortune have released their knots.

ودولةُ إفضالٍ ويُمنٍ وغبطةٍ

كأن حُزونَ الدهر فيها دمائِثُهْ

The state of generosity, prosperity, and happiness

Is as if the sorrows of fate have rained their tears in it.

وغيثٌ أظلّ الأرضَ شرقاً ومغرباً

فقيعانُهُ خُضرُ النبات أَثائثُهْ

A rain has shaded the land, east and west,

So its drifting clouds are green with sprouting plants.

فظبيٌ له سِحرانِ طَرفٌ ونَغمةٌ

يُجدُّ بك الإغرامَ حين تعابثُهْ

A gazelle with magical eyes and melody for it,

Who awakens your passion when it plays.

يُناغمُ أوتاراً فِصاحاً يروقُنا

تأَنِّيه في تصريفها وحثَاحِثُهْ

It harmonizes strings articulating delightful sounds,

Lingering as it modulates and thrums them.

ويلحظ ألحاظاً مِراضاً كأنها

تُغانجُ من يرنو لها وتُخانثُهْ

And it glances with love-inspiring gazes, as if

They wink at one who desires it and flirt.

فَيسْبيكَ بالسحر الذي في جُفونِهِ

ويُصيبك بالسِّحر الذي هو نافثُهْ

So it makes you cry with the magic in its eyes,

And affects you with the spell which it emits.

يَحِنٌّ إليه القلبُ وهو سَقامُهُ

ويألفُ ذكِراه الحشا وهو فارثُهْ

The heart yearns for it though it is its sickness,

And its mention is intimate though it is its separater.

يُجيعُ وِشاحَ الدرّ منهُ مَجالُهُ

ويُشبع مِرطَ الخَزِّ منه مَلاوِثُهْ

It starves the doe’s fawn of its pasture,

And satiates the young hyena of its game.

وقد طلعتْ باليُمن والسعد كلِّه

لنا والثرى ريَّان تندى مباحِثُهْ

Good fortune and all luck have risen for us,

While the land is verdant and its discussions grow clear.

ثلاثةُ أعيادٍ فللفطر واحدٌ

وللعُرف ثانيه وللَّهو ثالثُهْ

Three festivals - one for Fitr, another for the Urf,

And a third for Lahw - are celebrated

يُعَيِّدُها فرعٌ من المجد طيِّبٌ

جَناهُ إذا ما الفرعُ جَمَّت خبائثُهْ

By a fragrant branch of glory,

Which yields it when the branch sheds its thorns.

ألا فاسقني في الفِطْر كأساً رَويَّةً

لعلَّ لُهاثَ الصوم يُنقَعُ لاهِثُهْ

Come, serve me on Fitr a refreshing drink,

That the panting of fasting may quench its thirst!

مُشعْشَعةً يُضحي لها العُودُ ناطقاً

تَنَاغَى مَثانيهِ لنا ومَثالثُهْ

Sparkling, while the lute sings to it,

Chanting odes for us and repeating their themes,

مع ابن وزيرٍ لم يزل ومحلُّهُ

من الفضلِ يرضاهُ النبيُّ ووارِثُهْ

Along with the son of a minister whose abode

The Prophet would approve and his inheritor.

وما كنتُ مكذوباً وما كنتُ كاذباً

لدى الله لو قلتُ النبيُّ وباعثُهْ

I would not be lying nor deceiving,

Before God, if I said: the Prophet and his messenger

من الصالحين المُصلحينَ بيُمنهِ

غدا العيشُ محموداً ولُمَّتْ مشاعِثُهْ

From the righteous reformers, through his prosperity,

Life has become praiseworthy and its disgraces are erased.

إذا لم يَعِثْ في مالهِ لعُفاتهِ

فما يُعرفُ العَيْثُ الذي هو عائِثُهْ

If he does not act immorally out of his chastity,

Then the sin which corrupts is not known.

تَضمَّنَ تذليلَ الزمان فأصبحتْ

أواعِرُهُ ذَلَّت لنا وأواعِثُهْ

He undertook to humble fate, so its

Obstacles for us have relented and its knotted ropes untied.

وأُيِّدَ بابنٍ مثلهِ في غَنائه

إذا كَثُرت من رَيب دهرٍ كوارثُهْ

He is supported by a son like him in his riches;

If the misfortunes of a wicked age multiply.

أَغرُّ يكنَّى بالحُسين تضمَّنت

محاسنهُ ألا تُغِبَّ مغاوِثُهْ

I boast, named for Al-Husayn, comprising

His virtues. Will his saviors be absent?

إذا ما عُبيدُ اللَّه ضاهاهُ قاسمٌ

فثَمَّ قديمُ المجد ضاهاه حادِثُهْ

When servant of God Ubayd Allah is matched by Qasim,

The ancient glory is matched by its modern counterpart.

ألا بُورك الزرعُ الذي هو زارعٌ

من البِرِّ والحرثِ الذي هو حارثُهْ

Bless the crop which he plants,

Of righteousness and plowing which he harvests!

ويا حالفاً أنْ ما رأى مثلَ قاسمٍ

على ظهريَ الحِنثُ الذي أنت حانثُهْ

By the one who swears, none has seen the like of Qasim

On the back of effort, which you have harvested.

بَرِرتَ وعهدِ اللَّه بِرّاً مُبيَّناً

وإن كثُرت من ذي شِقاقٍ هَنابثُهْ

You were dutiful, fulfilling the manifest covenant of God,

Even if the discord of one who betrays and breaks covenants is abundant.

أبى أن يُرى الحقُّ الذي هو باخسٌ

أخاهُ أو العهدُ الذي هو ناكثُهْ

The wrongful one refused to see the truth he usurps

From his brother, or the covenant which he violates.

حليمُ عليم إن تجاهلَ دهرُهُ

جوادٌ كريمٌ إن ألحت مغَارِثُهْ

Forbearing, Wise. If his time ignores him,

Generous, noble, even if its disasters plague him.

يظلُّ وتدبيرُ الممالِك جِدُّهُ

وبذل العطايا المُنفِساتِ معَابثُهْ

He is shaded while managing the kingdoms is his work,

And bestowing overflowing gifts is his hobby.

فتى يقتلُ الأموال في سُبل العلا

لتُورثَهُ المجدَ السنِيَّ مَوارثُهْ

A young man who spends wealth in the path of loftiness,

That glorious age-old glory may inherit him.

ضرورٌ نفوعٌ عاجلُ النفع ثَرُّهُ

على مُعتفيه آجلُ الضَّرِّ رائثُهْ

An urgent need, beneficial immediately, manifold his benefit

To his loyalists, postponing harm which awaits him.

نهى جودُهُ عن كل سمحٍ وباخلٍ

شَذى القولِ حتى أحسنَ القولَ رافثُهْ

His generosity prevented all reproach and stinginess.

The fragrance of speech, until he perfected speech and depleted it.

ترى صاحبَيْه ذا سؤالٍ يَميحُهُ

فواضلهُ أو ذا سؤالٍ يُباحِثُهْ

You see his companions, one asking and he dignifies him,

Or another consulting him and engaging him in discourse.

وما يجتني الميسورَ من لا يزورُهُ

ولا اللؤلؤَ المنثور من لا يُحادثُهْ

He does not hoard surplus wealth from one who never visits him,

Nor scattered pearls from one who never speaks to him.

وإما أغذَّ السيرَ في إثر خُطَّةٍ

فلا العَجزُ ثانيه ولا الشكُّ رائثُهْ

Either he marched ahead vigorously on a plan,

With neither frustration nor doubt awaiting him.

إذا ما تلاقى كيدُهُ وعداتُه

فثَمَّ تلاقى أجدلٌ وأباغثُهْ

If his plot and enemies meet,

The result is a barren wasteland and desolate ruins.

وإمّا أراغَ الحزمَ للخطب مرّةً

فلا الحزمُ معييهِ ولا الخطبُ كارثُهْ

Or if he resolved prudence for adversity once,

Neither fatigue exhausts him, nor does adversity harm him.

أظلُّ إذا لاقيتُ غُرَّةَ وجههِ

ولَيلي نهارٌ ساكنُ الظلِّ ماكِثُهْ

I live in his shadow when I meet the radiance of his face,

And my night is a day, settled with its permanent shade.

ليقْصُرْ عليه اليوم في ظلّ غِبطةٍ

ولا يَقْصُرِ العمرُ الذي هو لابثُهْ

So the day in the shadow of joy is shortened for him

And age which lasts is not shortened.

ولا زال قَصرُ القُفْصِ أعمرَ مَنزلٍ

به وبدهرٍ صالح لا يُماغثُهْ

The palace cage remains his most enduring abode

In it and in an era which suits him and does not trouble him.

فما فضلُهُ والمدحُ دعوى ومُدَّعٍ

ولكنْ هما مِسكٌ ذكيٌّ ومَائِثُهْ

His merit and praise are pretentious claims,

Rather they are pure musk and its fragrance.