هل أنت راحم عبرةٍ تولّهٍ
ومجير صبٍّ عند مأمنه دُهي
Are you a compassionate consoler of the distraught,
And a protector of those overwhelmed with grief in their refuge?
هيهات يرحم قاتل مقتوله
وسنانُه في القلب غير مُنهنه
Alas! A killer has no mercy on his victim,
With his fang still embedded in the heart, unremovable.
مَن بلَّ من داء الغرام فإنني
مُذحلَّ بي مرض الهوى لم أنقه
When one is afflicted with love’s malady, I am
Debilitated by the sickness of passion, not recovering.
إني بُليت بحب أُغيدَ ساحر
بلحاظه رخص البنان برهره
I am afflicted with love for a charming sorcerer,
Whose glance made ruby lips seem pallid.
أبغي شفاء تدلُّهي من دلِّه
ومتى يرقُّ مدلَّلٌ لمدلَّه
I want a cure you offer to guide me from my madness,
When can a coddled one be stern with his coddler?
كم آهة لي في هواه وأنةٍ
لو كان ينفعني عليه تأوّهي
How many sighs I have for him, and groans,
As if that could help me against him!
ومآرب في وصله لو أنها
تقضى لكانت عند مبسمه الشهي
And hopes for union with him, if only
They were fulfilled, would be at the height of joy.
يا مفرداً بالحسن إنك منتهٍ
فيه كما أنا في الصبابة منتبه
O matchless in beauty! You are the pinnacle
Of it, as I am in youthful vigor fully awake.
قد لام فيك معاشر أفأنتهي
باللوم عن حبِّ الحياة وأنت هي
I am blamed for loving life because of you—
Shall I stop loving because of the critics’ blame?
أبكي لديه فإن أحس بلوعةٍ
وبشهفة أومى بطرف مقهقه
I weep before him, and if he senses the pain, the grief,
He hints with a flirtatious wink.
أنا من محاسنه وحالي عنده
حيران بين تفكهٍ وتفكه
To him my charms and my state are
Perplexed between jest and earnest.
ضدان قد جمعا بلفظ واحد
لي في هواه بمعنيين موجَّه
Two opposites joined in one word—
He toys with me in love with dual meaning.
لأجردن من اصطباري عزمةً
ما ربُّها في محفِل بمسفَّه
I will strip myself of restraint, with determination
Whose Lord has not been in a revelry defamed.
أو لستُ رب فضائل لو جاز
أدناها وما أزرهي به غيري زُهي
Am I not the lord of virtues? If it were proper
To lower them, who but me would be blamed?
شهدت له الأعداء واستشفت بها
عينا حسود بالغباوة أكمه
Even enemies bear witness to his merit, and I gain insight
From an envious eye blinded by ignorance.
أنا عبد من علم الزمان بعجزه
عن أن يجييء له بندٍّ مشبه
I am a servant whom time has shown to be incapable
Of finding any equal or peer.
عبد لعز الدين ذي الشرف الذي
ذل الملوك لعزه فرُّخشه
A servant of the mighty, honored one
Whose might has humbled kings in awe of him.
الموقد الحرب العوان ببأسه
والأسد بين معرِّد وموهوه
He sparks the flames of war, helper against foes,
A lion among those who roar and growl.
المفحم الفصحاء فصل خطابه
من ذي الروية فيهمُ والمِبده
His eloquence puts orators to shame,
for he surpasses the eloquent in clarity and originality.
فكأن قرناً يُبتلى بنزاله
يرمي بطودٍ فوقه متدهده
So that an era tried by his descent
Throws down mountains looming over it.
وكذا البليغ ملجلج في نطقه
حصراً كألكن في الكلام متهته
And likewise the turbulent speaker is rendered turbulent in his speech
As if an anklet were on the tongue of the inarticulate.
فلتيححِ العلياء منه بمحرب
عند الجلاد وفي الجدال بمدرَه
So let the arrogant scream before his sword
In battle, and in debate with his spear.
هو غَّرةُ الزمن البهيم وعصمةُ
الملك العقيم وغوث كل مؤيِّه
He is the essence of the brutal age and protection
Of the impotent king, and aid to every seeker.
ملك همام حازم يقظ رضى
بحر غمام عالم ندسٌ نهي
A resolute, vigilant king, content, judicious,
A sea of clouds, scholar, devout, perceptive.
فطِن لأخذ محامد خفيت على
فطن الأُلى فلبعضها لم يُوبَهِ
Keen to take obscure virtues unnoticed by
The keenest minds, for some remained undetected by him.
متنبه للمكرمات ولم يكن
عنها ينام فيهتدي بتنبُّهِ
Alert to kindness, never sleeping through it,
So he is guided by his vigilance.
يُعدي على جور الزمان بعدله
ويجير بالنعماء كلَّ مولهِ
He remedies the injustice of time with his justice,
And protects all who take refuge with him.
وإذا استغاث إليه منه ماله
كانت إغاثته له صهٍ أو مهِ
And when one beseeches him for his wealth
His help is gentle or strong.
وعلى شمائل مجده ورُوائه
للمًلك أبَّهةٌ بغير تأبُّه
And for the attributes of his glory and his eminence
The kingdom has a yearning without affectation.
ما الليث أوغل في الترائب نابه
سغباً يصول بأهرتٍ متكهكه
Never has a fierce lion penetrated the thickets
More fiercely, pouncing with utmost ferocity.
يوما بأسفك للدماء لدى الوغى
منه وأقتل للعداة وأعضهِ
One day, when blood was spilled in the fray
By him, and foes slaughtered and torn asunder.
تعبت أسنته على عليائه
حتى تفرَّد بالمحل الأنوهِ
Tongues have grown weary listing his virtues
Until he remains peerless in rank.
فغدا ورواح به رعايا ملكه
في راحة تتهو بسوددهِ البهي
So he lives at ease with his subjects
In comforts made smooth by his magnificent justice.
كم في عناء المتعبين على العلا
من مترف بعنائهم مترفِّهِ
How many who suffer misery and toil
Are indulged by his sharing in their suffering!
انظر إذا ازدحم الوفود ببابه
من كل ذي أمل به متوجِّهِ
Look, when delegations crowd his gate
From every hopeful seeking him.
إن شط لم يشطط رضاو إن سطا
فيما يحاول عنده لم ينجه
Whether he is harsh or gentle in what
They seek from him, none can sway him.
طابت موارده فغض فناؤه
وشدا الحداةُ بذكره في المهمةِ
His ways are wholesome, his habit restrained,
The audacious are checked by the mention of him.
كالماء عند وروده ما لم يكن
عذبا نميراً سائغاً لم يُشفهِ
Like water, when it flows it is not
Sweet, clear, and potable unless it satisfies.
يا خير بانٍ بالشجاعة والندى
فخرا يهي عمرُ الزمان ولا يهي
O best of those exemplary in valor and repute,
Pride of the age, itself prideless!
يفديك كلٌّ مملَّك متيايهٍ
أبداً بألسنة الرعاع ممدَّهِ
Every ruling prince ransom you perpetually
With the tongues of the rabble praising you.
لا يفقهُ النجوى إذا حدثته
وإذا أتى بحديثه لم يُفقهِ
The whisperer understands not when you speak to him,
Nor makes himself understood when he speaks.
إني على شرف القريض لهاجر
للنظم هجرة آنفٍ متنزِّهِ
I have resolved to abandon poetry in praise
Of others, even if I do, the praise is compelled.
أضحى وعصبته كممدوحيهمُ
في جهل قيمة ذي الحجى والأورهِ
With your gifts I have become prosperous,
Hoping for your bonus, living in plenty.
أبداً عرائس مدحه تُجلى على
دنس الخبيئة بالعيوب مشوَّهِ
And before you my merit has appeared genuine, as
No fault of mine concealed from you appears spurious.
قل للمميِّز منشداً أو سامعاً
في الناس بين مُفهَّهٍ ومفوَّهِ
You have attained from your God what a worshipper desired,
Praying devoutly through the night.
آليت لا أوليت غيرك مدحةً
شعراً وإن أفعل فمدحةُ مكره
أصبحت من نعماك صاحب أنعمٍ
تُرجى نوافلها وعيش أبلهِ
وبدا لديك صريح فضلي مثل ما
لا يستسرُّ لديك نقص مموَّه
حزت السعادة من إِلهك ما سرت
في الليل دعوة عابدٍ متألِّه
