أَمِنكَ لِلمَكتومِ إِظهارُ
أَم مِنكَ تَغبيبٌ وَإِنكارُ
Do you reveal that which is hidden, or do you feign ignorance and denial?
Blame has settled upon me regarding parting, though those I love have not yet left nor journeyed.
أَحَلَّ بِالفُرقَةِ لَومي وَما
بانَ الأُلى أَهوى وَلا ساروا
Not so they might cease their talk—the gossiping woman among us, and the prattling man.
O you whom I keep at a distance because of what I hear, though you are my very neighbor,
لا لِأَن تُقلِعَ عَن قَولِها
مِكثارَةٌ فينا وَمِكثارُ
I concede one point to you in my confusion: if you claim I can patiently bear your absence,
And a second: if you claim that I am one to forget you should your dwelling place drift far away.
يا ذا الَّذي أُبعِدُهُ لِلَّذي
أَسمَعُ فيهِ وَهُوَ الجارُ
A name upon which lies the madness of passion, and whose embrace of the rose is a circling dance;
I forced the lips of its secrecy to smile, for it was my intent to make it known.
واحِدَةٌ أُعطيكَ فيها العَشا
إِن قُلتَ إِنّي عَنكَ صَبّارُ
And a garden nicknamed 'The Ultimate,' whose name in the Persian tongue is 'Jullar,'
Raised high within the gardens of Eden, possessing rivers flowing from bars of pure gold.
وَثانِياً إِن قُلتَ إِنّي الَّذي
أَسلاكَ إِن شَطَّت بِكَ الدارُ
And a company of youths—none are their equal—each one chosen for revelry and mirth,
Of pure and noble lineage, never has one of them fastened a button over his pocket to hoard wealth.
وَاِسمٍ عَلَيهِ جُنَنٌ لِلهَوى
وَضَمُّهُ لِلوَردِ دُوّارُ
Among the pious scholars, they match them in guise; yet among the rogues, they are rogues indeed.
I drank with them one day, and when the night grew dark and they fell into their drunken state,
أَضحَكتُ عَنهُ سِنَّ كِتمانِهِ
وَكانَ مِن شَأنِيَ إِشهارُ
I rose to where the fine camels knelt, and they selected the swiftest and made their choice.
Beneath my saddle is an obedient, swift beast, made lean and compact by travel and hunger,
وَجَنَّةٍ لُقِّبَتِ المُنتَهى
ثُمَّ اِسمُها في العَجمِ جُلّارُ
As though, from beneath the curves of the saddle, a Persian knight charged forth from her reins.
No, by the One to whose pleasure the pilgrims and travelers journey for Hajj and Umrah,
سُنِّمَ في جَنّاتِ عَدنٍ لَها
مِن قُضُبِ العِقيانِ أَنهارُ
The generosity of al-Abbas is unequaled, not even by a torrent hurling its surging waves,
Nor by a heavy rain-cloud, companion to the East wind, soft to the touch and ready to pour,
وَفِتيَةٍ ما مِثلُهُم فِتيَةٌ
كُلُّهُمُ لِلقَصفِ مُختارُ
Until it hangs low, stopping at nothing short of embracing the very earth below.
O son of Abu al-Abbas, you are the one whose sky rains down generosity in torrents.
مِن كُلِّ مَحضِ الجَدِّ لَم يَضطَمِم
جَيباً لَهُ مُذ كانَ أَزرارُ
My verses came to you and you exalted them; indeed, in you are themes for poem upon poem.
Mankind hopes for your favor and fears your wrath, as though you were Paradise and Hellfire.
يَلقَونَ في القُرّاءِ أَمثالَهُم
زِيّاً وَفي الشُطّارِ شُطّارُ
You mirror the nature of your father, whose footsteps have long run in the paths of goodness,
He who masters the difficult affair that leaves the measures and powers of other men helpless.
نادَمتُهُم يَوماً فَلَمّا دَجا
لَيلٌ وَصاروا في الَّذي صاروا
He is like a gleaming white blade, purified by the polisher, sharp and severing,
Preserving the legacy of a father whose kindness among men was never tainted by impurity.
قُمتُ إِلى مَبرَكِ عيدِيَّةٍ
فَاِنتَخَبوا الفُرَّهَ وَاِختاروا
As if a spring abode, matching his name, was watered by a cloud, wide-brimmed and pouring,
Watered for as long as the ring-necked dove warbles, cooing loudly upon the lotus branch.
وَتَحتَ رَحلي طَيِّعٌ مَيلَعٌ
أَدمَجَها طَيٌّ وَإِضمارُ
He is the refuge of the people when drought strikes, and their guidance when they are lost.
A people whose kindness is like rain clouds, raised to glory by great and weighty deeds;
كَأَنَّما بَرَّزَ مِن حَبلِها
تَحتَ مَحاني الرَحلِ أَسوارُ
They settled in the two valleys of Kada', close to where the curtains of the Kaaba drape.
They commit no offense against the observer; they do not mix sweet deception with bitter truth.
لا وَالَّذي وافى لِرِضوانِهِ
سارونَ حُجّاجٌ وَعُمّارُ
As if their faces, in their sheer delicacy, possessed the very skin of pearls.
ما عَدَلَ العَبّاسُ في جودِهِ
رامٍ بِدَفّاعَيهِ تَيّارُ
وَلا دَلوحٌ أَلِفَتهُ الصَبا
لَدنٌ عَلى المَلمَسِ خَوّارُ
حَتّى غَدا أَوطَفَ ما إِن لَهُ
دونَ اِعتِناقِ الأَرضِ إِقصارُ
يا اِبنَ أَبي العَبّاسِ أَنتَ الَّذي
سَمائُهُ بِالجودِ مِدرارُ
أَتَتكَ أَشعاري فَأَذرَيتَها
وَفيكَ أَشعارٌ وَأَشعارُ
يَرجو وَيَخشى حالَتَيكَ الوَرى
كَأَنَّكَ الجَنَّةُ وَالنارُ
تَقَيَّلا مِنكَ أَباكَ الَّذي
جَرَت لَهُ في الخَيرِ آثارُ
الراكِبُ الأَمرِ تَعايَت بِهِ
أَقياسُ أَقوامٍ وَأَقدارُ
كَأَنَّهُ أَبيَضُ ذو رَونَقٍ
أَخلَصَهُ الصَيقَلُ بَتّارُ
حِفظُ وَصايا عَن أَبٍ لَم تَشُب
مَعروفَهُ في الناسِ أَكدارُ
كَأَنَّ رَبعاً كَاِسمِهِ جادَهُ
مُنفَهِقُ الأَرجاءِ مِهمارُ
يَسقيهِ ما غَرَّدَ ذي عُلطَةٍ
في فَنَنِ العِبرِيِّ هَدّارُ
مِن عِصَمِ الناسِ وَقَد أَسنَتوا
وَمِن هُدى الناسِ وَقَد حاروا
قَومٌ كَأَنَّ المُزنَ مَعروفُهُم
يُنميهُمُ في المَجدِ أَخطارُ
حَلّوا كَداءً أَبطَحَيها فَما
وارَت مِنَ الكَعبَةِ أَستارُ
لَيسوا بِجانينَ عَلى ناظِرٍ
شَوبانِ إِحلاءٌ وَإِمرارُ
كَأَنَّما أَوجُهُهُم رِقَّةً
لَها مِنَ اللُؤلُؤِ أَبشارُ
