لِلَّهِ ما تَصنَعُ الأَجيادُ وَالمُقَلُ

وَالأُقحُوانُ الشَتيتُ الواضِحُ الرِتلُ

To God belongs all that the gallant steeds accomplish,

Good God, what havoc is wrought by slender necks and eyes,

And the lances on the day of battle, bright and erect.

And by teeth like chamomile flowers, distinct, bright, and well-aligned.

تَرَنَّحَ الشَربُ وَاِغتالَت حُلومَهُمُ

شَمسٌ تَرَجَّلُ فيهِم ثُمَّ تَرتَحِلُ

They quenched their thirst then slew their enemies,

The drinkers swayed as their wits were ravished and undone

A sun that descended upon them and then moved on.

By a sun that alights among them, then journeys on.

لا تَستَريحُ إِلى المِلوى تُمارِسُهُ

وَلا تَبيتُ عَلى الأَوتارِ تَتَّكِلُ

It does not rest at the pasturage it exercises

It rests not in the strainer to be pressed,

Nor spend the night on the lute strings it plucks.

Nor does it spend the night relying on the jar's sealed cords.

فيها فَراغٌ مِنَ السُلوانِ يَشغَلُها

عَنّي وَفِيَّ بِها عَن غَيرِها شُغُلُ

In it is a void from the chalice that occupies it

She is void of any solace, occupied entirely away

Distracting it from me while I, because of it, am distracted from all else.

From me, while I am occupied with her to the exclusion of all else.

إِذا تَلَبَّثتُ عَنها ساقَ بي كَلَفٌ

بَرحٌ وَأَوجَفَني وَجدٌ بِها عَجِلُ

When I become inattentive of it, rigor escorts me

If I tarry away from her, a deep infatuation drives me back,

As well as sadness, and in it my fervor is quick.

A harsh torment, and a hasty passion spurs me on.

يا عَلوَ إِنَّ اِعتِلالَ القَلبِ لَيسَ لَهُ

آسٍ يُداويهِ إِلّا خُلَّةً تَصِلُ

O most high, verily the sickness of the heart has no remedy

O 'Alwa, indeed this sickness of the heart has no

That can cure it, except the beloved who unites with it.

Physician to cure it, save for a lover who grants union.

هَل أَنتِ إِلّا قَضيبُ البانِ تَعطِفُهُ

مَرضى الرِياحِ وَتَعدوهُ فَيَعتَدِلُ

Are you not but the crooked rib, which passion bends straight?

Are you anything but a willow branch bent by

Or the gazelle in the preserve, which amorousness courts?

The gentle breezes, which pass, leaving it to straighten again?

أَوِ الغَزالَةُ في دَجنٍ يُغازِلُها

أَو ظَبيَةُ البانِ في أَجفانِها كَحَلُ

Or the doe of the thicket with kohl on its eyes?

Or a gazelle in the shadows, flirted with by the light,

How dare I wail in the land of Iraq, having left behind in Damascus

Or a doe of the Moringa grove, with natural kohl upon her eyelids?

كَيفَ التَصَرُّعُ في أَرضِ العِراقِ وَقَد

خَلَّفتُ بِالشامِ مَن قَلبي بِهِ خَبِلُ

She, who captures my heart, causing it to languish!

How can I feign gaiety in the land of Iraq, when I have

But how can laudation and retirement be seemly for me

Left behind in Syria the one for whom my heart is crazed?

بَل كَيفَ يَحسُنُ بي التَقريظُ وَالعَزَلُ

وَشَيبُ رَأسي عَلى الفَودَينِ مُشتَعِلُ

While the gray hairs blaze on my temples?

Nay, how does composing praise and love poetry suit me,

There remains only the moan of the strings, which I hear

When the gray hair upon my temples is blazing white?

لَم يَبقَ إِلّا حَنينُ الزيرِ أَسمَعُهُ

وَالكَأسُ يُصبِحُنيها الشارِبُ الثَمِلُ

And the drinking companion makes the brimming cup morn me at dawn.

Nothing remains for me but the moaning of the lute string to hear,

Hasten us to the meadows and sweet basil at daybreak!

And the cup which the drunken reveler pours for me at dawn.

عاجِل بِنا الرَحَ وَالرَيحانَ مُبتَكِراً

فَلَيسَ يَحسُنُ إِلّا فيهِما العَجَلُ

For nothing becomes save rushing headlong therein.

Hasten the wine and the sweet basil to us in the early morn,

And drink to the fortune of al-Mu'tazz—verily for it

For in these two things, nothing becomes them so well as haste.

وَاِشرَب عَلى دَولَةِ المُعتَزِّ إِنَّ لَها

حَظّاً مِنَ الحُسنِ لَم تَسعَد بِهِ الدُوَلُ

Is a share in beauty for which kingdoms did not prove auspicious.

And drink to the reign of Al-Mu'tazz, for truly it possesses

A caliph who inherits the cloud rains when it pours down;

A fortune of beauty with which no other dynasty was ever blessed.

خَليفَةٌ يَخلُفُ الأَنواءَ نائِلُهُ

إِذا تَهَلَّلَ قُلتَ العارِضُ الهَطِلُ

Were you to see him adorned, you would say, “the showers descend.”

A Caliph whose generosity succeeds the rain-bringing stars;

When the majesty of kingship appears, inundating him,

When he beams, you would say: 'Here is the pouring raincloud.'

إِذا بَدا وَجَلالُ المُلكِ يَغمُرُهُ

حَسِبتَهُ البَدرَ وَفّى حُسنَهُ الكَمَلُ

You would reckon him the full moon, perfect in beauty.

When he appears, flooded by the majesty of kingship,

His kin are an intermediary to God when they take a fourth,

You would deem him the full moon, its beauty brought to perfection.

رِباعُهُ في جِوارِ اللَهِ واسِطَةٌ

وَحَبلُهُ بِرَسولِ اللَهِ مُتَّصِلُ

And his ties are connected to the Messenger of God.

His dwelling places stand central in the neighborhood of God,

The Quraysh yielded the plain of Bat'ha to him and turned

And his lineage is unbroken, connected to the Messenger of God.

خَلَّت قُرَيشٌ لَهُ البَطحاءَ وَاِنصَرَفَت

لَهُ عَنِ السَهلِ حَتّى حازَها الجَبَلُ

The lowland over to him until the mountain brought him possession.

The tribe of Quraysh ceded the valley to him and stepped aside,

And they preferred him, though their own merits are not enhanced

Leaving him the plain until he claimed the mountain too.

وَفَضَّلوهُ وَلا تَزكو فَضائِلُهُم

إِلّا بِتَفضيلِ أَقوامٍ بِهِم فَضَلوا

Save by preferring a people by whom they themselves were preferred.

They honored him, and their own virtues do not flourish

O You to whom belong the first and last of the sublime,

Except by honoring those through whom they gained their grace.

يا مَن لَهُ أَوَّلُ العَليا وَآخِرُها

وَمَن بِجودِ يَدَيهِ يُضرَبُ المَثَلُ

And by whose open hands the example is struck!

O you to whom belongs the beginning of glory and its end,

You saved us from the disgrace of the borrower when

And you whose generosity has become a proverb for all.

أَنقَذتَنا مِن خَبالِ المُستَعارِ وَقَد

أَوبا البِلادَ عَلَينا رَأيُهُ الخَطِلُ

His erring opinion had brought perdition to the lands.

You saved us from the madness of 'The Borrowed One,' when

He is the star-crossed one whose rule

His foolish judgment had made the lands a plague upon us.

هُوَ المَشومُ الَّذي كانَت وِلايَتُهُ

بَلوى تَهالَكَ فيها الناسُ إِذ خُذِلوا

Was an ordeal wherein people perished when they were forsaken.

He is the ill-omened one whose reign was nothing but

You deposed him, though he is despised for his unimportance,

A tribulation where men perished, forsaken and lost.

عَزَلتَهُ وَهوَ مَذمومٌ عَلى صُغُرٍ

وَلَم يَكَد لِلَجاجِ الغِيِّ يَنعَزِلُ

And the violent injustice of al-Hajjaj had barely ended.

You deposed him, blameworthy and abased,

He was like the ignorant calf,

Though in his stubborn error, he would scarce step down.

وَكانَ كَالعِجلِ غُرَّ الجاهِلونَ بِهِ

وَكُنتَ موسى هَدى القَومَ الأُلى جَهِلوا

While you were Moses who guided the stray people who were ignorant.

He was like the Golden Calf; the ignorant were deceived by him,

He was like the discarded corpse, and you came just as

And you were Moses, guiding the people who had gone astray.

وَكانَ كَالجَسَدِ المُلقى فَجِئتَ كَما

جاءَ سُلَيمانَ يَتلو قَولَكَ العَمَلُ

Action followed the recitation of your words, O Solomon!

He was like the lifeless body cast upon the throne, so you came

So religion in every horizon laughs delighted,

As Solomon came, your action following swiftly on your word.

فَالدينُ في كُلِّ أُفقٍ ضاحِكٌ بَهِجٌ

وَالكُفرُ في كُلِّ أَرضٍ خائِفٌ وَجِلُ

While unbelief in every land cowers in fear.

Now the Faith is laughing and joyous on every horizon,

As for the loyalists—God’s troops—He charged them

And disbelief in every land is fearful and trembling.

أَمّا المَوالي فَجُندُ اللَهِ حَمَّلَهُم

أَن يَنصُروكَ فَقَد قاموا بِما اِحتَمَلوا

To support you; thus they carried out what they took on.

As for the Mawali, they are the army of God, charged by Him

Their remaining alive is safekeeping for the world and their might

To grant you victory, and they have fulfilled what they bore.

بَقاؤُهُم عِصمَةُ الدُنيا وَعِزُّهُمُ

سِترٌ عَلى بَيدَةِ الإِسلامِ مُنسَدِلُ

Is a screen over nascent Islam, ever draping.

Their survival is the safeguard of the world, and their might

They turned aside disgrace and repented before God

Is a protective veil draped over the very core of Islam.

رَدّوا المُعارَ وَتابوا مِن خَطيئَتِهِم

فيهِ إِلى اللَهِ وَالإِثمِ الَّذي فَعَلوا

Of their sin therein and the wrong that they did.

They returned 'The Borrowed One' and repented of their error

A lapse which was neither unprecedented nor wondrous—

Regarding him to God, turning back from the sin they committed.

خَطيأَةٌ لَم تَكُن بِدعاً وَلا عَجَباً

قَد أَخطَأَت أَنبِياءُ اللَهِ وَالرُسُلُ

Prophets of God and messengers have erred.

An error that was neither unprecedented nor strange;

Who would take the perilous risk which they undertook yesterday

For truly, even the Prophets and Messengers of God have erred.

مَن يَركَبُ الخَطَرَ الصَعبَ الَّذي رَكِبوا

بِالأَمسِ أَو يَبذُلُ النَصرَ الَّذي بَذَلوا

Or sacrifice the aid which they sacrificed?

Who else rides the terrible danger that they rode yesterday,

With ample wealth and lives they struggled for you

Or offers up the victory that they have offered?

قَد جاهَدوا عَنكَ بِالأَموالِ وافِرَةً

وَبِالنُفوسِ وَنارُ الحَربِ تَشتَعِلُ

While the fires of war blaze.

They strove for you with abundant wealth,

They plunged into the fray—no swerving or holding back—

And with their very souls, while the fires of war blazed high.

تَوَرَّدوا النَقعَ لا حَيدٌ وَلا كَشَفٌ

وَباشَروا المَوتَ لا مَيلٌ وَلا عُزُلُ

And rushed into death—no bending or withdrawing.

They plunged into the dust of battle, neither swerving nor fleeing,

They take up the heels of calamities if they ride,

And faced death head-on, neither wavering nor defenseless.

يُواتِرونَ تِباعَ الكَرِّ إِن رَكِبوا

وَيَصدُقونَ دِراكَ الطَعنِ إِن نَزِلوا

And their lance points verify death if they descend.

They launch attack after attack when they ride forth,

None like their elder in wisdom and experience,

And strike true with successive thrusts when they dismount.

ما مِثلُ شَيخِهِمِ حَزماً وَتَجرِبَةً

وَلا كَبَأسِ فَتاهُم حينَ يَعتَمِلُ

Nor like their youths’ cups when they come to a head.

There is none like their elder in resolve and experience,

Three noble ones—if consulted, they advise sincerely;

Nor any match for the might of their youth when he strives.

ثَلاثَةٌ جِلَّةٌ إِن شُوِّروا نَصَحوا

أَوِ اِستُعينوا كَفَوا أَو سُلِّطوا عَدَلوا

If aided, they suffice; if given authority, they judge justly.

Three majestic figures: if consulted, they give true counsel,

So entrust to them what dawn brings, adorned,

If asked for aid, they suffice; if given power, they rule justly.

فَاِسلَم لَهُم ما دَعَت صُبحاً مُطَوَّقَةٌ

وَليَسلَموا لَكَ ما حَنَّت ضُحىً إِبِلُ

And let them entrust to you what the mid-morn sends, swift.

So may you remain safe for them, as long as the ring-necked dove calls at dawn,

And may they remain safe for you, as long as camels yearn in the morning light.