طَرَحتُم مِنَ التِرحالِ ذِكراً فَغَمَّنا

فَلَو قَد شَخَصتُم صَبَّحَ المَوتُ بَعضَنا

You left on a journey and saddened us

You cast a thought of departure that clouded us with gloom,

If only you had set out at daybreak, death would have taken some of us

For had you truly set forth, death would have greeted us by dawn.

زَعَمتُم بِأَنَّ البَينَ يُحزِنُكُم نَعَم

سَيُحزِنُكُم عِلمى وَلا مِثلَ حُزنِنا

You claimed that separation saddens you, yes

You claimed that parting brings you sorrow—perhaps it is so,

My knowledge will sadden you, not like our sadness

My knowledge may sadden you, but never like the sorrow we know.

تَعالوا نُقارِعكُم لِنَعلَمَ أَيَّنا

أَمَضَّ قُلوباً أَو مَنَ اسخَنُ أَعيُنا

Come let us compete to see who of us

Come, let us compare our lots to discover which of us

Has the firmer hearts or the more tearful eyes

Endures the more stung heart, or sheds the hotter tears.

أَطالَ قَصيرُ اللَيلِ يا رَحمَ عِندَكُم

فَإِنَّ قَصيرَ اللَيلِ قَد طالَ عِندَنا

The short night seems long to you, how merciful you are

Did the short night grow long for you, O Rahma?

The short night has become long for us

For truly, the fleeting night has stretched endlessly for us.

وَما يَعرِفُ اللَيلُ الطَويلَ وَغَمُّهُ

مِنَ الناسِ إِلّا مَن تَنَجَّمَ أَو أَنا

None but the sleepless or I know the long night and its sorrow

And none knows the long night and its suffocating weight,

Unconcerned with our pains, they rebuke us

Among all people, save the star-gazer and I.

خَلِيّونَ مِن أَوجاعِنا يَعذِلونَنا

يَقولونَ لِم تَهوُونَ قُلنا لِذَنبِنا

They say why do you rave, we said because of our sin

Those empty of our pain rebuke us in their ignorance,

They gather in circles telling of our deeds

Asking, "Why do you love?" We answered, "It is our sin."

يَقومونَ في الأَقوامِ يَحكونَ فِعلَنا

سَفاهَةَ أَحلامٍ وَسُخرِيَّةً بِنا

The foolish dreams and mocking of us

They rise among the tribes to recount our story,

If my Lord so willed, He would have tested them with what He tested us with

With foolish minds and words of mockery against us.

فَلَو شاءَ رَبّي لَابتَلاهُم بِما بِهِ اب

تَلانا فَكانوا لا عَلَينا وَلا لَنا

They would have been neither for us nor against us

Had my Lord willed, He would have tried them with the very affliction

I shall complain to Fadl son of Yahya son of Khalid

He tried us with, leaving them neither against us nor for us.

سَأَشكو إِلى الفَضلِ اِبنِ يَحيا اِبنِ خالِدٍ

هَواكِ لَعَلَّ الفَضلَ يَجمَعُ بَينَنا

For your love, perhaps Fadl will unite us

I shall carry my complaint to Al-Fadl ibn Yahya ibn Khalid,

My prince, I saw wealth in its bounties

Of your love, that perhaps Al-Fadl may reunite us.

أَميرٌ رَأَيتُ المالَ في نِعَماتِهِ

ذَليلاً مَهينَ النَفسِ بِالضَيمِ موقِنا

Humiliated, disgraced, resigned to injustice

A Prince in whose bounties I beheld wealth itself,

When the Lord of wealth was stingy, he declared his generosity

Humbled, abased in spirit, certain of its own subjection.

إِذا ضَنَّ رَبُّ المالِ أَعلَنَ جودُهُ

بِحَيَّ عَلى مالِ الأَميرِ وَأَذَّنا

By saying ‘welcome’ to the emir's wealth and harmed us

When the miser clings to gold, his generosity calls out,

And Fadl has raids on the backbone of his wealth

Crying "Hasten to the Prince's wealth!" like the call to prayer.

وَلِلفَضلِ صَولاتٌ عَلى صُلبِ مالِهِ

تَرى المالَ فيها بِالمَهانَةِ مُذعِنا

You see wealth in it resignedly humiliated

For Al-Fadl launches assaults upon the very core of his riches,

And Fadl has an impenetrable fortress in his hands

Wherein you see wealth submitting in utter humiliation.

وَلِلفَضلِ حِصنٌ في يَدَيهِ مُحَصَّنٌ

إِذا لَبِسَ الدَرعَ الحَصينَةَ وَاكتَنى

When he wears the coat of armor and wraps himself

And Al-Fadl holds a fortress within his grasp, secure,

To you Abu Al-‘Abbas, after those who walked

When he dons the impregnable mail and assumes his noble name.

إِلَيكَ أَبا العَبّاسِ مِن دونِ مَن مَشى

عَلَيها امتَطَينا الحَضرَمِيِّ المُلَسَّنا

On it, we rode the sharp-tongued Hadhrami

To you, O Abu al-Abbas, to the exclusion of all who walk,

Concubines who did not miscarry out of fear

We have ridden the sleek-coated camels of Hadramaut.

قَلائِصُ لَم تُسقِط جَنيناً مِنَ الوَجى

وَلَم تَدرِ ما قَرعُ الفَنيقِ وَلا الهَنا

And did not know the banging of ships or crying

Young mounts that never cast a foal from weariness,

We shall visit those forbidden to him

Knowing neither the stallion’s strike nor the healer's tar.

نَزورُ عَلَيها مَن حَرامٌ مُحَرَّمٌ

عَلَيهِ بِأَن يَعدو بِزائِرِهِ الغِنى

That he would compensate their visitor for their songs

Upon them we visit a man whose presence forbids, by sacred law,

As if he had a Hanging Garden of Babylon

That wealth should ever bypass the one who seeks him.

كَأَنَّ لَدَيهِ جَنَّةً بابِلِيَّةً

دَعا يَنعُها الجُنّاءَ مِنها إِلى الجَنى

He invited the demons to it to take them to paradise

It is as if he possesses a Babylonian paradise,

I am tempted by a Sabaean silk robe

Whose ripeness summons the gatherers to the harvest.

أَغَرُّ لَهُ ديباجَةٌ سابِرِيَّةٌ

تَرى العِتقَ فيها جارِياً مُتَبَيَّنا

In which you see emancipation manifest

A radiant noble, possessing a visage like fine Sabirian silk,

Human: Thank you for translating the poem.

In which you see pure lineage flowing clear and distinct.