حَيِّ الدِيارَ إِذِ الزَمانُ زَمانُ

وَإِذِ الشِباكُ لَنا خَوىً وَمَعانُ

The abode is revived when time is time,

Salute the old abodes, recalling when time was kind,

And the youthful vigour is intimacy and purpose for us.

When al-Shibak was our desolate retreat and our domain.

يا حَبَّذا سَفوانُ مِن مُتَرَبَّعٍ

وَلَرُبَّما جَمَعَ الهَوى سَفوانُ

How excellent is the drinking together of one well-mannered,

How beloved is Safwan as a spring encampment!

And sometimes love brings the drinking together.

For often did Safwan bring together those bound by love.

وَإِذا مَرَرتَ عَلى الدِيارِ مُسَلِّماً

فَلِغَيرِ دارِ أُمَيمَةَ الهِجرانُ

And when you pass by the abode bidding farewell,

And if you pass by these ruins to offer a greeting,

Then the estrangement is for other than Umm Aimah's abode.

Let abandonment be the lot of others, not the home of Umaymah.

إِنّا نَسَبنا وَالمَناسِبُ ظِنَّةٌ

حَتّى رُميتَ بِنا وَأَنتَ حَصانُ

We attributed lineage, and attribution is speculation,

We claimed a kinship, though such claims breed suspicion,

Until you were accused, and you are a steed.

Until you were cast in scandal with us, though you remain chaste.

لَمّا نَزَعتُ عَنِ الغِوايَةِ وَالصَبا

وَخَدَت بِيَ الشَدَنِيَّةُ المِذعانُ

When I rid myself of misguidance and youth,

When I finally tore myself away from folly and youth’s desire,

And the calm dignity subdued me.

And the compliant Shadani she-camel sped me onward—

سَبطٌ مَشافِرُها دَقيقٌ خَطمُها

وَكَأَنَّ سائِرَ خَلقِها بُنيانُ

A she-camel whose hoofs are delicate, her muzzle fine,

Her lips are smooth and long, her muzzle finely tapered,

And the rest of her body seems to be a structure.

While the rest of her form stands sturdy as a fortress.

وَاِحتازَها لَونٌ جَرى في جِلدِها

يَقَقٌ كَقِرطاسِ الوَليدِ هِجانُ

And a complexion contained her that flowed on her skin,

A hue has claimed her, flowing through her hide,

Parchment-like, like the parchment of al-Walid.

Pure white like the scribe’s fresh parchment, noble and bright.

وَإِلى أَبي الأُمَناءِ هارونَ الَّذي

يَحيا بِصَوبِ سَمائِهِ الحَيوانُ

And to Abu al-Umana Harun, who

I journey to the Father of Trustees, Harun, through whom

Lives well in the direction of his heavens.

All living things survive by the bounty of his raining sky.

مَلِكٌ تَصَوَّرَ في القُلوبِ مِثالُهُ

فَكَأَنَّهُ لَم يَخلُ مِنهُ مَكانُ

A king whose image is pictured in hearts,

A king whose image is so engraved within our hearts,

So it is as if he did not leave any place.

It seems as if no place exists without his presence.

ما تَنطَوي عَنهُ القُلوبُ بِفَجرَةٍ

إِلّا يُكَلِّمُهُ بِها اللَحَظانُ

Hearts do not conceal anything from him out of fear,

Hearts cannot conceal a wicked secret from his gaze

Except the glances speak to him about it.

Without the glancing eyes betraying it to him.

فَيَظَلُّ لِاِستِنبائِهِ وَكَأَنَّهُ

عَينٌ عَلى ما غَيَّبَ الكِتمانُ

So he remains listening, as if

He remains so vigilant in divining the truth,

He is an eye over what concealment has hidden.

As if he is an eye watching over all that silence hides.

هارونُ أُلِّفَنا اِئتِلافَ مَوَدَّةٍ

ماتَت لَها الأَحقادُ وَالأَضغانُ

Harun brought us into intimate friendship,

Harun has bound us together in a union of affection,

For which enmities and grudges died.

A bond for which all malice and old grudges have died.

في كُلِّ عامٍ غَزوَةٌ وَوِفادَةٌ

تَنبَتُّ بَينَ نَواهُما الأَقرانُ

Every year an expedition and delegation

In every year, a holy raid and a sacred pilgrimage;

Sprout between their two shelters.

Between their rigorous paths, the endurance of peers is severed.

حَجٌّ وَغَزوٌ ماتَ بَينَهُما الكَرى

بِاليَعمُلاتِ شِعارُها الوَخَدانُ

Pilgrimage and expedition between which enmities died

Pilgrimage and war—slumber has perished between the two,

With spears whose badges are the bracelets.

Upon swift camels whose only creed is the rapid trot.

يَرمي بِهِنَّ نِياطَ كُلِّ تَنوفَةٍ

في اللَهِ رَحّالٌ بِها ظَعّانُ

He casts them at the birds of every meadow

He hurls them across the vast arteries of every wasteland,

In God, a rider seeking them hungry.

A restless traveler for God, forever on the move.

حَتّى إِذا واجَهنَ إِقبالَ الصَفا

حَنَّ الحَطيمُ وَأَطَّتِ الأَركانُ

Until when they faced the approach of As-Safa

Until, when they face the rising slopes of Mount Safa,

The rocks bowed and the pillars bent.

The sanctuary wall yearns, and the holy Corners creak in welcome.

لِأَغَرَّ يَنفَرِجُ الدُجى عَن وَجهِهِ

عَدلُ السِياسَةِ حُبُّهُ إيمانُ

The most upright of governance, his love is faith.

For a radiant king—the darkness parts before his face;

The gloom opens from his face.

Just in his rule; to love him is an act of faith.

يَصلى الهَجيرَ بِغُرَّةٍ مَهدِيَّةٍ

لَو شاءَ صانَ أَديمَها الأَكنانُ

He prays the dawn with a Mahdi first light,

He braves the midday scorch with a divinely guided brow,

If he wished he would have protected its skin.

Which, had he wished, silken veils might have shielded.

لَكِنَّهُ في اللَهِ مُبتَذِلٌ لَها

إِنَّ التَقِيَّ مُسَدَّدٌ وَمُعانُ

But he exposes it to God,

Yet for the sake of God, he offers himself freely;

Indeed, the God-conscious is supported and expert.

Truly, the pious one is guided and sustained.

أَلِفَت مُنادَمَةَ الدِماءِ سُيوفُهُ

فَلَقَلَّما تَحتازُها الأَجفانُ

His swords are used to the company of blood

His swords have grown accustomed to carousing with blood,

So eyelids scarcely contain them.

So rarely do their scabbards hold them fast.

حَتّى الَّذي في الرَحمِ لَم يَكُ صورَةً

لِفُؤادِهِ مِن خَوفِهِ خَفَقانُ

Until that which is in the womb had no form

Even the unborn, not yet shaped within the womb,

From its heart’s palpitations out of fear of him.

Feels his heart tremble with the fear of him.

حَذَرَ اِمرِئٍ نُصِرَت يَداهُ عَلى العِدى

كَالدَهرِ فيهِ شَراسَةٌ وَلَيانُ

He is wary of a man whose hands are helped against injustice

In dread of a man whose hands are victorious over foes,

As if innate viciousness and twistedness is in him.

Who is like Time itself—holding both ferocity and grace.

مُتَبَرِّجُ المَعروفِ عِرّيضُ النَدى

حَصِرٌ بِلا مِنهُ فَمٌ وَلِسانُ

He is open-handed with benevolence, ample in gifts,

Open in his kindness, boundless in his generosity,

A leader without a mouth or tongue from it.

His mouth and tongue fall silent before the word 'No'.

لِلجودِ مِن كِلتا يَدَيهِ مُحَرِّكٌ

لا يَستَطيعُ بُلوغَهُ الإِسكانُ

For generosity, each of his two hands has a mover

Generosity is driven forth by both his hands,

Which the stillness cannot reach.

A motion that stillness can never overtake.