لَمَكاسِرُ الحَسَنِ بنِ وَهبٍ أَطيَبُ

وَأَمَرُّ في حَنَكِ الحَسودِ وَأَعذَبُ

The cheeks of Hasan ibn Wahb are most fragrant,

And sweetest to bite for the envious, most delicious.

وَلَهُ إِذا خَلُقَ التَخَلُّقُ أَو نَبا

خُلُقٌ كَرَوضِ الحَزنِ أَو هُوَ أَخصَبُ

When innate character or upbringing polish him,

He has a nature soft as meadows, or yet more fertile.

ضَرَبَت بِهِ أُفُقَ الثَناءِ ضَرائِبٌ

كَالمِسكِ يُفتَقُ بِالنَدى وَيُطَيَّبُ

The horizons of praise strike him with flashes

Like musk blown about by the breeze and scenting the air.

يَستَنبِطُ الروحَ اللَطيفَ نَسيمُها

أَرَجاً وَتُؤكَلُ بِالضَميرِ وَتُشرَبُ

The gentle spirit inhales his breath,

A balm, to be drunk by the conscience and imbibed.

ذَهَبَت بِمُذهَبِهِ السَماحَةُ فَاِلتَوَت

فيهِ الظُنونُ أَمَذهَبٌ أَم مُذهَبُ

Generosity went about in his manner of thought

So that assumptions all went astray, led by its example.

وَرَأَيتُ غُرَّتَهُ صَبيحَةَ نَكبَةٍ

جَلَلٍ فَقُلتُ أَبارِقٌ أَم كَوكَبُ

And I saw his cheek one bright morning of calamity

In its majesty, and I said: lightning? or planet?

مَتَعَت كَما مَتَعَ الضُحى في حادِثٍ

داجٍ كَأَنَّ الصُبحَ فيهِ مَغرِبُ

It gave joy, as the dawn gives joy in thick darkness,

As though the dawn in it were sunset.

يَفديهِ قَومٌ أَحضَرَت أَعراضُهُم

سوءَ المَعايِبِ وَالنَوالُ مُغَيَّبُ

A folk ransom him whose honor

Evil aspersions have made to disappear and vanish.

مِن كُلِّ مُهراقِ الحَياءِ كَأَنَّما

غَطّى غَديرَي وَجنَتَيهِ الطُحلُبُ

As though every shred of decency

Were mantled by its lake and gardens with duckweed.

مُتَدَسِّمُ الثَوبَينِ يَنظُرُ زادَهُ

نَظَرٌ يُحَدِّقُهُ وَخَدٌّ صُلَّبُ

The double-clad starer with his eyes boring

And cheeks held tight, looks to his provision,

فَإِذا طَلَبتُ لَدَيهِمُ ما لَم أَنَل

أَدرَكتُ مِن جَدواهُ ما لا أَطلُبُ

So if I seek from them what I have not attained,

I gain from their absence what I do not seek.

ضَمَّ الفَتاءَ إِلى الفُتُوَّةِ بُردُهُ

وَسَقاهُ وَسمِيُّ الشَبابِ الصَيِّبُ

His cloak gathered up youth and chivalry,

The torrent fed him, and the shooting star gave him to drink,

وَصَفا كَما يَصفو الشِهابُ وَإِنَّهُ

في ذاكَ مِن صِبغِ الحَياءِ لَمُشرَبُ

Pure as the shooting stars are purified, truly in that,

In the dye of modesty he is steeped.

تَلقى السُعودَ بِوَجهِهِ وَتُحِبُّهُ

وَعَلَيكَ مَسحَةُ بِغضَةٍ فَتُحَبَّبُ

Good fortune meets his face and loves him,

While you are touched with smear of hatred and so made lovable.

إِنَّ الإِخاءَ وِلادَةٌ وَأَنا اِمرُؤٌ

مِمَّن أُواخي حَيثُ مِلتُ فَأُنجِبُ

Brotherhood's a nativity, and I'm a man who claims kinship

Wherever I'm congenial and so engender.

وَإِذا الرِجالُ تَساجَلوا في مَشهَدٍ

فَمُريحُ رَأيٍ مِنهُمُ أَو مُغرِبُ

And when men bandy together in an assembly,

He reconciles views or turns them aside.

أَحرَزتَ خَصلَيهِ إِلَيكَ وَأَقبَلَت

آراءُ قَومٍ خَلفَ رَأيِكَ تُجنَبُ

You seized both traits for yourself, while men’s counsel

Came round behind your view, turned away.

وَإِذا رَأَيتُكَ وَالكَلامُ لَآلِئٌ

تُؤمٌ فَبِكرٌ في النِظامِ وَثَيِّبُ

And when I see you, and words are pearls

Strung, virgin and ripe in arrangement and threading,

فَكَأَنَّ قُسّاً في عُكاظٍ يَخطُبُ

وَكَأَنَّ لَيلى الأَخيَلِيَّةَ تَندُبُ

You are like one making speeches in Okaz,

Or Layla the poetess, elegizing,

وَكَثيرَ عَزَّةَ يَومَ بَينٍ يَنسُبُ

وَاِبنَ المُقَفَّعِ في اليَتيمَةِ يُسهِبُ

Or boastful Kuthayyir on the day of Bu‘ath, reciting ancestry,

Or Ibn al-Muqaffac in al-Yatima waxing eloquent.

تَكسو الوَقارَ وَتَستَخِفُّ مُوَقَّراً

طَوراً وَتُبكي سامِعينَ وَتُطرِبُ

You clothe dignity and take on with ease the dignified,

Now overwhelming, making hearers weep and tremble.

قَد جاءَنا الرَشَأُ الَّذي أَهدَيتَهُ

خَرِقاً وَلَو شِئنا لَقُلنا المَركَبُ

What you patched and sent back to us came

A tatter—had we wished we might have said a ship!

لَدنُ البَنانِ لَهُ لِسانٌ أَعجَمٌ

خُرسٌ مَعانيهِ وَوَجهٌ مُعرِبُ

The juice of creation has a mute tongue,

Dumb meanings, but a face so eloquent.

يَرنو فَيَثلِمُ في القُلوبِ بِطَرفِهِ

وَيَعِنُّ لِلنَظَرِ الحَرونِ فَيُصحِبُ

It ogles and with a glance breaks open hearts,

Lingers for the amorous eye then accompanies.

قَد صَرَّفَ الرانونَ خَمرَةَ خَدِّهِ

وَأَظُنُّها بِالريقِ مِنهُ سَتُقطَبُ

The ogler turned the wine of his cheek to a circulator,

And I reckon because of the spittle in it, it will thicken.

حَمدٌ حُبيتَ بِهِ وَأَجرٌ حَلَّقَت

مِن دونِهِ عَنقاءُ لَيلٍ مُغرِبُ

Praise you were loved for, and reward that lifted

Over it the necks of a darkening eve.

خُذهُ وَإِن لَم يَرتَجِع مَعروفَهُ

مَحضٌ إِذا مُزِجَ الرِجالُ مُهَذَّبُ

Take it, though the favor be not returned,

Unadulterated, when men mix, refined.

وَاِنفَح لَنا مِن طيبِ خَيمِكَ نَفحَةً

إِن كانَتِ الأَخلاقُ مِمّا توهَبُ

Waft us a scent from the perfume of your tents

If character itself is something granted.