إِن كُنتَ تَصدُقُ في اِدِّعاء وِدادِهِ
فافكِكهُ مِن أَسرِ الهَوى أَو فادِهِ
If you truly claim to love him
Then free him from the shackles of passion, or help him
لا تَمحِ بِالهُجران نور وَصالَه
فَصَميم حبّك في صَميم فُؤادِهِ
Do not erase the light of your union with estrangement
For the heart of your love is in the core of his heart
أَأَمَتَّهُ بِالهجرِ قَبلَ مَماتِهِ
فاعِده في الأَسعافِ قَبلَ مَعادِهِ
Will you bid him farewell with estrangement before his death?
Return him to recovery before his passing
رِفقاً بِهِ فَهوَ الجموح إِذا أَبى
شَيئاً فَلا يغررك لين قِيادِهِ
Be gentle with him, for he is restless when he refuses something
Do not be fooled by the softness of his lead
زَوِّدهُ مِن نظرٍ فأقنَع من تَرى
مَن كانَ لحظ العين أَكبَر زادِهِ
Satisfy him with some glance, for whoever’s greatest provision was the glance of the eye
You are not with him in times of ease or hardship to visit him
لا أَنتَ عِندَ اليُسرِ مِن زُوّارِهِ
يَوماً وَلا في العُسرِ مِن عُوّادِهِ
Have you seen a sword as sharp as your glance
That severs the necks of people while still in its sheath?
أَرَأَيت سَيفاً غَيرَ لَحظِكَ صارِماً
يَفري رِقاب القَومِ في أَغمادِهِ
The glances have finished them off, and whenever
Your glance takes them, it increases their misery
أَمضى اللحاظ أَكلهُنَّ وَكُلَّما
أَكللت لحظك زدت في إِحدادِهِ
Passion is the opposite of reason, because
It has struck its roots in its essence
إِنَّ الهَوى ضِدَ العقول لأَنَّهُ
ضربت جآذِرَهُ عَلى آسادِهِ
And its book has revealed to me a prophecy
That was a sequence to its sequences
وَآفى إِليَّ كِتابه عَن نُبوَةٍ
كانَت بِعاداً مردفاً لِبعادِهِ
I ransom the book with my eyes, with its whiteness
With its whiteness and blackness, with its blackness
أَفدي الكِتابَ بِناظِري فَبَياضِهِ
بِبَياضِهِ وَسَوادِهِ بِسَوادِهِ
Oh you who blame the ardent lover, leave him to his love
If you cannot make him happy
يا عاذِلَ المُشتاقِ دَعهُ بَغيّهِ
إِن أَنتَ لَم تقدر عَلى إِسعادِهِ
They saw you lose passion, while in his heart
Is a thirst for the freshness of contentment
أَرواكَ فقدان الهَوى وَبِقَلبِهِ
ضَمأ إِلى عذب الرِضابِ بَرادِهِ
And I think the eye of Saad has turned for him
The "haa" so all his miseries are with his happiness
وَأَظُن عين سعاد قَد قلبت لَهُ
هاء فَكُل سهادِهِ بِسعادِهِ
He hides a sickness of love for her like
The fire's kindling hides the firebrand's wood
يَخفي ضِراماً من هَواها مِثلَما
يَخفي ضرام النار عود زِنادِهِ
So the eyelids bid farewell on the day of parting
With their languor and rest
فَتُهاجِرُ الأَجفان آخِر عَهدِهِ
يَوم الفِراق بِظَعنهم وَرِقادِهِ
The turns of fate try to reconcile one day
And the long length of fate tries to ruin
تَسعى صروف الدَهر في إِصلاحِهِ
يَوماً وَطول الدَهر في إِفسادِهِ
The gaze forever portrays the likes of him
In forms, and in deeds from contradictions
أَبَداً يَجيل الطَرف في أَمثالِهِ
صُوراً وَفي الأَفعال مِن أَضدادِهِ
And if fate abandons you, and it is the father of mankind
Rebel not against its children
وَإِذا جَفاكَ الدَهر وَهوَ أَبو الوَرى
طراً فَلا تَعتَب عَلى أَولادِهِ
So I will march with the cavalry of its horses
Of leanness and ruggedness like its plateau
فَلأَنهَضَنَّ بِجَحفَل فُرسانِهِ
مِن سمرة وَنَحافَة كَصعادِهِ
And I will finish off fate without neglect
All the grudges it had against me in the past
وَلأَقضينَّ الدَهرَ غيرُ مُقَصِّرٍ
ما كانَ أَسلَفَنيه مِن أَحقادِهِ
But how can you pass me by when I am a man
Who frequents them naked from their roads?
بَل كَيفَ تخطيني العلى وَأَنا امرؤ
أَرتادُ عاريهن مِن مِرتادِهِ
Oh friend, fate has promised prosperity
Yet here I am, away from its promise
يا صاح إِنَّ الدَهرَ قَدَّم بِالغِنى
وَعداً فَها أنذاكَ مِن ميعادِهِ
This is Tripoli, and without prosperity
Is only your call for Hussein, so call him
هَذي طَرابلس وَما دونَ الغِنى
إِلّا نِداؤُكَ بِالحُسَينِ فَنادِهِ
Intercede, Ibn Haydara, for your second self in
This time, and he was unique among its equals
شفع ابن حيدرة عَلى ثانيه في
هَذا الزَمان وَكانَ مِن أَفرادِهِ
By my father Muhammad, who gives refuge to the sublime
Between his upright sword and its sheath
بِأَبي مُحَمَدٍ الَّذي يأوي العُلى
ما بَينَ قائِم سَيفِهِ وَنَجادِهِ
By the well-mannered, whose difficult forefathers
Were gentle towards him, pliant and tamed
بِمُهَذَّبٍ صَعب الآباء حرونه
في حَقِّهِ سلس النَدى منقادِهِ
Wearing the garb of leadership, exemplifying
With his splendor, loyalty, and integrity
متجلِلاً ثَوب الرِئاسَة معلماً
بِبَهائِهِ وَوَفائِهِ وَسَدادِهِ
Greet him whose life was profitable
So when you are tired of life, bid it farewell
سالَمَهُ ما كانَت حَياتك مغنماً
فَإِذا مللت مِنَ الحَياة فَعادِهِ
He earned supremacy through his grandfather and his grandfather
So he excelled between its conclusion and his ancestors
حازَ العَلاءَ بِجَدِّهِ وَبِجِدِّهِ
فاختال بَينَ طَريفِهِ وَتِلادِهِ
He did not make his forefathers dependent, nor
Did his forefathers depend on their ancestors
لَم يَجعَل الآباء مُتَّكلاً وَلا
آباؤُهُ اتَّكَلوا عَلى أَجدادِهِ
He ripped open the house of generosity like the poem
And the requester is like his creeping and reliance
خرق يعد الجودَ بيت قَصيدَة
وَالمطل مِثلَ زِحافِهِ وَسِنادِهِ
Bestowal is pleasing in its repetition
For bestowal is savory in its recurrence
يَثني النَوال إِذا أَتاهُ بِمِثلِهِ
إِنَّ النَوال يَلذ في تِردادِهِ
Chivalry is nothing but an essence I collected
In a necklace, with meaning not found in its individuals
ما العُرفُ إِلّا جَوهَرٌ فجمعته
في العقد مَعنىً لَيسَ في أَفرادِهِ
I did not think horses harmonize perfectly
Until they appeared above the back of a steed
ما إِن حسبت الخيل تألف ضَيغماً
حَتّى تبدى فَوقَ ظَهرِ جَوادِهِ
The armored one dresses in his blood
So after cleaning he returns to the color of his mourning
يَكسو المُدَجَّجُ مجسداً بِدمائِهِ
فَيَعودَ بَعدَ النقع لون حِدادِهِ
And the white beneath the dust is as if it were
Embers shining through its ashes
وَالبيض مِن تَحتِ الغُبارِ كَأَنَّها
جَمرٌ تَأَلَّق في خِلالِ رَمادِهِ
And glory beneath the sword's sheaths allows
Whoever's blow of the sword is like his blow
وَالمَجدِ تَحتَ ظَبي السُيوف يَجوزه
مَن كانَ وقع جِلادِهِ كَجِلادِهِ
How many armies you left in it deposits
Of arrows in the bodies
كَم جَحفَل غادَرَت فيهِ وَدائِعاً
قَضباً مِن الخَطيِّ في أَجسادِهِ
Your spearheads have thanked its downpour
While the flowers were in its procession
صدرت صدور قناك تَشكُر رِيّها
مِنهُ وَكانَ الوَرد في إِيرادِهِ
As for the Imam, he thanked you for blessings
That spread over all his servants and lands
أَمّا الإِمام فَشاكِر لَكَ أَنعُماً
عَمَّت جَميعَ عِبادِهِ وَبِلادِهِ
You illuminated what closed hands covered
And tore what spinning hands wove
وَأَنَرتَ ما سدت أَكفَّ جِيادِهِ
وَهتكت ما نسجَت يَدا زِرادِهِ
How much you embroidered the enemy's land with blood
When your horse embroidered towards them with its forelock
كَم طرزت أَرض العَدوِّ دَماً إِذا
طرزَت طرسك نَحوَهُم بِمدادِهِ
The pages wavered from its spears
And the firm opinions from its armies
خَفَّقَت بِالأَقلامِ عَن أَرماحِهِ
وَبمحكم الآراءِ عَن أَجنادِهِ
Oh you who surpasses others with your deeds
With your merits, might, and hands
يا ذا الَّذي يُعدي اليَراعَ بِفعلِهِ
وَبِفَضلِهِ وَبِبأسِهِ وَبآدِهِ
The stingy one lied to fate while you are from
The usefulness of its fingers and carpels
كذب المَبخَل لِلزَّمانِ وَأَنتَ مِن
جَدوى أَنامِلُهُ وَمِن أَرفادِهِ
It sought you as peerless and wanted for you in the world
A likeness but could not manage to find it
أَبداك فَرداً وابتَغى لَكَ في الوَرى
مَثلاً فَلَم يَقدِر عَلى إِيجادِهِ
When you surpassed people, you overflowed upon them
And the mountain pours its water to its valleys
لَمّا علوت الناس جدت عَلَيهم
وَالطود يَقذِف ماءه لوهادِهِ
You seek to safeguard what you contained in secrecy and its survival through its depletion
You hide your munificence yet it is not hidden, and munificence
تَبغي صِيانة ما حويت بِبَذلِهِ
في خُفيَةٍ وَبَقاؤُهُ بِنَفادِهِ
Is like musk, its scent announces its increase
Greetings from one of good conduct, and may He who gave you life protect you
تَخفي نَداكَ وَلَيسَ يَخفى وَالنَدى
كَالمِسكِ يَهتِفُ ريحُهُ بِزِيادِهِ
And took care of you and your people's affairs
حَيّاك مِن ذي سؤدد وَرَعاكَ مَن
أَحياكَ وَاستَرعاكَ أَمر عِبادِهِ
