رَنا وناظِرُهُ بالسِّحْرِ مُكتَحِلُ
أغَنُّ يُمْتارُ مِن ألحاظِهِ الغَزَلُ
A glance from my beloved, lined with magic,
Is richer than the most eloquent words of love.
فرُحْتُ أدنو بقَلْبٍ هاجَهُ شَجَنٌ
وراحَ ينأى بخَدٍّ زانَهُ خَجَلُ
I was gladdened to approach with a heart aflame with yearning,
While he, shy, turned away a cheek adorned with modesty.
يَمشي كما لاعَبَتْ ريحُ الصَّبا غُصُناً
ظلّتْ تَجورُ بهِ طَوراً وتعتَدِلُ
He walks as though a spring breeze were toying with a bough,
Swaying it now this way, now that.
ذو وَجْنَةٍ إنْ جَنَتْ عَينُ الرّقيبِ بها
وَرْدَ الحَياءِ كَساها وَرْسَهُ الوَجَلُ
He whose eyes are shaded as though with kohl
Wears the flush of shyness like a garment wrapped about him.
كالشّمسِ إنْ غابَ عنا فهْيَ طالِعَةٌ
وإنْ أطَلَّ عَلَينا غالَها الطَّفَلُ
He is like the sun - though he's hidden he still shines,
And when he appears he dazzles like a child at play.
نخْشى عُيونَ العِدا يَعتادُها شَوَسٌ
تَكادُ مِنْ وَقَداتِ الحِقْدِ تَشتَعِلُ
We fear the eyes of enemies grow used to him,
Almost set ablaze by the fiery coals of hatred.
إذا انتَضَلْنا أحاديثَ الهَوى عَلِقَتْ
بنَظرَةٍ تَلِدُ البَغْضاءَ تَنتَضِلُ
When we exchange whispers of passion, some glance
Lights the spark of enmity that smolders inside.
واهاً لعَصْرٍ يُعَنّينا تَذَكُّرُهُ
مَضى وفي الخَطوِ من أيّامِهِ عَجَلُ
Alas for an age that saddens us when recalled -
It is gone, while of its days Misfortune hurried ahead.
بمَنزِلٍ حَلَّ فيه الغَيْثُ حُبْوَتَهُ
حتى استَهَلَّ عليهِ عارِضٌ هَطِلُ
At a camp where the rain poured down its store,
Till a passing cloud emptied itself completely.
أهدَى لنا صِحّةً تَقوى النُّفوسُ بِها
نَسيمُهُ وأثارَتْ ضَعْفَهُ العِلَلُ
It brought health to revive our souls,
Though its breeze revealed our weakness, and sickness laid us low.
ومَوقِفٍ ضَجَّ جِيدُ الرّيمِ من غَيَدٍ
فيهِ وأزْرى بألْحاظِ المَها كَحَلُ
A place where the ostrich egg cracked because of the ostriches' neighing,
Their eyes rimmed with the kohl of compacted dust.
زُرنا بهِ رَشأً يَرتادُ غِرّتَهُ
ذو لِبْدَةٍ بنِجادِ السيفِ مُشْتَمِلُ
We visited it as high-blooded steeds in their prime
Wore coats of mail and bore Indian swords.
يُديرُ كأسَينِ منْ لَحْظٍ ومُبْتَسَمٍ
يُغْنيهِما عَنْ حَبابٍ ثَغْرُهُ الرَّتَلُ
They swung their goblets of glance and smile,
Needing no wine - their mouths were springs of sweetness.
ويَنثَني مِشْيَةَ النّشوانِ مِن تَرَفٍ
كأنّما قَدُّهُ منْ طَرفِهِ ثَمِلُ
The gait of the swaying ostrich is slowed by luxury,
As if its leg were bent beneath the folds of its garment.
أزْمانَ رَقَّتْ حَواشي الدّهْرِ في دُوَلٍ
لا يَشْرَإِبُّ إلَيها حادِثٌ جَلَلُ
Ages have passed whose outskirts Fortuna revolved,
Not daring to approach their sublime majesty.
كأنّها بندىً المُسْتَظْهِرِ ارْتَجَعَتْ
رَوْقَ الشّبيبَةِ حتى ماؤُها خَضِلُ
It was like the dew of adolescence regained
Its freshness, till its water ran pure.
عَصْرٌ كَوَرْدِ الخُدودِ البيضِ قد غَرَسَتْ
يَدُ الحَياءِ بهِ ما تَجْتَني القُبَلُ
An age like a white-cheeked rose transplanted -
The hand of Modesty has snatched away what lips would cull.
وعِزَّةٌ دونَ أدْناها مُمَنَّعَةٌ
ممّا يُناجي عَلَيهِ الفَرْقَدَ الوَعِلُ
And a glory of forbidding height,
Safe from the whispering of the slanderous and base.
فالعَدْلُ مُنتَشِرٌ والعَزْمُ مُجْتَمِعٌ
والعُمْرُ مُقْتَبَلٌ والرأيُ مُكْتَهِلُ
Justice flourishes, resolve is unified,
Life looks ahead, reason is mature.
ساسَ البَرِيّةَ قَرْمٌ ماجِدٌ نَدِسٌ
غَمْرُ البَديهَةِ نَدْبٌ حازِمٌ بَطَلُ
It set upright the pillars of its realm an illustrious,
Vigilant lion, a bold hero.
برَأفَةٍ ما تخَطّى نَحْوَها عُنُفٌ
ومِنْحَةٍ لمْ يُكَدِّرْ صَفْوَها بَخَلُ
With a tenderness untouched by violence,
A generosity untainted by meanness.
لو كانَ في السَّلَفِ الماضِينَ إذ طَفِقَتْ
نَعْلُ اليَمانين يُرْخي شِسْعَها الزَّلَلُ
If only the ancestors of old when the sandals
Of the Yemenis began to slip because of Time
لقَدَّمَتْهُ قُرَيشٌ ثمّ ما ولَغَتْ
للبَغْي في دَمِها صِفّينُ والجَمَلُ
Had brought him forward - Quraysh would have presented him,
Then civil strife would not have soaked their blood.
يَتلو الأئِمّةَ من آبائِهِ وبهِمْ
في كُلِّ ما أثّلوهُ يُضْرَبُ المَثَلُ
He follows the Imams of his fathers, and in
All their perfections he sets a noble example.
شُوسُ الحَواجِبِ في الهَيْجاءِ إذْ لَقِحَتْ
بيضُ المَسافِرِ وهّابونَ ما سُئِلوا
When the eyebrows were roused to earnestness
Their glance was lightning, and they withheld nothing asked.
لَهُمْ منَ البَيتِ ما طافَ الحَجيجُ بهِ
والسهْلُ من سُرّةِ البَطْحاءِ والجَبَلُ
Theirs is the House the pilgrims circle,
The plain round Batha, and the mountain paths.
إذا انتَضَى السّيفَ وارَى الأرْضَ بَحْرُ دَمٍ
تُضْحي فَواقِعَهُ الهَاماتُ والقُلَلُ
When the swords flash baring the earth, blood
Stains hillocks and hills where the blades have touched.
شَزْرُ المَريرَةِ سَبّاقٌ إِلى أمَدٍ
يَزْوَرُّ عنْ شَأوِهِ الهَيّابَةُ الوَكَلُ
The bitter herb is quick to attack without pause,
While the cowardly hyena snarls but dares not approach.
يَروضُ أفكارَهُ والحَزْمُ يُسهِرُهُ
وللإصابَةِ في أعقابِها زَجَلُ
He trains his thoughts, and reason keeps vigil,
And consequence dogs every one of his steps.
حتى يَرى لَيلَهُ بالصُّبْحِ مُلتَثِماً
وقد قَضى بالكَرى للعاجزِ الفَشَلُ
Until he sees his night bound in the morn,
And the helpless routed by his mighty decree.
يا خَيرَ مَن خَضَبَتْ أخْفافَها بدَمٍ
حتّى أُنيخَتْ إِلى أبوابِهِ الإبِلُ
O best of those whose feet were dyed with blood,
Till the camels came to rest before his gates.
بِها صَدىً وحِياضُ الجودِ مُترَعَةٌ
للوارِدينَ عَلَيها العَلُّ والنَّهَلُ
In him the cisterns of bounty brim over
For all who come - the highborn and the low.
هُنّيتَ بالقادِمِ المَيْمونِ طائِرُهُ
نَعْماءُ يَختال في أفيائِها الدُّوَلُ
Good fortune sang when he came into the world
A Hashimite, Caliph of God and heir of the Messengers.
لو تَستَطيعُ لَوَتْ شَوقاً أخادِعَها
إليكَ ثمّ إليه الأعْصُرُ الأُوَلُ
A brilliant youth for whom dawn breaks,
Prosperity smiles as his star rises.
أهلاً بمُنْتَجَبٍ سُرَّتْ بمَوْلِدِهِ
منْ هاشِمٍ خُلْفاءُ اللهِ والرُّسُلُ
The caliphate bends its sleeves to serve him,
He will always embellish its bending arms.
أغَرُّ مُستَظْهِرِيٌّ يُستَضاءُ بهِ
تَبَلَّجَ السّعْدُ عنهُ وهو مُقْتَبَلُ
The horses curvet with joy in their rider,
The swords smile in their sheaths.
تَثْني الخِلافَةُ عِطْفَيها بهِ جَذَلاً
لا زالَ يَسْتَنُّ في أعطافِها الجَذَلُ
This new moon will be revealed a full moon,
Drawing to him the reins of obedience.
والخيلُ تَمْرَحُ منْ عُجْبٍ بِفارِسِها
والبيضُ تَبْسِمُ في الأغْمادِ والأسَلُ
A scion grafted on the Abbasid line,
His roots joined to God's Messenger.
هذا الهِلالُ سَتَجلوهُ العُلا قَمَراً
تُلقي إليهِ عِنانَ الطّاعةِ المُقَلُ
Your Lord has granted you in children what
Their ancestors attained, fulfilling hopes.
فَرْعٌ تأثّلَ بالعبّاسِ مَغْرِسُهُ
وأصلُهُ برَسولِ اللهِ مُتّصلُ
أعطاكَ ربُّكَ في الأولادِ ما بَلَغَتْ
أجدادُهُمْ فيكَ حتى حُقِّقَ الأمَلُ
