طَرَقَتْ ونحنُ بسُرَّةِ البَطْحاءِ

والليلُ يَنشُرُ وَفْرَةَ الظَّلماءِ

She came while we were in the plains of al-Baṭḥāʼ

And the night was spreading the darkness of gloom,

فرَأَتْ رَذايا أنْفُسٍ تُدْمي بِها

أيدي الخُطوبِ غَوارِبَ الأنْضاءِ

So she saw the mirrors of souls bloodied

By the hands of misfortunes, insistently importunate.

وإذا النّوى مَدّتْ إلينا باعَها

سُدّتْ بِهِنَّ مَطالِعُ البَيْداءِ

And when she offered us her baking,

The horizons of the white land were closed off by them.

أأُمَيمَ كيفَ طوَيتِ أروِقَةَ الدُجى

في كلِّ أغْبَرَ قاتِمِ الأرجاءِ

O soil of Umayma, how you folded up the porches of gloom

In every murky, pitch-black expanse!

هلا اتَّقَيتِ الشُّهْبَ حين تَخاوَصَتْ

فرَنَتْ إليكِ بأعيُنِ الرُّقَباءِ

If only you had feared the meteors when they bargained

And turned to you with the eyes of spies!

خُضْتِ الظَّلامَ ومِن جَبينِكِ يُجْتَلى

صُبْحٌ يَنِمُّ عليكِ بالأضواءِ

You penetrated the darkness, and your brow distilled

A dawn that nodded off upon you in lights.

فطَرَقْتِ مَطْويَّ الضلوعِ على جوًى

أغضَى الجُفونَ بهِ على الأقذاءِ

So you knocked on ribs that harbored agony

That the eyelids were unable to discern - no, they could not distinguish any illness.

مِن أرْيَحيَّاتٍ إذا هَبَّتْ بِها

ذِكرى الحَبيبِ نهَضْنَ بالأحشاءِ

With aromas, when they blew on her,

Of the memory of the beloved, our entrails were roused.

قَسَماً بثَغْرٍ في رُضابِكِ كارِعٍ

فكأنَّهُ حَبَبٌ على صَهْباءِ

By the cleft in your cheek, so brazen

It is as though it were a love-spot on swarthy skin!

وجُفونِكِ المَرضَى الصَّحيحةِ لا دَرَتْ

ما الدّاءُ بل لا أفْرَقَتْ مِن داءِ

And your sick, healthy eyelids never shed

Illness - no, they never shed any sickness.

لأُخالِفَنَّ هوى العَذولِ فَطالما

أفضى المَلامُ بهِ إِلى الإغراءِ

I will go against the passions of the celibate one -

For so long rancor has led to temptation through him.

وإذا القُلوبُ تَنَقَّلَتْ صَبَواتُها

في الغانِياتِ تنَقُّلَ الأفْياءِ

And when hearts moved about, their intoxications

Moved about in singing girls.

لمْ تَتِّبِعْ عَيني سِواكِ ولا ثَنى

عَنْكِ الفُؤادَ تَقَسُّمُ الأهواءِ

My eyes pursued no one but you, and my heart

Did not divert from you however passions divided.

وأقلُّ ما جَنَتِ الصّبابَةُ وَقْفَةٌ

مَلَكَتْ قِيادَ الدَّمعِ بالخَلْصاءِ

And the least that the foolhardiness of youth paused for

Was a halt that seized the reins of tears through sincerity.

وبَدا لنا طَلَلٌ لرَبْعِكِ خاشِعٌ

تَزدادُ بَهجَتُهُ على الإقواءِ

The vestiges of your encampment appeared to us, humbled,

Its splendor increasing through desolation.

وأَبِي الدِّيارِ لقد مشى فيها البِلى

وعَفَتْ معالِمُها سِوى أشْلاءِ

The abodes of my father - decay has walked in them

And their landmarks have crumbled away except for ruins.

يَبكي الغَمامُ بها ويَبْسِمُ رَوضُها

لا زِلْنَ بينَ تَبَسُّمٍ وبُكاءِ

The clouds weep over them while its meadows smile -

Ever wavering between smiling and crying.

وقَفَتْ مَطايانا بِها فعَرَفْنَها

وكَفَفْنَ غَرْبَيْ مَيْعَةٍ ونَجاءِ

Our she-camels stopped at them, so we recognized them,

And we stayed our yearning for the land of Mecca and Mashʻar.

وهزَزْنَ مِن أعطافِهنَّ كأنَّما

مُلِئَتْ مَسامِعُهُنَّ رَجْعَ غِناءِ

We shook from their sides as if their ears

Were filled with the echo of singing.

ونَزَلْتُ أفتَرشُ الثَّرى مُتَلوِّياً

فيهِ تلوِّيَ حيَّةٍ رَقْشاءِ

So I descended and lay down on the earth, writhing

In it with the writhing of a smooth serpent.

وبنَفْحَةِ الأرَجِ الذي أودَعْتِهِ

عَبقَتْ حَواشي رَيْطَتي وردائي

With the scent of basil that you placed in it,

The hems of my cloak and gown were perfumed.

وكأنني بِذَرا الإمامِ مُقَبِّلٌ

مِن سُدَّتَيْهِ مُعَرَّسَ العَلياءِ

It was as though I was kissing the sanctuary of the Imam

From its elevated threshold, exalted.

حيثُ الجِباهُ البِيضُ تَلْثِمُ تُرْبَهُ

وتَحُلُّ هَيبَتُهُ حُبا العُظَماءِ

Where the white foreheads touch its soil humbly

And its awe inspires love in the great.

وخُطا المُلوكِ الصِّيدِ تَقْصُرُ عِندَهُ

وتَطولُ فيهِ ألْسُنُ الشُّعَراءِ

Compared to it, the hunts of royal kings are too short,

Yet the tongues of poets go on about it.

مَلِكٌ نَمَتْ في الأنبياءِ فروعُهُ

وزَكَتْ بهِ الأعْراقُ في الخُلَفاءِ

A king whose branches grew in the prophets

And whose lineage was purified through the caliphs.

بلغَ المَدى والسِّنُّ في غُلَوائِها

خَضِلَ الصِّبا مُتكَهِّلَ الآراءِ

He reached the ultimate point while his venerable age

Matured despite the blindness of opinions.

فغَدا الرَّعيَّةُ لائِذينَ بظِلِّهِ

يَرْجُونَ غَيْثَ حَياً ولَيْثَ حَياءِ

So the flock took refuge in his shade,

Hoping for life-giving rain and awe-inspiring lion.

ومَرابِضُ الآسادِ في أيَّامِهِ

بالعَدْلِ مثْلُ مَجاثِمِ الأطْلاءِ

And the lairs of lions in his days

Were like the resting-places of foxes through justice.

مَلأَ البِلادَ كَتائِباً لَمْ يَرضَعوا

إلا لِبانَ العِزَّةِ القَعْساءِ

He filled the land with brigades who had suckled

Only the milk of mighty, unyielding glory.

يتَسَرَّعونَ إِلى الوَغى بِصَوارِمٍ

خَلَطَتْ بنَشْرِ المِسكِ ريحَ دِماءِ

They hasten into the fray with swords

Whose unsheathing mingled the fragrance of musk with the smell of blood.

لم تَهجُرِ الأغمادَ إلاّ رَيْثَما

تَعرى لِتُغْمَدَ في طُلَى الأعداءِ

Their scabbards were not emptied except wherever

A target was bared to be sheathed in the flesh of foes.

مِن كُلِّ مَشْبوحِ الأشاجِعِ ساحِبٍ

في الرَّوعِ ذَيْلَ النَّثْرةِ الحَصْداءِ

From every long-necked lion, drawing

The train of its tawny mane in nobility.

يَنسابُ في الأدْراعِ عامِلُ رُمْحِهِ

كالأَيْمِ يَسبَحُ في غَديرِ الماءِ

The effect of his spear flows in veins

Like a serpent swimming in the expanse of water.

أخذَ الحُقوقَ بِهِمْ وأعطاها مَعاً

والحَزْمُ بَينَ الأخْذِ والإعطاءِ

He took rights through them and gave them together,

While rationality lies between taking and giving.

يا بْنَ الشّفيعِ إِلى الحَيا وقدِ اكْتَسَتْ

شَمَطاً فُروعُ الروضَةِ الغنَّاءِ

O son of the Intercessor to Life, the branches

Of the singing garden have been clothed in rags.

فَدنا الغَمَامُ وكاد يَمْري المُجْتَدِي

بِيَدَيْهِ خِلْفَ المُزْنَةِ الوَطْفاءِ

So the clouds approached and the downpour almost

Flowed through its hands behind the pouring rain.

لَولاهُ لَم تَشِمِ الرِّياضُ بأعْيُنٍ

مِن زَهرِهِنَّ مَخايِلَ الأنْواءِ

If it were not for him, the gardens would not smell

With their blossoms the idea of blessings.

خُلِقَتْ طِلاعَ القَلْبِ هَيْبَتُكَ التي

خَلفَتْ غِرارَ السَّيفَ في الهَيجاءِ

Your awe which left the rage of the sword

In the skulls was created to overawe hearts.

ونَضا وَزيرُكَ دونَ مُلْكِكَ عَزْمَةً

تَكْفيهِ نَهْضَةَ فَيلَقٍ شَهباءِ

And Naḍā, your vizier, in his resolution, is enough

To undertake the rising of a flame-like lion.

وتَرُدُّ مَن قَلِقَتْ بهِ أضْغانُهُ

حَيَّ المَخافَةِ مَيِّتَ الأعضاءِ

He repels whoever troubles him with their hatred,

Deadened of limbs from fear of death.

وتُصيبُ شاكِلَةَ الرَّمِيِّ إذا بَدَتْ

رِيَبٌ تُهيبُ بِمُقْلَةٍ شَوْساءِ

And he hits the mark of archery if any

Suspicion appears, fearful with terror.

فكأنَّ أسرارَ القُلوبِ تُظِلُّهُ

بغُيوبِهنَّ جَوائِبُ الأنباءِ

It is as though the secrets of hearts shade him

With their concealments, messages of news.

يَسعى ويَدْأبُ في رِضاكَ وإنْ غَلَتْ

مُهَجُ النفوسِ عَلَيهِ بالشَّحْناءِ

He strives and labors hard for your satisfaction even if

The souls boil against him with enmity.

وإذا الزَّمانُ أتى بخَطْبٍ مُعْضِلٍ

ولِيَ افتِراعَ الخُطَّةِ العَذْراءِ

And if time brings a perplexing disaster,

He undertakes consuming the brilliant scheme.

وإصابَةُ الخُلَفاءِ فيما حاوَلوا

مَقْرونَةٌ بِكِفايَةِ الوُزَراءِ

And the inspiration of the caliphs in what they attempt

Is coupled with the competence of viziers.

لا زِلْتُما مُتَوَشِّحَيْنِ بِدَوْلَةٍ

مُرْخًى ذَوائِبها عَلى النَّعماءِ

You two are still draped in a glory

Whose ends are trailing upon favors.