أذْكى بقَلبي لوعَةً إذ أوْمَضا

بَرْقٌ أضاءَ وميضُهُ ذاتَ الأضا

My heart was inflamed with yearning when lightning

Flashed, illuminating the one with shining cheeks

فَبدا وقد نَشَرَ الصّباحُ رِداءَهُ

كالأيْمِ ماجَ بهِ الغَديرُ فنَضْنَضا

Then dawn appeared spreading its cloak

Like a deluge swirling in the pond

إنْ لمْ يُصرِّحْ بابْتِسامِكِ جَهْرَةً

فلقَدْ وحُبّكِ يا لُبيْنى عرّضا

If your smile does not explicitly show

Then your love, my gazelle, has surely hinted

ونَظَرْتُ إذْ غَفَلَ الرّقيبُ فراعَني

نَعَمٌ لأهْلِكِ هامَ في وادي الغَضَى

And I looked when the guard was unaware so it startled me

Good tidings to your people roaming in the valley of separation

وسَعَتْ لهُ خُطَطُ العدوِّ بغِلْمَةٍ

شوسٍ إذا ابْتَدَروا الوَغى ضاق الفَضا

The schemes of the enemy expanded treacherously

When the valiant pounced, space was confined

حيثُ الغَمامُ تبجّسَتْ أطْباؤُهُ

وكَسى الحِمى حُلَلَ الرّبيعِ فروّضا

Where clouds grumbled, their edges gloomy

And the sanctuary donned the garb of spring, embellished

ومتَيَّمٍ شَرقَ اللِّحاظُ بدَمْعِهِ

فإذا اسْتَرابَ بهِ العواذِلُ غَيّضا

And a weeping lover's tent shone eastward

If the maidens doubted him, he would cease

هجَرَ الكَرى قَلِقَ الجُفونِ بهِ فلَو

عثَرَ الخَيالُ بطَرْفِهِ ما غمّضا

He abandoned the encampments, restless of eyelids, so if

Imagination stumbled in its gaze, it would not blink

ونَصا الشّبابَ وعنْ ضَميرٍ عاتِبٍ

أعْطى المَشيبَ قِيادَهُ لا عنْ رِضى

He counseled youth and against a blaming conscience

He gave leadership to old age, not by choice

إن ساءَهُ بنُزولِهِ فهوَ الذي

ساءَ الأنامَ مُخَيِّماً ومُغَرِّضا

If its descent aggrieved him, it is he who had

Aggrieved people by lingering and plotting

وشَكا غُرابَ البَيْنِ أسْودَ حالِكاً

حتى شَدا بنَوى الأحبّةِ أبْيَضا

He complained of the crow of separation, grim of state

Until it deafened the ears of loved ones, whitened

وتعثّرَتْ نُوَبُ الزّمانِ بماجِدٍ

إنْ لمْ يُقاتِلْ في النّوائِبِ حرّضا

The turns of fate stumbled due to Magid

If he did not fight during tribulations, incited

وإذا تنكّرَ مَورِدٌ لمَطيّهِ

لمْ يَشْتَشِفَّ بحافَتَيْهِ العَرْمَضا

And if a watering place was unfamiliar to his steed

It would not scoop its edges with yearning

وانْصاعَ كالوَحْشيِّ سابَقَ ظِلَّهُ

وتقَعْقَعَتْ عَمَدُ الخِيامِ فقوّضا

It would bolt like a wild beast, its shadow outpacing

The poles of the tents shaken and uprooted

لا أسْتَنيمُ إِلى الهَوانِ ولا يُرى

أمْري إِلى الوَكَلِ الجَبانِ مُفوّضا

I do not incline toward disgrace, nor is my affair

Entrusted to the spineless trustee

وأرُدُّ طارِقَةَ اللّيالي إنْ عَرَتْ

بعزائِمي وهيَ الصوارِمُ تُنْتَضى

I repel the permutations of nights if they

Cross my resolves which are cutting swords

وأغرَّ إنْ بسَطَ الَرَجّي نحوَهُ

كِلْتا يَدَيهِ لنائِلٍ لمْ تُقْبَضا

And I stir him if he extends his hopes toward it

With both his hands like one whose grasp was not withheld

ولهُ أمائِرُ سؤْدَدٍ أَيِسَ العِدا

منهُ وأمْرَضَ حاسِدِيهِ وأرْمَضا

He has commands of Sodad which the enemy

Despaired of him and sickened his enviers

وجْهٌ يَجولُ البِشْرُ في صَفَحاتِهِ

ويَدٌ تَنوبُ عنِ الحَيا إنْ برّضا

A face around which humanity circulates in its horizons

And a hand that would suffice for a tribe, if it brandished

ألْقَتْ أزِمَّتَها إليهِ هِمّةٌ

كانتْ على خُدَعِ الأماني رَيِّضا

A resolve which had tethered its reins to him

Formerly roaming the deceits of wishes

وشَكَرْتُهُ شُكْرَ المَهيضِ جَناحُهُ

نَبَتَتْ قَوادِمُ هزَّهُنَّ ليَنْهَضا

I thanked him, my winged one whose flight

Sprouted, its pinions fluttered up to take off

يا مُنْعِماً بالي ولمْ يَكُ كاسِفاً

ومُؤَثِّلاً مالي ولمْ أكُ مُنْفِضا

O bestower of my wellbeing who was not spiteful

And pilferer of my wealth, though I was not destitute

أسْرَفْتَ في الدّنيا عليّ أواهِباً

ألْبَسْتَني حُللَ الغِنى أمْ مُقْرِضا

You have been excessive toward me in granting this world

Clothing me in the garb of wealth, or am I mistaken?