لكَ الخَيرُ هلْ في لَفْتةٍ منْ مُتيَّمِ

مَجالٌ لعَتْبٍ أو مَقالٌ لِلُوَّمِ

You are all virtue. Is there in a glance from Mutayyam

Any room for reproach or words for blame?

وما نظَري شَطْرَ الدِّيارِ بنافِعٍ

وأيُّ فَصيحٍ يَرتَجي نَفْعَ أعجَمِ

My regard does not see in the abode usefulness

And what eloquent hopes to benefit the non-Arabs?

كأنّ ارْتِجازَ السُّحْبِ واهيَةَ الكُلى

جَلا في حواشيهِنَّ عنْ متْنِ أرْقَمِ

As if the gathering of clouds and the weakness of kidneys

Strayed in their margins from the text of firm decrees,

وما مَنَحَتْها العَيْنُ إذ عَثَرَتْ بِها

سوى نَظْرَةٍ رَوعاءَ منْ مُتَوَهِّمِ

And the eye granted it, when it stumbled upon it,

Nothing but a fearful glance from an imaginative one.

وفي الرَّكْبِ إذ مِلْنا إِلى الرّبْعِ زاجِرٌ

يُقوِّمُ أعناقَ المَطِيِّ المُخَزَّمِ

And when we inclined to the open country, a deterrent

Who straightens the necks of the racing steed.

ويعلمُ أن الشوقَ أهدى فما لَهُ

يُشيرُ بأطرافِ القَطيعِ المُحَرَّمِ

And he knows that passion misguided me, so why

Does he gesture with the edges of the forbidden herd?

وهَلْ يَستَفيقُ الوَجْدُ إلا بِوَقْفَةٍ

مَتى يَستَجِرْ فيها بدَمْعِكَ يَسْجُمِ

And will fervor awaken except with a stance

In which it takes refuge in your pouring tear?

بمَغْنىً أَلِفْناهُ وفي العَيشِ غِرَّةٌ

وعَصْرُ الشّبابِ الغَضِّ لمْ يتَصرَّمِ

With a melody we were accustomed to, and in life mischievousness,

And the prime of green youth did not decay.

ذَكَرْتُ بهِ أيَّامَ وصْلٍ كأنَّنِي

عَلِقْتُ بها ذَيلَ الخَيالِ المُسَلِّمِ

I remembered days of union as if

I attached the tail of imagination that surrenders.

وبالهَضَباتِ الحُمْرِ منْ أيْمَنِ الحِمى

ظِباءٌ بألْحاظِ الجَآذِرِ تَرتَمي

And with the red slopes of the protected area

Gazelles leap with the looks of a watcher.

وتُومي إلَينا بالبَنانِ وقد أبَتْ

مَحاجِرُها أنْ لا يُخَضَّبَ بالدَّمِ

And they wink at us with eyelids, and they refused

That their eyelids be dyed with blood.

ودُونيَ لولا أنّ للحُبِّ رَوْعَةً

يَدٌ ضَمِنَتْ رِيَّ الحُسامِ المُصَمِّمِ

And if not for the fact that for love there is awe

A hand that guaranteed the flow of the resolute sword -

إذا اسْتَمْطَرَ العافونَ منْ نَفَحاتِها

تَثَنَّتْ إلَيْهنَّ الغَمائِمُ تَنْتَمي

When the gentle breeze rains its breaths

The clouds incline toward it, belonging to it.

وإنْ مَدَّ عَبدُ اللهِ للفَخْرِ باعَها

أُريحَتْ إلَيْها بَسْطَةُ المُتَحكِّمِ

And if Abdullah extends to pride its sale

The plain of the sovereign stretches out to it.

بِحادِثِ عِزٍّ في ذُؤابَةِ عامِرٍ

أُضيفَ إِلى عادِيِّهِ المُتقَدِّمِ

With an honorable event in the abode of Amer

Added to its usual ancient one.

منَ القَوم لا المُزْجي إلَيهمْ رَجاءَهُ

بِمُكْدٍ ولا المُثني عَلَيْهمْ بمُفْحَمِ

Of the people, not the flatterer hopes in them

With pain, nor the praiser blames them.

همُ يَمنعونَ الجارَ والخَطْبُ فاغِرٌ

إذا رَمَزَتْ إحدى اللّيالي بِمُعْظَمِ

They prevent the neighbor, and the discourse is bare

If one of the nights hints with veneration.

فيَرْحَلُ عَنهُمْ والمُحَيَّا بِمائِهِ

يُلاعِبُ ظِلَّ الفائِزِ المُتَغَنِّمِ

So he travels from them, and the living with his water

Plays with the shadow of the triumphant winner.

أتاهم وأحْداثُ الزَّمانِ سَفيهَةٌ

وعادَ وفيها شِيمَةُ المُتَحلِّمِ

He came to them while the events of time are foolish,

And returned while in them the traits of the resolute.

وخَفَّتْ عليهِ وطْأَةُ الدّهْرِ فيهِمُ

عشيّةَ ألقى عِندهُمْ ثِقْلَ مَغرَمِ

And the burden of fate in them was lighter for him

One evening when he cast off the weight of love near them.

حلَفْتُ بأشباهِ الأهِلَّةِ في البُرى

رَثى كُلُّ دامٍ منْ ذُراها لِمَنسِمِ

I swore by the like of the crescent in the lands

Every blood-kin of theirs for the ritual-marker mourned.

فَلَيْنَ بأيديهِنَّ ناصِيَةَ الفَلا

وعِفْنَ السُّرى في مَخْرِمٍ بَعْدَ مَخرِمِ

So let their hands lead the horse of separation

And the scent of distance in a ruin after ruin.

إذا راعَها غَولُ الطّريقِ هَفَتْ بِها

أغاريدُ حادٍ خَلْفَها مُتَرَنِّمِ

When the ghoul of the road startled them with it

The warbling songs of the camel driver followed it chanting.

يُمارِينَ بالرُّكْبانِ وهْماً كأنّهُ

يُحاذِرُ صِلاًّ آخِذاً بالمُخَطَّمِ

It contends with the riders as if he

Is wary of an embattled lion with blood.

فَزُرْنَ بِنا البَيتَ الحَرامَ وخُلِّيَتْ

تَرودُ بمُسْتَنِّ الحَطيمِ وزَمزَمِ

So we visited the Sacred House, and it was emptied -

The soft sands of Hatim and Zamzam.

لَجِئْتَ مَجيءَ البَدرِ مَدَّ رِواقَهُ

على أفُقٍ وحْفِ الدائِرِ مُظْلِمِ

You came like the moon extending its dome

Upon a horizon with the surrounding darkness intense.

وزُرْتَ كما زارَ الرّبيعُ مُطَبِّقاً

نَداهُ فأحْيا كُلَّ مُثْرٍ ومُعْدِمِ

And you visited as spring visited cloaking

Its call, so it revived every withered and ruined thing.

برأْيٍ تَمشَّى المُشْكِلاتُ خِلالَهُ

على حَدِّ مَصقولِ الغِرارَيْنِ مِخْذَمِ

With an opinion dilemmas walked through it

At the edge of the polished smooth spearheads.

وعَزْمٍ إذا ما الحَرْبُ حَطّتْ لِثامَها

يُلَوِّي أنابيبَ الوَشيجِ المُقَوَّمِ

And resolve - if war donned its mask -

That bends the tubes of interlaced confusion.

فأيّامُكَ الخُضْرُ الحَواشي كأنّها

منَ الحُسْنِ تَفْويفُ الرِّداءِ المُسَهَّمِ

So your green days - their margins are like

A rippling of beauty of the ornate cloak.

وأنتَ إذا أوغَلْتَ في طَلَبِ العُلا

كقَادِحِ زَندٍ تحتَهُ يَدُ مُضْرِمِ

And you, when you penetrated in seeking exaltation,

Like the kindling of firewood beneath which is a burning hand.

وحَسْبُ المُباري أنْ تَلُفَّ عَجاجَةً

على المُنتَضى منْ طَرْفِهِ المُتَوسِّمِ

And sufficient for the emulous is that you wrap

A cloud over the one you choose from its edge.

ورُبَّ حَسودٍ باتَ يَطوي على الجَوى

حَشًى باكِياً عن ناظِرٍ مُتَبَسِّمِ

And how many envious spent the night winding over the embers,

A bag of sorrows from a smiling watcher.

لكَ الشَّرفُ الضَّخْمُ الذي في ظِلالِهِ

مُعَرَّسُ حَمْدٍ في مَباءَةِ مُنْعِمِ

For you is the immense honor in whose shadows

Praise is sheltered in the blessings of a benefactor.

ومَجْدٌ مُعَمٌّ في كِنانةَ مُخْوَلٌ

تَنوسُ حَوالَيْهِ ذَوائِبُ أنْجُمِ

And extended glory nestled in the bosom of being honored,

Around which the tails of stars hover.

وها أنا أرجو منْ زَمانِكَ رُتْبةً

لها غارِبٌ في المَجْدِ لمْ يُتَسَنَّمِ

And here I am hoping in your time for a rank

With a rising in glory never attained.

وعندي ثَناءٌ وهْو أرجى وَسيلةٍ

إليكَ كتَفْصيلِ الجُمانِ المُنَظَّمِ

And I have praise - and it is the most hopeful means

To you - like the rhyming of strung pearls.

وكَمْ منْ لِسانٍ يَنظِمُ الشِّعْرَ فَلَّهُ

شَبا كَلِمي والصّارِمُ العَضْبُ في فَمي

And how many tongues compose poetry, so it incapacitated them -

My words grew tough, and the sharp blade is in my mouth.

وقد مَرَّ عَصْرٌ لم أفُزْ فيهِ بالمُنى

فما لِيَ إلا زَفرَةُ المُتَندِّمِ

And an era passed in which I did not attain wishes

So I have nothing left but the sigh of the regretful.

وليسَ لآمالي سِواكَ فإنّها

تُهيبُ بأقوامٍ عنِ المَجْدِ نُوَّمِ

And I have no hopes but you, for they

Fear people who slumber from glory.

بَقيتَ لمَجْدٍ يتَّقِي دونَهُ العِدا

تَناوُشَ رَقَّاصِ الأنابيبِ لَهْذَمِ

You remained for a glory the enemies evade

Wrestling the spying tubes in order to crush them.

ولا بَرِحَتْ فيكَ الأمانِيُّ غَضَّةً

تَرِفُّ على إنعامِكَ المُتَقَسِّمِ

And hopes did not cease in you, fresh,

Fluttering over your divided gifts.