لِعُمرك ما الدُنيا العَريضة بِالدُنيا
إِذا ما نَأَت عَنكَ المُهفهفة اللميا
For your life, spacious though the world may be
It is not the world if the veiled one turns from you.
مُحَجَبة قَد أَقسَم البيض وَالقَنا
بِأَلحاظِها أَن لا تَزور وَلا رُؤيا
She has sworn by her glances never to visit
Nor be visited, neither in reality nor in dreams,
مرنحة الأَعطاف رَيمية الطَلا
فَما عَرفت قُلباً وَلا اِتَخَذت حليا
With swaying limbs and roving eyes,
She has known no heart nor accepted any love-tokens,
تَراءَت وَما بِالبَدر مِنها مُشابه
وَلا بِظبا الجَرعا وَلا البانة الريا
She appears not like the full moon nor the shy gazelle,
Neither like the doe nor the sand grouse.
تَسائلني مَن أَنت وَهِيَ عَليمة
فَقُلت لَها مَيت يُعدّ مِن الأَحيا
She questions me, who are you? While she knows full well,
I say to her, I am a dead man among the living.
فَقالَت وَمَن أَفتى بِهَذا وَما الَّذي
دَهاكَ وَما غادَرت في حُبِنا نَسيا
She says, who gave this verdict and what is it
That has stricken you and left you no forgetfulness of our love?
فَقُلت بَياض تَحتَ مسود سالف
لِقَتلي في دين الغَرام هُما الفُتيا
I say, my pallor beneath my black hair
For killing me in the religion of love - these two dictate my judgement.
فَقالَت صهٍ مِن ذا مِن الضَيم يَشتَكي
وَقَد مَلأَ الدُنيا بِمَعروفِهِ يَحيى
She said, "Hush! Who would complain of wrong
When the world is filled with his benevolence and life?"
أَتَمَّ وُلاة الحَق عِلماً وَهمة
وَأَشرَف مَن دانَت لِهِمَتِهِ العُليا
He who is the best of rulers in knowledge and ambition
And the noblest of those to whom supremacy is subject,
وَأَطوَلَهُم باعاً وَأَكمَلَهُم حجاً
وَأَنفَذَهُم قَولاً وَأَثقَبَهُم رَأَيا
The longest in reach, the most perfect in pilgrimage,
The most effective in word, and the profoundest in judgment,
فَما الرَوضة الزَهراءُ يَعبقَق نَشرَها
بِأَطيَب يَوماً مِن خَلائِقِهِ رَيا
The blossoming garden spreads not its fragrance
With sweeter scent than his creatures' satisfaction,
وَلا المُزنة الوَطفاءُ تَهمي جُفونَها
بِأَغدَق مِن جَدوى أَنامِله سَقيا
Nor does the languishing vine moisten its lid
With a more generous flow than the watering of his fingers.
فَلو أَن أُم الدَهر رامَت مُشابِهاً
لَهُ لَم تَلد إِلّا الخَسارة وَالأَعيا
Had the Mother of Eternity sought to match him,
She would have borne only loss and misery.
فَيا مَن بِماضي الحَزم أَودى مظالِماً
وَأَورى زِناد العَزم في جلق وَرَيا
O you whose firmness of purpose has destroyed tyrannies
And quenched the glowing embers of discord,
لَكَ اللَهُ أَرشدت الزَمان إِلى الهُدى
وَأَخمَدَت بِالعَدل الضَلالة وَالغَيا
God has guided the times aright through you
And through justice extinguished misguidance and vain desire.
جَزاكَ الَّذي اِسترعاكَ أَمر عِبادِهِ
بِنجلين نالا في الوَرى الغاية القُصيا
May He who appointed you over the affairs of His servants
Reward you with two scions who have attained in the world the utmost ambition,
هُما غُصنا دَوح لِلمَآثر وَالنَدى
وَنِجما سَماء العِزّ بَل زَهرةُ الدُنيا
They are two branches of glory and dew,
Two stars in the firmament of might, indeed the adornment of the world.
كَريمان مِن قَبل الفِطام تَحالَفا
عَلى أَن يَمُدا لِلسَخاءِ مَعاً يَديا
Noble were they from before their weaning,
Sworn to extend generosity together with both hands,
وَلا اِتَخَذا إِلّا الفَخار تَميمةً
وَلا اِرتَضعا إِلّا العُلى لَهُما ثَديا
Choosing nothing but glory as their amulet,
Suckling only greatness - for them a teat;
وَدُونَكها مِن نَسج فكري حلة
مُنَمقة بِالحَمد قَد حسنت وَشيا
And below you is a raiment of my thought,
Embroidered with praise, excellently cut and sewn.
تَضوع مِن أَردانِها نفحة الثَنا
فَلو نَفَحت مَيتاً لَعادَ بِها حَيا
There wafts from its hems the fragrance of eulogy,
Were it to blow on the dead, they would live again through it.
تَناهَبت الأَلحاظ حُسن اِنتِظامِها
وَقَد حَفت الأَسماع مِن لَفظِها الأَريا
Eyes vie for the beauty of its composition,
And ears strive to hear its delicate phrasing,
أَلَذ مِن الماء القِراح عَلى الصَدا
وَأَعذَب مِن عَتب الحَبيب لَدى اللُقيا
Sweeter than the purest water on the lips of the thirsty,
And more delicious than the kisses of the beloved at the reunion.
