مَن لِإِحتِراق حَشاشة المَلهوفِ
وَلِدَمعِهِ الساري الهَموع الموفي
Who can answer for the burning in the lovelorn heart’s core?
Or for his streaming tears, whose abundant flood runs full?
دامي اللَواحظ في الرُسوم مُعَذب
أَودَت بِمُهجَتِهِ لَظى التَعنيف
His eyes bleed among the abandoned traces, tormented;
the blaze of harsh torment has consumed his very soul.
غادَرتُهُ وَالشَوق يَنحل جِسمَهُ
كَالسَمهري أُقيم بِالتَثقيف
I left him while longing wasted away his body,
like a Samharī lance straightened by tempering.
أَكفف مَلامك حَيثما أَحتكم الهَوى
يا عاذِلي وَأَقَلَّ مِن تَعنيفي
Restrain your blame wherever passion passes judgment,
O you who blame me—lessen your rebuke.
لَيسَ المُلام بِنافع لاخى الهَوى
دَنف عَلى نار الجَوى مَوقوف
Blame is no help to a man possessed by love,
love-sick, held above the fire of passion;
وَلهان مَسلوب الفُؤاد مُقلب
بِيد النَوى بادي الغَرام نَحيف
distraught, heart-ravished, ceaselessly tossed about,
in separation’s hand, visibly love-worn and thin.
هَيهات أَن يَنسى المَواقف بِالحمى
بَين الجَآذر وَالظِباء الهَيف
Far be it that he should forget the stopping places in the preserve,
amid the fawns and slender gazelles—
مِن كُلِ مائسة المَعاطف غادة
تَختالُ بَينَ ذَوابل وَسُيوف
every maiden with a swaying, supple figure,
strutting among lances and swords;
غَيداء باهرة العُيون كَأَنَّها
شَمس وَلَكن لَم تَرعَ بِكُسوف
a soft-limbed beauty with dazzling eyes, as though she were
a sun that need never fear eclipse.
فَسَقى أَخو جفني الغُمامُ معرَّساً
أَحبب بِهِ مِن مُرَبع وَمَصيف
May the cloud—brother to my weeping eyes—water that resting place:
how beloved a spring pasture and summer dwelling!
قصر يُطلُّ عَلى حَديقة سُندس
غَنّاءَ ذات تَبسم وَرَفيق
A palace overlooking a garden of brocade,
lush, smiling, and softly fluttering;
وَبِظِلِهِ خُضر البِطاح كَأَنَّها
حَبرَ تنمقها يَد التَفويف
beneath its shade, the green lowlands appear
like ink embellished by the hand of altered lettering.
باكرتهُ وَالظلُ يَنثُر دَمعُهُ
مُتناسِقاً كَاللؤلؤ المَرصوف
I came to it at dawn, while the shade scattered its tears,
harmoniously arrayed like pearls in rows.
وَالراح تُشرق مِن سَماءِ كُؤُسها
في كَف مَجدول الوِشاح قَصيف
Wine shone from the heaven of its cups,
held in the hand of a slender-sashed, delicate youth;
شادٍ إِذا عَبث الشُمول بِعِطفِهِ
حَلّى المسامع لَفظُهُ بِشنوفِ
a singer—when the north wind played with his bending form,
his words adorned the ears with earrings;
نَشوان يُرسل خيفة مِن كاشِحٍ
لِحظاتِهِ كَالناظرِ المطروف
tipsy, he cast—fearful of some spiteful watcher—
glances like the sidelong looks of one wounded in the eye.
أَهفو إِلَيهِ مَع العَفاف وَأَثني
وَالوَجد ملئ فُؤاديَ المَشغوف
I yearn toward him chastely, and I praise him,
while passion fills my enamored heart.
لَولا هَواهُ لَم أَبت مُتوشحاً
بِالدَمع مَطويّاً عَلى التَسويف
Were it not for love of him, I would not spend the night mantled
in tears, folded up in endless postponement.
أَني عَرَفتُ بِهِ كَما عرفت يَدا
قاضي قُضاة الشام بِالمَعروف
Through him I came to know, as I had known before, a generous hand:
Syria’s Chief Judge, renowned for beneficence.
أَعني بِهِ مَولايَ عَبد اللَهِ مِن
أَوصافَهُ تُغني عَن التعَريف
By him I mean my lord Abd Allah, whose
qualities make all introduction needless—
ذو همة عُلوية مِن دَأبِها
أَكماد حُساد وَرَغم أُنوف
possessed of lofty aspiration, whose constant way
is to grieve enviers and abase proud noses;
وَخَليقة إِن جئتَها مُستَخبِراً
عَبقت بِنَشر كَالعَبير مَذوف
and of a character which, should you inquire into it,
breathes fragrance like blended perfume;
وَعَزيمة تَردي الزَمان إِذا اِعتَدى
وَتُزيل زيغ نَوائب وَصُروف
and of a resolve that fells Time when it trespasses
and straightens the wayward blows of calamities and reversals;
وَفضائل قَد أَينَعَت ثَمَراتِها
فَعَطا إِلَيها كَف كُل قُطوف
and virtues whose fruits have ripened,
toward which the hand of every deft gatherer reaches.
قاض إِذا التَبَسَت أُمور جَدِها
بِحسام حُكم بِالمَضا مَوصوف
A judge who, when grave affairs become entangled,
cuts through with a sword of judgment famed for sharpness.
ضمن الحَياة لِمُعتِفيهِ يَراعهُ
وَرَمى عَداه قَضاؤُهُ بِحتوف
His pen guarantees life to whoever seeks his bounty,
while his decree casts his enemies to their deaths.
يا واهب الخَير الجَزيل وَصاحب العَزم
الصَقيل وَذا الحِمى المَوصوف
O giver of abundant good, possessor of
the burnished blade, and lord of the familiar refuge!
لَكَ فَوق أَفلاك النَعائِمِ رُتبة
لِسموّها قَد دانَ كُل شَريف
Above the spheres of al-Naʿāʾim you hold a station
before whose loftiness every noble submits.
وَسَجية حَلفت بِأَنَّكَ لَم تَكُن
لِسوى المَعارف وَالنَدى بِحَليف
You have a nature—I swear—that has never been
allied with anything but knowledge and liberality.
وَنَشَأت وَالمَجدَ المؤَثل وَالعُلا
في حَجر كُل ممجد غَطريف
You were reared amid deep-rooted glory and eminence,
in the care of every illustrious, high-born lord.
فَإِلَيكَ مَدحاً مِن نِظاميَ فاخِراً
يُزري بِنَظم الدُرّ في التَأليف
So to you I offer proud praise from my verse,
outshining pearls strung together in composition.
سَبكت مَعانيهِ البَديعة فَأَغتَدي
لِعُلاك حلياً لَم يَنَل بِأُلوف
I cast its exquisite meanings until it became
an ornament for your loftiness, unattainable for thousands.
فِقَرٌ بِها جَيد الزَمان مُقَلدٌ
وَفَرائِدٌ نَظمت بِلا تَكليف
These are passages with which the neck of Time is collared,
rare pearls strung without strain.
هِيَ بَعض وَصفِكَ وَالخَلائق كُلَها
تَثني عَلى مَجد لَدَيك مُنيف
They are only part of your description; all creation
praises the towering glory that is yours.
وَبَقيت ما أَبدى مَديحك شاعِرٌ
وَتَلاهُ مَحفوظاً مِن التَحريف
May you remain as long as a poet gives voice to your praise
and recites it, preserved from distortion.
