أأحبابَنا قد شُقْتمُونا فأسْعِدوا

ولا تُجْمِعوا أن تُسهِرونا وتَرقُدوا

Our beloveds have caused us so much anguish, so make us happy

And do not decide to keep us up at night while you sleep

لقد خيطَتِ الأجفانُ منكم على الكرى

وجَفْني كحيلٌ بالظّلامِ مُسَهَّد

My eyelids have certainly become sutured with grief over you

And my eyelid has become like kohl smeared in darkness

فلا تَدَّعوا صِدْقَ الوفاء وإنّنا

لأيقاظُ لَيْلٍ أنتمُ فيهِ هُجَّد

So do not pretend to be truly faithful, for we

Are awake during a night in which you are bundled up

ولا تُنِكروا حَقَّ المَشوُقِ فإنّما

لنا وعليكم أنجمُ اللّيلِ تَشْهَد

And do not deny the right of yearning, for indeed

For us and for you the stars of the night bear witness

بقَولكمُ العذْبِ اغتَررْنَا وفِعلُكم

من النّجمِ يبدو في ذُرا الأفْقِ أَبْعَد

With your sweet words we were deceived, yet your actions

Appear farther than a star rising on the horizon

أَرانا سهاماً في الهوى وأَراكمُ

حنايا فما تَدْنون إلاّ لتُبْعِدوا

We see ourselves as arrows in love, and we see you

As shields, so you never draw near except to distance yourselves

أبِيتُ نَجِيَّ الهَمِّ في كُلِّ ليلةٍ

كأنّ بها طَرْفِي طِرافٌ مُمَدَّد

Every night I remain wakeful, grieved

As if my eyelids on it are outstretched

فأهْدابُه أطنابُه ونُجومُها

وقد بِتْنَ أوتاداً لُجَينٌ وعسجد

So its pleats are folds, and its stars

Have spent the night like tent pegs hammered down

فنَوْمِيَ من عَيْني وقلبي من الحشا

وجسمي من الأوطانِ كُلٍّ مُشرَّد

So my sleep is gone from my eyes, and my heart is gone from longing

And my body is gone from the homelands, each one banished

وهاجرةٍ تَحْمي نَواها كوَصْفِها

ويَنْدَى أصيلُ الوَصْلِ منها وَيبرد

An emigrant protecting her intent as her description

And the origin of union from her grows cold and lifeless

يُسافِرُ طَرْفُ العين حتّى إذا انتهى

إلى الوَجْهِ منها سافراً يتَقيّد

My gaze travels until when it reaches

Her face after traveling, it becomes constrained

تَعاكَسَتِ الأنوارُ من وَجهِ غادةٍ

لها الخَدُّ وَرْدٌ والخِمارُ مُورَّد

The lights were reflected from Ghada’s face

For her is a cheek like a rose and a flushed veil

ولم أنسَها يومَ النّوى ودموعُها

تَحدَّرُ والأنفاسُ منها تَصعَّد

And I did not forget her on the day of parting, and her tears

Flowed down while the sighs from her rose up

وجاد لها جفنٌ كسا الخَدَّ دُرُّه

وجِيدٌ لها عارٍ من الدُّر أجيد

And her eyelid, which covered her cheek with its pearls, was generous

And her neck, which was bare of pearls, was graceful

بعِقدَيْنِ عِقْدٍ حَلَّ غيرَ محلِّه

وعِقْدٍ نظيمٍ حَلَّ من حيث يُعقَد

With two necklaces, a necklace dissolved not in its place

And a strung necklace dissolved where it should be strung

فقلتُ لها والعِيسُ تُحدَي ودُرّها

تَشابَهَ منه ما يَذوبُ ويَجْمُد

So I said to her while the Pleiades were setting, and her pearls

Resembled among them what melts and what solidifies

تَحلّى المُحيّا منكِ في جلوةِ النّوى

بذاكِ الّذي منه تَحلّى المُقَلَّد

You have adorned your cheek in the severity of parting

With that with which the adorned one adorns himself

فقد نهبَتْ صَبرِي من الصَّدر مَوهناً

طليعةُ بَينٍ جَالبٍ جيشَه الغَد

So indeed the patience was plundered from my chest weakly

The vanguard of a separating army whose tomorrow is coming

وسالَ أَبِيُّ الدمعِ منّي صَبابةً

فأصبح خَدِّي منه وهْو مُخَدَّد

And the flowing tears poured down from me youthfully

So my cheek from it became wet and furrowed

وإنْ يَحْكِ دَمْعي دَمعَها ببياضِه

ومن تحتهِ نارُ الجوانح تُوقَد

And if my tear flows alongside her tear in its whiteness

While beneath it the fire of my soul is kindled

فما الدّمعُ لي ماءً من العينِ قاطراً

ولكنّه قلْبٌ مُذابٌ مُصعَّد

Then the tear is not to me water dripping from the eye

Rather, it is a melting heart rising up

إلى رُؤيةِ الأحبابِ رامَ تَطرُّقاً

فؤادٌ غدا منّي لعينيّ يَحسُد

Yearning to see the beloved, my heart set out searching

So my inner self became envious of my eye

فأعمَلَ منه الفكْرَ حتّى بدا له

إليهم طريقٌ في الدُّموعِ مُعَبَّد

It employed thought until a way to them appeared to it

A way made smooth in the tears

فما زال منه كلّما اشتاقَ شُعبةٌ

تَسلَّلُ من حَبْسِ الضُّلوعِ فيصعد

So a branch from it continues to slip out

From the imprisonment of my ribs and ascend

تَغيّرَ في الدّنيا عُهودِيَ كُلُّها

فلم يَبْقَ كالمعهودِ منهنَّ مَعهَد

My covenants in life have all changed

So none remains as was promised, no pact kept

فمِن كلَفِي لم يَبْقَ إلا تكَلُّفٌ

ومن جَلَدي لم يَبْقَ إلا تَجلُّد

Of my burdens, there remains only pretension

And of my patience, only feigned patience stays

أرى بينَ أيّامي وشَعْرِيَ قد بدا

لتَعْجيلِ إبلائي خِلافٌ مُجَدّد

I see between my days and my hair, there has appeared

For my quickening demise, again renewed contradiction

فقد أصبحتْ سُوداً وشَعْرِيَ أبيضٌ

وعَهْدِي بها بِيضاً وشَعْريَ أسود

For I have become black while my hair is white

And my pact with her white while my hair black

عدَتْني العوادي ما كفَى أن يُعينها

عليّ أعادٍ لي زمانُ وحُسَّد

Misfortunes have done to me what was enough that they were aided

Against me by eras that repeated tribulations against me

وخُوّانُ إخوانٍ وحاشا كِرامَهمْ

وهمْ حُضّرٌ أَلْباً مَع الدّهرِ حُشَّد

And treacherous brothers—but far from their nobility—

While they were esteemed, banded with fate

وآثارُ أغلالٍ تَوالَتْ فلم تدَعْ

لدى النّاسِ آثاراً إلى اليومِ تُحمَد

And the traces of shackles succeeded until they left

For people no celebrated traces to this day

وأصبَحَ ساداتي وقد شَطّتِ النّوى

بنا وبهمْ والدّارُ تَدنو وَتَبْعُد

And my masters—after separation tore

Us and them apart, and the house draws near then retreats—

متى ما أُرِدْ خَطْواً وخَطّاً إليهمُ

عصاني فلا رجْلٌ تُطيعُ ولا يَد

When I desire a step or steps towards them

My legs disobey, and my hands do not comply

بُليتُ ولكنْ لي ببغدادَ صاحبٌ

كريمٌ إذا شاهَدْتُه أتجَدَّد

I have been tested, but in Baghdad I have a friend

Noble, when I see him I am made anew

متى أنا في رَكْبٍ يَحُجّونَ بَيْتَه

وقد رَحلوا قَصْداً له وتَزَوَّدوا

Whenever I am in a riding party and they perform

Pilgrimage to his house, journeying purposefully to him and preparing

وقد علِموا الإحرامَ من شرطِهم فمِن

وسائلِهمْ إلاّ الرّجاءَ تَجَرَّدوا

And they have known the ritual purity from their condition, so from

Their means, they are stripped of all but hope

فسارِيهمُ يَسْرِي بضَوءِ وَلائهِ

وحاديهمُ فيه بمَدْحِي يُغَرِّد

Their travel garments move with the light of his loyalty

And their guide among them sings my praises

لعلّي من الزّوراء أحظَى بزَوْرةٍ

وعَوْدٍ إلى عَهْدٍ بها كنت أَعهَد

Perhaps I will gain from Zawra’ a visit

And a return to the pact with it I once kept

ويَقْضِي بتأييدٍ من اللهِ أن أرى

به مَنْ غدا للدّينِ وهْو المؤَيَّد

And fulfill by the victory of God that I see

Through it one who has become the supporter of the religion

صيامُ الورى شهرٌ ودَهْرٌ عنِ الورى

إلى أنْ أراهُ صومِيَ المتَوكّد

The fasting of creation is a month, and an epoch away from creation

Until I see him, my confirmed fasting

ولا عِيدَ إلاّ يوم أغدُو وناظرِي

بوجْهِ سديدِ الدّولَتَيْنِ مُعَيِّد

And no feast except the day I go early and my sights

Are upon the face of the Judge of the two abodes, celebrating

أمينِ أميرِ المؤمنين الذّي اصطفَى

وسهمِ أميرِ المؤمنين المُسدَّد

The Trustworthy of the Commander of the Faithful, whom He chose

And the guided arrow of the Commander of the Faithful

جَموعِ شتيتاتِ العلا فإذا غدا

أُلوفُ العلا في واحدٍ فهْو أوحد

The collected remnants of the eminent, so when

The thousands of the eminent become through one, he is the only one

يُعَدُّ عِياناً واحداً وهْو أُمّةٌ

ويُصِبحُ في جَمْع الورى وهْو مُفْرد

He is considered manifestly one, yet he is a nation

And he wakes in the gathering of creation, yet he is singular

له المأثُراتُ الباهراتُ التي غدَتْ

تفَرَّثُ للحُسّادِ منهنّ أَكبُد

For him are the magnificent, dazzling feats which have become

Fertile ground for the envious because of them

ففي فَرْدِ نَعْلٍ تحته الطِّرْفُ فانثنى

هلالاً به الدّهرَ الشُّهورُ تُعَدَّد

So in the sole of a slipper beneath which the new crescent

Became for him through it the months of time enumerated

ومنه الثُّريّا وَطْؤُهُ أثّرتْ بها

له القَدمُ العلياءُ فيما تَرَدَّد

And by his threading, his steps left their mark

By which for him the supreme footstep wherever deliberated

وقد جرّ فوقَ الأنجمِ الذَّيلَ جرّةً

تَوشَّحها صرحُ السماء المُمَرَّد

And he dragged across the stars a train

Which the celestial tower adorned itself with

صُوىً نُصبَتْ منه على طُرُقِ العُلا

بهنّ متى يَسترشِدِ القومُ يُرشَدوا

Guiding pillars were erected from it upon the roads of eminence

By them, when people seek guidance, they are guided

وكانتْ وسيلاتُ المقاصدِ كُلِّها

خُطا الخيلِ لا ينْأىَ عليهنّ مَقْصد

And the means to all purposes were

The steps of horses, no purpose from them veers

وَسْيرٌ على أَثباجِ كُلِّ نجيبةٍ

وخَطّارةٍ بالرِّجْلِ لليَدِ تَطْرُد

And a gait upon the carpets of each noble woman

And a trotting by foot to hand outpacing

وطِرْفٌ هو الرّيحُ الّتي كان مُجرِياً

سُليمانُ إلاّ أَنّه مُتَجسِّد

And a gaze which is the wind by which

Solomon once flowed, but embodied

فأصبحَ منه اليومَ تُغني عن الخُطا

خَواطرُ منها يَطلُعُ الدّهرَ أَسعُد

So today through him songs make the steps forget

Happy thoughts through them time rises above

يَبيتُ بُراقُ الرَّأْيِ منه وفكْرَه

به في سماء المُلْكِ يَسمو وَيصعَد

The steed of enlightened opinion spends the night from him and its thought

By it ascends in the sky of the kingdom and climbs

وتُومِي له اليُمنى إلى قَلَمٍ له

هو المَلْكُ والأقلامُ أجمَعُ أَعبُد

Good fortune stretches to him to a pen of his

Which is the possession and the pens altogether worship

سَريرٌ له في المُلْكِ أَسرارُ كفِّه

ففيهِ لأقلامِ الورَى تَتَعبّد

He has a throne in the kingdom, secrets of his palm

So in it for the pens of creation is devotion

لأمرِ أمير المؤمنين ونَهْيهِ

ترَى الدّهرَ منه ناظراً يتَرصَّد

For the order and prohibition of the Commander of the Faithful

You see time from it watching and waiting

ويَغْدو لساناً نائباً عن لسانِه

فيُصدِرُ عنه ما يشاءُ ويُورِد

And it becomes a representative tongue for his tongue

So from him it issues what he wills and presents

إذا أَمَّ أقلامَ الورى فأكفُّهم

مَحاريبُ والأقلامُ فيهنّ عُبَّد

When he directs the pens of creation, and their palms

Are places of worship, and the pens in them worship

فأدمعُهمْ خوفاً مدى الدّهرِ سُجَّمٌ

وأرؤسُهم طوعاً مدَى الدّهرِ سُجَّد

Their inkwells out of fear for the duration of time congealed

And their heads voluntarily for the duration of time bowed

لمُلْكِ بني العبّاسِ تَعْدو بهامِها

فيشْكُرُ منها السّعْيَ مَلْكٌ مُؤَيَّد

For the kingdom of the Abbasids coursing with their spiritedness

So for their effort a kingdom aided praises

أيا مَن خلا الدّنيا وساد رِجالُها

وما كانتِ الدّنيا خلَتْ وهْو سَيِّد

O you who emptied the world and dominated its men

And the world was not emptied while he was master

أتاني كتابٌ منك ضُمِّنَ صَدْرُه

نفيسَ كلامٍ عندَه الدُّرُّ يَكْسُد

A letter has come to me from you in whose chest

Was set precious speech, beside which pearls pale

فمِن نَثرِه فيه فرائدُ نُصَّعٌ

ومن نَظْمِه فيِه أوابِدُ شُرَّد

So in its prose were exceptional uniquely crafted jewels

And in its verse were wildly wandering treasures

تَحيَّر فيه ناظِري ثُمَّ خاطِري

وقد لاح ذاكَ الجَوهرُ المُتَبَدِّد

My eyes were confused by it, then my thoughts

When that essence scattered before me sparkled

ونَمْنَم كافوراً بمِسْكٍ فَطِيبُه

إلى اليومِ باقٍ في يَدِي ليس يَنْفَد

And it distilled camphor with musk, so its scent

To this day remains in my hand, inexhaustible

غرائبُ خَطَّتْها لأكرمِ كاتبٍ

يَدٌ كلّما خَطّتْ ثَنتْنا لها يَد

Wonders traced by the pen of the most generous writer

A hand which, whenever it writes, we praise it

بديعُ أساليبِ الكلامِ مُسلِّمٌ

له بالمعاني والمعالي التَّفرُّد

The unique in the styles of speech undisputedly surrender

To him the meanings and the heights without parallel

فألفاظُه طُرّاً عُقودٌ جَميعُها

وما في مَعانيهِنَّ مَعْنىً مُعقَّد

So its words are soaring knots, all of them

And in their meanings no meaning convoluted

وإنّي وإنْ حاولْتُ منه إجابةً

فأصبحتُ فيه حائراً أتَلَدَّد

And even if I attempted an answer

I was bewildered by it, writhing

لكالمُتصَدِّي أَنْ يكونَ مُعارِضاً

لِمُعْجِزِه حتّى عَراهُ التَّبلُّد

For it is absurd for my expression to pretend

To parallel its miraculous quality, so practiced

ولكنّني لمّا رُميتُ بنَظْرةٍ

وبالدُّرِّ طَبْعاً بَحْرُ فَضْلِك يُزْبِد

But when I was pierced by a glimpse

And the sea of your nobility—the essence of pearls—naturally foams

جعلْتُ جوابي عنه منهُ مُسارِقاً

وكم سارقٍ بالقَطْعِ لا يُتَوَعَّد

I made my answer to it quoting from it

And how many a thief is surely unpunished by the stolen

ولم يُرَ قبلي غائصٌ رَدَّ دُرَّه

على بَحْرِه خُلْقٌ لَه مُتعَوّد

And none was seen before me, a diver who returned his pearl

To its sea, a quality familiar to him

وما أدّعِي أنّي بإسماعِ ظِنّةٍ

أروّجُ لي زَيْفاً ومثْلُكَ يَنقُد

Nor do I claim to circulate for myself a counterfeit

While one like you appraises

ولكنْ مُوالاتي كأني أمِنْتُ أن

يُزَيِّفَها نَقْدٌ وعَهْدِي المُوكِّد

But my allegiance is as if I believed

That no test will falsify it, my pact confirmed

ومهما تَجُدْ من مِدْحةٍ لكَ قُلْتُها

فجُودُك أندَى منه حُسْناً وأجْود

And whatever praise to you I have uttered

Your generosity is more brilliant and bountiful

وكلُّ طريفٍ من ثنائي ومُتْلَدٍ

حَذاهُ طريفٌ من نَداك ومُتْلَد

And each subtle witticism from my praise and birth

Is matched by a subtle witticism from your bounty and birth

فيا سَيّداً ما مثْلُ سُؤدَدِه اغتدَى

لذي شَرَفٍ يوماً من النّاسٍ سُؤدَد

So O master, none has contended with his like

For one of nobility one day among the people contended

أبوك المُسمَّى عبْدَ مَنْ أصبحَ اسمُه

مدى الدّهرِ وصْفاً لابْنِه ليس يُجْحَد

Your father named Abdullah has become his name

For the duration of time a description of his son, undeniable

غدا ماجِداً لولا ابنُه أنت لم يكن

إذا عُدَّ في كُلِ الورى منه أمجَد

He became glorious only because of your son, you

For if counted in all creation, from him most glorious

فزانَ عُلاً عبدُ الكريمِ مُحمّداً

وزاد عُلا عبدَ الكريم مُحمّد

So the elevation of Abdul Karim Muhammad was adorned

And the elevation of Abdul Karim increased, Muhammad

ولم يَجتمْع في الأفْقِ بَدْرٌ وأنجمٌ

كما اجتَمعا للمرء نَفْسٌ وَمحْتِد

And never in the horizon has a full moon and stars

Gathered as they gathered for man, self and aspiration

وأعلَى بني المُلْكِ ابْنُك الأشرفُ الّذي

غدا أنت فيه وهْو فيك مُحسَّد

And your noblest son whom you became in him and he in you

United, raised the children of the kingdom, the most sublime

هلالُ بُدورِ التِّمّ يَنقُصُ عندَهُ

وشِبْلُ أسودِ الغابِ عنه تَفَرُّد

Crescent moons diminish next to him

And the cubs of black forest from him withdraw, isolated

فدُمْتَ لتَلْقَى من بَنيهِ قبائلاً

تَحُفُّ بناديك الشّريفِ وتَحفِد

So may you remain, facing from his sons tribes

That exalt your noble call and provoke zeal

ولا زال في الإطراب عيشٌ مُهنَّأٌ

يَضُمُّ لكم شَملاً ومُلْكٌ مُخلَّد

And may there continue rejoicing, a pleasant life

That gathers for you unity, and an undying kingdom