أَلَحْظٌ في جُفونِكِ أم صَوارمْ
وحَرْبٌ لي فؤادُكِ أم مُسالِمْ
Are those glances in your eyes swords,
Or is your heart at war with me, seeking peace?
ولم أَر قبلَ يومِ البَيْنِ غِيداً
قَواتلَ بالجُفونِ ولا كَوالم
Never before the day of parting did I see warriors
Battling with their eyelids, nor orators.
ولا بَطلاً صوارمُه لِحاظٌ
يُجَرِّدُها وجُنَّتُه مَعاصِم
No hero unsheathing his sword, whose glance
Strips him bare and whose eyelids are shields.
كأنَّ الخالدِيّةَ يومَ راحَتْ
تَهادَى بينَ أترابٍ نَواعم
As if the eternal warriors, when they rested,
Were swaying gently between companions.
أَتاكَ مِنَ الفلاةِ بمُقْلَتيْها
كحيلُ الطَّرفِ من بقَرِ الصّرائم
They came to you from the wilderness with their eyeliner
Like kohl on the eyelid from the peek of mountain climbers.
مُهَفْهَفةٌ يَنوطُ العِقْدُ منها
بسالفتَيْ طَلاً من وَحْشِ جاسِم
With disheveled hair, whose braids the necklaces adorn
With two long dark tresses of wild flowing hair.
يُلاعِبُ ظِلَّهُ مرَحاً ويَحْنو
عليه من ظباءِ القاعِ رائم
Its shadow plays with it friskily and stoops over it
From the gazelles of the plain that ascend the hillocks.
ليَهْنِكِ يا ابنةَ الأقوامِ أَنّي
بحُبّكِ لو جَزيْتِ الصَّبَّ هائم
To make you relent, O daughter of the people! I swear
With your love, if I paid the raging passion its due.
وكم من حاسدٍ يَثْني عِناني
يُعالِجُ فيكِ وَجْداً وهْو لائم
How many enviers curb my rein, treating with disdain
The passion for you, while the blamer blames.
لقد فَتنَتْ لحاظُكِ كُلَّ قلبٍ
فما في النّاسِ من عَينَيْكِ سالم
Your glances have seduced every heart,
So none are safe from your eyes.
أقولُ وقد تَلوَّيتُ ادِّكاراً
ولم أملِكْ من الطَّرَبِ الحيازم
I say, while twisting with recollection,
And I cannot control the terrible anxiety,
سقَى دَمْعي وإنْ لم يَصْفُ وجْداً
مَنازلَ بينَ وَجْرةَ فالأَناعِم
My tears watered, even if they do not describe passion,
The resting places between ridge and gentle plain.
وما ملَّ البكاءَ عليكِ طَرْفي
فتَحتاجَ الطُّلولُ إلى الغَمائم
Crying for you has not tired my eyes,
So the long nights need no clouds.
وجائلةُ النُّسوعِ تَخالُ منها
رواسيَ في الفلا وَهِيَ الرَّواسم
The girl's bracelets clink on her,
Like peals of thunder in the desolate wilderness.
كَمرِّ البَرقِ يَطْلَعْنَ الثّنايا
مُشمِّرةً ويَهْوِينَ المَخارم
They emerge from the slopes like flashes of lightning,
Girded up, plunging into the fray.
تَهُزُّ معاشراً كالبِيضِ بيضاً
قَوائمُها العِجالُ لها القَوائم
They shake the foe as the eggs shake the eggs,
Their forelegs are their pillars.
نَشاوَى من كؤوسِ كرىً وسَيْرٍ
فهمْ غِيدُ الطُّلَى مِيلُ العَمائم
They drank from cups of wine and traveled on
The songs of the vanguards incline the turbans.
يقولُ دَليلُهمْ وقدِ اسْتمَرَّتْ
إلى قَصْدِ العُلا بهمُ العزائم
Their guide said, as their determination
To reach the heights continued to drive them:
إذا بَلغَتْ بأرحُلِنا المَهارى
وألقَتْها إلى بابِ ابنِ غانم
“When our she-camels bring us to the skilled warriors
And carry us to the son of Ghanim's door,
لثَمْنا ثَمَّ أيدي العيسِ شُكْراً
وألْصَقْنا المباسِمَ بالمناسم
We will pay the stallions their price and then
Press our smiling mouths to their smiling mouths.
وكيف جُحودُ ما صنَع المطايا
وقد حَجّتْ بنا حَرَمَ المكارم
How can we deny what the mares have done
When they brought us to the sacred precincts?
جَنابُ فتىً تُرَى للفضلِ فيه
وللإفضالِ والعُلْيا مَواسم
The company of a youth in whom
Are seasons for merit, charity and sublimity.
إمامٌ كلّما فَكّرتَ فيه
بدا لك عالَمٌ في ثَوبِ عالِم
A leader, whenever you think of him,
He seems to you a learned man in the garb of a scholar.
أعاد النّحْوَ مَعْمورَ النّواحي
ورَدَّ العلْمَ مَشْهورَ المَعالم
He restored grammar to prosperous regions
And returned science to famed landmarks.
أخو ثقةٍ يَهُزُّ المرءُ منه
حُساماً في المُلِمّاتِ العَظائم
A brother of Trust whom a man would shake
A sword at in the most serious adversities.
له يدُ واهبٍ ومقالُ وافٍ
وَقلْبُ مُشيَّعٍ وفَعالُ حازم
He has a bestowing hand, fulfilling words,
An accompanying heart, and prudent deeds.
ومنطقُ خالدٍ ودهاءُ عَمْروٍ
ونجدةُ عامرٍ وسَخاءُ حاتِم
His speech is immortal, his cunning is ‘Amr’s
His succor is ‘Amir’s, his generosity Hatim’s.
فإنْ جُبِلَتْ على كَرَمٍ يَداهُ
فمِن أخلاقِ آباءٍ أَكارم
If his hands are naturally generous,
It is from the morals of generous forefathers.
إذا ما جئْتَهُ لاقاكَ خِرْقٌ
من الفِتْيانِ طَلْقُ الوجهِ باسم
When you come to him, you will meet a tear
Of youths, fair of face, cheerful.
وإنْ جَرَّدْتَه في وجهِ خطْبٍ
تَجرَّدَ باترُ الحَدَّيْنِ صارم
If you seek his aid in some serious matter,
The keenest two-edged sword will be unsheathed.
فلا عَدِمَتْ شَمائلَه المَعالي
ولا زال الحسودُ بهِنَّ راغم
His noble qualities will never be absent,
While the envier continues to choke with rage about him."
