بِيضٌ طَوالعُ من خيامٍ سُود

رُفِعَتْ لطَرْفِك من أقاصي البِيدِ

White tents from black tents were raised for your eyes from the farthest parts

If torn, we would mend them with cords

لو مُزِّقَتْ لرقَعْنَها بذَوائبٍ

أو قُوَضَتْ لدعَمْنَها بقُدود

Or if collapsed, we would prop them up with poles

You see a tent - if you visit it in its courtyard

خِيَمٌ تَرى إن زُرتَها بفِنائها

آثارَ جَرِّ قناً وجَرِّ بُرود

Traces of dragging ropes and pulling poles

It meets the lions of darkness among its walls

تَلقَى أُسودَ الغِيلِ بين عِراصِها

صَرْعَى لأحداقِ الظِباءِ الغِيد

Bodies for the glances of roaming gazelles

The intoxication of glances does not awaken from youth

سَكْرَى اللّواحظِ ما يُفِقْنَ من الصِّبا

من كُلِّ هيفاءِ المُوَشَّحِ روُد

From every passionately amorous and heavily perfumed one

Bewitching with magic, some with kohl

مَكْحولةٌ بالسِحْرِ منها مُقلةٌ

كُحِلَتْ لها عَيْنايَ بالتَسهيد

My eyes were lined for it with smearing

They secretly bid farewell when the caravan with the voice of the driver calling departed

خالَسْنَ تسليمَ الوَداعِ وقد هَفا

بالرَكْبِ شَجْوُ السائقِ الغِرّيد

Their breaths and their passions competed

So they scattered the pearls of tears and necklaces

وتَنافَسَتْ أنفاسُها وشُؤونُها

فَنَثَرْنَ دُرَّىْ أدمُعٍ وعُقود

As if they had taken those necklaces from their steeds

And hung them on cheeks

وكأنّهُنّ نَزعْنَ من أجيادِها

تلك العقودَ ونُطْنَها بخُدود

And I am tormented - neither distance comforts me nor

Does your nearness fulfill what is promised

ومُعذَّبٌ لا البُعْدُ يُسليهِ ولا

في القُرْبِ منك تَجودُ بالموعود

So if he becomes distant he becomes a prisoner of love

And if he comes near he becomes a victim of rejection

فإذا نأَى أمَسى أسير صَبابةٍ

وإذا دنا أضحَى قَتيل صُدود

How strange is the specter that meets some youth

Disheveled on the edges of the wilderness, lost

عجَباً من الطَّيفِ المُلِمِّ بفتْيةٍ

شُعْثٍ بأطرافِ الفلاةِ هُجود

The morning is the first to breathe, rising

And the night is like the exhaustion of effort

والصبْحُ أوّلَ ما تَنفّسَ طالعاً

والليّلُ مِثْلُ حُشاشةِ المَجْهود

It brings your visit near while the aim is within reach

The distant one is not far from wishes

يُدْني مَزارَك والمهامِهُ دُونَه

ليس البعيدُ على المُنى ببَعيد

O night of the heart's joy at the mention

If you are fortunate, return

يا ليلةً طَرِب الفؤادُ لِذكْرِها

إن كنتِ مُسعِدةَ المَشوقِ فَعُودي

I am the one you knew, and if I met with misfortunes

The times brought that unlike what was familiar

أنا مَن عَهِدْتِ وإن لَقِيتُ حوادثاً

حالَ الزّمانُ بها عنِ المَعْهود

Every day I gain new ambitions

That refuse to flee from the abode of humiliation

في كلِّ يومٍ أستَجِدُّ مَطامِعاً

يأبَيْنَ عن دارِ الهَوانِ شُرودي

My head, the burning of its gray hairs has lasted long

It is my wish and time for it to settle down

والرّأسُ قد طالَ اشتِعالُ مَشيبِه

منّى وآن له أوانُ خُمود

The hair is like hair, it is not denied

Whitening after the advance of blackening

والشِّعْرُ مثْلُ الشَّعْرِ ليس بمنكَرِ التْ

تَبْيِيضِ بعدَ تَقَدُّمِ التّسْويد

If the absence of my onlooker lifted from me

I would see the place of my desired propriety

ولَوِ انجَلَتْ عنّى غَيابةُ ناظري

لرأيتُ مَوضِعَ رُشْدِيَ المَنْشود

And I would spurn a world that is stingy with its gifts

And if it is generous it does not give except to the ascetic

وزَهِدْتُ في دُنيا تَشُحُّ بنَيْلِها

وإذا سَخَتْ لم تُولِ غيرَ زهيد

And I would cut off, in seeking salvation, my ties

And I see the flash of the sword in detachment

وقَطَعتُ في طَلَبِ النّجاةِ عَلائقي

وأرى مَضاءَ السّيفِ في التّجْريد

Why should I compete with every inferior society

That falsely boasts without merit a second excellence

مالي أُنافسُ كلَّ ناقصِ مَعْشَرٍ

يَزْورُّ دونَ الفَضْلِ ثانيَ جِيد

He is deluded by a chest that he adorned from a session

Go away, you are not up to it, leave it

يُزْهى بصَدْرٍ حَلَّه من مجْلسٍ

أقْصِرْ فلستَ عليه بالمَحْسود

If precedence was obtained through merit

It would not have existed at the start of creation

لو كان بالفَضْلِ التّقدُّمُ يُقْتَنى

ما كان لا في أوّلِ التَّوحيد

And I obeyed as I disobeyed my critics

So they did not need to blame or refute me

ولقد أطَعْتُ كما عَصيْتُ عَواذِلي

فغَنيِنَ عن عَذَلي وعن تَفْنيدي

And I slipped off the saddlebags of the riding beast

And tightened my legs on their straps

وحَللْتُ من عُقْلِ المَطّيِ مُشيحةً

وشَددْتُ فوق سِراعهنّ قُتودي

In the darkness of night that spread its breadth over the plains

Wandering and turning, circling around without direction

في غلْمةٍ ذرعَتْ بهم عَرْضَ الفَلا

هُوجٌ تَلُفُّ تَهائماً بنُجود

To the immaculate court we went together

A delegation and a delegation of glory and delegation of good fortune

وإلى صَفىِ الدّولةِ اصسطحَبا معاً

وَفْدان وَفْدُ عُلاً ووفْدُ سُعود

The feast and the caravan that approached through the light

Of its honor, the daughters of the feast

العيدُ والركْبُ الذين دنَتْ بهِم

من نُورِ غُرَّته بَناتُ العيد

So they came while the auspicious one was the delegate of a group

Hope came through him to the fortunate one

فأتَوْه والمَسعودُ وافِدُ مَعْشَرٍ

قَدِمَ الرَّجاءُ بهِ على مَسْعود

They came as humble delegations and woke up

From his sword while they were vanquished delegations

أمسَوا وفوداً مُعتفِينَ وأصبحوا

من سَيْبِه وهُمُ مُناخُ وُفود

And they drew the clouds of gifts from the hand

White, created for bounty and generosity

واستَمطَروا سُحُبَ المواهبِ من يَدِ

بَيضاءَ صِيغَتْ للنَدى والجُود

May its consecutive feasts gladden him, for his house

From every feast has touched the joyous one

فَلْيَهنِه عِيدانِ أمَّا بَيتُه

من كُلِّ عيدٍ قد ألمَّ سعيد

A Persian feast following an Arab one

After a complete calculated month

عَجميُّ عِيدٍ تابِعٌ عَربيَّهُ

من بَعْدِ شَهْرٍ كاملٍ مَعْدود

A king whose armies of victory spread

Wherever he went, right and left beneath his hoisted banner

مَلِكٌ جُيوشُ النّصرِ حيث سَما له

يسْرِين تحت لوائه المَعْقود

And if he girded the land with armies, it was certain

That the sky reinforced him with soldiers

وإذا أزار الأرضَ جُنْداً أيقنَتْ

أنّ السّماءَ تُمِدُّه بجُنود

And if the secret of intentions frowned upon it

He cast his spear at it - the secret of mucus

وإذا تَجّهَم فيه سِرُّ ضمائرٍ

ألقَى إليه سَناهُ سِرَّ غُمود

As for the caliphate, it harbors glory

From it to a pillar that a mighty one roams around

أمّا الخلافةُ فَهْي تَأْوِى عِزّةً

منه إلى رُكنٍ يَتيهُ شَديد

He inherited sovereignty from one great to another

So he soared with blazing and continuous glory

وَرِثَ السّيادةَ كابِراً عن كابِرٍ

فَسما بِمجْدٍ طارِفٍ وتَليد

Not like one who his ancestors settled

With worries, but coincidence of forefathers erected

لا كالّذي قَعَدتْ به أجدادُه

لُؤْماً وأنْهَضه اتِفّاقُ جُدود

You fulfilled the crown of the two nobles with determination

That cut off the hatred of the resentful one

أوفَيْتَ تاجَ الحَضْرتَيْنِ بهِمّةٍ

قطَعَتْ نياطَ الحاسدِ المَكْبود

And you united the realm after its disunity

And ignited the flame of generosity that the jealous smothered

ونَظمْتَ شَمْلَ المُلْكِ بعد شَتاتَهِ

وشَبْبتَ نارَ الجُودِ غِبَّ هُمود

And you suppressed the enemies of the faith so their necks bowed

Whether standing or lying flat

وقَمعْتَ أعداءَ الهُدى فتَطأْطَأَتْ

أعناقُهم من قائمٍ وحَصيد

And you subjugated them all with the loftiness of your ancestry

And from suffering is the enmity of the detested

وقَهرْتَهم بعُلُوِّ جَدِّك كلَّهم

ومن العَناءِ عَداوةُ المَجْدود

And you raised the banners of science so its people

Spread under the shade of your extended porch

ورفَعْتَ أعلامَ العلومِ فأهْلُها

يَغْشَوْن ظِلَّ رِواقِك المَمْدود

And they understood you from the secret of hearts and necessitated

Your love through effort, not conformity

وألَوكَ من سِرّ القلوبِ وأوجَبوا

بالاجتهادِ هَواك لا التَقْليد

And they saw you greatest in resolve, so they competed

Around the basin of your streaming reward

ورأوْك أكبرَ هِمّةً فَتَزاحَموا

من حَولِ حَوضِ نَوالِك المَوْرود

And if I found the sea forbidden

Against being made permitted is one performing dry ablution with sand

وإذا وجَدْتُ البحرَ كان مُحرَّماً

أن يُستباحَ تَيمُّمٌ بصَعيد

May the two consecutive ones gladden you - their good tidings

Of victory and support alternated

ولْيَهنِكَ المتَجدّدِان تَتابَعَتْ

بُشْراهُما بالنّصْرِ والتّأييد

Two feasts from a feast shaded the giver of glad tidings

Of fortune, and from a necklace you strung a new one

عِيدانِ مِن عيدٍ أظَلّ مُبَشّرٍ

سَعْدٍ ومِن عَقْدٍ عقَدْتَ جَديد

You adorned your crown of glory with a pearl from it

That exhausted the resolves of kings hunting

رَصّعْتَ تاجَ عُلاكَ منه بدرَّةٍ

أعْيَتْ على هِمَم المُلوكِ الصِّيد

Noble, testifying to a caliphal one

Growing in counting and numbering

شَرَفيّة شَهدَتٌ علي خَلَفِيّةٍ

تَنْمِى على الإحصاء والتّعديد

So congratulate it with blessings that overflow upon the youth

Among the peerless, the envied cloak

فتَهنَّها نِعَماً تَفيضُ على الفتى

بينَ الأماثلِ بُردةَ المَحْسود

So I ask Allah to increase your esteem

As long as there is room for increase

فاللهَ أسألُ أن يَزيدَكَ رِفْعةً

مادامَ يُوجَدُ مَوضِعٌ لمَزيد

Until, when increase becomes unattainable to an end

It rests in the settlement of eternity

حتّى إذا امتَنع المَزيدُ تَناهِياً

ألقَى المراسِيَ في قَرارِ خُلود