هَبِ الدارَ رَدَّت رَجعَ ما أَنتَ قائِلُه

وَأَبدى الجَوابَ الرَبعُ عَمّا تُسائِلُه

The house returned what you were saying

And the quarter disclosed what you were asking

أَفي ذاكَ بُرءٌ مِن جَوىً أَلهَبَ الحَشا

تَوَقُّدُهُ وَاِستَعزَرَ الدَمعَ جائِلُه

Is there in that exoneration from a passion that inflamed ardour

Its kindling, imploring the pouring tears for help

هُوَ الدَمعُ مَوقوفاً عَلى كُلِّ دِمنَةٍ

تُعَرِّجُ فيها أَو خَليطٍ تُزايِلُه

It is the held-back tears at every love token

In which it meanders, or a commixture that makes it transcend

تَرادَفَهُم خَفضُ الزَمانِ وَلينُهُ

وَجادَهُمُ طَلُّ الرَبيعِ وَوابِلُه

Vicissitude of time made them alternate, and its lenience

And springtime's dangling and its downpour made them succeed each other

وَإِن لَم يَكُن في عاجِلِ الدَهرِ مِنهُمُ

نَوالٌ وَغَيبٌ مِن زَمانِكَ آجِلُه

And if the present life does not contain any intimacy and absence from them

A deferred one from your time will have them as its consequence

مَضى العامُ بِالهِجرانِ مِنهُم وَبِالنَوى

فَهَل مُقبِلٌ بِالقُربِ وَالوَصلِ قابِلُه

The year passed with estrangement from them, and with intention

Is there a forthcoming one with nearness and union to make up for it?

أُرَجِّمُ في لَيلى الظُنونَ وَأَرتَجي

أَواخِرَ حُبٍّ أَخلَفَتني أَوائِلُه

I ponder in uncertainties about Layla, and I aspire

To later parts of a love whose beginnings allured me

وَلَيلَةَ هَوَّمنا عَلى العيسِ أَرسَلَت

بِطَيفِ خَيالٍ يُشبِهُ الحَقَّ باطِلُه

And a night we fancied by the Pleiades, it sent

With an apparition resembling truth its falsehood

فَلَولا بَياضُ الصُبحِ طالَ تَشَبُّثي

بِعَطفِيَ غَزالٍ بِتُّ وَهناً أُغازِلُه

So were it not for dawn's whiteness, my clinging

To the shoulder of a gazelle that knelt would have prolonged, as I flirted with her

وَكَم مِن يَدٍ لِلَّيلِ عِندي حَميدَةٍ

وَلِلصُبحُ مِن خَطبٍ تُذَمُّ غَوائِلُه

And how many a night-time hand I have friendly

And how many morning reproofs that censure its intrigues

وَقَد قُلتُ لِلمُعلي إِلى المَجدِ طَرفَهُ

دَعِ المَجدَ فَالفَتحُ بنُ خاقانَ شاغِلُه

And indeed I said to the aspirant to glory, turn your gaze

Leave glory be, for victory's son Khāqān occupies it

سِنانُ أَميرِ المُؤمِنينَ وَسَيفُهُ

وَسَيبُ أَميرِ المُؤمِنينَ وَنائِلُه

The sword and teeth of the Commander of the Faithful

And the sword and firer of the Commander of the Faithful and his attainment

تُشَبُّ بِهِ لِلناكِثينَ حُروبُهُ

وَتَدنو بِهِ لِلخابِطينَ نَوافِلُه

With it he kindles wars against oath-breakers

And with it his supererogations approach the devoted

أَطَلَّ بِنُعماهُ فَمَن ذا يُطاوِلُه

وَعَمَّ بِجَدواهُ فَمَن ذا يُساجِلُه

He has been bountiful, so who can rival him?

And his excellence has spread, so who can dispute with him?

ضَمِنتُ عَنِ الساعينَ أَن يَلحَقوا بِهِ

إِذا ذُكِرَت آلاؤُهُ وَفَواضِلُه

I guaranteed that the strivers can catch up with him

If his favours and superiority are mentioned

أَيَبلُغُهُ بِالبَذلِ قَومٌ وَقَد سَعَوا

فَما بَلَغوا شُكرَ الَّذي هُوَ باذِلُه

Can a people reach, despite their effort, thanking Him who is

Bestowing them?

رَمى كَلَبِ الأَعداءِ عَن حَدِّ نَجدَةٍ

بِها قَطَعَت تَحتَ العَجاجِ مَناصِلُه

He shot the dog of enemies beyond the limit of deliverance

With it he cut off its joints beneath the stone

وَما السَيفُ إِلّا بَزُّ غادٍ لِزينَةٍ

إِذا لَم يَكُن أَمضى مِنَ السَيفِ حامِلُه

And a sword is but an idle ornament

Unless its wielder is more effective than the blade

بَداني بِمَعروفٍ هُوَ الغَيثُ في الثَرى

تَوالى نَداهُ وَاِستَنارَت خَمائِلُه

My intimate with his bounty is the rain in soil

Its benefaction succeeded continuously and its fields glistened

أَمِنتُ بِهِ الدَهرَ الَّذي كُنتُ أَتَّقي

وَنِلتُ بِهِ القَدرَ الَّذي كُنتُ آمُلُه

With him I felt assured about fate, which I used to fear

And with him I attained the foreordained which I was hoping for

وَلَمّا حَضَرنا سُدَّةَ الإِذنِ أُخِّرَت

رِجالٌ عَنِ البابِ الَّذي أَنا داخِلُه

And when we came to the court’s threshold, men were held back

From the gate which I am entering

فَأَفضَيتُ مِن قُربٍ إِلى ذي مَهابَةٍ

أُقابِلُ بَدرَ الأُفقِ حينَ أُقابِلُه

So I came from nearness to one of awe

I meet the full moon of horizons when I meet him

إِلى مُسرِفٍ في الجودِ لَو أَنَّ حاتِماً

لَدَيهِ لَأَمسى حاتِمٌ وَهوَ عاذِلُه

To a spendthrift, if Hātim were in his presence

Hātim would be the one seeking his generosity

بَدا لِيَ مَحمودَ السَجِيَّةِ شُمِّرَت

سَرابيلُهُ عَنهو وَطالَت حَمائِلُه

The honored one’s pants appeared rolled up

As his sleeves lengthened and his burdens increased

كَما اِنتَصَبَ الرُمحُ الرُدَينِيُّ ثُقِّفَت

أَنابيبُهُ لِلطَعنِ وَاِهتَزَّ عامِلُه

As the well-balanced Rumhi lance stood erect

Its spears were sharpened for stabbing and its wielder shook

وَكَالبَدرِ وافَتهُ لِتِمٍّ سُعودُهُ

وَتَمَّ سَناهُ وَاِستَقَلَّت مَنازِلُه

And it attained the fullness of its good fortune like the full moon

Its stages were completed and its positions stabilized

فَسَلَّمتُ وَاعتاقَت جَنانِيَ هَيبَةٌ

تُنازِعنِيَ القَولَ الَّذي أَنا قائِلُه

So I greeted, and awe overcame my soul

Contesting with me the words which I am saying

فَلَمّا تَأَمَّلتُ الطَلاقَةَ وَانثَنى

إِلَيَّ بِبِشرٍ آنَسَتني مَخايِلُه

But when I considered the fluency, and he leaned

Toward me with a glad tiding, his gestures calmed me

دَنَوتُ فَقَبَّلتُ النَدى في يَدِ امرِءٍ

جَميلٍ مُحَيّاهُ سِباطٍ أَنامِلُه

So I approached and kissed the dew in the hand of a

Good-looking man, fine-looking, whose fingers were delicate

صَفَت مِثلَما تَصفو المُدامُ خِلالُهُ

وَرَقَّت كَما رَقَّ النَسيمُ شَمائِلُه

Arranged like wine when it clears, and soft

Like the breeze when its features become gentle