لَدَيكَ هَوى النَفسِ اللَجوجِ وَسولُها
وَفيكَ المُنى لَو أَنَّ وَصلاً يُنيلُها
You have the urge of the stubborn soul and its whispering,
And in you is the wish if an attainment would grant it.
وَقَد كَثُرَت مِنكَ المُلاحَةُ في الهَوى
وَلَو أَنَّها قَلَّت لَضَرَّ قَليلُها
And frequent coquetry with love has increased from you,
And if it decreased, its little would harm.
قَنيتُ عَزاءً عَن شُجونٍ أُضيفُها
إِلَيَّ وَعَن أَسرابِ دَمعٍ أُجيلُها
I gained solace from sorrows attributed
To me, and from troops of tears I endure.
وَبِنتِ وَقَد غادَرتِ في القَلبِ لَوعَةٍ
مُقيماً جَواها مُطمَئِنّاً غَليلُها
And a daughter who left in the heart an affliction,
I stay its intensity, appeasing its sickness.
خَليلَيَّ لا أَسماءَ إِلّا اِدِّكارُها
وَلا دارَ مِن وَهبينَ إِلّا طُلولُها
O my friend, I have no names but remembering her,
And no homes from Wahbine except its heights.
تَمادى بِها الهَجرُ المُبَرِّحُ وَاِلتَوى
بِمَسمَعِها قالُ الوُشاةِ وَقيلُها
Estrangement from her became prolonged and twisted
In her ear what the slanderers said and their talks.
وَإِنّي لَأَستَبقي حَياتِيَ أَن أَرى
قَتيلَ غَوانٍ لَيسَ يودى قَتيلُها
And I want to retain my life to see
The slain victim whose slain is not pitied.
وَقَد خَبَّرَ الشَيبُ الشَبيبَةَ أَنَّها
تَقَضَّت وَأَنّي ما سَبيلي سَبيلُها
And old age informed youth that it
Is over, and I have no way like its way.
هَلِ الوَجدُ إِلّا عَبرَةٌ أَستَرِدُّها
أَوِ الحُبِّ إِلّا عَثرَةٌ أَستَقيلُها
Is passion but a lesson I acquire?
Or is love but a stumble I resign from?
لَقَد سَرَّني أَنَّ المَكارِمَ أَصبَحَت
تَحُطُّ إِلى أَرضِ العِراقِ حُمولُها
It delighted me that virtues in the morning
Descended to Iraq’s land, their loads.
مَجيءُ عُبَيدِ اللَهِ مِن شَرقِ أَرضِهِ
سُرى الديمَةِ الوَطفاءِ هَبَّت قَبولُها
The coming of Obeidullah from the east of his land,
The tents of Dimma Alwatfa have pitched for him.
مَسيرٌ تَلَقّى الأَرضُ مِنهُ رَبيعَها
وَيَبهَجُ عَنهُ حَزنُها وَسُهولُها
A travel that the land meets its spring from it
And its sorrow rejoices from it and its plains.
فَما هُوَ تَعريسُ المَطايا وَنَصُّها
وَلَكِنَّهُ حَلُّ العُلا وَرَحيلُها
It is not the decoration of steeds and their departure
But the solving of eminence and their departure.
وَأَبيَضُ مِن آلِ الحُسَينِ تَرُدُّهُ
إِلى المَجدِ أَعراقٌ مُهَدّاً دَليلُها
The white from the family of Hussein lead him
To glory, lineages prepared, their guide.
أَضاءَت لَهُ بَغدادُ بَعدَ ظَلامِها
فَعادَ ضُحىً إِمساؤُها وَأَصيلُها
Baghdad shone for him after its darkness
So its morning and origins returned.
وَبانَت بِهِ حَتّى تَفَرَّدَ بِالعُلا
غَرائِبُ أَفعالٍ قَليلٍ شُكولُها
And through him even the strangest deeds of the few
Became apparent until he solely reached eminence.
حَلَفتُ بِإِحسانِ الحُسَينِ وَجودِهِ
وَأَنعُمِهِ الضافي عَلَينا فُضولُها
I swore by the benevolence of Hussein and his generosity
And his abundant favors upon us, their overflow.
لَقَد سَبَقَت مِنهُ إِلَيَّ صَنيعَةٌ
تَسَربَلتُ مِنها حِلَّةً لا أُذيلُها
A good deed had preceded to me from him
I wore from it a dress I do not extend.
إِخاءُ مُساواةٍ وَأَفضالُ مُنعِمٍ
لَهُ ديمَةٌ قَصدٌ إِلَيَّ مَسيلُها
The brotherhood of equality and favors of a benefactor
For him a perpetual purpose came to me, its course.
وَأَيسَرُ ما قَدَّمتُ في مِثلِ شُكرِهِ
عَلى مِثلِها أَبياتُ شِعرٍ أَقولُها
And the easiest I presented in gratitude to its like
Are verses of poetry I say, their sequence.
إِذا قَصُرَت أَربى عَلَيها بِطولِهِ
وَإِن هِيَ طالَت فَهوَ سَرواً يَطولُها
If they fall short, I make up for them in their length
And if they are long, then it is a cypress he lengthens.
نَماهُ لِتَأثيلِ المَكارِمِ وَالعُلا
أَبو صالِحٍ تِربُ العُلا وَرَسيلُها
Abu Salih growing for immortalizing virtues and eminence,
The eminence cultivated and sent its messengers.
وَما حَمَدَ الأَقوامُ كَاِبنِ مُحَمَّدٍ
لِنَعماءَ نوليها وَبُؤسى يُزيلُها
And people have not praised the like of Ibn Muhammad
For fortunes he grants and miseries he removes.
مَوازينُ حِلمٍ ما يُوازَنُ قَدرُها
وَساعاتُ جودٍ ما يُطاعُ عَذولُها
Scales of forbearance, its extent is not weighed
And hours of generosity, its running is not slowed.
وَقَد تُسعَرُ الهَيجاءُ مِنهُ بِمِرجَمٍ
تُوَفّى بِهِ أَوتارُها وَذُحولُها
The excited are stirred from him with sparks
Their strings are tightened and their logs burn.
وَتُعطَفُ أَثناءُ السُرادِقِ حَولَهُ
عَلى قَمَرٍ تَنجابُ عَنهُ سُدولُها
The edges of the canopy are bent around him
Upon a moon, its veils pulled from it.
إِذا القَومُ قاموا يَرقُبونَ بُدُوَّهُ
بَدا حَسَنُ الأَخلاقِ فيهِم جَميلُها
When people stand watching his first appearance
The beauty of manners appears through them, its totality.
كَأَنَّهُمُ عِندَ اِستِلامِ رِكابِهِ
عَصائِبُ عِندَ البَيتِ حانَ قُفولُها
As if upon receiving his stirrups
They are headbands at the house, stopped its departure.
إِذا اِزدَحَموا قُدّامَهُ وَوَراءَهُ
مَشَوا مِشيَةً يَأبى الأَناةَ عَجولُها
When they cram before and behind him
They walk a walk refusing slowness, its quickness.
فَما تَخطِرُ الشُبّانُ فيها مَخيلَةً
وَلا الشَيبُ تَستَدعي وَقاراً كُهولُها
The youths do not imagine in it an illusion
Nor the old appeal for composure, its entirety.
يُجِلّونَ مَأمولاً مَخوفاً لِنائِلٍ
يُواليهِ أَو صَولاتِ بَأسٍ يَصولُها
They revere an attainable hope and fear for an obtainer
His solidarity or assaults of might, its intensity.
أَبا أَحمَدٍ وَالحَمدُ رَهنُ مَآثِرٍ
تُؤَثِّلُها أَو عارِفاتٍ تُنيلُها
O Father of Ahmad, and praise is hostage to achievements
That immortalize it or realizers that grant it.
وَصَلتُ بِكَ الحاجاتِ جَمعاً وَإِنَّما
بِطولِ جَليلِ القَومِ يُقضى جَليلُها
I associated to you the needs, all together, and only
Through the magnitude of the people, its magnitude is fulfilled.
رَجَوتُ أَبا عَبدِ الإِلَهِ لِحاجَتي
خَلائِقَكَ الغُرَّ الغَريبَ شُكولُها
I hoped from Abu Abdullah for my need
The attributes of your strangest and most deprived suppliant.
وَأَرسَلتُ أَفوافَ القَوافي شَوافِعاً
إِلَيكَ وَقَد يُجدي لَدَيكَ رَسولُها
And I sent the rhyming prose as intercessors
To you, and their messenger may avail to you.
بَوادٍ بِإِحسانِ الثَناءِ وَخَلفَها
عَوائِدُ لَم تُطلَق إِلَيكَ كُبولُها
With affection in praising and unlike it
That is not set free to you, its confinement.
زَواهِرُ نورٍ ما يَجِفُّ جَنِيُّها
وَأَنجُمُ لَيلٍ ما يُخافُ أُفولُها
Gems of light, their harvest does not dry
And stars of night, their setting is not feared.
وَما بِصَوابٍ أَن يُؤَخَّرَ حَظُّها
وَقَد سَبَقَت أَوضاحُها وَحُجولُها
And it is not right that their share be delayed
As their mornings and preparation preceded.
إِذا ما البُزاةُ البيضُ لَم تُسقَ رِيَّها
عَلى ساعَةِ الإِحسانِ خيفَ نُكولُها
If the white-robed holy men were not watered their fill
In the moment of benevolence, feared is its deprivation.
