كَالخَطِّ في كُتُبِ الغُلامِ أَجادَه
بِمدادِهِ وَأَسَدَّ مِن أَقلامِهِ
Like lines in a boy's notebook, his pen excelled,
With its ink more intense than any other pens.
قَلَمٌ كَخَرطومِ الحَمامَةِ مائِلٌ
مُستَحفِظٌ لِلعِلمِ مِن عَلّامِهِ
A pen leaning like a pigeon's neck,
Preserving knowledge from its learned masters.
يَسِمُ الحُروفَ إِذا يَشاءُ بِناءَها
لِبَيانِها بِالنَقطِ مِن أَرسامِهِ
It traces letters when it pleases, constructing them,
Clarifying them with dots from its markings.
مِن صوفَةٍ نَفث المِدادِ سُخامَه
حَتّى تَغَيَّرَ لَونُها بِسُخامِهِ
From a woolen end the ink saturates its tip,
Until its color changes due to its saturation.
يَخفى فَيُقصَمُ مِن شَعيرَة أَنفُهُ
كَقُلامَةِ الأَظفورِ مِن قَلّامِهِ
It hides so it breaks off from a wheat stalk's tip,
Like a fingernail from its trimmer.
وَبِأَنفِهِ شِقُّ تَلاءَمَ فَاِستَوى
سُقي المِدادَ فَزادَ في تَلامِهِ
With its tip a crack coincides and evens out,
The ink replenished increasing its pooling.
مُستَعجِمٌ وَهوَ الفَصيحُ بِكُلِّ ما
نَطق اللِسانُ بِه عَلى اِستِعجامِهِ
Cryptic yet eloquent in all that the tongue
Utters in its crypticness.
وَلَهُ تَراجِمَةٌ بِأَلسِنَةٍ لَهُم
تِبيانُ ما يَتلونَ من تَرجامِه
And it has interpreters in tongues for them
To express what they recite from its translation.
ما خطَّ من شَيءٍ بِهِ كتّابه
ما إِن يَبوحُ بِهِ عَلى اِستِكتامِهِ
Nothing it traced of anything with it, its writers,
Unless it confesses through its encryption.
وَهِجاؤُهُ قاف وَلام بَعدَها
ميم مُعَلَّقَةٌ بِأَسفَلِ لامِه
Its spelling is QAF and LAM after it,
MIM suspended under its LAM.
قالَت لِجارَتِها الغَزّيلُ إذ رَأَت
وَجهَ المُقَنَّع مِن وَراءِ لِثامِهِ
The young gazelle said to her neighbor, when
She saw the masked face behind his turban.
قَد كانَ أَبيضَ فَاِعتَراهُ أُدمَةٌ
فَالعَينُ تُنكِرُهُ مِن أِدهيمامِهِ
“It used to be white but tan overcame it,
So the eye denies it from its darkness.”
كَم من بويزل عامِها مهرِيَّةٍ
سُرُحُ اليَدَينِ وَمن بويزل عامه
How many mounted cavalry this year are ruined,
Loosely handed and mounted cavalry this year.
وَهَبَ الوَليدُ بِرَحلِها وَزِمامِها
وَكَذاكَ ذاكَ بِرَحلِهِ وَزِمامِهِ
Al-Walid gave her saddle and bridle,
And so did the other, his saddle and bridle.
