أَبرق الحِمى حَدث عَن الأَبرق الفَرد

فَقَد شاقَني مسراك مِن جانِبي نَجد

The lightning of Al-Hima flashed, so talk of the solo lightning,

For your delight has saddened me from my side, O Najd!

وَقُل كَيفَ خَلفت العَقيق وَأَهله

فَشَوقي بِهم شَوقي وَوجدي بِهم وَجدي

And say, how did you leave Aqeeq and its people,

My passion for them is my passion, and my love for them is my love!

وَما حال بانات اللَوى جادَها الحَيا

وَذاكَ الخزامي الغض وَالشيح مِن بَعدي

And what is the state of the twisters of love's abode, which life has given generously,

And that young, green date palm after me?

أَراك وَجيران الأَراك عَلى النَوى

تَعاقدتما وَالجور في ذَلِكَ العَقد

I see you and the neighbors of the sand dunes

Have made a pact, and the injustice is in that bond.

رَويت لَنا عَنهُم أَحاديث حاجر

وَفي ضمنها نَشر الخَمائل وَالرند

You told us strange narratives,

Including tales of beautiful women and curls.

فَهاجَ بِنا وَجد وَقَد كانَ كامِناً

وَطالَ بِنا شَوق إِلى ذَلِكَ الوَرد

So passion stirred in us though it was latent,

And longing for that rose overcame us.

فَوَ اللَه ما أَدري أَكُل امرئ لَهُ

نزوع إِلى تلكَ المَنازل أَم وَحدي

By God, I don't know if everyone

Has an inclination towards those dwellings or it's just me!

مَنازل كانَت لِلنَواظر نُزهة

وَرَوض البَها وَالحسن في ربعها يندي

Dwellings that were, for sights, a delight,

And the meadows of splendor and beauty echo in their quarters.

وَبي بيضة الخدر الَّتي هَدرت دَمي

وَلَم ترع ودي في الغَرام وَلا عَهدي

And the white cheek of liquor that wasted my blood

Did not heed my love in passion, nor my pact.

نَظَرت لَهُ وَالطَرف كَم يَجلب العَنا

إِلى القَلب مِن بَعد الصِيانة وَالرشد

I looked at it, and how the glance attracts

Blame to the heart after modesty and integrity!

فَشاهدت مِنها دُمية في غلالة

وَطالَعت مِنها طَلعة البَدر في برد

So I saw in it a figure in darkness,

And gazed upon in it the rising of the full moon in the cold.

رداح تَثنت فَانثَنى القَلب دونها

جَريحاً بِرُمح القَد وَالناظر الهندي

A gazelle bent, so my heart bent down before it,

Wounded by the spear of the stature and the Indian look.

نفور إِذا مَر النَسيم تَلَفتت

بِجيد كَجيد الظَبي قَد زانَ بِالعقد

Recoiling when the breeze blows,

With a neck like the neck of a gazelle, adorned with a necklace.

رَمَتني جُيوش الحسن مِنها بغرة

تَذوب لَها صم الجَنادل بِالوقد

The armies of beauty ambushed me suddenly—

The statues of young men melt from it by the firebrand.

فَرُحت وَلي قَلب كَسير وَناظر

حَسير بِأَجفان مُسهدة رمد

So I was delighted, though my heart is broken and my look

Downcast, with eyelids weighed down by sleepiness.

وَمَن أَعجَب الأَشياء ظبية عالج

تَصول بِجفنيها عَلى الأسد الوَرد

And of the most wondrous matters is a lofty gazelle

Raging with her eyelids at the rose lion.

وَأعجب من ذا أنَّني بِعت مُهجَتي

عَلَيها وَلَم أَظفر بِوَصل وَلا نَقد

And more wondrous than that is that I sold my love

To it, yet attained no union or gain.

جَفَتني كَأَني لَست أَعلَم أَهلها

وَأثبتهم جَأشاً عَلى الحادث المردي

It estranged me as if I don't know its people

And count them as hard-hearted towards the shocking matter.

سَلام عَلى دار بِها دُرة النَقا

وَإِن كانَ تَسليمي عَلى البُعد لا يُجدي

Greetings to the house in which the jewel of virtue resides,

Even if my greeting from afar is of no use.

علت فَوقها زهر النُجوم كَما عَلَت

بِآباء عَبد اللَه دائرة المَجد

Above it ascended the flowers of stars, as

Ascended the circle of glory with Abdullah's fathers.

عَلى الأَروع المُستودع العلم وَالحجى

وَعنوان قُرآن المَعارف وَالرفد

With the most honorable one, repository of knowledge and wisdom,

And title of the Quran of cognizance and help.

فَضائله فاضَت كَما فاضَ كَفه

بِبَذل النَدى وَالعرف في الحر وَالعبد

His merits overflowed as his palm overflowed

With generosity and honor in heat and servitude.

إِذا ماجد حازَ الكَمال كلالة

وَراحَ وَلَم يسلم مِن الدخل وَالنَقد

When the glorious attain perfection absolutely,

And rest without being spared from entering and bestowing.

فَذا حازَ عَن آبائه وَجُدوده

كَمال المَعالي الغُر وَالسُؤدد الفَرد

So this one attained from his fathers and ancestors

The perfection of the loftiest, unique nobility.

غَدا عوده كَالعود طيباً وَنَكهة

وَأخصب مِن رَوض وَأعذب مِن شَهد

His fragrance became like fragrant wood, and essence,

More fertile than a meadow, and sweeter than honey.

يَطير بِريح الأَريحية لِلنَدى

فَيولى الَّذي يَبغي النَدى غاية القَصد

It flies with the wind of mint to the dew,

So one who seeks dew attains the utmost aim.

مَعالمه بِالعلم وَالدين عمرت

فَأَضحى بِها الإِيمان مُنتَظم العقد

Its landmarks with knowledge and religion are inhabited,

So faith has been arranged with them into a necklace.

لَهُ قُوة قدسية عرجت بِه

برفرفها الأَعلى إِلى فلك السعد

He has a sacred strength that ascended with it,

With its fluttering to the highest celestial orbit of fortune.

لَهُ شيم لَو شامَها الدَهر عِندَه

لَقالَ ادعني يا ابن النَبي بيا عبدي

He has a quality—had the ages sensed it in him

They would have said, “Call upon me, O son of the prophet, O my servant!"

بِآبائه الأَشراف شرفت الدنا

وَأَولاده الأَبرار ناهيك من ولد

With his noble fathers, he ennobled the world,

And his righteous sons—not to mention his offspring.