يسومنيَ السلوَّ ولن أُطيعَهْ

ولا نَفسي له بالمسْتَطيعَهْ

He saddens me with his coldness, though I cannot obey him,

Nor can I force my soul to be able to do so.

ويخدعُ عن رسيس الحبِّ قلبي

وقلبي ليس يُملَكُ بالخديعة

And he deceives my heart about the delight of love,

Yet my heart cannot be possessed through deception.

عذولي لستُ مستمعاً لِعَذلٍ

فدونكَ عذلُ ذي الأذنِ السميعه

I am not listening to blame, so do not blame me,

For blame from one with hearing ears other than you is baseless.

وَحِبِّي من أَذعتُ الحبَّ عُجْباً

به وأمرتُ دمعي أن يُذيعه

And my love is wondrous to those who spread tales of love,

And I commanded my tears to spread it.

لقد خلع العذارَ عليه دمعي

وما كانت دموعي بالخليعه

Indeed, my tears have cloaked it with honor,

And my tears were never disgraceful.

ألا يا دُرَّةً في وجه تاجٍ

تلوحُ ودميةً في صَدر بِيعه

O pearl on the cheek of a crowned one,

You shine while a doll in the breast of a seller.

ويا مَن بعتُه النومَ الذي لم

يكلِّفني سواهُ أن أبيعَه

And O you whom I sold sleep that did not

Oblige me with any price but to sell it.

بحسن محاسنٍ لك حالياتٍ

حُلِيّاً حَشوُها البِدَعُ البديعه

With the best of your charms you have states for me

Adorned with wondrous innovations and marvels.

أَعِذني من قطيعةِ مستهينٍ

بما يلقى المحبُّ منَ القطيعه

Save me from the estrangement of one disdainful

Of what the lover encounters of estrangement.

فقد أودعت مني الشوقَ قلباً

يُسارُ إليه في حفظِ الوديعه

For in you I placed my passion in a heart

That rushes to keep the entrustment.

وسارعَ ناظِراكَ من أناسٍ

تلذُّ لهم مُسارعةُ الصَّنيعَه

And your two eyes hastened from people

Who enjoy hastening to bestow favor.

سألتُ مدحرجاً ما الجودُ فيكم

فقالوا الجودٌ إِرثٌ لن نُضِيعَه

I asked a wine-pourer, “What is generosity in you?”

They said, “Generosity is an inheritance we will not waste.”

توارثَهُ صغارٌ عن كبارٍ

كما تتوارثُ الأمَمُ الشَّريعه

It is inherited by the young from the old

As nations inherit the sacred law.

ولابن سويدٍ المطبوعِ فيه

فضيلةُ مَنْ فضيلتُهُ طَبِيعَه

And in the son of Suwayd, naturally imbued in him,

Is the merit of one whose merit is his nature.

كنيُّ المصطفى وكفى ارتفاعاً

بمن يُكْنى بِكُنْيَتِهِ الرفيعه

The Prophet's nickname—and it suffices as a lofty title—

For one nicknamed with his lofty nickname.

فتىً إن يدْعُ أبكارَ المعالي

تُجِبْهُ وهيَ سامعةٌ مُطيعَه

A youth, if the choicest glories call him,

They obey him while listening and obedient.

ذريعةُ مجتديه الودَّ ودٌّ

يمتُّ به وحَسْبُكَ من ذريعه

My love for him is a means for one who loves him,

And that is enough of a means for you.

له جودٌ بفَجْعِ الوَفْرِ مُغرىً

وذاك هُوَ الغنيمةُ لا الفجيعه

He has generosity whereby loss is tempting,

And that is the real prize, not the loss.

ضجيجُ الجودِ لم يألفْ ضجيعاً

سواهُ منذُ سمَّاهُ ضجيعَه

The clamor of his generosity did not find, since

He named it his bedfellow, any other bedfellow but it.

إذا صَغُرَتْ من البخلِ العطايا

حظينا منه بالضَّخْمِ الدَّسيعَه

When gifts shrink from stinginess,

We get from him the ample and plentiful.

تلافى قَلْبَ دهري إِذْ رآني

قد استشنعتُ جَفْوَتَهُ الشَّنيعه

He brought together my heart when it was

Disgusted by the abhorrent coldness of fate.

فحزتُ به الضياعَ بلا خراجٍ

أفوزُ بربحهنَّ بلا وضيعه

So I gained profits from estates without taxes,

Achieving gains from them without loss.

منعنَ الفقرَ من بيتي فبيتي

بذاك المنعِ في قُلَلٍ منيعه

Want is barred from my house, so my house

Through that barring is in inaccessible heights.

فما آسى لجفوةِ مَنْ جفاني

مذ استمرأتُ روضَتَهُ المَريعَه

So I did not grieve for the coldness of those who shunned me

When I deemed pleasant his fresh, lush meadow.

ولكني أقولُ وإن أضاعَ ال

مقالَ القائلون فلنْ أُضيعَه

But I say—though the speakers may ignore my words—

I will not ignore them:

إذا مُهدي المديحةِ لم يكافأ

عليها فالمديحةُ كالوقيعه

If the praiser of a eulogy is not rewarded for it,

Then the eulogy is like something fallen to the ground.

بنفسي ذاك شيعياً صريحاً

وشيعةُ أحمدٍ من خير شيعه

I myself am an avowed follower of his

And the Shī‘ites of Aḥmad are the best adherents.

طلائعُ بِرِّهِ عندي تلاقى

لهنّ طليعةٌ تلقى طليعَه

The vanguards of his righteousness are to me encounter

Vanguards that meet his vanguard.

فإن أُنسَبْ إلى مضرٍ فجاهي

ومالي يُنسبانِ إلى ربيعَه

So if I am affiliated with Muḍar, my ancestry

And lineage are affiliated with Rabi‘ah.

إلى ابن سويدٍ المنتاش عرضي

وقد لعبتْ به النُّوَبُ الفظيعَه

I devoted all my thanks to the son of Suwayd,

Whose glory the dreadful catastrophes played with.

جمعتُ له جميعَ الشكر مني

وفخري أن جمعتُ له جميعه

I gathered for him all of my gratitude,

And my pride is that I gathered it all for him.

وَمَن يجهلْ إِخاءَ أخٍ فذاك ال

رقيعُ ابنُ الرقيعِ ابنُ الرَّقيعَه

He who is ignorant of the brotherhood of a brother -

That one is no brother; he is the son of a barren woman.