اِفتَرَّ ثَغرُكَ لي أَم بارِقٌ لَمَعا
فَكادَ يَخطِفُ طَرفي وَالفُؤادَ مَعا
Your smiling mouth feigned for me a lightning flash that beamed,
And nearly snatched away both my glances and heart together.
وَهَل قَوامُكَ غُصنُ البانِ مُعتَدِلاً
عَلى كَثيبٍ عَلَيهِ البَدرُ قَد طَلَعا
Is your slender shape a gently swaying branch of acacia
On a sandy hillock where the full moon has just arisen?
بَخِلتَ حَتّى بِطَيفٍ مِنكَ يَطرُقُني
هَل يَطرُقُ الطَيفُ طَرَفاً قَلَّما هَجَعا
You were so miserly that you grudged me even a phantom of you to visit me.
Does a phantom visit a glance that has rarely slept?
يا قَلب حَتّامَ لا تُصغي إِلى عَذَلٍ
فيمن مَتى قيلَ فيكَ الباطِلُ اِستَمَعا
O heart that is filled with passion, do not listen to any censure
About her whom falsehood was never heard to repeat.
أَصغى إِلى كَذِبِ الواشي فَصَدَّقَهُ
يا بِئسَ ما صَنَعَ الواشي وَما نَصَعا
It listened to the slanderer’s lies and believed him.
Oh, wretched is what the slanderer did and how he gained nothing!
إِنّي لأَعجَبُ مِن قَلبٍ يُحِبُّكِ يا
سَلمى يَهيمُ وَقَد قَطَّعتِهِ قِطَعا
Indeed I wonder at a heart that loves you, O Salma,
Roaming distraught though you have cut it to pieces.
دَبَّت إِلى حُسنِ ظَنّي فيكِ أَلسِنَةُ ال
واشينَ عَنّي بِقُبحِ المَينِ فَاِنقَطَعا
The tongues of slanderers have crept into my good opinion of you
To defame me with the ugliness of disgrace, and so have been cut off.
وَما شَفى كَبِدي مِمّا أُكابِدُهُ
إِلّا البَشيرُ بِبَدرِ الدينِ إِذ طَلَعا
And nothing has healed my liver from what I suffer
Except the good tidings when the full moon of the faith arose.
فَأَوضَحَ الأنس إيضاحاً لَهُ جُمَلٌ
مُفَصَّلاتٌ تَلَت مِن نَشرِهِ لُمَعا
So he made the intimacy clear in a way that brilliant,
Articulated lines followed, gleaming in its diffusion.
ابنُ المُبارَكِ ما زالَت مُبارَكَةً
في الدَّهرِ طَلعَتُهُ إِن سارَ أَو رَبَعا
Son of Mubārak, his being blessed
In time has never ceased, whether he traveled or settled down.
ما قادَهُ طَبَعٌ يَوماً إِلى طَمَعٍ
وَلا رَعى الناسَ إِلّا اِستَشعَرَ الوَرَعا
No natural inclination ever led him one day into greed,
And he never pastured the people, unless he felt religious scruples.
مَودودُ ما زلتَ مَودودَ المَآثِرِ في ال
أَنامِ لَم تَألُ بِالعَلياءِ مُضطَلِعا
Wadūd, you have never ceased being endowed with glorious qualities among men.
You did not aspire to high office, bearing its burdens.
فَكُلُّ مُفتَرِقٍ في الناسِ مِن شِيَمٍ
حَميدَةِ الذِّكرِ أَضحى فيكَ مُجتَمِعا
So every fine point of character, which people
Exhibit, has been united and focused in you.
إِنَّ المُلوكَ تَرى أَنَّ الَّذي مَلَكوا
مِن دونِ قَدرِكَ يا مَن قَدرُهُ اِرتَفَعا
Kings see that whatever they possess in power,
Apart from your destiny, O you whose worth is sublime,
قالوا وَهَل تُمطِرُ الأَرضُ السَماءَ فَطِب
نَفساً وَكُن بِالَّذي أوتيتَ مُقتَنِعا
They said, “Does the earth rain down the sky?” So be content,
O soul, with what you are given and be satisfied.
وَاِبنِ المَساجِدَ بِالجِدِّ الَّذي ضمِنَت
لَكَ المَساعي بِهِ أَن تَهدِمَ البِيَعا
Build mosques assiduously, as you are guaranteed
By your efforts to demolish churches through the One with no partners.
فَأَنتَ تولي وَلا تولى الأَياديَ إِل
لا مِن إِلَهَكَ فَاِشكُرهُ لِما اِصطَنَعا
You assume authority, but hands do not support you
Except those of your God, so thank Him for what He has wrought!
يَكفيكَ أَن اِبنَ أَيّوبَ الصَلاحَ رَأى
الصَلاحَ في أَنَّهُ وَلاكَ فَاِنتَفَعا
It suffices you that the son of Job saw
Righteousness in appointing you, so benefit from it!
لا خابَ يَوماً دُعائي لِلأَميرِ بِمَن
مَن لا يُخَيِّبُ مُضطَّراً إِلَيهِ دَعا
Never has my prayer failed for the Commander, with Him
Who never disappoints one who appeals to Him.
