يا طَيرُ إِنّا في غَدٍ طَيرُ
روحِي فَإِنَّ البَينَ تَبكيرُ
O bird, we shall be birds tomorrow
My soul, for separation makes one rise early
قَد أَطلُبُ الحاجَةَ مِن مُشرِفٍ
مِن دونِها زَأرٌ وَتَنفيرُ
I seek my want from the Noble
Without it are grief and repulsion
وَقَد تَعاطيني عِراقِيَّةٌ
كَأَنَّها إِذ جُلِيَت نورُ
An Iraqi woman has given me a draught
As if when she was revealed, it was light
لا تَسأَلي عَن شَأنِنا كُلِّهِ
مِن أَثَري عافٍ وَمَقفورُ
Ask not about our whole affair
From my trace, well-omened and buried
ما كُلُّ ما عِندي أُثَنّى بِهِ
يُطوى الخَنا وَالخَيرُ مَنشورُ
Not all I have do I boast about
Malice is folded and good wide published
وَشاعِرٍ تَقَذى بِنا عَينُهُ
حيناً وَلا يَهديهِ تَبصيرُ
A poet whose eye was hurt through us
At times, discernment guides him not
قُلتُ لَهُ إِذ هَدَرَت جِنُّهُ
وَكَثُرَت عَنهُ الأَخابيرُ
I said to him when his demons clamoured
And many cock-and-bull stories about him abounded
لَولا أَناتي أَصبَحَت شُرَّعاً
فيكَ وَغَنّى بِكَ طَنبورُ
Had it not been for my respite becoming
A way into you and a lute singing you
بَدا نَذيرٌ لَكَ مِن ناصِحٍ
وَالعودُ حَيّاتٌ مَناكيرُ
There appeared a warner to you from an adviser
And the lute, serpents hissing
عَجِبتُ مِن ساعٍ إِلى جَمرَتي
حينَ أَصاخَت لي المَعاشيرُ
I wonder at one striving towards my embers
When the nobles called me
يَسعى إِلى ناري وَلَم أَدعُهُ
إِنَّ أَبا عَمروٍ لَمَقرورُ
He comes to my fire though I did not invite him
Abu 'Amr is surely entombed
قَد زُرتُ أَملاكَ بَني هاشِمٍ
وَزارَني البيضُ المَعاصيرُ
I visited the estates of Banu Hashim
And the whites, airborne flocks, visited me
مِن كُلِّ حَوراءَ هَضيمِ الحَشا
غالى بِها نَبتٌ وَتَوقيرُ
Of every doe, slender of waist
High-born, revered her growth and manner
يَزيدُها طيباً إِذا أَقبَلَت
ثَغرٌ وَطَرفٌ فيهِ تَفتيرُ
Perfume is enhanced when she turns
A mouth and a glance wherein is languor
وَحِليَةٌ يُحفِلُها عُصفُرٌ
كَأَنَّه في البِرسِ تَنّورُ
An ornament which hovers over it
As if it, in the Persian cloak, a furnace
وَرُبَّما زُرتُ أَخاً ماجِداً
تَشقى بِكَفَّيهِ الدَنانيرُ
And I sometimes visit a glorious brother
By whose hands dinars are split
لِلّهِ نَدماني أَبو وابِصٍ
ما شَأنُهُ بُخلٌ وَتَقصيرُ
Woe to me for Abu Wabis
What ails him? Stinginess and neglect
فَتىً يُباري كَأسُهُ كَفَّهُ
جُوداً وَبَعضُ القومِ خَنزيرُ
A knight whose cup matches his palm
In munificence, while some men are swine
باكَرتُهُ أَعشو إِلى نارِهِ
شَوقاً وَما ضاقَت بِيَ الدُورُ
I came early to his fire
Yearning, and dwellings were not cramped for me
فَظَلَّ يَقليني وَأَفتَرُّهُ
كُلٌّ بِما يَصنعُ مَسرورُ
So he kept roasting me, and I let him wander
Each one made happy by what he does
حَتّى إِذا اليَومُ مَضى كُلُّهُ
وَباحَ بِالمَكتومِ سُرسورُ
Until the day had completely passed
And the secret was announced by glad tidings
وَراعَنا في ميمِهِ كافِرٌ
خَليفَةُ الشَمسِ وَتستيرُ
There espied us in its gathering an infidel
Successor to the sun who takes cover
وَاِغتلَّها زَورُ أَبي وابِصٍ
شَتاً فَهَزَّتهُ المَآخيرُ
The lies of Abu Wabis led him astray
Vehemently, so the endings jostled him
دَعا لَنا الحورُ عَلَيها الحَيا
يا حَبَّذا الحورُ المَعاطيرُ
The doe-eyed girls called for us, upon them life
How excellent pure doe-eyed girls
بِتنا نُعاطيها رُهاوِيَّةً
وَهيَ عِكافٌ بَينَنا صورٌ
We sip it slowly with wanderings in the goblet
It is among us a picture perfect image
تُزَيِّنُ الشَربَ وَقَد زانَها
في الدُرِّ شَبَّتهُ التَماصيرُ
It enhances drinking, and jewels have adorned it
As if it were, in the topaz, a bakehouse
جوفٌ مُصيخاتٌ وَإِن قُبِّلَت
حَنَّت كَما حَنَّ المَشاويرُ
Languid, if kissed, it would bend
As the fine spears bent
يَشدونَ أَصواتاً مَدينِيَّةً
وَضَربَ مَكِّيٍّ لَهُ صورُ
They sing melodies from Medina
And an instrument of Mecca was strumming for it
تَبكي المَزاميرُ لَها تارَةً
شَجواً وَتَحكيها المَزاهيرُ
The pipes weep for it at times
Grief, and the lutes discourse of it
وَأَنا مَحبورٌ بِتَغريدِها
إِمّا تَداعى البَمُّ وَالزيرُ
While I am enchanted by its trilling
Now the bamboos and pipes ring
ثُمَّ اِنقَضى ذاكَ فَلَم أَبكِهِ
غالَ نَعيمَ العَيشِ تَكديرُ
Then that passed, and I did not bewail it
The bliss of life embittered by uproar
دَع ذا فَإِنَّ الغُرَّ مِن هاشِمٍ
أَبناءُ داوودَ المَساعيرُ
Leave that, for the nobility of Hashim
Are sons of David, acting with speed
يَغدونَ لِلحَربِ بِأَقرانِها
صيدٌ إِذا هابَ العَواويرُ
They set out to war with its like
Game, when the preyer flees
بِالسَيبِ مِنهُم نَفَرٌ سادَةٌ
إِلَيهِمُ تُلقي الجَماهيرُ
Among them are outstanding chiefs
To whom throngs thow themselves
قُل لَلغُواةِ الطالِبي شَأوِهِم
لا يُدرِكُ الريحَ المَجاميرُ
Say to those who foolishly seek to debase them
The winds do not overtake the clouds
كَم مِن كَريمٍ مِن بَني هاشِمٍ
مُهدىً بِهِ الصِحَّةُ وَالخيرُ
How many a noble of Banu Hashim
Guided aright by providence and prosperity
لِلمُلكِ عَبّاسٌ وَأَبناؤُهُ
قِدماً وَلِلحُشِّ الخَنازيرُ
For kingship, there is Abbas and his sons
Afoot, and for the rabble, swine
مِثلَ سُلَيمانَ وَمَن مِثلُهُ
تَحتَ الوَغى وَالسَيفُ مَشهورُ
The like of Solomon, and who is the like of him?
Under the fray and the famed sword
نِصفانِ مِن جودٍ وَمِن عِزَّةٍ
لا يَستَميهِ العَسكَرُ الخورُ
Two halves of munificence and might
That the vile mob cannot appraise
في صَدرِهِ حِلمٌ وَفي دِرعِهِ
لَيثٌ عَليهِ التاجُ مَزرورُ
In his breast, clemency; in his coat of mail
A lion with the bejewelled crown
تَستَبشِرُ البيضُ بِلُقيانِهِ
طَوراً وَتَختالُ المَنابيرُ
The whites give happy tidings when they meet him
At times, and the wild geese strut
يَعرِقنَ خِرّيتاً عَلَيهِ النَدى
كَالبُردِ إِذ تَمَّ بِهِ النيرُ
Dew sweats amber upon him
As though completed by it, coldness
عَطاؤُهُ دَفقٌ وَمَوعودُهُ
طيبُ الثَنا وَالوَجهُ مَنصورُ
His bestowal gushes, and his promise
A good opinion and face triumphant
يَستَهلِكُ المالَ وَيُبقي الحِجا
وَلَيسَ مِنهُ الكَلِمُ العورُ
He expends wealth and preserves repute
And no unsound word issues from him
قَد قُدِّرَ الحَمدُ عَلى وَجهِهِ
تَحُفُّهُ الشُمُّ المَغاويرُ
Praise is ordained upon his face
Musk wraps it in waves
وَاللَهِ ما عِندي سِوى بِرِّهِ
وَالمَلِكُ الصالِحُ مَبرورُ
By God, I have none but his probity
And the righteous king is blessed
صِحَّتُهُ كَالماءِ في مَدِّهِ
يَقري بِهِ جودٌ وَتَبكيرُ
His well-being like water in its abundance
Munificence by which he gives drink at dawn
فَغَمَّ حُسّادي وَحَبَّرتُهُ
بِالحَمدِ إِن الحَمدَ تَحبيرُ
So my enviers are vexed, and I saturate him
With praise – for praise is dyeing
زانَ سُليمانَ بَني هاشِمٍ
كَما يَزينُ الكاعِبَ السورُ
He adorns Solomon of Banu Hashim
As beauty adorns the well-robed
مِن حِلمِهِ حِلمٌ وَمِن حَزمِهِ
حَزمٌ وَمِن نَعماهُ تَيسيرُ
Of his forbearance, forbearance; of his wisdom, wisdom
And from his bounty, facilitation
ضَرّابُ أَعناقٍ وَفَكّاكُها
فَسَيفُهُ مِسكٌ وَتَأمورُ
Smiter of necks and deliverer of them
His sword chaste musk perfumed
يَمحو بِجودٍ بُخلَ إِخوانِهِ
وَالذَنبُ تَمحوهُ المَقاديرُ
He effaces the meanness of his brothers with munificence
And destiny erases sins
