بَدا شَيْبُه قبلَ ابتداءِ شَبابِه

وولَّى الصِّبا عنه عَقيبَ اغْترابِهِ

His gray hair appeared before his youth had even begun,

and youth turned away from him directly after its estrangement.

وما حان وقتُ الشيبِ منه وإنما

له عِلَّةٌ من وَجْدِه واكْتئابه

The time for graying had not yet come upon him; rather,

it had a cause in his passion and his sorrow.

فدَام طبيعيُّ السوادِ بشعرِه

دوامَ مَشيبٍ تحت زُور خِضابه

Thus the natural blackness of his hair endured

as long as grayness lasts beneath the deceit of its dye.

ومن خامرَتْ خمر الهوى كأس لُبِّه

فإنّ نجومَ الشيبِ بعضُ حَبابه

Whoever has had love’s wine steep the cup of his mind—

the stars of love are but some bubbles on that wine.

ولما طَمَى بحرُ الغرامِ بقلبه

طَفا زَبَدٌ في فَرْقِه من عُبابه

When the sea of passion surged within his heart,

my foam floated over his hair-parting from that sea’s swell.

حَذِرتُ الهوى مذْ كنتُ حتى استفَزَّني

بوجهٍ كأنَّ الشمس تحت نقابه

I had guarded against love in Egypt, until I was roused

by a face beneath whose veil beauty itself seemed hidden.

وقد كتب الحسنُ اسَمه فوقَ خَدَّه

ولم يَبْد إلا نُونُه من كتابه

Beauty had written its name upon his cheek,

yet of its script disclosed only the letter nūn.

وقد أَطلعَتْ أزْرارُه الشمسَ في الدُّجَى

وماد النَّقا بالغُصنِ تحتَ ثيابه

His loosened buttons brought the sun forth into darkness,

and a sandhill swayed with a bough beneath his clothes.

وما عَجَبي من روضةٍ طَلَّها النَّدَى

على خَدِّه لم تَحتْرِق بالْتِهابه

Nor do I marvel at a garden on his cheek, bedewed by dew,

that does not burn beneath the flame of his glow;

ومن بَرَدٍ يَفْتَرُّ عنه وكيف لم

يَذُب وهْو مغمورٌ بشَهد رُضابِه

nor at hail revealed by his smiling mouth—how has it not

melted, immersed in the honey of his saliva?

أحِنُّ إلى الفُسطاط ما لم أكن به

حنينَ طَليحِ الرَّكْبِ بعدَ ذهابه

I yearn for al-Fustat whenever I am away from it,

with the yearning of a travel-worn rider after his caravan has gone.

وتَهْفُو بقلبي زَفْرةٌ لو تَلبَّسَتْ

بصُمِّ الصَّفا لانتْ مُتونُ صِلابه

A sigh stirs in my heart which, if it clothed

unyielding rock, would soften its hard back.

وأسمو لرَوضىِّ النسيمِ لعلّني

أُصادف منه نَفْحةً من تُرابه

I reach toward the meadow of the breeze, in hope that

I may meet a breath of air bearing some of its dust.

واستقبلُ الرُّكْبانَ من كلِّ وِجْهةٍ

لعلَّ بمصرٍ ذاكرا في خِطابه

I go out to meet riders arriving from every direction,

hoping one of them will mention Egypt in his speech.

وأهجرُ عَذْبَ الماءِ معْ طول غُلَّةٍ

إذا لم يُنِلنِي النِّيلُ بردَ شَرابه

I forsake sweet water, despite a thirst prolonged,

if the Nile does not grant me the coolness of its drink.

وتَسْودُّ في عينِي البلادُ تذكُّراً

لخضرةِ شَطَّيْهِ وبيضِ قِبابه

All lands darken in my eyes when I remember

the green of its two banks and the white of its domes.

وكم لي على سفحِ المقطَّم وَقْفةٌ

لها أثرٌ في وَهْدِه وهِضابه

How often I have paused upon al-Muqattam’s slope—

a pause that left its mark on hollow and hill.

فَضَضْنا بها سِلْك الحديثِ فخِلْتُه

يَميد بنا زَهْوا لطيبِ عِتابه

There we unstrung the thread of talk, and I imagined it

swaying us proudly for the sweetness of its reproach.

وفي البركةِ الغَنَّاءِ للطَّرْفِ مَسْرَحٌ

نَهَى ما انْطَوَى من جَفْنه عن مآبه

In the luxuriant pool there is wide pasture for the eye,

forbidding the sleep folded in its lid from returning.

يُبلِّغُنا عن زَهْرِها وافدُ الصَّبا

سَلاما تَولَّى المسكُ رَدَّ جوابهِ

The envoy of the east wind brings us the blossoms’ greeting,

a greeting whose answer musk itself undertakes.

إذا جَمَّش الغُدرانَ واهِى نَسيمِها

حَكَتْ زَرَدا فُضَّت أَعالِي عُبابه

When its frail breeze dallies with the pools,

they resemble chain mail whose upper waves have burst apart.

وَينْسلُّ في ساحاتِها كلُّ جَدْولٍ

كما سُلَّ مَطْرورُ الشَّبا من قِرابه

Every stream slips through their courtyards

as a keen-edged blade is drawn from its sheath.

ولما حَباني الدهرُ منه بعودةٍ

وراجَعَ حظى بعدَ طولِ اجْتِنابه

When time granted me a return to it,

and my fortune came back after long estrangement,

وهبتُ لقُرْبٍ سَرَّني بنعيمه

جنايَة بُعْدٍ ساءني بعِقابه

I granted the nearness that delighted me with its bliss

the pardon of a distance that had pained me with its punishment.

فإن كنتُ في مصرٍ غَريبا فجُلُّ ما

يَنالُ الغَريبُ العِزُّ عند اغْتِرابه

Though I am a stranger in Egypt, the greater part of what

a stranger gains is honor in his estrangement.

وردتُ بها بحرَ النَّوال مُشرِّقا

وغرَّب غيري آمِلا لسَرابه

I came to it, traveling eastward toward the sea of bounty,

while others went westward, hoping for its mirage.

فأصبحتُ فيهاَ خادمَ الأَفْضلِ الذي

زَحَمتُ ملوكَ الأرضِ تحتَ رِكابه

There I became the servant of the Most Excellent One,

and crowded the kings of earth beneath his stirrup.

جَلوتُ عليه كلَّ عذراءَ ما ارْتَضَتْ

ببعلٍ إلى أن هَرْولتْ بحجِابه

Before him I unveiled every maiden who had consented

to no husband, until she hastened behind his veil.

جَهدت فما غاليْتُ في مدحِه بها

ولكنني غاليتُ في مَدْحِها به

I strove in praising him through her, yet did not overvalue him;

rather, I overvalued her by praising her through him.

إذا نَوَتِ الآمالُ للجودِ حجَّةً

فما تَجْتَرِى إلا الوقوفُ ببابه

When hopes intend a pilgrimage to munificence,

they dare no farther than a halt at his door.

وتَسْتلم الركنَ اليَمانِى بداره

وتُكْمِل سَعيا في طوافِ جَنابه

They touch the Yemeni Corner at his dwelling,

and complete their course by circling his presence.

زَرَتْ كُّفه اليمنى على الغيثِ فانثنتْ

به خَجْلةٌ عن مصرَ بعد انْسِكابه

His right hand vied with the rain cloud and made it bear

shame before him, even after all its outpouring.

وما النيلُ إلا مُشْبِهٌ بعضَ نَيْلِه

إذا غَمَر الدنيا بفَيْضِ انْصِبابه

The Nile is only the likeness of a portion of his bounty

when its flood pours across the whole world.

إذا ادخر المالَ الملوك فإنما

جزيلُ الثَّنا والحمدِ جُلُّ اكْتِسابه

When kings hoard wealth, what he hoards

is abundant praise, and all his gain is gratitude.

على أنَّ ما حازُوه من صَدقاتِه

عليهم لما يحظى به من ثوابه

Indeed, all that they have amassed comes from his alms,

a debt upon them beside the reward he wins.

ويُحِيى رِضاهُ النفسَ بعدَ فَنائِها

ويُفْنِى سُطاه الليثَ داخلَ غابه

His favor revives the soul after its death,

and his might destroys the lion within its den.

إذا ما عَتا شيطانُ أرض وإنْ نَأَتْ

فأقربُ شيءٍ منه نارُ شِهابِه

If the demon of some land rebels, however far away,

the fire of his meteor is the nearest thing to it.

أَجار من الأيام فالحُرُّ آمِنٌ

على نفسه من صَرْفِها وانْقِلابه

He has sheltered the freeborn from the assaults of time, so they are safe

from its reversals and changes.

ومَدَّ بِساطَ العدلِ حتى تَوقَّرت

أسودُ الشَّرَى في القَفْرِ قبلَ ذئابه

He spread the carpet of justice until, in the wilderness,

the lions of the thicket grew sedate even before its wolves.

فما الحَرَمُ المشهور بالأمنِ في الوَرَى

بآمَنَ من صحرائهِ وَيبابِه

The Sanctuary, famed among humankind for safety,

is no safer than his precincts and spacious courts.

له سيفُ نصرٍ كلَّما هزَّ نصلَه

تَتَبَّع نابُ الموتِ أمرَ ذُبابه

He has a sword of victory: whenever its blade is brandished,

death’s fang follows the trace of its point.

وجيشُ اعْتزامٍ تَظْلَعُ الريحُ خَلْفَه

وتَقْفُوا أَوالِى البرقِ أُخْرَى عِرابه

And an army of resolve that casts the wind behind it,

while lightning’s foremost flashes strike only its rear ranks.

يُقاتلُ عنه الرُّعبُ قبلَ قِتاله

ويضرِب عنه النصرُ قبلَ ضِرابه

Terror fights for him before he fights,

and victory strikes for him before his blows.

يُضايقُ وجهَ الأرضِ طَوْرا بجيشِه

فأَعْوَزُ شيءٍ جَلْسَةٌ في رِحابه

At times his army crowds the face of the earth,

until the rarest thing is room within his camp.

وثارَ به في ساحةِ الخوفِ قَسْطَلٌ

فضاقتْ على عِقْبانِه وسَحابه

At other times, with him in fear’s arena, a dust cloud rises,

constricting the sky around its eagles and clouds.

وأَطْرَفَ طَرْف الشمسِ حتى كأنّها

وقد خَفِيتْ وَسْنَى لفَرْطِ ضَبابه

It lowers the sun’s eye until it seems

to flutter drowsily through the density of its haze.

وبثَّ على البحر الأساطيل جَحْفَلا

بأكثرَ من نِينانِه ودَوابه

He launched fleets upon the sea as a vast army,

more numerous than its fish and beasts.

فضَمَّ مُتون اللٌّجِّ منتِظم القَنا

كما يَتراءَى شِبْهُهم في إهابه

He burdened the deep’s back with the long shafts of lances,

as their likeness appears bristling upon its hide.

إذا عَن شاهِنْشاهُ ذِكْرا تزعزعتْ

قوى كلِّ جبارٍ لفَرْط ارْتِعابه

When Shāhanshāh is named in remembrance, there tremble

the powers of every tyrant from sheer terror of him.

كَسا الفَضْلُ فضْلا حين أضْحَى سَمِيَّه

ومَتَّ إلى أَفْعالِه بانتسابه

He clothed Excellence in excellence when he became its namesake,

and claimed kinship with it through his deeds.

له قلمٌ يستخدِم السيفَ والقَنا

وتُغْنى وتُفْنى قطرةٌ من لُعابه

He has a pen that makes the sword and lance its servants,

and one drop of its fluid can enrich—or annihilate.

تَوَدّ سُوَيْدا قلبِ كلِّ أخِى نُهىً

إذا مدَّ نفْسا لو جرَتْ في مُذابه

The innermost heart of every discerning man wishes,

when it draws a breath, that it might flow within its ink.

فمهما توالتْ نعمةٌ فبشَهْدِه

ومهما تناهتْ نقمةٌ فبصَابِه

Whenever blessings follow one another, they come through its honey;

whenever vengeance reaches its utmost, through its bitter aloe.

جمعتَ فنونَ الفضل فاخترتَ كل ما انْ

فرَدْتَ به من لُبِّه ولُبابه

You gathered every art of excellence and chose all that

made you peerless in its very essence and purest core.

فيا عيدَ عيدَ الخَلْقِ يَهْنِيه أنه

يُقيم ثلاثاً في ذَراكَ كدابِه

O delight of Eid for all creation, Eid rejoices that

it dwells three days in your shelter, as is its custom.

ويُبصر فيها كلَّ مَلْكٍ مُقبِّلا

لَدَيْك الثَّرَى معْ كبره واعْتِجابه

There it beholds every king approaching—

the dust at your feet, despite his pride and vaunting.

ويعلم أن العيد وجهُك دائما

بمصرٍ ولكن نابَ بعضَ مَنابه

It knows that your face is ever the Eid

in Egypt, though another has stood in for it awhile.

وأنّ له من عُظْمِ قَدْرِك في الوَرَى

ومن نَحْرِك الأعداءَ بعضَ مَشابه

Eid possesses, in the grandeur of your rank,

and in your slaughter of enemies, some resemblance to you.

بقيتَ تُهَنَّا كلَّ يومٍ بنعمةٍ

مَدَى الدهرِ من تَوْديعِه لإيابِه

May you remain congratulated each day with a blessing,

through all time, from Eid’s farewell until its return.

فإنك معنىً والخليفةُ كلُّها

كلامُ زمان لو عَداكَ هَذَى به

For you are the meaning, and the caliphate in its entirety

the speech of an age that, without you, would babble it.