وَقائِلَةٍ لي لَم تُصِبني سِهامُها
رَمَتني عَلى سَوداءِ قَلبي نِبالُها
She said my arrows did not wound her,
Yet upon my dark heart her darts were hurled.
وَإِنّي لَرامٍ رَميَةً قِبَلَ الَّتي
لَعَلَّ وَإِن شَقَّت عَلَيَّ أَنالُها
Though toward her who hurt me I am still inclined,
Hoping though she pained me I'll win her.
أَلا لَيتَ حَظّي مِن عُلَيَّةَ أَنَّني
إِذا نِمتُ لا يَسري إِلَيَّ خَيالُها
Would that from dreams of her I were divined -
That when I sleep her image to me unfurled
وَلا يُلبِثُ اللَيلَ المُوَكَّلَ دونَها
عَلَيهِ بِتَكرارِ اللَيالي زَوالُها
Be not by night's rotation through days done,
Lest time should her beauty from me have furled.
حَلَفتُ بِأَيدي الراقِصاتِ إِلى مِنىً
تُجَرَّرُ في الأَرساغِ مِنها نِعالُها
By dancing girls' hands I vow till I've attained
My goal, though barefoot, trailing skirts, they spurned.
لَتَطَّلِعَن مِنّي بِلالاً قَصيدَةٌ
طَويلٌ بِأَفواهِ الرُواةِ ارتِجالُها
Through poets shall odes from me long obtained
Stream forth, though their rhymes were just hastily learned.
فَإِنَّ بِلالَ الجودِ لَستَ بِواجِدٍ
لَهُ عُدَةٌ إِلّا شَديداً دِخالُها
For open-handed Bilal you'll find no peer,
In hospitality and bounty he's unspurned.
وَكائِن مِنَ الأَيدي الظَوالِمِ أَصبَحَت
بِكَفَّي بِلالِ الجودِ كانَ نَكالِها
From tyrants' hands he saves men, slaves, things dear.
With Bilal's hands placed over them, they're returned.
وَكانَ بِلالٌ حينَ يَستَلَّ سَيفَهُ
لَمَلحَمَةٍ بِالمُعلَمينَ يَنالُها
When unsheathed, Bilal's sword such great havoc wreaked
The enemy their garb with shameful stains had burned.
سُيوفٌ إِذا الأَغمادُ عَنهُنَّ أُلقِيَت
وَكانَ بِهاماتِ الرِجالِ صِقالُها
Their polished blades, from sheaths cast free, then reeked
With foemen's blood as blows were struck unconcerned.
هُوَ الطاعِنُ النَجلاءَ تَهدِرُ فَرغُها
مِنَ العَلَقِ المُروي السِنانِ اِنبِلالُها
Bilal on steed unleashed makes blood from them squirt,
His spear thirsty, their necks by its blade churned.
أَرى مُضَرَ المِصرَينِ أَشرَقَ نورُها
إِذا قامَ فيها حينَ يَغدو بِلالُها
The Misrs shine when dawn wakes Bilal in their midst,
Lightened by his presence, shadows all dispersed.
هُوَ الفارِجُ اللَبسَ الشَديدَ اِلتِباسُهُ
إِذا عَيَّ عَن فَصلِ القَضاءِ رِجالُها
By Bilal hard juristic problems are solved,
When from just judgment scholars have turned.
نَماهُ أَبو موسى إِلى حَيثُ تَنتَهي
مِنَ الأَرضِ مِن دونِ السَماءِ جِبالُها
Raised by Abu Musa, lofty as mountains towered,
Nothing above Bilal's heights - sky or earth - were yearned.
