بي من فتور المقلةِ الكحلاءِ
ما أَولع اللحظاتِ بالاعضاءِ
In me from the languor of kohl-dark eyes
What passion moments have for limbs
نفسٌ تنافسَ في النفيسِ وهمةٌ
تبني منازلها على الجوزاء
A soul competing in the exquisite, and an aspiration
Building its abodes upon Al Jawza
نهضتْ وقد قعدَ الزمانُ بأهله
ترمي مقاصدَها بسهمِ الرائي
It rose though time had settled with its people
Casting its purposes with the arrow of the beholder
واستوضحت نهجَ الرجاء فاعتقتْ
بي أوصل الإِدلاجِ بالإِسراء
And elucidated the path of hope, so it was delivered
To me the darkest dark with the brightest bright
حتى وصلت وشقَّ ظني بالوفا
شق الصباح عجاجة الظلماءِ
Until it arrived and my notion of loyalty was split
As the dawn splits the gloom of darkness
فنضبتُ راياتي وجردت المدى
ودمغتُ قسراً هامةَ الأعداءِ
So I furled my banners and bared the expanse
And stamped on the brow of enemies perforce
واشبتُ ناصيةَ الزمانِ ورعته
بغرائبِ العزماتِ والآراءِ
And pulled on the forelock of time, taming it
With the wonders of resolves and opinions
وركبتُ حتى فوق أنفاس العدى
وزحمت حتى منكب الخضراءَ
And rode atop the breaths of foes
And barged the shoulder of verdance
وعلوت أطواق النجومِ فقلن لي
قف حيث شئت فقلت كنَّ ورَائي
And ascended beyond the sphere of stars, so they told me
Stop wherever you wish, and I said, behind me!
فأَنا الذي لو شاءَ نزه طرفه
في روض مجلس سيّد الوزراءِ
For I am one whom, had he wished, could indulge
In the garden council of the minister supreme
لله همتهُ التي من شأنها
أن تردف النعماء بالنعماءِ
To God his resolve, which is apt
To follow boons with boons
تعدو مكارمهُ على آمالنَا
بدوى يصيبُ به مكان الداءِ
His virtues outrun our hopes
With an echo that strikes the place of illness
حتى إِذا غمرت أياديه الرجا
وأتاك يبغي العذر بالإِغراءَ
Until, when his hands were soaked in grace
And he came seeking pardon with temptation
بعثوا لطاعتهِ القلوب بملئها
خوفاً يشاب صريحه برجاء
Hearts were roused to obey him in their fullness
Fear interwoven with hope in his address
وعزائم قد أَرعدت نهضاتُها
بالرعبِ قلب الصخرةِ الصّماءَ
And resolves that thundered in their rising
Struck the heart of the deaf rock with dread
وطوت بياضَ العيش عمن فوقَه
نشرت سوادِ الغارةِ الشعواءَ
And folded the whiteness of life from atop him
Who unfurled the blackness of raging assault
واستسلبتْ منهنَّ أيام العدى
لما رمينَ بعمره الهيجاءِ
And wrested from them the days of enmity
When they cast at his life's spring a piercing wail
غاضت مياه محامدي السّخابهِ
حتى رميتَ الحمد بالإِلغاءَ
The waters of my forbearance were roiled
Until you cast praise into cancellation
ودفعت إِذا جازى ثنائي جوده
لينال منه ولاتَ حينً جزاءِ
And if you requited my praise of your munificence
To gain from him, for a time, recompense
تسمو إلى مرمي الفخار همومه
فهو البعيد مطارح الآلاءِ
His concerns rise to the horizon of glory
He whose benevolence casts boons afar
نصر السماح على النضار فكم له
بيد العفاة اليومَ من إسراءِ
Victory of clemency over sharpness - how much
In the hand of pardon today of advancement!
عجلٌ إِلى المعروف تحسبَ أنه
خاشٍ على المعروف كيدَ عِداء
A steed to kindness you'd think
Fearful for kindness like a scheming foe
يستعذبُ الإِحسان شرباً اذنه
يسقي عروقَ الدوحةِ العلياءِ
The ear of benevolence finds sweet
Watering the veins of the sublime council
بلت أياديه مغارسَ مجده
بالبذَل منه وهنَّ غير ظماءِ
His hands reached the saplings of his glory
In his open-handedness, though hands were parched
وسطا ومازج بأسه بسخائهِ
فلديهِ كم من شدةٍ ورخاءِ
Balanced and blending his might with generosity
For in him lies much severity and ease
ياناصبَ العلياءِ أني لمنتهي
جزتَ الوفا ووفيتَ كَلَّ وفاءِ
O pillar of sublime ones! I am an extremist
Requiting loyalty and fulfilling all troth
وجلوتها للناظرين مبينةً
كالشمس لا ترتاب عينَ الرائي
And elucidating it for beholders
Like the sun - no eye doubts its seer
أَفديك مما لا تحب وكل شخصٍ
لا يحب من الأنام فدائي
I sacrifice you from what you do not love, and every person
Who does not love the people - my sacrifice!
