عطفاً علينا يا زمان

إن كان يعطفك الأمان

Have mercy on us, o time

If security has mercy on you

حتام منا المستهام

بحالتيك المستهان

We desperately need

Your trivial states

اتعيد ما ذهبت بلبي

منك آرام حسان

Restore what you have taken from me

Of your tranquility and beauty

يعطي النوائب كل ما

يعطيكه مني العيان

Time gives all that

The eye sees it giving you

ولرب نازلة يعز بها

القوى المستعان

And through an ordeal, one finds glory

With the help of the Almighty

ولكم شجاع وغى على

الاحباب رعديد جبان

And many a brave soul perished

For loved ones, like a coward

اواه لو أجدى التأوه

من هوى فيه الهوان

Oh if my sighs could help

From a love that brings humiliation

واشد ما اشكوه لدن

القد ناظره سنان

And what I complain of the most

Are the glances of the beauty with teeth like pearls

صعب القياد كأنما

الجوزا لسابقه عنان

Difficult to lead, as if

The horse had let loose its reins

لا ينثني ولعطفه شوقاً

تثني الخيزران

It won't bend over, and in its charm that I yearn

The branches bend

واصفر من حسد لمبسمه

الشهي الأقحوان

And I am yellow with envy of its smile

That allures everyone

اسر الجوارح حبه مني

وجرحها الطعان

Its love has captured my senses

And its arrow has injured them

وتقارن الدائين انحس

ما يكون به القران

And the two debts are comparable

In what they require as fulfillment

ومن العجائب انه ماملّه

مني مكان

And of the wonders is that I have not

Bored it in the slightest

وكأن كلي في الثنا

عليك مولانا لسان

And it is as if all of me

Sings your praises, my master, tongue

يا نجم دين تستضئ به

ذكا والزبرقان

O star of the faith that shines

For the reasonable and devout

وإمام علم في العلا

أمسى تشير له البنان

And imam of knowledge supreme

To whom the peaks point

حفظ المعاني والبيان

وفي معانيه البيان

Who has preserved meanings and eloquence

And in his meanings, eloquence

والحافظات ومكة تثني

عليه وعسقلان

And the protective verses and Mecca praises

Him, and Ascalon

وروى احاديث النبي

صحيحة لا تستمان

And he narrated the true prophetic

Traditions without doubt

وتلا تفاسير الألى

بانوا وبين ما ابانوا

And recited the interpretations of scholars

Clarifying what they clarified

وله اليدان بكل علم

فيه للمولى يُدان

And he has mastered all knowledge

For which the Lord is owed

فكأنه في حل مشكله

وليس به اكتهان

So it is as if he solves problems

Without any trouble

للأعجمي وللفصيح على

الدقائق ترجمان

An interpreter for the non-Arab and eloquent

In the subtlest matters

والمرء يسفر عنه طي

لسانه لا الطيلسان

And one's tongue reveals his

Eloquence, not just the cloak

ولقد تفنن في الترسل

والفنون لهن شان

And he has mastered epistolary writing

And the genres which have stature

حتى فتنت به وللأسنان

بالحسن افتنان

To the point of enchanting with his charm

And teeth, enchantment

وله القوافي الغر ابكار

وللغير العوان

And his unprecedented rhymes

And aid for others

ممنوعة ما نالها

من قبله انس وجان

Forbidden what none before him

Obtained, neither human nor Jinn

تغني بهن الغانيات

وتقتنيهن القيان

The female singers sing his praises

And the lyres play his tunes

فكأنما الياقوت

والمرجان منها والجمان

So it is as if ruby, coral and pearls

Are made of them

والأنتحال يبينه لك

في القريض الأمتحان

And paraphrasing makes clear to you

In the test, the examination

تعساً لمن جاراك في

امد يقوم به الرهان

Woe to he who rivals you

In a bet that cannot be fulfilled

والسبق لا يخفى الهجين به

ولا يخفى الهجان

And precedence cannot be hidden from experts

Nor from the layman in it

ولكم حسود لم ينله

من أياديك امتنان

And how many enviers have not

Obtained your favors

يرجو علاك ومن حلاها

ما يزين ولا يزان

Hoping for your decline, but those who wear it

Will not remove its beauty

ان العلا لا تستعار

وحليها لا يستدان

Supremacy cannot be borrowed

And its jewelry cannot be lent

وبك اكتتام أمورها

وإليك منهن اكتنان

And in you lies the concealment of its matters

And to you alone, its confidentiality

والفضل يضمن ان تسود

به بنوه حيث كانوا

And virtue guarantees your children supremacy

Wherever they may be

ولأنت نعم السائدون

وأنه نعم الضمان

And you are best of nobles

And best guarantor

يا ابن الخفاف إلى الندى

وعلى الخطوب هم الرزان

O son of Khafaf, of mercies

And calamities, most reasonable

لا تستقر لهم جفون

اوتصف لهم جفان

Their eyelids know no rest

Or closing of their eyes

انموت من ظماء عناً

والأرض يحييها عنان

We die of thirst, imploring

While the earth is given to Surat

وإلام نستسقي وموردنا

فويق واللقان

To whom shall we pray, while our source of water

Is deficient and failing?

أنا لزمان لمستجف

لا يدر له لبان

I belong to a time that treats me

Unjustly and cares not for harmony

فعفت قوي الدنيا وقد

عجفت محاسنها السمان

So I shunned the powers of life after

Its beauty had alienated me

والدهر كالحيوان يهرم

شرخه والعنفوان

And time is like an animal, it grows old

Its vigor and youth exhausted

خان الألى منا يمد

لهم بمعروف خوان

It betrayed the dearest of all to me

Who used to treat us kindly

ولقد أناخ بكلكل

وامده فينا جران

And indeed it brought disaster to all

And spread decay among us

واياد أكرمنا ورب

أعزة بادوا وهانوا

And the noblest hands have perished

Or become humiliated

وإليك عذري ان قسا

شعري ولان هراً فلان

And my excuse if my poetry grew harsh

And not harmonious, weak one, is

إني ليزعجني المنى

طلباً ويعجزني الأوان

I am troubled by longing

And rendered incapable of appropriate timing

ومحل حمدك ليس

يدركه بشاردة حصان

And your praise cannot be attained

By a fleeting horse

فلأنت من بهرام دون

محله والبهرمان

So you are above your status, and the magnificent pearls

And if I bid farewell, and blood, to see you a fortress

فاسلم ودم لأراك حصناً

فيه للمجد احتصان

In which glory takes refuge

And when I bid farewell, I shall return to your door

وإذا سلمت فعند بابك

عائد والمهرجان

Joyous, in celebration