جَلَداً خَلِيلِي ما لِنَفْسِكَ تَجْزَعُ

آنَ الرَّحيلُ فأَيْنَ منهُ المَفْزَعُ

My stalwart friend, why do you grieve for yourself?

The time of departure has come, so where can refuge be found?

عَمَدُوا لِتَقْوِيضِ القِبَابِ فَعِنْدَهَا

أرْبَتْ على صَوْبِ الرَّبَابِ الأَدْمُعُ

When they set out to destroy the domes,

My tears then flowed down my cheeks.

لَنْ يَعْدَمُوا رَبَّابَها لِرِكَابِهِم

في حَيْثُ يَسْتَهْوِي السَّرَابُ ويَخْدَعُ

They will not lack a place for their mounts

Where mirages form and hopes are dashed.

هَيْهَاتَ عافَتْ وِرْدَها وَرْدِيَّةٌ

نُجُبٌ غَدَتْ بِهِمُ تَخُبُّ وتُوضِعُ

Alas! A watering place its visitors frequented

Is now tearful and abased without its noble guests.

إنْ لَمْ يُخَالِطْهَا نَجِيعِيَ أَحْمَراً

كَرَعَتْ بأَزْرَقَ سَيْحُهُ يَتَدَفَّعُ

Unless it is mingled with crimson snow

It appears blue when its torrents surge.

عَجَبَاً لِشُرْعٍ لا تُدارُ عَلَيْهِمُ

وَهيَ المُدامَةُ بالزُّلالِ تُشَعْشَعُ

Strange is a law not enforced against them

While it gleams through veils as it glistens!

لمَّا بَكَيْتُ بَكَى يُسَاعِدُنِي الحَيَا

فَدُمُوعُهُ مِنْ رِقَّةٍ لِيَ تَهْمَعُ

When I wept, the doves wept in sympathy with me,

And their tears of pity for me kept flowing.

أَشْدُو بِذِكراكُم وأَنْشِجُ لَوعَةً

وكَذا الحَمَامَةُ حينَ تَنْدُبُ تَسْجَعُ

I sing their praises and weep in agony,

Just as the dove moans when it calls.

يَا بَرْحَ شَوْقِي لِلذينَ تَحَمَّلُوا

وأَقامَ حُبُّهُم بِقَلْبِي يَرْبَعُ

O solace of my passion for those who have endured

And whose love in my heart has settled!

أَضْحَتْ بَلاقِعَ مِنْهُمُ دَاراتُهُم

فالصَّدرُ إِلا مِنْ شُجونِي بَلْقَعُ

Their abodes have become desolate wildernesses,

While my breast except for my agonies is a wilderness.

لا أُنْكِر البُرَحَاءَ في عَقِبِ النَّوَى

قَد حَلَّ بالتَّرْحالِ ما يُتَوَقَّعُ

I do not deny time'svicissitudes after companionship,

For parting has occurred with traveling, as expected.

في ذِمَّةِ اللَّهِ الأُلَى أَمُّوا الفَلا

بِالعِيسِ تَخْدِي والصَّوَاهِلُ تَمْزَعُ

The family of the Prophet are under Allah's protection,

Traveling by night with the wood-carrier who creeps furtively.

وَصَلُوا السُّرى لَيْلاً إلى أنْ عَرَّسُوا

والصّبْحُ في ثَوْبِ الدُّجَى مُتَلَفِّعُ

They arrived by night to their courtyard

While morning was clothed in the garb of darkness.

وَكَأنَّمَا زُهْرُ الكَوَاكِبِ سَحْرَةً

جَشَمَتْ سُرَاهُم فَهي حَسْرَى طُلَّعُ

It was as if the blossoms of the stars were rioters

Whose intoxication the dawn exposed, to their regret.

بانُوا فَبَانَ القَلْبُ لي عَن أَضْلُعِي

يا مَنْ لِقَلْبٍ أَسْلَمَتْهُ الأَضْلُعُ

When the brigands returned to their market

Yearning returned crestfallen.

كانَتْ سَلامَتُه لِوَقْتِ سَلامِهِمْ

صُدِعُوا بِرِحْلَتِهِ فَها هُوَ يصْدَعُ

If my inquiry were relieved by an answer,

What is between me and the distance that hopes?

يَصْلَى الهَواجِر في الظِّلالِ تَحَرُّقَاً

ويَحِنُّ إنْ سَلَت القُلُوبُ وَيَنْزَعُ

Am I frightened where I was during his confusion,

Or is someone like me frightened by it?

لمَّا تَراجَعَتِ الحُداةُ لِسَوْقِهِمْ

رَجَعَ الهَوى أدْرَاجَهُ يَسْتَرْجِعُ

I did not know the time they purposed

To bid farewell to me or the ruler they would bid farewell.

أُخْفِي سُؤالي لَو شُفِيتُ إِجابَةً

مَا لِي وَما لِلْبَيْنِ بي يتَوقَّعُ

A king whose command is to obey -

So I must comply with whatever he aspires to.

أأنا المُرَوّعُ حَيْثُ كنتُ بهَوْلِهِ

أَمْ لي بهِ مَثَلٌ كَذَاكَ يُرَوّعُ

The seven fierce lions vie over him

And the four directions compete for him.

لَمْ أدْرِ ساعَةَ أَزْمَعُوها نِيَّةً

مَحْيَايَ أمْ يَحْيَى الأَميرَ أُوَدِّعُ

He is with the angelic realm, busy or at leisure, protected

And that cannot be prevented.

مَلِكٌ علَى الأَقْدارِ خِدْمَةُ أَمْرِهِ

فَقَصِيُّ ما يَسْمُو إلَيْهِ طَيِّعُ

He rivals the angels in his principles,

By which the meadows of sanctity flourish.

هَامَتْ بِهِ السَّبْعُ الشِّدادُ يَحِلُّها

وَتَنَافَسَتْ فيهِ الجِهَاتُ الأَرْبَعُ

And he rules the realms with his most mighty determination

Which will always submit to him and bow.

بِالْعَالَمِ العُلْوِيِّ في حَضَرٍ وفي

سَفَرٍ يُحَفُّ وذاكَ ما لا يُدْفَعُ

He sought the caliphate through election but obtained it

Through the one whose lineage cannot be disparaged.

ضَاهَى المَلائِكَ في ضَرائِبِهِ التِي

رَوْضُ الرُّبَى مِنْ عَرْفِها يَتَضَوَّعُ

The nights take turns through the land acting under his approval:

enlivening whom he loves and helping whom he assists.

وقَضَى علَى الأَمْلاكِ أقْعَسُ عِزّهِ

أَلا تَزَالَ لَهُ تَذِلُّ وتَخْضَعُ

So the rightly guided live by his grace,

And the misguided meet their doom through him.

خَطَبَ الخِلافَةَ بالقِرَاعِ فَنَالَها

مِنهُ قَريعٌ أنْفُهُ لا يُقْرَعُ

His armies filled the expanses

So that even the vast seemed cramped.

صَرْفُ اللَّيالِي في الْوَرَى مُتَصَرِّفٌ

برِضَاهُ يُنْعِشُ مَنْ أحَبَّ وَيَصْدَعُ

Their flashing swords made the eyes drunk,

And their blades, when they shone, were similar.

فَأَخُو الرَّشادِ لِعَيْشِهِ مُتَسَوِّغٌ

وأَخو الضَّلالِ لِحَتْفِهِ مُتَجَرِّعُ

He refuses to be confined in might and glory,

For he who scatters the eminent there gathers them.

هَجَعَتْ رَعاياهُ علَى فُرُشِ المُنَى

أَمْنا وباتَ لِرَعْيِها لا يَهْجَعُ

Attaining the height of glory, most proud,

With his banner raised at the summit.

يَصِلُ ابْتِساماً في الوَغَى بِطَلاقَةٍ

كَرَماً وَوَجْهُ اليَوْمِ أرْبَدُ أسْفَعُ

Through him guidance has been revived, led by the Imam of his choice,

And by him wrongdoing is fought, by the most intrepid.

فَكَأَنَّما النَّقْعُ المُثارُ دجُنَّةٌ

وَكأنَّ غُرَّتَهُ صَباحٌ يَسْطَعُ

Does it seem the heavens produced one who acts

So for that reason what it produced suits him?

لَمْ يَسْلُ عَنْ شَوْقٍ إلَيْهِ مِنْبَرٌ

لَم يَخْلُ مِنْ حِرْصٍ عَلَيْهِ مَوْضِعُ

The land, wherever he shifts from its edges

And settles, is either meadow or pasture.

نَادَى به الغَرْبُ القَصيُّ مُثَوِّباً

فأَجَابَهُ يَطْوِي الفَلاةَ ويَذْرَعُ

I have reproached the immaculate ones saying:

You have traversed the sea of dew, so be expansive

ثِقَةً بأنَّ جُنُودَهُ وبُنُودَهُ

يَغْدُو الوُجودُ لَها يُطيعُ وَيَسْمَعُ

If you intend - do not be excluded or draw near,

Do not keep your distance or ask and be denied.

حَفِظَ الذي شَرَعَ الإلَهُ حِفَاظَهُ

بالْبِيضِ تُنْضَى والأَسِنَّةُ تُشْرَعُ

Oh what an age that has harmed me!

I have resigned myself to eternal captivity in it.

مَلأَتْ جَحافِلُهُ مَنَادِيحَ المَلا

وَلَرُبَّما ضاقَ الأَمَدُّ الأوْسَعُ

No stratagem can extract safety from it,

So I will be content with its judgment.

أَعْشَى العُيونَ بِها الْتِماعُ حَديدِهِمْ

فَتَشابَهَتْ لامَاتُهُمْ إذْ تَلْمَعُ

Whence do I have patience for the bitterness of parting

When the path to patience has been blocked?

يَأْبَى عَلَى البَأْسِ اقْتِصاراً والنَّدَى

فَمُفَرّق العَلياء فيهِ مُجَمَّعُ

Were it not for my dislike of disobeying

I would strive to proceed straightforwardly and strongly.

مُتَبَوِّئٌ للْمَجْدِ أَشْمَخَ ذِرْوَةٍ

ولَهُ بِأَعْلاهَا لِواءٌ يُرْفَعُ

Since I have been assigned to serve Emir Muhammad -

Separation from him is most bitter.

أحْيَا الهُدَى منهُ إمامٌ مُرْتَضىً

وغَزا العِدَى منهُ هُمَامٌ أرْوَعُ

A regret the evening clouds announced, from which dripped

The downpour - who compares to him in loftiness?

أَتُرَى السَّماءَ دَرَتْ بما هُوَ صانِعٌ

فَلِذاكَ ما دَرَّتْ لَهُ تَتَصَنَّعُ

His soul and heart judged him superior amid his peers -

A cultivated soul and a heart most wise.

فَالأَرْضُ حَيْثُ يَحُولُ مِنْ أَطْرَافِها

وَيَحِلُّ إِمَّا مَرْتَعٌ أَوْ مَشْرعُ

No house equals his in purity,

Dawn has risen and its furthest limit is most resplendent.

ضَايَقْتُ في العُذْرِ العُفاةَ وقُلْتُ قَدْ

يَمَّمْتُمُ بَحْرَ النَّدَى فَاسْتَوْسِعُوا

What shall I say and how far shall I go praising

When the eloquent master poet sings their praise?

إِنْ تَقْصدوا لا تُحْجَبوا أو تَقْرُبُوا

لا تبْعدُوا أو تَسْأَلُوا لا تمْنَعُوا

Let me start over striving

Perhaps my mind will produce something original when it starts.

يا للزَّمانِ أَعَلَّنِي بِزَمَانَةٍ

أَصْبَحْتُ بالإخْلادِ فيها أقْنَعُ

If my nature pours forth a string of pearls regarding them

Then the sweetest in the generous land springs forth.

لا بُرْءَ مِنْهَا يُسْتَفَادُ بِحيلَةٍ

فإِلى الرِّضَى بالحُكْم فيها المَرْجِعُ

مِنْ أيْنَ لِي صَبْرٌ عَلى مَضَضِ النَّوَى

سُدَّتْ إلَى الصَّبْرِ الطَّرِيقُ المَهْيَعُ

لَوْلا التَّكَرُّهُ أَنْ أُخِلَّ بِطاعَةٍ

لَسَعَيْتُ زَحْفاً أَسْتَقيمُ وأَظْلَعُ

وبِأَنْ وُكِلْتُ إلى الأَميرِ مُحَمَّدٍ

عَذُبَ الأَمَرُّ مِنَ الفِرَاقِ الأَقْطَعُ

نَدْبٌ نَبا عَنهُ الحِجَى نَزَقَ الصِّبا

رُبَّ اكْتِهالٍ مَا عَداهُ تَرَعْرعُ

حَكَمَتْ لَهْ بالْفَضْلِ بَيْنَ لِدَاتِهِ

نَفْسٌ مُهَذَّبَةٌ وَقَلْبٌ أَصْمَعُ

لا بَيْتَ يَعْدِلُ في الطَّهارَةِ بَيْتَهُ

نَصَعَ الصَّباحُ وَمُنْتَهاهُ أَنْصَعُ

ماذَا أَقولُ وأَيْنَ أبْلُغُ مادِحاً

وبِمَدْحِهم غَنَّى البَليغُ المِصْقَعُ

دَعْنِي أَعِدْ فيهِ وأُبْدِئُ جَاهِداً

فَلَعَلَّ فِكْرِي حينَ يُبْدِئُ يُبْدِعُ

إنْ سَالَ طَبْعي في ذراهُمْ سَلْسَلاً

فالعَذْبُ في الأَرْضِ الكَرِيمَةِ يَنْبُعُ