ثَنى الصّعْدَةَ السّمْراءَ منْ لِينِ قَدِّهِ

وجَرّدَ منْ أجْفانِهِ سَيْفَ خَدِّهِ

He bent his slender, dark ascent,

And unsheathed from his eyelids the sword of his cheek,

وأقْبَلَ في جَيْشٍ منَ الحُسْنِ رائِعٍ

ترَى العَرَبَ العَرْباءَ منْ دونِ بَنْدِهِ

And came forth with an army of dazzling beauty,

You would see the highborn Arab women beyond his bond.

فمِن ثُعَلِ الزّوْراءِ لمحَةُ طَرْفِهِ

ومنْ مُضَرِ الحَمْراءِ صَفْحَةُ خدِّهِ

So from the radiance of his face flashed a glance of his eye,

And from the redness of Mudar shone the page of his cheek.

ولاحَتْ لهُ في حوْمَةِ القَلْبِ فتْكَةٌ

تعجَّلَ نصْرَ اللهِ فيها لوَعْدِهِ

And for him in the battleground of the heart appeared a victory,

God hastened in it to fulfill His promise to him.

فحكّمَ سيْفَ اللحْظِ في عسْكَرِ الهَوى

فكَمْ مُهْجةٍ مطْلولَةٍ فوقَ خدِّه

So he wielded the sword of the glance in the army of passion,

How many compressed hearts above his cheek!

وكم منْ فُؤادٍ ضاعَ في مأزَق الهَوى

فَقيداً وقد أبْلَى بمَبْلَغِ جُهْدِهِ

And how many hearts were lost in the strait of passion,

Shackled, after exhausting all effort.

وأشْكَلَ فيها موْتُهُ منْ حَياتِهِ

فعُمِّرَ في حُكْمِ الغَرامِ لفَقْدِهِ

And in it his death was obscured from his life,

So he lived on in the rule of love for losing him.

بنَفْسي حِجازيُّ الجَمالِ إذا انْتَمى

تَطأْطَأَتِ العُلْيا لعِزّةِ مجْدِهِ

I swear, he of Hijazi beauty, if he belonged,

The highest brows bowed to the glory of his splendor.

تبسَّمَ عنْ دُرٍّ منَ السِّمْطِ رائِقٍ

تأنّقَ صُنْعُ اللهِ في نَظْمِ عِقْدِهِ

He smiled a brilliant pearl smile,

God's work was elegant in stringing his necklace.

ثَناياهُ قد أبْدَتْ مَعالِمَ بارِقٍ

وأنْفاسُهُ أبْدَتْ نَواسِمَ نجْدِهِ

His curves revealed striking features,

And his breath revealed the breezes of his homeland.

وأعْطافُهُ تبْدو علَيْها إذا انْثَنى

شَمائِلُ منْ بانِ الحِجازِ ورَنْدِهِ

And in his twists appeared, when he bent,

The features of the youths of Hijaz and its knights.

تفَجَّرَ منْ عيْنِ الجَمالِ بمَوْرِد

تَحومُ القُلوبُ الهِيمُ منْ دونِ وِرْدِهِ

From the eye of beauty burst a spring,

Around which the hearts of the passionate circle without rosary.

يَلوحُ على أزْرارِهِ قَمَرُ الدُّجى

ويَمْرَحُ غُصْنُ البانِ في طيِّ بُرْدِهِ

The moon of evening appears on his bracelets,

And the branch of blossom frolics in the breath of his chest.

ويحْتالُ أثْناءَ الذُّوابَةِ هازِئاً

كما اخْتالَ سيْفٌ في حَمائِلِ غِمْدِهِ

And it flirts during youth, joking,

As a sword flirts in its sheath.

لَئِنْ قَلِقَتْ أعْطافُهُ في وِشاحِهِ

فكمْ أقْلَقَتْ قلْبَ المَشوقِ بوَجْدِهِ

If his curls disturbed his kerchief,

Then how much more did they disturb a passionate heart!

وإنْ كَحَلَ السِّحْرُ المُبينُ جُفونَهُ

فكَمْ كحِلَتْ طَرْفُ المُعنّى بسُهْدِهِ

And if magic openly lined his eyelids,

Then how much more did the glance of meaning line them with kohl!

وقالوا عِذارٌ قلْتُ لا بَلْ صَحيفةٌ

عَقَدْتُ لهُ فيه وَثيقَةَ وُدِّهِ

And they said flirtation, I said no, but a script

In which I bound for him a pact of love.

وشَى صَفحَةَ الخدِّ الصّقيلِ فزانَها

كما زانَ صَفْحَ السّيْفِ وشْيُ فِرِنْدِهِ

And he adorned the page of the polished cheek, thereby beautifying it,

As the sheen adorned the blade of the polished sword.

فَيا لابِساً شَعْرَ الذُّؤابَةِ ناسِكاً

ليُخْبِرَ في وَصْلي بمَذْهَبِ زُهْدِهِ

So O you who don the hair of youth devoutly,

Tell me of my connection to his ascetic ways.

ركِبْتُ طَريقَ الصّبْرِ وهْيَ مَفازَةٌ

ليَ اللهُ منْ غَوْلِ الطّريقِ وبُعْدِهِ

I rode the path of patience, and it was a huge wilderness,

May God protect me from the injustice of the path and its distance.

مَواقيتُ هَجْرٍ أرْبَعونَ قَضيْتُها

فَيا مَنْ لصَبْري منْ بُلوغِ أشُدِّهِ

Forty moons of estrangement I fulfilled,

So who can help my patience achieve its greatest extent?

إذا حَمَلَتْ طَلَّ الغَمامَةِ أدْمُعي

رَوى القلبُ منّي في الهَوى سِقْطُ زَنْدِهِ

When the clouds carried my tears,

My heart quenched in passion the falling of its hailstones.

سَقى اللهُ عهْدَ القُرْبِ أفْضَلَ ما سَقى

عُهودَ الهَوى العُذْريِّ منْ صَوْبِ عهْدِهِ

May God water the pact of nearness in the best way He waters

The chaste pacts of passion from the direction of His pact.

ويوْماً على رَغْمِ الوُشاةِ اخْتَلَسْتُهُ

جَهَرْتُ بشُكْرِ اللهِ فيهِ وحَمْدِهِ

And one day despite the slanderers I stole him,

I declared my gratitude and praise of God openly.

تَناعَسَ جَفْنُ الدّهْرِ عنّيَ قاصِداً

ورُبّتَما نالَ امْرؤٌ فوْقَ قَصْدِهِ

The eyelid of time slept away from me on purpose,

And often one attains beyond his aim.

وحَلّ عَميدُ البيْتِ بيْتيَ زائِراً

كما حلّ بدْرُ التِّمِّ في بَيْتِ سَعْدِهِ

And the chief of the house visited my house,

As the full moon visited the house of its happiness.

فيا لَيْتَ قومِي يعْلَمونَ بأنّني

ظَفِرْتُ على يأسي بجَنّةِ خُلْدِهِ

So O that my people knew that I

Attained victory over my despair with the paradise of eternity!

فقبّلْتُ في لَيلِ الذّؤابَةِ وجْهَهُ

وعُذْتُ بذاكَ النّورِ منْ ليْلِ صَدِّهِ

So I kissed his face in the night of youth,

And sought refuge in that light from the night of his rejection.

وعاطَيْتُهُ حَمْراءَ في لونِ أدْمُعي

إذا سَكَبَتْ ذوْبَ العَقيقِ لبُعْدِهِ

And I gave him red wine the color of my tears

When it pours molten carnelian from his absence.

وقلْتُ لِساقِيها وللأُنْسِ طاعَةٌ

تحَكَّمُ في هَزْلِ الحَديثِ وجدِّهِ

And I said to its server and to companionship, obedience!

Manage the jest of speech and its passion.

أدِرْها فَرَوْضُ الخَدِّ أخْضَلَهُ الحَيا

وحَفَّ طِرازُ الآسِ منْ حوْلِ وَرْدِهِ

Serve it, for the cheek was made green by modesty,

And the perfume of blossoms encircled his rose.

فناوَلَها مَمْزوجَةً برُضابِهِ

ولوْ أنّني أنْصَفْتُ قُلْتُ بشُهْدِهِ

So he served it mixed with his saliva,

And if I were fair, I would say with his honey.

فلمّا بدَتْ للرّاحِ فيهِ ارْتياحَةٌ

ومالَتْ شَمالٌ للشَّمولِ بقَدِّهِ

For when pleasure appeared to the one resting in it,

And the left inclined toward embracing his nape,

توسّدَ أضغاثَ الرَّياحينِ وانْثَنى

يغِطُّ غَطيطَ الطِّفْلِ منْ فوْقِ مَهْدِهِ

He made the plants his pillow, and bent

To cover the babbling of the child above its cradle.

فبايَعْتُ سُلْطانَ العَفافِ ولمْ أُجِزْ

على فِكْرَتي إلا الوَفاءَ بعَهْدِهِ

So I pledged allegiance to the sultan of chastity, and did not allow

Myself except to fulfill the pact with him.

أبا الشّرف الأرْضَى تلطَّفْ بأنْفُس

غَزاها غَرامٌ أصْبَحَتْ نهْبَ جُنْدِهِ

O father of glory, most holy, treat gently

Souls conquered by a passion that became the plunder of its army.

ترفَّقْ وعَلِّلْها بأيْسَرِ نائِلٍ

يَحوطُ ذَماها كالسَّلامِ ورَدِّهِ

Be gentle, and pardon them with the easiest attainer,

That would protect their reputation like peace and its reconciliation.

وإنْ أنْتَ لم تَفْعَلْ فما أنْتَ في الوَرى

بأوّلِ موْلَى جارَ في حُكْمِ عبْدِهِ

And if you will not do so, then you are not in existence

The first patron dealing with his servant.