خيالُكِ للأَجفانِ مَثَّلهُ الفكرُ

فعينيَ ملأى بالهوى ويدي صِفْرُ

Your imagination is to my eyelids as thought is to my mind

So my eyes are filled with passion and my hand is saffron

سَرى والدُّجى الغِربيبُ يُخْفي مكانهُ

فنمّ عليه من تضَوّعها نَشْرُ

The young western night concealed its whereabouts

As dew formed on it in clusters

وَقَد صَوَّبَ النَّسرُ المُحَلِّقُ تالِياً

أخاه ومات الليل إذْ وُلِدَ الفجرُ

The soaring eagle took aim

At its brother, and night died when dawn was born

أَلَمَّ بِصَبٍّ لَيسَ يَدري أمِرجَلٌ

يفور بنيرانِ الأسى مِنهُ أو صَدرُ

A youth was seized by a passion he did not comprehend

Whether it boiled within him from sorrow or his chest

غَريبٌ جَنى أرْيَ الحياةِ وشَرْيَها

وَيَجني الفَتى بِالعَيشِ ما يَغرِسُ الدَّهرُ

A stranger who tasted life’s joy and bitterness

And youth reaps what fate sows

أنازحةَ الدَّارِ الَّتي لا أزورها

إذا لم يُشقَّ البحرُ أو يُقْطَعِ القفرُ

I long for the house I cannot visit

Unless the sea is crossed or the desert traversed

إذا بَعُدَتْ دار الأحبَّةِ بالنوى

فذاك لهمْ هجرٌ وإنْ لم يَكُن هَجرُ

When the home of loved ones is distant in my resolve

That is exile for them though no separation from me

رَحَلتُ ولَم يَرْحَلْ عَشِيَّةَ بيننا

معي برحيل الجِسمِ قَلبٌ ولا صَبرُ

I departed though no eve came between us

With my body's departure came a heart and no patience

وداءُ خُمار الشّرْبِ سَوفَ يُذيبني

فَقَد نَزَحت في فيكِ غَزرٌ بِهِ الخمرُ

The malady of the wine’s intoxication will waste me away

For its heavy downpour has poured into your mouth

وما زال ماءُ العين في الخدِّ مُعْطِشي

إلى ماءِ وجهٍ في لقائي له بِشْرُ

And the water of my eye on my cheek remains thirsty

For the water of a face whose sight would announce good news to me

عَسى البعدُ يَنفي موجِبُ القربِ حكمَه

فعند انقباضِ العُسرِ ينبسطُ اليسرُ

Perhaps distance will negate the authority of nearness

So when hardship contracts, ease will expand

عَسى بينُنا يُبْقي المَوَدَّة بَينَنا

ولا ينتهي منّا إلى أجلٍ عمرُ

Maybe between us affection will remain

And neither of our lives will end before its time

فَقُلْ لأناسٍ عرَّسوا بِسَفاقِسٍ

لِطائرِ قَلبي في مُعَرَّسِكم وَكْرُ

So say to those who saddle boxed structures

A nest for the bird of my heart in your saddle

وفرخٍ صغيرٍ لا نهوضَ لمثله

يُراطنُ أشكالاً ملاقِطُها صُفْرُ

And a small chick unable to stand

Who crouches over shapes whose plumes are yellow

إذا ما رأَى في الجوِّ ظِلَّ مُحَلِّقٍ

تَرَنَّمَ واهتزَّت قَوادِمُهُ العشرُ

Whenever he sees a shadow gliding overhead

He sings, and his ten primary wing feathers flutter

يظنّ أباه واقعاً فإذا أبي

وقوعاً عليه شُبَّ في قلبِهِ الجمرُ

Imagining it is his father, and if it's truly his father

descending upon him, embers flare up in his heart

يلذُّ بعيني أن ترى عَينَهُ وأن

يُلَفّ بنحري في التلاقي له نَحْرُ

It delights my eyes to see his eyes, and that

his throat wraps around my throat when we meet

أَحِنُّ إلى أوطانِكُم وَكَأنَّما

ألاقي بها عَصْرَ الصّبا سُقيَ العصرُ

I yearn for your homelands, as if

I will find in them the nectar of my prime quenched

ولم أرَ أرضاً مثل أرضكمُ التي

يُقبِّلُ ذيلَ القصرِ في شطِّها البحرُ

I have not seen any land like your land

Whose palace tail is kissed by the sea at its bank

يمدّ كجيشٍ زاحفٍ فإذا رأى

عَطاءَ عَلِيٍّ كان من مَدّهِ جزرُ

Stretching like a crawling army, so when it sees

The generosity of Ali, its extend becomes islands

أَما يَخجَلُ البحرُ الأُجاجُ حُلولَه

ببحرٍ فراتٍ ما للجَّتِهِ عَبرُ

Does not the turbulent sea feel ashamed at its encroachment

Upon the Euphrates sea that has no ebb and flow?

جَوادٌ إِذا أَسدى الغنى مِن يَمينِهِ

تَحَوَّلَ عن أَيمانِ قُصّادِهِ الفقرُ

A steed, when affluence pours from its right hand

Turns away from the poverty of its hunters

حَمى ثغرَه بالسيف والرمح مُقْدِماً

ويحمي عرينَ القَسْوَرِ النابُ والظفرُ

It protected its mouth with sword and spear leading the charge

While fang and claw protect the lion’s den

إذا ما كَسونا المدحَ أوصافَهُ ازدَهى

فَطيّبَ أفواه القوافي له ذكرُ

When we clothed praise in its attributes, it shined

And so pure rhymes mouth his mention

يَصولُ بِعَضبٍ في الكفاحِ كأنَّه

لِسانُ شواظٍ مِنهُ يَضطَرِمُ الذعرُ

It rages in combat as if

It is the lashing tongue from which terror flares up

وَتَحسَبُ مِنهُ الريحَ تَغدو بِضَيغَمٍ

على جِسمِهِ نهيٌ وفي يده نَهْرُ

And you’d think the wind approaches it with arrogance

A prohibition on its body, while in its hand a river

ومُعتَذِرٌ عمّا تنيلُ يمينه

وكلّ المنى في البعض منه فما العذرُ

And it apologizes for what its right hand reaps

While its entirety is grace, so what excuse?

بصيرٌ بمردي الطعن يُغْري سنانه

بجارحةٍ في طيّها الوِرْدُ والغَمْرُ

Discerning the piercing blades of spears, provoking its canines

With a claw whose buds are roses and myrtle

يجول فيلقي طعنةً فوق طعنةٍ

فأولاهما كَلْمٌ وأخراهما سَبْرُ

It lunges dealing blow after blow

The first being a wound, the last a piercing

إذا رفعَ المغرورُ للحَيْنِ رأسهُ

يُعَجِّلُهُ من مَدّ عامله قَصْرُ

When the arrogant raises his head for an instant

The brevity of his pillar of support cuts him short

وهَيجاءُ لا يُفْشي بها الموتُ سرّهُ

إِذا لَم يَكُن بِالضَّرب من بيضها جَهْرُ

And bedazzling blades that do not betray the secret of death

When their striking produces no sparks from their blades

تهادى بها جُرْدٌ كأنَّ قتامها

ظلامٌ وأطرافَ القنا أنجمٌ زهرُ

A battalion marches with them as if their darkness

Is darkness and the spear tips are shining stars

إذا قَدّتِ البيضُ الدروعَ حسِبتها

جداول في الأيمان شُقّتْ بها غُدرُ

When the blades meet shields you'd think them

Streams split open loyalties with betrayal

فَكَم صافَحَتْ مِنها الحروبَ صفائحٌ

وَفَتْ بحصادِ الهام أوراقها الخضرُ

How many times have they joined battles with clashing

And reaped the harvest of lives with their green leaves

لِيَهْنِ الرعايا منك عَدلُ سياسَةٍ

ودفعُ خطوبٍ لليالي بها غدرُ

So your justice of rule may comfort the subjects

And dispel misfortunes for nights containing betrayal

ويسرٌ حَسَمْتَ العُسْرَ عنهم بصنعه

كما حَسَمَ الإسلامُ ما صَنَعَ الكفرُ

And ease you have resolved their hardship with your work

As Islam resolved what disbelief contrived

فلا زلت تجني بالظبا قِممَ العِدى

وتُثمِرُ في الأيدي بها الأسَل السمرُ

So you continue to reap with luck the peaks of injustice

And with it hands harvest brown spears