أشهابٌ في دجى الليل ثَقَبْ

أم سراجٌ نارُهُ ماءُ العِنَبْ

Meteors in the gloom of night pierced

Or a lamp whose fire is grape juice

أم عروسٌ فوق كرسيِّ يدي

يجتليها اللهوُ في عقدِ الحبب

Or a bride above my hands' throne

Illuminated by playfulness in a necklace of loved ones

يا شقيقَ النفس أنفاس الصَّبا

بَرَدَت والصبح لا شكّ اقترب

O soul mate, the morning breeze

Has cooled and dawn no doubt has come near

قمْ أمتِّعك بعيشٍ لمْ تَقَعْ

في صفاءٍ منْهُ أقذاءُ النّوب

Arise, let me entertain you with a life you've never tasted

With clarity from which the dregs of misfortune have been strained

فلقد حانَ لضوءِ الفجر أنْ

يضربَ السرحانُ فيه بذنب

For it is time for the dawn's glow

To have the partridges strike their tails in it

فأدِرْها تحْتَ ليلٍ سَقْفُهُ

ظلمةٌ فيها من النور ثُقَبْ

So turn her under a night whose roof

Is darkness in which there is a piercing of light

أو على برقِ سماءٍ ضاحكٍ

غيمُهُ بالدّمْع منه منسكِب

Or above the lightning of a laughing sky

Whose clouds spill tears from it

سَكِرَ الرّوضُ وغنّى طيرُهُ

أفلا ترقصُ قاماتُ القُضُب

The garden is intoxicated and its birds sing

Should not then the bodies of its branches dance?

هات دُرّاً فيه ياقوتٌ وخُذْ

جسمَ ماءٍ حاملاً روحَ لهب

Bring a pearl in which there is ruby and take

A body of water carrying the spirit of flame

قهوَةً لو سُقِيَتْها صخرةٌ

أورقتْ باللّهو منها والطّرب

A coffee that if a boulder had drunk it

It would have blossomed with playfulness and enchantment

يجذبُ الرّوح إليه روحُها

ألطف الشيئين عندي ما انجذب

Its spirit pulls the soul to it

The softer of two things is what I'm drawn to

وُلِدَتْ بالشّيبِ في عنقودها

وهيَ اليومَ عجوزٌ لم تشب

It was born old in its cluster

And today it is an old woman who did not grow up

كلَّما مَوّجَها المزنُ أَرَتْ

حَبَبَ الفضّةِ في ماءِ الذهب

Whenever the cup-bearer waved it, it showed

The loved ones of silver in the water of gold

ما درى خمّارُها عاصِرَها

فحديثُ الصدق فيها كالكذب

Its wine-pourer who pressed it does not know

So the talk of truth in it is like lies

خندريسٌ عُتّقَتْ في أجوَفٍ

من دم العُنقودٍ مملوءٍ نُخَبْ

A libertine freed in a hollow

Of blood of grapes, filled choose

واضعٌ كفَّيْه في أخصارهِ

وقيامٌ في قعودٍ قد وجب

Putting his hands in his bosom

And standing while sitting is a must

دفنوا اللَّذةَ فيها حيّةً

وأتى الدّهرُ عليها وذهب

They buried pleasure in it alive

And time came upon it and went

ظَنَّهُ كنزاً فلمّا انْتَسَبَتْ

منهُ للأنفِ درى ذاك النسبْ

He thought it a treasure but when the smell

Was conveyed from it to the nose, that lineage was known

قلتُ إذ أبرَزَها في قعبه

أهيَ بنت الكرم أم أمّ الحقب

When he brought it out in his cloak I said

Is it the daughter of generosity or the mother of epochs?

قتلتني وهي بي مقتولةٌ

صولةُ الميت على الحيّ عجب

It killed me and by me it is killed

The assault of the dead upon the living is strange

كيفَ لا تصرعُني صَوّالةٌ

وهي منّي في عروقٍ وعصب

How can it not fell me with its assaults

While it is in my veins and nerves from me

ومليح الدلّ إنْ علّ بها

قلتَ نجمٌ في فمِ البدر غرب

And beautiful is the guide if with it

You say a star in the full moon has set

شعشعَ القهوةَ في صوب الحيا

وسقاني فضلةً مما شرب

It illuminated coffee in the direction of life

And gave me a surplus of what it drank

فتلاقى في فمي من كأسِهِ

ماءُ كرْمٍ وغمامٌ وشَنَبْ

So there met in my mouth from his cup

Water of generosity, clouds and mustache

وشدا من مدح يحيى نَغَماً

هزّ منه الملكُ عِطفيه طَرَب

And he plucked a string in praise of Yahya

Shaking from it the king his shoulders swayed

مِن مُعِزِّ الدّين في الفخر له

خيرُ جَدٍّ وتميمٌ خيرُ أب

From the source of glory for him, Mu'izz al-Din

The best grandfather and Tamim the best father

مَنْ له وجْهُ سماحٍ سافراً

أبداً للمجتدي لا ينْتقب

One whose face is pure and eloquent

Forever for the warrior not to be masked

مَلِكٌ عن ثُغْرَةِ الدّين اتّقى

ورمى الأعداءَ بالجيش اللجب

A king who feared for the breach of religion

And threw enemies with the mighty army

في سرير الملك منه قمرٌ

يُجْتَلَى يومَ العطايا بالسحب

In the king's throne there is a moon from him

Illuminated on the day of gifts with meteors

طاهرُ الأخلاق مألوفُ العلى

طيّبُ الأعراق مصقول الحسب

Pure of manners, intimate of the lofty

Good of lineage, polished of lineage

عادلٌ تعكف بالحمد على

ذكره أفواهُ عُجمٍ وعرب

A just one, praise bows constantly to

Mention him, mouths of non-Arabs and Arabs

سالبٌ منه الندى ما سَلَبَتْ

من أعاديه عواليه السُّلُب

Taking from his enemies what their heights have taken

Of loot

في نصابٍ لم يزل من حِمْيَر

مُعْرِقاً في كلّ قومٍ مُنْتَخَب

In a position never ceasing to choose

The zealous from every select group of people

بُهَمٌ إنْ ذُكِرَ الجيشُ بِهِمْ

هالَ منه الرعبُ واشتدّ الرّهَب

If the army is mentioned, their resolve

Frightens with it and fear intensifies

والحديدُ الصلبُ لولا بأسُهُ

لم يخَفْ في الطعنِ من لين القصب

And solid iron, were it not for their might

Would not be feared in stabbing, from the softness of reed

أثبت الإقدامُ في أنفسهمْ

أنّ مرّ الضّرْبِ حُلْوٌ كالضَّرَب

Their courage is affirmed in themselves

That the bitterness of striking is sweet like honey

يتّقي فيضَ النّدى مَنْ كَفّهُ

عيل منه لدغ دهر يَنتَهب

Whoever's palm has warded off the flow of generosity

Has been stung by the biting of plundering time

وإذا ما ضحكت سنّ الرضى

منه لم يُخْشَ عبوسْ في الغضب

And if the teeth of consent laugh from it

No frown is feared in anger from it

كلّ قطر منه يلقى مشرباً

من جداه ولقد كان سرب

Every drop from it finds a place to water

From his stream, and it was a drinking place indeed

يحسب الطودَ حصاةً حلمُهُ

وتظنّ البحرَ نعماهُ ثُغَب

His forbearance reckons the mountain a pebble

And its bounty makes you think the sea a mere puddle

نالَ أهلُ الفضلِ منه فضلَهُمْ

ومن الشمس سنا نور الشّهب

The people of merit have gotten their merit from it

And from the sun the glow of meteors

تتّقي الأعداءُ منه سطوةً

وهو في ظلّ علاه مُحتجب

Enemies fear its domination from it

While it is in the shade of its heights, concealed

والهصورُ الوردُ يُخْشى وثبهُ

وهو في الغيلِ مقيمٌ لم يثب

The hiss of roses is feared in its leap

While it resides in the thickets, not having leapt

كم فمٍ طاب لنا من ذكره

فهو كالمسكِ وكم ثغر عَذُب

How many mouths have delighted us in mentioning it

It is like musk and how many fresh mouths

وكأنّ الرّوضَ في أوصافِهِ

تُغْمَسُ الأشْعار فيه والخطب

It is as if the garden in its descriptions

Poetry and prose are dipped in it

ثابتٌ كالطود في معتركٍ

جائلِ الأبطال خفّاقِ العَذَبْ

Firm as a mountain amidst the arena

Of heroes, the banners flowing and taken

ورؤوسٌ بالمواضي تُخْتَلى

ونفوسٌ بالعوالي تُنتهب

And heads in the meadows are crowned

And souls on the heights taken as spoils

كم شجاعٍ خاض في مهجته

بسنانٍ في الحيازيم رسب

How many brave ones have waded in its depths

With swords in throats embedded

قلمٌ يمشقُ في الطّعنِ فَقُلْ

أمَحَا العيشَ أمِ الموتَ كتب

A pen practicing stabbing, so say

Did it erase life or death record?

أيها الواصلُ من إحسانِهِ

سبباً من كلّ منبَتِّ السبب

O you who have attained, from its favors

A cause from every growing cause

ربّ رأيٍ لك جَهّزْتَ به

جحفلاً ذاقَ العدى منه الشجب

Lord of an opinion, you have equipped with it

An army tasting from it the toil of war

كنتَ يوم الحرب عنه غائباً

وظُبَى نصرِكَ فيه لم تَغِبْ

You were absent from it on the day of war

Yet your unseen aid in it did not wane

كالّذي يلعبُ في شطرنجه

رأيُهُ عنه تَخَطّى في اللّعب

Like one playing his chess

His mind from it advanced in the game

أنا مَنْ صاح به يومَ النوى

عن مغانيه غرابٌ فاغترب

I am one who on the day of purpose cried out

About its meanings, so strangers took flight

طفتُ في الآفاق حتى اكتهلَتْ

غُرْبَتِي واحتنكت سنّ الأدب

I roamed the horizons until my estrangement was complete

And the years of wisdom actualized

ثمّ أقبلتُ إلى الملكِ الذي

مدَّ بالطَّوْلِ على الدنيا طُنُب

Then I came to the king who

Outstretched across the world, its branches

منَحَ العلياء كَفّيْ ناقدٍ

فانتقى الدرّ وأبقى المخشلب

He gave the eminent the palm of a paying out

So he picked the pearls and left the fragments

فَلَعَلّي ببقايا عُمُري

منه أقضي البعضَ من حقٍّ وَجبْ

Perhaps in the remainder of my life

From him I fulfill some deserved rights