بَكيتُ لبرقٍ لاحَ بالثغر باسمُه

فَكانَت جفوني لا السحاب غمائمُه

I wept for a lightning that flashed with his name on my lips

So my eyelids, not the clouds, were filled with rain

أَما وَالهَوى لَولا تَساجُمُ عبرتي

لَما لامَ قَلبي في الصَبابة لائمُه

By passion, if not for the harmony of my tears

My heart would not blame, in the downpour, the one who blames it

كتمتُ خَفايا الحبِّ بين جوانحي

فنمَّت دموعي بالَّذي أَنا كاتِمُه

I concealed the secrets of love in my heart

So my tears sprouted for the one I was hiding it from

وَمن يُمسك الأجفانَ وهي سحائبٌ

إذا لمعت لمعَ البروق مباسمُه

And who can restrain their eyelids while they are clouds

When the lightnings of his smile flashed

خَليليَّ قد أَبرمتماني مَلامةً

وأَلَّمتما قَلبي بما لا يلائمُه

My dear ones, you have blamed me

And pained my heart with what does not suit it

كأَنّي بدعٌ في مُلابَسة الهَوى

وَلَم يَكُ قَبلي مغرمُ القلب هائمُه

It is as if I am an innovator in befriending passion

And none before me was a passionate lover wandering astray

تَرومانِ مِن قَلبي السلوَّ جهالةً

بما أَنا من سرِّ المحبَّة عالمُه

You attempt to divert my heart out of ignorance

Of what I know of the secrets of love

وَكَيفَ سلوّي مَن أَلِفتُ وإنَّنا

لإِلفان مُذ نيطَت بكلٍّ تمائمُه

How can I be diverted from the one I befriended

While we are intimate friends, adorned with amulets

سَقى اللَهُ أَيّامي بمكَّة والصِبا

تفتَّحُ عن نورِ الشباب كمائمُه

God watered my days in Mecca and youth

With clouds that unfold the light of youth

وَحَيّا الحَيا ربعَ الهوى بسوَيقة

وجاد بأَجيادٍ من الدَمع ساجمُه

And vivified the spring of passion in Suwayqah

With a downpour of tears pouring forth

لَياليَ أَغفو في ظِلال بَشاشةٍ

ولم ينتبه من حادثِ الدَهر نائمُه

Nights I fall asleep in the shades of gladness

While the sleeper in me is not roused by the events of fate

هنالكَ لا ظبيُ الصَريم مصارمٌ

ولا جَذَّ حبلَ الوصل من هو صارمُه

There, neither does the slender gazelle flee

Nor does the one who severs the rope of connection sever it

أَجرُّ ذيولي في بُلَهنية الصِبا

وَرَوضُ شبابي ناضر الغُصنِ ناعمُه

I let loose my train in the meadows of youth

And my youthful garden blossoms with soft branches

يواصلُني بدرٌ إذا تمَّ ضوؤه

يواريه من ليل الذَوائب فاحمُه

The full moon visits me when its light is complete

Veiling it from the dark night with its fervor

وَكَم لَيلَةٍ وافى على حينِ غفلةٍ

فبتُّ بها حتّى الصَباحِ أنادمُه

And how many a night it met me suddenly

And I spent it with him until the morn, regretting

وأَفرشتُه منّي الترائبَ والحشا

وَباتَ وسادي زندُه ومعاصمُه

I removed from him my garments and modesty

And he spent the night with my pillow as his bolster and brace

وَنحّى لِلَثمي عَن لَماه لثامَه

وَلَم أَدرِ غيري بات وَالبَدرُ لاثمُه

And he inclined from my kisses, removing his veil

And none but me spent the night with the kissing moon

فَبِتنا كَما شاءَ الغرامُ يلفُّنا

هوىً وتقىً لا تُستحلُّ محارمُه

So we spent it as passion wished us wrapped

In love and devotion - its sanctities cannot be violated

إِلى حين هبَّت نسمةُ الفجر واِنبرَت

تجرُّ ذيولاً في الرياض نسائمُه

Until the breeze of dawn roared

Dragging its train in the gardens with its breezes

وَسلَّ على اللَيل الصباحُ حسامَه

فَقامَت حَماماتُ الغُصون تخاصمُه

And the morn unsheathed its sword upon the night

So the doves of the branches started clamoring against it

فَقمنا ولَم يعلَق بنا ظنُّ كاشحٍ

ولا نطقَت عنّا لواشٍ نمائمُه

Then we got up with no suspicious glance of a critic

Nor did the whispers of a slanderer speak of us

نعم قد صَفا ذاكَ الوِصالُ وقد عَفا

وَلَم تعفُ آثارُ الهوى وَمعالمُه

Yes, that union was pure and it was forgotten

But the traces of passion and its landmarks do not vanish

إليكَ نصيرَ الدين بُحتُ بلوعةٍ

براني بها بَرد الهَوى وَسَمائمُه

To you, Nasir al-Din, I complain with anguish

Passion's cold and poison have afflicted me

وَلَولا اِعتقادي صدقَ ودِّك لم أبح

بما لستُ أَرضى أَنَّ غيرَك واهمُه

And had I not believed you to be true in friendship

I would not have told what I do not want others to imagine

لعمري لأَنتَ الصادقُ الودِّ وَالَّذي

تصدِّقني فيما اِدَّعَيتُ مكارمُه

By my life, you are the truthful loving one

Who believes me in what virtuous qualities I claim to possess

وأَنَّك فردٌ في زَمانٍ غدت به

عن الخير عُجماً عربُه وأَعاجِمُه

You are unique in an age in which

Its educated have become mute Arabs and non-Arabs about good

إِلى اللَه أَشكو منهُمُ عهدَ معشر

تَحايدُ عن حِفظ الذِمام ذمائمُه

So I turned away from them folding up the train

Of my love so that its preciousness may be humiliated

إِذا سَرَّ منهم ظاهرٌ ساءَ باطنٌ

تدبُّ إلى نهشِ الصَديق أراقمُه

Sufficient for me, O Nasir al-Din, in this world is your support

Against its injustices, should it carve them against me

عجمتُهمُ عجَمَ المثقّف عودَه

فَما ظَفِرت كفّي بصلبٍ معاجمُه

Indeed, through you my hands have attained glorious deeds

Its openings are praiseworthy and its closings sublime

فأَعرضتُ عنهم طاوياً كشحَ غائرٍ

على الودِّ منّي أَن تَذلَّ كرائمُه

A penetrating man of wisdom, a daring hero

Whose efforts are decisive and resolves firm

فَحَسبي نَصيرُ الدين في الدَهر ناصراً

على الدَهر إِن أَنحَت عليَّ مظالمُه

He possesses a character that spreads fragrance like a garden

And his blossoms reveal the buds of hidden vices

لَقَد ظفِرَت كفّايَ منه بماجدٍ

فواتحه محمودة وخواتمُه

He is the ever-young, the eternal one

Who sees the withering of all withering ones

فَتىً ثاقبُ الآراء طلّاعُ أَنجُدٍ

حميدُ المساعي مبرماتٌ عزائمُه

His minister's hand holds the reigns of leadership

And the throne of glory is supported by its pillars

له خُلقٌ كالرَوضِ يعبقُ نشرُه

وَتفترُّ عن غرِّ السَجايا بواسِمُه

When he contends with heroes you will see a contender

Whose swords exceed Mars in domination

هُوَ الخضِرُ الأَكنافِ والخِضرم الَّذي

يَرى وَشَلاً كلَّ الخضارِم عائمُه

And if the scribes vie, you will find a scribe

Mercury in the art of writing, its servant

وَزيرٌ له دَست الوزارة قائمٌ

وَعرشُ المَعالي أَيِّداتٌ قوائمُه

When the expanse of the desert is filled by its herbage

He encompasses the distances faster than the one delineating them

إذا صاوَلَ الأَبطالَ شاهدتَ صائِلاً

تَزيدُ عَلى المرّيخ سطواً صوارمُه

So he ridicules the prose of the best prose composer

And belittles the verse of the best versifier

وإِن نافَثَ الكتّاب أَلفَيتَ كاتِباً

عُطاردُ في فنِّ الكتابة خادِمُه

Through him the steeds of Persia gave birth to a Persian knight

Its superior horses and battle standards preceded him

إذا ما اِمتطَت متنَ اليَراع بنانُه

حوى قصباتِ السَبق ما هو راقمُه

The foremost at the limit acknowledged his precedence

And the greatest of tribes revered him

فَيهزأُ بالمنثور ما هو ناثرٌ

وَيُزري بنظم الدُرِّ ما هو ناظِمُه

He built for them a lofty house of glory

Its nobility elevated and its pillars towering

به أَنجبَت أَبناءُ فارسَ فارساً

تقدَّت به خَيلُ العُلى ورواسمُه

Attributes shining like suns were revealed through him

From every dark night its obscurities were dispelled

أَقرَّ له بالسَبق سُبّاقُ غايةٍ

وأَعظَمه من كُلِّ حيٍّ أعاظِمُه

So to God belong those sublime qualities

They are the signs of hidden greatness and its emblems

بَنى لَهُمُ بَيتاً من المجد باذخاً

له شَرَفٌ باقٍ رَفيعٌ دعائمُه

And to God belong those praiseworthy traits

The sweet breezes of its spreader surrounded them

إلى مكرماتٍ كالشموسِ منيرةٍ

تَجَلّى بها من كُلِّ لَيلٍ أداهمُه

A poem came to me, O Nasir al-Din, from you

The epochs of time cannot equal its like

فَلِلَّه هاتيكَ المكارم إِنَّها

علائمُ مكنون العُلى وعيالمُه

My quarters were perfumed by the pure fragrance of its prose

And its beautiful passages diffused their aromas over us

وَلِلَّه هاتيك الشمائِل إِنَّها

نوافجُ طيبٍ نشَّرتها لطائمُه

As if the essence of pure musk was its ink

And the soft basil its pen

أَتَتني نَصيرَ الدين منكَ قصيدةٌ

تباري فُرادى الدَهر منها توائمُه

You manifested in it the coolness of youth upon a man

Whose right upon you no blamer can turn you away from

تأَرَّج رَبعي من ذكا طيبِ نَشرِها

وَفاحَت علينا من شذاها نواسمُه

He treats you with a sincere love that if you mixed

To its sweetness bitterness, it would turn sweet for the drinkers

كأَنَّ سحيقَ المِسكِ كانَ مدادَها

ومن عَذَب الريحان كانَت مراقمُه

And promises you an unbreakable covenant

Even if the utmost effort were made by the one who severs it

نشرتَ بها بُرد الشبابعلى اِمرئٍ

وحقِّك لا تثنيه عنك لوائمُه

So be confident in me with the firmest assurance

Loyalty accompanies me in it and I accompany it

يُصافيكَ ودّاً لو مزجتَ بعذبه

أجاجاً حَلَت للشاربين علاقمُه

For I am not like one whose words are sweet in friendship

Yet the bitterness of whose actions disappoints me

وَيوليكَ عَهداً لا اِنفصامَ لعَقدهِ

وَلَو بلغ المجهودَ في السَعي فاصمُه

If you wish, inform me in every situation

You will find the honest sword standing, not failing you

فكن واثقاً منّي بأَوثق ذمَّةٍ

يلازمُني فيها الوفا وأُلازمُه

The treachery of betrayal has refused to blemish me

My lineage lengthened branches whose sinfulness was immense

فَلَستُ كمن يَحلو لدى الودِّ قولُه

وَتُشجى بمرِّ الفعل منّي حلاقمُه

He attributed it to Alia, son of Ghalib

And Abd Manaf, the exalted, and Hashim

فإن شئتَ فاِخبُرني على كُلِّ حالة

تجد سيفَ صدقٍ لا يخونُك قائمُه

And Shaybah, the praiseworthy, by whom

His clans strode over the plateau and its chiefs

أَبى أَن يُلمَّ الغَدرُ منّي بساحةٍ

عَلى نسبٍ طالَت فروعاً جَراثمُه

And the glorious Abdullah, most generous father

To the most generous son his nobilities nurtured

عزاه إلى العَليا لؤيُّ بن غالبٍ

وَعَبدُ مَناف ذو العَلاء وهاشِمُه

And Ahmad, best of messengers, and his elite

Ali, solace of my soul, and Fatima

وَشيبةُ ذو الحمد الَّذي وطئت به

عشائرُهُ فوق السُها وأقاومُه

And her blessed immaculate sons

By them God perfected His religion and sealed it

وَذو المجد عبدُ اللَه أَكرمُ والدٍ

لأكرم مَولودٍ نمته أَكارِمُه

They are masters of the world and its rulers

So who dares envy their merit and contend against it?

وَأَحمَدُ خَيرُ المرسَلين وصِنوهُ

عَليٌّ أَبو ريحانَتيه وَفاطِمُه

Upon them is God's peace, whenever an adversary appears

And whenever a lightning flashes in the dark clouds attacking them

وأَبناؤُه الغرُّ الجحاجحةُ الألى

بهم أَكملَ الدينَ الإلهيَّ خاتمُه

هم سادةُ الدُنيا وَساسةُ أَهلها

فمن ذا يناوي فخرهم وَيُقاومُه

عليهم سَلامُ اللَه ما هلَّ عارضٌ

وَما شامَ برقٌ بالأُبيرق شائمُه