يا طرفَ من فَتن الأَنامَ بِفِتْنةٍ

من فَتْرَةٍ من طرْفِهِ الوسنانِ

O beauty that seduces people with charm

After being listless for a period from his tender branch

أَثْرَيْتَ مِنْ هَذَا الفتُورِ وربما

تَجب الزَّكاةُ عليك لِلْغِزْلاَن

You have gained from this languor, and perhaps

Alms-giving would become obligatory upon you for the gazelles

مَا كَان ضَرّكَ لو مَنَنْتَ بِزَورةٍ

فَجَمعْت بين الحُسْنِ والإِحْسَان

It would not harm you if you were to show some coquetry

Thus combining beauty and benevolence

بل كنتَ تنقُل عَزَّةً لكُثَيِّرٍ

في الحُبِّ أَو مَيّاً إِلى غَيْلاَنِ

Rather, you used to convey pride to many

In love or water to Ghaulan

كم ذا التَّلَوُّنُ في الطِّباع وليس ذا

يَعْدُوكَ فالطَّاووس ذُو أَلْوانِ

How much does this fickleness in nature change you

It does not make you exceed bounds, for the peacock has many colors

ولأَنْت عندي بل خَيَالُك إِنَّه

قد حَلَّ بل قد جلَّ عِنْدَ جَناني

But you, in my view - or rather your imagination -

It has indeed, no it has descended in my soul

كالنَّجم للحيرانِ بل كالسُّكر لل

سَّكرانِ بل كالماءِ للظمآنِ

Like a star to the lost, or like sugar to the

Intoxicated, or like water to the thirsty

يا عاذلاً متنبئاً في عَذْلِه

أُوتيتَ مُعْجِزَةً من الهَذَيَانِ

O reproacher, making prophecies in his censure

You have been granted a miracle from this madness

أَيرُدُّ حقّاً ظاهراً برهَانُه

زورٌ تُلفِّقُه بِلاَ بُرهان

Does the evident, proven truth

Refute falsehood that you spout without proof?

فأَعِدْ حديثك يَا عَذُول فإِنَّما

هَيّجْتَ لي شَجَناً من الأَشْجَانِ

So take back your words, o censurer, for you

Have provoked in me a passion from passions

واهاً لقلبٍ لم يزل متَنقِّلاً

مِنْ حُبِّ إِنسانٍ إِلى إِنْسَانِ

Alas for a heart that does not cease to roam

From love of one human to another

فيُجَنُّ بعد مقنَّع بمعمَّمٍ

وَيَهِيمُ بَعْدَ فُلانَةٍ بِفُلاَنٍ

So it is possessed after being masked in a turban

And infatuated after so-and-so with so-and-so

بأَبي وأُمِّي من تبوّأَ مَسْكَناً

في القَلْبِ مُرتفِعَاً عن السُّكَّان

By my father and mother, one who has established residence

Lofty in the heart above all people

يأْبى مجاورةَ الأَنَامِ لتيهِهِ

فَأَصَابَهُ وطَناً بِلاَ جِيرَانِ

Refusing the company of mankind in its wandering

So it was suited to a homeland without neighbors

ومِنَ العجائِب أَن يَقَرَّ بمنزلٍ

لا يُسْتَقَرُّ به من الخَفَقَانِ

And of wonders is that it settles in an abode

Where none who flutter settle

فَجَوارحي عظَّمْن قَلْبي إِذ غَدا

مَثْواه والأَوْطانُ بالقُطَّانِ

So my limbs magnified my heart when it became

Its dwelling while homelands belong to the fleeting

قبَّلتُه ولحَحْتْ في تَقْبِيلِهِ

حتَّى اسْتَحَالَتْ صِبْغَةُ الرَّحْمَنِ

I kissed it and attached my kiss to it

Until the complexion of the Merciful was transformed

ياخَدَّه عُذْراً إِليك فإِنَّني

أَذْبَلْتُ فِيكَ شَقائقَ النُّعْمَانِ

Excuse it, by you, for I withered within you

The anemones of blessings

ولقد تناسيْتُ الهوى فَنَسِيتُه

وأَتى الغرامُ فَضَاع في نِيْسَانِ

And indeed I forgot passion so I forgot it

And love came so it was lost in April

وجَهِلْتُ في جَنْبِ السُّلُوِّ مَكَانَه

وعَرَفْتُ من عبدِ الرَّحِيم مَكَانِي

And I was ignorant of its place by the pleasure

And I knew my place from the Gracious Servant

وأَخَذْتُ نائلَه بكل بَنَانٍ

وشكرت أَنعُمَهُ بِكُلِّ لِساَنِ

And I took its attainment with every sweet basil

And I thanked its blessings with every tongue

وصَرَفْتُ إِلاَّ عنْ عُلاَه مَدَائِحي

وثَنَيْتُ إِلاَّ عن ذُرَاه عِنَاني

And I diverted my praises away from its loftiness

And turned my verses away from its prominence

وتَغَرّبَتْ وتَجَنَّبت أَموالهُ

أَوطانَها وأَتت إِلى أَوْطَانِي

And its wealth became estranged and avoided

Its homelands and came to my homelands

وتَطَابَقَت وتجانَسَتْ أَفعالُه

بعلوِّ شاني وانخفاض الشَّاني

And its actions corresponded and were congruent

With the loftiness of my stature and the lowness of its stature

أَغْنَى فأَبطرني غِنَاه وطَالَمَا

بَطِر الغَنيُّ فليت لا أَغْنَانِي

It enriched me so I boasted with its wealth, and how often

The wealthy boast, if only it did not enrich me

يا مَنْ سأَلتُ سَحَابَه رَيَّ الصَّدى

لما صَدِيتُ فَجاءَ بالطُّوفَانِ

O You whom I asked, whose clouds rain heavily

When I turned away, and it brought the flood

أُكفُفْ ندى كفَّيْكَ رُبَّ زيادةٍ

نَقَصَتْ فَكَانَ الفضلُ للنُّقْصَانِ

Restrain the dew of your palm, Lord of increase

That diminished, so the merit was in the diminishing

والخدُّ بَهْجَتُه بِخَالٍ واحدٍ

وتَقِلُّ فيه بكَثْرة الخِيلاَنِ

The cheek's splendor is with a single mole

And it decreases with the multitude of moles

إِنِّي لأُعْذِر من يَرَى في دِينهِ

أَن النَّوالَ عقيدةُ الإِيمَان

I excuse one who sees that in his religion

Gift-giving is the creed of faith

متكبِّرُ الكَرَمِ الذي من كِبْرِه

حَقَر اللُّجَيْنَ وجَاد بالعِقْيان

Arrogant in his generosity, which in his arrogance,

Scorned the small change and gave generously the 'uqayyan

ورث المكارمَ عن كريمٍ دارُه

مأْوى العُفَاةِ ومنزلُ الضِّيفان

Inheriting generosity from a generous one whose abode

Is home to the destitute and residence of guests

عالي منارِ المجْدِ مرتفعُ الذُّرى

يَدْعُو الوفودَ بأَلسُنِ النِّيرَانِ

High minaret of glory, lofty lineage

Calling caravans with tongues of fire

مذ شاد بنيانَ المكارِم ما وَهَى

ذاك البناءُ فبان فَضْلُ البَاني

Since he built the structure of generosity, that

Structure did not weaken, so the merit of the builder appeared

ولئن رأَيتُ أَبَا عليٍّ أَوَّلاً

في مَجْدِه فأَبُوه كَانَ الثَّاني

And if I saw Abu Ali first

In his glory, then his father was second

أَبدى لنا القَمرَ الذي بضيائِه

يَسْرِي ويسبح في الدُّجى القَمَرَانِ

He brought out for us the moon which with its brightness

Flows and swims in the darkness, the two moons

فبهاؤُه مِلءْ العِيَانِ وَذِكرُه

ملءُ الزمانِ وَمِلءُ كُلِّ مَكَانِ

Its splendor fills the eyes and his mention

Fills time and every place

إِن لم يكن مَلِكاً فإِنَّ زَمَانَه

مِنْ أَجْلهِ مَلِكٌ عَلى الأَزْمانِ

If he were not king, then his time

For his sake is a king over times

أَوْفَاتَه التِّيجَانُ إِنَّ برأْيِه

تَرْوِي الممالكُ عن ذوي التيجان

Crowns missed him, verily with his opinion

Kingdoms are watered from crown-wearers

أَخذت بِمَجْلِسِه المهابةُ حَقَّها

فترى البريءَ لَديه مِثْلَ الجَانِي

Reverence took its rightful place in his council

So you see the innocent before him like the guilty

يعفو عن الباغي عليه فِحلْمُه

مُغْنى الحقودِ ومُهْلِكُ الأَضغان

He pardons the transgressor against him, so his forbearance

Suffices the resentful and destroys malice

ويَرَى بعين الرَّأْي كُلَّ مُغَيَّبٍ

فالسِّرُّ بَيْنَ يديه كالإِعلانِ

And he sees with the eye of discernment everything hidden

So the secret before him is like the open

وَيَسُلُّ سَيفَ النصر من آرائه

فتَرى السُّيوفَ لديه كالأَجْفانِ

And he unsheathes the sword of victory from his judgments

So you see the swords before him like the eyelids

وبكفِّه القلمُ الذي هو فارِسٌ

في الطِّرسِ حيث الطرسُ كالميدَانِ

And by his palm is the pen which is a knight

In composition, where composition is like the battlefield

يحمي الأَنامَ ولا خفاءَ بِأَنَّه

قد كان يَحْمِي الأُسْد في خفَّانِ

It protects the people, and it is no secret that

It used to protect the lion in the thicket

يَقْضِي وقد هَزَمَ الجيوشَ فنعتُه

قاضِي القضاةِ وفارسُ الفُرْسَانِ

He judges, and he has defeated armies, so his title is

The judge of judges and knight of knights

وإِذا رأَيْتَ مُحَدِّثاً عنه فقلْ

حدِّث ولا حَرَجاً عن الحِدْثان

And if you see one narrating about him, say

"Narrate and there is no issue with narrating the narratives."

إِني لأَنزِفُ فيك بَحْر قَرِيحَتي

من بَعْدِ نزح الدَّمعِ بالهمَلانِ

I verily spill for you an ocean of my talent

After the shedding of tears in streams

أَشْتَاقُ قربك وهو عنِّي نازحٌ

وأَملُّ نأْيَكَ وهو منِّي دَانِ

I yearn for your nearness while it moves away from me

And I hope for your remoteness while it approaches me

وأَقولُ والأَشواقُ تَنْهبُ مُهجَتي

ما أَقْتل الأَشْواقَ للإِنسان

And I say, while yearnings plunder my innermost being,

"I do not kill yearnings for a human."

أَبعدتني يَا دَهْرُ عنه ورُبَّما

فرَّقْتَ بين الماءِ والعطْشان

You have distanced me, O Time, from him, and perhaps

You separated between the water and the thirsty

هيهات هيهات اللقاءُ ودونَنا

بيدٌ تكدُّ قَوادِم العِقْبَانِ

Alas, alas, the meeting, and between us

Is a hand that holds back the steps of eagles

دع ما أَقولُ فلوْ دَعَاني أَمْرُه

لبَّيْتهُ بالسَّعي حِينَ دَعَانِي

Leave what I say, for if his matter called me

I would answer his call when he called me

وخَطَوْتُ فوق ظُبَا المناصلِ مُسْرِعاً

وسعيت فوق أَسنَّة المُرَّانِ

And I would step over the blades of swords, hastening

And I would hasten over the tips of lances

ولقد أَتاني العِيدُ يا عبدَ الوَرَى

حقّاً فما أَلْوَيْتُ حِينَ أَتانِي

And the Eid has indeed come to me, O servant of the grounds

In truth, so I did not waver when it came to me

وبَقِيتُ فيه كما تقدم قبله

فكأَن يَوْمَ العيد مَنْ رَمَضانِ

And I remained in it as I was before it

As if the day of Eid were from Ramadan

فِطري على ماءِ الدُّموعِ ومَلْبسي

فِيه جَدِيدُ الهَمِّ والأَحْزَانِ

My breakfast is on the water of tears and my clothing

In it is the new of worries and sorrows

فَتَهنَّهُ عيداً أَتاك مبشِّراً

من رَبِّه بالعَفْوِ والغُفْران

So congratulate it as an Eid that came giving you glad tidings

From its Lord of pardon and forgiveness

ومهنِّئاً لك بالبقاءِ وإِنك ال

بَاقِي وَسَائِرُ مَنْ عَدَاك الفَانِي

And congratulating you on the remaining while you are

The everlasting and the rest of other than you is fleeting