تقنَّعتُ لكِنْ بالحبيبِ المعَّمَّمِ

وفَارَقْتُ لكِنْ كلَّ عَيْشٍ مُذَمَّمِ

I was content with the veiled beloved,

And parted from a miserable life.

وبَاتَتْ يَدِي في طاعةِ الحُبِّ والهَوى

وِشاحاً لخَصْرٍ أَو سِواراً لِمعْصَمِ

My hand submitted to love and passion,

Becoming a sash around a waist or bracelet on a wrist.

وأَثْريتُ من دينار خَدٍّ مَلكْتُه

وأَحسنُ وَجهٍ بعدَه مثلُ دِرْهمِ

I gained wealth from a cheek I owned

More beautiful than the finest coin after it.

يزيدُ احْمِراراً كُلَّمَا زدْتُ صُفْرَةً

كأَنَّ به ما كان فِيَّ مِنَ الدَّم

It grew redder whenever I made it more yellow,

As if what was in me was in it of blood.

توقَّد ذاك الخدُّ فاخضَرَّ نُضْرَةً

فأَبْعدتُ مِنْهُ جَنَّةً فِي جَهَنَّمِ

That cheek kindled with green vitality

So I avoided paradise for hell.

وفيه خَطُّ مِسْكٍ لاَحَ في طِرْس وجنة

لها الوردُ يُعزَى والبَنَفْسَجُ يَنْتمِي

On it is a line of musk that gleams on an apple,

The roses suffer and the lilies swoon over it.

وما زالَ سُقْمِي قبل يومِ وصالِه

يَنمُّ بعشْقي للعِذَارِ المُنَمْمَمِ

My sickness did not cease before the day we met,

Growing with my passion for the bashful gazelle.

وبتُ اشتياقاً إِذْ تَلَثَّم فَوْقَهُ

وما بُغْيَتي إِلا بَلْثم الملثَّم

I spent the night yearning when she lisped over it,

My desire was only for the kiss of the veiled one.

ولا عجباً إِنْ مِتُّ فيه صَبابَةً

فما النَّفْسُ إِلا بعْضُ مَغْرَم مُغْرَمِ

No wonder if I die there young,

A soul is but part of a doting lover.

بنفْسِيَ من قبَّلتُه وَرَشَفْته

فقال الْهَوى فُزْ بالحطيمِ وزَمزمَ

I risked my soul when I kissed and sipped it,

Passion said "Win the precious pearl!"

وجرَّدتُ قلبي من ثياب هُمُومِه

فطافَ به والقلبُ في زِيِّ مُحرِم

I stripped my heart of the clothes of its worries,

And it circled while my heart was in sacrosanct garb.

وعَطِّر لفْظِي في الحَديثِ سُلوكُه

على قُبلةٍ قد كان أَوْدَعَها فَمي

The memory of his kiss scented my words

When deposited on lips in a kiss.

سَعِدْتُ ببدر خَدُّه بُرجُ عَقْرَب

فكذَّب عندي قولَ كُلِّ مُنجِّم

I found happiness when its cheek eclipsed Scorpio,

So the talk of astrologers was false to me.

إِليك فما بَدْرُ المقنَّعِ طالعاً

بأَسحرَ من أَلحاظِ بدرِي المعمَّم

The rising of your veiled moon’s not more magical to me

Than the rising of my moon is to my critic.

وأُقْسِمُ ما وجهُ الصَّباحِ إِذا بَدا

بأَوضحَ مِنّي حُجَّةً عند لُوَّمي

I swear the face of dawn when it shows

Is not clearer to me than my argument to blamers.

ولا سيّما لمّا مررتُ بمنزلٍ

كفضلةِ صبرٍ في فؤَادٍ متيَّم

Especially when I passed by an abode

Like a patience bead in a doting heart.

وما بان لي إِلاَّ بعُودِ أَراكةِ

تعلَّق في أَطرافِه ضَوْءُ مَبْسِمِ

Only the sprigs of a willow appeared,

On its edges the light of a smile gleamed.

وقَفْتُ به أَعتاضُ عن لَثْمِ مَبْسِم

شهِيٍّ لقلبي لَثْمَ آثَارِ مَنْسِمِ

I stopped, avoiding the kiss of a reveling smile,

A shameful kiss, the kiss that remains.

ودِمْنةُ من أَهواهُ في الحُسْنِ دُميَةٌ

وتصديقُ قولِي أَنَّها لم تكَلَّم

The cheek I loved in beauty is a dummy,

My words’ truth is that it did not speak.

بكَيْتُ بكِلتَا مُقْلتيَّ كأَنَّني

مُتمِّمُ مل قد فَاتَ عَيْنيْ مُتمّمِ

I cried with both my eyes as if I

Had lost two things I aimed to achieve.

ولم يَرَ طَرْفِي قطُّ شَمْلاً مبدَّداً

فقابَلَهُ إِلاَّ بدمعٍ مُنظَّم

My eyes never saw a gathering dispersed

Except by tears they addressed.

تَبَسَّم ذاكَ الثَّغْرُ عَنْ ثَغْرِ دَمْعَةٍ

وَرُبَّ قُطوبٍ كَامِنٍ في التَّبسُّمِ

That mouth smiled from the brink of a tear,

Much stillness lies in smiling.

ولم يُسْل قَلْبِي أَو فَمي عن غَزَالةٍ

وعن غَزَلي إِلا مديحُ المُعظَّم

My heart and mouth asked not about a doe

Or my flirtations but praise for the Blessed.

هو الْملِكُ المُعْطِي الممالِكَ عُنْوةً

بمَجدٍ صميمٍ أَو بجِدٍ مُصَمِّم

He is the king who grants kingdoms by force

With perfect glory or determined resolve.

إِذا حَازَ مُلْكاً ثم أَطْلَقَ ربَّه

سليماً فقد فازَ الطليقُ بِمَغْنَمِ

If he gains a kingdom then frees his Lord from it,

The freedman profits with great fortune.

تَخِرُّ لديه رهْبَةً مِنْهُ سجَّدا

ملُوك البَرايَا من فَصِيحٍ وأَعجم

Kings of mankind bow down before him in awe,

Non-Arabs and Arabs alike.

إِذا خرَّ منهم ساجدٌ كَانَ شأْنُه

كما قِيل قِدْماً لليَدَيْنِ وللفَمِ

When one of them bows the situation is as told,

Of old, of hands and mouth.

سَلاَمُ الذي يأْتيه منهم سجوده

لأَبلجَ هطَّالِ اليمينين مُنْعِم

The peace that comes to them from his bowing

Is more heartening to the outstretcher of hands.

ففي أَرضه من لَثْمِه إِثْرُ مَبْسمٍ

وفي وجهه من تُرْبِهَا إِثرُ مَيْسَمِ

In his land remain traces of his kiss,

On his face traces of its dust.

غدا بأْسُه يحمي حِمَاه وقد غَدَا

به الدّهر منه يَسْتَعِد ويَحْتَمِي

Tomorrow his might protects his protected,

So time seeks refuge and protection in him.

فلو ذَكَرَتْه الطيرُ أَو سمَّت اسمَه

لما راعَها في جوِّها بأْسُ قَشْعَمِ

If birds mentioned his name in their atmosphere,

The harshness of a peregrine would not scare them.

أَخو فَتكاتٍ لا تزالُ سُيُوفُه

تَخُطَّ سطورَ النَصر في جَبْهَةِ الْكَمِي

The brother of lethal weapons, whose swords

Always cut lines of victory in the thick of battle.

فقد أُرْسِلتْ حتْفاً إِلى كلِّ كافرِ

كما أُرْسِلتْ فَتْحاً إِلى كُل مُسْلِم

Sent to every infidel as their death knell,

And sent as openings to all Muslims.

وأَصبح يُعْدى السيفَ تَصميمُ عزمِه

فمنْ ذَا يُسَمَّى بالحُسامِ المُصَمِّم

Swords are resolved through his resolved intent,

Who then is named the resolved sword?

وأَسهمه في صَدِّ كلِّ مُدرّع

فما الدِّرعُ منها غيرُ بُرْدٍ مُسهَّمِ

His arrows penetrate every armored one,

So armor is just pierced fragments before them.

إِذا صاد غِزْلاَنَ الفَلاَ كُلُّ أَصْيَدٍ

فمولاهُمُ من صَيْدهِ كُلُّ ضَيْغَم

When they hunt gazelles, every prey

Is their master’s booty.

ومَنْ إِن تَحلَّتْ خيلُهم كَانَ طَرْفُه

محلَّى بما أَجرى عليه من الدّمِ

When their horses return bloodied, his gaze

Is adorned with what flowed over them of blood.

ومن عدَّ رَكْضَ الخَيْلِ نَوْعَ استراحةٍ

وعدَّ لِبَاس الدِّرْعِ بَعْضَ تَنَعُّم

Who considers the racehorses’ galloping a rest,

And the wearing of armor a leisure!

فأَعطرُ طيبٍ عنده نَقْعُ مَعْرَكٍ

وأَوْطَا مِهادٍ عندهُ ظَهْرُ شَيْظَم

The sweetest scent to him is the steeping of battle,

The softest bed to him the back of a zeitham.

وكَمْ عابِدٍ من قبلهِ لابن مريمٍ

رآه فَأَضْحَى كافراً بابْنِ مريم

How many worshippers of Jesus son of Mary

Saw him and became disbelievers in Jesus!

له الجُرْدُ لا تَدْرِي سِوى الكرِّ وحْدَه

وإِن كان كرّاً بين نَصْلٍ ولَهْذَم

He has soldiers, knowing only war,

Though war means but swords and slaughter.

تَصامَمُ عنه إِذ يقولُ لها قِفي

وتَسْمَعُ منه إِذْ يقولُ لها اقْدمِي

They stand in obedience when he says "Stop!"

And obey when he says "Proceed!"

وكَمْ قلعةٍ فوقَ السماءِ أَساسُها

وعامِرُها من أَسلافِ عاد وجُرْهُم

How many castles in the sky were founded,

Inhabited from early Ad and Jurhum.

رقى سلَّماً للعِزِّ أَوصَلهُ لها

فقد نالَ أَسبابَ السماءِ بِسُلَّمِ

He climbed the ladder of glory leading him there,

And so obtained the means to heaven by a ladder.

أَتاها وكانت ذَاتَ قصرٍ مشيّدٍ

فأَضحت لديه ذَاتَ سُورٍ مُهدَّم

He came upon one with a erected palace,

It became to him one with battered walls.

ولم يبق من أَبطالها غيرُ أَعزبٍ

ولم يَبْقَ من نِسْوانِها غَيْرَ أَيِّم

Of its heroes only bachelors remained,

Of its women only widows remained.

لَكَ اللهُ مَلْكاً لا تزالُ يمينهُ

تجودُ بشَهْدٍ أَو تجودُ بعَلْقَمِ

May God give you an eternal kingdom,

Your right hand pouring honey or butter.

فتَهمِي على العادين طوراً بأَبْؤُسٍ

وتهْمِي على العافِين طَوراً بأَنعُم

Raging at the settled a time in misery,

Raging at the prosperous a time in bounty.

تَجُودُ إِذا ضَنَّ الغَمَامُ بقَطْرِه

فتُغنِي البرَايا عن سُؤَالِ مذمَّم

Bestowing when the clouds hoard their rain,

Enriching the land, no need to beg from the clouded sky.

لقد جُدْتَ حتى عُدْتَ مُوجِدَ وَاجِد

لما يُرْتجى بل عُدْتَ مُعْدِمَ مُعْدِم

You have been so generous you are the giver of finders,

Nay, the destroyer of destroyers!

أَرى الكَرَم الفيَّاضَ منك سَجيةً

وكم من كريمٍ جودُه عن تَكرُّمِ

I see spontaneous generosity from you,

While many are generous only from pretense.

أَيا مَلِكاً أَرْجُو نَدَاهُ وإِنَّني

لامُلُ إِقْدَامي به وتَقَدُّمِي

O king I hope for your bounty, and I

Dare to approach and draw near you.

رأَيْتُكَ بحراً طَبَّقَ الأَرضَ مَدُّه

فلم يَبْقَ عندي رُخْصَةٌ في التَّيَمم

I saw you as a sea overflowing the land,

No flexibility remains for me regarding dry ablution.

وجئْتُكَ أَرجو منك كَبْتاً لحسّدِي

كما أَنَّ قَلْبِي فيكَ خَالَفَ لُوَّمِي

I came to you hoping you'd suppress my enviers

As my heart defied their blame.

سَيخْدُمُ مِنك الشمسَ مني عُطَارِدٌ

ويُبْدي كلامِي في سَمائِكَ أَنْجُمِي

A censurer of me will serve your sun,

My words in your heavens will show my stars.

ويُغْنيكَ لَفْظِي عن حُسَامٍ مُجرَّد

وتُغْنِيك كُتْبي عن خميسٍ عَرَمْرَم

And my verse will suffice you against an unsheathed sword,

My poems suffice you against a well-stacked armory.

فخُذْها فقد جاءَتك من مُتَأَخِّرٍ

مُجِيد وليس الفَضْلُ للمتقدِّمِ

Take them though they come from a latecomer,

Creating excellence, precedence is no virtue.