إِن كُنتَ تَرْغَبُ أَن ترانا فَالْقَنا

يومَ الهِياج إِذا تشاجرتِ القنا

If you wish to see us, then meet us

On the day of turmoil, when the spears clash

تَلْقَ الأُولى تُجْنيِهُم ثَمرَ العُلى

قُضُبٌ يَطيبُ بها الجَنى مِنَّنْ جَنَى

The first encounter will yield them the fruit of exaltation

Canes with which the souls in the meadows find joy

لا يَشْربُون سوى الدِّماءِ مُدامَةً

إِذ يَنْشَقُون من الأَسنَّة سَوْسَنَا

They drink nothing but blood in draughts

As they burst out from the lilies, lilies

وإِذا الحُسامُ بمعركٍ غنَّى لهم

خَلَعُوا نفوسَهمُ على ذاك الغِنَا

And when the swords in battle sing to them

They shed their souls upon that singing

مُتَورِّعينَ فإِنْ بَدتْ شمسْ الضُّحى

خَلَعُوا العَجَاجَ لها رِداءً أَدْكَنا

Being cautious, so if the morning sun appears

They take off the dark garments for it, darker garments

يشكو النهارُ خيولَهم من نَقْعِها

واللَّيلُ يشْكُو من وجُوهِهِمُ السَّنا

The day complains of their steeds' stomping

And the night complains of their teeth's glittering

وتَكادُ تُعدِي القِرْنَ شدَّةُ بأْسِهِمْ

فيكادُ يومَ الرَّوع أَن لا يَجْبُنا

And the intensity of their might almost

Transcends the spear, it almost makes us waver

وإِذا رأَى الخَطِّيُّ حدّةَ عزمهم

نَكِر السِّنانَ وكادَ أَن لا يطْعنَا

And when the brave sees their resolute determination

He dislikes the spears and almost does not thrust

إِنِّي وإِن أَصبحت منهم إِنهم

ليَرَوْن لي خُلُقاً أَرقَّ وأَلينا

If I spend my morning with them, they

See in me a nature more gentle and soft

أَهوى الغزالَة والغزالَ وربَّما

نَهْنَهْتُ نفسي عِفَّةً وتَدَيُّنا

I love the gazelle and the young gazelle and sometimes

I chide myself for modesty and piety

وأَهِمُّ ثم أَخاف عُقْبى مَعْشرٍ

أَخْنى عليهم سوءُ عاقبةِ الخنا

Then I worry and fear the aftermath of a people

I pity the evil end of the immoral

ولقد كَفَفْتُ عِنان عيني جاهداً

حتَّى إِذا أَعْيَيتُ أَطلَقْتُ العَنا

And I held back the rein of my eye, striving

Until, when I grew tired, I let it loose

فَجرتْ ولكن في الحَقيقةِ عَبْرةٌ

أَبقَتْ على الخَدَّينِ رَسْماً بَيِّنا

So it flowed, but in truth a tear

That kept on the cheeks a clear mark

يا جَورَ هذا الحُبِّ في أَحْكامِه

خدٌّ يُحَدّ ولَحْظُ طَرفٍ قد زنا

O injustice of this love in its rulings

A cheek that is reddened and a glance that committed adultery

وأَظنُّه قصدَ الجناسَ لأَنه

طرْفٌ زنا لما رأَى طَرْفاً رَنَا

And I think it intended the paronomasia because it is

A glance that committed adultery when it saw a glance that glanced flirtatiously

يا قاتَلَ اللهُ الغوانِي مالنا

عنهم غِنىً بل كَمْ لَهمْ عنَّا غنَى

O may God destroy the amorists, what do we have to do with them

We have no need of them, but how needless they are of us

ومليحةِ بَخِلَتْ وكانت حُجَّةً

للباخِلات وقُلْنَ هذا عُذْرُنا

And the beautiful Milkah was stingy and she was the proof

For stingy women, and they said this is our excuse

كالبدرِ إِلا أَنها لا تُجْتَلى

كالْغُصْن إِلاّ أَنَّها لا تُجْتَنى

Like the full moon, except that she cannot be eclipsed

Like a branch, except that she cannot be picked

ضنَّت بطَرْفِ ظلَّ بعدي سُقْمُهُ

أَرأَيتمُ من ضنَّ حتَّى بالضَّنَى

She was stingy with the shade of a shadow after its sickness

Have you seen one who was so stingy even with shade

قالت تعيِّر من يكون مُبَخَّلاً

فعلامَ أَسْموك البخيلَ بِوُدِّنا

She said, blaming whoever happens to be miserly

"So why was the stingy one called a friend by our love?"

وإِذا تَشَكَّى القلبُ إِسْراعَ النَّوى

ظلَّت تَشَكَّى منه إِفراطَ الونَى

And when the heart complains of the haste of purpose

She remains complaining of its excessive passion

وإِذا بكتْ عيني تَقُولُ تبسَّمت

إِنَّ الدموعَ لها ثُغُورٌ عندنا

And when my eyes weep she says, smiling

"Tears have breaches with us"

يا عاذلين جهلتمُ فَضْلَ الهوى

فعذلتُم جهلاً ولكنِّي أَنا

O you who blame, you are ignorant of love's merit

So you blamed in ignorance, but I

إِنِّي رأَيت الشمسَ ثم رأَيتُها

ماذا عليَّ إِذا عَشِقْتُ الأَحْسَنَا

I saw the sun then I saw it

What fault is it of mine if I loved the most beautiful

وسأَلْتُ من أَيِّ المعادِن ثغرُها

فوجَدْتُ من عبد الرِّحيم المعدنا

And I asked: "From what mines is her mouth?"

So I found it was from Abdul Rahim's source

أَبصرتُ جوهَر ثَغْرِها وكلامَه

فعلمتُ حقّاً أَنَّ هَذا من هُنَا

I saw the essence of her mouth and her words

So I truly knew that this was from over there

ذاك الكلامُ من الكمالِ بموضِعٍ

لا يُدْرِكُ السّاعِي إِليه سِوى العنا

Those words were from the perfection in a place

That none can attain except the earnest striver

يَدْنُو من الأَفْهامِ إِلاَّ أَنَّها

تَلْقَاهُ أَبعَد ما يكونُ إِذا دَنا

It comes close to minds except that they

Meet it farther away the closer it draws

ويسيرُ وهْوَ لِحُسْنِها مُستوطِنٌ

فاعجبْ لذلك سائراً مُستَوطِنا

And it moves while residing in her beauty

So wonder at that, moving while residing

فالجِيدُ أَحسنُ ما يكون لمسمَعٍ

أَضحى بجوهرِه النفيسُ مُزَيَّنَا

And so the excellent is the best there can be for hearing

Its precious essence made ornamented

وإِذا حواه الطِّرسُ فَتَّحَ أَعْيناً

من زَهْرِه تصبُو إِليه الأَعْيُنَا

And when the pages contain it, it opens eyes

From its flowers that the eyes pour unto it

فالطِّرسُ ساحةُ فِضَّةٍ وسطُوره

مِسْكٌ تُفرِّعُه اليراعةُ أَغْصُنا

So the pages are a plain of silver and its lines

Are musk that grace branches out into branches

لله من عبد الرحيم يَراعَةٌ

تَذرُ الحُسامَ من الفُلول مُؤمَّنا

Thanks to God for Abdul Rahim's grace

That makes the swords safe from the defeated remnants

فلسانُه قد صارَ لولا شكرُه

لجميل نعمتِها لساناً أَلكنا

His tongue, were it not for his gratitude

For the blessing of its favor, would be mute

وكتابُه للمُلْك أَيُّ كتيبة

تَدَعُ العَدُوَّ محيَّراً ومُجنَّنا

And his book, what a battalion it is for the kingdom

That leaves the enemy confused and crazy

هو سورُه حيثُ السطورُ بروجُه

فلذاك صار مُحسَّناً ومحصَّنا

It is his wall where the lines are its towers

So for that it became refined and fortified

ولقد علا بأَبي عليّ جِدُّ من

جعل الرَّجاءَ إِليه أَنفسَ مُقْتنى

And he rose with my father Ali as his pillar

Who made hoping in Him the most precious possession

يَدْعُوه حين يُخيفُه إِقتارُه

فإِذا دعا كان النجاحُ مؤمَّنا

Calling upon Him when destitution frightens him

So if he calls, success is assured

إِن تأْتِه تلْقَ النزيلَ معزَّزاً

وتصادِفُ الذَّهَب النُّضارَ مهوَّنا

If you come to him, you meet a honored guest

And you find flourishing gold facilitated

والوجْهَ أَبْلَجَ والفِناءَ موسَّعاً

والعزَّ أَقعسَ والعَلاَءَ مُمَكَّنا

And the face brighter, and the courtyard expanded

And honor more mighty, and highness enabled

أَغْنَى وأَقْنَى قَاصِديه فكلُّهم

يُثْنِي ولا يَثْنِي عَنَاناً للثَنا

He enriched and satisfied those who visited him so they all

Praise and do not refrain their reins from praise

تُثْنِي القلوبُ على نَداه ورُبَّما

ركبَ النفاقُ مع الثناءِ الأَلْسُنَا

Hearts praise his generosity and sometimes

Hypocrisy rides with the tongues' praise

كم عاذلٍ في الجود قال له اتئد

لا تَلْحَنَا فيه لئلا تَلْحنَا

How many who blame generosity said to him: Slow down

Let no errors creep in it, lest errors creep in

يفديه من يلقاهُ قاصدَ بِرِّه

متكوّنا في وَعْدِه مُتَلوِّناً

He who meets him seeking his benevolence

Vacillating in his promise, fluctuating

أَصبَحْتُ في مدح الأَجل موحَّدا

ولكم أَتَتْنِي من أَياديه ثَنَى

I became, praising the glorious, strictly unitarian

And so much praise came to me from his hands

وغدوتُ من حبِّي له مُتَشَيِّعاً

يا من رأَى متشيِّعاً متسنِّناً

And I started loving him, following him enthusiastically

O you who saw an enthusiast, fascinated!

ورأَيتُ صحبتَه نعيماً عاجلاً

فرأَيتُ بذلَ النفسِ فيها هيّنا

And I saw his company as an immediate bliss

So I saw sacrificing the soul in it as trivial

وأَرادَني فَظنَنْتُ غَيْرِيَ قَصْدَه

فرأَيت دهري مُذْ عَنَانِي مُذْعِنا

And he wanted me, but I thought it was someone else he intended

So I saw my fate submitting ever since it submitted

يا ليْتَ قومي يعلمون بأَنَّني

أَدركتُ من كفّيه نَادِرةَ المنى

If only my people knew that I attained rarely attained bliss

From his palms, may you make my envious enemies know for certain that ease is his simplest state!

أَوليتَ حسَّادي بما أَوليْتَنِي

علموا يقيناً أَن أَيسرَه الغنى

So I filled my palm with your overflowing generosity

And I filled my hearing with your gentle words

فملأْتُ كفي منك جوداً فائضاً

وملأْتُ سمْعي مِنْكَ قَوْلاً ليِّنا

You made me forget my family despite my suffering with them

And I remembered that I forgot my homeland

أَنْسَيْتَني أَهلي على كَلَفِي بهم

وذَكَرْتُ أَنِّي قد نَسِيتُ الموْطِنَا

And I knew from my traveling that I have never ceased

Being an expatriate since I clung to the dwelling

وعَلمْتُ من سَفَرِي بأَنِّي لَمْ أَزَلْ

متغرِّباً لما لَزِمْتُ المسْكَنَا

How many distraught lovers cry for me and complain

Agonizingly from the separation that parted between us

كم والهٍ يبكي عليّ ويشتكي

أَلماً من البَيْنِ المفرِّق بيننا

And when he sees my traces he cries as though he is

Ruins whose era passed away with the course of fate

وإِذا رَأَى أَثَرِي بكى فكأَنَّه

طَلَلٌ تقادمَ عهدُهُ بالمنْحَنَى

And my fate assumes it did wrong, but if it knew

My state it would be certain it did good

ويَظُنُّ دَهْرِي قد أَساءَ ولو دَرَى

حالي لأَيْقَنَ أَنَّه قد أَحْسَنا

Your view of me does not cease to increase your rectitude

In accompanying me and increases my enviers' resentment

لا زال رأَيُك لي يزيدُك صِحَّةً

في صُحْبَتي ويزيدُ حسَّادِي ضَنى

And there is a feast, you are a feast in it

And that's why it has become most worthy of joy through you

وهناكَ عيدٌ أَنت عيدٌ عندَه

ولذاك أَضحى فيكَ أَوْلَى بالهَنا

And you remained as long as survival remained, so if

Decline draws near survival, you will remain or extinction will occur

وبقيتَ ما بقي البقاءُ فإِن دنا

منه الغناءُ بَقِيتَ أَو يَفْنَى الْفَنَا