عَجِبْتُ من قَنَاعَتي وقُعُودي

غلب الجَدَّ عالياتِ الجُدُودِ

I am amazed at my contentment and idleness,

Exertion has overcome the lofty persevering ones.

إن تَكُوني ذممت كَرَّ نُحُوسي

فلقد طَالَ ما حَمِدْتِ سُعُودي

If you blamed the ill omens of my laziness,

Then indeed my good fortune has been prolonged.

ما وَفَى لي بِوَعْدِهِ الدّهْرُ إلاَّ

لِيَفي عِنْدَ وَعْدِهِ بالوَعِيْدِ

Fate did not fulfill its promise to me

Except to fulfill its threat.

إن ذَوَى عُودُ نِعْمَتي فَرُوَيْداً

وَعَسَى أَنْ يَثُوبَ نضرةُ عُودِي

If the splendor of my fortune faded, wait,

Perhaps the blossoming of my fortune will return.

ما تَنَاهَتْ بي السُّنُونُ وَلا قا

رَبَ خَطْوي ولا تَحَانَى عَمُودي

The years did not pass by without

My steps stumbling or my pillars leaning.

بَعُدَتْ هِمّتي وما أَنَا مِمّنْ

بَعُدَتْ فيه هِمَّةٌ بَبَعِيْدِ

My resolve has faded though I am not one

In whom resolve has entirely vanished.

وَأَبَى لي القُنُوطُ أَنَّ غُدُوِّي

في رِدَاءٍ مِنَ الشَّبَابِ جَدِيْدِ

And despair refused that my tomorrow

Would be clothed in a garment of new youth.

حُبِّيَ الحَمْدُ كَانَ أكْبَرُ أَسْبَا

بِ ذَهَابِي بِطارِفي وتَلِيْدي

My love of praise was the greatest cause

Of my playfulness fading and my vigor waning.

وَغَرَامِي بِلَذّةِ الجُوْدِ ما إنْ

زال حتَّى أتى على مَوْجُودي

And my passion for the pleasure of generosity still

Remains until my means are exhausted.

واعتياضي من الغِنَى بالغَوَاني

واعتِقادي هَوَى ابْنَةِ العُنْقُودِ

And my habit of luxury and my fancying

The daughter of the vine clusters.

أقسِمُ الدَّهْرَ بين وصلِ حبيبٍ

تحت ظِلِّ الصِّبا وَوَصْلِ وَدُودِ

I swear by fate - between the union with a beloved

In the shade of youth and a loving intimacy -

مُعْطِياً رِبْقَتي أَكُفَّ ظِبَاءٍ

مُطِئاً أَخْمَصي رِقَابَ أُسُودِ

Giving my neck to tame lions

Trampling with my feet the necks of wolves.

لا يَزَالُ الغَرِيْرُ يَقْتَادُ من فض

لِ عناني قَوْدي لِتِلْكَ الجُنُودِ

The cauldron continues to tug at the rein of my determination

To lead my pot toward those armies.

بَيْنَمَا أَسْتَكْهِلُ في صدر ديوا

نٍ تَصَابَيْتُ بَيْنَ نايٍ وعودِ

While I enjoy myself in the heart of a diwan,

Accompanied by flutes and lutes.

وَغُدُوِّي على غطارِفِ شُوسٍ

وَرَوَاحي إلى كواعِبَ غَيْدِ

And my rising at dawn to lightly-clad beauties

And my visiting slave girls at evening.

قد لَعَمْرِي رأيتُ وجهَ رَشَادي

لاحَ لي إذْ رأيتُ وَجْهَ الرَّشِيْدي

By my life, I saw the face of my felicity shine

When I saw the face of the Rightly-Guided Caliph.

صَفْوَةُ الأَكْرَمَيْنِ من آلِ عَبَّا

سٍ وَحَبْلُ المكارِمِ الممدُودِ

The elite of the two nobles of the Abbasids

And the rope of continuing generosity.

وعَقِيْدُ النَّدَى تُنَالُ به الآ

مالُ إذْ ليْسَ للنّدى من عَقِيْدِ

The guide of dew can only be attained through him

Since the dew has no guide.

وخطيبُ المهذَّبِيْنَ بَنِي العَبْ

اسِ في كلِّ مَحْفَلٍ مَشْهُودِ

The orator of the refined Hashimites

Witnessed in every assembly.

يَرِدُ المشْهَدُ الوُفُودُ وَيَاْتي

وحدَهُ من بيانِهِ في وُفُودِ

The council returns and he alone comes

With his eloquence among the delegations.

وَتَرَى نحوَهُ المسامِعَ تُصْغي

لحديثِ يَنُصُّهُ أو نشيدِ

And you see the ears inclined

To a discourse whose text or verse he recites.

وتَهَابُ العيونُ أَنْ تتملاَّ

هُ وَفِيه لها مُرادُ مريدِ

And the eyes are awed to fill up with him

For he has what the eyes desire from him.

وكأنّ الرؤوسَ من فوقِهَا الطي

رُ سُكُوناً إلى أَغرَّ نجيدِ

As if the heads above them in stillness

To the most charming chanter.

مِلْءُ صدرٍ ومِلْءُ عيْنٍ وسَرْجٍ

وفؤادٍ وَرَغْمُ أَنْفِ حَسُودِ

The fullness of the chest, the eye, the throat,

And heart despite the nose of the envious.

بَحْرُ عِلْمٍ غَدَاةَ حُجّةِ خَصْمٍ

طُوْدُ حلمٍ هَلالُ ليلةِ عِيْدِ

An ocean of knowledge on the morrow of an opponent's argument,

A towering forbearance like the crescent of Eid.

لو يُبَاريَ سَحْبَانَ في مُحْكَمِ القوْ

لِ لأمْسَى سَحْبَانُ غَيْرَ سَدِيْدِ

If he competed with Suhban in eloquence

Suhban would end up faltering.

أو يَنَاجِي عبدَ الحميد لِمّا أعْ

جَبَ مَرْوَانَ لفظُ عبدِ الحمِيْدِ

Or he conversed with Abdul Hameed,

Marwan would be astounded by Abdul Hameed's eloquence.

يا ابن مَوْلَى أبي نَصْرٍ السِّنْ

دِيِّ رُكْنِ الخِلاَفَةِ المشْدُودِ

O son of the mawla of Abu Nasr al-Sindi

The pillar of the enduring caliphate.

جَامِعُ السَّيْفِ للخليْفِةِ والأق

لاَمِ أَعظِمْ بِسيِّدٍ ومَسُودِ

Combiner of the sword for the caliph

And the pen - glorify the master and extend help.

شَهدتْ غُرّةُ الرشيدِ على وج

هِكَ بالموْلدِ الزَّكِيِّ السَّعِيدِ

The dawn of Ar-Rashid witnessed upon your face

The blessed, auspicious birth.

شَبَهٌ منهُ فِيْكَ كان كإِرْثٍ

لسليمان حِيْزٌ عَنْ دَاوُدِ

A resemblance to him in you was like

An inheritance to Solomon from David.

كرُّ ألْحاظِهِ لنفعٍ وَضَرٍّ

وإشاراتُهُ لبأْسٍ وَجُودِ

The glances of his eyes for benefit and harm

And his gestures for ferocity and kindness.

ولسان يَسْتَنْزِلُ العُصْمَ لِيْناً

فإذا اشتَدَّ قال للأَرْضِ مِيْدي

And a tongue that gently draws out discretion

But if stirred says to the earth, "Be still."

قُمْتَ فِيْنَا مَقَامَ جَدِّكَ عبد ال

لَّهِ أكْرِمْ بجدِّهِ في الجُدُودِ

You have assumed your grandfather Abdullah's position among us

So honor his grandfather with lasting generosity.

إنْ سألْنَاكَ عنْ حُدُودِ كتابِ ال

لَّهِ أوضحْتَ مُشْكِلاَتِ الحُدُودِ

If we asked you about the limits of Allah's Book

You clarified the ambiguities of the legal edicts.

أو سَمِعْنا مِنْكَ الحديثَ فَإِسْنا

دُكَ لا بالوَاهي ولا المرْدُودِ

Or if we heard Hadith from you, your chain of transmission

Is neither uncertain nor repudiated.

أو طَلَبْنَا بِكَ الرِّيَاسَةَ والجا

هَ عُضِدْنا بالعِزِّ والتأبِيْدِ

Or we sought leadership and glory through you,

You supported us with honor and eternity.

ما تَرَى عُطْلَتي وكَثْرةَ قومٍ

شُغِلُوا بالخَرَاجِ أو بالبرِيْدِ

You do not consider my unemployment and the preoccupation of people

Busy with taxes or mail.

وَلَو أنَّ الرِّهانَ يَحْسُنُ مِنَّا

وَتَمَادَى بِنَا المَدَى في صَعِيْدِ

And if rivalry were proper for us

And the contest extended into the valley,

لتَنَاوَلَتْ دونَهُمْ خَصْلَةَ السَّبْ

قِ وَجَاءُوا كأنَّهُمْ في قُيُودِ

We would take the quality of precedence below them

While they would come as if bound in shackles.

ودَوَاتي تَشْكُو الفَرَاغَ وأقلا

مي ظِمَاءٌ حوائِمٌ للوُرُودِ

My inkstand complains of emptiness and my pen

Thirsts for meadows and flowers.

في سطورٍ أَعارَهَا جَدّي السِّنْ

دِيُّ من نقش نَفْسِهِ في النُّقُودِ

In lines lent by my grandfather al-Sindi

From the essence of himself engraved on coins.

كلُّ نونٍ كَعَطْفَةِ الصُّدْغِ تَقْفُو

أَلِفاً مِثْلِ قَامَةِ المَقْدُودِ

Every Nun is like the curve of a cheek following

An Alif like the stature of an outstretched palm tree.

وَمَعَانٍ مِثْلِ الأهِلَّةِ بيضٍ

في مداد مِثْلِ الليالي السود

And meanings like the crescent in white ink

In ink black like the darkest nights.

كُنْ شَفِيْعي فأنتُمُ شُفَعَائي

في الحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَدَارَ الخُلُودِ

Be my intercessor, for you are my intercessors

In this life and the eternal abode.

سُدْتُ حتَّى لو ابْتَغَيْتَ مِزْيْداً

فوق ما سُدْتَ لَمْ تجد من مَزِيْدِ

I have ceased composing, so even if you sought

More verses beyond what I composed, you would find no excess.