يَا رِيْمُ كَمْ أَدْنُو وَأَنْتَ تَرِيْمُ

وَتَنَامُ عَنْ لَيْلِي وَلَسْتَ تُنِيْمُ

O Rim, how much I approach while you slumber,

And sleep through my night while you do not keep vigil.

أَخْلَفْتَ مِيْعَادَ النِّدَامِ وَقَلَّمَا

أَلْفَيْتُ عَهْدَاً لِلنِّدَامِ يَدُومُ

You missed the tryst of reproach, and rarely

Have I made a pledge to reproach that endures.

فَاسْتَأْنِفِ العَهْدَ المُحِيْلَ فَإِنَّهُ

قَدْ عَادَ بَعْدَ الحَمْدِ وَهْوَ ذَمِيْمُ

So renew the covenant you invalidated,

For it has returned, after praise, despised.

قُمْ غَيْرَ مَذْمُومِ القِيَامِ فَإِنَّنَا

سَنُقِيْمُ سُوقَ اللَّهْوِ حِيْنَ تَقُومُ

Arise, not blamed for rising, for we

Will establish revelry’s market when you stand.

هَذَا الصَّبَاحُ فَأَضْحِكِ الإِبْرِيْقَ عَنْ

شَمْسٍ تَحُفُّ بِهَا لَدَيَّ نُجُومُ

This is the dawn, so make the pitcher laugh

About a sun I am adorned by its stars around me.

فَأَدَارَهَا وَالصُّبْحُ فِي حُلَكِ الدُّجَى

كَالجَيْشِ زِنْجِيّاً غَزَتْهُ الرُّومُ

She turned it, and the dawn in the darkness’s throat

Is like an army the Romans invaded while black.

وَالنَّجْمُ فِي أُفُقِ الغُرُوبِ كَأَنَّهُ

كَأْسٌ عَلَيْهَا لُؤْلُؤٌ مَنْظُومُ

And the star on the horizon’s edge is as though

It is a cup with threaded pearls upon it.

وَالنَّسْرُ فِي كَبِدِ السَّمَاءِ كَأَنَّهُ

نَسْرٌ يُحَلِّقُ تَارَةً وَيَحُومُ

And the eagle in the sky’s liver is as though

It is an eagle that sometimes soars and sometimes hovers.

وَالأُفْقُ أَبْيَضُ وَالهِلاَلُ كَأَنَّهُ

خَلْخَالُ سَاقِ خَرِيْدَةٍ مَفْصُومُ

The horizon is white, and the crescent is as though

It is the anklet of a well-formed, delicate female.

وَالجَوُّ مَعْطُورُ الهَوَاءِ كَأَنَّهُ

يَأْتِي بِعَرْفِ المِسْكِ مِنْهُ نَسِيْمُ

And the air is fragrant, as though it comes

With the scent of musk, from it a soft breeze.

مُتَتَايِهُ التَّكْرِيْهِ يُحْسَبُ ظَالِماً

فَإِذَا دَنَا فَكَأَنَّهُ مَظْلومُ

Roaming to tease, it is thought to be unjust,

But when it draws near, it is as though wronged.

تَمَّتْ مَلاَحَتُهُ وَقَامَ بِقَدَّهِ

فِي التِّيْهِ إِنَّ الحُسْنَ مِنْهُ يَتِيْمُ

Its sailor song is complete, and it stood straight

In wandering ― beauty in it is orphaned.

فَشَرِبْتُهَا منْ طَرْفِهِ وَإِنَاؤُهَا

فِي كَفِّهِ وَرَحِيْقُهَا مَخْتُومُ

So I drank it from its rim, and its cup

In its palm, and its drink is sealed.

رَاحَاً كَأَنَّ نَسِيْمَهَا مُتَوَلَّدٌ

مِنْ نَشْرِهِ وَمِزَجُهَا تَسْنِيْمُ

Comfortable, as though its breeze was generated

From its diffusion, and its mix is gentle.

شِبْهَانِ تَنْحَسِرُ الهُمُومُ إِذَا هُمَا

حَضَرَا وَيَحْسُنُ فِيْهِمَا التَّآْثِيْمُ

Two likenesses: worries recede when they

Are present, and sinning becomes good through them.

جَاءَتْ بِنَكْهَتِهِ وَجَاءَ بِلَوْنِهَا

فِي خَدِّهِ فَصَبَا إِلَيْهِ حَلِيْمُ

It came with its delicacy, and he came with its color

In his cheek, so the forbearing one inclined toward him.

وَسَقَى بِهَا سَقْيَاً وَأَثْمَلَ مُثْمَلاً

وَتَظَلَّمَتْ مِنْهُ إِلَيَّ ظَلُومُ

And he quenched thirst with it, and fulfilled a fulfilling,

And the darknesses complained about him to me.

وَشَدَا لَنَا فَنَعَى الأَسَى بِمُخَفَّفٍ

إِيْقَاعُهُ المَحْضُورُ وَالمَزْمُومُ

And he played softly for us, so he consoled sorrow with something light―

Its complex rhythm and its metered one.

تَتَجَاوَبُ الأَوْتَارُ فِي نَغَمَاتِهِ

خَنَثٌ وَفِي أَلْفَاظِهِ تَرْخِيْمُ

The strings converse in its melodies―

Effeminate, and in its words a gentle murmuring.

مُتَوسِّدٌ يُسْرَى يَدَيْهِ مُمَهِّدٌ

كَالطِّفْلِ إِلاَّ أَنَّهُ مَفْطُومُ

Lying down, stretching his hands, reclining

Like a child, except that he is weaned.

مُسْتَعِجْمٌ لاَ يَسْتَبِيْنُ كَلاَمُهُ

حَتِّى يُرَى فِي الصَّدْرِ مِنْهُ كُلُومُ

Speaking a foreign language, his speech is not

Understood until heaviness from it is seen in the chest.

لاَ يَفْهَمُ النَّجْوَى إِذَا خَاطَبْتَهُ

وَحَدِيْثُهُ مُسْتَحْسَنٌ مَفْهُومُ

He does not understand intimate talk if you address him,

Yet his conversation is considered well understood.

فَكَأَنَّ كِسْرَى فِي الزُّجَاجَةِ سَابحٌ

فِي المَاءِ يَغْرَقُ تَارَةً وَيَعُومُ

So it is as though an earring in a bottle is swimming

In the water, sinking at times and floating at others.

أُسْقى عَلَى تِمْثَالِهِ بِرَحِيْقِهِ

فَكَأَنَّهُ لِي صَاحِبٌ وَنَدِيْمُ

I pour its drink upon its statue, so it is as though

It is a friend and cup-companion to me.

فِي مَجْلِسٍ حَجَبَ الزَّمَانُ صُرُوفَهُ

عَنَّا فَظِلُّ العَيْشِ فِيْهِ مُقِيْمُ

In a sitting, time secluded its good fortunes

From us, so the shadow of life in it remains.

لَوْ لَمْ يُكَدِّرْ صَفْوَهُ بِمَغِيْبِهِ

عَنِّي أَبُو إِسْحَاقَ إِبْرَاهِيْمُ

If Abu Ishaq Ibrahim had not saddened its purity

By being absent from me.

يَا بَدْرَ هَاشِمٍ الَّذِي مِنْ بِيْنِهِمء

أَضْحَى لَهُ التَّفْضِيْلُ وَالتَّقْدِيْمُ

O Badr of Hashim, from whom

Preference and priority over them became.

يَا رَوْضَةَ الأَخْلاَفِ وَالأَدَبِ الَّذِي

فِيْهَا حُلُومٌ جَمَّةٌ وَعُلُومُ

O garden of descendants and etiquette in which

There are collected wholesomeness and sciences.

مَهْلاً أَبَا إِسْحَاقَ إِنَّكَ مَاجِدٌ

نَدْبٌ وَمَنْتَخَبُ الفُرُوعِ كَرِيْمُ

Wait, Abu Ishaq. You are outstanding―

A model, and the choice of the noble branches.

وَتَوَاضُعُ الكُبَرَاءِ فِي أَخْلاَقِهِمْ

شَرَفٌ كَمَا أَنَّ التَّكَبُّرَ لُومُ

And the humility of the great in their morals

Is a nobility, just as arrogance is blame.

والبَدْرُ يُخْلَطُ بِالْعَبِيْرِ وَفَضْلُهُ

فِي طِيْبِهِ مُتَعَارَفٌ مَعْلُومُ

The full moon is mixed with fragrance, and its virtue

In its goodness is agreed upon and known.

لَمَّا سَمَتْ هِمَمِي إِلَيْكَ رَدَدْتُهَا

بِالْهَمِّ وَالهِمَمُ الكِبَارُ هُمُومُ

When my aspirations set out to you, I repelled them

With anxiety, and lofty aspirations are worries.

وَالظَّرْفُ يَأْبَى لِلظَّرِيْفِ قَطِيْعَتِي

وَالمَجْدُ لاَ يَرْضَى بَهَا وَالخِيْمُ

And propriety refuses to cut ties with the proper,

And glory is not content with them, and the insignificant.

بِأَبِي وَأُمِّي أَنْتَ مِنْ مُتَتَايِهٍ

لَمْ يُثْنِهِ التَّبْجِيْلُ وَالتَّعْظِيْمُ

By my father and mother, you are from one wandering—

Whom praising and venerating did not straighten.

لَوْ أَعْرَضَتْ مَعْشُوقَةٌ عَنْ عَاشِقٍ

إِعْرَاضَهُ عَنِّي لَكَانَ يَهِيْمُ

If a beloved turned away from a lover

With the turning away from me, he would wander.

كَثَّرْتَ حُسَّادِي فَحِيْنَ هَجَرْتِنِي

غَادَرْتَنِي وَكَأَنَّنِي المَحْمُومُ

You multiplied my enviers, so when you shunned me,

You left me as though I am stricken with illness.

وَحَرَمْتَنِي أُنْسَ النِّدَامِ وَإِنَّمَا

يَحْظَى بِهِ المَرْزُوقُ لاَ المَحْرُومُ

And you deprived me of the intimacy of reproach, and indeed

Only the fortunate, not the deprived, attains it.

فَاسْلَمْ ظَلِلْتَ بِنِعْمَةٍ مَحْرُوسَةٍ

تَبْقَى وَطَرْفُ الدَّهْرِ عَنْكَ نَؤُومُ

Be safe―you have been shaded with a protected blessing

That remains, while the days glance askance at you.

وَاعْلَمْ بِأَنَّكَ مَا أَقَمْتَ عَلَى الَّتِي

فِيَّ اسْتَجَرْتَ مِنَ العُقُوقِ مُلِيْمُ

And know that you have not remained upon that

Disobedience against me you incurred, grim.

لَكِنَّنِي سَأَزُورُ إِنْ صَارَمْتَنِي

وَعَلَى الصَّفَاءِ وَإِنْ كَدُرْتَ أَدُومُ

But I will visit if you oppose me,

And I will always visit you in good and in bad.