ضَرَبٌ في ارتشاف ذاك الرُّضابِ

خُلَّبا كان برقُ ذاك السحابِ

The flash of lightning in the outpouring of that downpour

Was adorned as if it were the lightning of that cloud

يا مَهاةَ الفلاةِ يا عِرْضَةَ الأع

راض يا عَذْبَةَ الثنايا العذابِ

O desolation of the wilderness, O expanse of the regions

O sweetness of the folds, O torment of longing

أمِنَ العدلِ أنَّ من سوف يقضى

فيكِ نحباً وَكَّلْته بانتحابِ

Can justice be assured that whoever will judge

You has appointed me to compose poetry about you?

كيف يصحو نشوان خمر الثَّلِثَيْ

نِ وخمرِ الهوى من الإِطْرابِ

How can the exuberance of the intoxication of thirty

And the wine of passion sober up from ecstasy?

ومن الحين أن غزلانَ رملٍ

صائداتٌ باللحْظِ آسادَ غابِ

And since the antelopes of the sand

Are hunters with a glance, lions of the forests

في رِياض الجمالِ يأخذن ما شئ

ن من الجُلَّنار والعنابِ

In the gardens of beauty they take whatever they wish

Of the rose and the nabk tree

وأبى حبُّها يمينُ أخي الح

بِ لقد جاوبَتْ سريعَ الجوابِ

And the love of my brother refused the right of my love

Indeed, it quickly responded to the answer

لَوْذَعِياً أمضَى من السيفِ في الرَّوْ

ع وأذكى في ظُلْمةٍ من شهابِ

More effective than a sword in courage

And more glowing in darkness than a flame

اغْضَبِي إن أردب وارضَيْ فعندي

عَزَماتٌ مثلُ السيوفِ القضابِ

Be angry if I sin, and be pleased for with me

Are resolves like honed swords

لستُ ممن يقول إنَّ الغِنَى تُدْ

رَكُ أسبابُه بلا أسبابِ

I am not one who says that wealth,

Its causes are obtained without causes

فالتَّداني من التَّنائي وما الرا

حةُ إلا في الكدِّ والإتعابِ

For proximity is from remoteness, and comfort

Is only in toil and fatigue

فابْشِري وَلْتَنَلْ بشارتُك الرِّك

بَ فهذا أوانُ حَلِّ الرِّكابِ

So receive good news, and let your good news reach

The mount, for this is the time of saddling the mounts

بفناءٍ كأنما انتظَمَ الده

رُ عليه وانحلَّ عقدُ السِّخابِ

With an open space as if the pearls

Were strung upon it and the necklace of clouds untied

وكأنَّ الخطوبَ خوفاً تواصَت

بينَها باجتنابِ ذاكَ الجَنَابِ

As if sorrows fearfully consulted

Between them, avoiding that peril

فيه سَبْطُ البناتِ من آل إبرا

هيم صعب المَرام سَهْلُ الحِجابِ

In it is the offspring of the daughters of the family of Abraham

Of difficult aspirations, easily veiled

لم يُعَلِّلْ نصيبَهُ من مَعَالي

جدِّه يَعُرب الكريمِ النِّصابِ

He did not attribute his share of the virtues of his ancestor

The generous, judicious person

يُعجَبُ الناسُ أنه أَفْضلُ النا

سِ عُلاً وهو غيرُ ذي إعْجابِ

People wonder that he is the best of people

In lineage, yet he is not vain

وَكَثيرٌ حياؤُه والعَطَايا

يَتَبَرَّجْن مِنْهُ للخطَّابِ

Abundant is his modesty, and gifts

Flow freely from him to the suitor

لو تبحَّرت جُودَةُ تَحَسِبْتَ ال

بَحْرَ في صدرهِ الرّحيبِ الرّحابِ

If you fathom his abundant generosity, you reckon

The sea is in his capacious, vast breast

أَغْربَتْ في النّدَى سَجاياهُ قِدْماً

فدعوناهُ طالب الطُّلابِ

His qualities were strange in dew, so we called him

The seeker of virtues

شَرَفٌ كيف ما تصفَّحْتَ صافَحْ

تَ عليه ديباجَةَ الأحْسابِ

A nobility, however you examine it, your hand

Touches upon its brocade of repute

مثلَ بَيْتِ الله الذي أينما وجْ

هت وجهاً فأَنْت في مِحرابِ

Like the House of God, whichever way you face

There you are, facing a prayer niche

وحكيمُ الزمان لم يُؤت عند ال

خَطْب من حكمةٍ وفَصْلِ الخطابِ

And the wise man of the time was not given, at

Marriage proposals, any wisdom or eloquence of speech

في يَدَيْ رأيه من الفِكْر مِرْآ

ةٌ تُرِيه الحِجَا بغير حِجابِ

In his hands, thought is a mirror

Showing analogies without a veil

ما رأَتْهُ الخُطُوب أَطْرَقَ إلاَّ

نَكَصَتْ خيفةً على الأعْقابِ

Whatever difficulties he saw, he only

Turned away retreating on his heels

ورياضُ الجَمَالِ في وجهِهِ تُغْ

ذَى بماءِ العُلا وماءِ الشَّبابِ

And the gardens of beauty are in his face, nourished

With the water of virtue and the water of youth

وكأنَّ الظلامَ والنورَ طَيْفا

ةُ غَداةَ الإرْغَابِ والإرْهابِ

As if darkness and light were an apparition

Of terror and awe the morning after

خُضْتُ منه بحر النَّوالِ وأهديْ

تُ إليه دُرَّ الكلامِ العجابِ

I drew from him a sea of intimacy, and presented

To him a pearl of wondrous speech

كلُّ بيتٍ أَعَمُّ طِيباً وأذْكى

أرْجاً من تنفُّسِ الأحبابِ

Every line more fragrant and more redolent

Than the breath of loved ones

يا أخا المجد يا أبا الحسن المح

سن في فادح الخُطوبِ الصعابِ

O brother of glory, O father of the beautiful, the good

In the hazardous, difficult courtships

والكريمُ الذي على كَرمِ الأخ

لاقِ منه مُعَوّلُ الآدابِ

And the generous one whose manner is the pillar

Of etiquette, the guide of culture

إنا إن لم تَرَ التجوُّزَ في الحك

م وأَنْصَتَ أوّلُ الأصحابِ

If you do not see our affection in wisdom

And the first of companions incline to listen

والشريفُ الذي يرى بَيْنَنَا الآ

دَابَ أدْنى قرباً من الأَنْسابِ

And the noble one who sees between us manners

Closer in kinship than ancestry

مِدَحي ما حَييتُ تَتْرَى وإن كا

ن اعتقادي زيارةُ الإِغْبابِ

My praise of you lasts as long as I live

Even if my belief is visiting the tomb

فاستمِع لي هَنِيتَ شاميَّةَ الألْ

فاظ حُسناً نجديَّةَ الإعْرابِ

So listen to me, you have adorned Damascene poetry

With excellent words, Najdi poetry with eloquence

بِنْتَ فكرٍ كِسوتها حلل الصِّد

ق فكادت تكونُ أمَّ الكتابِ

The daughter of a thought whose garment is

The dress of truth, she almost became the mother of books