ذَهَبَ الهوى بشغافِ قلبِ الموجِعِ

وأَراقَ حبُّ العامريةِ أَدمعي

The passion took away the inner core of my aching heart,

And love for Al-Amiriyyah shed my tears.

مكسال حوراءِ المدامعِ إِنْ رنتْ

ذهبتْ بلبِّ العابدِ المتورِّع

If the doe-eyed damsel of tears sang,

She took away the heart of the ascetic worshipper.

خلابةٌ إنْ حدَّثتْ فحديثُها

أَحلى وَأَملحُ من حديثِ (الأصمعي)

A beauty, if she conversed, her talk

Is sweeter and wittier than the talk of Al-Asma’i.

ما ملَّ قطُّ وإِن يطلْ فكأَنَّه

ترديدُ أَنفاسِ الشجيِّ المولع

It never satiated me, even if it lasts, as if it is

The echo of breaths of the fervent lover.

لا غرو إن ملكتْ فؤادي خدعة

إنَّ الكريمَ متى يخادع يخدع

No wonder if she possessed my heart with her tricks,

Indeed, the generous one, if he deceives, he deceives.

هي أولٌ إنْ ما هببتُ من الكَرى

وكذاك آخر خاطرٍ إنْ أَهجع

She is the first if I fell for the lovely maidens,

And likewise, the last thought if I become distressed.

فخيالُها في ناظريَّ وذكرُها

بفمي وطيبُ حديثها في مسمعي

So her image is in my eyes and her remembrance

Is on my mouth and the fragrance of her talk is in my hearing.

قَدْ ضاعَ مني القلبُ يوم نأتْ فهل

من ناشدٍ يوم النَّوى قلبي معي

My heart was lost the day she came, so is there

A caller when intentions leave, calling my heart with me?

ولقد طرقتُ خباءَها من بعد ما

أعفى الرقيبُ بمدلهمّ أَسفع

And I had knocked on her tent after

The guard was blinded by his blinking eyes.

فتجاهلتني ثمَّ قالتْ أَنتَ مَنْ؟

فأَجبتها من تعلمين الأَلمعي

So she ignored me, then said: Who are you?

I said to her: You know Al-Alma’i.

أَنا إِنْ جُهلت لديك في ذلِّ الهوى

ما زلتُ أَعرف بالعزيزِ الأَروع

If I am unknown to you in the humility of passion,

I am still known by the Most Mighty, Most Sublime.

أأبيت مجهولاً وَقَدْ علم الورى

أَني أَلوذ بذي المقام الأَرفع

Shall I remain unknown though the people know

That I take refuge in the One of Highest Rank?

حامي الذمار (شكيب) خير أُولي النهى

خِدْن المعالي ملجأُ المتضرع

Protector of the deprived, Shakib, best master of prohibition,

Pillar of glory, refuge for the supplicant.

يا مفزعاً للمستغيثِ بكم وَقَدْ

أَمسى وَليس يرى له من مفزع

O refuge for the distressed imploring you, and he

Found no refuge to see at night.

كم وَقفةٍ لك في (طرابس) وَقدْ

طاش الحليمُ وَظلَّ ذعراً لا يعي

How many times you stood in Tarabulus, and

The forbearing one was baffled and perplexed unknowing.

وَكذاك في ذاتِ الحصون (أَدرنة)

لمّا ظهرتَ عَلَى الجبان المدعي

And likewise in the fortress of Andarinah

When you appeared to the pretentious coward.

من لي بسحرٍ من بيانك علَّني

أُبدي كمينَ محبَّةٍ في أَضلعي

Who can lend me some eloquence of your speech so I may reveal

The secret of my passion in my ribs?

فلأَنتَ أفصحُ قائلٍ من أَعجم

أَو معربٍ إِنْ قال لم يتنطَّع

For you are the most eloquent speaker of foreigners

Or Arab, if he spoke, he did not feign.

آياتُ شعرِك يا أَميرَ الشعر لو

تُتلى على جبلٍ سما يتصدع

Verses of your poetry, O prince of poetry, if

Recited to a mountain, it would split.

فيه شعورُ المستهامِ وَدمعةُ ال

باكي الحزينِ وَأَنَّهُ المتوجَّع

In it the passions of the enamored, and tears of the

Sorrowful weeper, and his anguish.

وَحنينُ وَرقاءٍ علَى فتنِ ضحىً

وَرجاءُ ذي مقةٍ وَلوعة مولع

And the yearning of a gazelle for the charm of morning,

And the hope of a lover, and the agony of the fervent.

وزئيرُ ضرغامٍ وصيحةُ فارسٍ

في ملتقى الجمعين ليس بهَيرع

And the howl of a wolf, and the cry of a horseman

In the battle of two armies, not timid.

وبلاغةُ (الأعشى) وحكمةُ (أكثم)

وبيان ذي الكلمِ المبين (الأصلع)

And the eloquence of Al-A’sha, and the wisdom of Aktham,

And the rhetoric of plain words of Al-Aslami.

أَحييتَ عصرَ الشِّعرِ منه بمعجزِ

من بعد ما قَدْ كان قاب المصرع

You revived the era of poetry with the miracle

After it reached the coffin and burial.

والقولُ إِنْ لم يُحي ميْتاً أَو يمُت

حياً فذلك ساقطٌ كالأَقطع

And to say it does not revive the dead or kill

The living, that is invalid like the amputated.

وهديتني نهجَ البيانِ بآية

منه لقد سفرتْ ولم تتبرقع

And you guided me to the path of rhetoric with a verse

From it that traveled and did not conceal itself.

لكنَّني ما زلتُ مفتقراً إلى

أُخرى تخرُّ لها فحولُ النخَّع

But I still need another that obeys it

The stalwarts of piercing plunge to the ground for it.