لمن الخِيامُ ومن هُنالِكَ نازِلُ

أتُرَى بِهِنَّ رَبيعةٌ أم وَائلُ

For whom are the tents and from whence are they descending?

Are they from Rabee'ah or perhaps from Wa'il?

كَذَبَتْكَ نَفسُكَ بل غَطارِفَةُ الحِمَى

قومٌ لديهمْ ذِكرُ تُبَّعَ خاملُ

Your soul has lied to you, but rather they are feverish shelters,

A people who possess the mention of Tubba` worn out.

هذِهْ خيامُ الهاشمّيةِ حَولَها

مِلّء العُيونِ مَنازِلٌ ومَناهِلُ

These are the tents of Banu Haashim around which

Are dwellings filled with eyes, homes and water springs,

ومنَاصلٌ وذَوابلٌ وجحافلٌ

وقنابلٌ ورواحلٌ وقوافلُ

And settlements, date palms, crowds,

Cauldrons, open plains, and caravans.

غَرْثى الوِشاحِ لها قَوامٌ رامحٌ

تغزو القلوبَ به وطَرْفٌ نابلُ

The perfume of musk for them has erect stature,

It invades hearts thereby, and a glance shoots arrows.

ومن العُجاب نَرَى قتيلاً ساقِطاً

يبغي اللِقا فَيفِرُّ منهُ القاتلُ

And of wonders we see a fallen corpse,

Seeking confrontation, yet the killer flees from him.

أفدِي المُحجَّبةَ التي مِن دُونِها

للدَمعِ في عينِي حِجابٌ سادِلُ

I would ransom the veiled one beyond whom

My tears have a barrier, a curtain hanging down.

يا طالما رَدَّتْ أمَيمةُ سائلاً

أفَلا يُرَدُّ اليومَ هذا السائلُ

O how often Umaymah turned away a suitor!

Should not this suitor today be turned away?

يا ظَبيةً في الحَيِّ نَبغي صَيدَها

فَتصيدُنا عُنْفاً وليس تُخاتِلُ

O gazelle in the enclosure, it is right to hunt her,

Yet she hunts us violently and does not cajole.

لا سَهمَ غيرُ لِحاظِها ترمي بهِ

قَنَصَاً ولا غيرَ الفُروعِ حبائلُ

She has no arrows but her glances with which

She hits her prey, and no snares but the branches.

أنتِ الجميلةُ فوقَ كلِّ جميلةٍ

فالحَقُّ أنتِ وكُلُّهنَّ الباطلُ

You are the most beautiful above all beautiful ones,

So the truth is you while all of them are false.

قد قامَ عُذري في هَواكِ فليسَ لي

في الناس غيرَ الحاسدينَ عواذلُ

My excuse in loving you is established so I have

No one to blame save envious slanderers.

أهواكِ لا عارٌ عليَّ لأننَّي

أَهْوَى الكِرامَ فما يقولُ القائلُ

I love you without shame because I

Love the noble, so what can the sayer say?

مارستُ أخلاقَ الحليمِ فخانَني

دَهرٌ لأخلاقِ السَّفيهِ يُشاكلُ

I practiced the ethics of the forbearing so time

Betrayed me, equating to the morals of the fool.

وعَدَلتُ عن شِيَمِ الجَهولِ فظُنَ بي

جَهلاً لأنّي عن هواهُ ناكلُ

And I abandoned the traits of the ignorant so I was suspected

Of ignorance since I opposed his desires.

وإذا أتتني مِدْحةٌ من جاهلٍ

فهيَ المَذَمَّةُ لي بأنِّي جاهلُ

And if a word of praise comes to me from an ignorant one,

It is dispraise to me that I am ignorant.

رُمتُ الوَفاءَ من الزَّمانِ وأهلهِ

فظَفِرتُ منهُ بما يجودُ الباخلُ

I sought loyalty from time and its people

Yet I gained from them what the miser gives.

وسألتُ عن ذِمَمِ الوِدادِ فقيلَ لي

مَهلاً كأنَّكَ عن مُحمَّدَ غافلُ

And I asked about the blemishes of affection so I was told:

"Wait! It is as if you have forgotten Muhammad."

ذاك الصَّديقُ وإن تناءَت دارُهُ

عنَّا وإن حالَ الزَّمانُ الحائلُ

That friend - even if his abode is far

From us and time has come between as a separator.

إنَّ ابنَ وُدِّكَ مَن يَراكَ بقلبِهِ

لا مَن يَراكَ بعينِهِ فيغازِلُ

Indeed the son of your love is one who sees you in his heart,

Not one who sees you with his eyes and so woos.

قد قَيَّدتْ قلبي على بُعد المَدَى

بالحُبِّ من تلك السُطورِ سلاسلُ

My heart has been fettered from afar

With love to those lines - chains.

القلبُ يَعلَمُ أنهنَّ جواهرٌ

والعينُ تَزعُمُ أنَّهُنَّ رسائلُ

The heart knows they are gems

While the eye claims they are but letters.

الشاعرُ الفَطِنُ اللبيبُ الكاتبُ ال

لَبِقُ الأديبُ اللَوذَعيُّ الفاضلُ

The keen, intelligent poet, the eloquent

Refined, delicate, and virtuous writer.

في كَفِّهِ البيضاءِ سُمْرُ يَراعةٍ

لَعِبتَتْ لها بالمُعرَباتِ عواملُ

In his white palm there is a stylus of vigilance

With which the disasters play with eloquences.

حُلوُ الفُكاهةِ والقريضِ مُهذَّبٌ

أقلامُهُ عَسَّالةٌ وعواسلُ

Sweet of jest and poetry, refined,

His pens are bees and nightingales.

لو كان ماءُ النيل مُرّاً آجناً

حَلَّتْه أنفاسٌ لهُ وشمائلُ

If the Nile's water were bitter and turbid,

It would be sweetened by his breaths and features.

طَودٌ لَدَيهِ كلُّ طودٍ رِبْوَةٌ

بَحرٌ لديهِ كلُّ بحرٍ ساحلُ

Before him all glory is insignificant,

An ocean to him while all seas are shores.

يَنتْابُنا بالمَكرماتِ تَبرُّعاً

والمَكرُماتُ فرائضٌ ونوافلُ

He bestows honors on us voluntarily

While the honors are obligatory and supererogatory.

بيني وبينكَ يا مُحمَّدُ شُقَّةٌ

تُطوى إليها في البلادِ مراحلُ

Between me and you O Muhammad there is a distance

To which caravans undertake journeys in the lands.

وفواصلُ الأوطانِ غيرُ مُضرَّةٍ

إن لم يكن بين القُلوبِ فواصلُ

And the distances of homelands are no harm

If there is no separation between hearts.

تاهَتْ بك الإسكندريةُ عِزَّةً

فَبَدَتْ عليها للسُرورِ دلائلُ

Alexandria boasted in having you,

So its joy became apparent by signs.

إن كانَ في جيدِ الصَّعيدِ قلائِدٌ

منها فما جيدُ العَواصمِ عاطلُ

If there are necklaces in Upper Egypt’s valley,

Then the valley of capitals is not without.

يا كَعْبةَ الأدَبِ التي حَجَّت لها

من كلِّ فَجٍّ للقريض قبائلُ

O Kaaba of literature to which

Tribes of poetry from every terrain made pilgrimage.

أغرَقْتَنا في بحرِ فضلكَ جُملةً

فكأنَّنا ضَرْبٌ وأنتَ الحاصلُ

You have drowned us altogether in the sea of your merit,

It is as if we are an example and you the result.

جئنا بأبياتٍ لَدَيكَ سخيفةٍ

لَوْلاكَ ما عَمِرتْ لَهُنَّ منازِلُ

We have come to you with foolish verses,

Were it not for you, homes would not have been built for them.

شامِيَّةٌ نَقَصَت معانيها وإنْ

أهدى بها في اللفظِ بحرٌ كاملُ

Damascene, their meanings deficient, even if

A sea of eloquence gifted their wording.

ما أكثَرَ الشُّعرَاءَ حينَ تَعُدُّهم

سَرْداً ولكنَّ الفُحولَ قلائلُ

How many are the poets when you count them

In series, but the eminent ones are few.