دع نظم كلّ تغزّلِ

في كلّ طرفٍ أكحلِ

Let the composition of all love poetry cease,

In every eyelid lined with kohl.

فلقد تحوّل حلوُ تف

فاح الملاح لحنظل

For the sweetness of rhyme has changed,

And the salt of song turned bitter.

وطوى العفاف بساطه

وفشا فسادُ الجهّل

Modesty has folded up its carpet,

And the ignorance of the foolish spreads corruption.

وغدت رؤوس أولى النهى

والفضل تحت الأرجل

The heads of piety and virtue,

Lie beneath ignorant feet.

وأخو الفتوّة والمرو

ءة مثل حرفٍ مهمل

The brother of chivalry and manliness,

Is like a neglected letter.

والناس يظهر زيفها

في وقع داء معضل

And people reveal their hypocrisy,

In the grip of an intricate affliction.

فابعد وكن عنهم إذا

رمتَ النجاة بمعزل

So turn away and distance yourself from them,

If you seek deliverance in isolation.

واشفع مسيرك بالسُرى

في جنح ليلٍ أليل

And accompany your journey with travel by night,

In the wings of a dark, tranquil night,

حتّى تلوح لك السوا

حلُ كالعرئس تنجلي

Until the horizons shine out for you,

Like a radiant bride unveiled.

لا سيّما عكا الّتي اف

تخرت بخير مبجّل

Especially Acre, which was honored,

With the best and most eminent.

بعلّيها مَن عزمُه

فوق السماكِ الأعزل

Its lord, whose determination,

Is above the loftiest peaks.

سمحٌ إذا قابلتَه

صادفتَ أعظم منهل

Magnanimous, if you meet him,

You find the greatest spring.

ورأيت خلقاً فيه أل

طفَ من نسيم الشمأل

And see in him the finest nature,

Gentler than the breeze at dusk.

وتراه إن دارت رحى ال

هيجاء ليثَ الجحفل

And if the millstone of war turns,

He is a fierce lion uneasy to provoke.

وكأنّما هو بدر تم

مٍ في سحاب القسطل

As if he is a full moon, rising

In clouds of gathered darkness.

أعداؤه مثل القطا

وجنابه كالأجدل

His enemies are like insects,

And his side like Indian aloeswood.

فطنٌ ترى آراءه

خلقت لحلّ المشكّل

Keen, his views appear,

Made to solve the difficult.

في الخير خفَّ كما النسي

مُ وفي الوقار كيذبل

He is gentle in goodness, like a soft breeze,

And dignified like a withering stalk.

ورقى وخلّف حاسدي

ه في الحضيض الأسفل

He ascended and left his envious detractors,

In the lowest hollow.

سامي الذرى أمُّ المكا

رمِ بعده لم تحبل

Sublimely unique, the mother of settlements,

After him shall never again conceive.

فكأنّما هو في الأنا

م من الطراز الأوّل

It is as if he is of the finest calibre,

Among people, with no equals.

لا يدّعي مثلاً له

في الناس غير الأحول

He claims no likeness to him,

Among people, except the twisted and corrupt.

فلكم قصدت جنابه

عند الزمان الممحل

So I headed to his side,

In a time of peril and crisis.

فسمعت همّته تقو

لُ وتلك مثل المُنصُل

And I heard his ambitions say,

Like an awakening call:

لا سيف إلّا ذو الفقا

ر ولا فتىً إلّا علي

“No sword but Dhu al-Faqar,

And no youth but Ali!”