أتى زائرا وَهْناً ولم يَخْشَ عاذِلا
ونورُ ذُكاءِ الأُفْقِ سار مَراحِلاَ
He came as a visitor, weak and unafraid of censure,
And the light of the horizon's brilliance progressed in stages,
وجادَ بِما لو رُمْتُه من خيالهِ
لكان لما أوْلَى مِن الوصْلِ باخِلاَ
He was generous with imaginings which, had I aimed them at him
Would have made the stingiest cling to reconciliation.
حبيبٌ لَو أنَّ البدرَ أصْبَح حائزاً
ضِياءَ مُحيَّاهُ لما زال كامِلاَ
A beloved, if the full moon gained possession
Of the radiance of his beauty, it would remain perfect.
رَشِيقٌ كخُوطِ الخَيْزُرانةِ ما انْثَنَى
وما مالَ إلاّ وانثنى القلْبُ مائلا
Graceful as the lines of tattoos, he did not bend,
And nothing swayed him unless the heart inclined.
يُحرِّكُ بالأعْطافِ أجْنحِةَ الهوَى
إذا حرَّكَتْ من فَوْقهِنَّ الغلائلا
With glances he moves the wings of passion.
When the braids above them were stirred.
فبِتُّ أُعاطِيهِ سُلافَ مُدامةٍ
تَرُدُّ الدَّياجي من سَناهُ أصائِلاَ
I spend the night giving him a drink of wine
That makes the darkness recede from his teeth in rays.
إذا بَزَغَتْ مِن راحَتَيْهِ بَدا مِنَ السَّـ
ـرُورِ لنا ما كان مِن قَبْلُ آفِلاَ
When dawn rose from his palm, some of the joy
That was hidden before appeared to us.
إلى أن نَضَا ثَوْبَ الشَّبابِ الدُّجَى وقَدْ
غدتْ زُهْرُه إلا قَليلاً أوافِلاَ
Until the cloak of youth was stripped at dusk
And its flowers faded, all but a few.
وذُو الرَّعَثاتِ الحُمْرِ هَبَّ كأنَّما
عليه ضَياءُ الفَجْرِ شامَ مَناصِلاَ
Dishevelled, the redness of dawn poured over him
As if the light of morning had continued unbroken.
فكبَّر مَولاهُ وهلَّل إذْ رأَى
هَزِيعَ الدُّجى الزِّنْجِيِّ أدْبر راحِلاَ
He glorified his Master and cried “God is great” when he saw
The blackness of night retreat and depart.
وقام بجَيْشٍ مِن ذَوِيه كأنه
وإياهم كِسْرَى يحُثُّ القبائِلاَ
He stood with his tribe about him as though he
And they were Kisra marching with the tribes.
على قُضُبِ العِقْيآنِ يَمْشِي مُجَلْبَباً
جلاَبِيبَ مثْلَ الرَّوْض مازال حافِلاَ
He walked proudly robed on the meadows
His robes like a garden that was still flowering.
فَسرْنا إلى نادٍ رَحِيبٍ سماؤُه
تُرِيكَ بُدُوراً مُشْرِقاتٍ كَوامِلاَ
We went to a spacious grove with a sky
That showed you shining full moons.
إلى منْزلٍ للأُنْسِ فيه منازلٌ
بِهنَّ غَدَا حُسْناً يفُوقُ المنازِلاَ
To a dwelling where the halting-places of company
Had made it more lovely than any halting-place.
حكَى دَنِفاً أحْشاؤُه قد تَضَرَّمتْ
بنارِ الأسَى لو كان يشْكُو البَلابلاَ
He told of a meadow whose innards were cracked
By the fire of sorrow as though he complained to nightingales.
به يبْذُلُ الحسنَ المصُونَ لمن بِهِ
وفي غيره لو كان ما كان باذلاَ
In it he lavishes hidden beauty on one who deserves it
While with others, had he done so, he would not have been so open-handed.
ترَى جُدْرَه كالعاشقين من الجوَى
غَداةَ النَّوَى تُبْدِي دُموعاً هَواطِلاَ
You can see his walls like lovers after estrangement
Shedding copious tears at dawn.
لقد شادَهُ نَجْمُ الهدايةِ واحدُ الـ
ـأفاضِل في الشَّهْباءِ طَوْلاً ونائِلاَ
The star of guidance and the unique pearl
Among the Pleiades raised him high.
وكم نَمَّقَتْ أفكارُه غَلَسَ الدُّجى
رياضاً سقَاها الفضْلُ طَلاًّ ووَابِلاَ
How his ideas have plumbed the darkness of night
To irrigate gardens that learning has watered with new and plentiful rain;
حدائقُ لم يكْسُ الهجيرُ نَظِيرَها
ذُبُولاً وقد تْلقى الرياضَ ذَوابلاَ
Gardens the hot wind has not withered
As plots turned to gardens in the spring.
عَرائِسُ تلْقاها بضَافِي ثِيابِهَا
فإنْ لاَحَ ما فيهنَّ قُلْتَ ثَواكِلاَ
Brides whom he met in the train of his cloak –
When glimpsed what they hid I said, “Bashful!”
تُجِيبُكَ عَمَّا رُمْتَ وَهْيَ صَوامِتٌ
ومَن ذَا رَأَى خُرْساً تُجِيب المُسائِلاَ
They answer you though silent
And who ever saw mutes answer questions?
بدائعُ فِكْرٍ للأواخِرِ وَطَّدتْ
محاسِنَ ذِكْرٍ تسْتقِلُّ الأوَائِلاَ
Rarities of thought have confirmed for later times
Beauties of recollection that rival early achievements.
