بالله يا نسمات الرند والبان

من نجد جئتن أم من روض غسان

By God, O breezes of laurel and moringa,

have you come from Najd, or from the garden of Ghassan?

وهل لمستن من ذات الدلال ردا

أم حدثتكن من اقصى تلمسان

And have you touched a cloak of the coquettish one,

or has she spoken to you from farthest Tlemcen?

فان فيكن ريحا من ملابسها

فطيب ليلى بانفاس وارداني

For in you is a scent from her garments;

so Layla's fragrance is in breaths and my sleeves.

وهل لثمتن من ليلى مباسمها

اني عليها غيور أي غيران

And have you kissed Layla's smiling lips?

I am jealous over her—how jealous!

اني اغار عليها من صواحبها

والحاسدات ومن أنس ومن جان

I am jealous over her of her companions,

and of envious women, of humans, and of jinn.

فإن ليلى فتاة لا مثيل لها

صيغت من الحسن شكلا ما له ثان

For Layla is a maiden with no equal,

fashioned from beauty into a form without a second.

إلى البداوة منسوب منابتها

وان نميت فهل فخر كعدنان

Her roots are ascribed to Bedouin life,

and if her ancestry is traced, what glory rivals Adnan?

هيفاء لا قصر فيها ولا طول

تجر اذيال إدلال وإتقان

Slender-waisted, neither short nor tall,

she trails the skirts of coquetry and perfection.

غزالة تسحر الألباب نظرتها

والمسك نكهتها لا ريح ريحان

A gazelle whose glance enchants minds;

her breath is musk, not the scent of basil.

تدنو لعاشقها تجفو لناكرها

تثيب عدلا بتنويل وحرمان

She draws near her lover and is aloof toward whoever disowns her;

she rewards justly, by granting and withholding.

تشبه الحضريات الحسان بها

وهل كذابل جفن جفن سكران

The beautiful city women are likened to her—

but is a drunken eyelid like a languishing one?

وكل ثوب عليها ثوب فاتنة

ولم يشن حسنها تبديل الوان

And every dress upon her is an enchantress's dress,

and no change of colors has marred her beauty.

وثوبها يقبل الازياء ما اختلفت

وليس يخلقه تكرار ازمان

Her dress accommodates fashions, however they differ,

and the passing of ages does not wear it out.

حروفها لمعان لا تطاولها

في حسنها بنت يونان ورومان

Her letters are radiance; she is not equaled

in beauty by the daughter of Greece and Rome.

الناظها درر تركيبها سور

اياتها غرر في كل قرآن

Her words are pearls; their arrangement, surahs;

her verses are radiant gems in every recitation.

غزيرة الفضل لم يجحد محاسنها

الا جهول بإيجاز وتبيان

Rich in excellence, her charms have never been denied

except by one ignorant of concision and clear exposition.

لها الفصاحة تعزى أينما وجدت

شهودها مثل قس أو كسحبان

Eloquence is ascribed to her, wherever it is found;

her witnesses are the likes of Quss or Sahban.

وفي البلاغة هل خود تضارعها

وأصلها صاعد يسمو لقحطان

And in rhetoric, is there a maiden who rivals her?

Her ancestry rises, ascending to Qahtan.

وبعض خدامها عبد الحميد ومن

تلاه من اصفاهني وجرجاني

Among her servants are Abd al-Hamid and those

who followed him, such as Isfahani and Jurjani,

وغيرهم من ملوك الفضل آخرهم

رب النهى اليازجي الكوكب الثاني

and others among the sovereigns of excellence, the last of them

the master of intellect, al-Yaziji, the second star.

وكم لجناتها في أرض لبنان

من هائم في معانيها وبستاني

And her gardens in the land of Lebanon have so many

lovers lost in her meanings, and a Bustani—a gardener!

والشعر محتدها من ذا ينازعها

فيه وكم تيمت من ند حسان

Poetry is her native stock—who can contend with her

in it? How many a peer of Hassan has she enthralled!

بلابل الشعر غنتها بدائعه

على عجائب أوزان والحان

Poetry's nightingales—its marvels—sang to her

to wondrous meters and melodies.

وربة الشعر ناجتها مواهبها

فانحط عن عرشها عرش لكيوان

And the gifts of the muse of poetry whispered to her;

so Saturn's throne sank below her throne.

وفلدت جيدها عقدا ترفع عن

عقود در وياقوت ومرجان

And her neck was adorned with a necklace exalted above

necklaces of pearls, rubies, and coral.

فكل شعر إلى أدنى منازلها

أعلى مراتبه مستشفع دان

Thus all poetry, toward the lowest of her stations,

at its highest rank draws near, seeking intercession.

وهل أمية صالت واستقام لها

ملك وطرف لليلى غير يقظان

And did Umayya prevail, and was there established for her

a kingdom, while Layla's eye was not awake?

هل استعان على تشتيت ما جمعت

الا بالفاظها ذاك الخراساني

Did he seek help in scattering what she had gathered,

except through her words—that Khurasani?

وهل سما عرش هارون الرشيد على

ملك بناه على عدل وعمران

And did the throne of Harun al-Rashid rise over

a realm he built on justice and prosperity,

والأرض في ظلمة للجهل حالكة

وملكه مشرق من نور عرفان

while the earth lay in the pitch-dark gloom of ignorance,

and his realm shone with the light of knowledge,

الا واعلام ليلى غير خافية

في كل ماثره تعلو ببرهان

save with Layla's banners plainly visible,

rising with proof in every glorious deed?

وهل خليفته المأمون رد لنا

علم الأوائل من أقوام يونان

And did his successor al-Ma'mun restore to us

the ancient learning of the peoples of Greece,

الا بلفاظ ليلى غير ملتمس

في حسن تعريبها ألفاظ أعوان

except through Layla's words, without seeking

in her fine Arabic rendering the words of helpers?

ودولة الناصر العظمى بأندلس

قامت بمدهش عمران وبنيان

And al-Nasir's mighty state in al-Andalus

arose through astonishing civilization and building.

في كل فن بسهم وافر ضربت

ولفظ ليلى بآذان واذهان

In every art it took an ample share,

with Layla's words in ears and minds.

لم تتخذ بدلا منها ولا سندا

لها سوى بعض تباع وغلمان

It took no substitute for her, nor any support

for her except some followers and young servants.

وكم وكم دول من بعدها درجى

هامت بليلاي في سر وإعلان

And how many, how many states passed away after her,

enamored of my Layla, in secret and in public!

للشعر للعلم ليلى للفصاحة قد

جا بابدع مرويء لإنسان

For poetry, for learning, for eloquence, Layla has

come with the most wondrous lore ever told to humankind.

وفي السياسة والتدبير كم خفقت

لحسنها راية من فوق تيجان

And in statecraft and governance, how often has there fluttered

for her beauty a banner above crowns!

وفي الصناعات لم تعثر لها قدم

وفي الحروب تخطت كل ميدان

And in the crafts, her foot has never stumbled,

and in wars she has crossed every battlefield.

مجازها واشتقاق لا مثيل له

وتحتها معجزات كل بهتان

Her figurative language and derivation have no equal,

and the miracles of every falsehood rank beneath her.

ما ضرها انها والحسن عابدها

لها حواسد من أهل وجيران

What harm to her, when beauty is her worshipper,

if she has enviers among kinsfolk and neighbors?

يا أهل لبنان ما ذا العهد كان بكم

يا أهل لبنان قد اصمعت آذاني

O people of Lebanon, this was not what we knew of you!

O people of Lebanon, you have deafened my ears!

انكرتم اليوم ناصيفا واسرته

نبشتم قبر شديقان وبستاني

Today you have disowned Nasif and his family;

you have unearthed the graves of Shidyaq and Bustani.

أما سمعتم أبا اسحاق ينشدكم

يا بعض لبنان قد مزقت اكفاني

Have you not heard Abu Ishaq reciting to you:

'O part of Lebanon, you have torn my shrouds!'

ثم يا اخا الود لا تغضب لما أثموا

فليس لبنان ذا بل بعض لبنان

Then, brother in affection, do not be angry at their sin;

for this is not Lebanon, but only part of Lebanon.

وذلك البعض جزء البعض من نفر

فما لحزنك فينا غير غضبان

And that part is a fraction of a fraction—a few men;

for your grief leaves none among us without anger.

ليلاك آمنة ما دام من رهنوا

عهودهم عندنا من خير اعوان

Your Layla is safe, so long as those who pledged

their word to us remain among the best of helpers.

يرون في جحد أصل المرء منقصة

عليه والعار في انكار اخوان

They see in denying one's origins a failing

in him, and shame in disowning brothers.

وهم بنو الفضل فيهم خير من عشقوا

ليلى كاسي ومينار ورينان

They are sons of excellence; among them are the best who loved

Layla: Kasi, Meynard, and Renan.