لعينِك منها يوم زالتْ حمولُها

لعينِك منها يوم زالتْ حمولُها

وإنْ لم تُنِلْ تَذْرافُها وهُمولُها

وإنْ لم تُنِلْ تَذْرافُها وهُمولُها

For both your eyes, because of her, the day her camel-litters moved away—

Your eye wept for her the day her laden camels departed,

though they did not pour their tears forth in streams.

though its pouring, streaming tears brought no gain.

ومن أجلها لمّا مررتَ بدارها

ومن أجلها لمّا مررتَ بدارها

وقد أوحَشَتْ منها شَجَتْنِي طلولُها

وقد أوحَشَتْ منها شَجَتْنِي طلولُها

I had not thought, when I passed by her dwelling—

And for her sake, when you passed by her dwelling,

now desolate without her—that its ruins would rouse my grief.

now deserted without her, its ruins saddened me.

ولولا الهوى لم تَلْقَنِي بمنازلٍ

ولولا الهوى لم تَلْقَنِي بمنازلٍ

نواحلَ يستدعي نحولي نحولُها

نواحلَ يستدعي نحولي نحولُها

Were it not for love, you would not find me among dwellings

But for love, you would not find me in dwellings

wasted away, whose wasting summons my own.

wasted away, whose wasting calls forth my own.

أغَنِّي بها مجهولةً لم تبنْ لنا

أغَنِّي بها مجهولةً لم تبنْ لنا

ويُذكِرُني غَضَّ الوصالِ مَحيلُها

ويُذكِرُني غَضَّ الوصالِ مَحيلُها

There I sing of an unknown woman who never showed herself to us,

I sing amid them, though they are unrecognizable and indistinct to us,

and her withdrawal recalls the fresh tenderness of union.

and their barrenness reminds me of the freshness of union.

منَ اللّاتي يُسغِبْنَ النِّطاقُ هضامةً

منَ اللّاتي يُسغِبْنَ النِّطاقُ هضامةً

ويمشين بالبطحاء خِرْشا جُحولُها

ويمشين بالبطحاء خِرْشا جُحولُها

One of those women whose slender waists give the girdle the lie,

She is one of those who leave their girdles hungry through slenderness,

walking across the gravel plain, their anklets silent.

and walk on the valley-floor, whose great lizards are rough-skinned.

يَقِفْنَ فيستوقفن لَحْظَ عيوننا

يَقِفْنَ فيستوقفن لَحْظَ عيوننا

فما هنّ للأبصار إلّا كُبولُها

فما هنّ للأبصار إلّا كُبولُها

They halt, arresting the glances of our eyes;

They stand still and arrest the gaze of our eyes;

to sight, they are nothing but its fetters.

they are nothing but fetters for sight.

أُريغ جَداها وهْي جِدُّ بخيلةٍ

أُريغ جَداها وهْي جِدُّ بخيلةٍ

وأعْيا على راجي الغواني بخيلُها

وأعْيا على راجي الغواني بخيلُها

I seek her bounty, though she is exceedingly miserly,

I seek her bounty, though she is exceedingly miserly,

and among beauties, the miserly one defeats whoever hopes in them.

and the miserly among beauties baffles their hopeful suitor.

وليلةَ بتنا بالأُبَيْرِقِ جاءني

وليلةَ بتنا بالأُبَيْرِقِ جاءني

على نَشْوةِ الأحلامِ وَهْناً رسولُها

على نَشْوةِ الأحلامِ وَهْناً رسولُها

One night we spent beside al-Ubayriq; there came to me,

On a night we spent at al-Ubayriq, there came to me,

deep in the night, borne on the intoxication of dreams, her messenger:

amid the intoxication of dreams, late at night, her messenger:

خيالٌ يُريني أنّها فوق مضجعي

خيالٌ يُريني أنّها فوق مضجعي

وقد شطّ عنّي بالغُوَيرِ مَقيلُها

وقد شطّ عنّي بالغُوَيرِ مَقيلُها

a phantom showing me that she was above my bed,

a phantom showing me that she was upon my bed,

though her resting place at al-Ghuwayr lay far from me.

though her noonday resting-place at al-Ghuwayr lay far from me.

فيا ليلةً ما كان أنعمَ بثَّها

فيا ليلةً ما كان أنعمَ بثَّها

تنازح غاويها وخاب عذولُها

تنازح غاويها وخاب عذولُها

O night, how sweet was the intimate converse it unfolded!

O what a night! How sweet its outpourings were!

Her infatuated lover prevailed, and her reprover was confounded.

Her infatuated lover was far away, and her reproacher was thwarted.

وما ضرّني منها وقد بتّ راضياً

وما ضرّني منها وقد بتّ راضياً

بباطلها أنْ بان صُبحاً بُطولُها

بباطلها أنْ بان صُبحاً بُطولُها

What harm did she do me, when I passed the night content

What harm did it do me, when I passed the night content

with her phantom, though at dawn its falsity stood revealed?

with its illusion, that its falseness became clear at dawn?

فلمّا تجلّى اللّيلُ بالصّبحِ واِمّحتْ

فلمّا تجلّى اللّيلُ بالصّبحِ واِمّحتْ

دَياجِرُ مُرخاةٌ علينا سدولُها

دَياجِرُ مُرخاةٌ علينا سدولُها

When night unveiled itself in dawn, there dissolved

When the night cleared with morning and vanished

its darkness, whose curtains had been lowered over us.

the darkness whose curtains had been lowered over us,

أَفَقْتُ فلم يَحصل عليّ مِنَ الّذي

أَفَقْتُ فلم يَحصل عليّ مِنَ الّذي

خُدِعتُ به إلّا ظنونٌ أُجِيلُها

خُدِعتُ به إلّا ظنونٌ أُجِيلُها

I awoke, and of the night journey

I awoke, and nothing remained to me of that

that had deceived me, nothing remained but surmises I turned over.

which had deceived me but conjectures I turn over.

وكم عُصبةٍ حَطَّتْ لديه رحالَها

وكم عُصبةٍ حَطَّتْ لديه رحالَها

فأتْرَبَ عافيها وعزّ ذليلُها

فأتْرَبَ عافيها وعزّ ذليلُها

How many a company has set down its baggage at his door,

How many a band has laid down its saddlebags before him,

its petitioner enriched and its humbled man exalted,

so its suppliant grew rich, and its lowly one gained honor,

لدى مجلسٍ لا يمزج الهَزلُ جِدَّهُ

لدى مجلسٍ لا يمزج الهَزلُ جِدَّهُ

ولا ينطق العَوْراءَ فيه قؤولُها

ولا ينطق العَوْراءَ فيه قؤولُها

in an assembly where jest never mingles with earnestness,

at a council where jest does not mingle with earnestness,

nor does any speaker utter an indecent word.

nor does anyone prone to foul words utter one there.

تُلَوّى به الأعناق مَيْلاً عن الهوى

تُلَوّى به الأعناق مَيْلاً عن الهوى

ويُنْصَفُ من ضخمِ الشّعوب هزيلُها

ويُنْصَفُ من ضخمِ الشّعوب هزيلُها

There he turns necks, bending them away from caprice,

Necks are bent there, turning away from caprice,

and the frail wins justice against the broad-shouldered.

and the peoples' lean ones obtain justice against their stout.

إذا لم يملْ فيه إلى الحقّ جورُه

إذا لم يملْ فيه إلى الحقّ جورُه

عن القَصْدِ يوماً لم تجدْ مَن يُميلُها

عن القَصْدِ يوماً لم تجدْ مَن يُميلُها

If an unjust man there will not incline toward the truth,

If a man's injustice does not turn toward right there—

he will find no one who bends justice from its straight course.

his straying from rectitude—none will ever turn those necks.

فتىً كلُّ أطرافٍ له في كتيبة

فتىً كلُّ أطرافٍ له في كتيبة

يُصرِّفها أو مَكْرُماتٍ يُنيلُها

يُصرِّفها أو مَكْرُماتٍ يُنيلُها

A young lord, every quarter of his realm upheld by a battle-host,

A youth whose every reach is toward a battalion

which he deploys—or else by noble gifts he bestows.

he deploys, or noble favors he bestows.

يُهاب كما هاب الشّجاعُ قَريعَه

يُهاب كما هاب الشّجاعُ قَريعَه

ويُرجى كما ترجو الغوادي مُحولُها

ويُرجى كما ترجو الغوادي مُحولُها

He is feared as a brave warrior fears his equal,

He is feared as a brave man fears his rival,

and hoped in as drought-stricken lands hope for morning rain.

and hoped for as parched lands hope for morning rain.

وحلّ من العلياء ما لا تَحُلّه

وحلّ من العلياء ما لا تَحُلّه

حذاراً من الشُّمِّ العوالي وُعولُها

حذاراً من الشُّمِّ العوالي وُعولُها

He has attained a height that even mountain goats

He has lodged at heights not inhabited—

fear to climb among the proud, towering peaks.

for fear of the towering summits—even by their ibex.

ففي كفّه رِقُّ المكارمِ والنّدى

ففي كفّه رِقُّ المكارمِ والنّدى

وما بيدِ الأقوامِ إلّا غُلولُها

وما بيدِ الأقوامِ إلّا غُلولُها

In his palm, noble deeds and bounty are enslaved,

For in his palm noble deeds and bounty are held in bondage;

while what lies in others’ hands is merely their fetters.

other men possess only stolen portions of them.

أآلَ بُوَيْهٍ اِحفظوه لدولةٍ

أآلَ بُوَيْهٍ اِحفظوه لدولةٍ

له وعليه صعبُها وذَلولُها

له وعليه صعبُها وذَلولُها

O House of Buwayh, preserve him for a realm

O house of Buwayh, preserve him for a dynasty

whose difficult and tractable affairs alike are his and rest upon him.

whose rough and smooth alike are his to enjoy and bear.

نماها فما تدعو سواه أباً لها

نماها فما تدعو سواه أباً لها

ومِن جَحْرِه دبّتْ إلينا شُبولُها

ومِن جَحْرِه دبّتْ إلينا شُبولُها

He reared it, so it calls no one but him its father,

He made it grow; it calls no one else its father,

and from his den its lion-cubs crept toward us.

and from his den its lion cubs crept toward us.

مدحتك لا أنّي إخالُ مديحةً

مدحتك لا أنّي إخالُ مديحةً

تحيط بأوصافٍ لديك جَميلُها

تحيط بأوصافٍ لديك جَميلُها

I praised you—not because I supposed that my praise

I praised you, not because I suppose a panegyric

could encompass the beautiful qualities you possess.

can encompass the beautiful qualities you possess.

ولم يأتني التّقصيرُ من عجز منطقي

ولم يأتني التّقصيرُ من عجز منطقي

ولكنْ دهاني من معاليك طولُها

ولكنْ دهاني من معاليك طولُها

My falling short comes from no failure of my speech;

My shortcoming did not come from weakness of speech,

rather, the vast extent of your high virtues overwhelmed me.

but the towering height of your excellences overwhelmed me.

ولو أنّني وفّيتُ فضلك حقَّه

ولو أنّني وفّيتُ فضلك حقَّه

عددتُ مديحي زلّةً أستقيلُها

عددتُ مديحي زلّةً أستقيلُها

Even if I rendered your excellence all its due,

Had I paid your merit its full due,

I would count my praise a lapse for which I sought pardon.

I would have counted my praise a fault for which I sought pardon.

فعشْ في نعيمٍ لا يُرى منه آخِرٌ

فعشْ في نعيمٍ لا يُرى منه آخِرٌ

وحالٍ بعيدٌ أنْ يحول حؤُولُها

وحالٍ بعيدٌ أنْ يحول حؤُولُها

So live in bliss whose end is never seen,

Live, then, in bliss whose end is never seen,

your fortune far removed from ever undergoing change.

and in a state that change can scarcely alter.