طالعاه نقب الغوير وريعه — أبو المعالي الطالوي

Take him up al-Ghuwayr's pass and its mountain path,

and let him reveal his love, proclaiming it.

Leave him to linger among ruins,

effaced, where he satisfies his ardent longing:

a haunt of his youth, which long ago was

the haunt of beauties who trod its mountain path.

Each beauty, slender beneath her sash, was called

by passion to youthful dalliance, and so answered obediently.

Youth poured beauty's water into her form,

and clothed her in beauty's wondrous robes.

Thus it fashioned her, a fetter for eyes, resplendent

as a fertile garden of tender growth.

So delicate, as though she had been clothed

in woven finery by the ornaments of Abu al-Safa's hand.

He takes first place on the day of the race for high honors,

with eloquence whose wondrous artistry verse has recited.

A noble man who, since he sipped excellence as a child,

has refused to make debauchery's watering-place his path.

His qualities appear like the flowers of gardens,

and, like heaven's stars, are found beyond reach.

Or like a virgin who refused the drinkers' embrace,

and so was deliberately wounded with water from a rock-pool.

Serve her to me again, my boon companion, just after a quiet spell of night,

while the Pleiades sink swiftly toward the west.

Come now, listen, you who enjoy good fortune,

whose luck is bound to the lofty auspicious stars.

Rhymes have come to your sea of sweet water,

issuing, my friend, from a weary poetic gift.

They reached it thirsty, to depart from it

after distress, with thirst quenched at the head of the watering-place.

Live on; may the thunderous cloud never cease visiting

your dwelling, showering its spring rains upon it.

And may spring clothe it in brocade resembling

Sanaa's brocade—indeed, surpassing its workmanship,

as long as a turtle-dove sings, welcomed in a garden

where the dew ripples its tears over its knolls.