1. زهت زهو الغزالة في خباها

    فدل على مضاربها سناها

    In her tent she shone with the sun’s splendor,

    and her radiance showed the way to her tents.

  2. وداراها اللثام عن الغواني

    فكان دليلهن لها شذاها

    The veil concealed her from the lovely women,

    so her fragrance became their guide to her.

  3. مهاةٌ لو تزوجت الثريا

    ببدر التم ما ولدت أخاها

    An oryx doe—had the Pleiades married

    the full moon, she could not have borne her equal.

  4. تغار مدامعي مني عليها

    فتمنع ناظري من أن يراها

    My tears are jealous of me over her,

    and prevent my gaze from seeing her.

  5. ويمسك ساعدي عنها عفافي

    فلو زارت بلا واقٍ وقاها

    My chastity holds my arm back from her;

    were she to visit unguarded, it would protect her.

  6. بروحي من مراشفها رياضاً

    ترى العينان فيها مشتهاها

    With my soul I would ransom the gardens of her lips,

    where both eyes behold all they desire.

  7. بها عين تسمى سلسبيلاً

    ولكن ليس يرشفها سواها

    Within them is a spring called Salsabil,

    yet none but she sips from it.

  8. تبارك من حباها الورد خدّاً

    وكلَّل بالأقاح الرطب فاها

    Blessed is He who gave her the rose for a cheek,

    and wreathed her mouth with fresh daisies,

  9. وأعطاها نضار الفرع تاجاً

    وأبداها لآل الحسن شاها

    and gave her the gold of her tresses for a crown,

    and revealed her as sovereign of Beauty’s house.

  10. ركبت لطلع طلعتها المطايا

    ولون الليل أسود من جفاها

    I mounted riding beasts to behold her face,

    while night’s hue was blacker than her estrangement.

  11. فما برحت رياح الورد تدني ال

    مطايا من حماه إلى حماها

    The rose breezes never ceased drawing the

    mounts from its domain to hers,

  12. إلى أن ضمني قصرٌ منيعٌ

    سما شرفاً وبنياناً وجاها

    until a fortified palace embraced me,

    lofty in honor, structure, and prestige.

  13. به من عين جلق ذات خدرٍ

    تبرّ بعين وجرةٍ من أتاها

    Within it was a secluded lady, one of Jilliq’s wide-eyed beauties,

    who welcomed her visitors with a Wajra gazelle’s gaze.

  14. كأن الصبح بين ذؤابتيها

    فرى جنح الدجنة وافتراها

    As though the dawn between her two braids

    had cleft the wing of darkness and torn it apart.

  15. بدت كالبانة الميلاء لما

    أبان ضجيج راحلتي كراها

    She appeared like a swaying ben-tree when

    my mount’s clamor dispelled her slumber.

  16. تريد ضيافتي وتقول سل ما

    تحب فقلت سلمى لا سواها

    Wishing to host me, she said, “Ask for what

    you love”; I said, “Salma, and no one else.”

  17. فكان جوابها أهلاً وسهلاً

    ألذ ولا أبالغ من لَماها

    So her answer, “Welcome, and be at ease,” was

    sweeter—and I do not exaggerate—than her dusky lips.

  18. فبت معانقاً منها غزالاً

    يتيه على الغزالة في ضحاها

    So I spent the night embracing in her a gazelle

    proudly surpassing the sun in its morning radiance.

  19. أشق بنورها مهج الدياجي

    كما شقَّت ظُبَى المولى الجباها

    With her light I cleave the hearts of darkest nights,

    as my lord’s sword-edges cleft foreheads.

  20. أمير جده الهادي البشير ال

    أمين الصادق المختار طه

    A prince whose forefather is the Guide, the Herald, the

    Trustworthy, the Truthful, the Chosen One—Taha.

  21. براه اللَه نفساً للمعالي

    وكوَّن من فراسته قواها

    God fashioned him as a soul for noble deeds,

    and formed its powers from his discernment.

  22. إذا الدنيا بحكمته استجارت

    أعاد لها وقد شاخت صباها

    When the world seeks refuge in his wisdom,

    he restores its youth, though it has grown old,

  23. وحلّاها بإصلاح ينسِّي ال

    بلاهة من يحب الانتباها

    and adorns it with reform that makes

    those who cherish awareness forget folly.

  24. يفدّيه الأيمة من قريش

    إماماً سادها شرفاً وجاها

    The imams of Quraysh would ransom him,

    an imam preeminent among them in honor and prestige.

  25. تزور سيوفه الهامات بيضاً

    وترجع كالشقائق عن ذراها

    His swords, bright white, visit heads,

    and return from their summits like red anemones.

  26. تلاهى بالجهاد عن الملاهي

    وعن نصر الحقيقة ما تلاهى

    He turned from diversions to jihad,

    and never neglected the defense of truth.

  27. وحبَّرَ للعلوم يراع حبرٍ

    يخوّل كل مسألة مناها

    And a scholar’s pen wrote elegantly for the sciences,

    granting every question its desire.

  28. يميناً بالصوارم والعوالي

    وبالجرد القداح ومن علاها

    I swear by keen swords and lofty spears,

    and by sleek, arrow-slender steeds and those who ride them:

  29. لعبد القادر الحسنيِّ أسمى

    وأسمح من تواضع أو تباهى

    Abd al-Qadir al-Hasani is indeed the loftiest

    and most generous of all who are humble or proud.

  30. له شيمٌ أعز من الدراري

    وأرفع في المكانة من سهاها

    He has qualities more precious than the brilliant stars,

    and loftier in rank than their Suha.

  31. بك ابن المشرفية والعوالي

    وأفضل من حباها واجتباها

    Through you, son of Mashrafi swords and lofty spears,

    and best of those who honored and chose them,

  32. زها العيد المجيد وزاد نوراً

    ببهجة نيِّرٍ منك اجتلاها

    the glorious Eid shone and gained in light,

    with the splendor it beheld in your radiant light.

  33. نحرت به العنا عن كل عانٍ

    نحرت له البوازل والشياها

    On it you slew affliction for every sufferer

    for whom you slaughtered full-grown camels and sheep.

  34. فأصبح منك أجدر بالتهاني

    لفرط مسرة منك اقتناها

    So the feast became more deserving of congratulations than you,

    for the immense joy it acquired from you.

  35. فلا زالت لك الأعياد طوقاً

    كدائرةٍ نهايتها ابتداها

    So may the feasts forever be a necklace for you,

    like a circle whose end is its beginning.