صالت علينا العيون السود واحربا

واستودعت من هواها في الحشى لهبا

The black eyes charged upon us—alas, my ruin!

And left within the breast a flame of love for her.

وغالبت بقناة القد فانتصرت

وردية لخد والدنيا لمن غلبا

She fought with the spear of her stature and prevailed—

The rosy-cheeked one; the world belongs to whoever wins.

بكرٌ لها حدقٌ ما مسها أرقٌ

في خدها شفقٌ يستعبد الأدبا

A virgin whose eyes no sleeplessness has touched;

On her cheek, twilight's blush enslaves men of letters.

هيفاء لينة الأعطاف ناعمة ال

أطراف تعشقها الأشراف والنُقَبا

Slender, supple of figure, with delicate

Limbs, adored by nobles and chiefs.

ما شانها بشرٌ بل زانها خفرٌ

في طرفها حورٌ للعالمين سبا

No mortal marred her; rather, modesty adorned her.

In her gaze, dark-eyed beauty held all the world captive.

لم أنس زورتها والعين ما سرحت

والشهب ما برحت من جلمة الرُقَبا

I have not forgotten her visit, when no eye wandered,

And the stars were still among the company of watchers.

تفتر عن دررٍ في خاتمٍ عطرٍ

ينجيك من ضررٍ إن جادك الضربا

She parts her lips to reveal pearls within a fragrant ring,

Which saves you from harm if it grants you honey.

كالروض حين جلا نواره وحلا

والصبح حين على جيش الدجى وثبا

Like a garden when its blossoms gleam and it grows lovely,

And dawn when it leaps upon the army of darkness.

وصار برقعها من نور طلعتها

لون اللجين إذا ردَّيته الذهبا

And her veil, from the radiance of her face, took on

The color of silver when you robe it in gold.

كم سحرةٍ ظهرت منها وقد سفرت

ليلاً وقد هدرت قمرية طربا

How many a dawn shone from her when she unveiled

At night, while a turtledove cooed in delight.

باتت تذكرني عهد الصبا وصبا

باتي التي جلبت لي بعده الوصبا

She spent the night reminding me of youth's days and my

Ardent longings, which afterwards brought me suffering.

تسعى بنافعةٍ للهم دافعةٍ

حمراء ساطعةٍ من ذاقها عجبا

She approaches with a soothing draught that dispels sorrow,

Red and radiant—whoever tasted it marveled.

مرت بفي فأبت نفسي تعاودها

واشتاقت الريق فازدادت له طلبا

It passed my lips, but my soul refused to taste it again;

And craved her saliva, seeking it all the more.

واستضحكت ونأت عني وما سمحت

بالري إذ لمحت رأسي قد اشتهبا

And she laughed, drew away from me, and did not grant

The quenching of my thirst, when she saw my head had gone gray.

كأن ما بيدي قد كان في صغري

من لؤلؤٍ وغدا بالشيب مخشلبا

As though what I held had been, in my youth,

Made of pearls, and with gray hair had turned to glass beads.

ويل المشيب ثنى عني ثنا زمنٍ

كات تبلغني فيه المهى الأربا

Woe to gray hair! It turned from me the praise of an age

In which the oryxes used to fulfill my desire.

فارقته فكبا مهر الصفا وخبا

نور الوفا ونبا الإقبال واحتجبا

I left it; the colt of serenity stumbled, and extinguished was

The light of fidelity; fortune turned away and hid.

يا من ضربتُ على قلبي مضاربها

واخترتُ حبل وريدي للخبا طنبا

O you whose tents I pitched upon my heart,

And chose my jugular vein's cord as the tent's guy-rope.

وصار يعذرني من كان يعذلني

فيها وأضحى عذابي عندها عذبا

And whoever used to blame me came to excuse me

For loving her; my torment in her presence turned sweet.

من قال إن صروف الدهر فاعلةٌ

بالصب ما فعلت عيناك قد كذبا

Whoever said the vicissitudes of time could do

To a lover what your eyes have done has lied.

لا شيء أفتك من عينيك يا أملي

إلا صوارم مولانا إذا ضربا

Nothing is more deadly than your eyes, O my hope,

Except our master's keen swords when he strikes.

خير الأكارم عبد القادر البطل ال

قرم المغادر أرباب الفساد هبا

The finest of noble men, Abd al-Qadir, the hero, the

Mighty chief who leaves the lords of corruption as dust.

وخير من قام للرحمن منتصراً

طوعاً وأكرم من أعطى ومن وهبا

And the finest of those who rose to champion the All-Merciful,

Willingly, and the most generous of those who gave and bestowed.

نورٌ تناوله عرش الفتوة من

روح النبوة فاستعلى به وربا

A light the throne of chivalry received from

The spirit of prophethood, and by it rose aloft and grew.

وصارمٌ بيد اللَه استعان به ال

دين الحنيف فأخزى واقياً وقبا

And a keen sword in God's hand, whose aid the

Upright faith sought; defending it, he shamed a base fool.

أعطى الإله له من نفس قدرته ال

زهراء أمّاً ومن روح الكمال أبا

God gave him, from the very essence of His power—

Radiant—a mother, and from the spirit of perfection a father.

لو صافح الليلة الليلاء ما غربت

ولو تقرب منه البدر ما غربا

If he shook hands with the pitch-dark night, it would never depart;

And if the full moon drew near him, it would never set.

سبحان خالقه حيّ اللثام إذا

لاذت به الغربا استغنت عن القربا

Glory to his Creator! Salute the face-veil; when

Strangers seek refuge with him, they need no kin.

يرد عن جاره رد الضراغم عن

أشبالها حرد الأيام والحربا

He wards off from his neighbor—as lions ward off from

Their cubs—the fury of days and war.

ولا يرد الفتى المحتاج عن طلبٍ

ولو غدا بمكان النجم ما طلبا

And he never turns a needy youth away from a request,

Even if what he sought were at the star's height.

يفارق الضر من أضحى مجاوره

ولا يفارقه شوقاً إن اغتربا

Harm leaves whoever becomes his neighbor,

But the pain of longing never leaves him if he goes abroad.

لو صام شيءٌ لغير اللَه صام له

شهر الصيام وصلى العيد واقتربا

If anything could fast for anyone but God, for him would fast

The fasting month itself, and Eid would pray and draw near.

سماه للقادر الجوّاد والده

عبداً وللجود سماه الإله أبا

His father called him the All-Powerful, All-Bountiful One's

Servant; and God called him a father of generosity.

وأنزل اللَه عما في أبيه على

طه وأفرغ فيه العلم والأدبا

And God sent down something of what was in his father upon

Taha, and poured into him knowledge and refinement.

فاكرم به نسباً واكرم به حسباً

واكرم به أدباً هامت به الأُدَبا

How noble his lineage, and how noble his ancestral honor!

And how noble his refinement! Men of letters are enraptured by him.

واكرم بعيدٍ تجلى البدر فيه على

حمراء لو شامها ليث الثرى هربا

And how noble an Eid on which the full moon appeared upon

A red mare; if earth's lion beheld her, he would flee.

رأيته فرأيت الناس في رجلٍ

جم الرماد يسود العجم والعربا

I saw him, and saw all mankind in one man,

Rich in ashes, holding sway over non-Arabs and Arabs.

أعلى وأشجع من أبلى وأكرم من

أولى وأفصح من أملى ومن كتبا

The loftiest and bravest of those who proved their valor, and most generous of those

Who bestowed favors, and most eloquent of those who dictated and wrote.

يحيي بنائلهِ ميت السماح ولا

يبقي لسائله في غيره أربا

With his gifts he revives dead generosity, and does not

Leave his petitioner any need of another.

يا خير من غمرت أنعامه الغُرَبا

وقُطِّعت لقرى أضيافه أربا

O best of men, whose livestock have flooded strangers with plenty,

And been cut into pieces to provide hospitality for his guests.

زال الصيام وصومي دام متصلاً

والعيد وافى وعيدي ظل مغتربا

Fasting ended, but my fasting remained unbroken;

Eid arrived, but my Eid remained in exile.

وهل يعيِّد من ألغى وظيفته ال

والي وولَّى عليه الويل والحربا

And can one celebrate Eid whose post was abolished by the

Governor, who set woe and ruin over him?

إن شئت تجديد إقبالي بموعظةٍ

عظه مشافهةً يا خير من كتبا

If you wish to renew my good fortune with an admonition,

Admonish him face to face, O best of those who wrote.

فالخط كالخيط عند الترك يا سندي

أما اللسان فكالمران إن لسبا

For writing is like thread to the Turks, O my mainstay;

But the tongue is like ash-wood spears when it stings.

أدامك اللَهُ عيداً لا زوال له

يا من على الناس طراً مدحه وجبا

May God preserve you as an Eid that never ends,

O you whose praise is a duty for all mankind.