1. رَبْعٌ لأسماء بربع دارِ

    بين نَقَا الصَّمَّان فالضِمارِ

    A dwelling-site of Asma in a quarter of a homestead,

    Between the sand ridge of al-Samman and al-Dimar,

  2. تأبَّدتْ إلاّ من الإقفار

    ومن شجيج في الثرى مَوَّار

    Has grown desolate, save for emptiness,

    And a split-headed tent peg swaying in the soil,

  3. وشطْر نُؤْيٍ دارِس الآثار

    كأنه مقسَّم السِّوارِ

    And part of a tent-trench, its traces effaced,

    As though it were a bracelet broken into segments.

  4. أخنَى عليها كلُّ غادٍ سارِ

    داني الربَاب شاسِع الأقطار

    Every cloud passing at dawn or by night has ravaged it,

    Its cloud layers low, its reaches far-flung,

  5. واهِي الكُلَى منفتِق الأزرار

    كأنّ لَمْع بَرْقه المُثَار

    Its loins slack, its buttons burst open.

    As though the flashing of its roused lightning

  6. يفترّ عن مثل أُوار النار

    أو منتضٍ سيفاً من النُضَار

    Smiled to reveal something like the blaze of fire,

    Or someone drawing a sword of gold,

  7. أو لاعِب في الأُفقْ بالشَرَار

    يكاد أن يذهب بالأبصار

    Or one playing with sparks upon the horizon,

    Almost snatching sight away.

  8. حتى إذا أرخى على النهار

    هَيْدبهَ ليلاً بلا انفجارِ

    Until, when it let fall upon the day

    Its trailing fringe—a night with no dawning—

  9. وكحَّل الجوَّ بمثل القارِ

    وقام فيه الرعد كالمِزمار

    And blackened the air with pitch-like kohl,

    And thunder rose within it like a flute,

  10. غنَّت له الريح بلا أوتارِ

    ما ظلّ في رفع وفي انحدار

    The wind sang to it without strings,

    As long as it kept rising and descending,

  11. يختلِط الإقبال بالإدبار

    ثم حدَتْه الريحُ باقتدارِ

    Its coming mingling with its going.

    Then the wind sang it onward with mastery,

  12. حتى تبدّى يَقَقَ الإزار

    واختال بالمشي بلا استدار

    Until it appeared, its lower robe pure white,

    And swaggered in its walk without turning,

  13. كمشية السَكْرى من العُقَار

    منبِجساً بالدِيمَ الغِزار

    Like the gait of a woman drunk on wine,

    Gushing with abundant, steady rains,

  14. وكلّ سَجْلٍ واكفٍ مِدرارِ

    فغنَّتِ الأطيارُ في الأشجار

    And every bucketful dripping in copious streams.

    Then the birds sang in the trees,

  15. ونمَّتِ الأرضُ على الأمطار

    بما اكتستْ من بِدَع النُوَّار

    And the earth told of the rains,

    Through the wondrous blossoms it had put on:

  16. من أحمرٍ قانٍ على اخضرارِ

    وأبيضٍ قد لاح في اصفرار

    Deep crimson against greenery,

    And white shining amid yellow,

  17. كدِرهم رُكّب في دينار

    وقد بدا السوسنُ في البَهَار

    Like a dirham set within a dinar.

    And the iris appeared among yellow oxeye flowers,

  18. كلازَوَرْدٍ ذُرَّ في جُلْنَار

    كأنّ غُدْران الحبَابَ الجاري

    Like lapis lazuli strewn among pomegranate blossoms.

    As though the pools, with their streaming bubbles,

  19. لاعبة بالنَرْد في الأنهار

    فانظر لحسن الروض في آذار

    Were playing backgammon in the rivers.

    Look, then, at the garden's beauty in March,

  20. وما أتى فيه من الأنوار

    وداوِ بالخمر أذى الخُمَار

    And the blossoms that have appeared within it.

    And cure the pain of the hangover with wine;

  21. إن الصِبَا أحرى من الوقار

    فاغدُ عليه خالعَ العَذَار

    Youthful play is more fitting than solemnity.

    Go to it at dawn, then, casting off the bridle.

  22. وصاحبٍ مهذَّبٍ مختارِ

    ليس بفضَّاح ولا غدّار

    And a companion, refined and well chosen—

    Neither a revealer of secrets nor a betrayer,

  23. ولا على نَدمانه بزار

    ناديتُه في ليلة مقمارِ

    Nor one to disparage his drinking companion—

    I called to him on a moonlit night,

  24. قبل اتّضاح الصبح والإسفار

    والطيرُ ما هبَّت من الأوكار

    Before dawn became clear and daylight broke,

    While the birds had not stirred from their nests,

  25. والنجمُ وَسْط الفَلَك الدوّار

    يأمُر جيش الليل بالفرار

    And the star, amid the revolving firmament,

    Was ordering the army of night to flee:

  26. فهاتِها من كفّ ذي احورارِ

    ساجي الجفونِ قانئ الأظفار

    Bring it from the hand of one with dark pupils and clear whites,

    With languid eyelids and crimson fingernails.

  27. فقال لي لَبَّيك باستبشارِ

    ثم تمطَّى كالهِزَبْر الضاري

    He said to me, 'At your service!' with delight,

    Then stretched like a fierce lion,

  28. ينقِّض النوم عن الأشفار

    وقام محتثّاً إلى الخَمَّار

    Shaking sleep from his lashes,

    And rose, hastening to the vintner,

  29. وابتاع منه الراح باختصارِ

    بلا مماراةٍ ولا إكثار

    And bought the wine from him with little ado,

    Without haggling or excessive talk,

  30. بمثلها وزنا من النُضار

    محتسِباً بُعْدَ مَدَى التِجَار

    For an equal weight of gold,

    Taking account of the merchants' long journey.

  31. وسَاله هل طُبِخت بنار

    فقال لا والطُرَح الكبار

    And asked him, 'Was it cooked over fire?'

    He said, 'No, by the great mantles!

  32. أَوْلاً فإني قاطِع الزُنَّارِ

    ما عُذِّبت بالنار والأُوارِ

    Otherwise, I shall cut my girdle!

    It was not tormented by fire or burning heat,

  33. ولا علتها قَدَما عصَّار

    ثم أتانا طيّب الإخبار

    Nor did a wine-presser's feet tread upon it.'

    Then he came to us with happy news,

  34. كظافرٍ فيما اقتنى بثارِ

    جذلانَ يستعبد باب الدار

    Like one who had won revenge through what he acquired,

    Exultant, making the house's door his slave.

  35. فلم يَزلْ بالقَدَح المِدرار

    يُعمِلها دأْباً وبالكِبار

    He kept plying the copiously pouring cup,

    Serving the wine ceaselessly, in great goblets,

  36. حتى تضجَّعت بلا اختيار

    ونلت مما أَشتهي أوطاري

    Until I lay sprawled against my will,

    And attained my desires from what I craved.

  37. فهذه وقائع الأخبارِ

    لا وقعةُ الحَشَّاك والثرثار

    These are the exploits worth reporting,

    Not the battle of al-Hashshak and al-Tharthar.

  38. وطامِسِ الأعلام في ازورارِ

    مَرْت الرُبَا والسهل والأوعار

    And a waste of erased landmarks, veering aside,

    Its hills, plains, and rugged tracts all barren,

  39. كأنما المُصْبِح فيه سارِ

    من هَبَواتِ النَقْع والغبار

    Where a morning traveler seemed a traveler by night,

    Because of billowing clouds of dust and haze—

  40. قطعته خِلْواً من الحِذار

    مشتبِه الإعلان بالإسرار

    I crossed it free of fear,

    The open indistinguishable from the hidden,

  41. بعيسجورٍ حُرّةٍ مِسيارِ

    خطَّارة قَرْواء من خُطَّار

    On a sturdy, noble-bred, far-traveling she-camel,

    Tail-swaying, long-backed, of tail-swaying stock,

  42. قوداء لم تعطِف على حُوَارِ

    يعدو بها منّي أخو أسفارِ

    Long-necked, never bending toward a suckling calf.

    A brother of journeys—my own self—sped onward upon her,

  43. نِضْو جَفَتْهُ لذَّةُ القَرَار

    والنومُ حتى سِنَةُ الغِرَار

    A wasted man, forsaken by the pleasure of repose,

    And by sleep, even a moment's brief doze,

  44. نحوَ الإمامِ المصطفى نِزارِ

    مَنْ فَضَل الأملاك في النِجَارِ

    Toward the chosen Imam, Nizar,

    Who surpassed kings in lineage,

  45. فضلَ ضياءِ الشمس للأقمار

    وقام للمُلْك بكل ثار

    As the sun's radiance surpasses the moons,

    And rose to avenge every wrong against kingship.

  46. ولم يزل قَرْماً منيع الجار

    عَذْب السجايا حامِيَ الذمَار

    He has ever been a chief whose neighbor is secure,

    Sweet-natured, a defender of honor.

  47. دانت له الشُوس من الأعصار

    كأنما يَضِرب بالمِقدار

    The fierce ones of the ages submitted to him,

    As though he struck with destiny itself.

  48. يا بن الهُدَاةِ السادِة الأبرارِ

    الأوصياءِ القادة الأطْهار

    O son of guides, noble and righteous lords,

    The appointed heirs, the leaders, the pure ones,

  49. أربيتَ في الجود على الأمطار

    وزِدْتَ في الجَدْوَى على البِحار

    You have outdone the rains in generosity,

    And surpassed the seas in bounty,

  50. حتى حللت عُقْدة الإعسار

    وذُدْتَ عنا نَكَد الإقتار

    Until you untied the knot of hardship,

    And drove from us the misery of want.

  51. تسري أياديك لكلِ سارِ

    أمسى بك الناس ذوي إيسار

    Your gifts travel by night to every night traveler;

    Through you, the people have become prosperous.

  52. قلْ للعزيز الملِك المِغوار

    يا خِيرة الله من الأخيار

    Say to al-Aziz, the intrepid king:

    'O God's chosen one among the best,

  53. ووارثَ الآيات والآثار

    وصاحبَ الكنز من الجِدَار

    And heir to the signs and traditions,

    And possessor of the treasure from the wall,

  54. ويا مُقِيل زَلَّة العِثار

    أضحى بك المُلْكُ منيع الجار

    And you who pardon the stumbling misstep,

    Through you, the kingdom's neighbors are secure,

  55. والدينُ فينا واضح المَنَار

    وكان لولاك بلا أنصارِ

    And religion's beacon shines clear among us.

    Without you, it would have had no defenders.

  56. فالليلُ من عدلك كالنهارِ

    والجوَرْ في حَطّ وفي انحدار

    Through your justice, night is like day,

    And tyranny is sinking and declining,

  57. والدهر في مُلْكك في وقارِ

    ومن أبي القاسم في استبشار

    And time, beneath your rule, moves with dignity,

    And rejoices through Abu al-Qasim,

  58. يختال في حِجْلٍ وفي سِوَار

    وليّ عهد المسلمين الشاري

    Strutting in an anklet and a bracelet—

    The Muslims' heir apparent, who purchases

  59. للحمد بالدرهم والدينار

    ومالك السهل مع الأَوعار

    Praise with dirhams and dinars,

    And master of plain and rugged land,

  60. وفاتح البلد والأمصار

    لا زال ما عاش بسعد جارِ

    And conqueror of the land and the cities.

    May flowing good fortune attend him as long as he lives,

  61. مؤيَّد الإيرادِ والإصدار

    عفَّ معاني الجهر والإسرار

    Aided in all he brings in and sends out,

    Pure in his public and private purposes.

  62. فكن له اللهمَّ خير جارِ

    وهَبْ له أقصى مَدَى الأعمار

    Be, O God, his best protecting neighbor,

    And grant him the longest span of life,

  63. وارمِ عَداه عنه بالصَّغَار

    واجعلهم أشأم من قُدَار

    And cast his enemies away from him in disgrace,

    And make them more ill-fated than Qudar.

  64. وصَلّ ما غرَّدتِ القَمارى

    على العزيز المصطفى المختار

    And bless, so long as the turtledoves sing,

    Al-Aziz, the chosen and elect.'

  65. وهاكَها نتيجةَ الأفكارِ

    معشوقةَ الإسهاب والإكثار

    And take this, the fruit of my thoughts,

    Beloved for its expansiveness and abundance,

  66. تُعدّ في الجوهر لا الأشعار

    كالروض غِبَّ المُزْن والقِطار

    Counted among jewels, not poems,

    Like a garden after rainclouds and showers.

  67. طيبُ جَنَى أبياتها القَصارِ

    من رجزٍ كالشَدْو بالأوتار

    Sweet is the harvest of its short verses,

    Rajaz verse, like song accompanied by strings,

  68. والوصِل وافي أَثَر اهتِجار

    أحرّ لفظاً من لهيب النار

    And reunion that comes after estrangement,

    Hotter in its wording than the blaze of fire:

  69. تبقى بقاء الوسم في الأَبشار

    It endures as a brand endures upon the skin.