1. أعادك يا سعد عيد الهوى

    وأنت مُلِمٌّ بدار اللّوى

    Love's festival has brought you back, O Sa'd,

    while you visit the abode of al-Liwa.

  2. فأصبحت تنحر فيها الجفون

    كما تنحر البُدن يوم القِرى

    So you began slaughtering your eyelids there,

    as sacrificial camels are slaughtered on the day of hospitality.

  3. فمن حقّ طرفي هذي الدموع

    ومن شأن قلبي هذا الجوى

    These tears, then, are my eye's rightful due,

    and this burning grief is my heart's lot.

  4. فما غير قلبي يصْلى الفضا

    ولا غير طرفي يفيض الدما

    None but my heart burns in the open expanse,

    and none but my eye pours forth blood.

  5. وكيف وقفت على أربع

    عَفَتْ قبل هذا بأيدي البلى

    And how did you stop at dwelling sites

    effaced before now by the hands of decay?

  6. أتدفع فيها بها ما ترى

    فكيف تداوي الأسى بالأسى

    Do you use them to ward off what you see there?

    Then how do you heal grief with grief?

  7. ولِمَ لا اتَّبعت كلام النصوح

    وكفكفت دمعك لما جرى

    And why did you not heed the sincere adviser's words

    and hold back your tears when they flowed,

  8. إلى أن تحقَّقْتَ أنَّ الغرام

    يعيد القويَّ ضعيف القوى

    until you learned for certain that passion

    makes the strong man weak in strength,

  9. وحتى أطعت الهوى والشجيُّ

    يعاصي الملام لطوع الهوى

    and until you obeyed desire? The grieving lover

    defies reproach in obedience to desire.

  10. فإن تلحُني بعدها مرَّةً

    جزيتك يا سعد بئس الجزا

    So if you reproach me once again after this,

    I shall repay you, O Sa'd, with a wretched reward:

  11. ولمتُكَ في عبرات تفيض

    ووجد يقطع منك الحشا

    I shall reproach you for tears that overflow

    and yearning that tears your heart apart.

  12. وقلت تسلّ عن الظاعنين

    فإنَّ السلوّ بأمر الفتى

    And I shall say, 'Cease grieving for those who departed,

    for forgetting lies at a young man's command.'

  13. ألم تك من قبلها لمتني

    فماذا الوقوف وماذا البكا

    Had you not reproached me before this?

    Then why this standing, and why this weeping?

  14. وقد كنتُ مثلك بين الطلول

    أساجل بالدمع وَبْلَ الحيا

    And I had been like you among the ruins,

    vying with the rain's downpour through my tears,

  15. وأروي الدِّيار بماء الجفون

    قلم يرق دمعي وفيها ظما

    and watering the dwellings with the water of my eyelids.

    Yet my tears did not cease while thirst remained there [reading an apparent misprint].

  16. وما برحت عبراتي بها

    تبلّ الغليل وتروي الصَّدى

    And my tears there never ceased

    soothing the burning ache and quenching thirst.

  17. وأذكر فيها على صبوتي

    زمان التصابي وعهد الصبا

    And there, in my youthful yearning, I recall

    the time of youthful dalliance and the days of youth.

  18. قَضَيْتُ لديه بما أشتهي

    ولكنَّه قد مضى وانقضى

    I spent that time doing as I wished,

    but it has passed and come to an end.

  19. أغازل غِزلانَه للوصال

    وأشرب للَّهوِ كأس الطلا

    I wooed its gazelles for union,

    and drank a cup of wine for pleasure.

  20. وأسمع من نغمات القيان

    كلاماً يعشقني بالدمى

    And I heard, in the singing girls' melodies,

    words that made me love those doll-like beauties,

  21. يحضُّ على ما يسرُّ النفوس

    ويدعو إلى ما هو المشتهى

    urging whatever delights souls

    and calling toward what is desired.

  22. ينادمني كلُّ عذب الكلام

    يشابه بالحسن بدر الدجى

    Every sweet-tongued companion drank with me,

    resembling in beauty the full moon of the dark night.

  23. وألقى الزمان بهم باسماً

    كوجه الكريم وزهر الرُّبا

    And through them I found time smiling,

    like a generous man's face and the blossoms of the hills.

  24. فإن ترني بعدهم راضياً

    ولو بالخيال فما عن رضا

    So if you see me content after them,

    even in imagination, it does not arise from contentment;

  25. ولكنَّها زفرات تهيج

    فأذكر يا سعد ما قد مضى

    rather, these are sighs that well up,

    so I recall, O Sa'd, what has passed.

  26. وإن جاشتِ النفس من وجدها

    فتعليلها بحديث المنى

    And if the soul seethes with its yearning,

    then its solace lies in talk of hopes.

  27. وأخرج من ذكرهم بالقريض

    بمدح عليٍّ خدينَ العُلى

    And through verse I leave their remembrance behind,

    by praising Ali, the companion of high glory.

  28. ففي مدحه ما يزيل الهموم

    وفي شكره يستفاض الندى

    For his praise holds what dispels cares,

    and thanking him draws forth abundant bounty.

  29. فلا بعده للمنى منتهى

    ولا غيره للعُلى مرتقى

    So beyond him, hopes have no further goal,

    nor is there an ascent to greatness through another.

  30. تواضَعَ وهو عليُّ الجناب

    رفيع المحلّ وسامي الذُّرا

    He has humbled himself, though exalted in dignity,

    high in station and lofty in his summits.

  31. بآثاره أبداً يقتفى

    وأقواله أبداً يقتدى

    His footsteps are forever followed,

    and his words forever taken as a guide.

  32. ملاذ الجميع لمن قد دنا

    من العالمين ومن قد نأى

    A refuge for all—for those who have drawn near

    among mankind, and those who have gone far away.

  33. أعاد مناقب آبائه

    حياة العُفاة وحتف العدى

    He has revived his forefathers' virtues:

    life for seekers of bounty, and death for enemies.

  34. ويرتاح للبذل يوم العطا

    فينفق أنفس ما قد غلا

    And he rejoices in giving on the day of bounty,

    giving away the most precious of all costly things.

  35. فإمَّا سألت ندى كفّه

    فسل ما تشاء وثق بالغنى

    So if you ask for the bounty of his palm,

    ask what you wish, and be sure of wealth.

  36. وأعجبُ ما فيه يعطي الجزيل

    ويلحق ذاك الجدى بالجدى

    And most wondrous in him: he gives abundant gifts

    and follows that bounty with more bounty.

  37. ففيه مع الجود هذا الحياء

    وفيه مع البأس هذا التُّقى

    For in him, alongside generosity, is this modesty,

    and in him, alongside valor, is this piety.

  38. أليسَ من القوم سادوا الأنام

    فهم سادةٌ لجميع الورى

    Is he not of the people who were lords of mankind?

    For they are masters of all mankind.

  39. عليهم تنزَّل وحي الإِله

    ومنهم تبلج صبح الهُدى

    Upon them descended God's revelation,

    and from them shone forth the dawn of guidance.

  40. وكيف يفاخرهم غيرهم

    إذا كانَ جدّهم المصطفى

    And how could others rival them in glory,

    when their forefather is the Chosen One?

  41. يلوذ بحضرتهم من يخاف

    خطوب الليالي ويخشى الأذى

    In their presence take refuge those who fear

    the calamities of the nights and dread harm.

  42. حماةٌ بهم يأمن الخائفون

    نوائبَ من شدَّةٍ تُتَّقَى

    Protectors through whom the fearful are safe

    from calamities of dreaded severity.

  43. لهم عند ضيق مجال الرجال

    عزائم ليست لبيض الظبا

    When men's field of action narrows, they have

    resolves not found in gleaming sword-edges.

  44. أكارم لا نارهم في الظلام

    توارى ولا جارهم في عنا

    Noble men whose fire in the darkness is never

    hidden, nor is their neighbor in distress.

  45. مضوا وأتى بعدهم فرعهم

    ومن قد مضى مثل من قد أتى

    They passed away, and after them came their scion,

    and those who passed are like the one who has come.

  46. مهابٌ إذا أنتَ أبصرته

    فتحسبه من أسود الشرى

    Awe-inspiring when you behold him,

    so you reckon him among the lions of al-Shara.

  47. يجيب إذا ما دعاه الصَّريخ

    همام يلبِّي إذا ما دعا

    He answers when one crying for help calls him,

    a valiant man who responds whenever one calls.

  48. صفا من يديه غير النوال

    لمن يجتديه فخذ ما صفا

    Something other than bounty comes pure from his hands [wording unclear],

    for whoever seeks his gifts—so take what is pure.

  49. أُؤمِّلُ منه بعيد المرام

    وأرجو به فوق ما يرتجى

    I hope from him for a far-reaching aim,

    and through him hope beyond all expectation.

  50. وإنِّي بنظمي مديحي له

    كمن شرب الرَّاح حتَّى انتشى

    And I, in composing my praise of him,

    am like one who drank wine until intoxicated.

  51. ولا زال في كلِّ عيد يعود

    بأرفع مجدٍ وأعلى بِنا

    And may he ever return with each festival,

    with loftier glory and a higher edifice.