1. عادَ الفؤادَ من الجَوى ما عادا

    أضحى يَذيلُ له الدُّموعَ ورادا

    The heart is revisited by its former anguish;

    now it sheds rose-red tears for that anguish.

  2. بل أنتِ قاتلةُ النفوس فربّما

    يأبى قتيلك أن يكون مفادى

    Rather, you are the slayer of souls; for often

    your victim refuses to be ransomed.

  3. قولي لطيفك يا سُعادُ يزورني

    إنْ سُمْتِ صبَّكِ جفوة وبعادا

    Tell your phantom, Su'ad, to visit me,

    if you subject your lover to coldness and distance.

  4. هيهات أن يَصِلَ الخيال لمقلة

    جَفَتِ الرقاد فما تَملُّ سهادا

    How could the phantom reach an eye

    that has forsaken sleep and never tires of wakefulness?

  5. ولكمْ أروحُ بِلَوعةٍ أغدو بها

    ما راوَحَ القلبَ النسيمُ وغادى

    And how often I go at dusk with the anguish I bear at dawn,

    as long as the breeze visits the heart at dusk and dawn.

  6. خُذ يا هذيم إليك قلبي إنّه

    ملأ الجوانح كلّها إيقادا

    Take my heart to yourself, Hudhaym, for it

    has filled all my ribs with flame.

  7. واسلُك بصحبك غير ما أنا سالك

    فيه ومُلْقٍ للنياق قيادا

    Lead your companions by a path other than the one I travel,

    and where I give the she-camels free rein.

  8. حذراً عليك من الصّريم فربّما

    قَنَصَتْ لحاظ ظبائه الآسادا

    Beware al-Sarim, for often

    the glances of its gazelles have hunted lions.

  9. تلك الأحبّة في الغميم ديارها

    جاد الغمام ديارها وأجادا

    Those beloved ones have their homes in al-Ghamim;

    may the clouds lavish rain on their homes, and do so well.

  10. من مثقلاتِ المُزن ألقى رحلَه

    فيها وشقّ على الطلول مزادا

    One of the heavy-laden rain clouds set down its saddle

    there, and split its waterskins over the ruins.

  11. يستلّ منه البرقُ بيض سيوفه

    منها وما كانت لها أغمادا

    Lightning draws its gleaming white swords from it,

    from those clouds, though they were never sheaths for them.

  12. ما قادتِ الرّيح الجنوب زمامه

    إلاَّ وطاوع أمرها وانقادا

    Never did the south wind take its reins

    but it obeyed her command and yielded.

  13. وسقاك دفّاع الحيا من أربُع

    لم أخشَ فيها للدّموع نفادا

    And may gushing rain water you, dwellings,

    where I never feared my tears would run dry.

  14. وقفت بنا فيها المطيُّ فخلتُها

    فَقَدتْ لها بالرّقمتين فؤادا

    The mounts stopped with us there, and I thought

    they had lost a heart of their own at al-Raqmatayn.

  15. وأبَتْ براحاً عن طوامِس أرْسُمٍ

    أضْحَتْ لها ولصَحبِها أقيادا

    They refused to leave the fading traces of dwellings,

    which had become fetters for them and their companions.

  16. هل أنتِ ذاكرةٌ وهاج بك الجوى

    مرعىً وماءً عندها مِبرادا

    Do you remember, as longing stirs within you,

    a pasture and cooling water there?

  17. واهاً لعيشك بالغُوَير لقد مضى

    ورأيتُ بعد نعميه أنكادا

    Ah, for your life at al-Ghuwayr! It has indeed passed,

    and after its bliss I have known miseries.

  18. ولقد رأيتُ الدار تُدمي أعيناً

    غرقى ويحرق دمعها الأكبادا

    And I have indeed seen the dwelling make eyes bleed,

    drowned in tears, while their tears scorch the livers.

  19. فنحرتُ هذا الطرف في عرصاتها

    فمدامعي مَثْنًى لها وفُرادى

    So I slaughtered this eye in its courtyards;

    and my tears for it came in pairs and singly.

  20. وسقيتُها بالدمع حتَّى لو سقى

    وبلُ الغمام رسومها ما زادا

    And I watered it with tears, so much that, had

    the clouds' downpour watered its traces, it would have added nothing.

  21. يا وُرْقُ أين غرام قلبِك من شجٍ

    جعل النُّواح لشجوه معتادا

    O gray doves, how does your heart's passion compare with a mourner

    who has made wailing the habit of his grief?

  22. أو تشبهين الصَّبّ عند نُواحه

    ولقد بخِلت بمدمعيك وجادا

    Or do you resemble the lover when he laments,

    though you have withheld your tears, while he gave freely?

  23. بلغ البكاء من الشجيّ مراده

    منه وما بلغَ الشجيُّ مرادا

    Weeping has gained its desire from the grieving man—

    from him—yet the grieving man has attained no wish.

  24. فمتى خمودُ النار بين جوانحي

    والنّارُ آونةً تكون رمادا

    When, then, will the fire within my ribs die down—

    while fire does sometimes turn to ash—

  25. ومسالمات الحادثات وأن أرى

    زمني لأمري طائعاً منقادا

    and calamities make peace with me, and I see

    my time obedient and submissive to my command?

  26. أنّى يسالمني الزمان وقد رأى

    هِمَمي على حرب الزمان شدادا

    How can Time make peace with me, when it has seen

    my ambitions fierce in their war against Time?

  27. وعداوة الأيام ليست تنقضي

    والحُرُّ في هذا الزمان مُعادى

    And the enmity of the days never ends,

    and the noble man is treated as an enemy in this age.

  28. لولا جميل أبي الثناء وإنَّه

    يولي الجميل ويكرم الوفّادا

    But for Abu al-Thana's kindness—and he

    bestows kindness and honors those who come to him—

  29. قَلْقَلْتُ عن أرضِ العراق ركائبي

    وسَكنْتُ غيرك يا بلاد بلادا

    I would have driven my mounts out of the land of Iraq

    and settled in lands other than you, O land.

  30. هو مورِدي ما لم أرِدْهُ من النّدى

    لولاه لم أكُ صادراً وَرّادا

    He brings me to bounty I had never reached;

    but for him, I would neither leave the water nor keep returning to it.

  31. ومطوّقٌ جيدي بنائله الَّذي

    ملك الرقاب وطوَّق الأجيادا

    And he encircles my neck with his bounty, which

    has taken possession of necks and encircled throats.

  32. متفرّد بالفضل يعرف قدره

    من يعرِف الأفراد والآحادا

    Unique in excellence, his worth is known

    to whoever recognizes the peerless and the singular.

  33. إن قلت ما بالخافقين نظيره

    أوْرَدْتُ فيما قلته أشهادا

    If I say he has no equal in East or West,

    I bring witnesses to what I have said.

  34. هذي البلاد وهذه علماؤها

    هل فاخرت بنظيره بغدادا

    These are the lands, and these their scholars:

    have they rivaled Baghdad with anyone his equal?

  35. إن الشريعة أُلبست بجَنابه

    تاجاً وألبسه التقى أبرادا

    Indeed, through his presence the sacred law has been clothed

    with a crown, and piety has clothed him in mantles.

  36. أجداده بَنَتِ العلاءِ وشيَّدَتْ

    فبنى على ذاك البناء وشادا

    His forebears built glory and raised it high;

    so he built upon that structure and raised it high.

  37. وكأنَّما أقلامُ أنمُلِه غَدَتْ

    زُرقاً على أهل العِناد حِدادا

    And it is as though the pens at his fingertips have become

    sharp blue spears against the obstinate.

  38. وكأنَّما جُعِلَ الصَّباحُ لِخَطِّه

    معنىً ومُسْوَدُّ الظلام مِدادا

    And it is as though morning were made, for his script,

    its meaning, and the black of darkness its ink.

  39. نهدي إلى عين القلوب سطوره

    نوراً يخال على البياض سوادا

    We offer his lines to the eye of hearts,

    a light mistaken for black on white.

  40. لله فضلك في الوجود فإنَّه

    تَركَ البريَّة كلّها حسادا

    God be praised for your excellence in this world, for it

    has left all creation envious.

  41. عزّ النظير لمثل فضلك بينهم

    فليطلبوا لك في السما أندادا

    An equal to your excellence is scarcely found among them;

    so let them seek your peers in heaven.

  42. لو أنصفوا شكروا مواهب ربّهم

    إذ كنتَ للدين القويم عمادا

    Had they been fair, they would have thanked their Lord for His gifts,

    since you are a pillar of the upright faith.

  43. أحْيَيْتَ عِلْمَ الأنبياء وقد أرى

    بوجود ذاتك رجعةً ومعادا

    You have revived the prophets' knowledge, and I see

    in your very existence a return and resurrection.

  44. أفْنَيتَ دهرك في اكتساب فضائل

    تفري الزمانَ وتُخلق الآبادا

    You have spent your lifetime acquiring virtues

    that rend Time and wear out endless ages.

  45. ولأنتَ أجرى السابقين إلى مدىً

    ولأنتَ أورى القادحين زنادا

    And you are indeed the swiftest of racers toward a goal,

    and of all who strike fire, you kindle the brightest spark.

  46. لحِقَتْ مداك اللاحقون فقصَّرتْ

    ولو أنها ركبتْ إليك جيادا

    Those who followed pursued your reach, yet fell short,

    even if they rode fine steeds toward you.

  47. ولقد جَرَيْتَ على مذاكي همّة

    لا تَسأم الإتهام والإنجادا

    And you have indeed raced on the mature steeds of an ambition

    that never tires of journeys to Tihama and Najd.

  48. ها أنتَ في الإسلام أكبرُ آيةً

    لله تمحو الغيَّ والإلحادا

    Behold, in Islam you are the greatest sign

    of God, effacing error and heresy.

  49. فإذا نطقت فحجَّة مقبولة

    أو قلتَ قلتَ من الكلام سدادا

    So when you speak, your argument is accepted,

    or when you utter words, you utter what is sound.

  50. ما أمَّ فضلَك مستفيدٌ في الورى

    إلاَّ استفاد فضيلةً وأفادا

    No seeker of benefit among humankind has turned to your excellence

    without gaining a virtue and benefiting others.

  51. لولا ورودُ بحار علمك إذ طمت

    لم تعرف الإصدار والإيرادا

    But for coming to the seas of your knowledge when they overflowed,

    you would know neither sending forth nor bringing in.

  52. ولكم زَرَعْتَ من الجميل مكارماً

    لا ترتجي مما زرعت حصادا

    And how often you have planted noble deeds of kindness,

    seeking no harvest from what you planted.

  53. ولك الجميل إذا قبلت مدائحاً

    أنشدْتُها لكَ مُعلناً إنشادا

    And you show kindness if you accept the praises

    I have recited to you, proclaiming them aloud.

  54. فليهنك العيدُ الجديد ولم تَزَلْ

    أيّام دهرِك كلَّها أعيادا

    May the new festival bring you joy; as ever,

    all the days of your life are festivals.