1. عَفَتْ أَرْسُمٌ من دارِ ميٍّ وأطلالُ

    وحَالَتْ بنا إذ خَفَّ قاطِنُها الحالُ

    The traces and ruins of Mayya’s dwelling have been effaced;

    and our condition changed when its inhabitants departed.

  2. فكمْ أَسأَلُ الدَّار البوالي رسومُها

    وهل نافعي من أرسم الدَّار تسآل

    How often I question the dwelling, whose traces have grown worn—

    but can questioning the vestiges of the dwelling avail me?

  3. وَقَفْتُ بها أَقضي لها الدَّين بالأَسى

    وما ينقضي وَجْدٌ عليها وبلبال

    I stood there, paying it its due in sorrow,

    while my longing and anguish for it never cease.

  4. وفي النَّفس من تلك المنازل لوعة

    تُهَيِّجها منِّي غدوٌّ وآصال

    Within my soul is an ache for those abodes,

    stirred in me morning and evening.

  5. وكم هَيَّجَتْ بي زفرةً بعد زفرةٍ

    لنيرانها في مضمر القلب إشعال

    How many a sigh after sigh have they stirred in me,

    kindling their fires in the heart’s hidden depths.

  6. وعهدي بذات الضال عذر على الهوى

    أَلا للهوى العذْريّ ما جمع الضال

    I remember the lady of Dhāt al-Ḍāl—love had its excuse there;

    ah, what al-Ḍāl gathered for chaste, ʿUdhri love!

  7. بروحي من كانت حَياتي بقربه

    ويَقتُلني بالهجر والهجر قتال

    My soul be ransom for the one whose nearness was my life,

    and who kills me by desertion—for desertion is deadly.

  8. أُلاحِظُ منه البدر في غسق الدُّجى

    يَميسُ به قدٌّ من البان ميَّال

    In that beloved I behold the full moon amid the darkness of night,

    borne with a swaying gait by a supple, willow-like form.

  9. أَحِبَّتنا قد حالَ بيني وبينكم

    خطوبٌ لأحداث الزَّمان وأهوال

    Our loved ones, the grave events and terrors of time

    have come between me and you.

  10. لئنْ غِبتُم عن ناظري وحُجبتم

    فما غابَ منكم عن فؤادي تمثال

    Though you have vanished from my sight and been veiled from me,

    your image has never vanished from my heart.

  11. وما سرَّني أنِّي مقيمٌ ببلدةٍ

    وهمِّي عليكم في المهامِهِ جَوَّال

    It gives me no joy to reside in a town

    while my anxious thought roams after you through the deserts.

  12. ألامُ عليكم في الهوى وهوانه

    وللصّبّ لوَّامٌ وللحبِّ عذّال

    I am blamed for loving you and bearing love’s abasement;

    the impassioned always have their censurers, and love its reproachers.

  13. سقى الله هاتيكَ الديارَ وأهْلَها

    وجُرَّت عليها للغمائم أذيال

    May God water those dwellings and their people,

    and may the clouds trail their skirts across them—

  14. وعهداً مضى فيه الشباب وطيبُه

    وقد غالَه من طارق الشيب مغتال

    and water a bygone age in which youth and its sweetness flourished,

    before a stealthy assailant, hoary age, destroyed it.

  15. سأركبُها في المهمَهِ القفر مركباً

    سَفائنَ بَرٍّ لُجُّ أبْحرها الآل

    I shall ride them through the barren wilderness as my mount—

    ships of the land, whose sea-depths are the shimmering mirage.

  16. ولستُ مقيماً ما أقَمتُ بمنزلٍ

    وعيشي أنكادٌ تسوء وأنكال

    I shall not remain settled in any dwelling while I live,

    when my life is misery, affliction, and fetters.

  17. وتَصحَبُني في كلِّ فجٍّ عزيمتي

    وأبيضُ هنديٌّ وأسمرُ عسّال

    Through every mountain pass my resolve accompanies me,

    along with a white Indian blade and a dark, supple spear.

  18. وما ملكَتْ منِّي المطامع مِقْوَداً

    لصاحبها في موقف الضيم إذلال

    Greed has never gained a rein over me

    by which its master could humiliate me when oppression comes.

  19. وما ساءني فَقَرٌ ولا سرّني غنًى

    بحيثُ استوى عندي ثراءٌ وإقلال

    Poverty has not distressed me, nor riches delighted me:

    wealth and want have become equal in my eyes.

  20. ولم أدْنُ من أشياء ممَّا تَشينُني

    ولو قُطِّعَتْ منِّي لذلك أوصال

    I have never approached anything that would disgrace me,

    even if my limbs were to be severed for refusing it.

  21. وما كانَ بي والحمد لله خُلَّةٌ

    لها بالشريف الباذخ المجد إخلال

    Praise be to God, I have suffered no need

    that could compromise a noble man of towering glory.

  22. ولستُ أبالي والأبوّة مَذهبي

    إذا أعْرَضتْ عنّي مع العلم جهّال

    I care nothing—ancestral honor is my creed—

    if ignorant men turn away from me despite knowing the truth.

  23. همُ سابَقوني بالفخار فقصّروا

    وهم طالبوني بالإباء فما طالوا

    They raced me in glory, but fell short;

    they challenged me in proud refusal, but could not reach my height.

  24. ولي بعليّ القَدْر عن غيره غنًى

    إذا عُدَّ قول للكرام وأفعال

    In ʿAlī, exalted in rank, I have no need of another

    whenever the words and deeds of noble men are reckoned—

  25. من القوم أبناء النُّبوَّةِ والعلى

    يُشام لهم في كلِّ بارقةٍ خال

    one of that house, the sons of prophecy and sublimity,

    whose distinctive mark is glimpsed in every flash of glory.

  26. سَلِ المجدَ عنهممُجْمَلاً ومُفصَّلاً

    ويغني عن التفصيل إذ ذاك إجمال

    Ask glory about them, in summary and in detail;

    yet the summary itself makes all detail needless.

  27. إذا وُصِفوا بالعلم والحلم والتقى

    فبالعلم أعلام وبالحلم أجبال

    When they are described by knowledge, forbearance, and piety,

    they are landmarks in knowledge and mountains in forbearance.

  28. قواضٍ على أموالهم بنوالهم

    وما نيلَ هذا الفضل إلاَّ بما نالوا

    Their generosity passes judgment upon their wealth,

    and this excellence was attained only through what they achieved.

  29. عزائِمُهُم شرقاً وغرباً وبأسُهُم

    قيودٌ بأعناق الرِّجال وأغلال

    Their resolves range east and west, while their might

    is shackles and fetters upon the necks of men.

  30. إليك أبا سلمان تسعى ركابنا

    وفيها إلى مغناك حلٌّ وترحال

    To you, Abū Salmān, our riding beasts hasten,

    continually alighting and departing on the way to your abode.

  31. وتصدر عنك الواردون ظِماؤها

    عليها من الإنعام والشكر أثقال

    Those who come thirsting to you depart from your presence

    laden with favors and gratitude.

  32. إذا نحن أثنَيْنا عليك فإنَّما

    لكلِّ نسيجٍ من ثنائك منوال

    When we praise you, it is only because

    every fabric of your praise already has its loom.

  33. يَصِحُّ رجائي في علاك مريضه

    ومن اسمك العالي لقد صدق الفال

    My ailing hope grows sound through your eminence,

    and your lofty name has indeed made the omen come true.

  34. تُبشّرُ بالنَّعْماء منك بشاشَةٌ

    وعطفٌ على من يرتجيك وإقبال

    A cheerful face from you announces blessings,

    with kindness and gracious welcome for whoever hopes in you.

  35. تُغيثُ بغَوْثٍ من دَعاك لكربه

    وللغيث من جدوى يمينك إخجال

    You swiftly relieve whoever calls upon you in distress;

    the rain itself is shamed by the bounty of your right hand.

  36. وما زال بي من جود فضلك نعمةٌ

    تُسَرُّ بها نفسي ويَنْعَمُ لي بال

    The generosity of your favor has never ceased to bless me

    with a grace that delights my soul and sets my mind at ease.

  37. إذا ما استقى العافون من يدك النوى

    سقاها الأيادي عارضٌ منك هطال

    When seekers ask your hand to water even the date-stones,

    a pouring cloud of generous hands from you waters them.

  38. وفيك أبا سلمان بالناس رأفةٌ

    يُنالُ بها قصدٌ وتُدْرَكُ آمال

    In you, Abū Salmān, is compassion for humankind

    through which purposes are gained and hopes fulfilled.

  39. يخبِّرُ عنك الفضل أنَّك أهلُهُ

    ويَشهدُ فيك البأس أنَّك رئبال

    Virtue declares of you that you are its rightful master,

    and valor testifies that you are a lion.

  40. تبلَّجَ صُبحُ الحقّ بالصِّدق ظاهراً

    فلا احتال بعد اليوم بالزُّورِ مُحتال

    The dawn of truth has broken forth, manifest in sincerity;

    after today, no schemer can prevail through falsehood.

  41. أما وجميلٍ من صنيعك سالفٍ

    عليَّ به مَنٌّ وفضلٌ وإفضال

    As for a former kindness of yours to me—

    through it I bear a debt of gratitude, grace, and munificence.

  42. وآباؤك الغُرُّ الميامين إنَّهم

    غيوثٌ إذا جادوا ليوث إذا صالوا

    Your illustrious, blessed forefathers indeed

    were rainclouds when they gave and lions when they charged.

  43. لقد كَذَب الحُسَّاد فيما تَقَوَّلوا

    عَليَّ وأيم الله ما قلتُ ما قالوا

    The envious have lied in what they fabricated about me;

    by God, I never said what they claim I said.

  44. أعيذُك أن تُصغي إلى قولِ كاذبٍ

    ويَثْنيك عنِّي ذلك القيل والقال

    I implore God to preserve you from heeding a liar’s words

    and letting such gossip and hearsay turn you away from me.

  45. ألمْ أقضِ عمري في ثنائك كلِّه

    ولي فيك من غُرِّ المدائح أقوال

    Have I not spent my entire life praising you,

    with splendid panegyrics composed in your honor?

  46. خدمتُك في مدحي ثلاثين حِجَّةً

    وصَوْبُك مُنهلٌ وجودك سيّال

    For thirty years I have served you through my praise,

    while your rain pours freely and your generosity flows.

  47. أباهي بك السادات شرقاً ومغرباً

    وأرْفُلُ في بُرد النعيم وأختال

    Through you I vie proudly with lords in east and west,

    sweeping along in robes of bliss and strutting proudly.

  48. أنالُ بك الآمال وهي بعيدة

    وأفتَحُ أبواباً عَليهنَّ أقفال

    Through you I attain hopes though they are distant,

    and open doors upon which locks are fastened.

  49. وإنِّي لأرعى النَّاس بالشكر ذِمّةً

    وما في خلوصي بالمودّة إشكال

    I faithfully honor people’s claims upon my gratitude,

    and there is no doubt about the sincerity of my affection.

  50. وأَنْتَ الَّذي ترجى في النَّاس كلّها

    وتُضْرَبُ في نعماك للناس أمثال

    You are the one hoped in among all humankind,

    and your blessings are proverbial among the people.

  51. إذا ما القوافي أقْبَلَتْ بثنائها

    عليك فمأمولٌ بها الجاه والمال

    Whenever poems approach you bearing their praise,

    rank and wealth may be hoped for through them.

  52. وقافيةٍ تتلى ويحلو نشيدها

    وكم تتحلّى في ثنائك معطال

    Many an ode is recited and sweet is its song;

    though unadorned, how richly it adorns herself through praising you!