1. ما لَها مُفْرِيةً بِيداً فَبيدا

    تَقْطَعُ الأرضَ هُبوطاً وصُعودا

    What ails her, cleaving desert after desert,

    crossing the earth downhill and uphill?

  2. كلَّما لاح لها برق الحمى

    نَثَرت من لؤلؤ الدَّمع عقودا

    Whenever the sanctuary's lightning flashes before her,

    she scatters necklaces of tear-pearls.

  3. لستُ بالمُنْكِرِ منها عبرة

    إنَّها كانت على الحبِّ شهودا

    I do not deny a tear from her;

    indeed, it has borne witness to love.

  4. فإلى أينَ سُراها ولمن

    تطس البيداء أو تحثو الصَّعيدا

    So where is her night journey bound, and for whom

    does she tread the desert or scatter the dust?

  5. أَوْقَدَ الشَّوق بها نيرانه

    فَتَلَظَّتْ بلظى الوجد وقودا

    Longing has kindled its fires within her,

    so she blazed, fuel for passion's flame.

  6. تخمد النَّارُ وما لي أرى

    للجوى من مهجة الصّبّ خمودا

    Fire dies down, yet I see no

    quenching of anguish in the yearning lover's heart.

  7. يا أَخلاَّئي وأَعلاقُ الهوى

    جاوَزَتْ من شغف القلب حدودا

    O my dear friends, the bonds of passion

    have passed all bounds in the heart's ardor.

  8. أَخْلَقَت بالصَّبر عنكم لوعة

    تَبْعَثُ الشَّوق بها غضًّا جديدا

    A burning ache in your absence has worn out patience,

    and through it revives longing, tender and new.

  9. ووهى يومَ نأَيْتُم جَلَدي

    بعدَ ما كنتُ على الدَّهر جليدا

    And my endurance failed the day you went away,

    after I had been steadfast against time.

  10. خُنْتُمُ عَهْدَ الهُدى ما بيننا

    وَرَعَيْنا لكمُ فيها عهودا

    You betrayed the covenant of guidance between us,

    while we honored our pledges to you within it.

  11. من معيدٌ لي في وادي الغضا

    زَمَناً مَرَّ ومن لي أَنْ يعودا

    Who will restore to me, in Wadi al-Ghada,

    a time gone by—and who will grant me its return?

  12. في زَرودٍ وقفة أَذكرُها

    فسقى الله حيا المزن زرودا

    I remember a halt at Zarud;

    may God water Zarud with the rain of the clouds.

  13. ومن السِّرْبِ مهاةٌ لحظُها

    يَصْرَعُ اللّبَّ ويصطاد الأُسودا

    And among the herd is an oryx doe whose glance

    fells reason and hunts down lions.

  14. وبروحي شادنٌ من ريقه

    لا أعافُ الخمرَ والماء البرودا

    And my soul would ransom a fawn, from whose saliva

    I do not disdain wine or cool water.

  15. سلبَ الغصن رَطيباً قَدُّه

    والظِّباءُ العُفْرُ ألحاظاً وجيدا

    His stature stole the tender bough's grace,

    and the tawny gazelles' glances and neck.

  16. لامني اللاّئم عن جهلٍ به

    والهوى يأنَفُ إلاَّ أنْ يزيدا

    The reproacher blamed me, ignorant of him,

    while love scorns anything but increase.

  17. أيُّها العاذلُ يبغي رَشَدي

    خَلِّني والغيّ إنْ كنتَ رشيدا

    O reproacher who seeks my right guidance,

    leave me with my waywardness, if you are rightly guided.

  18. إنَّ مَنْ كانت حياتي عنده

    طالما جرَّعني الحتفَ صدودا

    Indeed, he in whose keeping lay my life

    has often made me drink death through rejection.

  19. وحرامٌ أنْ أرى سُلوانَه

    وَلَوَ انِّي مِتُّ في الحبِّ شهيدا

    And I may never find solace by forgetting him,

    even if I die a martyr to love.

  20. غَلَبَتْني منه أجناد الهوى

    إنَّ للحبِّ على الصّبّ جنودا

    His armies of passion have overcome me;

    indeed, love has armies against the yearning lover.

  21. من يريني البانَ والوردَ معاً

    في تَثَنِّيه خدوداً وقدودا

    Who will show me the ban-tree and roses together,

    in his swaying, as cheeks and figures?

  22. يمِّمي أيَّتها النُّوق بنا

    سيّدَ السَّادات والرّكن الشَّديدا

    Head with us, O she-camels,

    to the master of masters and the mighty pillar.

  23. فلئنْ سِرْتِ بنا حينئذٍ

    لعليٍّ كانَ مسراك حميدا

    For if you travel with us then

    to Ali, your night journey will be praiseworthy.

  24. لا تَرى وَجْهاً عبوساً عنده

    حين تلقاه ولا صدراً حقودا

    You will see no scowling face with him

    when you meet him, nor a rancorous breast.

  25. منعمٌ سابغةٌ نعمتُهُ

    ومفيدٌ من نداه المستفيدا

    A benefactor whose bounty is ample,

    and who benefits the seeker from his generosity.

  26. كلَّما قَرَّبْتٍ من حَضْرَته

    قَرَّبت أملاً كانَ بعيدا

    Whenever you draw near his presence,

    you bring near a hope that was far away.

  27. حيثُ طالعنا فأَبْصَرْنا به

    طالعاً من ذلك الوجه سعيدا

    There we gazed, and in him beheld

    a fortunate omen from that face.

  28. أَسرعُ العالم وعداً منجزاً

    وإذا أَوْعَدَ أبطاهم وعيدا

    The swiftest of all in fulfilling a promise,

    yet when he threatens, the slowest to carry out a threat.

  29. آل بيتٍ سَطَعَتْ أنوارهم

    لم تَدَعْ للغيِّ شيطاناً مريدا

    A household whose lights have shone,

    leaving no rebellious devil to foster error.

  30. وإذا أعربتَ عن أبنائهم

    فاذكر الآباء منهم والجدودا

    And when you speak of their sons,

    then mention their fathers and forefathers.

  31. تأْخُذُ الآراء عنه رشدها

    فيُريها الرّشدَ والرَّأْي السَّديدا

    Opinions take their guidance from him,

    and he shows them guidance and sound judgment.

  32. ليّن الجانب فيه شدَّةٌ

    قد أذابت من أعاديه الحديدا

    Gentle in manner, yet in him is a strength

    that has melted his enemies' iron.

  33. قُيِّدَتْ عادية الخطب فما

    تضع الأَغلال عنها والقيودا

    Calamity's assault is fettered, and never

    casts off its shackles and chains.

  34. بِبَنِيه حَفِظَ الله بهم

    مهجةَ المجد طريفاً وتليدا

    Through his sons God has preserved

    the lifeblood of glory, newly won and inherited.

  35. رافعٌ راية أعلام الهُدى

    عاقدٌ للدِّين بالعزِّ بنودا

    Raising the banner of guidance's leading lights,

    binding banners for the faith with might.

  36. في بيوتٍ أَذِن الله لها

    أَنْ نراه في مبانيها عمودا

    In houses to which God has granted leave

    for us to see him as a pillar in their structures.

  37. من سيوف الله إذا ما جُرِّدَتْ

    قطعت من عنق الشّرك الوريدا

    One of God's swords, which, when unsheathed,

    sever the jugular in the neck of polytheism.

  38. سيِّدٌ برٌّ رؤوفٌ محسنٌ

    ترك الأَحرار بالبرّ عبيدا

    A lord, virtuous, compassionate, beneficent,

    who made free men slaves through kindness.

  39. فترى الأَشراف في حَضْرَته

    قُوَّماً بين يديه وقعودا

    So you see the nobles in his presence,

    standing before him and seated.

  40. أَمْطَرَتْ من يده قَطْرَ النَّدى

    في رياض الفضل يُنْبِتْنَ الورودا

    From his hand have rained drops of dew,

    in gardens of excellence, where they make roses grow.

  41. فترى الأَقلام في أمداحه

    رُكَّعاً تملِي ثناه وسجودا

    So you see the pens, in praising him,

    bowing and prostrating as they dictate his praise.

  42. يا ابن قطب الغوث والغيث الَّذي

    لم يَزَلْ يهلُّ إحساناً وجودا

    O son of the Pole of Succor, and of the rain that

    has never ceased pouring kindness and generosity.

  43. أَنتُم البحر وما زلتُ بكم

    مستمدًّا منكم البحر المديدا

    You are the sea, and through you I have never ceased

    drawing sustenance from you, the far-reaching sea.

  44. إنْ وَرَدْنا منهلاً من نَيلكم

    ما صَدَرْنا عنكم إلاَّ ورودا

    If we reach a watering place of your bounty,

    we depart from you only to return.

  45. ما سواكم مقصد الرَّاجي ولا

    في سوى شكرانكم نملي القصيدا

    None but you is the hopeful seeker's goal, nor

    do we compose verse except in gratitude to you.

  46. يا مريد الخير والخير به

    لا عدمناك مراداً ومريدا

    O seeker of good, through whom goodness comes,

    may we never lose you, sought and seeking alike.

  47. ليس بالبدع ولا غروَ إذا

    هِمْتُ في مدحك نظماً ونشيدا

    It is no novelty, nor any wonder, if

    I lose myself in your praise, in verse and song.

  48. جُدْتَ لي بالجود حتَّى خِلْتَني

    بندى وابلك الروض المجودا

    You lavished bounty on me until you thought me

    a garden richly watered by the dew of your downpour.

  49. وقليلٌ فيك لو أنظمها

    في مزاياك لها دُرًّا نضيدا

    Yet it would be little for you, were I to string it

    in praise of your merits, as neatly strung pearls.

  50. فاهنأ بالنيشان من سلطاننا

    مُبدِئاً للفخر فيه ومعيدا

    So rejoice in the decoration from our sultan,

    beginning and renewing your pride in it.

  51. ذلك اليوم الَّذي وافى به

    لكن للأَشراف في بغداد عيدا

    That day on which it was brought

    was, however, a feast day for Baghdad's nobles.

  52. مَلِكٌ أَرْسَلَهُ مفتخراً

    وبه أَرْسَلَ مولاي البريدا

    A king sent it in pride,

    and with it my lord dispatched the courier.

  53. لم تزل ترقى إليها رُتَباً

    نكبت الشَّانئَ فيها والحسودا

    You have never ceased rising to it, rank by rank,

    in them bringing low the hater and the envious.