1. أيُّ نارٍ بها الجوانحُ تُصْلى

    وجُفونٍ تَصوب بالدَّمع وبْلا

    What fire is this in which the ribs are scorched,

    and what eyelids pour tears in torrents!

  2. كلَّما لاح بارق هاج وجد

    وجرى مدمعٌ له واستهلاّ

    Whenever lightning flashes, longing is stirred,

    and his tears flow and pour down.

  3. مغرم لا يعي الملامة في الح

    بِّ ولا يرعوي فيقبل عذلا

    A lover who heeds no reproach in love,

    nor comes to his senses to accept rebuke.

  4. ما يفيد المشوق يا سَعْدُ أمسى

    مُكثِراً من بكائه أو مقلاّ

    What avails the yearning lover, O Saʿd, whether at evening he is

    lavish with his tears or sparing?

  5. صَرَعَتْه العيون نُجلاً وهل تص

    رع إلاَّ عيونها الغيد نجلا

    Wide eyes have laid him low; and do

    slender, wide-eyed beauties slay except with their eyes?

  6. وسَقَتْه كأسَ الغرام وما كا

    نَ ليشفي الغرام عَلاً ونَهلا

    And they gave him passion's cup, but it could not

    cure passion, with a second draught or a first.

  7. ما يعاني من الصبابة صَبٌّ

    كانَ قبل الهوى عزيزاً فذلاّ

    How much a lovesick man suffers from longing—

    once proud before love, then brought low!

  8. قد أذلَّ الغرامُ كلَّ عزيز

    والهوى يترك الأَعزّ الأَذلاّ

    Passion has humbled every proud man,

    and love leaves the proudest the most abased.

  9. وبنفسي مهفهف العطف أحوى

    حرَّم الله من دمي ما استحلاّ

    And my soul as ransom for a slender-waisted, dark-lipped one;

    God has forbidden the blood of mine he deemed lawful.

  10. قل لأحبابنا وهل يجمع الده

    ر على بعدهم من الدار شملا

    Tell our loved ones—will time gather

    our scattered company, though they are far from home?

  11. ما تسلَّيت في سواكم ومن لي

    بفؤاد في غيركم يتسلَّى

    I have found no solace in anyone but you; who can furnish me

    with a heart that takes comfort in anyone else?

  12. فرَّق الدهر بيننا بالتَّنائي

    وقضى بالنَّوى وما كانَ عدلا

    Time has divided us through distance,

    and decreed separation, without being just.

  13. علِّلونا منكُم ولو بخيالٍ

    يهتدي طيفه فيطرق ليلا

    Offer us solace from you, if only a vision

    whose phantom finds its way and visits us by night.

  14. فعسى المهجة الَّتي أظْمَأَتْها

    زفرةُ الوجد بعدكم أن تُبَلاّ

    Then perhaps the heart that has been parched

    by longing's sigh after your departure may have its thirst quenched.

  15. إنَّ وُرْقاً ناحت على الغصن شجواً

    أنا منها بذلك النَّوح أولى

    Grey doves have indeed lamented sorrowfully on the bough;

    I am more entitled than they to that lament.

  16. وشجتنا بنوحها حين ناحت

    فكأَنَّ الورقاء إذ ذاك ثكلى

    And she saddened us with her lament when she cried,

    as though the grey dove were then bereft of her young.

  17. ذكَّرتني وربَّما هيَّج الذِكرُ

    زماناً مضى وعصراً تولَّى

    She reminded me—and remembrance often stirs—

    of a time gone by and an age departed,

  18. وهوى مربع لظمياءَ أقوى

    تسحب المزن في مغانيه ذيلا

    and of longing for Ẓamyāʾ's spring abode, now deserted,

    where rain-clouds drag a trailing hem through its dwellings.

  19. فسقى ملعبَ الغزال وميضٌ

    من هطول يسقي رذاذاً وهطلا

    So may a lightning flash water the gazelle's playground,

    with pouring rain, dispensing drizzle and torrents.

  20. أفأشفي الجوى بآرام رَبْعٍ

    صحَّ فيه نسيمه واعتلاّ

    Shall I then cure heartache with the gazelles of an encampment

    where its breeze was hale, then fell ill?

  21. رُبَّ طيفٍ من آل ميٍّ طروق

    زار وهناً فقلت أهلاً وسهلا

    Many a night-visiting phantom from Mayy's household

    came late at night, and I said, 'Welcome, be at ease!'

  22. نوَّلتني الأَحلامُ منه الأَماني

    وانقضى عهده وما نلت نيلا

    Dreams granted me, through it, my wishes,

    yet its time ended, and I gained nothing.

  23. إذ تصدَّى لمغرم مات صدَّا

    وتولَّى حرّ الغرام وولَّى

    When it appeared to a lover who had died of rejection,

    passion's heat receded and departed.

  24. زائراً كالسَّراب لاحَ لصادٍ

    قبل أن يذهب الظماء اضمحلاّ

    It came like a mirage appearing to one athirst,

    then vanished before it could dispel thirst.

  25. واللَّيالي تريك كلّ عجيبٍ

    وتزيد الخطوب بالشَّهم عقلا

    And the nights show you every marvel,

    and calamities increase a noble man's wisdom.

  26. وإذا ما محت أعاجيب شكلٍ

    أثْبَتَت من عجائب الدهر شكلا

    Whenever they erase marvels of one kind,

    they inscribe another kind among time's wonders.

  27. قد أكلت الزَّمان حلواً ومرًّا

    وشربت الأيام خمراً وخلاّ

    I have eaten time, both sweet and bitter,

    and drunk the days as wine and vinegar.

  28. وأَبَتْ لي أُبوَّتي إنْ أُداري

    معْشراً من مدارك الفضل غفلا

    My ancestral dignity refuses to let me flatter

    a company ignorant of the ways of excellence.

  29. لا أُداري ولا أُمالي ولا أش

    هدُ زوراً ولا أُبدِّلُ نقلا

    I neither flatter nor collude, nor bear

    false witness, nor alter a transmitted account.

  30. قد كفاني ربِّي استماحة قومٍ

    أشربوا في الصُّدور غِلاًّ وبخلا

    My Lord has spared me asking gifts of people

    whose breasts are imbued with rancor and miserliness,

  31. بأبي القاسمِ الَّذي طابَ في النَّا

    س نِجاراً وطابَ فرعاً وأصلا

    through Abū al-Qāsim, noble among

    men in lineage, and noble in branch and root.

  32. وإذا عَدَّدَتْ بنيها المعالي

    كانَ أعلى بني المعالي محلاّ

    And when greatness counts her sons,

    his station is highest among the sons of greatness.

  33. فخر آل الزهير والجبل الباذخ

    أضحى على الجبال مُطلاّ

    The pride of the house of al-Zuhayr, the lofty mountain,

    has come to overlook the mountains.

  34. ظلَّ من يستظلّ بظلٍّ

    لا عدمناه في الأَماجد ظِلاّ

    A shade for whoever seeks shelter beneath a shade—

    may we never lose him as a shade among the noble!

  35. كلَّ يومٍ وكلَّ آنٍ لديه

    يجتدي سائل ويبلغ سؤلا

    Every day and every moment, in his presence,

    a petitioner asks a gift and attains his wish.

  36. بأبي وافر العطايا إذا ما

    أكثرَ النَّيل بالعطاء استقلاّ

    My father as ransom for the bountiful giver, who, whenever

    he lavishes gifts, regards them as little.

  37. وعيال ذوو العقول عليه

    في أُمور تدقّ فهماً وعقلا

    And men of intellect are his dependents

    in matters requiring subtle understanding and reason.

  38. عصمة للأفكار من خطأ الرأ

    ي وهادٍ للفكر من أن يضلاّ

    A safeguard for thoughts against errors of judgment,

    and a guide to thought, lest it stray.

  39. نوَّر الله منك قلباً ذكيًّا

    ظُلَمُ الشَّكّ فيه لا شكَّ تجلى

    God has illumined a keen heart within you;

    in it the darkness of doubt is surely dispelled.

  40. غادر المحل في أياديه خصباً

    في زمان يغادر الخصب محلا

    He leaves barrenness fertile in his hands,

    in an age that leaves fertility barren.

  41. كم أيادٍ تلك الأَيادي أفاضت

    وأسالت من وابل الجود سيلا

    How many favors those hands have poured forth,

    and made a torrent flow from generosity's downpour!

  42. سابق من يجيء بالفضل بَعْداً

    لاحقٌ بالجميل من كانَ قبلا

    He outstrips those who come later with excellence,

    and in goodness catches up with those who came before.

  43. شَهِدَ اللهُ والأنام جميعاً

    أنَّه الصَّارم الَّذي لن يُفلاّ

    God and all creation have borne witness

    that he is the sharp sword that will never be blunted.

  44. إنْ تُجرِّده كاشفاً لِمُلِمٍّ

    فكما جرَّدَت يمينك نصلا

    If you unsheathe him to dispel a calamity,

    it is as though your right hand has unsheathed a blade.

  45. وعلى ما يلوح لي منه مرأًى

    قَرَأَ المجدُ سَطْرَه واستملاّ

    And upon the sight of him that appears to me,

    glory has read his line and taken dictation.

  46. يا حُساماً هززته مشرفيًّا

    صَقَلَتْهُ قيْنَ المروءة صقلا

    O keen sword I have brandished, a Mashrafi blade,

    polished thoroughly by the smith of chivalry,

  47. مِن جليلٍ أعزَّك الله في العا

    لم قدراً سما فعزَّ وجلاّ

    from an august one—may God exalt you in the

    world in rank—who rose high, grew mighty and majestic.

  48. أيّ نادٍ ولم يكنْ لك فيه

    آيةٌ من جميل ذكرك تتلى

    In what gathering is there not, in your honor,

    a verse of your fair renown recited?

  49. قد حكيت الشّمّ الرَّواسي وقاراً

    وثباتاً في الحادثات ونبلا

    You have matched the lofty, rooted mountains in dignity,

    and steadfastness amid calamities, and nobility.

  50. وبنات الأَفكار لم ترضَ إلاَّ

    كُفؤها من أكارم النَّاس بعلا

    And the daughters of thought have accepted only

    their equal among the noblest of men as a husband.

  51. أيُّها المُنعم المؤمَّل للفضل

    حباك الإِله ما دمت فضلا

    O benefactor, in whom hopes of bounty rest,

    may God grant you favor as long as you live.

  52. أَلْبَسَتْني نعماك من قبل هذا

    جِدَّةً من مفاخر ليس تبلى

    Your bounty has clothed me before now

    in fresh glories that never wear out.

  53. كلّ يومٍ تراك عيناي عيدٌ

    عند مثلي ولا أرى لك مثلا

    Every day my eyes see you is a festival

    for one like me, and I see none like you.

  54. فإذا قلتُ في ثنائك قولاً

    قيلَ لي أنتَ أصدق النَّاس قولا

    Whenever I utter words in your praise,

    I am told, 'You are the most truthful of men in speech.'

  55. فبما نعمةٍ عليَّ وفضلٍ

    أثقَلَتْني أيديك بالشُّكر حملا

    So, through the blessing and bounty bestowed on me,

    your hands have burdened me with a load of gratitude.

  56. لا يزال العيد الَّذي أنتَ فيه

    عائداً بالسُّرور حَوْلاً فَحَوْلا

    May this festival, with you in it, keep

    returning with joy, year after year.