هذا حمى الرمل وذاك معهده

فعج بنا نبثه ما نجده

This is the sands’ sanctuary, and that is his familiar haunt.

So turn aside with us; let us confide to it what we feel.

كن مسعدي يا صاحبي فإنما

لا بد للولهان ممن يسعده

Be my comforter, my friend, for

one distraught with love needs someone to console him.

وعلل الصب باخبار الغضا

وإن يكن بين ضلوعي رقده

And soothe the lovesick with news of the ghada grove,

though his slumber lies between my ribs.

عهدي به يخطر في رياضه

مهفهف حلو القوام اغيده

I remember him strolling gracefully through his gardens,

slender, sweet of stature, supple in his bearing.

يرنو بطرف فاتك قتيله

عز على اسد العرين قوده

He gazes with a murderous eye, whose victim

even the lions of the lair find it hard to avenge.

سقيم جفن قد روى عن بابل

سحرا لها روت صحيحاً سنده

Languid of eyelid, he has transmitted from Babylon

her magic, whose chain of transmission she reported as sound.

في ثغره الدري كنز جوهر

عقارب الاصداغ باتت ترصده

In his pearly mouth lies a treasure of gems;

the scorpions of his temple-locks spent the night guarding it.

اشفق من ضم النطاق خصره

لضعفه طورا وطورا احسده

I fear for his waist beneath the girdle’s clasp,

at times, for its frailty; at others I envy the girdle.

يقبل المسواك منه مبسماً

يحمي بعسّال القوام مورده

The tooth-stick kisses his smiling mouth;

he guards its watering-place with the supple spear of his stature.

يا ناعس الاجفان سهدت فتى

كان لنيل العز قدماً سهده

O sleepy-eyelidded one, you have kept a youth awake

whose sleepless vigil once was for attaining glory.

يا جاحدا سفك دمي في خبّه

اقرّ خداك فكيف تجحده

O you who deny spilling my blood in your guile,

your cheeks have confessed; how can you deny it?

لولا الهوى لاقيت مني اغلباً

مستبسلا للذل صعباً مقوده

Were it not for love, you would find in me a mighty lion,

dauntless, and hard for humiliation to lead.

ايدت بالحسن وسلطان الورى

عبد الحميد ربه مؤيده

You are supported by beauty, while the sovereign of mankind,

Abd al-Hamid, is supported by his Lord.

أمضى سيوف الله إذ يجرّده

وانفذ السهام إذ يسدره

God’s keenest sword when He unsheathes him,

and the most piercing arrow when He sends him forth.

من عقد الله له تاج علا

أعظم بتاج ذو الجلال يعقده

He for whom God has fastened a crown of eminence—

how splendid a crown the Lord of Majesty fastens!

قد خضعت له الملوك هيبة

فاقتاد منها كل صعب مقوده

Kings have bowed to him in awe,

so he took the reins of every unruly one among them.

لازال منصوراً على اعدائه

يفتك في هاماتهم مهنده

May he ever remain victorious over his enemies;

his Indian-steel sword wreaks havoc on their heads.

ولى علينا عادلا منتصفاً

لكل مظلوم اتى يستنجده

He appointed over us a just man, securing redress

for every wronged person who came seeking his help:

عبد اللطيف ذلك الشهم الذي

يسترفد التيار من يسترفده

Abd al-Latif, that noble-hearted man,

from whose suppliants even the torrent seeks bounty.

والحاكم العدل الذي برأيه

تمهد الملك وقامت عمده

And the just ruler, through whose judgment

the realm was made secure and its pillars stood firm.

يا مدركاً شأو علا وسؤدد

يفوت سبق الطالبين أمده

O you who attain a height of eminence and lordship,

whose reach outstrips the race of all who seek it.

طوبى لأهل كربلا فانهم

فازوا بجحجاح كريم محتده

Blessed are the people of Karbala, for they

have gained a mighty chief of noble stock.

جلوت إذا جريت ماء نهرهم

همومهم فليشكرن من يرده

When you set their river’s water flowing, you dispelled

their cares; let whoever draws from it give thanks.

وأدركتك رأفة لم يرها

من الأب الشفيق يوماً ولده

And you were seized by compassion never seen

in a loving father by his own child, even once.

وكيف يعصيك الفرات بعدما

اصبح من فيض نداك مدده

And how could the Euphrates disobey you, now that

its supply comes from the overflow of your bounty?

فيا جزاك الله أوفى ما جزى

مجاهداً رضا الأله مقصده

So may God grant you the fullest reward He ever gave

a striver whose aim is the pleasure of God.

ودمت في ارغد عيش دائم

في ظل اكناف النعيم رغده

And may you ever enjoy the richest, enduring life,

its ease within the shaded shelter of bliss.

حيتك غيداء البنان زانها

عقد بنان فكرتي تنضّده

A slender-fingered maiden has greeted you, adorned with

a necklace that the fingers of my thought string.

تقول في اعذب قول رائق

شاكرة منك جميلا تحمده

She says, in speech most sweet and pleasing,

thankful for a kindness of yours that she praises:

اجرى لنا عبد اللطيف منهلا

كجوده ارخت ساغ مورده

Abd al-Latif has made a water-source flow for us,

like his bounty; I marked its date: ‘Sweet is its draught.’