وهارب من رضوان

أوقعني في النيران

And one who fled from Ridwan

Cast me into the fires.

والحسن شيء فتَّان

وللشجونِ أفنان

Beauty is a bewitching thing,

And sorrows have branches.

جلَّ صنع الرحمن

خالق قدّ الأغصان

Exalted is the Merciful's handiwork,

Creator of the branches' stature.

يحمل السوسبان

الجيد فيه السوسان

He bears sesban blossoms;

His neck bears lilies,

والصدر فيه الرمَّان

عيناي منه عينان

And his chest bears pomegranates.

My eyes, because of him, are two springs,

والليل عندِي ليلان

يا ويحَ قلبي الهيمان

And my night is two nights.

Ah, woe to my love-crazed heart!

تصيدته الغزلان

بين اللوى فعسفان

The gazelles have hunted it

Between al-Liwa and Usfan.

وكلمته الأجفان

بمثل ما في الأجفان

And the eyelids wounded it

With the like of what lies in scabbards.

واقتاده بأرسان

الشعر حبلٌ فتان

And led it captive with halters—

Hair is a bewitching rope.

والفرق فيه قد بان

مثل الهدى في الطغيان

And the parting in it has appeared

Like guidance amid transgression.

أين طريق السلوان

ألردف عبل ريان

Where is the path to solace?

The rump is plump and lush;

فيه النَّقا والنعمان

والخصر واهٍ ظمآن

It holds a dune and anemones.

And the waist is frail and thirsty;

تغيب فيه العينان

كأنه في الأعكان

Both eyes lose sight of it.

As though, amid the flesh folds, it were

سرّ طواه نسيان

والقدّ لدن نشوان

A secret folded away by oblivion.

And the figure is supple and tipsy,

لين وفيه ليَّان

واعجباً يا غطفان

Soft, with a swaying twist.

How wondrous, O Ghatafan!

حلون مثل المرَّان

مَنْ لفؤادِي الولهان

They are sweet as spear shafts.

Who will aid my lovelorn heart?

أرق جفني وسنان

ينهب نوم السهران

A drowsy one has kept my eyelid sleepless,

Robbing the wakeful one's sleep.

منفرد في الأزمان

كأحمد في الأعيان

Unmatched throughout the ages,

Like Ahmad among the notables,

قاضي القضاة المعوان

على الزمان إذا مان

The ever-helpful Chief Judge,

Against time when it lies.

نعم ملاذ اللهفان

أبلج طهر الأردان

What an excellent refuge for the distressed!

Radiant, his sleeves pure

من دنس الأدران

لا ضرع ولا وان

Of the filth of stains,

Neither weak nor flagging.

أتعبه ذو الشان

في الكرم والإحسان

The man of stature has wearied him

In generosity and kindness.

إن الرئيس تعبان

لراحتيه بحران

The leader is indeed weary;

His two palms hold two seas.

وقال ضدّ سجلان

جم الغمام الهتَّان

And a rival said: 'Two brimming buckets!'

The mass of pouring clouds

من دون ذاك الإمكان

فالطّلّ رشح البحران

Falls short of that capacity.

So dew is the two seas' seepage,

والبرق نار الشنان

يا معملاً بالقيعان

And lightning is the fire of rancor.

O you who drive across the plains

كل أمون مدعان

تقطع خيط الظلمان

Every reliable, swift mount,

Cutting through a file of ostriches,

لذ بحماه القصَّان

وطفْ بتلك الأركان

Seek refuge in his al-Qassan sanctuary,

And circle those pillars.

واسكن فروع ثهلان

وادْع كريماً يقظان

And dwell on Thahlan's heights,

And call upon a generous, vigilant man,

عن الملام كسلان

وللعفاة عجلان

Slow to reproach,

And swift to aid petitioners,

وبالثناء شبعان

وهو إليه جوعان

Sated with praise,

Yet hungry for it.

يغني ويضني الجوان

كفاجر في نيسان

He enriches and wears out the youth,

Like a libertine in April.

ألفاظه وسحبان

وحكمه ولقمان

His utterances and Sahban,

His judgments and Luqman,

ومجده وكيوان

بين النجوم إلفان

And his glory and Kaywan

Are companions among the stars.

لم يختلف في ذا اثنان

وماله في خذلان

No two disagree on this.

And his wealth is left forsaken;

قد قتلَته كفان

أكياسه كالأكفان

Two palms have slain it.

His moneybags are like shrouds.

هذي العطايا الحسان

لا جفنة في عنان

These are the splendid gifts,

Not a bowl up in the clouds.

فاق وفاء القينان

شيوخهم والشبان

He surpassed al-Qaynan in loyalty,

Their elders and their young men.

كالبحر بين الخلجان

والليث بين الذئبان

Like the sea among inlets,

And the lion among wolves.

سيَّان شأو الفرسان

حيث العلوم ميدان

The horsemen are alike in reach

Where the sciences are the arena.

جريُ سواه بهتان

والعدوُ معه عدوان

Others' running is a sham,

And racing alongside him an affront.

ذو قلم في التبيان

بادِي السنا والبرهان

Possessed of a pen for exposition,

Plain in radiance and proof,

يفرُّ عنه الشيطان

معلّم من خَفَّان

From which the devil flees,

Marked, from Khaffan,

بأس هزبر غوثان

وجود غيم ملآن

The might of a lion of Ghawthan,

And the bounty of a brimming cloud,

إذا قسا وإذا لان

وكلّ شيء إدمان

When he is harsh and when he is gentle,

And constancy in everything.

طروسه كالغدران

وخطه كالريحان

His pages are like pools,

And his script like basil,

ولفظه كالمرجان

لفظ عليّ التبيان

And his utterance like coral,

Words of lofty clarity.

ما ظمئته الأذهان

لا إنسها ولا الجان

Minds have never thirsted for it,

Neither human minds nor jinn.

لولا التقى والإيمان

لقيل فيه قرآن

Were it not for piety and faith,

It would be called a Qur'an.

إيهٍ فذاك الإنسان

إنسان كل إنسان

Say on! That is the man,

The true man among all men.

إنَّ الغمام المنَّان

يجودنا في الأحيان

The bounty-giving cloud indeed

Showers us from time to time,

ووجهه كالغضبان

وأنتَ دون إبَّان

Its face like an angry man's.

But you, without a season,

دائم صوب جذلان

ما المنعمان سيَّان

Are ceaseless, joyful rainfall.

The two benefactors are not alike.

كادَ نداك الطوفان

يعطي العطا من لا كان

Your bounty, a flood, almost

Gives gifts to those who never were.

كل الأنام ضيفان

نزَّاعهم والقطَّان

All creatures are guests,

Their wanderers and their residents.

ما لثراك أكنان

رفقاً لشدّ ما هان

Your wealth has no hiding places;

Gently! How sorely it has been humbled!

لكَ الثناء المرنان

بين حداة الركبان

Yours is the ringing praise

Among the caravan's camel-drivers.

يشيب معن شيبان

ويجدع ابن جدعان

It turns Ma'n of Shayban gray,

And cuts off Ibn Jud'an's nose.

لولا عطاك الطنان

به دمشق تزدان

Were it not for your resounding bounty,

With which Damascus is adorned,

كانت كبعض البلدان

لا عَلمٌ ولا بان

It would be like other towns,

Without a landmark or a ben tree,

مع أنَّ فيها سكان

مرعى ولا كالسعدان

Although people live there:

A pasture—but not like sa'dan.

يكتنفاه السعدان

سرّ زكا وإعلان

The two benefic stars encompass him—

A pure secret and a public declaration.

ما لسناه كتمان

صبح أضاء الأكوان

His radiance admits no concealment:

A dawn that has illuminated the worlds.

يثني عليه العصران

من معشر ذوي شان

Day and night praise him,

From a company of men of stature,

شمّ الأنوف غرَّان

مجتمعين وحدان

High-nosed and radiant-faced,

Together and singly.

حلوا محلّ الجان

من الكرام الشجعان

They have settled where the jinn dwell,

Among the generous and brave.

طابوا وطابَ الأصلان

مخاثراً وألبان

They are pure, and both their roots are pure,

Curds and milk alike.

أبناؤهم والولدان

مثل كعوب العيدان

Their sons and the youngsters

Are like the joints of reed shafts.

أقدارهم في أوطان

لها البروج جدران

Their ranks are in abodes

Whose walls are the constellations,

والنيرات جيران

يكاد يأتي العطشان

And whose neighbors are bright stars.

A thirsty man can almost reach

إلى السحاب أشطان

يا شارباً بأثمان

The clouds by well-ropes.

O you who drink, paying prices

من عرفه والعرفان

مدحاً يحلّي الآذان

From his bounty and gratitude,

For praise that adorns the ears,

حيث الزمان خوَّان

ووجهه كالصوَّان

When time is treacherous,

Its face like flint,

يبيع مثليَ مجَّان

والشعر بين الخلان

Selling one like me for nothing.

And poetry among friends

كالشمس بين العميان

تمل مدحاً قد زان

Is like the sun among the blind.

Savor praise that has adorned

روض العلى بأكوان

شقائِقاً وحوذان

The garden of glory with worlds

Of anemones and buttercups.

ما لفصيح ذبيان

شقيقه في النعمان

The eloquent poet of Dhubyan has no

Counterpart to it concerning al-Nu'man.

خدمة بعض الغلمان

نظّم فيك ديوان

The service of one of the young attendants,

Who has composed a collection about you.

في كلِّ حرفٍ حسَّان

وكلّ بيتٍ سلمان

In every letter, a Hassan,

And in every verse, a Salman.

واهنأ بعيد الرضوان

وانْحر ضحاياكَ الآن

And rejoice in the feast of divine favor,

And slaughter your victims now—

أعادِياً وقربان

وابْقَ فكلُّنا فان

Enemies and sacrificial offerings.

And live on, for all of us pass away,

ذا قوّة وسلطان

لا تخش ضدّ معيان

Endowed with strength and dominion.

Do not fear an evil-eyed foe,

يكيد كيد السَّرحان

إنَّ النجوم أعوان

Who schemes with a wolf's cunning.

The stars are indeed your allies;

لك العلى والرجحان

وللأنام النقصان

Yours are loftiness and preponderance,

And mankind's is deficiency,

ما دام فيها ميزان

So long as the Balance remains among them.