رشقتني من اللحاظ بغمزه

وتثنت كصعدةٍ مهتزّه

She shot me with a wink from her sidelong gaze,

and swayed like a quivering spear.

غادة عقربت على الخدِّ صدغاً

من عيون الأنام يحرس كنزه

A tender maiden curled a scorpion-like temple-lock upon her cheek;

it guards its treasure from the eyes of humankind.

يا لغيداء حسنها يقطع القل

ب وطرفي هو الذي حاز حرزه

Oh, what a graceful maiden! Her beauty cleaves the heart,

and my gaze is what has secured its protective charm.

تتمشى في سفح جلّق وهْناً

فيكاد الشذا يفوح بغزه

She strolls on Jilliq’s lower slope late at night,

so the fragrance almost wafts through Gaza.

أنا في حبها كُثير عشقٍ

وقليلٌ لنعلها خدّ عزّه

In loving her I am a Kuthayyir of passion,

and ʿAzza’s cheek is a paltry offering to her sandal.

ليَ من خدِّها ومن مرشفيها

ولماها نُقلٌ وراحٌ ومنزه

I have, from her cheek and from her two lips,

and from their dusky hue, sweetmeats, wine, and a pleasure-ground.

كيف لي بالخلاص فيها من الح

بّ وقلبي من صدغها تحت رزه

How can I escape from loving her,

when my heart lies beneath her temple-lock’s hasp?

كم لحالي بها خضوعٌ وذلٌّ

وبنعمى موسى اعتلاءٌ وعزّه

How much submission and abasement are mine with her,

and through Musa’s bounty, exaltation and honor!

سيدٌ ما أمدّ شقة عليا

ه على المعتفي وأرفع بزّه

A lord—how vast the span of his eminence

above the bounty-seeker, and how lofty his robes!

ألبسته آباؤه ثوبَ مجدٍ

فغدا بالجلال يرقم طرزَه

His forefathers clothed him in a robe of glory,

so he came to embroider its border with majesty.

صاحبٌ وهو للنضار عدوٌّ

كلّ يومٍ يقضي عليه بوَكزه

A lord, yet an enemy of gold,

every day he puts an end to it with a blow.

في الندى حاتمٌ وفي الرأي عمرٌو

والتقاضي قيسٌ وفي البأس حمزه

Hatim in generosity, and ʿAmr in counsel,

and Qays in settling claims, and Hamza in battle.

كاد يوم الندى يذوب سماحاً

وأكفّ الأنام بالقحط كزه

On the day of giving he nearly melts with generosity,

while people’s hands are clenched by drought.

ففداه كلّ امرئٍ يطلق الشات

م في لحمه ويحفظ خبزه

So may every man be his ransom who unleashes the slanderer

upon his own flesh, yet guards his bread.

يا رئيساً أحيى الثنا بنوالٍ

كفّ عنا إزْلَ الزمانِ وإرْزَه

O chief who revived praise with bounty

that shielded us from the age’s privation and tightfistedness.

لك عزم أجرى السحاب بفضلٍ

قد غدا ساحباً من الحمد خزّه

Yours is a resolve that set the clouds racing with bounty;

it now trails its silken robe of praise.

وثنا أشغل الشفاهَ بذكرا

هُ فما لامرئٍ من الذكر نبزه

And praise that kept all lips busy with remembrance

of it, leaving no man even an epithet of renown.

نابهُ العزّ مفصحٌ لو توخى

في كَراه قُسّ الخطاب لعزّه

Illustrious in glory, eloquent—were he to take on

Quss in oratory, even in his sleep, he would defeat him.

كلما لاح مجده وقريضي

سبح الناظر الخبير ونزّه

Whenever his glory and my verse shine forth,

the discerning beholder glorifies God and declares His perfection.

ربوة الحلم قد أدار عليها

منطقي قهوة المدائح مزّه

Upon the hill of forbearance has been passed around

by my speech the tart wine of praise.