1. لأية حالٍ فيْضُ دمعِكَ هتّانُ

    وما هذه نعْمٌ ولا تلك نَعمانُ

    For what reason does your flood of tears stream down?

    This is not Nuʿm, nor is that Naʿman.

  2. أكلُّ مكانٍ للبخيلةِ منزلٌ

    وكلُّ حمولٍ للبخيلةِ إظغانُ

    Is every place a dwelling of the miserly beloved,

    and every laden caravan her departing train?

  3. وإلا فهلْ أسررت رأي متمّمٍ

    فبانَ على آثارِهم عندما بانوا

    If not, did you conceal Mutammim's thought,

    only for it to show in their tracks when they departed?

  4. سقى اللهُ نُعمانَ الأراك مدامعي

    وقلتُ ولو أن المدامعَ طوفانُ

    May God water Nuʿman of the arak trees with my tears;

    I said so, even were those tears a deluge.

  5. ديارٌ بها للسُمْرِ غابٌ وللظِّبا

    جداولُ أنهارٍ وللجردِ غِزْلانُ

    Dwellings where tawny spears are a forest, and sword-blades

    are river-channels, and sleek horses are gazelles.

  6. إذا رتَعَتْ آرامُها قلتُ وجْرةٌ

    وإن ربضَتْ آسادُها قلتُ خُفّانُ

    When its gazelles grazed, I said, “Wajra”;

    and when its lions crouched, I said, “Khuffan.”

  7. نعمتُ بها والعيشُ أخضرُ يانعٌ

    وغصنُ الصِبا لدِنُ المعاطفِ ريّانُ

    I lived in bliss there, while life was green and ripe,

    and youth's branch, supple in its bends, was lush.

  8. فما نهدَتْ عن شرْعةِ الحبِّ ناهدٌ

    ولا أوهنَ الشملَ المجمّعَ وهْنانُ

    No budding-breasted maiden strayed from love's path,

    nor did a languid one weaken our united company.

  9. أما وبدورٍ في غُصونٍ تمايلتْ

    وما هي أقمارٌ ولا تلك أغصانُ

    Ah, by full moons amid branches that swayed—

    yet they are no moons, nor are those branches—

  10. لقد جبتَ عرْضَ البيد وهي فسيحةٌ

    ودُسْتَ عيرنَ الليثِ والليثُ غضبانُ

    indeed, you crossed the breadth of the deserts, vast as they are,

    and trod the lion's lair while the lion raged.

  11. ولا صاحبٌ إلا تنسمُ نفحةٍ

    هزَزْتَ لها عِطْفي كأنيَ نشوانُ

    And no companion but the breathing of a fragrant breeze,

    for which you made my body sway, as though I were drunk.

  12. يميلُ إليها أخدعُ الصبِّ كبكبٌ

    ويَلوي لها عِطفَ المتيّم ثَهْلانُ

    Kabkab bends a yearning lover's neck toward it,

    and Thahlan turns a lovesick lover's flank for it.

  13. فعُجْتُ مع الشوقِ المبرّحِ طوعَه

    ولي كلما لامَ العواذلُ عِصْيانُ

    So I turned aside with tormenting longing, obedient to it,

    and whenever the reproachers blamed me, I rebelled.

  14. فلما رأيتُ الدارَ حيّيْتُ ربْعَها

    وللطَرْفِ إنكارٌ وللقلبِ عِرْفانُ

    When I saw the dwelling, I greeted its grounds,

    my eyes finding it strange, my heart recognizing it.

  15. وقلتُ لها قلبي كأهلكِ قد نأى

    فها أنتِ إطلالٌ وها أنا جُثْمانُ

    I said to it, “My heart, like your people, has gone far away;

    here you are ruins, and here I am a lifeless body.”

  16. فأينَ أفنانُ القدودِ وقد هفَتْ

    فأشْجَتْ لطيرِ الحَلْي فيهنّ ألحانُ

    Where are those branch-like figures that swayed,

    while songs of the jewelry-birds upon them stirred sorrow?

  17. لياليَ تُزْري بالكواكبِ أكؤسٌ

    تداورُ بالشمسِ المنيرةِ نُدْمانُ

    Nights when cups outshone the stars,

    and drinking companions passed the shining sun around.

  18. تصرّمُ ذاك العيشُ إذا تذكُّراً

    شَببْتُ له بين الأضالعِ نيرانُ

    That life has ended; whenever I recall it,

    I kindle fires for it between my ribs.

  19. فإن كنتَ من ماءِ الجزيرةِ راوياً

    فإني الى عَذْبِ العُذَيْبِ لظمآنُ

    If you are quenched by the waters of al-Jazira,

    I am thirsting for al-ʿUdhayb's sweet water.

  20. وقد أقطعُ البيداءَ والبدرُ فارسٌ

    له الليلُ طرفٌ والكواكبُ خُرْصانُ

    Often I cross the desert while the full moon is a horseman,

    whose steed is night and whose spearheads are the stars,

  21. بمنجردٍ في الوعرِ وعلٍ وفي النَقا

    عقابٌ وفي سهْلِ البسيطةِ سرْحانُ

    on a sleek horse: an ibex on rough ground, and on the dunes

    an eagle, and on the level plain a wolf.

  22. سَرى وكأنّ الريحَ ملءُ حِزامِه

    بها وكأنّي في مَطاهُ سُلَيمانُ

    It sped by night, as though wind filled its girth,

    through the desert, and as though I upon its back were Solomon.

  23. وأخضرَ مرهوبِ الغرارِ إذا بكى

    فحاملُهُ طلْق الأسرّة جَذْلانُ

    And a green-hued sword with a fearsome edge: when it weeps,

    its bearer is bright-faced and rejoicing.

  24. وأرقطَ إما نسبةٌ حين يَنتَمي

    فصقرٌ وإما نصْبةٌ فهو بُسْتانُ

    And a speckled bird: in lineage, when it is traced,

    a falcon; in appearance, a garden.

  25. وروضٌ به للنهرِ تجري مجرّة

    وللزَهْرِ غذّتهُ المواطرُ شَهبانُ

    And a meadow where the river flows as a Milky Way,

    and rain-nourished flowers are shooting stars.

  26. وقد أتْلَعَتْ أجيادَها قُلَلَ الرُبى

    فقلّدَها للنورِ دُرٌّ وعَقْيانُ

    The hilltops have stretched their necks high,

    and blossom's pearls and gold have garlanded them.

  27. يعبّرُ عن نشرِ الأثيرِ كأنّما

    تجرُّ على تلك الرُبى منه أردانُ

    It speaks of the favored one's fragrance, as though

    his sleeves were trailing over those hills.

  28. أغرّ له حالا نوالٍ وفَتكةٍ

    ففي السِلْمِ مِطْعامٌ وفي الحربِ مِطْعانُ

    A radiant man of two ways: bounty and fierce assault;

    in peace a lavish host, in war a mighty lancer.

  29. من القومِ ما غيرُ الظُبى لبيوتِهم

    أساسٌ ولا غيرُ الذّوابل أركانُ

    Of a people whose houses have nothing but sword-edges

    for foundations, and nothing but slender spears for pillars.

  30. إذا جرّدوا بيضَ السيوفِ فما لَها

    سوى أرؤسِ الصِيْدِ البَهاليلِ أجفانُ

    When they unsheathe their gleaming swords, those blades have

    no scabbards but the heads of proud, noble chiefs.

  31. ظِماءُ حروبٍ من قلوبِ عداتِهمْ

    لهم قُلُبٌ والسّمهريّةُ أشطانُ

    Thirsting for battles: in their enemies' hearts

    they have wells, and stout spears are the ropes.

  32. رعوا من يواليهم وراعوا عداتهم

    فأقوامهم عزوا وأضدادهم هانوا

    They cared for their allies and terrified their enemies,

    so their peoples rose in honor and their foes were humbled.

  33. تكفّلهُم للمجدِ أفضلُ كافلٍ

    وغذّتْهُمُ من صفوةِ الفضلِ ألبانُ

    The finest guardian fostered them for glory,

    and milk of the purest excellence nourished them.

  34. صفا منهمُ جودٌ عميمٌ ومنظرٌ

    وسيمٌ وعِرْضٌ لا يُشابُ وأذهانُ

    Their bounty is pure and universal, their appearance

    handsome, their honor untainted, and their minds clear.

  35. إذا صمَتوا خفّوا وإن نطَقوا هُدوا

    وإن نزَلوا زانُوا وإن ركبوا صانوا

    If silent, they are unobtrusive; if they speak, they are guided.

    If they alight, they adorn; if they ride, they defend.

  36. أجاروا وما جاروا وأوْلوا وما ألَوْا

    ومنّوا وما منّوا ومانُوا وما مانوا

    They gave shelter without injustice, and bestowed without stint;

    they granted favors without reproach, and provided without falsehood.

  37. وكم سقَتْ الأعداءَ كأساً مريرةً

    صوارمُ تَثْنيهِمْ صريماً ومُرّانُ

    How often their foes were made to drink a bitter cup

    by cutting swords that leave them mown down, and ash-wood spears.

  38. سوامٍ رعَوْا نبتَ الرماحِ فهوّموا

    عجافاً وما كلُّ المَسارِحِ سُعْدانُ

    Herds that grazed on sprouting spears, then dozed,

    gaunt—not every pasture grows suʿdan.

  39. تميمٌ تمامٌ فضلُهُم غيرَ أنّهُ

    أعزّ وما ذلّوا وأوْفى وما خانُوا

    Tamim is the fullness of their virtue, yet he

    is mightier, though they were never lowly, and truer, though they never betrayed.

  40. ولستَ تَرى في مَحْكَمِ الذكرِ سورةً

    تقومُ مقامَ الحمْدِ والكلُّ قُرآنُ

    You find no surah in the definitive Scripture

    that takes al-Hamd's place, though all is Qur'an.

  41. لهُمْ شرفٌ يزدادُ فخْراً بذِكْرِه

    فهُمُ المعالي ناظرٌ وهْو إنسانُ

    They possess honor that grows prouder at his mention;

    they are high glory's eye, and he its pupil.

  42. له قلمٌ كالصِّلِّ لكنْ لُعابُه

    لِباغي النَدى شهدٌ وللقِرْنِ ذيفانُ

    He has a pen like a viper, but its spittle

    is honey for the seeker of bounty, poison for his rival.

  43. إذا جالَ يوماً فالأناملُ سابِحٌ

    ومُنخَرِقُ الطُرْسِ المنمّقُ ميدانُ

    If it courses one day, the fingers are a galloping steed,

    and the expanse of the ornamented page is its course.

  44. فللهِ منه واحدٌ بين قومِه

    وهمْ بين أحياءِ القبائلِ وحْدانُ

    God be praised: he is peerless among his people,

    and they are peerless among the clans of the tribes.

  45. يجودُ ويخْفى جودُه فيُذيعَهُ

    ثناءً وما بالمِسْكِ يعبَقُ كَتْمانُ

    He gives, his giving unseen, until it is proclaimed

    in praise; concealment never clings to musk.

  46. أحبَّ المعالي فاغتدتْ وهْي طوعُه

    ومنْ شِيمِ المحبوبِ مَطْلٌ ولَيّانُ

    He loved high honors, and they became obedient to him,

    though delay and evasion are among the beloved's habits.

  47. وأسعدَ بالندبِ السعيدِ فللعُلى

    تجمُّع شملٍ لا دنا منهُ فُرقانُ

    And what good fortune in the blessed gallant! High honors

    are gathered as one, with no division drawing near.

  48. فللمجتلي شمسٌ وبدرٌ تألّقا

    وللمُجتَدي سيحانُ فاضَ وجَيْحانُ

    For the beholder, a sun and a full moon gleam,

    and for the seeker of bounty, Sayhan and Jayhan overflow.

  49. ومن عجبٍ أن قسّم الفضلَ فيهما

    ولا واحدٌ في قسمة منه نُقْصانُ

    It is wondrous that excellence was apportioned between the two,

    yet neither suffered any loss in the division.

  50. علاهُمُ سَماءٌ والأميرُ محمّدُ

    بها قمرٌ طلْقُ الأسرّةِ ضَحْيانُ

    Their eminence is a sky, and Prince Muhammad

    is its moon, bright-faced and radiant.

  51. طلاقتُهُ دلّتْ على طيبِ أصلِه

    وفي الفجْرِ وضّاحاً على الصُبْحِ عُنوانُ

    His open countenance revealed his noble origin,

    and in bright dawn lies a sign of morning.

  52. ليهنِكُمُ العيدُ السعيدُ وإن غَدا

    بفضلكُمُ يزهو جلالاً ويزدانُ

    May the happy feast bring you joy, though it has come

    through your excellence to exult in grandeur and shine.

  53. إذا كنتم عيداً لنا كلّ مدّةٍ

    فقد باتَ شوّالٌ سواءً وشعبانُ

    If you are a feast for us at every season,

    then Shawwal and Shaʿban have become alike.

  54. أقامتْ على جودي جودِك فاكتفَتْ

    سفينةُ آمالي وللبُخْلِ طوفانُ

    It settled on the Judi of your bounty, content—

    the ship of my hopes—with stinginess a deluge.

  55. لساني غوّاصٌ وفكريَ بحرُه

    وشِعْري درٌّ يُستفادُ ومَرْجانُ

    My tongue is a diver, and my thought its sea;

    my poetry is pearls to be gained, and coral.

  56. إذا اختالَ فيه لابِسوهُ فحِلّةٌ

    تزينُ ومن بعضِ الملابسِ أكفانُ

    When its wearers strut in it, it is a robe

    that adorns, while some garments are shrouds.

  57. تقصّرَ عن نُعماكَ أولادُ جفنةٍ

    ويعصُرُ عن إدراكِ شأوي حسّانُ

    The sons of Jafna fall short of your beneficence,

    and Hassan falls short of attaining my reach.