ومنزل الوحي على نبيه — Abn Rumi

ومُنْزِلِ الوحْيَ على نبيِّهْ

لأُنزلنَّ الشعر من حَبيِّهْ

By the Sender of revelation upon His prophet,

I shall surely send poetry down from its piled-up cloud

على الخُزاعيِّ وخَطَّابِيِّهْ

مدحاً ترى الحِكمة في صَبِيِّهْ

Upon al-Khuza'i and his Khattabi:

Praise in whose youth you see wisdom,

ويونسُ الأسواقِ في عرْبيِّهْ

في حَضرِيِّ الشعر أعرابيِّهْ

And Yunus of the Markets in its Arab strain;

In poetry's urbane and Bedouin strains,

لا وَمِدِ الظلِّ ولا وَبيِّهْ

مكِّيّ بيت المَجْدِ أخشبيِّهْ

Neither sultry in shade nor pestilential;

Meccan in its house of glory, Akhshab-like;

مهاجريِّ النصرِ يثربيِّهْ

فرعيِّ مجدٍ بعدَ مَنصِبيِّهْ

Emigrant-like in victory, Yathribi;

Glory in its branches after its ancestral glory;

سِرْبيِّ مرعى الوحشِ ربْربيِّهْ

بَدْريِّ حُسن الوجه كوكبيِّهْ

Herd-like in the wild beasts' pasture, wild-cattle-herd-like;

Full-moon-like in facial beauty, star-like;

مُجالسيِّ الشخصِ مَوْكبيِّهْ

فرزدقيِّ الطَرْز أغلبيِّهْ

A presence for gatherings and for processions;

Farazdaq-like in style, Aghlab-like;

ما شئتَ عجّاجِيِّهِ رُوْبِيِّهْ

لم يتقاصر عَنْ مُسَيبيِّهْ

Whatever you wish—Ajjaj-like, Ru'ba-like;

It has not fallen short of its Musayyib-like strain,

ولا الزُّهيريِّ ولا كعبيِّهْ

بل الكُلَيبيِّ وتغلبيِّهْ

Nor of the Zuhayr-like, nor of its Ka'b-like strain;

Rather, Kulayb-like and Taghlib-like;

مُوشي بُرْد المدح شَرعَبيِّهْ

سَيفيِّ وقع القِدْحِ نشابيِّهْ

Embroidering praise's cloak in its Shar'abi weave;

Sword-like in the arrow shaft's impact, arrow-like;

كلاهما أذْعنَ مِنْ سَبيِّهْ

بلَمْلَمِيِّ الحكم كَبكبيِّهْ

Both yielded, among its captives,

With judgment like Lamlam and Kabkab;

غَشَمْشَميِّ السَّيلِ مأربيِّهْ

سِلْميِّه أسعد من حربيِّهْ

Fierce in torrent, Ma'rib-like;

Its peaceful aspect more fortunate than its warlike aspect;

مُسترجَحِ العقل مُهَلَّبيِّهْ

مُفَضَّلٍ في العلم صَقْعَبيِّهْ

Weighty in intellect, Muhallab-like;

Distinguished in learning, Saq'ab-like;

مقدم في النحو قُطربيِّهْ

رفْعِيِّهِ خَفضِيِّهِ نَصْبيِّهْ

Foremost in grammar, Qutrub-like,

In its nominatives, genitives, and accusatives.

طريفه غير مُؤدبيِّهْ

تُعليه عن رُتْبةِ مكْتَبيِّهْ

His fresh wit is unlike his tutors',

It raises him above his schoolmasters' rank;

مُقفّعيِّ النثرِ عَتَّابيِّهْ

لا مُجْتَوى القُرب ولا مابيِّهْ

Muqaffa'-like in prose, Attabi-like;

Neither distasteful to approach nor shunned,

لَحِقِّ مولاهُ وأجنبيِّهْ

ما شئتَ من مرأى ومن حَبيِّهْ

For his patron's due and the stranger's alike;

Whatever you wish of appearance and of his piled-up cloud,

تجرُّراً والدهرُ في غَبيِّهْ

جارٍ من اللُّؤمِ على كلْبيِّهْ

Trailing onward, while Time in its folly

Runs, out of baseness, upon its dog-like course,

ومن تعديِّه على ذئبيِّهْ

ليَجتني لي الصَّفْوَ من مَجْنيِّهْ

And, out of its aggression, upon its wolf-like course,

So that he may gather for me the choicest of his harvest.

جِيدَا من الغيث بعقربيِّهْ

May both be watered with its Scorpio rain.