قد وجدنا خطا الكلام فساحا

فجعلنا النسيب فيك امتداحا

We found the strides of speech wide open,

So we made our love-song a song of praise for you.

وأفضنا ما في الصدور ففاض

المدح قبل النسيب فيك انفساحا

We poured forth what was in our hearts, and out flowed

Praise of you before the love-song, spreading wide.

وعمدنا الى علاك فصغنا

لصدور القريض منها وشاحا

We turned toward your eminence and fashioned

From it a sash for the breasts of verse.

وصدعنا في أوجه الشعى من

بيض مساعيك بالندى أوضاحا

We emblazoned the faces of verse with

White blazes from your shining deeds of generosity.

غرست في ثرى الصدور عطا

ياك غروسا أثمرن ودا صراحا

Your gifts planted in the soil of hearts

Saplings that bore pure affection.

كم كسير جبرته وفقير

مستميح رددته مستماحا

How many a broken man you mended, and a poor man

Seeking gifts you sent back as one sought for gifts.

وبلاد جوامح رضتها بالعزم

حتى أنسيتهن الجماحا

And rebellious lands you tamed with resolve,

Until you made them forget their unruliness.

وأمان خرس بسطت لها في

القول حتى اعدتهن فصاحا

And mute wishes you gave scope in

Speech, until you restored them to eloquence.

شهرت منك آل سامان عضبا

ينجح السعي غربه انجاحا

The house of Saman drew from you a keen sword,

Whose edge brings endeavor to full success.

أحمدت رتبة الوزارة من أحمد

نارا تجري القنا والصفاحا

The vizierate found worthy of praise in Ahmad

A fire that makes lances and sword-blades flow.

فلو ان الممالك استنطقت

فيه لقامت بذكره مداحا

Were the kingdoms asked to speak

Of him, they would rise to extol his name.

مغرم بالثناء مغرى بكسب

الحمد يهتز للسماح ارتياحا

Enamored of praise, intent on earning

Commendation, he thrills with delight at generosity.

لا يذوق الاغفاء الا رجاء

أن يرى طيف مستميح رواحا

He tastes sleep only in the hope

Of seeing a gift-seeker's phantom visit at evening.

يا أبا نصر الذي نصر المل

ك فأنسى المنصور والسفاحا

O Abu Nasr, who gave the kingdom aid,

And made al-Mansur and al-Saffah forgotten.

ضاقت الارض عنك فارتدت ربعا

يسع البحر والحيا والسماحا

The earth grew too narrow for you, so you sought an abode

That could hold the sea, the rain, and generosity.

وإذا ضاقت المصانع بالسيل

أبى أن يحل الا البطاحا

And when reservoirs are too narrow for the flood,

It refuses to settle anywhere but the broad valley floors.

فهنيئاً منها بدار حوت منك

جبالا من الحلوم رجاحا

So joy be yours in a house there that holds, in you,

Weighty mountains of forbearance.

كونها توأم الوزارة مما

زاد برهان سعدها ايضاحا

Its being twin to the vizierate is one thing

That makes the proof of its good fortune clearer.

ذات صدر كرحب صدرك قد

زاد على ظن آمليك انفساحا

Its breast, as broad as yours, has

Grown broader than those who hope in you imagined.

يغرس الصير في ذراها من التق

بيل غرسا فيجتنيه نجاحا

[Unclear subject] plants kisses upon its heights,

Planting them, then reaping success.

بغناء نطيل فيه خطا اللحظ

ونلقى للفكر فيه انسراحا

In a courtyard [reading uncertain], we lengthen the strides of our gaze,

And find there freedom for thought.

بهوها يملأ العيون بهاء

صحنها يملأ الصدور انشراحا

Its hall fills the eyes with splendor;

Its courtyard fills the hearts with delight.

شيدها فضة وقرمدها تبر

قد امتيح من نداك امتياحا

Its plaster is silver, its roof-tiles raw gold,

Drawn forth indeed from your bounty.

وثراها من عنبر شيب بالمسك

فان هبت الصبا فيه فاحا

Its soil is ambergris mingled with musk;

If the east wind blows through it, its fragrance spreads.

مقنعات فيها الاساطين من فوق

صخور قد انبطحن انبطاحا

There the columns are veiled, above

Stones lying flat and prone.

كل ناد منها قد اتشح الفرش

بثوب الربيع فيه اتشاحا

In each of its halls, the carpets are arrayed

There in the robe of spring.

وأرى بين كل نحيين كالرو

الى أن غدت به ضحضاحا

And between every two skin-vessels [text uncertain] I see, like a garden—

Until, through it, they became a shallow pool.

وسقى ماؤه حدائق غربيه

ض خليجا من البساط مساحا

And its water watered gardens on its two banks,

—A broad channel of carpet.

صبغة من دم القلوب فمن

أبصره اهتز صبوة وارتياحا

A dye made from hearts' blood; whoever

Sees it thrills with longing and delight.

ما بكاء الرياض بالطل الا

خجلا من رياضها وافتضاحا

The gardens weep with dew only

In shame before its gardens, and disgrace.

شابه النقش فرشها مثل ما

شابه ولدانها دماها الصباحا

The decoration resembled its carpets, just as

Its young attendants resembled its lovely statues.

وكأن الابواب صحب تلاقين

انغلاقا ثم افترقن انفتاحا

And the doors seem companions that meet

In closing, then part in opening.

وكأن الستور قد نشر الطاووس

منها في كل باب جناحا

And the curtains seem as though a peacock had spread

From them a wing at every doorway.

وكأن الجامات فيها شموس

أطلعتها ذرى القباب صباحا

And its glass panes seem suns

Raised at dawn by the summits of the domes.

والسواري مثل السواعد كبت

تحتها من أساسها أقداحا

The columns are like forearms that have overturned

Beneath them the goblets of their foundations.

وبيوت كأنهن قلاع

مزمعات للنيرات نطاحا

And chambers that seem fortresses,

Resolved to butt against the heavenly lights.

ورواق كأنما بسطت فيه

دعاء أيدي الاساطين راحا

And a portico where it seems there are outstretched

In prayer the palms of the columns' hands.

وجنان لو كنت في جنة الفردوس

لم أبغ غيرهن اقتراحا

And gardens—were I in the Garden of Paradise,

I would ask for none but these.

وإذا دارت الكؤوس بها

أبصرت خلد النعيم ثم مباحا

And when the cups make their rounds there,

You see eternal bliss there, freely available.

من يدي كل ساحر الطرف يجني

الورد من وجنتيه والتفاحا

From the hands of each enchanter of the gaze—one plucks

Roses and apples from his cheeks.

وأذا الزير جاوب الناي صوتا

جاوب البلبل الهزار صياحا

And when the treble string answers the flute in song,

The bulbul answers the nightingale with calls.

في مقام تمحو الهموم به

النشوة عنا وتثبت الافراحا

In a place where our cares are wiped away

By intoxication, which makes our joys endure.

تطلع الشمس أنجما كلما هزت

شموس الطسوس منها رماحا

The sun brings forth stars whenever

The suns of the basins brandish lances drawn from it.

وضياء السقاة والخمر والكا

سات فيه قد عطل المصباحا

The radiance of cupbearers, wine, and cups

Has made the lamp there needless.

وإذا ما المجامر اضطرمت بالجمر

أحيت رياحها الارواحا

And whenever the censers blaze with embers,

Their breezes bring the spirits back to life.

فمتى أطعمت أزجة عطر

أشرعت من دخانها أرماحا

And whenever they are fed spear-butts of perfume,

They extend lances formed from their smoke.

فهنيئاً منها بجنة عدن

ضمنت منك سيدا جحجاحا

So may you rejoice in a Garden of Eden there,

Which holds in you a magnanimous lord.

فاقطع الدهر في ميادينها

الفيح اغتباقا على الحيا واصطباحا

So spend your lifetime in its open grounds,

Broad and spacious, with evening and morning draughts amid the rain.

واملأ الفكر من موشحة

فيك ولا تولها قلى واطراحا

And fill your mind with an embellished poem

About you; do not treat it with aversion and rejection.

فلو اني استوقفت عينا بما

قلت لما اسطاع عن براحي براحا

For if I held someone's gaze with what

I have said, he could not depart from my open ground.