فديتك من ظبي وان لم ترد قربي

ولم تحن من شكو ولم تدن من عتب

May I be your ransom, gazelle, though you do not desire my nearness,

and neither soften at complaint nor draw near at reproach.

تعاملني بالهجر من غير موجب

وتبدهني باللوم في غير ما ذنب

You treat me with estrangement without a cause,

and confront me with blame when I have done no wrong.

وان كنت تجفوني فانك مالك

فما لك لا تنفك عن خصلة العجب

Even if you shun me, you are master;

yet why can you never relinquish your conceit?

ومالي ارى الواشين بي بك احدقوا

وكلهم والله ينطق بالكذب

Why do I see those who slander me gathered around you,

every one of them, by God, speaking lies?

يرومون اني ضائع الاجر في الهوى

واصبح من بعد التصبر في تلب

They would have me lose my reward in love

and, after patient endurance, come to ruin.

فلا والذي اولاك ذا الحسن لم يزل

مثالك في طرفي وحبك في لبى

No! By Him who gave you this beauty, still remain

your image in my eyes and your love within my heart.

لئن ضقت ذرعا بالصدود فكلما

عراني وجد فيك قلت على الرحب

Though rejection sorely tries my patience, whenever

longing for you overtakes me, I say, "Welcome!"

وما كنت ادرى قبل عشقك ان لي

عدوين مخفيين في الماق والخلب

Before loving you, I never knew I had

two enemies hidden in my eye-corner and my heart's sheath.

فهذا متى ثار الجوى حادم اللهب

وذاك متى جار الهوى دائم السكب

This one, whenever love's anguish rises, blazes with flame;

that one, when passion tyrannizes, pours tears without cease.

ومن دون نحب منك يقضى لمغرم

حمام وكم نحب يؤول الى نحب

Before a pledge from you is fulfilled for a lover,

comes death—and how many a pledge ends in death!

ومن عجبي ان ليس يرضيك في الهوى

تطوع قلب دون غزو ولا حرب

What amazes me is that, in love, you are not content

with a heart's willing surrender, without invasion or battle.

ولكنما تبغى مع الحسن شهرة

بان للصغير اليوم عزة من يسبى

Rather, besides beauty, you seek renown:

that one so young now has the might to take captives.

ولو لم يكن مشهور لحظك صارما

لما صرت مشهورا لدى الناس في الحب

Had your unsheathed glance not been a cutting sword,

you would not have won such renown in love among people.

وسائل دمعي قد نهرت ولم يمل

فؤادك نهر منه صب على صب

You have rebuffed my flowing tears; nor has it swayed

your heart—a river of them poured upon a lovesick man.

ولا نار اشواقي الانت حديده

ولا كل ما عانيته فيك من طبي

Nor has the fire of my longings softened its iron.

Nor is all I have endured for you my accustomed way.

ولكنما ربي قضى لك بالتي

تطيب بها نفسي ويصبو لها قلبي

But my Lord has allotted you that

which delights my soul and draws my heart in love.

قضى بيننا بالفرق منذ فتنتني

فجسمي في محل وجسمك في خصب

He decreed disparity between us from the day you bewitched me:

my body is in drought, while yours is in abundance;

وطرفي لا يغفى وطرفك ناعس

وقلبك في امن وقلبي في رعب

my eyes know no sleep, while yours are drowsy;

your heart is safe, while mine is filled with dread.

وان كان دابى ان اجافي من جفا

فاني منقاد لما قد قضى ربي

Though my custom is to shun whoever shuns me,

I submit to what my Lord has decreed.

اذل لذي حسن واعنوا لذي حجا

وامدح من يحويهما مصطفى وهبي

I humble myself before beauty and bow before wisdom,

and praise the man who holds them both: Mustafa Wahbi.

كريم السجايا لن ينال مثاله

فتى ليس في كسب المعالي بذي داب

Noble of character, whose equal will never be attained

by a youth who does not toil in pursuit of greatness.

اضآت لنا اقواله وفعاله

دياجي اوقات تمخضن بالكرب

His words and deeds have illuminated for us

the darkness of times in the throes of anguish.

واسفاره اللاءى طبعن بضبطه

وتصحيحه اسفرن في الشرق والغرب

His volumes, printed with his careful editing

and correction, have shone in East and West.

اقر له الناؤون بالفضل والذي

يدانيه يستفتيه في مشكل الكتب

Those far away acknowledge his merit, and whoever

draws near consults him on difficult passages in books.

مساعيه قد جلت وافعاله زكت

فكانت على اطراء مادحها تربى

His endeavors have grown great, his deeds have flourished,

surpassing the praise their praiser bestows.

فما ورد الوراد منهل ناجر

الذ واحلى من جني لفظه العذب

No water-seekers ever reached a spring in Najir

more delicious or sweeter than the fruit of his sweet speech.

ولا اتسعت للخير فيحاء مثلما

ترى اعين الراجين في صدره الرحب

No spacious land offers goodness so abundantly

as hopeful eyes discover in his spacious breast.

لعمرك ما تدنو المعالي لمولع

بلهو ولا تزكو المساعي لذي لعب

By your life, high honors never draw near to one absorbed

in diversion, nor do endeavors flourish for one given to play,

ولكن لمن يسعى ويدأب عمره

وان يدع للجلى يكن ايما ندب

but only for one who strives and toils all his life,

and, summoned to a great task, proves a man of rare resolve.

الم تر مما سنه مصطفى لنا

مثالا على ان اللذاذة في الصعب

Have you not seen in what Mustafa has established for us

an example showing that delight lies in difficulty?

الم تره قد جد في العلم وانتهى

الى امد منه بعيد عن الصحب

Have you not seen how earnestly he pursued knowledge and attained

a reach in it far beyond his companions?

الم تر ارباب المعارف عولت

عليه ومنهم عارف شرف العرب

Have you not seen how the masters of learning rely

upon him—among them Arif, the Arabs' pride?

تحرى غناء الناس في نظم لجنة

تجدد رسم العلم في سالف الحقب

He sought the people's welfare by organizing a committee

to restore the traces of learning from ages past.

فان يك نظم يستجاد فنظمه

ودعني من نظم على حانة الشرب

If any composition deserves esteem, it is his;

spare me verses about the drinkers' tavern.

وان حق اطراء لمن ينفع الورى

فاطراؤه حق على كل ذي لب

If praise is owed to one who benefits humankind,

then praising him is a duty for every discerning mind.

فلولا مساعيه الحميدة اوشكت

مآثر اهل الفضل ترمس في الترب

But for his praiseworthy efforts, soon

would the achievements of worthy men lie buried in dust.

إذا الخلق طرا باللوم فحبذا

غذاء به الارواح تنمو بلا نحب

If all mankind [is met] with blame—how excellent

a nourishment through which souls grow without death!

بداهته تجلو لنا كل مشكل

وتدبيره يغنى عن السمر والقضب

His ready insight clears every difficulty for us,

and his judgment dispenses with spears and swords.

واقلامه تلك النحيلة كم شفت

سقيم زمان بعد يأس من الطب

Those slender pens of his—how often they have cured

a sufferer of the age, after all hope of healing was lost!

فان ترها ظمأى لنقس فانها

لتروى فتغنى القوم عن لغب الغب

Though you see them thirsting for ink, they

surely quench thirst, sparing people the toil of alternate-day watering.

تفجر منها كل ينبوع حكمة

فتهدى الى ما فيه كسب رضى الرب

From them every wellspring of wisdom has burst forth,

guiding toward what wins the Lord's good pleasure.

فدعني من ابهام قول موارب

وصرح بمدح في علاه فذا حسبي

Spare me the obscurity of evasive speech,

and speak plainly in praise of his loftiness—that suffices me.

لقد كان ابهام الكلام يضلني

ويسلك بي يا رب غوثك في ردب

The obscurity of speech has indeed led me astray

and taken me—Lord, help me!—down a blind alley.

على انني ما زلت مذ صرت كاتبا

احاذر مهما اسطعت غائلة العقب

Yet ever since I became a writer, I have always

guarded, as best I could, against harmful consequences.

وما كان ابغاض الخليل بهين

على ولا اغضب ذي الفضل من كسبي

Hating a friend has never been easy

for me; nor is angering a man of merit my pursuit.

وان تسأل الركبان عني تجدهم

يملون عن عهدي ويملون عن حبي

If you ask the riders about me, you will find them

recounting my faithfulness and recounting my love.

ولكنما يكبو الفتى وهو سابق

وينخدع اللب المحاذر للخب

But a man may stumble while leading the race,

and even the wary mind can be deceived by cunning.

وهذا زمان لا يسامح من هفا

وليس يعافى من تجافى عن الشغب

This is an age that forgives no one who slips,

nor leaves unharmed one who keeps aloof from strife.

امنت سهام المعتدين وانما

ابى الله الا ان اصاب من الغرب

I felt safe from aggressors' arrows, yet

God would have me struck from the west.

فلله مصر معدن الفضل والوفا

ومطلع انوار العلوم بلا حجب

How splendid is Egypt, mine of merit and fidelity,

and dawning-place of knowledge's unveiled lights!

كأن بها النيل المبارك والد

مرب فكل في المحاسن كالترب

The blessed Nile there seems a father,

a nurturer, so all are peers in excellence.

تجمعت الآداب فيها فان تجد

اديبا لبيبا فهو في ارضها ربي

The arts of learning have gathered there; if you find

a cultivated, discerning man, he was reared upon its soil.

سرى في جميع الارض سارى ثنائها

فاعجب من يروى واطرب من ينبى

The night-traveler of its praise has journeyed through all the earth,

amazing those who relate it and delighting those who report it.

بها ما يسر النفس من كل بغية

فمن ادب غض ومن كرم الادب

It holds every object of desire that delights the soul:

fresh learning and the nobility of refined conduct.

واشوق ما فيها مديح عزيزها

فذاك الذي كل امرء نطق يصبى

Most alluring there is praise of its mighty ruler,

for that is what enchants every eloquent person.