1. غَضبانُ ينساني وأذكرُه

    ويَنامُ عن ليلي وأسهرُه

    An angry one forgets me, while I remember him.

    He sleeps through my night, while I spend it sleepless.

  2. وبِجَوْرِه ما صارَ مُورِقُه

    حظِّي وحظُّ سوايَ مُثمِرُه

    Through his injustice, its leafy branch never became

    my share, while another's share is its fruit.

  3. وكفَى الهَوى لو كان مُكتَفياً

    ما رحتُ أُضْمِرُهُ وأُظْهِرُه

    Love would have enough, if it could be content,

    with what I have kept concealing and revealing.

  4. لم يقتسِم في العاشقين أسىً

    إلاّ وقِسمي منه أوفرُه

    No sorrow is apportioned among lovers

    without my share of it being the greatest.

  5. فأَطيحُ في نَفسٍ أُصعِّدُه

    وأعومُ في دَمْعٍ أُحدِّرُه

    So I am swept away in a sigh I send aloft,

    and swim in tears I let fall.

  6. وسميرِ نجمٍ لا بَراحَ له

    وكأنَّما مَلِكٌ يُسَمِّرُه

    And a companion-star that never moves,

    as though a king were nailing it in place.

  7. ومهفهَفٍ هفَتِ العقولُ به

    شَغَفاً تخيَّرَهُنَّ أحورُه

    And a slender youth, for whom minds fluttered

    with passion: his dark-eyed gaze had singled them out.

  8. إن لم يكن وهبَ الغزالُ له

    لَحَظاتِ مُقلتِه فجُؤذُرُه

    If the gazelle has not bestowed upon him

    the glances of its eye, then its fawn has.

  9. وافَى بخَمرَتِه وناظرِه

    بالفَتْرِ يُسكِرُها وتُسكِرُه

    He arrived with his wine, while his gaze

    intoxicates it with languor, and it intoxicates him.

  10. حمراءَ كالياقوتِ صافيةً

    ومعظِّمُ الياقوتِ أحمرُه

    Red as a ruby, limpid,

    and its red variety gives the ruby its glory.

  11. فهي التي عَصَرَتْ لقَاطِفِها

    عُنقودَها من قبلُ يَعْصِرُه

    For it was she who pressed out, for her gatherer,

    her grape-cluster before he could press it.

  12. في كأسِه كسرى يقابِلُه

    من خَلْفِ سِترِ الرَّاحِ قَيصَرُه

    In his cup is Khosrow; facing him

    from behind the wine's veil is its Caesar.

  13. فكأنَّها نارٌ هُما حِصَبٌ

    لحريقِها العالي يُسَعِّرُه

    It is as though she were fire, and those two were fuel

    for her towering blaze, stoking it.

  14. أصلَى لها هذا تَمَجُّسُه

    وأَحَلَّها هذا تَنصُّرُه

    This one's Magian faith exposed him to her fire,

    and that one's Christian faith made her lawful to him.

  15. في زاهرٍ عَبقٍ تَضوُّعُه

    فكأنّ عطّاراً يُعَطِّرُه

    In a flowering garden, fragrant with spreading scent,

    as though a perfumer were perfuming it.

  16. ضاهَى ممسَّكَه مُعَنبَرُه

    وحكى مُدَرهَمه مُدَنَّرُه

    Its ambergris-scented blooms rivaled its musk-scented ones,

    and its gold-dinar blooms mirrored its silver-dirham ones.

  17. وحكى غديراً غادرَتْه لنا

    خُضْرُ النباتِ يرُفُّ أخضرُه

    And it resembled a pool left for us

    by green plants, its green surface quivering.

  18. صافٍ تمُدُّ الرِّيحُ خُطوتَها

    ويَفيضُ فيه فلا تكدِّرُه

    Clear, as the wind stretches out its stride

    and surges through it without clouding it.

  19. مثلُ الرِّداءِ يُكَفُّ صانِعُه

    يَطويهِ أحياناً ويَنشُرُه

    Like a robe hemmed by its maker,

    who sometimes folds it and unfolds it.

  20. شادَ الأميرُ بناءَ مَكرُمةٍ

    لا يستطيعُ النَّجمُ يَعْشِرُه

    The emir raised an edifice of noble generosity

    whose tenth not even a star can reach.

  21. وَسَمَا به الكرَمُ الذي شَرُفَتْ

    فيه أسِرَّتُه ومِنبَرُه

    And generosity exalted him—that generosity in which

    his thrones and his pulpit gained honor.

  22. وكأنَّ قُدْساً أو مَتالِعَه

    وهبَ الوَقارَ له تَوَقُّرُه

    As though Quds, or his Mataliʿ,

    had lent him dignity through its solemn stillness.

  23. ومَغيمُ يومِ السُّخطِ مُظلِمُه

    ومُضئُ ليلِ البِشْرِ مُقْمِرُه

    He brings clouds and darkness to the day of wrath,

    and light and moonlight to the night of cheer.

  24. وكأنَّه في الغَيْبِ مُطَّلِعٌ

    للأمْرِ يُورِدُهُ ويُصْدِرُه

    As though he had insight into the unseen,

    concerning each affair he brings in and sends out.

  25. وإذا الأنامِلُ أُرْعِشَتْ حذَراً

    فشِفاءُ من عَلِقَتْهُ خِنصَرُه

    And when fingers are made to tremble with fear,

    his little finger heals whomever it clasps.

  26. وإذا تَلَجلَجَ قائلٌ حَصَراً

    وأماتَ حجَّتَه تَحَيُّرُه

    And when a speaker stammers, tongue-tied,

    and his bewilderment kills his argument,

  27. فَتَقَ المَسامِعَ بالصَّوابِ ولم

    تُنْجِدْ بَديهتَه تَفَكُّرُه

    he opens ears with the right answer, and no

    deliberation has aided his ready wit.

  28. من حيث لا معنىً يُعَقِّدُه

    عَيّاً ولا لفظٌ يُكدِّرُه

    For no meaning entangles him

    in speechlessness, nor does any word confound him.

  29. وحديث كل سماحة كذب

    إلا حديث عنه تؤثره

    Every account of generosity is a lie

    except an account of him that you recount.

  30. فمَتى أرادَ الجَحْدَ حاسِدُه

    شَهِدَتْ غَمائمُهُ وأبحرُه

    Whenever his envier seeks to deny it,

    his clouds and his seas bear witness.

  31. وإذا طَمَى في البَرِّ بحرُ وغىً

    لا شَئَ إلا السَّيفَ مَعبَرُه

    And when a sea of battle surges over dry land,

    with no crossing but the sword,

  32. أبصرْتَ عسكرَ نجدةٍ بِحَياً

    منه إذا ما شامَ عَسكَرُه

    you see a host of valor with life-giving rain

    from him, whenever his army looks on.

  33. لا درعه إلا سطاه ولا

    شيء سوى الإقدام مغفره

    His only armor is his might, and

    nothing but daring is his helmet.

  34. حيثُ الظُّبا بالهامِ عاثرَةٌ

    والصُّبحُ مثلُ اللَّيلِ عِثْيَرُه

    Where sword-edges stumble over heads,

    and its dust makes morning like night.

  35. يُرْدي العِدا بالضَّرْبِ أبيضُه

    ويُبيدُهُم بالطَّعْنِ أسمرُه

    His white sword fells his enemies with blows,

    and his brown spear destroys them with thrusts.

  36. سِربُ الحَديثةِ مُنْذُ صِينَ به

    في مأمنٍ ممَّن يُنفِّرُه

    Haditha's herd, since it was protected by him,

    is safe from anyone who would scatter it.

  37. إن زادَ عنها ما يُرَوِّعُها

    فالغابُ يدفعُ عنه قَسْوَرُه

    If he wards off from it whatever frightens it,

    the forest is likewise defended by its lion.

  38. فَلْيَحْيَ في ظَفَرٍ وعاشَ له

    في نَعمَةٍ أبداً مُظفَّرُه

    May he live in victory, and may there live for him,

    in bliss forever, his Muzaffar—

  39. ولَدٌ عَلَتْ بَركاتُ مَولِدِه

    سَعْداً وطهَّرَه مُطَهِّرُه

    a son whose birth's blessings rose high

    in good fortune, and whose purifier made him pure.

  40. ضاهي أباه سماحةً وحِجىً

    وحكاه مَرآه ومَخبَرُه

    He matched his father in generosity and wisdom,

    and his looks and inward character mirrored him.

  41. أَ أَبا شجاعٍ يا عَقيدَ ندىً

    كَرْمَتْ أَرومَتُه وعُنصرُه

    O Abu Shujaʿ, O sworn companion of bounty,

    whose lineage and stock are noble!

  42. اللهُ يعلمُ كيفَ أحمَدُ ما

    أولَيْتَنيه وكيفَ أشكرُه

    God knows how I praise what

    you have bestowed on me, and how I give thanks for it.

  43. ونَداكَ لا تُنسى مَواعِدُه

    كَرَماً فما أحتاجُ أذكُرُه

    Your bounty's promises are never forgotten,

    such is your generosity; I need not mention it.

  44. لكنَّ إحساناً تُقدِّمُه

    أَولى به ممّا تؤخِّرُه

    Yet a kindness you offer promptly

    better befits that bounty than one you defer.

  45. ومَدَاكَ إن جادَ المَداءُ بهِ

    غَمْرَ الثناءِ نداكَ يغمُرُه

    And your stature, if the utmost scope lavished upon it

    a flood of praise—your bounty would engulf it.