1. أَ أُقحُواناً أَرَتْهُ أم بَرَدَا

    غَيداءُ يهتزُّ عِطْفُها غَيَدا

    Did she show him chrysanthemums or hailstones—

    a graceful maiden whose flank sways with supple grace?

  2. رَنَتْ إليهِ بِطَرْفِ خاذِلَةٍ

    ضَعيفَةِ الطَّرْفِ تُضْعِفُ الجَلَدا

    She gazed at him with the eye of a doe lingering with her fawn,

    languid-eyed, she saps endurance.

  3. لو وجَدَتْ للفِراقِ ما وَجَدا

    لافتقَدَتْ نومَها كما افتَقَدا

    Had she felt at parting what he felt,

    she would have lost her sleep as he lost his.

  4. لا تَلْحُ صبّاً على صَبابَتِه

    وإنْ رأى الغَيَّ في الهوى رَشَدا

    Do not reproach a lover for his longing,

    even if, in love, he takes error for guidance.

  5. فلم تَزَلْ للفِراقِ غائِلَةٌ

    تَلَذُّ في المَوْرِدِ الذي وَرَدا

    For parting has always harbored a hidden bane

    that tastes sweet at the watering-place he entered.

  6. لو كَفَّ يومَ الفِراقِ أمعَنا الصَ

    بْرُ كُفِينا المَلامَ والفَنَدا

    Had patience restrained [our tears?] on the day of parting,

    we would have been spared reproach and accusations of folly.

  7. إلفانِ لم يَألَفا الصُّدودَ ولم

    يَسَتْبدِلا من كَراهما السَّهدَا

    Two lovers, unaccustomed to estrangement, who had not

    exchanged their slumber for sleeplessness.

  8. أذَلَّ عِزُّ النَّوى عَزاءَهُما

    وبيَّنَ البينُ منهما الكَمَدا

    The might of separation humbled their fortitude,

    and parting laid bare the grief within them.

  9. سِرْنا بآمالِنا إلى مَلِكٍ

    يُسَرُّ بالآمِلِ الذي وفَدَا

    We journeyed with our hopes to a king

    who delights in the hopeful seeker who arrives.

  10. مُستَيْقِظُ الرأيِ والعزيمةِ ما اس

    تَيْقَظَ طَرْفُ الزَّمانِ أو رَقَدا

    Ever wakeful in judgment and resolve, whether

    the eye of time wakes or sleeps.

  11. فلاحَ رَوْضُ النَّسيمِ مُبتَسِماً

    وفاضَ بَحْرُ السَّماحِ مُطِّرِدا

    Then the garden of the breeze appeared, smiling,

    and the sea of generosity overflowed without cease.

  12. مَدَّ ابنُ فَهدٍ إلى العُفاةِ يداً

    كفَتْ من الدَّهرِ ساعداً ويَدا

    Ibn Fahd stretched out a hand to the supplicants

    that warded off time's forearm and hand.

  13. فاضَ على آمِليه منه حَياً

    أنفَدَ آمالَهمِ وما نَفَدا

    Rain poured from him upon those who hoped in him;

    it fulfilled all their hopes, yet never ran dry.

  14. والغَيثُ واللَّيثُ والهلالُ إذا

    أقمرَ بأساً ونَجدةً ونَدَى

    And rain, the lion, and the crescent moon when

    it shines full—valor, succor, and bounty—

  15. خلائِقٌ منه غَضَّةٌ تَرَكَتْ

    خَلائِقَ الدَّهرِ غَضَّةً جُدُدا

    are fresh qualities of his that have made

    time's creatures fresh and renewed.

  16. وهِمَّةٌ ما تَطأطأَتْ هِمَمُ ال

    أَقوامِ إلاّ سَمَتْ به صُعُدا

    And an ambition: whenever the ambitions of the

    peoples bowed low, it soared with him on high.

  17. ما بَعُدَتْ للعَلاءِ مَنزِلَةٌ

    إلاَّ أرتْهُ بُعادَها صُعُدا

    No station of glory lay far away

    without showing him its distance as an upward climb.

  18. ناسٍ مِنَ الجُودِ ما يجودُ به

    وذَاكِرٌ منه كُلَّ ما وَجَدا

    Forgetful of the bounty he bestows,

    yet mindful of every kindness he has received.

  19. بذلتُ وجدي من الثناءِ لِمَنْ

    يبذُلُ في المكرماتِ ما وجدا

    I offered all the praise I could to one

    who gives all he has in noble deeds.

  20. أغرُّ يُغريه بالنَّدى خُلُقٌ

    رَدَّ به الجُودَ بعدَما فُقِدا

    Radiant, he is spurred to generosity by a nature

    through which he restored bounty after it had vanished.

  21. يَحُلُّ ما يَعْقِدُ الزَّمانُ ولا

    يَحُلُّ صَرْفُ الزَّمانِ ما عَقَدا

    He unties what time knots, nor

    do time's vicissitudes undo what he has tied.

  22. سَلِمْتَ للمجدِ يا سلامةُ ما

    غرَّدَ حادٍ لرِحْلَةٍ وَحَدا

    May you be preserved for glory, O Salama, as long as

    a camel-driver sings and chants for a journey.

  23. قَضيْتَ حقَّ الصيِّامِ مُجتَهِداً

    فَرُحْتَ بالأجرِ منه مُنفردا

    You diligently fulfilled the duty of fasting,

    so you alone carried away its reward.

  24. وشرَّدَ الهمُّ عن مواطِنِه

    عيدٌ أعادَ السُّرورَ إذ شَردا

    And worry was driven from its haunts

    by a festival that restored joy when it had fled.

  25. فاسعَدْ بِدُنْيا بَدَتْ محاسِنُها

    منكَ فأعطَتْك عيشةً رَغَدا

    So rejoice in a world whose beauties have appeared

    through you, and which has given you a life of ease,

  26. ومِدْحَةٍ ثُقِّفَتْ فلم يَدَعِ التْ

    ثقَيْفُ مَيْلاً بها ولا أَوَدا

    and in a praise-poem polished so that the

    polishing left it neither slant nor crookedness.

  27. أماتَتِ الحاسدين من أسَفٍ

    وغادَرَتْ أَوْجُهَ العِدا رُبُدا

    It slew the envious with anguish

    and left the enemies' faces dusky gray.