1. يَا سَعْدُ بِاسمِكَ فَألُ مَنْ يَستَنْطِقُ

    حَيَّا دِيارَكَ صَيِّبٌ يَتَدَفَّقُ

    O Sa'd, in your name lies a good omen for whoever bids it speak.

    May a streaming downpour greet your dwellings.

  2. حَدِّثْ عَنِ الرّيمِ المُقِيمِ بِرَامَةٍ

    هَلْ غَرَّبُوا بِخِيامِهِ أمْ شَرَّقُوا

    Tell me of the gazelle dwelling at Rama:

    Did they take his tents westward, or eastward?

  3. عَهْدي بهم نَزَلوا العذيْبَ وَقَصْدُهم

    وَادِي العَقِيقِ وَبَعْدَ ذَاكَ الأبْرَقُ

    When I last knew of them, they camped at al-Udhayb, bound for

    the valley of al-Aqiq, and after that al-Abraq.

  4. تِلكَ المَنَازِلُ لَمْ أهِمْ بِرُسُومِهَا

    إلاَّ لأسْمَعَ قَولَهَا لَو تَنطِقُ

    Those dwellings—I did not lose myself in their traces

    except to hear their words, if they could speak.

  5. وَالدَّارُ يَذكُرُهَا اللِّسَانُ مُعَرِّضاً

    وَالقَلْب بِالسُّكَّانِ مِنْهَا أعْلَقُ

    The tongue mentions the dwelling by allusion,

    while the heart is more attached to its inhabitants.

  6. وَالنَّفْسُ تَخْضَعُ لِلمَلِيحِ وَإنَّمَا

    يَرْمِي بهَا أقْصَى المَرَامِ الرَّونَقُ

    And the soul yields to the beautiful, but it is only

    radiance that casts it to the farthest reach.

  7. وَلِعَارِضٍ أبعَدْتُ عِلمِي جَانِباً

    حَتَّى عَشِقْتُ وَلُمْتُ مَنْ لاَ يَعْشَقُ

    And for a cheek I set my learning aside,

    until I fell in love and blamed whoever does not love.

  8. وَذَهَلْتُ عَنْ قَولِ العَوَاذِلِ مَالَهُ

    خَلَعَ العِذَارَ لِبارِقٍ يَتَألَّقُ

    And I forgot the reproachers' words: 'What ails him?

    He has cast off the bridle for a gleaming flash!'

  9. نَظَرُوا كَمَا نَظَرَ الخَلِيُّ مَخَايلاً

    لَكِنَّهُمْ لَمَّا رَأوْهَا رَنَّقُوا

    They gazed as one free of love gazes at rain clouds,

    but when they saw her, they stared, transfixed.

  10. تَفْتَرُّ عَنْ كَالبَرقِ أبصَرَ ضَوْءَهُ

    مَنْ بَاتَ مِنْ سُخْطٍ لَهُ يَتَشَوَّقُ

    She smiles, revealing a lightning-like gleam, whose light was seen

    by one who spent the night in displeasure, yearning for it.

  11. وَيَلُوحُ تَحْتَ الجِيدِ مِنْ أطوَاقِهَا

    فَجْرٌ إذَا كَذَبَ السَّمَاءُ يَصْدُقُ

    And beneath her neck, from her necklaces, there shines

    a dawn that tells the truth when the sky lies.

  12. وتَمِيسُ كَالغُصْنِ الرَّطِيبِ يَنَالُهُ

    مِنْ جانبِ البَطْحَاءِ سَيْلٌ مُغْدِقُ

    And she sways like a tender bough reached

    by a copious torrent from the side of the pebbled plain.

  13. تِلْكَ التي سَارَتْ وَقَلبِي إثرَهَا

    كَالبَازِ فِي إثرِ الشَّرِيدِ يُحَلِّقُ

    That is the woman who departed, my heart in her wake,

    like a hawk circling in pursuit of fleeing prey.

  14. لَمْ أنْسَ إذْ قَالَتْ وَقَدْ وَدَّعْتُهَا

    بَانَ الخَلِيطُ فَقُلْ بِمَنْ نَتَوَثَّقُ

    I have not forgotten when she said, as I bade her farewell:

    'The companions have departed; tell me, in whom can we trust?'

  15. قُلْنَا عَلِيُّ بنُ الحُسَينِ مَلاذُنَا

    قَالَتْ ظَفِرْتَ إذا وَعَزَّ الأبلَقُ

    We said: 'Ali ibn al-Husayn is our refuge.'

    She said: 'Then you have won, though al-Ablaq is impregnable.'

  16. ذَاكَ الذِي يَنْسَى الغَرِيبُ بِقُرْبِهِ

    أوطَانَهُ وَيجُودُ مِنْهُ المملِقُ

    He is the one in whose presence the stranger forgets

    his homelands, and through whom even the destitute gives freely.

  17. مَلْكٌ لأيَّامِ الشَّبابِ مَحَاسِنٌ

    وَإذا تُعَدُّ فَلَهوَ مِنْهَا الرَّيِّقُ

    A king—the days of youth have their beauties,

    and when they are counted, he is their choicest.

  18. غَلِطَ الزَّمَانُ بِهِ لِغَيرِ أوَانِهِ

    وَلَرُبَّ شَيءٍ دُونَ وَقتٍ يُخْلَقُ

    Time erred, bringing him forth outside his proper season,

    and many a thing is created out of season.

  19. حَمَلَتْ بِهِ الأيَّامُ فِي تَعْنيِسِهَا

    وَاستَرْضَعَتْهُ وَهيَ عُجْفاً شَملَقُ

    The days conceived him in their spinsterhood,

    and had him suckled, though a gaunt old crone.

  20. وَبِهِ استَعَادَتْ مَا مَضَى من عُمرِهَا

    وَشَبَابِهَا وَكَذا العَوَائِدُ تُخرَقُ

    Through him she regained her vanished years

    and her youth; thus are customary ways broken.

  21. إذْ قامَ بِالعِبء الثَّقِيلِ لِثَأرِهِ

    وَالحَزمُ بِالشَّهْمِ السُؤَيَّدِ أوفَقُ

    When he shouldered the heavy burden of his vengeance,

    firm resolve best befitted the valiant young lord.

  22. وَسَعَى لِرَدّ المُلْكِ وَهْوَ مُصَمِّمٌ

    كَالسَّهْمِ من خَلْفِ الرَّمِيةِ يَمْرُقُ

    And he strove to regain sovereignty, resolute,

    like an arrow shooting through and out behind its quarry.

  23. مِنْ بَعْدِ ما قَذَفَتْ به أيدِي النَّوَى

    فِي كُلّ تَرُوعُ ناجعةٍ وَتُغلِقُ

    After the hands of separation had flung him

    into every place that terrifies a roaming band and bars its way.

  24. كَالبَدرِ إذْ حَازَ الكَمَالَ وَسَيْرُهُ

    تَدرِي المَغَارِبُ كَوْنَهُ وَالمَشرِقُ

    Like the full moon when it reaches perfection, as he journeys,

    the western lands and the East know his whereabouts.

  25. نَاهِيكَ مِنْ أسَدِ إذَا حَمِيَ الوَغَى

    وَبِهِ يُلاَذُ إذَا يُرَاعُ الفَيْلَقُ

    What a lion he is when battle blazes,

    and refuge is sought with him when the battalion is alarmed.

  26. تَلْقَاهُ لِلخَطْبِ الجَلِيلِ مُبادِراً

    وَإلَى النِّزَالِ بِكُلّ فَجً يَسْبُقُ

    You find him hastening to meet the great calamity,

    and through every pass he is first to combat.

  27. فَأفَاضَ منْ بَحْرِ الخَمِيسِ مَنَاهِلاً

    غَصَّتْ بهَا طُرُقُ الرُّبَى وَالخَيْفَقُ

    From the army's ocean he poured forth streams to drink from,

    with which the hill roads and the wide plain were choked.

  28. يَنْحَطُ مِنْ بَطنِ الجَزَائِرِ فَيْضُهُ

    وَيَسِيحُ لِلخَضْرَاءِ وَهوَ المُغرِقُ

    Its flood descends from the heart of Algiers,

    and spreads toward al-Khadra, engulfing all.

  29. أمْوَاجُهُ الخَيْلُ العِتاقُ وَإنَّهَا

    يَملاَ الفَضَاءَ صَهِيلُهَا وَالهَندَقُ

    Its waves are noble steeds, and indeed they

    fill the air with their neighing and whinnying.

  30. تُذرِي سَنَابِكُهَا عَلَى أعطَافِهَا

    مِثلَ السَّحِيقِِ يَجِفُّ مِنْهُ المُهْرَقُ

    Their hooves scatter over their flanks

    fine dust like the powder that dries a writing sheet.

  31. وكَأنَّهَا العِقبَانُ تَحْمِلُ فَوقَهَا

    أسْدَ الشَّرَى وَبِكُلّ طَرْفٍ تُمْشَقُ

    And they seem like eagles, carrying above them

    the lions of al-Shara, urged onward at every glance.

  32. لَمْ يُعْيِهَا التأوِيبُ فِي إدلاَجِهَا

    كَلاَّ وَلاَ قَطْعُ الفَيَانِي مُخلِقُ

    Daylong travel did not weary them in their night journeys,

    no, nor does crossing the wastes wear them out.

  33. حَتَّى أنَاخَ عَلَى طَرِيقِ مُغِيرَةٍ

    قُلْنَا حَدِيثُ الفألِ عَنهَا أصدَقُ

    Until he encamped on the road to Mughira,

    we said: 'The omen's tale about it is truest.'

  34. مَا رَدَّ كَفُّ الكَافِ صَدَمَتَهُ وَلاَ

    مَنَعَ الرَّدَى مَتريسُهَا وَالخَندَقُ

    The palm of al-Kaf did not repel his onslaught, nor

    did its breastwork and trench ward off death.

  35. وَدَعَتْهُ تُونِسُ بَعْدَ فَجْرِ خَمِيسِهَا

    وَالهَامُ فِي كُلّ الجِهَاتِ تُفلَّقُ

    And Tunis called him after her Thursday's dawn,

    while skulls were split in every quarter.

  36. فَتَعَانَقَا إذْ ذَاكَ منْ فَرطِ الهَوَى

    وَكَذا المَشُوقُ إذا رآهُ الشَّيِّقُ

    So the two embraced then, from an excess of love,

    as the love-struck does when the yearning lover sees him.

  37. وَكَذَلِكَ الأخطَارُ يُدرِكُهَاالذي

    يَلِجُ المَضِيقَ وَفِي العَزِيمَةِ يَصْدِقُ

    And likewise, great honors are attained by one

    who enters narrow straits and is true in his resolve.

  38. فَخرٌ بِهِ حَازَتْهُ تُونِسُ وَحدَهَا

    لَمْ تَلْقَهُ دَارُ السَّلاَمِ وَجِلِّقُ

    A glory that Tunis alone gained through him,

    which neither Dar al-Salam nor Jilliq has known.

  39. يَا أيُّهَا المَلِكُ الذي نَظَرَ السَّنَا

    فِي وَجْهِهِ الأسنَى فَقَالَ مُوفَّقُ

    O king, whom radiance beheld,

    gazing into his brighter face and saying, 'Favored!'

  40. مَا لِي أحَاوِلُ شَرْبَةً مِنْ عَفوِكُمْ

    فَأُذَادُ وَهوَ عَلَى الوَرَى يَتَدَفَّقُ

    Why do I seek a draught of your pardon,

    only to be driven away, while it pours forth upon humankind?

  41. إنْ كَانَ لِي الذَّنْبُ العَظِيمُ فَحُلْمِكُم

    يَبْلَى بِهِ ذَاكَ العَظِيمُ وَيَمْحُق

    If mine is the grievous sin, then your forbearance

    wears that grievous thing away and wipes it out.

  42. قَالَتْ قتيلةُ للرسُول وربَّمَا

    منّ الفتى وهو المُغيظ المُحنِق

    Qutayla said to the Messenger: 'Sometimes

    a young man grants clemency, though angered and enraged.'

  43. هَذِي حَرَائِرُ خَاطِري وَجَّهْتُهَا

    خَدَماً لعِزِ مَقَامِكُمْ لاَ تُعتَقُ

    These are the freeborn maidens of my mind, whom I have sent

    as servants to the glory of your station, never to be freed.

  44. جَاءَتْكُمُ تَمشِي عَلَى اْستِحيَائِهَا

    وَلَكُمْ بِكُلّ عِبارَةٍ تَتَمَلَّقُ

    They came to you walking with bashful modesty,

    and flatter you in every phrase.

  45. وَمَدَائِحِي كَالدُّرّ مَوضِعُ حُسنِهِ

    عِنْدَ المَلِيحَةِ رَأسُهَا وَالمُخْنَقُ

    And my praises are like pearls, whose beauty finds its place

    on a lovely woman, at her head and throat.

  46. يَبلِى الزَّمَانُ وَخَلْقُهَا مُتَجَدّدٌ

    يَروِي الغَبِيُّ حَدِيثَهَا وَالأشْدَق

    Time wears away, but their form is ever renewed;

    both dullard and eloquent recount their tale.

  47. فانظُرْ لَهَا نَظَرَ الشَّقِيقِ وَأولِهَا

    خُلُقَ الكَرِيمِ فَإنَّ مِثلَكَ يَشْفَقُ

    So regard them with a brother's eye, and grant them

    a generous man's graciousness, for one like you has compassion.

  48. وَاسْلَمْ بِحَالَةِ غِبطَةٍ حَتَّى تَرَى

    وَلَدَ البُتُولِ وَأنْتَ حَيٌّ تُرزَقُ

    And live safely in bliss until you behold

    the Virgin's son, while you are still alive and sustained.