كم رمت سلوانا لذاك الريم

فأَبى غرام لا يزال غريمي

How often I sought to forget that gazelle,

but passion, forever my creditor, refused.

يا عاذلي لا تلحني في حبه

فلقد منحت اللوم غير مليمِ

O you who reproach me, do not blame me for loving him;

you have lavished blame on one who deserves none.

دع للهوى جسما يذوب صبابة

وارفق فإن الخطب جد جسيمِ

Leave to passion a body melting with longing,

and be gentle, for the plight is truly grave.

ومرنح الأعطاف من سكر الصبا

تصبو إليه أناة كل حكيمِ

And one whose limbs sway with youth's intoxication—

the composure of every sage yearns for him.

متعتب يمسي ويصبح ظالما

أَبدا ويهمل دعوة المظلومِ

Reproachful, he is unjust at dusk and dawn,

always, and ignores the wronged one's plea.

أغرى المدامع بانتشار عقيقها

ثغر له كاللؤلؤ المنومِ

The tear ducts were urged to scatter their carnelian

by his mouth, like pearls strung together.

شغل الرقيب فجاد لي بعناقه

طوعا وكان يضن بالتسليمِ

The watcher was distracted, so he granted me his embrace,

willingly, though he had begrudged even a greeting.

فهصرت شمس ضحى وخوط أراكةٍ

وهلال داجية وظبي صريمِ

So I clasped a forenoon sun and a slender arak bough,

and a dark night's crescent, and a gazelle of the dunes.

سقيا لنعمان الآراك فإنه

وطني الذي أهوى ودار نعيمي

May rain water Nuʿman of the arak trees, for it is

my homeland, which I love, and the dwelling of my bliss.

وطن جنيت به الهوى من غصنه

ورعيت روض العيش غير هشيمِ

A homeland where I plucked love from its bough

and grazed life's meadow, still unwithered.

واليوم إن أَك للقريض مطلقا

فلقد طلق الراحتين كريمِ

And today, if I give poetry free rein,

it is for a generous, open-handed man.

وأنا اللئيم إن اتنتجعت مبخلا

أو زرت بالأشعار ربع لئيمِ

And base am I if I seek a miser's bounty

or visit a base man's dwelling with my poems.

حسبي الإله فإنه لي ناصر

وابن الدوامي الكريم الخيمِ

God suffices me, for He is my helper,

and Ibn al-Dawami, noble in character.

خرق يبي لجيش عدمي هازما

أبدا بجود يد أجش هزيمِ

A bold, generous man who keeps routing the army of my poverty,

ever, with his hand's bounty, like a booming, rumbling cloud.

تلقاه كالماء النمير خلائقا

لطفت وكالنار اتقاد عزيمِ

You find him like sweet, pure water in his qualities,

so gentle—and like fire in his blazing resolve.

بحر العلوم العد ينبوع الحجى

والجد طود ركانة وحلومِ

An inexhaustible ocean of learning, a fountain of wisdom

and earnestness, a mountain of steadfastness and forbearance.

نامت عيون عفاته وعداته

في مقعد من خوفه ومقيمِ

His petitioners' eyes sleep, while his enemies

sit and stay rooted in fear of him.

جلت مواهبه اللواتي ما همت

إلا وجلت هم كل عديمِ

Great are his gifts, which never rain down

without dispelling every destitute man's care.

إن زرته في الحرب فابن بسالة

أو زرته في السلم فابن نعيمِ

If you visit him in war, he is a son of valor;

or visit him in peace, a son of bliss.

يا خابطي البيداء في طلب الندى

بالعيس تتبع وخدها برسيمِ

O you who traverse the desert in search of bounty,

on pale camels, following their swift pacing with a trot:

أموا كريم الخيم أم نواله

ولادة للجود غير عقيمِ

head for the noble-natured man: the mother of his bounty

is prolific in generosity, never barren.

وصحيح أسباب المودة لا ترى

فيما ترى ودا له بسقيمِ

And sound are his bonds of affection; you will not see,

in all you see, any ailing affection of his.

لاذمة الأدب بالمضاعة عنده

كلا ولا عهد له بذميمِ

No duty to letters is neglected in his care;

no indeed, nor does any pledge of his deserve blame.

حكم الندى في ماله ولرأيه

في بذل ما يحويه رأى حكيمِ

He makes generosity ruler of his wealth, and his judgment

in giving what he possesses is a sage's judgment.

بأبي سماحك يا أبا الفرج الذي

أضحى يفرج كربة المهمومِ

My father be ransom for your bounty, O Abu al-Faraj, who

now relieves the anguish of the careworn,

وخلالك الغر الحسان فإنها

أضحت نجوما غير ذات رجومِ

and for your radiant, beautiful virtues, for they

have become stars with no missiles to hurl.

يا كعبة الفضل التي لم تزل

في زمزم من جودها وحطيمِ

O Kaaba of excellence, which has always stood

amid a Zamzam of its bounty and a Hatim.

أهببت لي ريح الرجاء تكرما

فجرت رخاء الخطو ذات نسيمِ

In kindness you made the wind of hope blow for me,

so it coursed with easy steps, bearing a gentle breeze.

وحفظت لي حرمات مدح لم تزل

من ماثراتك في أعز حريمِ

And you guarded for me the sacred claims of praise, which have always

been, through your noble deeds, in the securest sanctuary.

فلا لبسنك من برود محامدي

أبهى وأفخر وشيها المرقومِ

So I shall surely clothe you, from the striped mantles of my praise,

in their brightest, finest patterned brocade;

ولا برزنك في فرائد درها

كالبدر حف بزاهرات نجومِ

and surely display you amid its matchless pearls,

like the full moon ringed by radiant stars.

لا زالت الأعياد نحوك عودا

وقدومها بالسعد خير قدومِ

May festivals never cease to return to you,

and may their coming with good fortune be the best of arrivals.