إن زار من علوة الخيال

تناقص الوجد والخبال

If the phantom of ʿAlwa visits,

longing and madness diminish.

وإن تناءت عنّا دلالا

فحبّذا ذلك الدلال

And if she keeps away from us out of coyness,

then how lovely that coyness is!

حوراء في طرفها اعتلال

سمراء في قدّها اعتدال

Large, dark-eyed, with languor in her gaze;

dusky-skinned, with symmetry in her stature.

تغزّل المقلتين منها

والجيد يحكؤيها الغزال

In the amorous play of her two eyes,

and in her neck, the gazelle imitates her.

صامتة الحجل ذات وجه

يشرق من ضوئه الحجالُ

Her anklet is silent; she has a face

whose radiance lights the curtained chambers.

لي من سنا ثغرها اهتداء

ومن دجى شعرها ضلالُ

From her mouth's radiance I find guidance,

and in her hair's darkness I lose my way.

دع ما يقول الوشاة فيها

فعثرة الحب ما تقال

Disregard what the slanderers say of her;

for a stumble in love cannot be undone.

يا منزلا فيه ودّعتني

جمل وسارت بها الجمالُ

O dwelling where she took leave of me—

Juml—and the camels bore her away:

لا برد الظل بعد طل

فيك ولا اعتلت الشمالُ

May no dew henceforth cool the shade

within you, nor the north wind grow languid.

ملية بالمطال أقضي

من قبل أن ينقضي المطالُ

She is rich in delays; I shall die

before those delays come to an end.

لي النوى والصدود منها

ومن حسام الدين النوالُ

From her I receive separation and rejection,

and from Husam al-Din, bounty.

عتاد من ماله عتاد

ومال من ماله مآلُ

A resource for those who have no resources,

and wealth for those who have no refuge.

يسأل منه العفاة خرقا

ما ضاع في سمعه سؤالُ

The needy petition him as a lavishly generous man;

no plea is lost upon his ear.

أنال لما نال المعالي

ونال قوم فما أنالوا

He gave when he attained high honors;

others attained them, yet gave nothing.

دواء قصاده لهاه

وداء حساد عضغالُ

His gifts are medicine to those who seek him,

and an incurable disease to his enviers.

يعشق بذل السماح عشقا

ما فيه صدّ ولا ملالُ

He passionately loves dispensing bounty,

with neither reluctance nor weariness.

تمطرنا كفه سجالا

من الغنى بعدها سجالُ

His palm rains bucketfuls upon us

of wealth, with more bucketfuls to follow.

ذو عرض ضائع وعرض

هذا مصون وذا مذالُ

He has wealth freely scattered, and honor:

this is guarded, while that is freely spent.

بشرّني بالسماح منه

بشر له رائق زلالُ

His bounty was heralded to me

by his cheerful face, clear and limpid.

جانب أقواله وأرضا

يحلها المحل والمحالُ

His words, and any land

he inhabits, are shunned by drought and falsehood.

ما صال إلا أبصرت ثبتا

تعنو لآرائه النصالُ

Whenever he charges, you behold a steadfast man;

the blades bow to his judgments.

لخيله كل يوم حرب

من دم أعدائه نعالُ

His horses, on every day of battle,

are shod with his enemies' blood.

يلين مستعطفا ويقسو

ففيه مع عفوه نكالُ

He softens when entreated, yet grows stern;

for in him, pardon coexists with exemplary punishment.

رق له مدحنا فراقت

لنا سجاياه والخلالُ

Our praise of him grew tender; delightful

to us were his traits and virtues.

من معشر لو سموا بفخر

وطاولوا النيرات طالوا

From a people who, if they rose in glory

and vied in height with the luminaries, would surpass them.

هم إذا سوا جلوا بحار

تطمي وإن حولموا جبالُ

They, when [rivaled in generosity], are seas

that overflow; and if rivaled in forbearance, mountains.

أليت بالقاصدين شعثا

مِنَّي وما ضمنت ألالُ

I swear by those who head, disheveled,

toward Mina, and by what Alal encloses:

كأنما في الجبال منها

وقد فلين الفلا جبالُ

as though, among the mountains, some of them,

having combed the deserts, were mountains too.

إنك آل الوحيد منا

يا من سواه في العين آلُ

Indeed, you are family to the lonely one among us,

O you, beside whom all others are mirage to the eye.

والملك والدين لا مراء

أمينه أنت والكمالُ

The realm and religion—there is no doubt—

have you as their guardian, and so does perfection.

لا زال يفدى علاك غمر

يمينه في العلا شمالُ

May your eminence forever have a fool as its ransom—

his right hand in lofty deeds is a left.

ذاك ثماد لمن رآه

وأنت للمرتجى ثمالُ

That man is scant water to whoever sees him,

while you are a refuge to the hopeful.

نداه قول بلا فعال

وأنت يتلو القول الفعالُ

His bounty is words without deeds,

while with you, deeds follow words.

فاسمع بها جزلة المعاني

بديعة سحرها حلالُ

So hear this poem, weighty in meaning,

a marvel whose magic is lawful.

واحدة في القريض عنها

تقصر السبعة الطوالُ

Unique in poetry: beside it,

the seven long odes fall short.

بقيت ما ضاحكت رياض

جفون سحب لها انهمالُ

May you endure as long as gardens exchange smiles with

the eyelids of clouds streaming with rain.