لولا صدود أظهرت لبنى

لم يحك جسمي خصرها المضنى

Were it not for the coldness Lubna showed,

my body would not have resembled her wasted waist.

لبيت فيها الشوق حين دعا

وسألت مغناها فما أغنى

I answered longing's call for her when it called,

and questioned her dwelling, but it availed nothing.

نثرت عليه السحب أدمعها

وتنفست فيه الصبا وهنا

The clouds scattered their tears upon it,

and the east wind breathed there late at night.

فلطال ما عانيت فيه هوى

فأجاب منقادا وما عنّى

For long I pursued love there,

and it answered willingly, without troubling me,

أيام أصحب كل ساحبة

للحسن ذيلا والصبا ردنا

in the days when I accompanied every woman trailing

a train of beauty and a sleeve of youth.

يا ريم سلعٍ هل يعود لنا

عود الوصال برامة لدنا

O gazelle of Salʿ, will there return to us

the supple bough of union at Rama?

وأبيت أجني وردَ سالِفةٍ

ما خلته باللحظ أن يجني

And shall I spend the night gathering roses from a neck—

I had not thought him capable of harm with a glance.

يجلو عليَّ شمول ريقتِهِ

خنث الشمائل رائق المعنى

He presents me with the wine of his saliva,

delicate in manner, exquisite in essence.

يرنو وما في طرفه سِنَةٌ

فتخال أنَّ جفونَهُ وَسنى

He gazes, with no drowsiness in his eye,

yet you would think his eyelids heavy with sleep.

هز الصَّبا أعطافه مرحا

فكأنما هزَّ الصَّبا فصنا

The east wind playfully swayed his frame,

as though the east wind had shaken a bough.

بالحسن يعرف مثل ما عرفت

كفا بهاء الدين بالحسنى

He is known for beauty, just as

Bahaʾ al-Din's two hands are known for kindness.

ثق بالعطاء الجم منه ولا

تك في نداه مرجما ظنا

Trust his abundant giving, and do not

hazard mere guesses about his bounty.

زرناه من ضيقٍ فأَوسعنا

كرما فيا لله إذ عُجنا

We visited him in hardship, and he gave us plenty

out of generosity—O God, when we stopped by,

تثني حقائبنا على مَلك

بالعذل عن جدواه لا يثنى

our saddlebags praised a king

whom no reproach can turn from giving.

متواضع مع نبل سؤددِهِ

لولا وجود نواله ضعنا

Humble despite his noble lordship,

without his bounty we would have been lost.

مسدي العوارف ليس يتبعها

مطلا يكدِّرها ولا منَّا

A bestower of favors, he never follows them

with delays that sour them or reminders of obligation.

اليسر في يسراه مدخر

لعفاته واليُمن في اليمنى

Prosperity lies stored in his left hand

for his petitioners, and good fortune in his right.

أهنا غطاء ما يجود به

والعذر بعد عطائِه أهنا

What he gives is the most welcome covering,

and his apology after giving is more welcome still.

كم صائل أفنى وكم حسن

أسنى وكم من عائلٍ أقنى

How many an assailant he destroyed, how much goodness

he exalted, and how many a pauper he enriched!

الغافر الهفوات مقتدرا

والعاقر البدرات لا البُدنا

Forgiving slips while able to punish,

and slaughtering moneybags, not sacrificial camels.

يعطي فيجزل حين تسأله

ويعود مبتدِئا وما عدنا

He gives lavishly when you ask him,

and gives again unasked, though we have not returned.

يعني بجود سائر مثلا

في الناس ينسي ذكره معنا

He devotes himself to bounty proverbial

among the people, its mention making Maʿn forgotten.

شِمنا بوارقَ بِشرِه فهمي

وحيا البوارقِ دون ما شُمنا

We watched for the lightning of his smile, and he poured forth;

and lightning's rain falls short of what we witnessed.

في كفه قلم يكف به

عنا مخوف الخطب إن عنّا

In his hand is a pen with which he wards

dreaded calamity away from us, should it arise.

قلم أعز من الرماح به

فل الصفاح وحطم اللّدنا

A pen mightier than spears; with it

he blunted blades and shattered supple lances.

حر تصير حرنا يده

بنوالها عبدا له قُنّا

A freeborn man whose hand turns a free man among us,

through its bounty, into his slave by birth.

من معسر نال العفاة بهم

أقصى المنى واستوطنوا الأمنا

Of a clan through whom petitioners attained

their utmost hopes, and made security their home.

شاد الرفيل لهم بناء على

تسمو فزاد شوامخا تُبنى

Al-Rafil built them an edifice of glory,

soaring high; he added still more towering buildings.

جاروا على أموالهم وجروا

في فخرهم صرحاء لا هجنا

They dealt ruthlessly with their wealth, and ran

glory's race as purebreds, not crossbreeds.

أعطوا فلا منا ولا بخلا

وسطوا فلا خورا ولا جبنا

They gave without reminders of favors or stinginess,

and struck without weakness or cowardice.

إيها أبا الفضل الذي فضلت

يده بأدنى سحها المزنا

Give on, Abu al-Fadl, whose hand outstrips

the rain clouds with its slightest outpouring.

يا فارعا قلل العلاء فما

جاراه إلا قارعا سِنَّا

O you who overtop glory's summits, no one

has raced him without gnashing his teeth in regret.

إن حاز مكرمة أخو كرم

فلك اقتفي وبجودك أستنَّا

If a generous man attains some noble deed,

he has followed you and modeled himself on your bounty.

يا ثيّب المعروف دونكها

بِكرا تريك الحسن مفتنّا

O veteran of kindness, take her—

a virgin displaying beauty in many forms,

معقولة بنداكَ شاردةً

سهلُ عليها قطعها الحَزنا

tethered by your bounty, yet far-roaming,

for whom crossing rugged ground is easy.

كالروضة الغناء غب ندى

يطري ويطرب من بها غنى

Like a lush garden after dew:

whoever sings it lavishes praise and brings delight.

لله ما أسنى نداك فعش

أبدا ومن عاداك لا أسنى

By God, how splendid your bounty! Live

forever; may whoever opposes you not survive a year.

وتمل صومك وابق في نعم

عمر الليالي عامر المغني

Enjoy your fast, and remain amid blessings

as long as nights endure, your dwelling flourishing.