1. إذا لم تَقْدِرا أَنْ تُسعداني

    على شَجَني فَسِيرا واتْرُكاني

    If you two cannot comfort me

    in my sorrow, then go on and leave me.

  2. دَعاني من مَلامِكُما سَفاهاً

    فداعي الشَّوقِ دُونكُما دَعاني

    Spare me your foolish reproaches, you two,

    for longing's summoner has called me apart from you.

  3. وأينَ منَ الملامِ لقَى هُمومٍ

    يَبيتُ ونِضْوُه مُلْقَى الجِران

    What place has reproach for one cast down by cares,

    who spends the night with his exhausted mount lying neck to earth?

  4. يَشيمُ البرقَ وهْو ضجيعُ عَضْبٍ

    ففي الجَفْنَينِ منه يَمانيان

    He watches the lightning, lying beside a keen sword;

    his eye and his scabbard hold two Yemenis.

  5. وقفْتُ ولم تَقِفْ منّي دُموعٌ

    لأجفاني تُعاتِبُ مَنْ جَفاني

    I stopped, but my tears did not stop,

    my eyelids' tears reproaching the one who shunned me.

  6. ولا أَنسَى وإنْ نُسِيَتْ عُهودي

    غداةَ حدا الرِّكابَ الحادِيان

    I do not forget, though my pledges are forgotten,

    the morning the two camel-drivers drove the mounts away.

  7. فماج إلى الوَداعِ كثيبُ رَمْلٍ

    ومال إلى العناقِ قضيبُ بان

    A dune of sand swayed toward farewell,

    and a bān branch bent toward an embrace.

  8. وحاول منه تَذكرةً مشوقٌ

    فأعطى خدَّهُ عِقْدَيْ جُمان

    A yearning lover sought a keepsake from him,

    and gave his cheek two strings of pearls.

  9. ودرَّعَ قلْبَهُ بالصّبْرِ حتّى

    رماني بالصَّبابةِ واتَّقاني

    He armored his heart with patience, until

    he struck me with longing and shielded himself from me.

  10. أميلُ عن السُّلُوِّ وفيه بُرْؤٌ

    وأعلَقَ بالغرامِ وقد بَراني

    I turn away from solace, though healing lies in it,

    and cling to passion, though it has worn me thin.

  11. وتَعجبُ من حنيني في التّنائي

    وأعجبُ من صُدودِكَ في التَّداني

    You marvel at my yearning when we are far apart,

    and I marvel at your aversion when we are close.

  12. ألا للهِ ما صنعَتْ بعَقْلي

    عَقائلُ ذلك الحَيِّ اليَماني

    Ah, by God, what they have done to my mind—

    the noble women of that Yemeni tribe!

  13. نَواعمُ ينْتَقِبْنَ على شَقيقٍ

    يَرِفُّ ويبْتَسِمْنَ عنِ اقْحُوان

    Delicate women veil anemones

    that quiver, and smile to reveal daisies.

  14. دنَوْنَ عشيّةَ التّوديعِ منّي

    ولي عينانِ بالدّمِ تَجْريان

    They drew near me on the evening of farewell,

    while both my eyes flowed with blood.

  15. فلم يَمْسحْنَ إكراماً جُفوني

    ولكنْ رُمْنَ تَخْضيبَ البنان

    They did not wipe my eyelids out of kindness,

    but sought to stain their fingertips.

  16. وكم إلْفٍ حَواني البُعْدُ عنه

    وأضلاعي على كمَدٍ حَوان

    How many a beloved distance has enclosed me away from,

    while my ribs enclose a smoldering grief!

  17. أذُمُّ إليه أيّامُ التّنائي

    وإن لم أحظَ أيّامَ التّداني

    I complain to him of the days of separation,

    though I enjoyed no favor in the days of closeness.

  18. وأجعَلُ لو قَدَرْتُ على جُفوني

    طريقَ الطّارقينَ إلى جِفاني

    If I could, I would lay upon my eyelids

    the night-visitors' path to my serving bowls.

  19. وليلٍ خِلْتُ لَمْعَ الشُّهْبِ فيه

    شَرارَ غضاً تَطايرَ في دُخان

    And many a night when I thought the flash of meteors

    was ghada-wood sparks flying through smoke,

  20. طَرقْتُ الحيَّ فيه على سَبوحٍ

    يلوحُ أمامَ غُرَّتِه سِناني

    I visited the tribe that night on a swift steed,

    my spearhead gleaming before its forehead blaze.

  21. كأنّ بَريقَ ذا وبياضَ هذي

    إذا اقْترنا بلَيْلٍ كَوكبان

    As though this one's glitter and that one's whiteness,

    when paired at night, were two stars.

  22. ودهْرٍ ضاعَ فيه مَضاءُ حَدّي

    ضياعَ السَّيفِ في كفِّ الجَبان

    And many an age in which my edge's keenness was wasted,

    as a sword is wasted in a coward's hand,

  23. أُكابدُ فيه كُلَّ وضيعِ قومٍ

    إذا بهرَتْهُ رِفْعتيَ ازْدَراني

    I struggle in it with every base fellow of a people,

    who scorns me when my eminence dazzles him.

  24. يُطَيْلِسُ منه رأْساً فيه أوفَى

    وأكثرُ من خُيوطِ الطَّيْلَسان

    He mantles a head with more vermin within it,

    more numerous than the threads of the mantle.

  25. وفي الكُمِّ العريضِ له يمينٌ

    حقيقٌ أنْ تُقطَّعَ باليَماني

    In his broad sleeve he has a right hand

    that deserves to be cut off with a Yemeni blade.

  26. أقولُ إذا همُ حَسدوا مكان

    تعالَيْ فانْظُري بمَن ابتلاني

    I say, when they envy my standing,

    'Come, and see with whom he has afflicted me!'

  27. ولو عَزّوا أهنْتُهمُ انْتِقاماً

    ولكنْ لا إهانةَ للمُهان

    If they had honor, I would humiliate them in revenge,

    but there is no humiliating the already humiliated.

  28. زمانُكَ ليس فيه سِواكَ عَيْبٌ

    وعيبٌ ليس فيَّ سِوى زَماني

    Your age has no fault but you,

    and I have no fault but my age.

  29. وركْبٍ آنسوا أمَداً فحَثّوا

    إليه العِيسَ تَمرَحُ في المَثاني

    And many a caravan sighted a goal and urged

    the pale camels toward it, frisking in their doubled reins,

  30. بآمالٍ كما قَطَعوا طِوالٍ

    إليه ومثْلما عَقَدوا مِتان

    with hopes as long as the paths they traversed

    toward it, and as strong as the cords they knotted.

  31. ضَمِنْتُ لها وَشيكَ النُّجْحِ لكنْ

    على كفَّيْكَ تَحقيقُ الضَّمان

    I guaranteed them swift success, but

    the fulfillment of that guarantee rests in your two hands.

  32. بيُمْنِ الصَّاحبِ المأمولِ أَضحَتْ

    دِيارُ المُلْكِ آهلةَ المَغاني

    Through the good fortune of the hoped-for Sahib,

    the realm's lands have become full of inhabited homes.

  33. وعادَتْ بَهجةُ الدُّنيا إليها

    وكانَتْ مِن أكاذيبِ الأماني

    The world's splendor has returned to them,

    though it had been among the lies of wishful hopes.

  34. وعمَّ الأرضَ إحساناً وعَدْلاً

    طُلوعُ أغرَّ مَنْصورٍ مُعان

    The earth was filled with beneficence and justice

    by the rising of a radiant one, victorious and aided.

  35. وباهَى طَلْعةَ السَّعْدَيْنِ منه

    بسَعْدٍ ما لَهُ في النّاسِ ثان

    He rivaled the rising of the two auspicious stars

    with a fortune that has no equal among men.

  36. ولم يَكُ لو تأدَّبتِ اللّيالي

    ليُوسَمَ باسْمِ مَوْلىً خادمان

    Never, had the nights learned their manners, would

    two servants be branded with their master's name.

  37. له يومان يومٌ للعَطايا

    يُفَرِّقُها ويومٌ للطّعان

    He has two days: a day for gifts,

    when he distributes them, and a day for spear-fighting.

  38. فَداهُ مَنْ سعَى يَبْغي مَداهُ

    كما قُرِنَ الهَجينُ إلى الهِجان

    Let anyone striving to reach his stature be his ransom,

    like a crossbred horse paired with a purebred.

  39. وقال النَّجْمُ لا تَطمَحْ إلى مَنْ

    أراهُ في العُلُوِّ كما تَراني

    The star said, 'Do not aspire to one

    whom I see in the heights as you see me.'

  40. تُباريه وبينكما قياساً

    تَفاوُتُ ما تَعُدُّ الخِنْصِران

    You compete with him, though between you, in comparison,

    lies the disparity of what the two little fingers count.

  41. بَسطْتَ قِوامَ دينِ اللهِ كَفّاً

    تَمُنُّ على العُفاةِ بلا امْتنان

    You, mainstay of God's religion, have extended a hand

    that bestows on petitioners without vaunting its favors.

  42. وتأتي أسطُرُ التَّوقيعِ منها

    وقد أُوتينَ من سِحْر البَيان

    From it come the lines of your signed decrees,

    endowed with the enchantment of eloquence,

  43. بأحسنَ من خُطوطٍ للغَوالي

    لوائحَ في خُدودٍ للغواني

    more beautiful than streaks of rich perfumes

    gleaming on the cheeks of lovely women.

  44. إذا افتخرَتْ مُلوكُ الأرضِ قِدْماً

    بآثارٍ تُخَلِّفُها حِسان

    If the kings of the earth have long boasted

    of the fine monuments they leave behind,

  45. قَلعْتَ القلعةَ العَلْياءَ بأساً

    أحلَّ قطينَها دارَ الهَوان

    you uprooted the lofty fortress with a might

    that consigned its inhabitants to the abode of humiliation.

  46. وكانتْ للطّعامِ قُعودَ عِيٍّ

    وقد مَلكوا لها طَرَفَ العِنان

    It had been an exhausted riding-camel for the eaters,

    though they held the end of its rein.

  47. فلم يَترجَّلوا عنها إلى أنْ

    تَلاقَتْ حولَها حَلَقُ البِطان

    They did not dismount from it until

    the rings of the girth came together around it.

  48. فَتحْتَ الحِصْنَ ثُمّ جعَلْتَ منه

    بثأْرِ الحِصْنِ تَخْريبَ المباني

    You captured the stronghold, then made of it

    a ruin of buildings, in vengeance against the stronghold.

  49. فظلَّ تَدُقُّ أيْدي الخيلِ منها

    مَراقيَ أعيَتِ الحَدَقَ الرَّواني

    The horses' forelegs kept pounding upon it—

    the stairways that had baffled gazing eyes.

  50. مَلكْتَ قِيادَ طاعتِهمْ برَأيٍ

    مَزَجْتَ له الخُشونةَ باللُّيان

    You won the reins of their obedience with a judgment

    in which you blended severity with gentleness.

  51. وشابَه فتْحَ مكّةَ حينَ أعطَى

    رسولُ اللهِ مَطْلوبَ الأمان

    It resembled the conquest of Mecca, when

    God's Messenger granted the safety sought.

  52. فما دَرَجَ الزّمانُ بها قليلاً

    وللكُفّارِ تُطْرِقُ مُقْلَتان

    Scarcely had a little time passed there

    while the unbelievers' eyes remained downcast.

  53. نعَمْ فَتحوا ولكنْ من رُقادٍ

    عُيونَهمُ إلى شَرِّ امْتِحان

    Yes, they opened—but from sleep—

    their eyes to the worst of trials.

  54. شكَوا جَدْباً فأعشَبَ بالأفاعي

    لهمُ مُلْسُ الثَّنايا والرِّعان

    They complained of drought, and serpents sprang up like grass

    for them on the smooth mountain passes and peaks.

  55. وطاعنَهمْ لكَ الإقبالُ منها

    بأقْتلَ من شبَا الصُّمِّ اللِّدان

    Good fortune thrust at them on your behalf from those slopes

    with something deadlier than the points of stout, supple spears:

  56. بحيّاتِ الصِّمام الصُّمِّ لمّا

    رَقَوا بالسَّلْمِ حيَّاتِ الطِّعان

    the serpents of hard, solid rocks, when

    they had charmed the serpents of spear-fighting with peace.

  57. كأنّ الطّودَ غَيْظاً حينَ ألقَى

    بإفكِهمُ الجَهولَ أخا افْتِتان

    As though the mountain, in anger, when it cast down

    the ignorant one, a brother of sedition, for their falsehood,

  58. رَماهمْ منه كلَّ مكانِ كَفٍّ

    لتَلْتقِفَ الطّغاةَ بأُفْعُوان

    hurled at them from every hand-sized patch of itself,

    to swallow the tyrants with a great serpent.

  59. تثَعْبَنَ كلُّ صَعْبٍ منه لمّا

    تفَرْعَن كلُّ عِلْج ذي امْتِهان

    Every rugged part of it turned into a serpent when

    every abased barbarian played the Pharaoh.

  60. وزارَكَ في زمانِ الفَتْحِ عيدٌ

    كما ابتدَر المدَى فَرَسا رِهان

    A feast day visited you at the time of victory,

    like two racehorses rushing for the finish.

  61. فهذا للمدائحِ يَجْتليها

    مُدَبَّجةً وهذا للأغاني

    This one enjoys the panegyrics,

    richly adorned, and that one the songs.

  62. فلا زالتْ لكَ الأيّامُ طُرّاً

    مُتوَّجةَ المطالعِ بالتَّهاني

    May all your days forever remain

    their dawns crowned with congratulations!

  63. أعِرْ نظَراً هلالَ العيدِ يَبْدو

    على أُفُقِ السَّماءِ كسَطْرِ حان

    Lend a glance to the feast-day crescent appearing

    on the sky's horizon like a curved written stroke.

  64. كأنّك إذ شدَدْتَ مهادَ عِزٍّ

    لسُلْطانِ الوَرى فوقَ العِيان

    As though, when you secured a bed of glory

    for mankind's sultan, beyond what eyes can see,

  65. وسَمْتَ بنُونِ سُلْطانٍ مَجيداً

    أديمَ سمائهِ وَسْمَ الحِصان

    you gloriously branded with the nūn of 'sultan'

    the face of his sky, as a horse is branded.

  66. ألا يا أشرفَ الوزراء طُرّاً

    إذا عُدُّ الأقاصي والأداني

    O noblest of all viziers,

    when the far and near are counted!

  67. خُلِقتَ مؤيَّداً بعُلُوِّ شَأنٍ

    يُذِلُّ منَ الورى لك كُلُّ شان

    You were created upheld by a lofty standing

    that humbles every detractor among mankind before you.

  68. إذا شُنَّتْ سُطاكَ على عَدُوٍّ

    فلا يَنْجو بقَعْقَمةٍ الشِّنان

    When your onslaughts are unleashed upon an enemy,

    he cannot escape by rattling worn waterskins,

  69. ولا بِنزالِ أرْعَنَ ذي جيادٍ

    ولا بنُزولِ أجْيدَ ذي رِعان

    nor by battling a towering host of steeds,

    nor by lodging on a long-necked mountain with peaks.

  70. رمَيتَ بها بني الإلْحادِ حتّى

    تركتهمُ بمدرجةِ التّفاني

    You hurled them at the sons of heresy, until

    you left them on the path of mutual destruction.

  71. رجَوا حكْمَ الِقران ورُحْتَ فيهمْ

    بسَيْفِكَ مُمْضياً حُكْمَ القُران

    They hoped for the conjunction's decree, while you went among them

    with your sword, enforcing the Qur'an's decree.

  72. ليَهْنِكَ مَوْقفٌ أظهرتَ فيه

    لدينِ اللهِ إعزازَ المكان

    May you rejoice in a stand in which you displayed

    the exalted standing of God's religion,

  73. وعَقْدُكَ مجلسَ النَّظَرِ افْتِخاراً

    ومالكَ يومَ مكرُمةٍ مُدان

    and in your proudly convening a council of debate,

    with none to rival you on a day of noble deeds,

  74. ومُجتمَعُ الأئمّةِ في نَدىٍّ

    وقَد وافَوْكَ من قاصٍ ودان

    and in the gathering of the imams in an assembly,

    when they had come to you from far and near.

  75. كأنّهمُ النُّجومُ وأنتَ بدْرٌ

    إذا نظَرتْ إليكمْ مُقْلَتان

    They seem like stars, and you a full moon,

    when a pair of eyes looks upon you.

  76. إذا غمَضَتْ مَسائلُهمْ تَهدَّى

    بضوء جَبينِكَ المُتناظِران

    When their questions grow obscure, guidance comes

    by the light of your brow to the two disputants.

  77. تَرى الخَصْمَيْنِ يَسْتَبِقانِ فيها

    كما طلَب المدَى فَرسا رِهان

    You see the two opponents racing over them,

    as two racehorses strive for the finish.

  78. وليس منَ العجيبِ وأنتَ بحْرٌ

    إذا غاصوا على دُرَرِ المَعاني

    It is no wonder, since you are a sea,

    that they dive for the pearls of meanings.

  79. لهمْ في كُلِّ مسألةٍ خِلافٌ

    يَقومُ بحُجَّتَيْهِ الجانبان

    They differ on every question,

    the two sides upholding their two arguments.

  80. فأمّا حُبُّهمْ لك حينَ تَبْلو

    فَمُتّفِقٌ عليهِ المَذْهبان

    But as for their love for you, when you test it,

    both schools are agreed on that.

  81. فلا زال اجْتماعُ الشَّمْلِ منكمْ

    من الدَّهرِ المُفَرِّقِ في أمان

    May your united gathering always remain

    safe from time, the divider.

  82. فهمْ لكَ في أبيكَ أجَلُّ إرْثٍ

    وأعلَى سُؤْدَدٍ يَبْنيهِ بان

    For they are your father's noblest bequest to you,

    and the highest glory any builder builds.

  83. صلاةُ اللهِ دائمةٌ عليه

    مُبوِّئةً له زُلَفَ الجِنان

    May God's blessings rest upon him forever,

    settling him in the lofty ranks of Paradise's gardens.

  84. فلا بَرِحَت لك الأيّامُ غُرّاً

    مُتوَّجةَ المطالعِ بالتَّهاني

    May your days never cease to be radiant,

    their dawns crowned with congratulations!

  85. فكم يا أيُّها المَولَى تُراني

    أُعاني للحوادثِ ما أُعاني

    How often, my lord, do you see me

    enduring what I endure from misfortunes!

  86. وأستَحْيي زماناً أنت فيه

    إذا أرخَيْتُ للشَّكْوَى عِناني

    I am ashamed before an age in which you live

    when I loosen my reins for complaint.

  87. فأوجِدْني خَلاصاً من يدَيْهِ

    وأوجِدْهُ خَلاصاً من لِساني

    Then grant me release from its two hands,

    and grant it release from my tongue.

  88. وكُنْ لي كالمُؤيَّدِ في اصطناعي

    لِيُعْضَدَ أوّلٌ منكمْ بِثان

    Be to me like al-Mu'ayyad in your patronage,

    so that the first of you may be supported by a second.

  89. بقولٍ قصيدةٍ أبدَعْتُ فيه

    رجَعْتُ لها بألْفٍ قد حَباني

    For the recitation of a poem in which I excelled,

    I returned with a thousand he had bestowed on me.

  90. ولو أعملْتَ فكْرَكَ في حُقوقي

    رَعيْتَنيَ الغداةَ كما رَعاني

    If you turned your thought to my claims upon you,

    you would care for me this morning as he cared for me.

  91. فأدنى نظرةٍ لكَ ألْفَ عامٍ

    تَعيشُ به وتُطلِقُ ألْفَ عان

    Your slightest glance is a thousand years

    you live by it, and you free a thousand captives.

  92. وهل رأتِ الملوكُ خلالَ حُلْمٍ

    نظائرَ ما تُرِينا في العِيان

    Have kings ever seen, in the midst of a dream,

    the like of what you show us in plain sight?

  93. وأنت حلَلْتَ عُقْدةَ شاهِديزٍ

    وأنتَ عَقْدْتَ سِكْرَ المَسْرُتان

    You untied the knot of Shahdiz,

    and you secured the dam of al-Masrutan.

  94. هَمُ بدأوا وأنت تُتِمُّ كُلاًّ

    فلم يَكُ بالتّمامِ لهمْ يَدان

    They began, and you complete each undertaking,

    for they had no power to bring it to completion.

  95. لعسكرِ مُكْرَمٍ حَقُّ اخْتصاصٍ

    فلا يَكُ في مَصالحها تَوان

    Askar Mukram has a special claim,

    so let there be no delay over its welfare.

  96. فَمُرْ بعمارةِ الدُّولابِ فيها

    تكُنْ إحدى صَنائِعكَ الحِسان

    Command the restoration of its waterwheel,

    and let it be one of your fine benefactions.

  97. لقد زَيَّنْتَ عَصْركَ بالمعالي

    كما زَيّنْتَ شِعريَ بالمعاني

    You have adorned your age with lofty deeds,

    as you have adorned my poetry with meanings.

  98. يَضيعُ بأرضِ خُوزِستانَ مِثْلي

    ضَياعَ السّيْفِ في كَفِّ الجَبان

    One such as I is wasted in the land of Khuzistan,

    as a sword is wasted in a coward's hand.

  99. وآمُلُ من شُمولِ العَدلِ أنّي

    أُعانُ على عجائبِ ما أُعاني

    Through the all-embracing justice, I hope that I

    shall be helped against the strange hardships I endure,

  100. وأُرغِمُ حُسَّدي فَقَدِ اسْتَطالوا

    ولولا أنت ما حَسدوا مكاني

    and bring my enviers low, for they have grown overbearing;

    but for you, they would not envy my standing.

  101. رأوْا عِرْضي كعِرضهم ولكنْ

    على حالَيْنِ لا يَتَقاربان

    They saw my honor as like their own, yet

    the two conditions are nowhere close.

  102. رَماني العَيبُ لمّا قلّ مالي

    على أدبي وهمْ عَيبُ الزَّمان

    Blame struck me when my wealth dwindled,

    despite my learning, while they are the age's disgrace.

  103. أقولُ لهمْ إذا عَرضَوا لذَمّي

    تعالَيْ فانْظُري بمَنِ ابْتلاني

    I say to them, when they set out to disparage me,

    'Come, and see with whom he has afflicted me!'

  104. وأُقسِمُ ما فِرِنْدٌ في حُسامٍ

    بأشْرفَ من مَديحِكَ في لساني

    I swear: no watered pattern in a sharp sword

    is nobler than your praise upon my tongue.

  105. وخُذْها من فَمِ الرّاوي نَشيداً

    ألذَّ منَ الرَّحيقِ الخُسْرُواني

    Take it, from the reciter's mouth, as a song

    sweeter than Khusrawani wine.

  106. بلا لفظٍ على الأسماعِ بكْرٍ

    إذا جُليَتْ ولا مَعْنىً عَوان

    With no wording virgin to the ears

    when she is unveiled, nor any previously wedded meaning.

  107. ومَنْ يُرضي علاءكَ في ثَناءٍ

    ولو نُظِمَتْ له سَبْعٌ مَثان

    Who could satisfy your loftiness with praise,

    even if seven oft-repeated verses were composed for him?

  108. ودينُ مُحمّدٍ في كُلِّ حالٍ

    ومُلْكُ مُحمّدٍ لكَ شاكران

    Muhammad's religion, in every circumstance,

    and Muhammad's kingdom both give you thanks.

  109. فدامَ ودُمْتَ في نَعَمٍ جِسامٍ

    كذلكَ ما تَواخَى الفَرْقَدان

    May it endure, and may you endure amid great blessings,

    so long as the two Farqad stars remain brothers.