1. أَمِن بارقٍ أَعلاه يبرقُ يلمح

    جفونك تهمي بالدموعِ وتسفحُ

    Is it because of a lightning cloud, its upper reaches flashing and gleaming,

    that your eyelids stream with tears and pour them forth,

  2. وَتُبدي حَنيناً في أَنين إِذا شَدت

    حَمائمُ تشدو في الغصونِ وتصدحُ

    and reveal yearning in a moan when song is raised

    by doves singing among the branches and calling aloud?

  3. نعم أَنا إِذا شمت برقاً يمانياً

    ألحّ بيَ الشوقُ القديمُ المبرّحُ

    Yes, whenever I behold Yemeni lightning,

    the old, tormenting longing presses upon me.

  4. وَيُطربني ذِكرى أميم وَإِن نَأت

    وَأَضحَت بِها الركبان تنأى وتبرحُ

    And memories of Umaym stir me, though she is far away,

    and the riders have journeyed far with her and departed.

  5. وَكادَت وَلو غرو لذلكَ مُقتلي

    مَدامِعها من كثرةِ الدمعِ تقرحُ

    And at that, my [eye] almost—strange though that may be—

    grew sore in its tear ducts from so many tears.

  6. وَكَم هامَ وجدي من أُميمة مربع

    تعفّيه مرّ الرامسات وتمصحُ

    And how many a spring encampment of Umayma my longing has haunted,

    which passing, trace-erasing winds efface and wipe away!

  7. فيا ليتَ شِعري هل أَرادت بِبَينها

    صدوداً وجدّت فيهِ أَم هيَ تمزحُ

    Oh, would that I knew: did she intend, by her departure,

    estrangement in earnest, or is she jesting?

  8. مِنَ البيض من حولها قول عاذل

    عَلى القلبِ أَقلى ما يكون وأقبحُ

    One of the fair women, about whom a reprover's words

    are as hateful and ugly to the heart as can be.

  9. شَكا غصّةً في الساقِ خلخال ساقها

    وَأخمص عنها في الوشاح الموشّحُ

    Her anklet complained of choking tightness around her calf,

    and the part encircled by her sash was slender by contrast.

  10. ترنّح في بردٍ ولينٍ مثلما

    ترنّح غصنُ البانةِ المترنّحُ

    It swayed, cool and supple, just as

    the swaying branch of the ban-tree swayed.

  11. وتُثقلها عندَ النهوضِ روادفٌ

    ثقالٌ كَأحقافٍ من الرمل يرجحُ

    And as she rises, her haunches weigh her down,

    heavy as curved dunes of sand, bearing down.

  12. فَما باهت البيضَ الملاحَ بما حوت

    منَ الحسنِ إِلّا وهيَ أبهى وأملحُ

    Never did she vie with fair, lovely women in what she possessed

    of beauty without being more radiant and lovelier.

  13. فَيا حبّها مِن دمنة كلّ مسلمٍ

    يَميلُ لها قبل النصارى ويجمحُ

    Oh, how dear that campsite ruin is! Every Muslim

    inclines toward it before the Christians do, and rushes headlong.

  14. وَمِن ظبيةٍ لَم ترع روضاً وإنّما

    لَها في رياضِ القلبِ ملهىً ومسرحُ

    And that gazelle has grazed no meadow; rather,

    her playground and pasture lie in the gardens of the heart.

  15. وَأرض قَطعناها لأرضٍ ودونها

    مِنَ البيداءِ ريق ومجّ وصحصحُ

    And we crossed a land to reach another; before it lay

    desert mirage and [spume], and a broad, level plain.

  16. سَرَينا بِها والشهبُ من كلّ جانبٍ

    من الجوّ في بحرِ الدجنّةِ يسبحُ

    We journeyed through it by night, while bright stars on every side

    of the sky swam in a sea of darkness,

  17. إِلى أَن أَنخنا والمعالي تهزّنا

    بِأرضٍ بِها مستنجح الرفد ينجحُ

    until we made our camels kneel, stirred by noble aims,

    in a land where the seeker of bounty succeeds.

  18. بِأرضٍ أَتَيناها خصوصاً لأنّها

    لنا خيرُ أرضٍ في البلاد وأصلحُ

    In a land we came to expressly because it

    is, for us, the best and most fitting of all lands.

  19. بلاد بِها أَضحى عرارٌ بجودهِ

    لِعافيهِ مغنٍ حينَ يعطي ويسمحُ

    A land where Arar, through his generosity, has become

    an enricher of his petitioners whenever he gives and is generous.

  20. فتىً عدلهُ للجورِ ماحٍ وجودهُ

    يفكُّ لنا بابَ السرور ويفتحُ

    A youth whose justice effaces oppression, and whose bounty

    unlocks the door of joy for us and opens it.

  21. تظلّ علينا من يداهُ سحائبٌ

    تسحُّ بودقِ الجودِ منه وينضحُ

    Clouds from his two hands hover above us,

    pouring from him a rain of bounty and gushing forth.

  22. سحائبُ جودٍ من أَياديه غيثُها

    يخجلُ غيث المعصرات ويفضحُ

    Clouds of generosity from his hands, whose rain

    puts the rain of laden clouds to shame and disgraces it.

  23. يَبيتُ سهيرَ العينِ في مطلبِ العلا

    ويمسي عزيزَ النفسِ فيه ويصبحُ

    He spends the night sleepless-eyed in pursuit of greatness,

    and is dignified in spirit in that pursuit, evening and morning.

  24. وَيفني جزيلَ المالِ منه تكرّماً

    وَيعفو عنِ الجاني المسيء ويصفحُ

    And he exhausts his abundant wealth out of generosity,

    and pardons the wrongdoing offender and forgives.

  25. وَيَغشى وطيسَ الحربِ في حومة الوغى

    وَنار الوغى تشوي الوجوه وتلفحُ

    And he enters war's furnace in the thick of battle,

    while battle's fire roasts faces and scorches them.

  26. أَجلُّ ملوكِ الأرضِ قدراً ورتبةً

    وَأَدومهم في الملك عدلاً وأفلحُ

    The most exalted of earth's kings in standing and rank,

    the most constant in justice as ruler, and the most successful,

  27. وَأَندى ندى من حاتم وابن مامة

    وَأمحك من قسٍّ وأذكى وأفصحُ

    and more munificent in bounty than Hatim and Ibn Mama,

    more tenacious in argument than Quss, keener-witted and more eloquent.

  28. وَدونك غرّاء جاءت كأنّها

    لطيمة ذاريٍّ منَ المسكِ تنفحُ

    Take this radiant poem, which comes as though it were

    a perfumer's fragrance-laden caravan, wafting musk.

  29. عروس تحلّى بالمعالي يزينها

    فصاحُ القوافي والقريض المصرّحُ

    A bride adorned with noble qualities, embellished by

    eloquent rhymes and lucid verse.

  30. ألذّ سماعاً في المسامعِ لفظها

    وَأَسلس ما في النظم يروى ويشرحُ

    Its wording is the sweetest sound to the ears,

    and the most fluent of the verse recited and explained.

  31. ولولاك في الأملاك لم أَرَ مَنهجاً

    لقلّةِ صدقِ المدحِ إن قمت أمدحُ

    And but for you among the kings, I would find no way,

    for truthful praise is scarce, should I set out to praise.

  32. إِذا ما نشرت المدحَ فيك كأنّني

    مِنَ الصدقِ في ذاك المديح أُسبِّحُ

    Whenever I proclaim your praise, it is as though I

    were glorifying God, so truthful is that eulogy.