1. دَعاها إِذا غَنت عَلى الرَوضة الغَنا

    فَقَد فَهمت مِن طيب أنفاسنا مَعنى

    Leave her, you two, when she sings over the lush meadow;

    for she has understood a meaning from the sweetness of our breaths.

  2. وَقولا لَها تروي الغَرام مردداً

    إِذا ما مَضى لَحن أَقامَت لَهُ لَحنا

    And speak to her as she recounts passion, repeating it;

    whenever a melody passes, she sets another in its place.

  3. أَلَم تَرَها في الدوح مالَت صَبابة

    فَكانَت لَهُ مِن بَعض أَغصانِهِ غُصنا

    Did you not see her in the grove, leaning with longing,

    so that she became a branch among its own branches?

  4. رَأَتنا وَقَد ثارَت بَلابل وَجدنا

    فَهاجَت عَلى تِلكَ الغُصون كَما هِجنا

    She saw us when the tumults of our longing had stirred,

    and grew agitated upon those branches, just as we did.

  5. وَقَد صوت العود الرَخيم فَصَوتت

    وَغَنَت عَلى عود الأراك كَما غَنَى

    The mellow lute had sounded, and she too gave voice;

    she sang upon an arak bough just as it sang.

  6. وَأصغت إِلى الطَنبور عِندَ طنينه

    فَصاغَت لَهُ مِن طيب نَغمتها إذنا

    And she listened to the tanbur as it rang,

    then fashioned it an ear from the sweetness of her melody.

  7. وَقد قسم السنطير للوَجد قسمة

    شَجاها وَلَكن ما أَقامَت لَهُ وَزنا

    The santir had allotted longing a share

    that saddened her, yet she gave it no weight.

  8. رَعى اللَه ذات الطوق كَم حَرَكَت هَوى

    وَكَم بَذَلَت صَوتاً وَكَم أَخَذَت مِنا

    May God guard the collared dove—how much desire she stirred!

    How much song she gave, and how much she took from us!

  9. وَساق صَبيح الوَجه راقَ صبوحه

    كَما راقَ ماء الحُسن في الوَجنة الحسنا

    And a fair-faced cupbearer, whose morning wine shone clear,

    as beauty's water gleamed in the lovely cheek,

  10. أَتاني بِها صرفاً وَأَومى بِطَرفه

    فَقُلت لُه بِاللَه من هَذِه زِدنا

    brought it to me unmixed and signaled with his eye.

    So I said to him, 'By God, give us more of this!'

  11. فَما الراح إِلا الروح عِندَ بزوغها

    فعجل بِها صَرفاً وَدَع مَزجَها عنا

    For wine is none other than the soul at its dawning;

    so bring it quickly, unmixed, and spare us its dilution.

  12. شَرِبنا عَلى ذكر الحَبيب مدامه

    سكرنا بِها مِن قَبل أَن نَعرف الدنا

    We drank his wine in remembrance of the beloved;

    we were drunk with it before we knew the wine-jar.

  13. لَها البَدر كَأس وَهيَ شَمس يديرها

    هِلال وَكَم يَبدو إِذا مزجت مَعنى

    Its cup is the full moon, and it is a sun passed round

    by a crescent; how often a meaning appears when it is mixed!

  14. حَبانا بِها داعي أَلَست بربكم

    فَقُلنا بَلى جئنا إِلى حانكم جئنا

    The caller of 'Am I not your Lord?' favored us with it;

    and we said, 'Yes indeed! We have come to your tavern—we have come.'

  15. وَقائِلة ما بال قَلبك مولع

    بعالمها الأَعلى وَرفرفها الأَسنى

    And a woman said, 'Why is your heart enamored

    of its highest realm and its most radiant canopy?

  16. وَحتام تَسعى لابتناء معالم

    مِن العلم قَد أسهرت في حَوزِها الجفنا

    And how long will you strive to build landmarks

    of learning, keeping your eyelid sleepless in their pursuit?

  17. لعمرك مَن يَسعى لِنَيل فَضيلة

    فَقَد حارب الدُنيا وَماتَ بِها حُزنا

    By your life, whoever strives to attain a virtue

    has battled the world and died of grief within it.

  18. يَرى شربه مِنها سَراباً وَعَقله

    عقالاً لما يَبغي وَقوته وَهنا

    He sees his drink from it as a mirage, and his reason

    as a fetter on what he seeks, and his strength as weakness.'

  19. فَقُلت دَعيني مِن حَديث خرافة

    فَإِنا أناس نَعشق المَجد مُذ كُنا

    So I said, 'Spare me such fanciful talk;

    for we are a people who have loved glory since we first existed.

  20. لَنا أَنفس تَأبى الهَوان وَتَرتقي

    إِلى المنهج الأَعلى وَلَم تطلب الأَدنى

    Ours are souls that reject abasement and rise

    to the highest path, never seeking the lowest.

  21. لَنا سلف ساروا عَلى خَير منهج

    وَنَحنُ عَلى آثار سَيرهم سرنا

    We have forebears who walked the best path,

    and we have walked in the tracks of their journey.

  22. وَلا خَير في الدُنيا إِذا لَم تصن بِها

    كَريماً وَتجني من سخاك بِها عدنا

    There is no good in this world if you do not protect in it

    a noble person, and through your generosity reap Eden.

  23. وَلا خَير في مَن يَجمَع المالَ لِلغنى

    فأَوزاره تبقى وصاحبه يفنى

    Nor is there good in one who amasses wealth to become rich;

    for its sinful burdens remain while its owner perishes.

  24. وَلَيسَ الغنى إِلا التَعفف وَالتُقى

    وَمَأثرة تَبقى وَمَكرمة تجنى

    Wealth is nothing but self-restraint and piety,

    a noble deed that lasts and an honorable act to be reaped,

  25. وَطَرف يراعي أَسعد الناس غرة

    وَأكبرهم قَدراً وَأَصغَرهُم سِنا

    and an eye attentive to the most auspicious in countenance of all men,

    the greatest in rank and the youngest in years,

  26. وَأَوسَعَهُم بَذلاً وَأَطوَلهم يَدا

    وَأَثبتهم جأشاً وَأَصدَقهم ظَنا

    the most expansive in giving and the longest of hand,

    the firmest in courage and the truest in judgment.

  27. هُوَ الهاشمي المُستَضاء بِرَأيه

    إِذا ما دَجى لَيل الضلالة أَو جَنا

    He is the Hashimite whose counsel lends its light

    when the night of error darkens or closes in.

  28. أَقامَت لَهُ في الرَأي أَقلام حكمة

    مقام العَوالي وَهيَ مِن هَذِهِ أَسنى

    In counsel, pens of wisdom have assumed for him

    the place of tall lances, though they are more exalted than these.

  29. لَهُ كُتب يغني الكَتائب شَرها

    إِذا تليت كانَت لِمَن خَلفها حصنا

    He has letters whose menace renders battalions needless;

    when read, they become a fortress for those behind them.

  30. سُطور بِها تَعلو الرُؤوس كَرامة

    فَكَم كَشفت كرباً وَكَم أذهبت حُزنا

    Lines through which heads rise in dignity—

    how much distress they have dispelled, how much sorrow banished!

  31. أَباد بِها جَيش الطُغاة فَأَصبَحوا

    أسارى لَدَيها لا فِداء وَلا منا

    With them he annihilated the tyrants' army, and they became

    captives in their keeping, with neither ransom nor gracious release.

  32. وَما الرَأي إِلا للشَجاعة قائد

    وَكُل غَدا للملك في ذاتِهِ رُكنا

    Counsel is nothing but the commander of courage,

    and each has become within him a pillar of sovereignty.

  33. لَهُ جمعا جَمع الرجال بِذاته

    وَما اِتحَدوا لَكنهم دَخَلوا ضمنا

    For him, the two gathered a host of men within his very self;

    they did not fuse as one, but were included within him.

  34. بِيسرى يَديه اليسر أَصبح مورقاً

    وَأَثمر رَوض اليمن في كَفه اليُمنى

    In his left hand, ease has put forth leaves,

    and the garden of good fortune has borne fruit in his right palm.

  35. مِن النفر الشم الخضارم في الوَغى

    غيوث ليوث شَأَنهُم حَدثوا عَنا

    He is of that proud, openhanded band who in battle

    are rain-clouds and lions, whose standing proclaims, 'Tell of us.'

  36. لَهُم غُرر في الخافِقين مُضيئة

    تَسير وَقَد أَضحَت لِشَرح الهُدى متنا

    Theirs are shining glories in the east and west,

    traveling, now the text for expounding guidance.

  37. شَروا بِالنَدى وَالجود مَجداً مُخلداً

    فَما تَرَكوا شَرطاً وَلا وَجَدوا غبنا

    With liberality and generosity they bought everlasting glory;

    they left no condition unmet and suffered no loss in the bargain.

  38. عَلت بِرَسول اللَه مِنهُم مَراتب

    عَلى شَرف الدارين أَبياتها تُبنى

    Through the Messenger of God, ranks among them rose;

    upon the honor of both worlds their houses are built.

  39. فَكَم لأَمين الوَحي حول بيوتهم

    ولوج وَسر شارح ذَلِكَ المَعنى

    How often, around their homes, has the trustee of revelation

    entered—and what secrets unfold that meaning!

  40. فَما مِنهُم إِلا الَّذي باعَ نَفسه

    عَلى اللَه مِن طَوع وَصدق بِالحُسنى

    There is none among them but has sold his soul

    to God, willingly and sincerely, for the finest reward.

  41. وَقَد طلق الدُنيا علي أَبوهم

    وَلَم يَك مِمَن حالف البُخل وَاستغنى

    Their father Ali had divorced the world,

    and was not one who befriended miserliness and grew rich.

  42. فَيا ابن رَسول اللَه خُذها فَريدة

    وَجاءتك تَسعى وَهيَ كَالغادة الحسنا

    So, son of God's Messenger, accept her, a peerless pearl;

    she has come hastening to you like a beautiful maiden.

  43. تهنيك بِالعيدين بِالأَجر تارة

    وَبالفطر أُخرى وَهيَ غانية غنا

    She congratulates you on the two feasts—once for the reward,

    and again for breaking the fast, a sweet-voiced beauty.

  44. رَأَتك وَقَد حفت بِك الناس خشعاً

    فَما رفعت رَأساً وَلا فتحت جفنا

    She saw you with the people gathered around you in humble awe;

    she neither raised her head nor opened an eyelid.

  45. وَماذا عَلَيها أَن تَحل بِراحة

    لكفك كَي تَلقى بِراحتها أَمنا

    What harm is there for her to settle in the palm

    of your hand, so that in its palm she may find safety?

  46. فَلا زِلت في عيد يَعود وَنعمة

    تَسود وَمَجد لا يبيد وَلا يَفنى

    May you ever dwell in a feast that returns, and in blessing,

    reigning, with glory that neither fades nor perishes,

  47. مَدى الدَهر ما هَب النَسيم وَأَشرَقَت

    شُموس المَعالي وَهيَ كامِلَة حسنا

    throughout all time, as long as the breeze blows and there shine

    the suns of high distinction, perfect in beauty.