1. لَستُ أَسلو الشادِنَ الأَحوى الأَغَنّا

    ما شَدا شادٍ عَلى البانِ وَغَنّى

    I shall not forget the dark-hued, sweet-voiced young gazelle,

    so long as a songbird warbles on the bān tree and sings.

  2. قُلتُ لِلقَلبِ تَجَلَّد وَاِصطَبِر

    قالَ لي كَلّا وَأَنّى لي وَأَنّى

    I told my heart, 'Be steadfast and patient.'

    It said to me, 'No! How could I? How indeed?'

  3. صِرتُ مَجنوناً وَيَزدادُ جُنوني

    فيهِ أَضعافاً إِذا ما اللَيلُ جَنّا

    I have become mad, and my madness increases

    over him manyfold whenever night descends.

  4. وَبَلائي أَنَّهُ يَجني فَإِن

    جِئتُهُ أَشكو إِلَيهِ يَتَجَنّى

    My affliction is that he wrongs me; and if

    I come to him complaining, he brings false charges.

  5. اِذبَحِ الدَّنَّ نَديمي وَاِسقِني

    دَمَهُ حَتّى أُرى بِالسُكرِ دَنّا

    Slaughter the wine jar, my boon companion, and give me

    its blood, until drunkenness makes me seem a wine jar.

  6. أَدِرِ الكاساتِ صِرفاً إِنّها

    تَصرِفُ الهَمَّ إِذا ما اِعتَنَّ عَنّا

    Pass around the cups of unmixed wine; they

    banish sorrow from us whenever it intrudes.

  7. قَهوَةً تَجعَلُ قُسّاً باقِلاً

    لِسَناها يَسجُدُ القَسُّ يُحَنّا

    Wine that turns Quss into Baqil;

    the priest Yuhanna prostrates himself before its radiance.

  8. باتَ يَجلو شَمسَ راحٍ قَمَرٌ

    فَوقَ غُصنٍ في كَثيبٍ يَتَثَنّى

    A moon spent the night unveiling a sun of wine,

    above a branch upon a sand dune, swaying.

  9. وَمَتى اِهتَزَّت لَنا أَعطافُهُ

    رَقصاً أَثمَرنَ إِحساناً وَحُسنا

    Whenever his flanks swayed for us

    in dance, they bore excellence and beauty as fruit.

  10. لَقَطَت دُرَّ الأَغاني طَرَفا

    قَدَمَيهِ وَبِها الأَلبابُ تَغنى

    The pearls of song were gathered by the tips

    of his two feet, and through those songs minds grow rich.

  11. قَسَماً لَو أَنَّنا نَسطيعُ مِن

    طَيَرانٍ طَرَباً مِنهُ لَطِرنا

    I swear, if we had any power of

    flight from delight in him, we would have flown.

  12. لَيسَ فينا غَيرُ مَفتونٍ بِهِ

    طَرِبَت مِنهُ المَطايا حينَ حَنّا

    Not one among us is other than enthralled by him;

    the mounts were enraptured when he crooned.

  13. أَحورُ الطَّرفِ بَديعٌ حُسنُهُ

    فَهوَ حورِيُّ المَعاني فيهِ حِرنا

    Dark-eyed in his gaze, wondrous in his beauty,

    he is houri-like in his qualities; we are bewildered by him.

  14. كُلُّ ذي حُسنٍ إِذا قيسَ بِهِ

    كانَ لَفظاً وَهوَ تَحتَ اللَّفظِ مَعنى

    Whenever anyone possessing beauty is compared with him,

    that one is a word, while he is the meaning beneath the word.

  15. فَهوَ مِن شَمسِ الضُحى أَبهى وَإِن

    رَمَقَتهُ عَينُها تَأسِنُ أَسنى

    He is more splendid than the forenoon sun; and if

    its eye gazes at him, it grows stale—he is more radiant.

  16. يوسُفِيٌّ حُسنُهُ مُتَّخِذٌ

    حَبَّة القَلبِ لَهُ مَأوىً وَسِجنا

    His beauty is Yusuf-like; he has taken

    the heart's core as his dwelling and prison.

  17. إِنَّ في تَركي هَوى التُركِيِّ لي

    عَبَثاً حاشايَ مِن ذاكَ وَغَبنا

    For me to abandon love for the Turk would be

    folly—far be it from me—and loss.

  18. وَسُنوهُ بَلَغَت سَبعاً وَسَبعاً

    فَهوَ كَالبَدرِ سنىً يَسمو وَسِنّا

    His years have reached seven and seven;

    like the full moon, he rises in radiance and age.

  19. ضَيِّقُ الأَجفانِ مِنهُ اِتَّسَعَت

    طُرقُ الوَجدِ عَلى قَلبي المُعَنّى

    His eyelids are narrow, yet through him have widened

    the paths of passion across my tormented heart.

  20. ضاقَ مِنهُ كُلُّ شَيءٍ حَسَنٍ

    ضيقُهُ فَاِنظُر فَماً مِنهُ وَجَفنا

    Narrow is every feature of his made lovely

    by its narrowness: look at his mouth and eyelid.

  21. لَيسَ لِلنّاسِجِ ما يَفعَلُهُ

    يغلقُ النَشّاب إِذ يُرهَفُ سَنّا

    No weaver can do what he does;

    he locks the arrows fast when their points are honed.

  22. قالَ لي ما لَكَ بي مِن طاقَةٍ

    خَف صُدودي إِذ يَخِفُّ الكيسُ وَزنا

    He told me, 'You have no strength to bear me;

    fear my rejection when your purse grows light.'

  23. قُلتُ إِنَّ اللَهَ لي ثُمَّ سَرا

    سُنقُرَ القيلَ الَّذي أَغنى وَأَقنى

    I said, 'God is there for me, and then Sara-

    sunqur, the prince who enriches and endows.'

  24. سَيِّدٌ كَم مِن عِدىً أَفنى وَلَم

    يَرَ مِنهُ أَحَدٌ في الرَّأيِ أَفنا

    A lord—how many enemies he has destroyed! Yet

    no one has found weakness in his judgment.

  25. لَم تَزَل أَنمُلُهُ إِن ضَنَّتِ ال

    سُحبُ يَوماً بِالحَيا تُحسَبُ مُزنا

    His fingertips remain—should the

    clouds one day withhold rain—reckoned rain clouds.

  26. لَم يَكُن مِنهُ لَدى الهَيجاءِ حِصنٌ

    نَتَّقيهِ فَلِهَذا عَنهُ جُضنا

    Against him in battle there was no fortress

    to shelter us from him; thus we swerved away from him.

  27. يوسِعُ الأَعداءَ بِالسَيفِ وَبِال

    رُمحِ في يَومِ الوَغى ضَرباً وَطَعنا

    He heaps upon his enemies, with the sword and the

    spear on battle's day, blows and thrusts.

  28. قالَتِ الشُجعانُ هَذا المَوتُ بَأساً

    لا يَلُمنا لائِمٌ إِن عَنهُ حِصنا

    The brave men said, 'This is death in its might;

    let no one blame us if we flee from him.'

  29. وَهوَ لَو يَأمُرُنا يَوماً لَهُ

    بِسُجودٍ لَسَمِعنا وَأَطَعنا

    And if one day he commanded us to offer him

    prostration, we would hear and obey.

  30. فَبِهِ قامَ عِمادُ الدينِ في

    مِصرَ وَالشامِ وَكَم أَطَّدَ رُكنا

    Through him religion's pillar stood firm in

    Egypt and al-Sham; how many pillars he fortified!

  31. تَتَأَتّى الطَّيرُ مِنهُ غَزوَةً

    فَتُوافي الجَيشَ مِن هَنَّا وَهَنَّا

    The birds seek a campaign from him,

    then come to the army from here and there.

  32. سَل بِهِ عَكَّةَ وَالمَرجَ وَقَد

    دَفَنَ الأَعداءَ في الخَندَقِ دَفنا

    Ask Acre and al-Marj about him; he has

    buried the enemies thoroughly in the trench.

  33. فَكَأَنَّ القَومَ لَمّا ساقَهُم

    ساقَهُم لِلنَّحرِ يَومَ النَحرِ بُدنا

    It was as though, when he drove the people,

    he drove sacrificial camels to slaughter on the Day of Sacrifice.

  34. أَورَدَ الراياتِ صُفراً طَعنُهُ

    وَبِهِ أُصدِرنَ في الهَيجاءِ دُكنا

    His thrusting brought the banners in yellow;

    through it they were sent out darkened amid battle.

  35. فَهوَ يَنحو الحَربَ وَهوَ اِسمٌ وَفِعلٌ

    وَسِواهُ الحَرفُ إِذ جاءَ لِمَعنى

    He makes for war, both noun and verb,

    while all others are particles, there only for a meaning.

  36. وَقَليلٌ لسَراسُنقُرَ في ال

    مُلكِ أَن يُعطى أَقاليمَ وَمُدنا

    It is little enough for Sarasunqur in the

    realm to be granted provinces and cities.

  37. فارِسٌ لَولا جُمودُ الدَّمِ في

    سَيفِهِ أَجرى بِهِ في البَرِّ سُفنا

    A knight—had blood not congealed upon

    his sword, he would have sailed ships with it over land.

  38. أَسَدُ الدينِ مَتى ما بارَزَ ال

    أُسدَ قَهقَرنَ عَلى الأَعقابِ جُبنا

    Asad al-Din—whenever he challenges the

    lions, they retreat on their heels in cowardice.

  39. ما رَمى الأَعداءَ إِلا خِلتَهُ

    مَلَكاً يَرمي بِشُهبِ القَذفِ جَنَّا

    He never shoots at the enemies without my imagining him

    an angel pelting jinn with shooting stars.

  40. مَن مُجيري مِن زَمانٍ غادِرٍ

    غادَرَ اللُسنَ مِنَ الإِفلاسِ لُكنا

    Who will shelter me from a treacherous age

    that has left the eloquent tongue-tied through poverty?

  41. قَلبُهُ قاسٍ فَما يَرجِعُ عَن

    قَلبِهِ لي حَيثُما كُنتُ المِجَنّا

    Its heart is hard; it never refrains from

    turning its shield against me, wherever I am.

  42. لَومُهُ أَعدى كِراماً فَغَدَوا

    في نَداهُم يُخلفونَ الظَنَّ ضَنّا

    Its reproach infected generous men, so they became

    stingy in their bounty, betraying expectation.

  43. وَ سَراسُنقُرَ باقٍ جودُهُ

    فَلِذا عُجنا عَلَيهِ حينَ جُعنا

    And Sarasunqur's generosity endures,

    so we turned aside to him when we grew hungry.

  44. غَلِقَت فيهِ رُهُوني فَانبَرى

    لي فَتّاكاً فَما أَفتَكَ رَهنا

    My pledges became forfeit with him, so he stepped forth

    for me, a ruthless killer—how deadly a pledge!

  45. فَرَضَ المَنسوخَ مِن آيِ النَدى

    أَسَدُ الدينِ وَسَنّاهُ وَسَنّا

    The abrogated verses of bounty were made binding

    by Asad al-Din, who exalted and ordained them.

  46. يَهَبُ الإِبلَ المنيفاتِ الذُرى

    وَأَكاديشَ وَبَغلاتٍ وَحُصنا

    He gives away camels with towering humps,

    and workhorses, mules, and stallions.

  47. مِن سَراةِ التُركِ يَهوى كَسبَهُ ال

    حَمدَ بِالمالِ هوَى قَيسٍ لِلُبنى

    One of the foremost Turks, he loves earning

    praise through wealth as Qays loved Lubna.

  48. فَهوَ مِن مَرتَبَةِ السُلطانِ في ال

    ملكِ أَضحى قابَ قَوسَينِ وَأَدنى

    He is, from the sultan's rank in the

    realm, now two bow-lengths away, and nearer still.

  49. يُسعَدُ الشامُ مَتى حَلَّ بِهِ

    وَيُعاني إِن نَأى هَوناً وَوَهنا

    Al-Sham rejoices whenever he settles there,

    and, if he goes far away, suffers abasement and weakness.

  50. لَم تَخَف مِنهُ بَنو الآمالِ إِذ

    يَغمُرُ القَومَ بِفَيضِ المَنِّ مِنّا

    Those born of hope never feared him, for

    he floods the people among us with overflowing bounty.

  51. يا سَراسُنقُرَ خُذها مِدحَةً

    حُسنُها أَورَثَ مَن عاداكَ حُزنا

    O Sarasunqur, accept this praise-poem;

    its beauty has brought sorrow to those who oppose you.

  52. بِشرُهُ يَسري بِيُسرٍ بَعدَ عُسرٍ

    وَبِيُمنٍ مِن نَدى يُمناهُ يُمنا

    His smiling welcome spreads ease after hardship,

    and blessing upon blessing from his right hand's bounty.

  53. لَيسَ يَخشى في دِمَشقَ الفَقرَ مَن

    أَسَدُ الدينِ بِها يَقناهُ قَنّا

    No one in Damascus fears poverty whom

    Asad al-Din keeps there as his slave.

  54. سامِعوها أَشبَهوا صوفِيَّةً

    رَقَصاً مِنهُم إِذا الشاهِدُ غَنّا

    Its hearers resembled Sufis,

    in their dancing when the beloved sang.

  55. قُل لَها أَهلاً وَسَهلاً بِالَّتي

    كَم إِلَينا قَطَعَت سَهلاً وَحَزنا

    Say to it, 'A warm welcome to the one

    that has crossed so many plains and rugged lands to reach us!'

  56. وَاِسمُ وَاِسلَم وَاِبقَ وَاِغنَم أَبَداً

    تَتَمَلا فَوقَ ما قَد تَتَمَنّى

    And rise high, be safe, endure, and prosper forever,

    enjoying far more than you might wish.