عند ظباء الجهلتين ثاره

وبين أطناب المها عثاره

His blood-claim lies with the gazelles of al-Jahlatayn;

his downfall, among the oryx's tent-ropes.

فلا ترقا لشكاة مغرم

أسلمه إلى الضنى اصطباره

So do not, you two, pity the complaint of a lover

whose endurance has delivered him to wasting sickness.

تخير الموت بألحاظ المها

فخليا عنه وما يختاره

He chose death through the glances of the oryx;

so leave him alone with whatever he chooses.

أذله الشوق ولولا فقره

إلى الغواني ما بدا افتقاره

Longing humbled him; were it not for his need

for beautiful women, his destitution would not show.

يا حبذا في حبهن لوعة

تضرم وجداً لاتبوخ ناره

Ah, how delightful, in loving them, a burning ache

that kindles a passion whose fire never dies!

وموقف رقت حواشي عتبه

ودق حتى لم يبن سراره

And an encounter whose reproach grew tender at the edges,

and so subtle that its whispers could not be discerned.

يا صاحبي والغرام صبوة

ألذها ما عظم اشتهاره

My two companions, love is a youthful passion,

sweetest when its renown is greatest.

عمر كما عارية مردودة

لابد أن يرد مستعاره

Your lives are a loan to be returned;

what is borrowed must inevitably be given back.

فاستقبلا رونق عيش مقبل

وابتداره لا يفت بداره

So greet, you two, the radiance of approaching life,

and hasten to it; do not miss the chance to seize it.

وأظهرا المكنون من هواكما

فإنما حسن الهوى إظهاره

Reveal the love you both conceal,

for love's beauty lies in revealing it.

فقد ضمنت للعذول عنكما

أمراً علي في الهوى إمراره

I have pledged to the censurer, on your behalf,

a matter in love that I must see through:

إن كان ذنباً فعلي ذنبه

أو كان عاراً فعلي عاره

if it is a sin, its sin is mine;

if it is a disgrace, its disgrace is mine.

وأنت يا عاذل كل مغرم

يقدح من جمر الهوى أواره

And you, O censurer of every lover

whose blaze is sparked from love's embers:

لا تسألن ساكتاً عما به

فإنما سكوته إقراره

never ask a silent person what ails him,

for his silence is his confession.

وفي سبيل العالمين ربربٌ

آنسني من وحشة نفاره

And in the path of all beings, a herd of gazelles

brought me solace amid the loneliness of its flight.

من كل ساجي المقلتين لم يزل

أشفاره إذا رنا شفاره

Each languid-eyed beauty has always had

eyelashes that, when he gazes, are his blades.

يهتز خوط البان في وشاحه

ويلتقي على النقا إزاره

A shoot of the ben-tree sways within his sash,

and his waistcloth closes over a sand-dune.

يطلع من أزراره بدر الدجى

إذا أفيضت فوقه أزراره

The full moon of night rises from his collar,

when his buttoned garments are draped over him.

ذو طرة وغرة لا ليله

بآفل منها ولا نهاره

Possessed of forelock and radiant brow: neither his night

nor his day in them ever sets.

يا هذه إن المشيب حلة

يخلعها على الفتى وقاره

O lady, gray hair is a robe

bestowed upon a youth by his dignity.

فليس لليل البهيم رونق

إلا إذا ما طلعت أنواره

The pitch-black night has no splendor

unless its lights rise into view.

والروض لا يرضي العيون بهجة

إلا إذا ما انفتحت أنواره

The garden does not delight the eyes with beauty

until its blossoms open.

يا هذه بين التصابي والصبا

موكب لهو لم يغب غباره

O lady, between acting young and being young

is a cavalcade of pleasure whose dust has not vanished.

فلا تصدي واعلمي بأنه

ما كل شاب بدا عواره

So do not turn away, and know

that not everyone who grays has shown a flaw.

إن أقلع الوبل فعندي طله

أو ذهب الخمر فبي خماره

If the downpour has ceased, I still have its drizzle;

if the wine has gone, its intoxication remains in me.

سقى مغانيك وإن لم يغنها

عن أدمعي من الحيا مدراره

May your haunts be watered, though no outpouring

of rain can replace my tears for them,

كل ملث لا يزال فوقها

عشية الرائح أو إبكاره

by every lingering raincloud that stays above them,

in its evening passage or its early coming.

يسحب ذيل السحب فيها وابل

ترخى على وجه الثرى أستاره

A downpour trails the hem of clouds across them;

its curtains are lowered upon the earth's face.

تحسب صوت الرعد في ربابه

صوت قطيع أرزمت عشاره

You would think the thunder in its clouds

the sound of a herd, its pregnant she-camels lowing.

كأن بدراً سمحت يمينه

بذلك الوابل أو يساره

As though Badr's right hand had freely granted

that downpour—or his left.

قد علم الأنواء خلق راحة

منها رواح الغيث وابتكاره

He taught the rain-stars the nature of a palm

from which rain comes at evening and at dawn.

ما ضر قطراً استميح قطره

إن السحاب أخلفت أمطاره

What harm can come to a land that seeks his rain,

if the clouds fail to deliver their showers?

أبلج من غسان لا نصيفه

يدرك في المجد ولا معشاره

A radiant man of Ghassan: not half of him

can be matched in glory, nor a tenth.

لا ترتضي همته بغاية

إلا إذا امتد بها مضماره

His ambition accepts no goal

unless its racecourse stretches beyond it.

أقر بالفضل له وبالعلى

معترف لم يغنه إنكاره

His excellence and eminence were acknowledged

by one whom denial could not help.

وقصرت عن شأوه عزائم

طالت على أذرعها أشباره

Resolves have fallen short of his lofty reach;

his spans outstretch their cubits.

أطهر من ماء الغمام باطناً

لا حقده يرجى ولا أسراره

Inwardly purer than the water of clouds:

neither rancor nor secret designs are expected of him.

مختلف السجلين يرجى نفعه

ويتقى مع نفعه إضراره

His two buckets differ: his benefit is hoped for,

and, alongside his benefit, his harm is guarded against.

حلو السجايا الغر إلا إنه

مر إذا الشر بدا شراره

Sweet in his noble dispositions, yet

bitter when the sparks of evil appear.

لا يقتفي الآثار إلا في التقى

وفي المعالي تقتفى آثاره

He follows others' tracks only in piety;

in lofty deeds, his tracks are followed.

منزه الهمة لا إعلانه

يعرب عن فحش ولا إسراره

Pure in aspiration: neither his public conduct

nor his private conduct gives voice to foulness.

واف بعهد المجد لا ذمامه

يطرقه الذم لا ذماره

Faithful to glory's covenant: neither his pledge

is assailed by blame, nor his protected honor.

فر من الذم إلى بذل الندى

فاعجب لليث زانه فراره

He fled from blame to the bestowal of bounty:

marvel at a lion adorned by his flight!

من آل رزيك الذين أقسموا

لا خذل الحق ولا أنصاره

Of the house of Ruzzik, who swore:

let neither truth nor its champions be forsaken.

المدركون ثار آل المصطفى

من بعد ما كاد يضيع ثاره

Those who exacted vengeance for the Chosen One's house,

after its blood-claim had almost been lost.

القائمون في الهدى في حيث لا

يعربه قامت ولا نزاره

Those who stood for guidance where neither

its Ya'rub nor its Nizar had stood.

لو لم يردوا الأمر في أربابه

ما قر في نصابه قراره

Had they not restored authority to its rightful holders,

it would not have settled firmly in its proper place.

الملزمون الدار حسن سيرة

صفت على الرغم بها أكداره

Those who bound the land to good governance,

through which, despite resistance, its murk was cleared.

جمل صدر الدست منهم كافل

تسند عن أفعاله أخباره

A guardian from their house adorned the foremost seat of state;

his deeds authenticate the accounts of him.

الصالح الهادي الذي لو أنكم

لم تفخروا أغناكم فخاره

Al-Salih, the guide: even if you

did not boast, his glory would suffice you.

ملك أقام المجد في رواقه

وذكره أباحه أسفاره

A king who established glory in his pavilion,

and whose journeys spread his renown.

جاوز أعنان السماء رفعة

وما انتهت من رفعة أقداره

He surpassed the reaches of heaven in eminence,

yet his degrees of eminence have not reached their end.

مجتمع العزمين سامي الهم لا

تلهيه عن أوتاره أوتاره

Uniting both resolves, lofty in purpose: never

do his lute-strings distract him from his blood-debts.

بفارس الإسلام عز ملكه

فأذعنت طائعة أقداره

Through Islam's horseman his kingship grew mighty,

and his destinies yielded willingly.

كأنما الملك رحى وعزمه

الهام قطب حولها مداره

As though kingship were a millstone, and his resolve—

mighty—the axle on which its course revolves.

كاف متى تعرق به مهمة

عذراء لم يعرق لها عذاره

Capable: whenever a daunting task besets him,

unattempted before, his cheek does not sweat for it.

فإن رمى وعر العدى بعزمه

في مأزق تسهلت أوعاره

If he assails the rough terrain of foes with his resolve,

in a strait, its rough places grow smooth.

مؤيد سمر القنا بنانه

مظفر بيض الظبى أظفاره

Sustained by aid, brown lance-shafts are his fingers;

granted victory, white sword-blades are his nails.

موفق الآراء لا إيراده

يصدر عن عجز ولا إصداره

Rightly guided in counsel: neither his undertaking

nor his conclusion of affairs proceeds from weakness.

بدر ين رزيك الذي لا ينقضي

نور محياه ولا إبداره

Badr ibn Ruzzik: never comes to an end

the light of his face, nor his fullness as a moon.

قد خالف البدر فلا خسوفه

في حالة تشخى ولا سراره

He differs from the moon: neither his eclipse

is ever feared, nor his dark, moonless phase.

يطلع من أبنائه في دسته

نجوم ملك هم غداً أقماره

From his sons rise in his seat of state

stars of kingship, tomorrow its moons.

أشبال خيس وهم أسوده

صغار عصر وهم كباره

Cubs of a thicket, yet they are its lions;

young men of an age, yet they are its great ones.

أصبحت غصناً وهم ثماره

أمسيت بحراً وهم أنهاره

At dawn you are a branch, and they its fruits;

at dusk you are a sea, and they its rivers.

إن أبا النجم الهمام لم يزل

يعلو على نجم السما مناره

Noble Abu al-Najm has always had

his beacon rising above the star of heaven.

سار على نهج أخيه بعدما

حلق في جو العلى مطاره

He followed his brother's path, after

his flight had soared through the air of eminence.

أشبهه خلقاً وخلقاً طاهراً

إذ كان من أنجاره نجاره

He resembled him in form and in pure character,

for his stock sprang from the same ancestral stock.

ورثتما أبناء رزيك وهم

خيار بيت أنتما خياره

You two are heirs to the sons of Ruzzik, who

are the best of a house whose best are you two.

هم لباب أنتم لبابه

وهم نضار أنتما نضاره

They are the essence; you are its essence;

they are pure gold; you two are its purest gold.

فاحتسبوا لي بولاء صادق

أخبركم عن صدقه اختباره

So credit me with a sincere allegiance,

whose testing has told you how true it is.

كل يرى حبكم وإنما

عمارة من دونهم عماره

All profess their love for you; yet

'Umara alone among them is its builder.

واسمع أبا النجم مديح خادم

تسمو على الشعرى بكم أشعاره

And hear, Abu al-Najm, the praise of a servant

whose verses, through you, soar above Sirius.

مدح يفيض بحره من خاطري

كأنني من فضلكم أمتاره

Praise whose sea overflows from my mind,

as though I drew its provisions from your bounty.

مدح يروح في علاك شرحه

وإن غدا في غيرك اختصاره

Praise that unfolds at length upon your heights,

though for another it would go forth abridged.

مدح متى تخطب إلي عونه

كنت الذي تخطبه أبكاره

Praise whose aid, whenever you seek it from me,

makes you the one its virgins seek in marriage.

مدح دعا الفكر إلى أبكاره

منك اختراع الجود وابتكاره

Praise whose virgin strains were summoned from thought

by your invention and origination of generosity.

مدح وإن كثرته لم يرضني

إقلاله فيك ولا إكثاره

Praise which, though I multiply it, satisfies me neither

in its sparseness toward you nor its abundance.

مدح يزيد كلما

على محك ناقد عياره

Praise that grows whenever

its fineness is tried on a critic's touchstone.

يرجح بالقول البليغ وزنه

كأنما قيراطه قنطاره

Eloquent speech makes its weight tip the scales,

as though its carat were a quintal.

إن نال فخراً فبك افتخاره

أو خاف بهراً فبك انتصاره

If he wins glory, his pride is through you;

if he fears being overwhelmed, through you he prevails.

ما ضره وقد غدا مكانه

منك قريباً إن نأت دياره

What harm is it to him, now that his place

is close to you, if his homeland lies far away?

وقل ما يسلو الفتى أوطانه

إلا إذا ما حصلت أوطاره

Seldom does a young man forget his homelands

unless his desires have been fulfilled.

من مبلغ سعد العشير معشري

من نازح شط به مزاره

Who will tell Sa'd al-'Ashir, my clan,

from an exile whose abode lies far away,

إن الليالي عوضتني بعدهم

جوار ملك لا يضام جاره

that the nights, after parting from them, have given me instead

a place beside a king whose neighbor is never wronged,

وإنني يممت ركناً للندى

إليه حج المدح واعتماره

and that I have turned toward a pillar of generosity,

to whom praise makes its hajj and lesser pilgrimage?

قد زار شهر الصوم بابك الذي

تكرم في ساحاته زواره

The month of fasting has visited your gate, where

visitors are honored in its courtyards.

وأنت من يرضي الشهور كلها

تسبيحه لله واستغفاره

You are one who delights all the months

with his glorification of God and his pleas for pardon.

أوقرته بالبر بل وقرته

حتى اشتكى ثقل التقى فقاره

You have laden it with righteousness—nay, honored it—

until its spine complained of piety's weight.

ولم يزدك في التقى صيامه

شيئاً على ما سنه إفطاره

Its fasting added nothing to your piety

beyond the standard its nonfasting had established.

فاسلم لعصر حطته وزنته

فأنت سور العصر بل سواره

So live in safety for an age you have guarded and adorned:

you are the age's rampart—indeed, its bracelet.