أقبلت تنجلى وفي الخد شامه

تستبي كل من راه وشامه

She came forth, unveiling herself, a mole upon her cheek,

captivating everyone who saw and beheld it.

بين خطي قامة وحسامٍ

من جفون أربت على الصمصامه

Between a spear-like figure and a sword

from eyelids surpassing the keenest blade.

زججت حاجباً فأصبح قوساً

فأراشت للعاشقين سهامه

She tapered an eyebrow until it became a bow,

then feathered its arrows for lovers.

وجلت مبسماً تفيض جفوني

درّ دمعٍ إذا رأيت ابتسامه

She unveiled a smiling mouth; my eyes overflow

with pearls of tears whenever I behold its smile.

أخجل الورد وجنتاها فأضحى

ذا احمرارٍ مشققاً أكمامه

Her cheeks shamed the rose, and it became

flushed red, bursting open its calyxes.

غازلتنا والحب فينا كمينٌ

فأذاعت من كل صب غرامه

She flirted with us while love lay hidden within us,

and brought each lover's passion into the open.

لاعب الدل عطفها باهتزازٍ

فأقامت على الغصون القيامه

Coquetry played with her swaying figure,

and she brought Resurrection upon the boughs.

جرّدت أبيضاً بأسود جفنٍ

وغزتنا ظلماً بأعدل قامه

She unsheathed a gleaming blade with a dark eyelid,

and unjustly assailed us with the most upright stature.

اسقم السحر طرفها فأعارت

يوم بينٍ للعاشقين سقامه

Magic made her gaze languid, and she lent

its sickness to lovers on the day of parting.

من عذيري بظبية ورد خدّيها

لفتك العيون أو في علامه

Who will defend me from a gazelle whose rosy cheeks

are the surest sign of her eyes' deadly force?

تسترق النهى برقة خصرٍ

يستفزُّ الأشياخ وهي غلامه

She enslaves reason with a slender waist

that rouses old men, though she is a young girl.

يا خلياً أضحى يلوم شجياً

لست تدري الهوى فخلّ الملامه

O carefree man, now reproaching one heartbroken,

you do not know love, so leave off your blame.

ومحيا تحت اللثام هلالٌ

وهو بدرٌ إذا أزاحت لثامه

A face beneath its veil is a crescent moon,

and a full moon when she lifts its veil.

لو رأيت العيون وهي سكارى

رحت ذا سكرةٍ بغير مدامه

If you saw those eyes, drunk as they are,

you would become intoxicated without wine.

أو ترى الفرقد المنير بصدرٍ

سمحت بالنفس ضمه والتثامه

Or if you saw the shining Farqad star upon a breast,

you would give your life to embrace and kiss it.

إن للحب لذةً لم يذقها

من تولى عليه حبُّ السلامه

Love has a pleasure never tasted

by anyone ruled by love of safety.

كيف أنسى مهفهفا جاء يهدي

بلحاظٍ خوف الوشاة سلامه

How can I forget a slender youth who came to offer

his greeting through glances, for fear of tale-bearers?

عندمي الخد عن دمي سل خضاباً

زاد حسناً بنانه وسلامه

Crimson-cheeked, he drew dye from my blood

that added beauty to his fingertips and finger joints.

من ظباءِ الأتراك ظبيٌ رشيقٌ

فتن العرب حين هز قوامه

A graceful gazelle among the gazelles of the Turks,

he enchanted the Arabs when he swayed his figure.

عجباً في الجبين ليلٌ وصبحٌ

وكيف لا ينسخ الصباح ظلامه

How wondrous: night and morning upon the brow!

And how does morning not efface its darkness?

يا غزالاً غزا القلوب بلحظٍ

عمرك اللَه قد سلبت الكرى مه

O gazelle who raided hearts with a glance,

I adjure you by God: you have stolen sleep—desist!

جد بوصلٍ على الكريم بنفسٍ

لو حالٍ حاشاك تأبى الكرامه

Grant union to one generous with his life,

if [such is his] plight—far be it from you to refuse generosity.

ما سلوت الهوى وحقُّ جمالٍ

فيك وافٍ وذي ابرُّ قسامه

I have not forsaken love, by the beauty

perfect in you—and this is the truest oath.

يا ندامايَ والزمان موافٍ

ما لدهرٍ على العهود استقامه

O my boon companions, as time comes round,

no age is constant in keeping its covenants.

أين عهدٌ مضى وعصرٌ تقضى

بين أسد الشرى وغزلان رامه

Where is that bygone time, that vanished age

among the lions of al-Shara and the gazelles of Rama?

لو صحا الدهر من سلافة جودٍ

شقَّ أطواقه بكىً وندامه

Were the age to sober from generosity's vintage,

it would tear its collars in weeping and remorse.

كيف يصحو وبأقل صار قسّا

وغدا ما درٌ يعيب ابن مامه

How can it sober, when Baqil has become Quss,

and Madir now finds fault with Ibn Mama?

وادّعت بالجمال كل لكاعٍ

وتوارت بثينةٌ وأمامه

Every base woman has laid claim to beauty,

while Buthayna and Umama have hidden away.

وعن الورد قيل هذا قثاءٌ

وعن البدر قيل هذي قلامه

Of the rose it was said, 'This is a cucumber,'

and of the full moon, 'This is a nail clipping.'

قدّر اللَه ان يجود زمانٌ

لم ينل فيه ذو الكمال مرامه

God decreed that an age should give generously,

in which the man of merit did not attain his aim.

حسد الفاضل مثلما حسد الدريّ

منثور فارس ونظامه

It envied the worthy man, just as the shining star envied

Faris's prose and verse.

شاعرٌ يخجل الفرزدق شعراً

وبليغ ينسيك ذكر قدامه

A poet whose poetry puts al-Farazdaq to shame,

and an eloquent writer who makes you forget Qudama.

قد أتى بالبديع تحت قوافٍ

حصنتها من البلاغة لامه

He has brought rhetorical marvels beneath rhymes

fortified by armor wrought of eloquence,

بمعانٍ مخدراتٍ جمانٍ

كل عشر يشرقن من تحت ذامه

with meanings like secluded maidens, like pearls,

each ten shining from beneath his [veil?].

فارس إن نضا اليراع لنظمٍ

أخجل الفارس المجيد حسامه

Faris, when he unsheathes the reed pen for verse,

his blade puts the accomplished knight to shame.

لست تدري أذاك سحر بيان

أم سلاف إذا تلوت كلامه

You cannot tell whether that is eloquence's magic

or choice wine when you recite his words.

المعيّ أخو الذكاءِ أديب

لوذعيٌّ بل فاضلٌ علّامه

Brilliant, gifted with intelligence, a man of letters,

keen-witted—rather, a man of merit, a great scholar.

مشرقات الألفاظ أطلعن دراً

حين جاءَت سطيعةً أقلامه

Radiant utterances brought forth pearls

when his pens came forth resplendent.

قد أتاني منه كتاب فاشفى

من فؤادي غليله وأوامه

A letter from him reached me and relieved

my heart of its burning longing and thirst.

كل صبّ يرى كتاب حبيب

بعد بعد كأنّه شام لامه

Every lover who sees a letter from a beloved

after separation is as though he had glimpsed his [veil?].

يا خليلا أهدي إلى الصب خوداً

بنت نظم غراء ذات سامه

O friend, I offer the lovesick one a tender maiden,

a radiant daughter of verse, with a vein of gold.

تتجلى بالبديع حسناً فيصبو نحوها

كل عالم فهامه

She shines with rhetorical beauty, and towards her yearns

every scholar of deep understanding.

عمرك اللَه قد أتيت بدرٍ

يقوم الكلام نظماً مقامه

I adjure you by God: you have brought pearls,

with words arranged as verse standing in their place.

إن دهرا شكوته هو دهرٌ

ليس يدري كرامه اسقامه

The age you complained of is indeed an age

whose maladies Karama cannot fathom.

أخذ الغدر شيمة فحلاه

إن نراه مخاصماً أعلامه

It took treachery as its habit; its adornment

is that we see it opposing its leading lights.

ساءَ طبعاً حتى على ذاته جار

فأعطى كف الزوال دوامه

Its nature grew so vile that it wronged even itself,

and gave its permanence to the hand of decay.

كن سليماً فإن من فطر النا

س مفيض في خلقه أنعامه

Be well, for He who created humanity

pours His blessings upon His creatures.

وعد النفس إن سيأتي زمانٌ

تحسد الروض بهجة أيامه

And promise your soul that an age will come

whose days' splendor the gardens will envy.

هذه غادة أتتك بحسنٍ

يسترق الغلام حسنا أمامه

This is a maiden who has come to you in beauty,

enslaving the youth by the loveliness before him.

بنت نظم قد زانه منك فضلٌ

عم بالحسن بدأه وختامه

A daughter of verse, adorned by your excellence,

which filled its beginning and ending with beauty.