إلى الروم أصبو كلما أومض الخالُ

إلى الروم أصبو كلما أومض الخالُ

فاسكب دمعاً دون تسكابه الخال

فاسكب دمعاً دون تسكابه الخال

To Rum I yearn whenever the lightning flashes;

To Rome I yearn whenever the mole flashes

so I shed tears whose flow the cloud cannot match.

So shed a tear without its mole being shed

وعن مدح داودٍ وطيب ثنائه

وعن مدح داودٍ وطيب ثنائه

فلا القد يثنيني ولا الخد والخالُ

فلا القد يثنيني ولا الخد والخالُ

And from praising Dawud and the sweetness of his acclaim,

And of praising David and his sweet praise

neither graceful figure, cheek nor beauty mark can turn me away.

Neither the stature sways me nor the cheek and mole

مشيرٌ إلى العليا أشار فطأطات

مشيرٌ إلى العليا أشار فطأطات

وأصبح مندكاً لهيبته الخالُ

وأصبح مندكاً لهيبته الخالُ

A marshal who beckoned to the heights, and they bowed;

A counselor gesturing to the Most High gestured so banners

the mountain crumbled before his majesty.

Became submissive to his awe, the mole

مناصبها انقادت لاعتاب بابه

مناصبها انقادت لاعتاب بابه

كما انقاد مرتاحاً إلى العطن الخالُ

كما انقاد مرتاحاً إلى العطن الخالُ

The exalted offices submitted to the thresholds of his gate,

Its positions surrendered to reproaching his door

as a great camel gladly yields to the watering-ground.

As the relaxed one surrendered to the soft mole

وقد نالها إذ أوتي الحكم حكمةً

وقد نالها إذ أوتي الحكم حكمةً

إلهيةً فصل الخطاب لها خالُ

إلهيةً فصل الخطاب لها خالُ

He won them when granted judgment, a wisdom

And he attained it when given judgment, wisdom

divine, whose beauty mark is decisive speech.

Divine, so the definitive word for it was the mole

مليك ملاك الأمر والنهي كله

مليك ملاك الأمر والنهي كله

إليه انتهى والحكم في الأرض والخالُ

إليه انتهى والحكم في الأرض والخالُ

A sovereign: all authority to command and forbid

King, angel of all command and prohibition

rests with him, with dominion over earth and cloud.

To him it ended, and the rule on earth and mole

حكى نهر طالوتٍ ببسطة علمهِ

حكى نهر طالوتٍ ببسطة علمهِ

وفي فضله ذاك الفتى الماجد الخالُ

وفي فضله ذاك الفتى الماجد الخالُ

He mirrored Talut's river in the breadth of his learning,

He told the river of Talut with the breadth of his knowledge

and in his bounty—that noble, generous youth.

And of his superiority that glorious young mole

توسمّ عرافاً بسيماءِ دهره

توسمّ عرافاً بسيماءِ دهره

فخوله النعمى وما كذب الخالُ

فخوله النعمى وما كذب الخالُ

He read his age's signs like a diviner;

He perceived a soothsayer in the mark of his time

it granted him blessings, and the omen did not lie.

So he endowed him grace, and the mole did not lie

وصدق فيه ما تخيله النهى

وصدق فيه ما تخيله النهى

وفيما سواه قلما يصدق الخالُ

وفيما سواه قلما يصدق الخالُ

What discerning minds imagined of him proved true;

And it was true in him what abstinence imagined

of anyone else, conjecture seldom proves true.

And in anything else, rarely does the mole speak true

فيا لرجالٍ من علاه تفرسوا

فيا لرجالٍ من علاه تفرسوا

أغرّ عليه من نسيج العلى خال

أغرّ عليه من نسيج العلى خال

Ah, the men who discerned in his eminence

So what men of highness who examined him

a radiant man, clad in a mantle woven of greatness!

More wondrous than the creation of the Most High, a mole

إذا اعتركت أراوهم عرضت لهم

إذا اعتركت أراوهم عرضت لهم

كتائب رأي من نهاه لها خالُ

كتائب رأي من نهاه لها خالُ

When their opinions clash, before them appear

When their opinions clashed, squadrons of perspective were presented to them

battalions of counsel from his intellect, bearing a banner.

Whose limit for it was the mole

عصاميّ نفسٍ سودته جدوده

عصاميّ نفسٍ سودته جدوده

فلا الجد يجديه ولا العم والخالُ

فلا الجد يجديه ولا العم والخالُ

Self-made in spirit, his good fortunes made him a lord;

Of a rebellious soul whom his ancestors darkened

neither grandfather, paternal uncle nor maternal uncle benefits him.

Neither ancestry avails him nor uncle and mole

له العلم خدنٌ والكمال منادمٌ

له العلم خدنٌ والكمال منادمٌ

وحسن السجايا والحجى الخال والخالُ

وحسن السجايا والحجى الخال والخالُ

Knowledge is his friend, perfection his boon companion;

For him is knowledge a cheek and perfection a boon companion

good character and wisdom are his paternal and maternal uncles.

And good traits and argument the mole and mole

هو الصدر منه القلب كالصخر في الوغى

هو الصدر منه القلب كالصخر في الوغى

إذا طاش في غلوائها السوكل الخالُ

إذا طاش في غلوائها السوكل الخالُ

He is the chief; his heart is like rock amid battle,

He is the bosom, from him the heart like the rock in calamity

when the swaggering fool reels in its fury.

When her madness rages, the ardent mole

ووهم الليالي إن تمادى جماحها

ووهم الليالي إن تمادى جماحها

فهمته الكبرى الشكيمة والخالُ

فهمته الكبرى الشكيمة والخالُ

And if the nights' mighty steed persists in bolting,

And the nights imagined if their assault persisted

his great resolve is its bit and bridle.

The elder understood him, the rational and mole

توهم قوم إن يجاروه في العلى

توهم قوم إن يجاروه في العلى

فلم يجدهم ذاك التفكر والخالُ

فلم يجدهم ذاك التفكر والخالُ

Some imagined they could rival him in greatness;

Some people imagined if they contended with him in highness

yet that thinking and fancy availed them nothing.

But that reflector did not find them, and the mole

يشُقُّ على من لا يُشق غباره

يشُقُّ على من لا يُشق غباره

رهان الذي عن شوطه عاقه الخال

رهان الذي عن شوطه عاقه الخال

Hard for one whose dust no rival can overtake

It is hard on him whom his dust does not torment

is a race with one held back from his course by lameness.

The wager whose distance from its lap disgraced the mole

عفا اللَه عنه قد عفت بعد بعده

عفا اللَه عنه قد عفت بعد بعده

من اللذة الزورا المعالم والخالُ

من اللذة الزورا المعالم والخالُ

May God pardon him! Since his departure, there have faded

May Allah forgive him, certainly after his passing

from al-Zawra the landmarks and traces of delight.

The landscapes and moles of false bliss have been forgiven

وهيهات ما دار الرصافة بعده ولا

وهيهات ما دار الرصافة بعده ولا

الكرخ الا السبسبُ القفر الخال

الكرخ الا السبسبُ القفر الخال

Alas, since he left, neither the abode of al-Rusafa nor

And alas neither the Dar al-Rasafa nor the Karkh

al-Karkh is anything but a broad, barren, empty waste.

Except the desolate bleak bare mole

ولكن بهذا العصر أنت كجنةٍ

ولكن بهذا العصر أنت كجنةٍ

بها تتباهى بروة الشام والخالُ

بها تتباهى بروة الشام والخالُ

But in this age you are like a garden,

But in this age you are like a garden

in which Barwa of al-Sham and al-Khal take pride.

With which the meadows of Syria and mole pride themselves

ورضوانها اليوم النجيب مشيرها

ورضوانها اليوم النجيب مشيرها

يحافظها مولىً عليها هو الخالُ

يحافظها مولىً عليها هو الخالُ

Its Ridwan today is Najib, its marshal;

And its blessing today the noble counselor

a lord guards it, watching over it as its custodian.

Protects it, the Master over it is the mole

عظيم وقارٍ لو تراىء ليدبل

عظيم وقارٍ لو تراىء ليدبل

تصاغر منحطّاً وطاولهُ الخالُ

تصاغر منحطّاً وطاولهُ الخالُ

Great in dignity: were he to appear before Yadbul,

Great, dignified - if rivals appeared to him

it would shrink and sink, and a hillock would rival its height.

Diminished, humbled and the mole dominated them

حماها حماء اللَه من كل ريبةٍ

حماها حماء اللَه من كل ريبةٍ

تشين علاه فهو من ريبة الخالُ

تشين علاه فهو من ريبة الخالُ

God's protection guarded it against every suspicion

He protected it with the protection of Allah from every suspicion

that would stain his eminence; he is free of suspicion.

That disgraces its eminence, for he is of the mole's suspicion

فلا زال كلٌ منهما طود رفعةٍ

فلا زال كلٌ منهما طود رفعةٍ

يلوح عليه مع تواضعه الخالُ

يلوح عليه مع تواضعه الخالُ

May each of the two remain a mountain of distinction,

So they have not ceased, each a towering dune of loftiness

with pride shining upon him alongside his humility.

Glistening over it with his humility, the mole

وإني وإن كنت الرديف نظامهُ

وإني وإن كنت الرديف نظامهُ

لمبرقةٍ حسن الروي بها الخالُ

لمبرقةٍ حسن الروي بها الخالُ

And I, though but a follower, am the composer

And if I, although the retinue of his system

of a flashing ode, its fine rhyme its beauty mark.

Is a brilliant star - the mole narrated it beautifully

فذي معجزاتي ما أرى ابن كرامةٍ

فذي معجزاتي ما أرى ابن كرامةٍ

يعارضها حتى يصاحبه الخالُ

يعارضها حتى يصاحبه الخالُ

These are my miracles; I do not see Ibn Karama

So my miracles, I do not see the son of nobility

matching them until inspiration keeps him company.

Rivaling them even to accompany the mole