1. بوسميِّ حبِّ المُزنِ لا بوليِّهِ

    غدا الرّوضُ زهواً في ملابِ زَهيِّهِ

    With the clouds' first seasonal drops, not their later showers,

    The garden grew proud, clad in its splendid finery.

  2. وأولاهُ إرفادُ الوليِّ برفدِه

    حَباءً بِمُنهلّ الشُّؤونِ حَبيّهِ

    The following rain bestowed its bounty upon it,

    A gift from its piled clouds, their channels pouring freely.

  3. وأتبعهُ جودُ العِهادِ بِحبوِه

    فأصبحَ ظاميهِ شرُوقاً بريّهِ

    Then the plentiful recurring rains followed with their gifts,

    Until its thirsty soil was choking on its fill.

  4. دِراكاً بأنواءٍ تباعٍ ثلاثةٍ

    بحُوتيّهِ ثوريّهِ أسديّهِ

    In close succession came three star-seasoned showers,

    Its showers of Pisces, Taurus, and Leo.

  5. فراحَ ثراهُ شاكراً لسمائهِ

    بلفظٍ عليليِّ التهادِي هديِّهِ

    So its soil gave thanks to its sky,

    In a softly swaying utterance, gentle in its manner.

  6. تَرى سُندسيّ النبتِ تحتَ كِمامهِ

    كموشيِّ صُبغِ العِهنِ في عبقريّهِ

    You see the silken growth beneath its flower-cups,

    Like the patterned hues of wool in its splendid carpets.

  7. تبدّى حلياً في قلائدِ زهرِهِ

    فقلنا حليّاً في فنون حُليّهِ

    It appeared bejeweled in the necklaces of its flowers;

    So we spoke sweetly of its manifold adornments.

  8. كأنّ أقاحيهِ نِظامُ لآلئٍ

    تداعى نِثاراً في جِنانِ جنيّهِ

    As though its daisies were a string of pearls

    That broke and scattered through its fruitful gardens.

  9. كأنَّ يواقيتَ الشّقائقِ شُقّقت

    فَصِيغت مِن الحوذانِ في عسجديّهِ

    As though the anemones' rubies had been split,

    Then set into its gold, wrought from buttercups.

  10. يُطرّزُها حُسناً زمرُّدُ آسهِ

    بما يتراءى مِن صفا جَوهريّهِ

    The emerald of its myrtle embroiders them with beauty,

    With the manifest clarity of its jewels.

  11. فأحسِن بنورِ الشّمسِ ناظر نُورهِ

    فتلقى سَناها في كِمامِ سبيّهِ

    How lovely the sunlight, O beholder of its blossoms!

    You find its radiance in the flower-cups of its captives.

  12. وقد عبثت هوجُ الرّياحِ بنشرهِ

    عَراريِّهِ رنديِّه إذخَريِّهِ

    The wild winds have played with its fragrance—

    Its oxeye, laurel, and sweet-rush scents.

  13. إذا ما أتت مشمولةٌ بشمولهِ

    أتت بشذيِّ النّدِّ عن عنبريِّهِ

    Whenever a breeze came, touched by its north wind,

    It brought the sweet scent of blended perfume from its ambergris.

  14. فقلتُ أنشرٌ تمّ أم نشوةٌ نَمت

    بذكرِ عريقٍ في العلاءِ عليِّهِ

    I said: Is this perfect fragrance, or an ecstasy heightened

    By mention of one nobly rooted in exalted glory—

  15. بمستنصريِّ النّحرِ مُستنجديّهِ

    رشيديّهِ مهديّهِ هاشميّهِ

    With al-Mustansir's breast, of al-Mustanjid's line,

    Of al-Rashid, al-Mahdi, and Hashim?

  16. ضربتُ اليه الدوَّ والدوُّ مجهلٌ

    فلا معلمٌ في طامسي سبسبيّهِ

    I traversed the desert toward him—a trackless waste,

    With no landmark in its featureless plains.

  17. تلاقى بهِ ذؤبانُ غزلانِ فأوِه

    وذؤبانُ غزوٍ في فيافي فليّهِ

    There met wolves hunting the gazelles of its ravines,

    And raiding wolves in its broad desert wastes.

  18. تُلاقي فتشكو هذه ثم هذه

    طوىً مُستكِنّاً في مطاوي طويّهِ

    They meet: these complain, and then those,

    Of hunger lurking in the folds of their empty bellies.

  19. اذا ما ذكت فيه ذُكاءٌ لهيبها

    رأيتَ أجيجَ النارِ في لهبيّهِ

    When Dhuka', the sun, kindled its blaze there,

    You saw the roar of fire in its flames.

  20. كأنّ بهِ مِن جمرةِ القيظِ قابساً

    يُرى زَندُهُ مِن مُستطارِ وريّهِ

    As though someone there had taken fire from summer's ember,

    His fire-stick visible through its scattering sparks.

  21. فمُصطخدُ الحِرباءِ مِن وقعِ حرّهِ

    طنيٌّ يُراعي راحةً مِن طنيّهِ

    The sun-basking chameleon, struck by its heat,

    Ails, watching for relief from its affliction.

  22. فكلُّ قرا غُصنٍ مُمالٍ براكبٍ

    كمرتبئٍ مُستوسِقٍ بِرُبيّهِ

    Every branch's back bends beneath a rider,

    Like a lookout firmly settled on its hilltops.

  23. بعيرانةٍ مزؤودةٍ مُشمعِلّةٍ

    تَشقُّ بضبعيها قَرا فَدفديّهِ

    On a sturdy she-camel, startled and fleet,

    She cleaves the ridges of its high plains with her forelegs.

  24. أمونٍ كمِرادةِ الصَفاةِ أطاحَها

    جُحافٌ تمطّى في مطا قردديّهِ

    Sure-footed, like a smooth rock-slab swept away

    By a scouring flood stretching along its rocky ridges.

  25. ترتّعتِ السّقطينِ مِن مرتعِ اللّوى

    ببارضهِ حتّى التوت للويّهِ

    She grazed both edges of the winding dune's pasture,

    On its first shoots, until she turned to its withered grass.

  26. تُريغُ كلاهُ بينَ ذاوٍ ويانعٍ

    بأصهبِ عافيهِ وجَونِ عفيّهِ

    Seeking its herbage, both withered and flourishing,

    Among its tawny stands and dark, abundant growth.

  27. أقامت بهِ حتّى بدا النجمُ طالعاً

    تطيرُ سَفى البُهمى سوافي سفيّهِ

    She stayed there until the star appeared rising,

    Its dust-driving winds sending the wild grass's awns flying.

  28. اذا ما رعت منها المهامهُ جانباً

    رَعى سيُرها مِن مُنتأى مهمهيّهِ

    Whenever the wastes grazed away a part of her,

    Her journey grazed away their far-off reaches.

  29. كعَيرٍ اذا عاينتهُ متوهّماً

    وعيرٍ اذا عاينتهُ في هويّهِ

    Like Mount 'Ayr when you envisioned her,

    And a wild ass when you watched her headlong rush.

  30. بأيدٍ تبذُّ الطرفَ سرعةُ جِدّها

    بأيدٍ تبُذُّ الطرفَ في جَددّيهِ

    With power—her striving speed outstrips the eye—

    With forelegs outstripping a courser on its firm, level tracks.

  31. بعيديّةٍ جاءت ترامى بعيدِها

    الى باب محجوجِ الذُّرى نَبويهِ

    On an 'Idiyya mount, hurtling onward with her 'Id-bred vigor,

    To the gate of him whose Prophetic heights draw pilgrims.

  32. فلما أناخت تحتَ ظلِّ جنابهِ

    أناخت بضافي الظّلِّ مستعصميّهِ

    When she knelt beneath the shade of his court,

    She knelt in the ample shade of al-Musta'sim.

  33. فخُذها أميرَ المؤمنينَ بديعةً

    تُزفُّ بموشيِّ الحلا مُبدعيّهِ

    So accept her, Commander of the Faithful, a wondrous creation,

    Led forth as a bride in her maker's embroidered jewels.

  34. فلا زلتَ بالأعيادِ تُلقى مهنّاً

    بعيشٍ على مرِّ الزّمانِ هَنيّهِ

    May you always be greeted at festivals with congratulations,

    With a life of ease throughout the passing years.