1. هَجَر العذولَ وراح طَوعَ غُواتِه

    ورأى قبيحَ الغَىِّ منْ حَسناتِهِ

    He abandoned the reprover and went obedient to his tempters.

    And counted the ugliness of waywardness among its virtues.

  2. للحبِّ حَبةُ قلبِهِ فكأنّه

    من ذاتِها وكأنها من ذاتِهِ

    Love owns the kernel of his heart, as though he were

    Of its essence, and it of his own essence.

  3. وغدا غَريمَ غرامِه من مُقْلَتَيْ

    رَشَأٍ كمالُ الحُسْنِ بَعضُ صِفاته

    And he became his passion's debtor, through the two eyes

    Of a gazelle-fawn whose perfect beauty is but one of his qualities.

  4. يبدو على الورد الجَنِيِّ إذا بَدا

    خجلٌ من التقصيرِ عن وَجَناته

    Whenever he appears, the fresh-picked rose displays

    Shame at falling short of his cheeks.

  5. والغصنُ يَقْلَق في الكثيب تَذَرِّيا

    بيَسيرِ ما يَحْكِيه من حركاته

    And the bough sways upon the dune, rising aloft,

    With the little it can imitate of his movements.

  6. يمشي فيَلقَي خصرُه مِن رِدْفِه

    مثلَ الذي ألقاه من إعناته

    He walks, and his waist suffers from his hips

    The like of what I endure from his tormenting me.

  7. وكأنّ نَمْلَ عِذَاره قد خاف أن

    يَسْعَى به فيزلّ عن مرآته

    As though the ants of his cheek-down had feared to

    Crawl upon him and slip off his mirror.

  8. لا ترْعِ طَرْفَك خُضْرةً بَدَرتْ به

    فمصَارعُ العُشَّاقِ بين نَباته

    Do not pasture your gaze on the greenery that has appeared on him;

    For lovers meet their deaths amid its growth.

  9. مثلُ الحُسامِ تروقُ خُضْرةُ جوهرٍ

    في مَتْنِه والموتُ في جَنَباتِه

    Like a keen sword: the green sheen of steel delights

    In its blade, while death lies at its sides.

  10. من لونِه ذهبٌ وأيُّ مَثوبةٍ

    يَحْظَى بها لو خَصَّني بزَكاته

    There is gold in his complexion; and what a reward

    He would gain if he singled me out for its alms!

  11. ولقد سَقاني من كؤوسِ غَرامِه

    أَضعافَ ما اسْتعذبتُ من رَشفاتِه

    And he has made me drink from the cups of his passion

    Many times the measure I found sweet in its sips.

  12. وحياتِه قَسَما أُعظِّم قَدْرَها

    وكَفاكَ أَنْ أَكُ مُقْسِما بحياته

    By his life, I swear, holding it in high esteem;

    And it is enough for you that I swear by his life.

  13. لأُخالفَنَّ عَواذِلي في حُبِّه

    ولأُسْخِطَنَّ الْخَلْقَ في مَرْضاته

    I shall surely defy my reprovers in loving him,

    And shall surely anger all creation to please him.

  14. ولأَقْنَعَنَّ من المُنَى بخيالهِ

    زُورا يُمَنِّينى بخُلْفِ عُداته

    And shall surely be content, of all desires, with his phantom,

    Falsely feeding my hopes with his broken promises.

  15. لا تنكرنّ السحرَ فهْو بطَرْفِه

    ودليلُه ما فيّ من نَفثاتِه

    Do not deny magic, for it lies in his glance,

    And its proof is the spells he has breathed into me.

  16. سقَمى يُثبِّت ما ادّعَتْه جفونهُ

    سَلْني فإني من ثِقاتِ رُواته

    My sickness confirms what his eyelids have claimed;

    Ask me, for I am one of its trusted narrators.

  17. يَفْنَى أسيرُ الحبِّ قبلَ فَنائِه

    بسقامِه ويموتُ قبلَ مَماته

    Love's captive wastes away before his end,

    Through his sickness, and dies before his death.

  18. وعَذابُه عَذْبٌ ولكنْ لا تَفِى

    لَذّاتُه بالنَّزْرِ من آفاته

    Its torment is sweet, yet insufficient are

    Its pleasures to offset even a little of its afflictions.

  19. قد كنتُ أَحْذَرُه ولكن غَرَّني

    فأعادَني هَدفَا لنَيْلِ رُماته

    I had been wary of it, but it deceived me,

    And made me a target for its archers to strike.

  20. وقضَى لفَيْضِ مَدامِعي بِسجامِه

    ودوامِه وفراقِه وثَباته

    And decreed for my flood of tears its streaming,

    Its continuance, its parting, and its persistence.

  21. فكأنه فيضُ النَّوالِ مقسَّماً

    في الخَلْق من كَفَّىْ أبى بَركاته

    So it is like an outpouring of bounty, distributed

    Among creation from the two palms of Abu Barakat.

  22. جَمَعتْ تَفاريقَ الفضائِل نفسُه

    فالوصفُ يَقْصُر عن مدى غاياتِه

    His soul has gathered the scattered virtues,

    So description falls short of his furthest attainments.

  23. في طبعِه عَصَبيةٌ مع نَخْوة

    أبداً يفضلها على لذاته

    In his nature are ardent loyalty and noble pride,

    Which he always prefers to his pleasures.

  24. الفضلُ بعضُ صِفاتِه والحمدُ بع

    ضُ رُواته والجود بعض هِباته

    Excellence is among his qualities, and praise among

    His narrators; generosity is among his gifts.

  25. والعزم من آلاتِه والحزم من

    أدواته والشكر من أَقْواته

    And resolve is among his instruments, and prudence among

    His tools; gratitude is part of his sustenance.

  26. إنْ كان حاجتُك النجومَ تَنالُها

    أو فوقَ ذاك من المكارم فَاتِه

    If the stars are your need, you will attain them;

    Or noble gifts beyond that—then come to him.

  27. وإذا سألتَ فنَمْ فهِمَّتُه بها

    كالبَيْنِ بين جُفونه وسِناته

    And when you ask, sleep: his concern for it

    Is like the separation between his eyelids and his slumbers.

  28. وانظرْه عند سؤالِه فلِوجههِ

    خَفرٌ يشوب البِشْرَ في صَفحاته

    Watch him when he is petitioned: upon his face

    Bashfulness mingles with the cheer upon his features.

  29. ويودّ لو يبدو لحاجةِ سائلٍ

    من قبل أنْ تُجْرَى على لَهَواته

    And he wishes to appear to meet a petitioner's need

    Before it passes across his palate.

  30. أنا من أجال الدهرُ فيه صُروفَه

    فاختصَّني بالصَّعْب من نكباته

    I am one in whom Time has worked its vicissitudes,

    And singled me out for its harsh calamities.

  31. وفَرَتْه أنيابُ النوائب واغتدتْ

    فيه الحوادثُ من جميع جهاته

    And calamities' fangs tore him, and at dawn

    Misfortunes came upon him from every side.

  32. وتَحيَّف الحدثانُ قَصَّ جناحِه

    لوُجُود غُرْبِته وفَقْدِ ثِقاته

    And Time's vicissitudes wore him down, clipping his wing,

    Because he was far from home and had lost his trusted friends.

  33. فَلَجا إلى حَرَم ابنِ عثمانَ الذي

    لَبَّت له الآمالُ من مِيقاته

    So he sought refuge in the sanctuary of Ibn Uthman, to whom

    Hopes answered, 'Here I am,' from his pilgrim station.

  34. فَقضَيتُ تَطْوافي بكَعْبِة جُوده

    وسَعَيت ثم وقفْت في عَرَفاته

    So I completed my circling of the Kaaba of his generosity,

    And performed the ritual striving, then stood at his Arafat.

  35. ودعوتُ هِمَّته هناك فلم يَخِب

    ظني لمَا أبديتُ من دَعواته

    And there I called upon his resolve; not disappointed was

    My expectation concerning the appeals I laid before him.

  36. ورجعتُ قد ظفرتْ يداي بجاهه

    وبقُربه وبوُدّه وصِلاته

    And I returned, my two hands having secured his patronage,

    And his closeness, his affection, and his gifts.

  37. ولقيتُ ما سرَّ الصديقَ وساء من

    عادَي فأَخْزاهُ عَقيبَ شَماته

    And I found what delighted the friend and distressed whoever

    Had opposed me, shaming him after his gloating.

  38. لله أيُّ صنيعةٍ قُلِّدتُها

    من فضِله المألوفِ من عاداته

    By God, what a favor was hung about my neck,

    From his familiar generosity, among his habitual deeds.

  39. فضلٌ أَنافَ على المعالي فَرْعُه

    قَدْرا وطيبُ ثَناه من ثَمراته

    A bounty whose branch towered above lofty honors

    In rank; and sweet praise of him is among its fruits.

  40. لا زال خاطرُ ربِّ كلِّ فصاحةٍ

    يُهْدى إلى عَلياك من حَسناته

    May the imagination of every master of eloquence ever

    Offer your high station some of its beauties,

  41. فيُفيد أفرادَ الجواهرِ بهجةً

    وتَطيب ريحُ المِسْك من نَفَحاته

    Thus bestowing splendor on matchless gems,

    And musk's fragrance grows sweet from its breaths:

  42. مدحٌ تكرِّره الرواةُ ومُطرِبُ الأل

    حانِ والحادِي لدى فَلَواته

    Praise repeated by narrators, by the singer of

    Melodies, and by the camel-driver amid his deserts.

  43. وبقيتَ ما بقي الزمانُ مكرما

    وثَناك مكتوبٌ على جَبَهاته

    And may you remain honored as long as Time remains,

    And praise of you inscribed upon its brows.