أهيفُ عبلُ الردف صِفرٌ حشاه

أهيفُ عبلُ الردف صِفرٌ حشاه

لو قيل للحسن انتسبْ ما عداه

لو قيل للحسن انتسبْ ما عداه

Slender-waisted, full-rumped, with a hollow belly;

The crescent glows bright as the evening star descends,

if beauty were told, “Trace your lineage,” it would not go beyond him.

Had Beauty competed, none could rival it or transcend.

أسخط من يهواهُ مستيقظاً

أسخط من يهواهُ مستيقظاً

وعادَ يستعطفه في ثواه

وعادَ يستعطفه في ثواه

While awake, he angered the one who loves him,

My Love turned from me though to him I kneeled,

then returned to win him over in his [sleep].

But came back repenting as soon as dawn revealed.

فكانَ كالكاتبِ سطراً سها

فكانَ كالكاتبِ سطراً سها

فيهِ فما لبَّثَ حتى محاه

فيهِ فما لبَّثَ حتى محاه

He was like a writer who made a slip in a line,

Like a scribe whose flowing script a careless hand offends,

and hardly paused before erasing it.

No sooner had he penned than he erased those lines he’d penned.

إن كانَ لا يصدق في قولهِ

إن كانَ لا يصدق في قولهِ

ويخلف الوعدَ فوا خجلتاه

ويخلف الوعدَ فوا خجلتاه

If he is not truthful in his words

If his words prove false, if he breaks his vow,

and breaks his promise—oh, my shame!

Then shame on him! My aching heart his glances now allow.

قد قدَّ قلبي سيفُ الحاظه

قد قدَّ قلبي سيفُ الحاظه

واختضبت من دمهِ وجنتاه

واختضبت من دمهِ وجنتاه

The sword of his glances has cleft my heart,

The sword of his eyes has pierced my core open and raw,

and his cheeks were dyed with its blood.

And I am drunk on the blood from his blows without flaw.

وليسَ فوق السحر من بابلٍ

وليسَ فوق السحر من بابلٍ

إلاّ الذي قالته لي مقلتاه

إلاّ الذي قالته لي مقلتاه

Nothing surpasses the sorcery of Babylon

No magic of Babylon over my soul holds such awe

except what his two eyes told me.

As the spell of his voice, his sweet lips of honey and nectar pure.

يا لائمي حسبكَ من عاشقٍ

يا لائمي حسبكَ من عاشقٍ

جاد عليه بمناه مناه

جاد عليه بمناه مناه

O my reproacher, spare a lover

My critic, leave this poor Lover be, who is impassioned evermore!

whose heart's desire lavished on him what he desired.

Fortune itself against me has shut each door.

لولا انتباه اللحظِ لي لم يقع

لولا انتباه اللحظِ لي لم يقع

في شَرَكِ الكاسِ غزالُ الفلاه

في شَرَكِ الكاسِ غزالُ الفلاه

Had my gaze not kept watch for me, there would not have fallen

Had I not turned to see his sweet face once more,

into the cup's snare the gazelle of the wilderness.

The deer of the wilderness had not fallen into a hunter's trap for sure.

ولم أنَل سُوءاً سوى انَّني

ولم أنَل سُوءاً سوى انَّني

أدنيتُهُ منِّي وقَبَّلتُ فاه

أدنيتُهُ منِّي وقَبَّلتُ فاه

I did no wrong, except that I

My only crime was that I drew him close and kissed his lips.

drew him close to me and kissed his mouth.

I warded off the swelling sea though its tide at my shore passionately dips,

وذدت عَنهُ كبداً شارفَت

وذدت عَنهُ كبداً شارفَت

وِرداً فحفَّت كحفيف القَطاه

وِرداً فحفَّت كحفيف القَطاه

I drove away from him a liver that was nearing

And nearly drowned in a secret whirlpool that powerfully grips,

a watering place; it fluttered like a sandgrouse.

Despite my resistance to its frothing, foaming rips.

وكِدتُ من بكراء مكتومة

وكِدتُ من بكراء مكتومة

املؤ كفيَّ برغم الوشاه

املؤ كفيَّ برغم الوشاه

And I almost, from a virgin kept hidden,

Oh, the joy before he kissed me! None but he my thirst could eclipse.

filled both my palms, despite the tale-bearers.

Without his embrace, lifeless am I, savoring not life's sips.

يارشاً من قَبلِ تقبيلهِ

يارشاً من قَبلِ تقبيلهِ

وضَمِّه ما ذقتُ طَعمَ الحياه

وضَمِّه ما ذقتُ طَعمَ الحياه

O fawn, before kissing him

What can I, a hopeless Lover, do but endure these torturous whips?

and embracing him, I had not tasted life's flavor.

Repeated incantations in my prayers bring no eclipse

ماذا الذي تأمُر في مغرمٍ

ماذا الذي تأمُر في مغرمٍ

قد بلَغ الشوقُ بهِ مُنتَهاه

قد بلَغ الشوقُ بهِ مُنتَهاه

What do you prescribe for a love-stricken man

To the light of your eyes that sets my passion glowing like ember chips.

whom longing has brought to its utmost limit?

Shall I renounce the lineage I proclaimed, though forbidden love it rips?

هَل نافعي من سحر عينيك ما

هَل نافعي من سحر عينيك ما

كَررته من عُوَذٍ في الصَّلاه

كَررته من عُوَذٍ في الصَّلاه

Will I find help against your eyes' magic in what

Though I've reached the celestial sphere of highest leadership,

I have repeated of protective invocations in prayer?

The jewel appears on branches where it rightfully fits.

أو انتسابي بودادي إلى

أو انتسابي بودادي إلى

مَن بشتُّ ممنوعَ الحمى في ذراه

مَن بشتُّ ممنوعَ الحمى في ذراه

Or in my affiliation, through my affection, with

His actions proved the noble blood that through his veins swift ran.

one in whose shelter I [spent the night], my sanctuary protected?

The cypress manifests the spring from which the stream began.

إلى سَماءِ الرؤساء انتهت

إلى سَماءِ الرؤساء انتهت

وراثةُ السؤدد شمس الكُفاه

وراثةُ السؤدد شمس الكُفاه

To the heaven of leaders has ascended

Ali saw his ancestors' path stretched to highest ranks a man could scan.

the inheritance of lordship, O Sun of the Able.

He donned his crown and escaladed to the apex as only he can.

دلّ على اعراقِهِ فِعلُهُ

دلّ على اعراقِهِ فِعلُهُ

وانّما السَروُ لنجل السَّراه

وانّما السَروُ لنجل السَّراه

His conduct attests to his ancestral roots,

They monopolized rule’s fortress which was the finest in the land,

and nobility belongs only to the scion of nobles.

While he stood excluded though valor did his being span.

رأى عَليٌ قَصدَ آبائِهِ

رأى عَليٌ قَصدَ آبائِهِ

لوضَحَ نَهجٍ في العُلى فاقتَفاه

لوضَحَ نَهجٍ في العُلى فاقتَفاه

Ali saw his forefathers' course

He sprouted like a noble tree, rooted in soil so grand

toward a clear path to greatness, and followed it.

That the luminous stars themselves coveted its station if they could or can.

تعَمَّموا التيجان واستأثروا

تعَمَّموا التيجان واستأثروا

بمبتنى المُلكِ فاعلَو بناء

بمبتنى المُلكِ فاعلَو بناء

They wore crowns as turbans and claimed for themselves

One who knows not his name’s meaning will never understand

the edifice of kingship, raising its structure high.

No matter how hard he tries or how broad his schemes expand.

نَبتُ نباتِ العِزِّ من تربه ال

نَبتُ نباتِ العِزِّ من تربه ال

عالم مَن حازَ السُهى وامتطاه

عالم مَن حازَ السُهى وامتطاه

A shoot of glory's growth from the soil of the

Had I viewed the horizon as the sun’s limit or edge,

world is he who gained Suha and mounted it.

I'd have seen "His Name" inscribed like a shining badge.

من كانَ لا يَعلم مَعنى اسمه

من كانَ لا يَعلم مَعنى اسمه

فانَّه يَغلَطُ مَهما ادّعاه

فانَّه يَغلَطُ مَهما ادّعاه

Whoever does not know the meaning of his name

Had this Nile flowed from his palm, it would surpass the Tigris in its hedge,

errs whenever he lays claim to it.

His face is the sun and moon together, his hands the sea without ebb or edge.

لو كانَ حدُّ الشمس ممّا يُرى

لو كانَ حدُّ الشمس ممّا يُرى

رأيتَ مكتوباً عليه كناه

رأيتَ مكتوباً عليه كناه

Were the sun's rim something visible,

When he saw the glory great deeds bring, he pledged

you would see his honorific names written upon it.

To shun all acts that virtues tarnish or dim and dredge.

أو كانَ هذا النيل من كَفِّهِ

أو كانَ هذا النيل من كَفِّهِ

يجري جرى التِّبرُ مكانَ المياه

يجري جرى التِّبرُ مكانَ المياه

Or if this Nile, from the palm of his hand,

While many a slandered man has gained more renown from the attention edge,

were flowing, gold would flow instead of water.

His praiser, though hostile, spread his name to the world's uttermost edge.

البدرُ والشمسُ معاً وجهُه

البدرُ والشمسُ معاً وجهُه

والبحرُ والمزن جميعاً يَداه

والبحرُ والمزن جميعاً يَداه

The full moon and the sun together are his face,

The noble youth sees but his own deeds when viewing the poetic hedge,

and the sea and rainclouds together are his two hands.

While poetry is but the mirror that seeks his attributes to ennoble and edge.

لمّا رأى المَدحَ اللَّذي يُقتَنى

لمّا رأى المَدحَ اللَّذي يُقتَنى

من بِرِّهِ عالى به واقتَناه

من بِرِّهِ عالى به واقتَناه

When he saw the praise that is acquired

Like an echo impartially voicing all audible on the stage,

through his bounty, he bid high for it and acquired it.

It articulates his words, nothing else, as reason would judge.

وربُّ مسبُوبٍ بمدحٍ غدا

وربُّ مسبُوبٍ بمدحٍ غدا

ناظِمُهُ أبلغَ ممَّن هجاه

ناظِمُهُ أبلغَ ممَّن هجاه

And many a man is reviled through praise;

A gentle breeze picks up his fragrance as it blows past that hedge,

its composer proves more cutting than one who lampooned him.

Then conveys it onwards as appointed when it has reached its edge.

يرى الفتى في الشِّعرِ أفعالَهُ

يرى الفتى في الشِّعرِ أفعالَهُ

وإنّما الشعرُ له كالمِراه

وإنّما الشعرُ له كالمِراه

A young man sees his deeds in poetry,

The feast has ended but will start anew when again we unite at your door’s edge.

for poetry is only a mirror to him.

For us, every day spent with you is a special celebration we forever pledge.

وكالصَّدى يَسمَعُ ما قاله ال

وكالصَّدى يَسمَعُ ما قاله ال

قائِلٌ لا يسمَعُ شيئاً سِواه

قائِلٌ لا يسمَعُ شيئاً سِواه

And, like an echo, he hears what the

As long as you are happy, protected by the Almighty’s caring hedge,

speaker said; he hears nothing else.

Then blessings unlimited and joy pure shall be our lifelong privilege.

مِثلَ نسيم الريح ما واجَهَت

مِثلَ نسيم الريح ما واجَهَت

مَرَّ عليه ثم أدّى ثَواه

مَرَّ عليه ثم أدّى ثَواه

Like the wind's breeze, whatever it meets,

it passes over, then conveys its [scent].

تَرَحَّلَ العيدُ ولكِنَّهُ

تَرَحَّلَ العيدُ ولكِنَّهُ

لما انتَهى دارَكَ القَى عصاه

لما انتَهى دارَكَ القَى عصاه

The festival set out on its journey, but

when it reached your house, it laid down its staff.

وكلُّ يومٍ بك عيدٌ لنا

وكلُّ يومٍ بك عيدٌ لنا

دمتَ سعيداً ورعاكَ الإله

دمتَ سعيداً ورعاكَ الإله

And every day through you is a festival for us;

may you remain happy, and may God watch over you.