1. أَلَمَّ الخَيالُ بِنا مَوهِنا

    فَأَهلاً بِهِ مِن خَيالٍ أَلَم

    The phantom visited us late at night;

    so welcome to it, a phantom come to visit!

  2. سَرى كاتِماً نَفسَهُ وَالضِيا

    ءُ يَدُلُّ عَلى أَنَّهُ ما انكَتَم

    It traveled by night, concealing itself, yet the light

    reveals that it was not concealed.

  3. رَعى اللَهُ طَيفَكُمُ راعِياً

    لِتِلكَ العُهودِ وَتِلكَ الذِمَم

    May God guard your phantom, faithful

    to those pledges and those covenants.

  4. تَأَوَّبَ يَشكو إِلَينا العَنا

    وَنَشكو إِلَيهِ الضَنا وَالأَلَم

    It returned by night, complaining to us of hardship,

    and we complained to it of wasting illness and pain.

  5. خَليلي هَل تَحمِلانِ السَلا

    مَ مِنّا إِلى ساكِناتِ السَلَم

    My two friends, will you carry greetings

    from us to the women dwelling among the salam trees,

  6. وَمَن حَلَّ بِالنَشَمِ المُستَطيلِ

    بِرُوحي رَبارِبُ ذاكَ النَشَم

    and whoever settled among the tall nasham trees?

    My soul be ransom for the antelope herds of those nasham trees!

  7. إِذا نَزَلوا عَلَماً بِالحِجازِ

    بَعَثنا السَلامَ لِذاكَ العَلَم

    When they settle at a mountain in the Hijaz,

    we send greetings to that mountain,

  8. وَقُلنا سَقَتكَ غَوادي الجُفونِ

    إِذا لَم تَجُدكَ غَوادِيَ الرِهَم

    and say, 'May the morning showers of our eyelids water you,

    if the morning showers of gentle rain do not drench you.

  9. وَرُوِّضَ مَغناكَ حَتّى يَئوبَ

    نَسيمُكَ أَذكى نَسيمٍ يُشَم

    And may your dwelling become a meadow, until

    your breeze returns as the most fragrant breeze inhaled.'

  10. وَظامِئَةٍ مثلِ مَتنِ الحُسامِ

    كَأَنَّ عَلَيها مِنَ الآلِ يَم

    And a thirsty waste, like the back of a keen sword,

    as though a sea of mirage lay over it—

  11. طَوَينا بِها سُرُرَ الناجِياتِ

    طَيّ الأَساودِ تَحتَ الرُجَم

    there we folded the bellies of the swift she-camels,

    as black snakes coil beneath heaps of stones.

  12. أَقُولُ لِصَحبي وَقَد جَفَّلوا

    بِناتِ الظَليمِ بِخبطِ الظُلَم

    I say to my companions, who have startled

    the ostrich's daughters by blundering through the darkness—

  13. وَنَحنُ يَكادُ السُرى أَن يَمَس

    مَقادِمَ كيرانِنا بِاللِمَم

    while our night traveling almost brushes

    the fronts of our saddles with our locks of hair—

  14. أَزيلوا النُعاسَ وَأُمُوا بِنا

    وَبِالعيس أَكرَمَ خَلقِ يُؤَم

    'Cast off drowsiness, and steer us

    and the pale camels toward the noblest being one can seek.

  15. فَإِن أَوصَلَتنا الفَتى المُدرِكيّ

    فَقَد أَوصَلَتنا الوفِيَّ الذِمَم

    For if they bring us to the gallant al-Mudriki,

    they have brought us to one faithful to his pledges.'

  16. رَأَيتُ الكِرامَ فَلَمّا رَأَيت

    ثِمالاً رَأَيتُ نَبِيَّ الكَرَم

    I have seen noble men; but when I saw

    Thimal, I saw the prophet of generosity.

  17. أَشَمُّ يُوازِنُ شُمَّ الجِبالَ

    وَلا يَبلُغُ الشُمُ وَزنَ الأَشَم

    A lofty man who rivals the lofty mountains,

    yet the lofty mountains cannot match his weight.

  18. نَذُمُّ الزَمانَ وَما يُستَحَقُّ

    زَمانٌ حَبانا بِهِ أَن يُذَم

    We blame the age, yet undeserving of blame

    is an age that has bestowed him upon us.

  19. كَريمٌ تَهَدَّمَتِ المَكرُماتُ

    فَما زالَ حَتّى بَنى ما اِنهَدَم

    A generous man: noble deeds had crumbled,

    and he never ceased until he rebuilt what had collapsed.

  20. وَحَطَّمَ تَحتَ العَجاجِ البَهيمِ

    صُدورَ القَنا في صُدورِ البُهَم

    And beneath the pitch-dark dust he shattered

    lance-points in the breasts of formidable warriors.

  21. لَقَد حَلَّ في حَلَبٍ عادِلٌ

    مَحا الظُلمَ عَن أَهلِها وَالظُلَم

    A just man has indeed settled in Aleppo,

    who wiped oppression and darkness away from its people.

  22. وَحاطَهُمُ مِن صُروفِ الزَمانِ

    فَنامُوا وَراعيهمُ لَم يَنَم

    And he guarded them against time's reversals,

    so they slept, while their shepherd did not sleep.

  23. إِذا عَدِموا الغَيثَ شامُوا نَداهُ

    فَقامَ نَداهُ مَقامَ الدِيَم

    When they lacked rain, they looked to his bounty,

    and his bounty took the place of steady rains.

  24. أَبا صالِحٍ أَنتَ حُسنُ الزَمانِ

    وَحُسنُ الرِداءِ بِحُسنِ العَلَم

    Abu Salih, you are the beauty of the age,

    and a robe's beauty lies in the beauty of its border.

  25. إِذا نَظَمَ المَدحَ فيكَ امرؤٌ

    وَجَدناكَ أَشرَفَ مِمّا نَظَم

    When a man composes praise of you,

    we find you nobler than what he has composed.

  26. أَمِنّا بِقُربِكَ صَرفَ الزَمانِ

    فَنَحنُ الحَمامُ وَأَنتَ الحَرَم

    Near you we are safe from time's reversals:

    we are the doves, and you the sanctuary.

  27. كَأَنَّ المُعِزَّ لَنا كَعبَةٌ

    وَراحَتُهُ الرُكنُ وَالمُستَلم

    It is as though al-Mu'izz were a Kaaba for us,

    and his palm the Corner, the place touched in reverence.

  28. نُهنِّيهِ لَما بَرا صالِحٌ

    وَذاكَ الهَناءُ لِكُلِّ الأُمَم

    We congratulate him now that Salih has recovered,

    and that rejoicing belongs to all peoples.

  29. فَيا عَجَباً كَيفَ يُخشى السَقا

    مُ عَلَيكَ وَأَنتَ شِفاءُ السَقَم

    How astonishing! How can illness be feared

    for you, when you are the cure for illness?

  30. وَقَد كانَ قَطَّبَ وَجهُ الزَمانِ

    فَقُلنا بَرا صالِحٌ فَاِبتَسَم

    And the face of time had frowned;

    then we said, 'Salih has recovered,' and it smiled.

  31. لَئِن سَرَّنا بُرؤُهُ لِلنَدى

    لَقَد ضَرَّ أَعمارَ كُومِ النَعَم

    If his recovery gladdened us for generosity's sake,

    it surely shortened the lives of the high-humped camels,

  32. لِسَفرٍ تَأَوَّبَ في لَيلَةٍ

    يَبيتُ العَمودُ بِها يُلتَزَم

    for travelers who arrived on a night

    when the tent-pole is clutched all night.

  33. إِذا سَمِعَ الصَوتَ فيها البَخيلُ

    تَصامَمَ وَهوَ قَليلُ الصَمَم

    When a miser hears a voice on such a night,

    he feigns deafness, though he is hardly deaf.

  34. وَأَقبَلَ يَمشي وَفي نَفسِهِ

    هُمُومٌ تُفَنِّدُهُ لا هِمَم

    And he comes walking, while within his soul

    are worries that confound him, not noble ambitions.

  35. وَيَلقى بِها المُدرِكيّ النَجاحَ

    يَشِبُّ سَنا النارِ فَوقَ الأَكَم

    And on such a night al-Mudriki finds success,

    kindling the blaze of fire above the hills,

  36. لِيَهدي الوُفودَ إِلى مَنزِلٍ

    تَبيتُ الوُفودُ بِهِ في النِعَم

    to guide the visitors to a dwelling

    where the visitors spend the night in plenty.

  37. سَجِيَّةُ قَومٍ كِرامِ الوُجوهِ

    كِرامِ الأُصولِ كِرامِ الشِيَم

    Such is the nature of a people noble of face,

    noble of lineage, noble of character.

  38. جَزى اللَهُ خَيراً ظُهورَ الرِكاب

    وَأَحسَنَ عَنِيّ جَزاءَ القَلَم

    May God reward the riding camels' backs with good,

    and reward the pen well on my behalf.

  39. فَقَد كُنتُ أَلتَمِسُ الأَكرَمينَ

    وَأَطلُبُ لِلمَدحِ أَهلَ القِيَم

    For I was seeking the noblest men,

    and seeking people of worth for my praise.

  40. فَلَمّا وَجَدتُ بَني صالِحٍ

    وَجَدتُ الغِنى وَعَدِمتُ العَدَم

    And when I found the sons of Salih,

    I found wealth and was free of want.

  41. وَثَمَّرتُ مِن فَضلِهِم نِعمَةً

    وَجاهاً وَمالاً وَلَحماً وَدَم

    And from their bounty I cultivated prosperity,

    and rank, and wealth, and flesh, and blood.

  42. مُلوكٌ إِذا ما عَدَدتَ المُلوكَ

    عَدَدتَ المُلوكَ لَهُم في الحشَم

    Kings—whenever you count the kings,

    you count those kings among their retainers.

  43. خَدَمتُهُمُ في قَميصِ الشَبابِ

    وَأَخدِمُهُم في قَميصِ الهَرَم

    I served them in the shirt of youth,

    and I serve them in the shirt of old age.

  44. فَإِن مِتُّ قامَت بِشكري لَهُم

    مُحَبَّرَةٌ مِن بَناتِ الكَلِم

    And if I die, my gratitude to them will be borne

    by a finely wrought daughter of words,

  45. تَداوَلَها ساكِنُ الخافِقينِ

    إِمّا العُرَيبُ وَإِمّا العَجَم

    which the dwellers of East and West pass around,

    whether Arabs or non-Arabs.