يعاودني لذكراك الحنين

ويعروني التلهف والأنين

Longing returns to me at the memory of you,

and yearning and moaning come over me.

بعدت فكنت أقسى الصخر قلبا

وان من الحجارة ما يلين

You went far away, harder-hearted than rock,

though among stones are some that soften.

فقدت عليك من حرصي اصطباري

كذاك يحرم الشيء الضنين

Through my eagerness for you, I lost my endurance;

thus the covetous one is denied what he craves.

وحاذرت البعاد فكان حقاً

وغير مقدر ما لا يكون

I dreaded separation, and it came true;

and what does not happen is not decreed.

سعت بفراقنا قدم الليالي

وفرق أمننا دهر خؤون

The foot of the nights hastened our parting,

and treacherous time scattered our peace.

وقد غلب الهوى جلدي وصبري

وباح بصبوتي دمع هتون

Love has overcome my fortitude and patience,

and streaming tears have revealed my passion.

وافضح ما يكون السر يوماً

إذا انطقت عن القلب العيون

And a secret is most exposed on the day

when the eyes are made to speak for the heart.

غدوت اعل قلبي بالأماني

عسى يجدي مع الياس الظنون

I began the day soothing my heart with hopes;

perhaps conjecture may help amid despair.

وبت اريه صعب الحب سهلا

وإن من الشدائد ما يهون

And I spent the night showing it love's hardship as easy,

for some hardships do grow lighter.

أما وهواك من قلبي المعنى

يمينا لا أميل ولا أمين

Indeed, by my tormented heart's love for you,

I swear an oath, neither wavering nor lying:

لقد ترك النوى مني رسوماً

تبين الخافيات ولا تبين

separation has left only traces of me,

revealing what is hidden, yet themselves unseen.

واصحبني الهوى والبين جفنا

معينا جادم الماء المعين

Love and parting have given me an eyelid for companion,

tear-filled, [unclear word] the flowing water.

فلو ترك الضنا عضواً صحيحاً

لمزقه الصبابة والشجون

Had wasting sickness left a single limb sound,

longing and sorrows would have torn it apart.

ولو أدنى المنون هواك مني

تعذر ان برى شخصي المنون

And even if love of you brought death close to me,

death could not waste my frame away.

ولو شاهدت ما القاه حقا

جننت وما الهوى إلا جنون

Had you truly witnessed what I suffer,

you would have gone mad—love is nothing but madness.

نهاري مظلم والعيش ضنك

كأني يونس والدهر نون

My day is dark, and life is straitened,

as though I were Yunus and time the whale.

تكلمني المصائب كل حين

ويبعدني المصاحب والقرين

Calamities wound me at every moment,

and companion and comrade shun me.

ولست بناكرٍ نوبا عرتني

فأن العضب تبلوه القيون

Nor do I find strange the calamities that have struck me,

for smiths put the keen sword to the test.

ولا راج صفاءً من خليل

جبلة خلقه ماء وطين

Nor do I hope for unsullied loyalty from a friend

whose very nature is water and clay.

ولم اخضع مدى الأيام الا

لمن خضعت لهيبته القرون

Throughout my days, I have bowed only

to him before whose majesty generations have bowed.

ولا متضرع لسؤال دهر

وفيه الماجد الندب الأمين

Nor do I abase myself to beg of time,

while within it lives the noble, gallant, trustworthy man:

محمد بن محمود بن سيفا

اصول علا علت منها الغصون

Muhammad, son of Mahmud, son of Sayfa,

roots of glory from which the branches have risen high.

أمير نحتمي العلياء منه

كما بالليث يمتنع العرين

A prince through whom we find shelter in the heights,

as the lair is defended by the lion.

يوفي كل ذي امل مناه

كأن المكرمات عليه دين

He fulfills the wish of everyone who hopes,

as though noble deeds were a debt he owed.

ويستبقى الثنا والحمد ذخرا

ولا يبقى مع الحمد اللجين

He stores acclaim and praise as treasure,

and where praise remains, silver does not.

فيا محي الندى أيخيب ظني

وأنت بنجح آمالي قمين

O reviver of generosity, shall my hope fail,

when you are well able to fulfill my hopes?

وقد مات الكرام فلا مغيث

سواك من الأنام ولا معين

The generous have died; there is no rescuer

among mankind but you, nor any helper.

فلولا الجود من كفيك يهمى

لما مدت إلى املٍ يمين

Were generosity not raining from your palms,

no right hand would stretch toward a hope.

ولولا أمن عدلك بالبوادي

لما وخدت براحلة امون

Were it not for the safety your justice brings to the deserts,

I would not have sped along on a trusty she-camel.

ولو لم تشمل الدنيا بلحظ

لما اشتملت على اللحظ الجفون

Had you not embraced the world with a glance,

eyelids would not have enclosed a gaze.

ولو طلقتها ذات اضطراب

لما صحب الحراك بها السكون

Had you divorced it while it was in turmoil,

stillness would not have accompanied motion within it.

ولو أدركت بالأمم المواضي

لأمست وهي كافرة تدين

Had you come upon the nations of old,

they would have turned to faith, though unbelievers.

علوت علي السماك علا فضاقت

بعسكرك السباسب والحزون

You rose in glory above al-Simak; too cramped were

the plains and rugged heights for your army.

وقدت إلى العدا جيشا حصينا

تدك له المعاقل والحصون

You led an impregnable army against the foe,

before which strongholds and fortresses are battered down.

وعضبك من طلا الأعداء ماح

كما يمحو من الشك اليقين

Your keen sword effaces the enemies' necks,

as certainty effaces doubt.

كأن دم العدا فيه شقيق

جرت في ضمنه للماء عين

The enemy's blood upon it is like an anemone

within which a spring of water flowed.

وفضلك غير محتاج لنعت

وهل بخفى الصباح المستبين

Your excellence has no need of description,

and can the clearly shining morning be concealed?

فدم يا أيها المولى بدهر

ضنين لي وأنت به ضمين

So live on, O lord, in an age

miserly toward me, while you stand surety for it.