اغمد شبا مرهفك الباتر

لا حاجة بالسيف للساحر

Sheathe the edge of your keen, severing blade.

The enchanter has no need of a sword.

لحظك امضى منه فينا شبا

ما اقتل الفاتك بالفاتر

Your glance cuts more sharply into us than its edge.

How deadly the slayer with a languid glance!

يا قمرا يشرق من فرعه

الزاهي على غصن نقا زاهر

O moon that shines out from its locks,

luxuriant, above a blooming bough on a sand dune.

اهديت لي السهد وفرط البكا

أمرك محمول على الناظر

You gave me sleeplessness and excessive weeping;

your command is borne upon the eye.

ويا غزالا انسا نافرا

وما عهدنا الأنس بالنافر

And O gazelle, tame yet shy,

we have never known companionship with one that shies away.

لا تقس قلبا وتلن جانبا

فأنها من شيم الغادر

Do not be hard of heart yet gentle in manner,

for that is among a traitor's traits.

ولا تطع واشيك في نصحه

فالعدل لا يؤخذ من جائر

And do not heed your slanderer's advice,

for justice cannot be taken from an unjust man.

والمرء لا يخرج عن طبعه

ولا يراد النفع من ضائر

And a person does not depart from his nature,

nor is benefit sought from one who harms.

كم ليلة سامرت فيك السها

شوقا إلى لقياك يا هاجري

How many a night I kept Suha company for your sake,

longing to meet you, O you who forsake me!

اراقب اخراها عسي تنجلي

وليل من بلا آخر

I watch its final hours, hoping it will lift,

yet the night of [unclear] has no end.

لا سامح الله ليالي الهوى

فأنها اظلم من كافر

May God never pardon the nights of love,

for they are more unjust than an unbeliever.

تقصر للراقد في لذة

وطالما طالت علي الساهر

They shorten for the sleeper in delight,

yet how often they have lengthened for me, the wakeful one!

ومهمه يدعر مجتازه

فضلاً عن الصارخ بالصافر

And a wilderness that terrifies whoever crosses it,

let alone one crying out to a whistler.

لا تبلغ النكباء ارجاءه

فما تناهى امد الطائر

The veering wind cannot reach its bounds,

nor can a bird's flight reach its end.

جبت بآمالي مهمولاته

من فوق موار الخطا ضامر

I crossed its neglected reaches with my hopes,

astride a lean steed with surging strides,

أشقر وردي أديم له

يتقد كالقبس الساعر

a chestnut with a rose-red hide

that blazes like a flaming firebrand.

تحسب أيديه على رمله

تخط لي الاشكال بالحافر

You would think its forelegs upon the sand

trace figures for me with their hooves,

لأنه من طبعه دائما

إظهار ما أضمر في خاطري

for it is always in its nature

to reveal what I conceal in my mind.

في ليلة أظلم من صفحتي

وجه عقيم الكف للشاعر

On a night darker than the two cheeks

of a man whose hand is barren toward a poet,

باكية الأجفان أنواءها

من دمع فتى عامى

its storm-clouds weeping from their eyelids

with a common youth's tears [reading uncertain],

يقصد بي بحر العلوم التي

تعذب للوارد والصادر

it bears me toward the sea of sciences that

are sweet to those arriving and departing:

من فضله شاع وامسى بلا

مثلٍ له كالمثل السائر

one whose excellence is renowned and who has become without

an equal, like a proverb on every tongue.

مولى موالي العصر والدهر بل

مولى موالي الزمن الغابر

Master of the masters of this age and all time—indeed,

master of the masters of ages past;

الحسن الاسم والأفعال

للجازم والضامر

Hasan—fair in name and deeds—

to the resolute and the lean.

من رفعت بورين فخراً به

على دراري الفلك الدائر

Through him Burin was raised in pride

above the brilliant stars of the revolving firmament;

واصبحت منه ربي جلق

ناضرةً تزهر للناظر

and through him the hills of Jilliq have become

fresh and blooming to the beholder.

فتى رُبي في مهد حجر الحجا

فما ابن حجر منه والحاجري

A youth reared in a cradle in wisdom's lap—

what are Ibn Hujr and al-Hajiri beside him?

مرتضعاً من درتدي العلى

مع انها تعرف بالعاقر

Suckling the breast-milk of glory,

though she is known as barren,

حتى انتشا يبهر البابنا

انعم بباهي الفضل من باهر

until he flourished, dazzling our minds.

How splendid a dazzler, radiant in excellence!

القت له الفتوى مقاليدها

فجاءها من بابها الظاهر

Legal opinion entrusted him with its keys,

and he approached it through its visible gate.

واتضحت الناس سبل الهدى

من حائد عنها ومن حائر

And the paths of guidance became clear to people,

whether straying from them or wandering in confusion.

فأي علم لا يرى فكره

يغوص في قاموسه الزاخر

For what science does not see his thought

diving into its brimming ocean?

واي بحث لم يكن باه

فيه طويلا ليس بالقاصر

And what inquiry has not found his reach

long within it, never falling short?

واي درس ميت لم يُعد

حياته من دارس دائر

And what dead lesson has he not restored

to life from its faded, ruined state?

وهل يمل الفضل من ذاكر

ولا تعاف الارض من ماطر

Does excellence tire of one who recalls it?

Nor does the earth shun one who brings rain.

مكسورة فانعم بجبرها

حد الأكسير من جابر

It is broken; graciously mend it,

with the elixir's potency from Jabir [wording unclear].

بها من الأيام ما بعضه

يوهن عظم الأسد الكاسر

The days have brought upon it what, even in part,

weakens the bones of the crushing lion.

نوائبنا اصحبها صابرا

صبر كريم ليس بالضاجر

I bear our calamities patiently,

with the patience of a noble man who is not fretful,

لعلمه ان المنى واقع

طائرها في احبل الصابر

for he knows that wishes will alight—

their bird—in the patient man's snares.

فاسلم ودم كهفا لآمالنا

من زايل منها ومن حاضر

So remain safe, and endure as a sheltering cave for our hopes,

those that have departed and those still present,

في نعمة يجدع عرنين من

بحسدها من نشرها لعاطر

amid a blessing that cuts off the nose of one

who, envying it, is perfumed by its fragrance.

فأنت من ينصر دين الهدي

والدين محتاج إلى الناصر

For you are the one who upholds the faith of guidance,

and the faith needs a defender.